Our first compliment and flat beans and potatoes in peanut and tomato gravy

A couple of days back, my mother called me from Kerala and went, "We loved your subji!"And I  was like "What?"


Then it struck me. My mother made a dish from our first recipe on this food blog and they loved it! What better testimonial to our recipe than to get a compliment from our parents?! Nishtha and I were so happy that we almost did a somersault, were I but a little more athletic. 


So, to take this journey ahead, we're presenting to you today another one from Nishtha's palette: Flat beans and potatoes in peanut and tomato gravy. We went to the vegetable market last week and almost suffered a bout of depression. The vegetables all looked like runners after a marathon in summer. Withered, dry, lifeless and in Nishtha's words - boring. But we saw flat beans, and Nishtha said we should try it in one of her patent recipe tricks of peanut and tomato gravy. So we decided to give it a shot. 


(Flat beans are called papdi or valor in India. Below are a couple of pics of them to help you).

And we loved it. This dish went great with roti and with some great coriander chutney, the recipe of which is also covered in brief in this post. This is what it looked like:


For the flat beans and potatoes, you'll need:

- Flat Beans - 250 gms. 
- 2 large Potatoes
- Peanuts - 100 gm
- Garlic - 6 to 8 pieces
- Tomato - 3 Large
- Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
- Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
- Mustard  seeds - 2tsp
- Cumin seed - 2tsp
- Asafoetida - 1tsp
- Sesame seeds - 3 tbsp
- Turmeric powder - 1 Tsp.
- Refined cooking oil - 7 Tbsp.
- Coriander leaves for garnish
- Salt to taste

- Sugar - 1 Tbsp.

1. Cut potatoes length-wise.  Cut flat beans as shown in the picture.
2. Grind the peanuts, tomatoes, sesame and garlic into a coarse paste.
3. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and asafoetida in it. Add the paste in this cooker.
4. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, salt and 100 ml water  to the  paste along with potatoes and flat beans. Continue to cook on low flame till 3-4 whistles.
5. Garnish with some coriander leaves.


For the coriander chutney, add about 50 gms of peanuts, about 25-30 stalks of coriander, 3 tbsp of sugar, salt to taste, 3-4 green chillies and one lemon's juice in a mixer and grind this into a fine paste. Add a little water to make it easier to grind and bring about consistency in the chutney.

Plate up - flat beans and potatoes in peanut and tomato gravy

That's good to go. Do let us know how you liked it.


Till next time, happy eating!