While the current fashion of food photography and food videos has been helpful to many home cooks, especially when cooking unfamiliar dishes, it has done a great disservice to home cooking. The requirement for everything to be instagram-worthy has meant that the rustic dishes without visual appeal are sidelined and instagrammed out of existence. It’s a pity. More than that, it is a shame.

Moreover, the word Peasant as attached to food is beginning to be seen as derogatory. I have never thought of “Peasant food” as been anything “less than”. I think of it as extraordinary food being produced without the influence of fashion and with local and common ingredients. My real favourite sort of food. Isn’t it what we strive for at home – cost effective and flavoursome food with local ingredients?

I am often amazed by the simplicity of Indian home cooked dishes, and how much flavour can be put into a couple of ingredients with a couple of spices. These sorts of dishes, so simple, so easy, are rarely seen on social media. I hope you enjoy this one. This is a simple recipe – not the best looking, made with minimal ingredients, but very very tasty. Serve with some Indian bread as an afternoon snack or as part of a meal.

By the way, Do Pyaja (also spelt Pyaza) means double the onions or lots of onions. There are many recipes for this dish, from the Punjab through to Rajasthan. Some have peas or a dose of cream, for example, a more complex spice mix, and it can be a wet or dry curry. But I adore this recipe for its simplicity. It is real home cooking.

Similar recipes include Aloo Hing Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin), Sesame Potatoes, Saag Aloo, and Potato Subzi.

You might also like to browse all of our Potato recipes. All of our Indian recipes are here, and our Indian Essentials are here. Check out our easy Late Winter recipes too.

This recipe is one of the vegetarian recipes from our first blog which was in existence from 1995 – 2006. It is cross posted on our sister site, Heat in the Kitchen. It appears there as part of the Retro Recipes series of recipes which documents our vegetarian recipes from that first blog.

Aloo Do Pyaja | Potatoes with Onions, Home Style

ingredients

250 g potatoes

3 large onions, peeled and chopped finely

1 Tblspn ghee

0.5 tspn cumin seed

0.25 tspn coriander powder

1 green chilli, chopped

2 large tomatoes, pureed

pinch turmeric powder

0.25 tspn chilli powder

sea salt to taste

0.25 tspn garam masala

1 Tblspn fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

method

Cook the potatoes by simmering them in some slightly salted water until just tender (just a slight bit underdone is Ok), peel them and cut into 3 or 4 cm cubes.

Heat the oil in a kadhai or large frying pan. Add cumin, coriander, green chilli and onion and saute until the onions are just beginning to brown.

Add the tomato puree to the onion mixture, with some salt, the turmeric and chilli powder. Cook, stirring continuously, for 3 – 4 minutes. Then add the potatoes and 1/4 cup water to the mixture, mix well and cook, covered, on low heat for 5 or so minutes. Stir periodically. The potatoes should be cooked and tender at this point.

Add the garam masala to the potatoes, and remove from the heat. Place on a serving dish and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with Indian breads.

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This recipe is cross posted with our sister site, Heat in the Kitchen; it appears there as part of our Retro Recipes series – vegetarian recipes from our first blog from 1995 – 2006.