I’m sorry I haven’t been posting any holiday related recipes. Do you guys want more of that stuff? Gingerbread, snickerdoodle and the like? For this post, I thought of one of my readers, Raseefa, who mentioned she loves the basic, every day South Asian (or not) recipes that she can make for her small family. Potato hash is definitely one of those recipes you should have your arsenal. It’s not complicated, but there is a small trick to getting it right… Add potatoes first, remaining vegetables after. I can’t tell you how many times in the early days of my marriage, did my husband put up with potatoes with slightly burned, shriveled pieces of onion and pepper running through it. Because potatoes take longer to cook, I save time by getting them going in the oil first, while chopping the rest of my veggies.  This way of making potato hash won’t give you crispy potatoes. They’ll be tender and flavorful, but cooking them together with the peppers and onions will keep them from crisping up. If you’d rather fry them until crisp and take them off the heat, and combine them with the vegetables later, you’re more than welcome to. This version is easy, and gets eaten by the pickiest eaters in my household for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I didn’t add any heat this time, mainly to cater to the young’ns. But diced jalapeno, chilli powder or even chipotle peppers would be so good with this. I just doused mine in hot sauce.

I recall my mom’s version of breakfast potatoes: aloo bhaji. She dices potatoes into matchsticks and fries them up generously in oil, seasoned with salt, turmeric and green chilis running through. Her version is delicious, but in order to satisfy my conscience a bit, I add veggies and use a lot less oil.

 Traditionally, potato hash gets topped with some eggs during the final stages of cooking. Since I like my fried eggs over easy, that doesn’t work for me. It easily goes from being breakfast side, to lunch or dinner by adding some diced leftover protein: chicken, beef, tofu, shrimp.

One final note: this dish is so much prettier with red bell pepper if you have it in your fridge.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 to 4 large yukon gold or russet potatoes, diced to 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 medium yellow onion, or half of a large one
• 1 red/orange/yellow bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large wok or sauté pan. Add the potatoes in a single layer. Let cook while chopping up the remaining vegetables.
2. Dice onion and peppers. Add to the pan and stir to combine. Mince garlic and add to pan. Add tomato paste, salt, pepper and paprika. Stir to combine.
3. Cook, uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring every once in a while to bring up the vegetables from the bottom to the top. If the vegetables at the bottom are scorching, turn heat down to medium and continue cooking.
4. Top with cilantro and serve.