Mashed Potatoes with East Indian Spices

This original recipe was for roasted potatoes, but I switched it to mashed potatoes because I think it goes better with the Thanksgiving meal. These mashed potatoes are extra delicious and taste like samosa filling. I make a ton of food for Thanksgiving, and for this recipe, I use 1 of 3 Giant Rack Roaster Pans (Handi-foil, Eco-Foil). The other two are used to roast the Masala Chickens and for the stuffing respectively.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp canola or olive oil

2 lbs small red or large russet potatoes, halved or quartered

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp chili pepper seeds or flakes

2 tsp fresh ginger minced (1 *frozen ginger juice ice cube)

5 garlic cloves minced

1/2 green jalapeno seeded and minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground turmeric (optional)

1/2 tsp garam masala (1 tsp)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped

1/2 cup mint chopped

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1 Giant Rack Roaster Pan

Directions

Coat a large baking dish, (one that's at least 9x13 inches, I use a Giant Rack Roaster Pan) lightly with oil.

Boil the potatoes in a large pot (or use two if necessary, so the potatoes can be covered by boiling water completely) until tender, (but not so soft they are falling apart). Once cooked, drain the potatoes and put them in the lightly oiled pan.

Heat oil, mustard seeds, and chili pepper seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat; cook for about a minute until seeds begin to pop. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add ginger, garlic, and jalapeno to the skillet; cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add in the salt, turmeric (if adding), and garam masala and cook for another minute, stirring occasionally.

Pour spice mixture over the potatoes and toss to coat. Mash the potato mixture with a potato masher. 

If desired, bake at 400° F (204° C) for 15 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned on the top. If you want this step to go more quickly, use a low broil setting, but keep an eye on the potatoes as you don't want them to burn. Remove from the oven and let cool for a little bit.

Stir in chopped cilantro and mint. Drizzle with lime juice.

Enjoy hot. Once cooled, store extra potatoes in a Ziploc gallon bag in the refrigerator. To reheat, cover a baking pan with aluminum foil and heat under low broil until just sizzling on the top.

*To make frozen ginger juice ice cubes, I purree washed ginger root sections in my high-speed blender with some water and then strain the juice through a nylon mesh (nut milk bag) and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. Once the ginger cubes are frozen, I transfer them to a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag and store them in the freezer for several months.

Please appropriately recycle washed and dried Ziploc bags with other plastic film materials.