Urulakkizhangu Curry (Potato Curry in a Coconut Milk Based Gravy)

After we got married, the Techie Man wanted to set up our rented home a bit before bringing me here. So I stayed with his mom for a couple of weeks while he got things shifted from his bachelor abode, bought some stuff and so on.

I was watching helping Mummy water her plants one evening when I got a call from him. The Techie said he was in a shop and was looking up pressure cookers.

'What! I wanted to buy my  kitchen things. And what do you know about cooking anyway?'

That is what I would have liked to tell him - what I ended up saying was that I wanted one which I could lift up and clean easily - not any umpteen pound monsters.  And I wanted a Hawkins. Because that is the cooker my grandmother used to have and that is the one I'm ever going to use.

When I finally came here, I was fairly surprised by his choice. The 3 ltr Contura was good and small and perky and smart.

I loved it.

I probably might be the only person around with just one pressure cooker though. Frankly, it serves all purposes here :)

This potato curry here is something that I cook often in my cooker.

What You Will Need: 

The Veggies:

1. Potatoes, cubed - 1 cup
2. Onions, sliced - 1 cup
3. Tomatoes, diced - 1/4 cup
4. Green Chillies, slit - 1

The Powders:

1. Meat Masala, store bought - 1 and a 1/2 tsp.
2. Coriander Powder - 1 tsp.
3. Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp. (I lean towards the lower end of the spectrum ;) )
4. Turmeric Powder - A pinch

The Sputtering Sidekicks:

1. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp.
2. Curry Leaves - A sprig

And The Rest:

1. Thick Coconut Milk - 1/2 cup (or more)
2. Corn flour - A scant tsp. (Optional. I add it as I tend to go skimpy on the coconut milk. But I like my curry a bit thick. You don't need this if you add really thick milk.)
3. Salt
4. Water
5. Oil (Coconut Oil if you have it. Otherwise, Sunflower Oil.)

On To the Cauldron: 

Start heating up some oil in your pressure cooker. When it gets hot enough, tumble the onion slices and sauté till they turn a light shade of brown.

Add the ginger garlic paste and the green chilli. Sauté till the raw smell goes.

Now add the powders and stir for a couple of minutes.

Tip in the tomatoes and cook till they get mashed up.

Add the potatoes along with some water and salt. Put the lid and weight on and cook till the potatoes get done. (The potatoes that I get here cook really fast and unless I open the cooker soon after a whistle is blown, they will get really overcooked.)

Once the potatoes are done, switch off the heat. Remove the lid and get the cooker back to the stove.  

Dissolve the corn starch in the coconut milk if you are using it. Add the coconut milk, bring the curry to a simmer and switch off.

Transfer the curry into a serving dish.

In another pan, heat up some oil, splutter mustards and add the curry leaves. Pour these on top of the curry.

And we are done.

So “I did cook the Kerala Potato Curry with my Indian pressure cooker and it didn’t blow up in my face”.

You can also add some boiled eggs and make it an 'Egg and Potato Curry'. I will probably do that in another post. 

The curry goes well with chappathis and appams. (and puttu if you are me us;) ) 

Sending this to Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday of  2-21-13.