We're very pleased to announce that Rancho Gordo Press will be publishing Arnab Chakladar's Contemporary Indian Cooking next year. I've known Arnab for years. We met on the food forums, and I can't wait to share his clever twists on Indian cuisine. Here's a recipe to kick things off. You can find more great recipes (and good whisky recommendations) on his blog, My Annoying Opinions .  —Steve

From Arnab:

This is one of several recipes in this book that play in the intersections of Indian and Mexican cooking. The crossover between a lot of Indian and Mexican food becomes apparent to Indian immigrants in the U.S. quite early, and it’s not much of a distance traveled from noting the similarities in ingredients, combinations, and textures in many dishes to actually making crossovers in the kitchen. 

 

Here, chipotle chiles in adobo go into a dum alu along with tamarind and jaggery, and the results are rather good. Use the smallest, roundest potatoes you can find. I don’t bother peeling my potatoes most of the time, but you may feel differently.

• A ball of block tamarind, slightly smaller than a golf ball
• 2 to 3 tablespoons neutral oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon crushed ginger
• 2 pounds small, round potatoes
• ¾ teaspoon turmeric powder
• The following spices, ground together into a coarse powder: 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, and 2 small pieces of cassia bark
• 2 to 3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, with a couple of tablespoons of adobo
  
• 1 tablespoon jaggery or brown sugar
• Salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 green onions, trimmed and chopped, for garnish
  

1. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of warm water for 15 minutes. Work the tamarind with your fingers to extract all the flavor from the pulp, straining and discarding the fibers, seeds, and hulls; set aside the tamarind paste.
2. In a tall skillet that’s wide enough to hold all the potatoes in a single layer, warm the oil over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the chopped onion; cook until it begins to brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger; cook until the raw aroma is gone. Add the potatoes; stir to combine and cook, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the turmeric and the ground spices; stir to combine, and cook for another minute or two.
3. In a small blender jar, combine the chipotle chiles and adobo; strain the tamarind paste into the jar, and process until smooth.
4. Add the chipotle-tamarind puree to the pan along with the jaggery and a good pinch of salt; stir to combine and cook until the oil begins to separate.
5. Rinse the blender jar with a cup of water, and add it to the pan; stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low heat, cover, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Uncover the pan, stir, and continue to cook over low heat until the gravy thickens and potatoes are done.
7. Garnish with the green onions and serve with parathas, rice, or tortillas.