My favorite spice shop is a hybrid of convenience store and Indian market located down the hill from the University of Utah. It seems to cater primarily to soda-loving, potato-log eating folks and homesick students. If you don’t fall into either of these categories, you’d hardly know what a gem of a store it is. I was lucky enough to live around the corner from them for a while, but even then it took at least a year before I knew what was in the store I walked by every day.
1. The spices, pulses, and flours. I can buy large quantities of cumin, coriander, and other spices, a rainbow of lentils, as well as chickpea, rice, and corn flour for a fraction of what I’d pay at a regular or natural foods grocery store. I also consume these in large quantities, so this is one of my must-go shopping locations.
2. The spice blends. If I go to Whole Foods, I can find packets of pre-blended spices for tandoori or tikka sauces, for example, and they cost about $4.00/pack. At the Shop N’ Go, as it’s called, they are about $1.50 to $2.00. Throw them in the blender with a can of diced tomatoes or plain yogurt, pour over sautéed veggies and/or meat, simmer, and you have a delicious Indian meal in 15-20 minutes.
They’re great for people who think Indian cooking is too complicated or don’t have a lot of time to cook. Parampara (whose website is a bit memory-sucking, so I won’t link to it) makes my favorite one-meal packets, though Khazana and MTR brands are also good (these are multi-meal packets). Caution: while these blends are primarily vegetarian, some contain dairy ingredients, and nearly all are processed in plants where cross-contamination with wheat or nuts is a possibility.
3. The samosas. Like most convenience stores, the Shop N’ Go has warming trays filled with deep-fried “stuff.” Where they depart from such stores is in their delicious vegetarian samosa offering. They are delicious. And not being able to eat the wheat pastry means I will sometimes buy them and scoop out the filling – which is what happened yesterday.
So, today, I decided to make samosa filling as a side dish and see how it turned out. I referred to a recipe for spicy potatoes from the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) for the spices I’d need, but ended up just throwing things in. I’m not certain of quantities used, but the following is a rough estimate:
You could make this with larger-cut potatoes that were cooked just right – the concept of bangers and mash came up as an after-thought, once I realized I’d cooked the sweet potatoes to the point of disintegration. It was a great side to a chicken sausage. The mash was yummy, and definitely something to repeat. In fact, the leftovers would be great for pakoras/fritters…just heat a little oil and cook them as patties the next day.
You could make this with larger-cut potatoes that were cooked just right – the concept of bangers and mash came up as an after-thought, once I realized I’d cooked the sweet potatoes to the point of disintegration. It was a great side to a chicken sausage. The mash was yummy, and definitely something to repeat. In fact, the leftovers would be great for pakoras/fritters…just heat a little oil and cook them as patties the next day.
Bangers and Sweet Potato Masala Mash
Ingredients
- Sweet Potato Masala Mash
- 2 large peeled, chopped, and overly-cooked sweet potatoes
- 1 cup peas, fresh or thawed (optional if excluding legumes from your diet)
- 1 diced onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 heaping tsp fresh ginger, grated or minced
- ½ can of green chilies
- ~ 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- ~ 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ~ 1 ½ tsp ground coriander
- ~ 1 tsp chile powder
- ~ ½ tsp turmeric
- ~ 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions
- Sautee onions in olive oil for 4-5 minutes, until golden.
- Add chilies, garlic and ginger and stir for 1-2 minutes longer.
- Add spices and salt and mix well.
- Add cooked potatoes and water to the onions and spices. Mash ingredients together. Taste it and adjust spices as desired.
- Mix in peas, and serve.