Yahni Potatoes

Yahni (γιαχνί) is a specific way of cooking used in many countries in the Balkans and South Asia, involving boiling with a tomato sauce. In Greece, potatoes are often made this way, whether alone or with meat/fish. This is a recipe to make solely with potatoes, that you can use as a meal or sides to dishes. :) Depending on the potato variety and quality, they can be anything from soft to super-awesome-soft-melting-in-your-mouth after you're done cooking. Slow and long cooking will ensure that your potatoes are as soft and awesome as possible, so patience and checking on your food often is required!

Time you'll need to make this: 1-1,5h
Difficulty level: easy!




Ingredients (for 2 plates):

- 4-5 medium-sized potatoes
- 4-5 cherry tomatoes
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1 both cube (veggie, chicken or beef will do)
- tomato sauce (1 carton)
- olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
- sweet paprika
- 3-4 laurel leaves
- cinnamon
- water


How to cook it:

1. Peel and chop your potatoes in cube-like pieces. They should be a bit bigger than a cherry tomato in size - too big pieces won't cook very well and too small pieces will easily become a mash.
2. Grind your garlic, and chop your cherry tomatoes in 4 pieces.
3. I always prefer to use a frying pan to make this dish, because I can control the softness of the potatoes better and add in water and tomato sauce as necessary. Add a shot glass of olive oil in the frying pan, and heat it to medium heat.
4. Throw in the potatoes, garlic, tomatoes and broth cube. Add only a bit of salt (the broth is already salty - add something like half a teaspoon, you can add more later to taste), and season with pepper and paprika. 
5. Stir very well so that the spices and olive oil are all over the potatoes, and fry for 5 minutes, still stirring, until the broth cube is melted in the mix and the tomatoes are a bit soft and have let out juice.
6. Keep the heat on medium (I keep it on 3 on a scale of 1-6) and add half the carton of tomato sauce. Then add water until the potatoes are covered. Stir well and add the laurel leaves.
7. Let your mixture cook on medium heat until your potatoes are soft (try with a fork). You might need to add water 1-2 times, and also some extra tomato sauce if you feel it's not saucy enough for you. It usually takes me about an hour until the potatoes are perfect.
8. When the potatoes are soft enough and the water is mostly evaporated leaving a red sauce, place the heat on high (5 on the scale of 1-6, for me), and add a little bit of cinnamon. Stir everything very well until the sauce becomes dense.
9. Remove from frying pan, remove the laurel leaves and season with a bit more pepper. Dipping in the sauce with bread is a must! Eat warm :)