Chips Nu Shaak / Batata Nu Shaak And An Award

Yummy name for a dish right?? I don't know anybody who doesn't love taters. You can seldom go wrong with them. Which makes the humble potato a great choice when entertaining people, particularly when you are not sure about their preferences. Nine out of ten times, when I ask my kids to guess what they would get to eat at a meal, they chorus potato curry!! So all I need to do to make my kids happy is make a potato curry with some rasam and rice.

Hubby is not much of a rasam person, though he will not mind a bit eating it with a very generous serving of potato palya. Well, I wouldn't mind either.. piping hot rasam with hot steamed rice, some ghee and plenty of potato palya. Aahh... heaven!!

This extremely versatile vegetable finds its home in baskets in most Indian homes. What life savers these can be when you have no other veggies on hand!  A look at the menu of  a dhabha can give you quite a number of combination this vegetable can be cooked in:-) Unlike a lot of other vegetables, this one can be cooked directly in the pressure cooker or microwave without even chopping. Well, peeling hot potatoes in a hurry is another story and I have scalded my fingers many a times, trying to do this in the morning rush hour.

 A culturally rich and diverse country like ours has innumerable ways of cooking potatoes among hundreds of other things that is. This is a Gujarati dish called Chips Nu Shaak or Batata Nu Shaak.

I think this dish is traditionally cooked only in oil, which helps it keep fresh for a day or two outside the fridge too.  Supposedly a perfect accompaniment with theplas while travelling. Reminds me of the tall multi-compartment lunch boxes filled with a variety of yummy food which Gujaratis carry on long train journeys. Boxes replete with rotis, subjis, dal, rice, farsan, pickles and dessert too!!! How many times, I have felt so envious of those guys, having gourmet food on journeys too, while we would eat our humble puliogare, curd-rice-pickle / chapati-curry/   sitting just across the seat. Sigh!! Have a heart people!! Its tough to tear eyes away from such sights or close your nose to the delicious wafting aromas.

I loved this recipe for its sheer simplicity and quite unique taste. It is also very delicious, and on its way to becoming a regular on our dining table.


I have eaten potatoes fried, potatoes cooked in a coconut based masala, with onion-ginger-garlic, cashew and spices, but never with crunchy sesame seeds. The addition of the sesame seeds certainly sets this dish apart in taste and novelty factor, at least for me. It is slightly sweet, slightly sour and quite spicy, very delicious... 


This is a Sanjeev Kapoor recipe, yes, I do it again!! I have roasted the potato strips instead of frying them in oil,  using a tablespoon of oil instead of three.

Ingredients:

Potatoes- 5 large, peeled.
Oil - 1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon
White sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Jeera powder  - 1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
Lemon Juice - 1 tablespoon
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

Procedure: Cut the potato into long, thin strips, put them in water. (Thinner than what I done should work better) If you are going to fry them in oil, remember they will become much thinner when fried, so do not cut them very thin.  Drain thoroughly.

Heat a large non-stick skillet and brush with very little oil or spray with oil. Once the pan is hot, lower the heat to minimum. Place the potato strips and cook till golden on both sides and crisp, flipping once or twice in between.(Two spoons work best for this).  I used 3 skillets simultaneously to make the process quicker. You could bake the potatoes, but I find it very time-consuming in my small OTG. Now if you happen to have a huge oven and can bake potatoes for a huge crowd at one go, don't even tell me about it:-). Yes, yes I will be 'upgrading' my oven shortly, hopefully!!. Once done, keep the crisp potatoes aside.

Optionally, as done in the original recipe, cook the potato strips in 2 tablespoons of oil, in a large skillet. Heat one more tablespoon of oil and continue as mentioned below.

Heat one tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan. Reduce the heat and add the sesame seeds. Saute till the seeds change color. Add the crisp potatoes, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, sugar and salt. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the lemon juice toss again. Take off the fire. Garnish with the chopped coriander and serve hot.

Please note: The method of pan-roasting may work well if you are cooking for 3-4 people. Baking (in a big oven) may be more convenient for larger crowds.

Padmajha of Seduce Your Tastebuds has shared an award with me. Thank you so much Padmajha!!

I would like to share this with

1.Suman Singh of Incidental Cooking
2.Shruthi Singh Traditional Secrets
3.Sneha Rao Sinless Delectables
4.Sayatani of A Homemakers Diary
5. Deepti Pawar Some Salt To Taste
6. Nithya of 4th Sense Cooking
7. Aparna of Apy Cooking
8. Sweet Artichoke Sweet Artichoke
9. Pratibha of The Chef And Her Kitchen
10. Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders

Please accept!!