Mughlai Aloo Gobhi

Mughlai Cuisine : Mughlai cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines not only in India, even in Abroad, whose origin can be traced back to the times of Mughal Empire. Mughals were an Islamic imperial power and descendants of the Timurids of Turkistan. Timurid prince Babur who invaded India on sixteenth century. Mohammad Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan are some of the famous Mughal emperors who ruled over India and Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid are some of the finest example of Mughal Architecture. They brought exotic spices, dried fruit and nuts and new cooking methods to India.
Mughlai cuisine consists of the dishes that were prepared in the kitchens of the royal Mughal Emperors. The cuisine is strongly influenced by Persian and Turkic cuisines of Central Asia.This cuisine dominates in the northern part of India and has strong influences of Muslim Cooking. 'Mughlai' dishes as they are called have lots of milk and cream with whole spices to make a rich and spicy meal. Mughlai food is quite spicy and has a very unique aroma. This cuisine includes many famous dishes such as Kormas, Kebab, Kofta, Pasanda and Biriyani, Jalfrezi, raan (roast lamb) and pulao.The rich preparation of Mughlai food consisting of flavored sauces and butter based curries is so tempting that food lovers are bound to crave for more and more food.
I also love the richness of Mughlai cuisine and tried some of them in my kitchen. I'll share a simple but aromatic Mughlai Potato dish today, which is just lip-smacking. This can satisfy your crave for resturant style food at your home within 30 minutes...try it out

Ingredients :

Small baby potatoes/new potatoes

Cauliflower florets cut into big pieces
Green peas : 1/2 cup
Onion : 2 (medium-grated)
Fresh root ginger : 1" (grated)
Garlic : 3 cloves
Green chillies : 1 or 2 (as per your tolerance level)

Tomato : 1(small-chopped)
Dahi/Yoghurt : 1/2 cup
Poppy seeds : 3 tsp.
Green cardamoms : 2+2(for tempering)
Cloves : 3+2(for tempering)

Cinnamon stick : 2(1/2") pieces(for tempering)
Turmeric powder : 2 tsp.
Coriander powder : 2 tsp.
Cumin powder : 1 tsp.
Chilli powder : 1-2 tsp. (as per your tolerance level)
Sugar : 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil/ghee: 3 tblsp.
Cream : 2 tblsp. or milk : 2/3 cup
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

Wash and peel the potatoes, prick them all over using a toothpick or cocktail stick. Boil until tender with a pinch of salt. Keep aside.
Spice Preperation : Grind cloves, cardamoms, poppy seed, chillies, ginger and garlic to a fine paste using few drops of water.
Heat oil in a pan, fry potatoes from all sides until lightly brown, remove and keep aside. Fry cauliflower pieces with little salt and turmeric until light brown from all sides. Remove and keep aside.
Marinate fried potatoes and cauliflower pieces with curd/yoghurt, above spice paste, sugar and salt. Keep aside for at least 30-45 mins.
In the same pan, add little more oil, add 2 cardamoms, 2 cloves and cinnamon sticks, wait till they splutter and aroma comes out, then add grated onion and fry until it is browned, then add cumin, coriander, chilli and turmeric powder. Add 2-3 tblsp water to avoid the spices to burn. Fry the spices with onion for 2-3 minutes or until oil seperates. Add chopped tomatoes. Saute little more until tomatoes soften.
Now add marinated potato and cauliflower in that and fry for another 3-4 minutes. Add peas. Now add milk and stir well to mix everything. If needed, add 1/2 cup of water to cook cauliflowers and our potatoes are already cooked. Season with salt, simmer the heat and let it cook covered until vegetables are just done, not over cooked.
Add cream if you are using. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Your mughlai potato is ready to serve, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.