Train wale Aalu

#Railwaypuriaalu

 

This is my mom's (Both ma and saasu ma) recipe and from down the memory lane! Before the days of dining cars on the trains in India, in the 50's and 60's and 70's, great excitement for us children was the special food our mom used to make for the train journeys. It consisted of Poori, this 'aloo bhaji', one or two other seasonal vegetables, an assortment of pickles and some nice sweets like Besan Laddoos or Mathura Peda , all carried in a Tiffin carrier. The Tiffin-carrier had multiple compartments stacked one top of another. Fruits, and sometimes yoghurt (dahi) in an earthenware pot, were bought from the station hawkers.

Water was carried in a Surahi , an earthenware water carrier with a long, narrow neck, which kept the water cool in summer months. We all sat around and ate our food, using the lids from the Tiffin or pieces of newspaper  as plates. It was like a picnic in the train, a lot of fun!

For us it used to be a long journey sometimes as Papa was posted in Mathura and from there to Ballia, my grand parents home was far far away. Those journeys were passenger trains journeys and as a kid, I thoroughly enjoyed this annual chore! Mostly, our food was eaten from the tiffin box we carried and sometimes also had station's hot food. Some stations were famous for certain dishes and Papa made sure to get those also. I don't remember now which station was famous for what as I was too young, but my memory of this aalu subzi is fresh and intact. Mom used to make this for our regular lunch or breakfast with Puris and when I got married, I saw my saasu ma also making the same for breakfast.

Deliciousness is the synonym of this dish. It was prepared of unpeeled potatoes and was fried a little longer to keep it good for long summer days journeys without AC compartments.And trust me, this tasted so yum that no words can describe ! My husband tells that in his childhood, the whole family carried food for even shorter train journeys as the kids got hungry as soon as the train started! And reaching their grandparents's home in Banaras, everybody residing there would eat the remaining puri-sabzi as they just loved the food cooked by my mom-in-law and specially this Train wale Aalu!

These days I don't see people preparing this version of aalu sabzi and frankly speaking, I myself made this after a long span of time. Before people forget about this delicacy, I want to document it for our future generations so that they can also have the pleasure of this yummy subzi without any Train journey.

Ingredients:

1. Small size red potato or golden potato-4-5
2. Mustard oil-3 tbsp. 
3. Roasted cumin powder-1 1/2 tsp.
4. Cumin seeds-1 heaped tsp.
5. red chilli powder-1- tsp.
6. Asafoetida or Hing-1 pinch
7. Amchoor Powder-2 tsp.
8. Black salt-1/2 tsp.

Procedure:

• Wash potatoes and cut them as you see in the picture. (No peeling please)
  
• They should not  be thinly cut as they will turn mushy while cooking.
• Heat mustard oil in an iron kadai and when smoky hot, add hing and cumin seeds.
• Add cut potatoes after few seconds and also add all the spices and salt except amchoor powder.
• Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes.
• Uncover and check potatoes, if they are soft, add amchoor powder.
• Keep the flame on lowest setting now and continue roasting them till they are crisp.
• Turn off the flame and cool completely before packing in tiffin box otherwise they will be spoiled.
• Enjoy with Puri and mango pickle and have a feel of train journey of olden days!