Green Chutney Potato Salad

Let’s be clear. I love potato salad. I love it with mayonnaise. Hey, I even love it vegan with vinaigrette. With crispy fried red potatoes or soft boiled russets, smoked paprika and chives or celery seed and cider vinegar. As long as there are potatoes and dressing, we’re square.

However, I concocted this particular potato salad not for love of potato-based side dishes, but because I had a mission: how the heck do I get rid of a whole bunch of cilantro?

Cilantro is a divided subject. Some love it. Some hate it, and most people in my family say, “It’s okay.” So while I ordinarily eat cilantro at every meal, this week, we hadn’t even touched our bunch. It hadn’t turned yet, but it wasn’t exactly thriving. I had an idea…

Back when I lived in LA, my roommate introduced me to papdi chaat, a common street food made from layering papdi, boiled potato, chickpeas, yogurt, green chutney, and tamarind chutney. The many tangy flavors, plus the crunchy and smooth textures, make my mouth water just thinking about it! This dish introduced me to green chutney, a cilantro-based sauce which happens to be my favorite way to use up copious amounts of cilantro.

Step 1: the potatoes

Be advised: this recipe is plate-sized, not picnic-sized. I used the seven medium-sized gold potatoes pictured here and fluffed the recipe with boiled chickpeas.

Oh! And don’t forget to add a palmful of salt to the boiling water. It won’t be too salty, and it will help the salt penetrate the whole potato.

Step 2: make green chutney

It starts like this–cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and olive oil. Unlike my usual green chutney, I opted for garlic over ginger. I also added olive oil to balance the starchiness of the potatoes.

…and it ends like this.

Step 3: assemble

Just combine your elements and serve. If the chutney is juicy, mash some of the potatoes so the mixture remains thick.

That’s all. Enjoy!

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