Mashed plantain fry (aratikaya fry)

I remember even when i was very little that i have been interested in new foods. Not as much the cooking as the eating part. And it helped that mom was a fantastic cook willing to experiment. She even had a recipe book where she had jotted down recipes that caught her fancy and there were all sorts of things from curries to snacks to desserts including jams, jellies and sauces. It used to be a good time-pass to go through that book and dream about all sorts of foods. I distinctly remember one such Sunday afternoon when i was twelve or thirteen. I was browsing through the recipes and found one recipe for 'potato latkes' that sounded easy enough to me and volunteered to cook it for the rest of my family. I did make those cutlet type snacks that evening but had undercooked the potatoes. The outside was turning from dark brown to almost sooty black but the potatoes refused to become soft. I was so disappointed. I don't think i ever offered to make a new dish again until many many years later.

One other thing i remember i was so cross at that recipe book at that age was because none of the recipes ever specified how much salt was required. It drove me crazy. Why does everybody say 'salt to taste'? How will i know whether that is half a spoon or 3 spoonfuls. You will get an idea of the salt required if you have been cooking regularly for at least 10 days. But if that is your first experiment when you are 11, you can go nuts trying to figure that out. So now that i have tried my hand at cooking for a fair amount of time, its my turn to act mysterious and not specify the exact amount of seasoning. That way if something goes wrong, they can't blame me. ha ha ha. (evil laugh) No, not really. I can never be deliberately evil or hurtful, so whenever my memory serves me i shall give an approximate amount of salt. Starting from today.
And as i have mentioned before in this post, today's recipe has been my most favourite way to eat plantains ever since i was a kid.

Ingredients

2 large or 3 small raw green plantains
2 medium onions, finely sliced
2 hot green chilies, sliced
4 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

5-7 small cloves garlic, peeled (optional)
2 sprigs curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder or garam masala powder

Juice of half a lime

Method

1. Pressure cook (or boil on a stove) the raw plantains with skins on in half a cup of water. Peel the plantains and roughly mash with the back of a spoon or fork
2. In a medium sized pan (or kadai) heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. 
3. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering add the green chilies, garlic, and onions and fry till the onions turn soft, about 5-7 minutes. 
4. Add the curry leaves, mashed plantain, salt and turmeric and fry for 6-8 minutes
5. Adjust seasoning, add a little red chili powder (and) or garam masala. 
6. Turn off the heat. Then add lime juice and mix. Serve with a garnish of chopped coriander or another slice of lime. Goes well with plain rice or Indian flat breads