The first time I heard about Potato Sagu recipe is from my mother in law. She mentioned it when talking about a buffet lunch they went to and how the aloo sagu tasted really good. When I said I hadn’t heard of it before, she gave me the rough recipe. I made some notes but then forgot about it. This happened before I was gifted the awesome Simply South by Chandra Padmanabhan.
The saw the recipe again in that book with very detailed ingredients and a nice picture too, under the title Urulaikizhangu Sagu, so I had to try it. Its a bummer that khus khus (poppy seeds) are not available in Singapore (something to do with how you test positive for drugs if you have eaten this!). I hear its even banned so trying to ship it in from India may not be such a good idea either.
So my version does not have khus khus in it, sadly. But if you have it handy, please add it in. I am sure the taste will differ considerably!
Potato Sagu | Aloo Saagu Recipe
Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes – boiled, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 onion, chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1/2″ piece ginger
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
Grind to a Smooth Paste
1 tsp poppy seeds / khus khus, powdered (I didn’t have this)
3 dried red chillies
1 tbsp roasted Bengal gram / Channa dal / Kadala paruppu
1 tbsp coriander seeds / malli
1/2 tsp fennel seeds / saunf / perum jeerakam
1/2″ stick cinnamon
2-3 tbsp water
For Tempering
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds / jeera / jeerakam
1/2 tsp urad dal / ulatham paruppu / uzhunnu parippu
1 tsp Bengal gram / Channa dal / Kadala paruppu
1 sprig curry leaves
How to Make Potato Sagu Recipe:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add all ingredients for tempering. When mustard seeds start spluttering, add onions and saute till golden.
2. Mix in green chillies, ginger, tomatoes, turmeric and salt and fry for 1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in 1 cup water, lower heat, cover pan and simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. Mix in ground spice paste and potatoes and simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes until well blended.
5. Pour in coconut milk and simmer for 1-2 minutes longer.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve sagu with roti, poori or steamed rice.
Notes:
– You can use this spice paste base for any vegetable or even a mix of vegetables. A great idea to use up the leftover vegetables almost rotting in the fridge.
– If you have a different version or do something differently, please leave a comment, I would love to try it differently!
new recipe.. would love to try. did u use ready made coconut milk? can i substitute with ground coconut paste?
yum! isn’t it a bummer when some ingredients ae banned…i remem searching for a banned ingredient myself..forgot it’s name…and i kept thinking my dish would somehow be better if i used it :)..btw. ur prev. post…the babycorn and carrot recipe…looks lovely..i tried to comment on it but jeeves computer was acting up…just like him….ha ha..kidding 🙂
Sounds delicious. I usually replace the khus khus with ground cashews. This gives a creamy texture to the dish!
When I read “saagu” I thought you’d be using some green leafy veggie with this but I was pleasantly surprised 🙂 I know why you didnt have poppy seeds with you 🙂
The dish looks great! I usually dont come across a lot of preparations that feature potatoes and coconut together (avial being the prominent one). This looks very good 🙂
Thats a yummy looking aloo curry.You should probably think of getting some poppy seeds (powdered if whole is not allowed) from India on your next visit. Nice pics.
I was reminded of that Seinfeld episode too – the poor thing kept eating those poppy seed muffins… 🙂
Saagu looks delicious – i’ve only heard of the mixed vegetable variety.
So cool – I have been getting bored with the spice paste I use for veggies so, this is definitely much needed!!!
And I love the pic 🙂
Tee hee – I remember that Seinfeld episode where Elaine keeps testing positive for drugs because of poppy seeds. They were never to be found in Dubai too.
Remember that episode in Seinfeld where Elaine keeps eating stuff that has poppy seeds sprinkled??
Nice sagu 🙂 Didn’t know about the coconut milk element.
Poppy seeds are available in Singapore? That is strange. Yes, Karnataka Saagu must have Poppy seeds,gives it that a unique taste but your saagu looks so yum. I love it with Poori. Good looking recipe, I love her books too! 🙂
I have never had this dish, i am so going to try this. Looks so yumm.