Luchi Tarkari : fried flatbread with potatoes, cauliflower, and peas

When our dearest friend Marilyn requested an Indian breakfast for her hands on experience cooking on Indian cooking, it immediately took me back to my childhood in my mom's kitchen in Kolkata on a winter day. I wanted to show her how a typical Bengali morning begins my childhood days. Oh the aroma, the visual, and the yummy taste are still fresh in my memory. The soft round goodness of the "luchi" (do not mistake it as a poori) accompanied by "fulkopir chachchari," a veggie medley of potatoes, cauliflower, peas make me drool when even to think about it. So the menu we decided was "luchi with fulkopir chachchori."

We started cooking the f"ulkopir chachchori," the potato and cauliflower sabzi first.

 We had all the ingredients in our hands. We washed and diced the potatoes and the cauliflower in to 1" cube got some peas from the freezer, a whole ripe tomato, handful of coriander. For the spices and seasoning,  I used 3 whole red chili, 2 fresh green chili, 1tsp of panch foron (5 whole spices consisting of whole cumin, fenugreek, onion seed or kalonji, fennel seed, and celery seed or radhuni), salt and sugar.

We started the process by heating 2Tbsp of oil (my favorite oil is Avocado oil) in a pan (kadhai).  When the oil was hot added the whole spices and red chilies. After we heard the spices make crackling sound we added and sauteed the diced potatoes.

 

 Once the potatoes were lightly browned we added the cauliflower, tomatoes, salt, and pinch of sugar (yes it brings out the balance in your savory spicy dishes and brightens up the color..trust me). Stir on low heat, cover and sit down to have a cup of tea or call a friend or move on to your next project like we did. No need to add any water. My mom never added any water to her dry dishes. She always said patience and love are two key magic ingredients of good cooking. Stir occasionally once or twice.

Okay. After 5 to 7 minutes potatoes should be soft and cauliflowers should be al dante, and the tomatoes should be nicely incorporated. At this point we added the thawed green peas and slit green chilies. After increasing the heat to medium we started for the finishing touch. I always taste my seasoning I am very particular about that. If I and not happy with my seasoning I feel it wont satisfy the taste buds.

 

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve with choice of your bread (we used luchi), or just enjoy as it is if you are watching your calories.