The title of my last post could also apply to this post. My library cookbooks have become a source of unexpected recipe inspiration as I continue to hold on to them well beyond the standard 9-week checkout and renewal times. Coupled with the accidental inclusion of frozen roasted baby potatoes in a grocery delivery order, pandemic cooking appears to well within its first wave.

The recipe I turned to for these unexpected potatoes (of which we received 2 bags) was Dishoom's Gunpowder Potatoes. The final dish was fantastic - spicy, acidic and sharp from the green onions and lime juice, and wonderfully spiced from the toasted cumin, fennel and coriander seeds.

In addition to using frozen roasted potatoes, which sharply reduced the cooking time and complexity, I also substituted Kashmiri chile powder for homemade kabab masala to simply this recipe. I will continue both modifications because these potatoes were wonderful.
To start, I spread the frozen potatoes on a baking sheet and put them in the preheated oven for 14 minutes. They sat for 3 - 4 minutes before I cut them in half, per the Dishroom recipe instructions.



While the potatoes were in the oven, I toasted the whole spices until fragrant, then ground lightly them with a mortar and pestle. While the spices were toasting, I melted the butter in the serving dish, and chopped up the green chiles, scallions, and cilantro. Tossed all of the flavoring ingredients together in the serving dish before adding the potatoes, then sea salt, lime juice, and chile powder to taste. So easy!


