Two-Potato Vindaloo Recipe: Cooking from Plenty

A few months ago, my friend Julia asked if I'd like to take a cooking class at Sur La Table to learn how to make a few recipes from the Plenty cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi. After my twin said that's a silly idea, Julia suggested we just buy the book ourselves and have a dinner party recreating some of the recipes!

I very rarely buy cookbooks: many of the ones I have, I've received as preview copies because of the blog. The cookbooks that I do buy, are the ones from the Q&A events with cookbook authors I have attended (Domenica Marchetti, Ina Garten, Bobby Flay (♥)).

Instead of purchasing Plenty, I asked my friend Mary if I could borrow her copy, and she said yes, but then SURPRISED me and ordered the book as a present for me!!! LOVE my friends.

The book is gorgeous, and I love that the cover is cushy. It's all about the details, right? Not only did Mary gave me the book, but she also gave me some of the spices to make Two-Potato Vindaloo.

I could not find the curry leaves, so simply left them out. I also added a bit more sugar to the recipe. This recipe makes a ton, especially if you live by yourself, so keep that in mind.

Two-Potato Vindaloo
From Plenty Cookbook

Ingredients
{I copied the recipe from The Guardian because I did not feel like retyping it, but changed some of the measurements from metric to American :) }

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
8 cardamom pods
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large shallots (about 10 oz total)
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek
25 curry leaves
2 tbsp chopped ginger
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 3/4 cups water
1 tbsp sugar
Salt
2 1/2 cups waxy potato, peeled and cut into 1" dice
2 small red peppers, cored and cut into 1" dice
2 1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1" dice
Mint or cilantro leaves to serve

Directions

1. Dry-roast the cumin, coriander and cardamom in a small frying pan until they begin to pop. Transfer to a mortar, add the cloves and work with a pestle to a fine powder, discarding the cardamom skins once the seeds are released. Add the turmeric, paprika and cinnamon, and set aside. {I just used a spice grinder!!}

2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pot. Add the shallots, mustard seeds and fenugreek, and sauté on high heat for eight minutes, or until the shallots brown. Stir in the curry leaves, ginger, chilli and ground spices, and cook for another three minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, water, sugar and some salt, bring to a boil and leave to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and peppers, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Now add the sweet potatoes, make sure all the vegetables are just immersed in the sauce (add more water if needed) and continue cooking, covered, for about 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Remove the lid and leave to bubble away for about 10 minutes, to reduce and thicken the sauce.
Serve hot with plain rice and garnished with the herb leaves.

You can serve this with rice or eat on its own or with bread. The flavors are strong and you get an incredible amount of nutrients in a bowl.

I can't wait to make more recipes from the book!!!

Have you made any of the recipes from Plenty? Which ones are your favorite?