simple potato side

This is another one of my favorite sides to have with rasam and rice whenever I feel like eating some hearty comfort food.

Ever since I read that potatoes are close to perfect food, with potential health benefits, I try to make it at least once a week. A lot of times, I use potatoes as thickener in some of my curries - pressure cook them, mash them to a smooth paste and add them to the curry that needs thickening.



Ingredients
4 medium Russet Burbank ('Idaho') potatoes *
few cilantro leaves for garnish
2-3 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 tsp paprika powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder (optional)
salt to taste
tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp split dehusked urad dal
2 Tbsp canola oil
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* usually, i pressure cook a bunch of potatoes and crumble them to largish chunks and freeze them for later use; it saves time to just thaw them in the microwave and use as a thickener, or for making this dish

Preparation

1. pressure cook the potatoes, or cook them on stovetop till they are cooked through but not too soft; peel skin; roughly crumble them to fairly largish chunks;set aside
   
2. heat oil in a pan, when oil shimmers, add the tempering ingredients - urad dal first, and when it turns brown add the mustard seeds and when it starts to spatter, add the cumin seeds; keep a screen lid handy to prevent a mess from mustard seeds jumping everywhere
3. add the crumbled potato chunks, turmeric, asafoetida, paprika, cayenne, salt; stir well to coat the potatoes; leave heat on medium-low and let the potatoes develop a sort of crust from the oil and the spice coating; stir occasionally to brown evenly
   
4. off heat, garnish with cilantro, serve warm with roti or rice