Leafy vegetables and herbs are commonly used in an Indian diet across various states. There are variety of recipes using bright and fresh green veggies which makes part of our day-to-day meals. These are not fancy recipes rather homestyle yet delicious ones with staple ingredients. In this post, I am sharing one such recipe using dill leaves which is locally known as ‘Shepu‘.

This ‘Shepu-Batata Bhaji‘ is a traditional Indian side dish prepared with fresh dill leaves and potatoes. Dill leaves has strong aroma and pungent taste which could overpower if used in excess. So, most Indian recipes combines dill with other ingredients like yellow moong dal (yellow split gram) or potatoes. I fancy potato than moong dal as it perfectly balances bright flavours of dill. Additionally, I love to add coarse peanut power in my recipe that gives texture and bite to this dish. It is a simple and pretty looking side dish that can be enjoyed with your main meal. As far as I know not many folks (at-least in India) enjoy dill leaves or shepu but trust me and try this recipe once. I am sure you’ll won’t regret it 😉

Ingredients:

40-50 gms fresh dill leaves (2 tightly packed cups)

1 red onion

3 medium potatoes

4-6 garlic cloves

2 green chillies

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp roasted peanut powder

1 tbsp oil

Salt as per taste

Water as required

How to make:

Wash dill leaves under running water to remove any dirt. Keep it aside to strain any extra water.

Start preparation with other veggies. First; wash and peel potatoes then dice it. Next; finely chop onion and garlic.

Take a pan or kadhai over high heat and add oil into it.

Once oil is hot, add mustard seeds into the pan. Once mustard starts to crackle; add cumin seeds into it.

Let both seeds splutter for few seconds; then tip in chopped onions.

Turn heat to medium and continue to fry onions. Once onions starts to change colour; tip in garlic followed by sliced green chillies.

Sauté for few minutes and add turmeric into the pan.

Mix everything together until rawness goes away.

Meanwhile, clean and roughly chop dill leaves. I used only delicate part of it and removed it’s thick stems.

Next goes diced potatoes into the pan. Gently stir it together to cover with onion mixture.

Add 1-2 cups of hot water and cover the pan with lid.

Season with salt and cook potatoes over medium heat for few minutes.

Once potatoes are nicely cooked and any excess water evaporates; add chopped dill leaves.

Turn heat to low and gently mix everything together. Simmer just about 2 minutes.

Finally, stir in roasted peanut powder. Give a quick stir and turn off the heat.

Our side dish with dill leaves and potatoes (aka shepu-batata bhaji) is ready to serve. Pair is with simple dal-rice or curd-rice; you might want to enjoy it with fresh roti or chapati and some curd on side.

I hope you enjoyed this traditional Indian recipe and might want to try sometime.

If you have any questions or suggestions then I am all ears.

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Recipe