Design flaws but...

This is a really, really badly designed recipe that is so delicious I am going to make it again. It mixes up two of my best ever snacky, weekending, slightly unforgivable but delicious meals: kathi rolls and Mumbai toasties. I have blogged both, and recommend you do those too. Both of them hold together better than this. But this is a genius flavour mix. I give you (or more exactly Claire Thomson gives you): potato masala toasties. 

From the kathi rolls, we take the potato masala, more or less. I don't think this is the identical mix, but what you want is a dryish potato curry. This is just:

Mustard seeds, popped briefly in the pan

Half an onion, finely chopped, then added to the mustard seeds with as much butter and oil as your conscience allows. Cook till soft.

Small potatoes, chopped bitesize. Add to the pan. Add 200ml water for 300g spuds - you don't want it to be wet. Cook 10 minutes with the lid on, then 10-15 minutes till the water all cooks off and the potatoes are soft. Plenty of salt for these.

 

(Last night I made the sandwich without squishing the potatoes but I think I will for tonight - not into mash, just enough to hold together a bit. I ended up with half my potatoes on a watercress salad.)

What you're taking from the Mumbai toasties is (a) the concept of toasties - so this is bread, buttered on the outside and layered with the masala, sliced cucumber (blech), sliced tomato, sliced onion (blech but this is how you use up your half onion so yay logical recipes) and sliced cheese (anything that will melt nicely, I had some random hard goat's cheese, but Cheddar would be perfect). Plus a hefty sprinkle of aloo chaat if you can - or garam, or the spice mix from the Mumbai toastie would be fine I guess.

The concept of toasties, but messier

And on the inside of your bread slices, and the important part you're taking from the Mumbai toasties is (b) a stormingly fresh chutney. This one is: coriander, lemon juice, grated ginger, grated garlic, green chilli, all blitzed or pestled together. Man, this has punch.

 

Some construction tips: put the cheese near the bottom of the pile so it gets a chance to melt early on and hold things together. Consider mashing your potatoes. Don't only own ridiculously tiny sliced bread. I mean, really, really don't. You will have to make a weeny half sandwich and everything will go, so, so wrong when you try to flip them. 

But it's worth it. And if you have a toastie maker this would work even better. And it's so, so tasty. I can't have my leftovers till after yoga at 7.30 and I am drooling as I type. I commend it to you.