Vatana Bateta Tameta nu Shaak

There are some simple dishes that one likes to make again and again and never gets tired of them!

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Vatana Bateta Tameta nu Shaak is one of them for me. This is a very simple but very like able gravy dish that can be cooked up in 15 minutes from start to finish :) The tanginess from tomatoes, the sweet from jaggery and the spice from red chili powder is tantalising to the tongue & the senses alike :)
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This happened sometime back! One of our friends was in the vicinity and they called, when they came over I made use of the usual suspects Peas & Potato to dish up this gravy with puri and put together a light meal. Few days later my friend called me and mentioned how much she and her hubby liked the dish. Now a little background on my friend might help. She is an awesome cook, have learnt a lot from her, in fact she is one of the best cooks I know and anything she makes I gleefully gobble up real quick :) When she asked me for this recipe, I thought she was kidding, I mean this is one of the simple ones. But when she insisted, I gave her the recipe and I decided that I should share this with my dear blog buddies as well and also post it for posterity :)

This is the Gujarati way of making this dish.

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Vatana Bateta Tameta nu Shaak (Green Peas, Potato in tomato gravy)

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2 big potatoes cubed

1 cup peas ( I use frozen green peas)

1 big tomato finely chopped or pureed

1 tsp ginger paste

1 green chili chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chili powder (as per taste)

1 tbsp jaggery

1.5 tbsp coriander powder

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Tadka: 1.5 tbsp oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, few curry leaves

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1. Heat oil, add tadka ingredients, splutter.

2. Add cubed potato and peas, stir well.

3. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt, ginger paste & green chili.

4. Add 1 cup water, cover and cook 8-10 minutes till potato is about 3/4 th cooked. If the water dries up, add more water for the gravy texture. In the mean while you can chop/puree tomato.

5. Add tomato, coriander powder, jaggery and salt, mix well.

6. Cover and cook 4-5 minutes till potato is completely cooked.

7. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

8. Enjoy with roti/paratha/puri!
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NOTES: If the tomato is not sour, squeeze a squirt of lemon juice at the end. Canned tomato gives better color to this dish.

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This is my contribution for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

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It's summertime and you know what that means! Lots of chilled drinks to keep cool!

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Here is a Fruit Punch to keep you cool this summer.

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Orange-Raspberry Punch
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1 pack Orange-Raspberry sorbet
1 bottle ginger ale ( as per taste)
1 bottle pepsi/coke ( as per taste)
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In a decorative punch bowl mix the sorbet, ginger ale and pepsi/coke as per taste! Add ice cubes! Mix well.
Serve in decorative glasses!
Makes a great party drink!
Enjoy...

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This is my contribution to AFAM-Orange guest hosted by Sharmi.