Alu Morich / Potato with Black Pepper

Although potato was introduced to India by the Portuguese who cam here for the intention of creating a sovereign, potato has since then become a staple food in India. And with time they had mastered the art of cooking potatoes in various forms and in various ways. Be it mashed or baked or cooked in a gravy, potato is essential in every Indian cuisine and of course in every menu..be it lunch or breakfast or dinner.
We Bengalis love fish and we love potato too. Our daily meal is never complete without a potato curry and daal in the menu. The breakfast will be lovely and delicious if there is roti/paratha with a spicy / mild potato fry / curry. Boiled mushy rice with ghee/clarified butter and mashed potato mixed with onion and chopped green chili is every Bengalis favourite childhood meal. We put chunks of potato in the chicken or mutton dishes. We relish eating that mushy potato infused with the spicy curry flavour. And if there is a fish curry, we don't even miss potato there too. And it is we, the Bengalis, who started putting potatoes in the Biriyani as well. Some even put thin potato slices in the noodles. In short, we love potatoes in everything. And I feel great joy in sharing those simple quick dishes that are very much favourite in Bengali households, with you, whoever is reading my blog.

Today I am sharing the recipe of a very favourite and popular potato dish of Bengal called Alu Morich. Alu means potato and morich stands for black pepper. Alu Morich / Potato with Black Pepper is a very simple and tasty dish. It goes perfectly well with roti / paratha / luchi (Bengali Puris). Alu Morich is cooked only with ghee / clarified butter. It is the ghee / clarified butter that brings in the aroma and the much needed creamy feel to the dish. And since Alu Morich is without onion and garlic it is also a much preferred item on the days of puja, as a breakfast for the household or when you can not eat rice. Alu Morich is also popular among the working young people as well because of its sheer flavour and simplicity.

Come, lets cook Alu Morich / Potato with Black Pepper

• Peel and boil the potatoes so they are soft from inside but has not become mushy. We need the potatoes to be firm or otherwise potatoes can be mashed when cooking. Cut them into cubes when they cool down.

• Arrange all the ingredients you need.

• Heat ghee/clarified butter in a pan.

• When it hot enough put in the boiled and cubed potatoes.
• Add the crushed black pepper and salt.
• Give it a tender but good stir so that all the pieces are covered with black pepper and salt.
• Sauté for 3/4 minutes allowing the potatoes to absorb in all the flavours and then put off the flame.

Alu Morich / Potato With Black Pepper
Serves 4/5

Ingredients:

• 3 large potatoes
• 2 tbsp. ghee / clarified butter
• 10-12 peppercorns (Since the pepper also makes the dish hot in taste, you can reduce or increase the quantity as per your taste)
• salt

Method:

• Peel and boil the potatoes with a little salt. It should be soft from inside but firm from the outside. Cut them in cubes after cooling down.
• Heat ghee in a pan.
• Add the cubeb potatoes, crushed peppercorns / black pepper and salt.
• Mix the potatoes evenly with black pepper and salt, so that each cube is evenly layered.
• Sauté for 3/4 minutes more.
• Serve hot with roti / paratha.