In South Indian cooking “curry” refers to a dry mixture of cooked vegetables coated with spices. Crispy potato curry is a favourite dish but typically involves large quantities of oil and needs to be tended carefully to achieve a crisp golden exterior. Here instead they are roasted in the oven which results in a delectable texture and flavour with much less oil. I have also thrown in a colourful medley of carrots and red and green peppers. Feel free to use other vegetables such as cauliflower, sweet potato, pumpkin, aubergine, etc., adjusting the cooking time accordingly.
Preheat the oven to 270°C/520°F. This the highest temperature setting for my oven and the vegetables roast very quickly at this temperature. If your oven does not go up as high, preheat it to the maximum temperature. Chop a medium potato, a medium carrot, 1/2 each of a green and red pepper into 1/2-1 inch/1.3-2.5 cm chunks. Lightly grease a medium baking tray, or line with greaseproof paper and brush with a little oil. Arrange the carrot and potato on the tray so that they are well spread out. Drizzle with 2 tsp sesame oil (or other oil), sprinkle with 1/2 tsp each of curry powder (South Indian if possible), cumin powder and ground turmeric, and 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder, and toss to coat the vegetables well with the spices. Place the tray in the middle of the oven and after about 15 minutes, take out the vegetables, scatter the chunks of pepper over the top and return to the oven to continue to roast until the potatoes are crispy on the outside, soft inside. The carrots will tend to retain a bit more crunch whilst the peppers will have charred slightly round the edges. This took under 10 minutes in my oven but it might take longer at lower temperatures so check at regular intervals to prevent overcooking or burning. Enjoy hot as side dish, or as an alternative to rice or flatbread alongside red lentil dal or other curries.
Turmeric Yoga 