This Nepalese Potato Salad, or Chukauni, is a yogurt-based potato salad. It's gluten-free, healthy, and creamy, and it's packed full of delicious spices such as fenugreek, turmeric, cumin, cilantro, and cayenne.
Scrub the potatoes under cold running water and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Place them in a small or medium-size saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pan, and gently boil until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork or knife but still firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Fish the pieces out of the water with a slotted spoon and place them in a medium-size bowl.
Drop the peas into the potato cooking water and boil them just to warm them up, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain them in a colander, give them a good shake or two to remove any excess water, and add the peas to the potatoes along with the onion.
Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil appears to shimmer and smells quite pungent, sprinkle in the coriander, cumin, and fenugreek seeds. Allow them to sizzle and turn reddish brown, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle in the cayenne and turmeric, staining the oil with their sunny dispositions. Pour most of the oil out over the potatoes and peas, holding back the seeds in the skillet as much as you can. Scrape these seeds into a mortar and pulverize them into a coarse powder with a pestle. Or if you don’t have one, transfer them to a spice grinder (like a coffee grinder) and grind them. Scrape this blend into the bowl with the potatoes.
Add the yogurt, cilantro, and salt to the potatoes and give it all a good stir. Serve at room temperature.
The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.