Shimla mirch -aloo ( potatoes with bell pepper)

And I am back with another one of my quick dinners. This time its an old favourite with a just a little alteration on my part. Indian dishes present a gorgeous palette with all the colors and mostly its because of turmeric and tomotoes. The same turmeric that gives gravies such awesome color, however wrecks havoc on vegetables that are cooked dry. These dishes almost always have a pale sickly yellow color till they are garnished with some cilantro. Since , most times the stores here don't stock cilantro, I do away with the turmeric too. I am sure skipping it a few times does not deprive me from the goodness that turmeric can provide when included in the diet. So thats the minor change from mom's recipe- skipping turmeric and adding salt and red pepper a couple of minutes before I take the pan off the gas. Regular readers of the blog are already aware of this quirk of mine. I like to do this because this way I end up using less of salt and pepper and the veggies retain their natural color and flavor.
The preparation could not be simpler. I just cubed a medium sized potato and some green bell peppers. I don't deseed the peppers and I also used some green chillies ( added whole). After letting a tsp of olive oil warm up in a pan, I added the potatoes and let these cook on high heat for a couple of minutes and then added the bell peppers and the green peppers. I let these cook on high heat too for 2 minutes and then reduced the heat to a simmer and covered the pan. This way the veggies cook under their own steam and come out smelling great. More often than not I can tell by the aromas in my room that my dinner is ready. Checking a potato cube for doneness is just another sure fire confirmation. At this point I added the salt and red pepper and then a minute later a dash of lemom juice. Dinner was ready and had with great relish with chapatis. I do wish I had some yogurt on hand though. I've always liked to have the combo of this prep. with yogurt. Maybe next time.