Roasted Potato and Cauliflower with Paanch Phoron

This is a twist on a classic Bengali potato and cauliflower dish—aloo-kopi chochchori. I used all the prescribed ingredients but instead of cooking it on the stovetop, I roasted the vegetables in the oven. The resulting dish retains all the aroma and complexity of the original recipe, but instead of being soft and soggy, it has a dry and crispy finish, which is the perfect complement to steaming hot daal and rice on a cold winter day.

Ingredients
1 head of Cauliflower (about 1½ lbs [750 gms] after the stalks and leaves are trimmed), washed and cut into small florets
1½ lbs [750 gms] Potatoes, washed and cut, skin-on, into 1-inch cubes
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 tbsp Paanch Phoron*
2 tbsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt (to taste)
2 tbsp Olive Oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 450º F (230ºC). Arrange cauliflower florets and potatoes in one layer in a baking dish.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet or frying pan over high heat. Add paanch phoron and let sputter for about 1 min. Remove from heat and pour the spices and oil over the vegetables. 
3. Sprinkle turmeric, chilli powder, black pepper, and sea salt, drizzle with olive oil, and using your hands, toss well to mix. 
4. Roast in the oven for 30 mins, then stir the vegetables with a large spoon to ensure that they caramelise evenly. Continue roasting for another 15 mins. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

[*Paanch Phoron is a five-spice blend used extensively in Eastern India, especially in the cuisines of Bengal, Orissa and Assam. The five whole spices are blended in equal parts— Fenugreek seeds (methi), Nigella seeds (kalonji, or kaalo jirey), Fennel seeds (mouri), Carom (radhuni), Mustard seed (shorshey). In my family, the fifth spice, mustard, is not used, but the blend is still referred to as “five spice.”]

Lemon-Parsley Potato Pie

Full disclosure—this is an accidental recipe; albeit an utterly delish one, but accidental nonetheless. It started off life as my regular skillet fried potato hash, which I serve more regularly as a side dish than for breakfast. Two summers ago, I absent-mindedly left the potato sitting in the skillet for an extra 5 minutes or so, and it started sticking to the bottom of the pan. In an effort to rescue the only starch I was serving at that meal, I spread out the potato evenly across the skillet surface, and pressed down. Lo and behold, it morphed from an unappetizing pile of overdone ‘taters, into a golden, wholly formed pie fit for a king!

Ingredients
5 lbs [2-1/4 kgs] Potatoes, peeled and cut in half
Salt (to taste)
4 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp Butter
Grated rind of ½ lemon
Juice of ½ Lemon
1 cup Parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp freshly ground Black Pepper

1. Boil potatoes in a large pot of water over high heat. Drain the water and transfer potatoes to a storage container. Sprinkle with salt, gently toss to incorporate, and let cool thoroughly. You can prepare the potatoes up this point a day ahead and store in the fridge. 
2. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or frying pan, over high heat. Using your hands, roughly crumble the potatoes directly into the pan, and stir briskly for 5 mins. Spread the potatoes out evenly to cover the entire surface of the pan, and press down with the back of your spoon. Let the potatoes sit untouched for about 3 mins, then stir, scraping all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Then spread the potatoes out again, and continue to repeat the scraping-spreading-pressing down process, until the potatoes are a deep golden yellow, generously flecked with dark brown bits. 
3. Add butter, lemon rind, lemon juice, parsley and black pepper and stir to mix well. Spread out the potatoes one final time to form a solid round pie. Remove skillet from heat.  
4. Invert skillet onto a large platter, garnish with any extra scrapings from the bottom of the skillet, and serve immediately.