Potatoes & Tomatoes (Alu Tamatar)

his is a variation of the above combination- if you don't have coriander powder at home, or
wish to avoid the same, here's a variation that is lighter in terms of spices.
Ingredients:
1/2 lbs. cooked potato cubes. Use either peeled or un-peeled potatoes according to your
preference.
1/2 lbs. tomatoes, diced
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tsp. salt or to taste, rock salt preferable
1 tsp. chilli powder (optional)
Cilantro/coriander leaves
1 tablespoon oil
Method:
Heat oil in a small non-stick frying pan (or skillet) and fry the cumin seeds for half a minute,
before adding the potatoes and tomatoes, salt and turmeric and chilli powder. Cook until done
(about 10 minutes), add 1/2 cup warm water and simmer, and garnish with cilantro/coriander.
Note: The above combination of potatoes and spices can be used to stuff pitas/pocket
breads/parathas.
I cook the potatoes in the microwave and finely slice them with a knife before cooking, so that I
get a delicious mixture of mashed potatoes, tomatoes and spices at the end. After putting the
mixture into wheat pocket bread originally meant for stuffed pitas, the result is a close
approximation of the traditional "alu-paratha".
Each stuffed pita can be warmed in the microwave for half a minute, and topped with a teaspoon
of butter so that you have a sumptuous meal ready in minutes!
To make optimum use of your time, put the potatoes to cook in the microwave ( a total of four
minutes, two minutes on each side after washing and pricking with a fork) or boil them (cut into
cubes and add to boiling water until done), according to your preference. In the meantime, chop
the tomatoes and the cilantro/coriander. As soon as the potatoes are ready, you can start cooking,
and the whole process shouldn't last for more than half an hour.