Chettinad aloo fry (spicy potatoes)

Cooking notes

This aromatic recipe is prepared in the Chettinad style of cooking, which uses freshly roasted and ground spices. You need just a handful of ingredients, all of which are hopefully lying around in the kitchen, and the preparation takes less than 15 minutes.
Chettinad aloo is called for on days when you need a flavour explosion in your mouth. The boiled potatoes are perfumed and coated with the spices to bring together this simple vegetarian roast dish.
Makes 2-4 servings.

For the ground spices:

For the cooking:

Boil and peel the potatoes. Be careful not to over-boil them – we need them firm and soft, rather than mushy. Keep aside.
Once the potatoes cool, pierce them gently with a fork to prepare them for absorbing the spices later. Chop into cubes.
To make the ground spices, in a pan, put the red chillies, split black gram, and peppercorns. Dry roast until the dal gives off a fragrant aroma and turns light brown. After it cools, grind this mix to a powder. Your spice mix is ready!
Note – This recipe yields enough spice mix (masala) to be used 2-3 times and it can be stored in a dry, airtight container. Each time, you can use about 2-3 tsp of the powder, depending on how strong you like the flavour.
Heat the oil. You can use the same non-stick pan you may have used earlier. Add in the mustard seeds and curry leaves, and let them splutter for 10-20 seconds.
Then add in the onions, and saute till the onions are light brown.
Add the potatoes. Mix well and add just a little bit of salt.
Then add as much of the ground powder as you want (2-3 tsp). Mix it well, ensuring that the potatoes are fully coated in the spice mix.
Cover and cook on low heat for 2-3 mins to allow the potatoes to absorb the spices. Turn off the gas and keep the pan covered for 5 more minutes.
Enjoy hot with chapati, rice or on its own!