Food Diaries - Allo Bhujia

Allo Bhujia takes me back to the monsoon season of my childhood.

This simple dish of potatoes, enjoyed as a main meal or as a side for a meat dish, comes from Punjab—the fertile plains of the River Indus. It is cooked in different ways throughout the region.

I can still hear the rain hammering down on the covered veranda of my ancestral home, the sweet smell of clay engulfing my nostrils as I work diligently in the kitchen, creating my masterpiece. Amma ("Mom" in Urdu) is fast sleep so I have time, and the household help is keeping it quiet, knowing the reward would come in the form of an extra meal. I smile at the amusement in the cook’s eyes as he renounces his territory for the afternoon. As I randomly mix ingredients he is not convinced but I will always remember the sparkle in his eyes when he tries the first bite of my Allo Bhujia.

Allo Bhujia

• 6 golden potatoes – Peeled and sliced in ¼ inch slices
• 3 medium Roma tomatoes – cubed
• ¼ cup oil - use less or more according to taste
• ¼ bunch cilantro- chopped, stems removed. Personally, I find stems the most fragrant part of the cilantro but other don’t like the crunch they have to offer.
• 2 green chilies (Serrano, Thai or Jalapeno) - chopped
• 2 tsp salt (or suit to your taste)
• 2 tsp black pepper

1)  Peel the skin off the potatoes and slice widthwise to get nice round ¼ inch slices.

2) Cube the tomatoes and set aside.

3) Pour oil, potatoes and tomatoes in a wok or frying pan. The key is to use something with a wider diameter, less depth and a lid.  Add salt and black pepper to mix, cover and cook on medium low heat for 20 minutes.

4) Remove lid and increase stove to medium to dry up the red juices from the tomatoes. Continue to cook for another 15 minutes making sure that the potatoes don’t break when stirred.

5) Once liquid is completely dry, only leaving the potatoes in the deep red tomato gravy, cut the largest potato to see if further cooking is required.

6) If potatoes are still hard, cover and cook on medium low for another 10-15 minutes. The potatoes should retain shape but not be crunchy at all.

7) In the last 5 minutes, add cilantro and green chillies and cover.

Come to think of it, "passion" is a word that I have not pondered over in a while. The merry-go-round of life has been in full swing, and recently it was such constant spinning that I had almost forgotten how it felt having my feet on the ground.

The snap was immediate and here I am, focusing on the things that really matter to me. My close friends know my love for cooking and I have begged and pleaded for many to try my creations and concoctions. The family has been quite generous in adapting my love and obsession with food and has happily  appreciated all that has been put in front of them – at least majority of the time. 

Years seems to have gone by pretty fast, but my love story with the stove started quite early on. My husband makes fun of my poor memory, but my first recollections of kitchen heists while everyone slept in the long summer Pakistan afternoons goes back to third grade. Being a parent, I now question the safety of the gas stoves, the deep woks of oil I used for frying—and an 8-year-old navigating the kitchen quite seamlessly, but I guess all is well that ends well.

Amma did not appreciate my sensitive palate when my brother happily ate everything put in front of him and I, as early as 2, would let her know if something needed more salt or perhaps a dash of red chilies. I’m sure pleasing a picky eater was not a fun job but who better qualified to do it than my uber-patient mom?

So here I am many years later (OK, this is not an exercise to date myself :)), standing at a cusp of perhaps a career change, toying with the idea of introducing people to my love for Pakistani food, and through these culinary escapades, maybe provide some insight into the region.

My Amma always said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach – I just want to take it a little further and expose the way to a nation through its food. I would like you to feel the crispness of the air from the mountainous Himalayas up north as you indulge in the region's specialty of Chapli Kebabs, to soaking in the sounds and smells of Punjab-the fertile plains of the River Indus – as you savor the Muglai cuisine (food enjoyed in the courts of the Mughal Kings). 

I have started this journey with you by exploring a simple dish of potatoes. I will try to keep the recipes as basic as possible so adventurous followers can experience my cuisine in the most simple ways.

Now that I am living in beautiful California, those monsoon days are years behind me, but the sweet smell of the Allo Bhujia still takes me back to bygone days and those sweet memories that you will share with me of my beautiful childhood growing up in Pakistan.

Experience the essence of Pakistan when you take the lid off and a fresh waft of cilantro engulfs your senses. Enjoy!