Indian Potato Salad (Batata Nu Raita)

This is a "raita" from the Indian "Gujarat" region, in western India. A "raita" on the Indian subcontinent is a salad or side dish of yogurt with other ingredients mixed in. I did a cucumber raita article awhile ago: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/03/raita-to-cool-heat-of-spicy-indian.html

We Americans use the terms "yogurt," for the bacteria thickened dairy product, and "cilantro," for the herb; that is, the leaves of the coriander plant, similar in looks to parsley (they are related). British English often uses "curd" and "green coriander," or sometimes just "coriander" for these terms, respectively. Americans use "coriander" for the spice from the plant; that is, the seeds and the ground seeds. British usage naturally became part of the Indian English of the Indian subcontinent. One time, decades ago, a German friend of mine, Manfred, managed a small hotel in downtown Frankfurt, near the train station. An Indian man was staying at the hotel and he asked Manfred, who was pretty good with English, if the hotel had "curd." Well, Frankfurt was in the American Zone, and there were Americans everywhere, including thousands of American troops back then (the Cold War era). Manfred knew American English. Hahahaha! Hey, why am I laughing? When he asked me what "curd" meant, I didn't know what the hell it meant either! I thought it meant cottage cheese! Manfred had to get out his dictionary. I've never forgotten that. By the way, German uses "Joghurt" for the word, pronounced very similarly to English (but kind of like 'yo-gore-t'), as the "J" is pronounced like English "y" (all German nouns are capitalized; thus, "J").

Ingredients:

2 or 3 potatoes, about 12 ounces, total (see instructions, below)
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds or 2/3 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne)
1 1/4 cup plain thick yogurt
1 heaping tablespoon chopped cilantro (green coriander)

Add the yogurt to a serving bowl and let it warm toward room temperature while you prepare the potatoes. Wash the potatoes, then poke them a couple of times with a knife. Microwave the potatoes in their skins until they are cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes. Let the potatoes cool for a few minutes (or they can be microwaved well in advance), then peel them and cut them into bite sized pieces. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds or ground cumin first, and then add the potatoes, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, mix briefly. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring and turning the potatoes, then empty the potato mixture, oil and all, into the yogurt. Gently mix the potatoes into the yogurt to coat them. Sprinkle the cilantro on top.

WORD HISTORY:
Draft/Draught-"Draft" is simply a spelling variation of "draught." This word, closely related to "draw" and "drag," goes back to Indo European "dhragh," which had the notion of "to pull." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dragan(an)," with the same meaning. This produced the Old Germanic spin off "drahtis/drahtiz," which meant "carrying, bearing, pulling." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "draeht," with the "pulling" meaning. This later became "draught" (the "gh" was pronounced back then) and the word took on a variety of meanings over time related in some way to the notion of "pulling": "pulling" (especially for animals; thus "draught animals"), designing by drawing (that is; "dragging a writing instrument across paper or other surface"), air being "drawn" in through an opening (as in, "Close the door, there's a draught/draft in here."), beer "drawn" from a keg, money "drawn" from an account, people "drawn" in to perform a task (including in American English "military conscription"). The spelling "draft" began to increase as the pronunciation of the word changed with the "gh" gradually taking on an "f" sound. Its closest other Germanic relatives include German "Tracht" (wearing apparel, uniform, now commonly 'traditional old-style regional costume;' that is, clothing is something we "bear," "carry" on us), Low German "Dracht" (same meaning as standard German), Dutch "dracht" (apparel, wear (the noun, as in, "winter wear"), pregnancy ["bearing/carrying" a child, West Frisian has the related "drachtich" and German has "trächtig"], and also the same meaning as German; that is, "traditional costume," Danish "dragt" (costume, apparel), Swedish "dräkt" (apparel, costume), Norwegian "drakt" (costume, but word not commonly used?). I could not find a form in Icelandic and "apparently" West Frisian still only uses the "drachtich" form for "pregnant."