Shimla Alu – Curried Potatoes with Bell Peppers
Today’s very practical, and everyday dish – a North Indian creation called Shimla Alu. This is essentially Curried Potatoes with Bell Peppers. Shimla Alu is about as homey and practical as Indian cooking gets! It inspired creativity in my son. I often play with the flavors. My most recent variation is the addition of dill.
I make this dish in copious amounts in Fall but other times too. Fall is when both bell peppers and potatoes are out and about in the garden. The leftovers if any, make for a great sandwich with whole-wheat bread. It might sound surprising, but curried sandwiches are quite popular in India.
Homey dishes like this include this Channa Shimla and this homey bell pepper pasta.
Most of life’s choices are not short lived. Even the simplest ones come back to full circle. My promise to allow the kids to join in the fun of working on the blog has indeed come back full circle. My son sounds very interested in assisting me with making videos.
Well, they already are a large part of the inspiration of why this space exists. Having said that this sharing will mean some makeshift videos. Engaging them has the same impact as letting them do some gardening. They are very happy and excited about eating something they contributed to. Well, and sort of did some video taking with.
This dish is perfect almost for any time of the day. But something that screams for some kind of bread. Do not try to serve this with rice.
It is a home style blog, that chronicles a flavorful yard to table immigrant journey, it is about a family table and I have no doubt that eventually, they homey you tube channel will emerge and grow up with the kids. All of this is a kind of happiness that the kids want to be a part of the journey and a kind of invisible (yes, almost) apology that the next few videos will be sort of strange, but please follow along and they will grow up along with the kids.
I have to confess, that even with all of Amy’s help and finesse it took some time to get my groove with her videos, as you will see with the early videos, and yes, with my in-home volunteer’s hopefully the videos will in fact adhere to the seasonal component of the blog.
Those sandwiches, photographed bleary eyed in the morning was Aadi’s school lunch the second day of middle school, and he even hold me to skip the cheese. Other things in life, well, they are not quite where I might like them but maybe they will get there.
Making this in the instant pot is fairly easy, the peppers do lose their color a little bit, but certainly saves you a little bit of time.
If you like this recipe and want more ideas, do join my Indian Instant Pot Facebook group . Of course Instant Indian is a great idea to pick up, right with its siblings The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.
Do not forget to get social with me, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and even YouTube.
A lovely simple and flavorful take on fresh bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. Perfect for that comforting rich tasting vegan meal.
Ingredients
- 3 medium sized bell peppers
- 3 medium sized potatoes
- 2 mediums sized tomatoes
- 1 medium sized onion
- 2 to 3 pods of garlic
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoon cumin coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- Salt to taste
- Cilantro and or Mint or Dill to Finish
- 1 lime
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Cut the bell peppers into halves, remove the pith and cut into 2 inch pieces, essentially fairly large 2 inch pieces.
- Peel and cut the potatoes into 8 pieces.
- Coarsely chop the tomatoes
- Dice the onions and mince the garlic
- Heat the oil and add in the whole cumin seeds, once the seeds begin to sizzle, add in the cumin and coriander powder and mix well.
- Stir in the cilantro, mint or dill
- Add in the onion and the garlic and saute well until translucent, add in the tomatoes and the potatoes and mix in the cayenne, turmeric and the salt to taste.
- Cover and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
- Add in the bell peppers and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Mix well.
- Cut the lime and add in the lime juice, sprinkle with cilantro and serve hot.
Notes
Instant Pot Instructions
Cut the bell peppers into halves, remove the pith and cut into 2 inch pieces, essentially fairly large 2 inch pieces. Peel and cube the potatoes Coarsely chop the tomatoes Dice the onions and mince the garlic Turn the instant pot into saute mode, heat the oil and add in the cumin seeds once the seeds begin to sizzle, add in the cumin and coriander powder and mix well. Add in the onion and the garlic and saute well until translucent, add in the tomatoes and the potatoes and mix in the cayenne, turmeric and the salt to taste. Stir in the bell peppers with about 3 tablespoons of water. Cook on high pressure for one minute and do a quick release after 2 to 3 minutes. Mix well. This will be a little saucy, if you want you can dry out a little of the sauce by turning back the saute mode on. Cut the lime and add in the lime juice, sprinkle with cilantro and serve hot.