Surprisingly healthy ways to eat potatoes – in desi style

What comes to your mind when you look at or think about potatoes?

It could be French fries, crispy potato chips, or hash browns.

Am I right?

Sadly, potatoes are often associated with these processed foods, which might have given birth to the misconception that – potatoes are fattening foods.

So, how about we debunk this misconception today?

In this article, let’s learn healthy ways to eat potatoes in our desi style that can give all the nutrition and deliciousness. These Indian potato dishes can give your roasted or mashed potatoes a run for the money.

But, before we begin with the easy and healthy potato recipes, let’s know about its nutrition.

Potatoes are one of the nutritionally-dense vegetables. One medium-sized (about 173 grams) russet baked potato can provide you with the following nutrients:

Calories	168
Carbohydrates	37 grams
Proteins	5 grams
Fat	0 grams
Fiber	4 grams
Potassium	27% of RDI (Recommended Dietary Intake)
Manganese	20% of the RDI
Sodium	24 milligrams
Vitamin C	37% of the RDI
Vitamin B6	31% of the RDI

However, the cherry on top is that these are easily available in local markets and require only dry and cool areas away from the sunlight for storage. Therefore, it is safe to say that potatoes are not unhealthy in nature, but how you prepare your potatoes makes them unhealthy.

What did I mean by saying that?

If you deep fry your potatoes, their fat and calorie content will increase, making them fattening foods. But, on the other hand, if you boil, steam, or bake your potatoes, the nutrients will remain intact and will be available for your nutrition.

Did you know these factors about your favorite aloo? Neither did I!

Now, let’s return to the simple healthy potato recipes you are waiting for.

Healthy ways to eat potatoes for breakfast

The oven-roasted or baked potatoes are tasty and can satisfy your taste buds – no doubts about that. But what about your heart that loves potatoes in Indian style?

The following healthy potato recipes for breakfast can solve this problem for you

Aloo ki sabzi:

You can prepare potatoes in different ways. Thanks to our Indian cuisine. When I prepare chapati for breakfast, one of the healthy potato side dishes that comes to mind is aloo ki sabzi. I will share how I prepare it using the pressure cooker.

Ingredients required:

Coconut oil – 3 tbsp

Chana dal – ½ tsp

Urad dal – ½ tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 3 to 4

Green chili or dry red chili – 1

Crushed garlic cloves – 2 to 3

Onion – 1 medium-sized

Potatoes – 2 to 3 medium-sized

Turmeric powder – 2 tsp

Chopped coriander leaves – 2 tbsp

Salt – as per taste

Step–by–step guide:

1. Take 2 to 3 medium-sized potatoes in a container and wash them thoroughly to remove the impurities from their surfaces.
2. After washing, chop the potatoes into medium-sized pieces with the skin. This way, you retain the fiber content and make your dish nutritious.
3. Take the pressure cooker, add 3 tbsp of coconut oil, and allow it to heat on medium flame.
4. Once the oil is ready, add ½ tsp of chana dal (split chickpea lentil) and urad dal (black gram) and fry them until they appear golden brown.
5. Then add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle (at this stage, make sure you do not burn the mustard seeds. Once you hear the crackling sound, add your next ingredient. If you burn the mustard seeds, it may give a bitter taste that you do not want for your potato recipe)
6. Next, add 2 to 3 crushed garlic cloves and sauté until they reach a golden color.
7. Then add the finely chopped onion and sauté until they turn transparent.
8. Now it’s time to add some spice to your dish. Add a sliced green or dry red chili and sauté for half a minute.
9. Once your tempering is ready, add 2 tsp of turmeric powder and sauté until it releases its pleasant aroma.
10. Next, add the cut potatoes and mix with the ingredients for a minute. Add the salt and half a cup of water, and keep it for cooking until a single whistle. If you want potatoes to be softer and mashed, cook until 2 to 3 whistles.
11. After a whistle, switch off the flame and allow the steam to release. Once done, open the lid, add the salt if required, and add chopped coriander leaves as a garnish.
12. If you feel the dish is watery, mash some potato pieces to thicken the texture. And in this way, you can have one of the healthy potato recipes for breakfast.

Similarly, you can prepare another recipe called aloo jeera by replacing mustard seeds with jeera or cumin seeds and turmeric powder with coriander powder and/or garam masala powder. You can savor these healthy potato recipes without oven and kick-start your day.

If you want to know the healthy ways to eat potatoes for dinner, continue reading.

Healthy potato recipes for dinner

Potato is a flexible and reliable vegetable that can be accommodated in breakfast, lunch, snacks, or dinner menus.

Similarly, it blends well with many vegetables – resulting in nutritious and delicious recipes like the following:

Aloo matar ki sabzi (Potato and green peas recipe)

Ingredients required:

Dried green peas/matar – one cup (uncooked)

Potatoes – 2 medium-sized

Onion – 1 medium-sized

Tomato – 1 medium-sized

Oil – 3tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1tsp

Crushed garlic cloves – 2 to 3

Curry leaves – 3 to 4

Red chili powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Jeera powder – 1 tsp

Garam masala powder – 1tsp

Salt – as per taste

Step-by-step procedure:

1. Soak one cup of cleaned dried green peas for 2 to 4 hours (if you are keeping it overnight or more than 10 hours, reduce the number of cooker whistles while cooking).
2. Finely chop one medium-sized onion and tomato each. Then, take 2 medium-sized potatoes and cut them with the skin. Next, soak them in the water to prevent discoloration.
3. After the soaking time of green peas, check whether there are wrinkles on their surface. If yes, you can continue soaking for some more time to ensure even cooking of all the green peas.
4. Once the soaking is done, remove the water and rinse them with clean water. Then add them into a pressure cooker with 1 tsp of salt and 1 cup of water, and keep them on the high flame until the 1st whistle. After the first whistle, keep the flame to medium.
5. If the soaking duration is 2 to 4 hours, cook the green peas until 4 whistles. If you had soaked for overnight, or more than 10 hours, then 2 whistles would be enough.
6. Once the steam is released from the cooker, open the lid, add the chopped potatoes, and keep it for cooking until 1 whistle. Thus, your main two ingredients are ready.
7. To prepare the tempering, add 3 tbsp of oil in a vessel. When the oil is heated, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds. Once the seeds begin to crackle, add the 2 to 3 crushed garlic cloves and fry until they attain a golden-brown color.
8. Then add 3 to 4 curry leaves and sauté until they get a crispy texture (as an optional ingredient, you can add a dry red chili to your tempering mix if you are a fan of its aroma)
9. Once your tempering is ready, add the chopped onions and sauté for 2 minutes until they get a transparent texture. Then comes the chopped tomatoes and salt, and sauté until the tomatoes are cooked properly and form a smooth paste.
10. Now is the turn of Indian spices that play a significant role in making any Indian dish delicious.
11. Add 1 tsp of red chili powder, ½ tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of jeera/cumin powder, and 1 tsp of garam masala powder. Mix these spices thoroughly with the onion-tomato mixture until they release their distinct flavor.
12. Next, add half a cup of water so the spices do not burn. Then, add the cooked green peas and potatoes (along with the water used to cook it) and mix them with the masala. You can serve this dish as a dry or semi-gravy dish, and accordingly add the water and simmer for a minute.
13. Add the salt if required, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and bingo! Your potato dish is ready.

This recipe can be the best way to eat potatoes for weight loss.

How?

This dish has protein from the green peas that can keep you satiated for a long time. Hence, preventing you from overeating.

You can use this same procedure to prepare other combination recipes as well, such as aloo gobi (cauliflower and potatoes) and aloo baingan (potatoes and brinjal). These can be titled as healthy potato recipes for weight loss as these veggies contain fewer calories and higher fiber content.

There is another healthy way to add potatoes to your menu – that is pan-fried potato slices.

Clean and cut the potatoes in a circular shape. Add salt, red chili powder, and black pepper powder to the slices and marinate them for about 15 minutes. Then, pan-fry these potato slices with olive oil and savor with the curd rice (This is a killer combo, I tell you!)

That’s it from my end today. These are the few healthy ways to eat potatoes and obtain maximum benefits from them in a desi style – as your heart desires. Are you going to try these healthy potato recipes? Let me know.