Easy Potato Poriyal

I think I have been posting more and more poriyals lately. We try to consciously eat more vegetables, and its not that hard when fortunately we like vegetables. I dont know if potato would necessarily count in the 5-a-day, but it still is quite dellicious and can be cooked with minimal oil unlike what many people I know think. I have eaten potato at homes of some people and it would be dripping oil. Same goes to non-veg food, and I try to tell people that chicken already has fat in it, you dont need to pour a bottle of oil when cooking it. And almost always I hear.. we dont cook chicken everyday, so its ok. Same with pooris... you dont cook them everyday and so it's ok. Same with potatoes, murukkus, gulab jamuns, deep fried chicken, deep fried fish,... the list is endless. Now even if you cook these dishes twice a week.. that's almost like having one everyday. There is no concept of eating healthy... when I tell someone to reduce salt or sugar they would immediately say "I dont have BP" or "I dont have sugar". Forget the grammar... but do you really have to wait till you car breaks down to do the oil change? When I returned to India some of these people told me "Now you look good, earlier you were too thin". I had had a baby recently and was back to my pre-preg weight, but to still hear this (disguised) compliment made me feel like I was 200 lbs. Guess that was the biggest factor in taking fitness and consequently eating habits more seriously. We make sure there is a good quantity of at least one healthy vegetable everyday. We try to have protein rich foods at least twice a week. I also take flax seeds... the health benefits are far too many to mention in this post. If anyone else has made any lifestyle changes recently please comment and share.



No-oil-dripping Potato Poriyal
Ingredients
Potatoes: 4 medium (chopped into 1 cm cubes or slightly smaller)
Onions: 2 medium. chopped fine
Sambar pwd: 2 tsp or according to spice level
Seasoning: mustard, broked urad dal, jeera, hing, curry leaves
Kasuri methi: 2 tsp (optional)


Heat some oil, add the tadka ingredients. Then add the onions and fry well.
Add sambar powder, salt and mix. Now add the potatoes and mix well. Cook covered on high heat. Every two minutes, stir and sprinkle some water. Fry for about 10 minutes until potato becomes soft and slightly browned. Towards the end crush the kasuri methi in you palms and add. Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from fire.


Serve as a side with rice and samar/rasam.