This is a Jamie Oliver recipe. Well, at least it was until I got my hands on it. Mea culpa.

Glanced over the recipe and simply had to cook it up. Okay, so I admit I forgot all about it until I cleaned out my recipe database last week and ran into it again. Put it on my to-do list, tweaked the heck out of it and cooked them up this weekend.

They turned out amazing, wonderful, fantastic, fabulous, brilliant. I dunno, we need a neologism because there are no words to describe just how spot on this breakfast dish was for me and my family. Incredibly fragrant and hearty with a slight kick.

Try it, you’ll see what I mean!


Ingredients:

chapattis or flour tortillas
1 1/2 pound potatoes
2 handfuls spinach leaves
1 medium onion
1 large garlic clove
thumb size piece ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander (ketoembar)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
4 ripe tomatoes
cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
2 oz butter
pepper
salt

Optional: poached eggs


Directions:

Get yourself a bowl and combine the ground coriander with the turmeric. As much as I can’t stand cilantro, I love ground coriander.

Add the garam masala, chili powder (mine is the seriously hot version) and ground cumin.

Combine it all and add the mustard seeds. The recipe called for black mustard seeds but I always mix black and brown.

Peel and rinse the potatoes.

Cut them in bit size pieces and put them in a big pan with lightly salted water.

Wash the spinach and put it in a heat-proof colander.

Bring the potatoes to a boil.

I boiled my potatoes for 6 minutes before I placed the colander with spinach on top of the pan with the boiling potatoes. So basically you use the potato pan as a sort of steamer.

Steam the spinach for about 3 to 4 minutes until it wilts, all the while continuing to cook the potatoes.

Drain the potatoes. They should be nearly fork tender but not quite done yet.

Finely mince the onion.

Do the same with 4 ripe tomatoes.

Heat 2 oz (3 tbsp) butter and cook the onions until soft but not brown.

Add the grated ginger and garlic.

Add the spice mix and cook for a minute to release the flavor. Take a whiff! This smells amazing.

Throw in the potato cubes and give them a stir.

Add the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Put the lid on and cook the potatoes for 5 to 10 minutes.

Finely mince a good handful cilantro (yuck, ewww) or flat-leaf parsley.

Once the potatoes are done and the tomatoes have turned into a thick sauce sticking to the potatoes, you can stir in the cilantro or parsley or sprinkle it on top on the plate.

Serve the breakfast potatoes spooned on top of chapattis or flour tortillas—I baked my tortillas in a dry, hot skillet for about a minute—and top them with the spinach.

These babies hit all the right spots and looked beautiful to boot. Perfect lazy Sunday breakfast, if you ask me.

Aside from adding onion, garlic and brown mustard seeds and messing with the spices, I also topped them with a poached egg. It was a perfect match.

But though they are labeled breakfast, there’s no reason not to serve these wonderful potatoes as a side dish as well.