Aaloo Taare Ko

(Rana Style Fried Potatoes)

Every Rana house cooks this dish a little differently according to their taste, but it is a must in nearly every meal. To bring out the best taste in this dish, red potatoes must be used. Potatoes would be brought from Mustang, which is in the cold northern region of Nepal, an extremely difficult and inaccessible terrain in the old days, but which definitely produced the tastiest potatoes.

Ingredients
• 6 medium-sized red potatoes
• 1 cup ghee
• 1 cup oil (mustard preferably)
• 3 tbsp coarsely ground ginger
• 3 tbsp coarsely ground garlic
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp jimbu (herb)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1.5 tsp red chilli powder
• salt to taste
Method
Slice the potatoes lengthways in four pieces and soak them in a bowl of water for half an hour. Heat the oil
and ghee in a wok, and add the potatoes to the oil, keep turning gently for a few minutes till the potatoes are cooked and turn into a golden colour. Remove the excess oil from the pan retaining around half a cup, tilt the pan to one side and add the fenugreek seeds and jimbu to
the oil in the pan. When they are a dark colour, add the ground ginger and garlic to the potatoes and stir gently. After 1 minute, add the rest of the ingredients and stir. All the spices should be cooked and integrated well with the potatoes.
Serve immediately, if possible, for best taste!