Читать книгу Indian Cooking For Dummies - Monisha Bharadwaj - Страница 87

Although potatoes were introduced to India relatively recently, in the early 17th century (remember that India’s culinary history goes back thousands of years), they’re a much-loved ingredient in the Indian kitchen. Potatoes are added to curries to make them go further, cooked with spices to be eaten with Indian breads, battered and fried as snacks, and mashed to make spiced cakes.

I often get asked whether to use waxy or floury/starchy potatoes in curries. The good news is that it’s not always that important. Potatoes don’t need to hold their shape in all curries and some actually taste better when the potatoes crumble and add thickness to the sauce.

 Floury: These are high in starch and have less moisture than the other kinds, which causes them to lose their shape easily. Stirring them constantly while cooking breaks them up and releases the starch, resulting in a gloopy curry. This is fine in some dishes that have potato as a main ingredient, such as the breakfast Batata Bhaji (Spiced Yellow Potatoes; see Chapter 17). They’re best used in recipes that need mashed potatoes such as Vegetable Samosas (Vegetable and Pastry Parcels; see Chapter 18). Examples of starchy potatoes include russet and red potatoes.

 Waxy: On the opposite end of the spectrum are potatoes with a higher moisture content and lower starch content. These potatoes hold their shape better when cooked, and they taste buttery. They’re great in curries where they share the stage with other ingredients such as Aloo Gobi (North Indian Potatoes with Cauliflower; see Chapter 13) and for boiling. Varieties include new or baby potatoes and red fingerlings.

 All-rounders: These fall somewhere in between the other two in terms of their starch and moisture content. They do all jobs well, so if you don’t want to buy a variety of potatoes, a bag of all-purpose white or yellow potatoes will be perfect for all your Indian recipes. Some cooks deliberately crush a few of the potatoes after they’re cooked to add to curry sauce to thicken it up.