Chinese potato in coconut gravy
This unusual vegetable (or tuber) is commonly found in Africa and goes by the name native or country potato. It’s called as "Chinese potato" in India (kooka in konkani & sambrali in kannada) and used only in south Indian preparations. These potatoes are egg shaped tubers of a perennial creeper very close to the mint family which are cultivated for ornamental and culinary use. They are smaller than the usual potatoes and requires a bit of effort to clean them.
Chinese potatoes are usually used as a substitute to potatoes in curries or fried with spices in oil. It can also be stir fried with little oil, red, green chillies and salt which makes a perfect side dish with rice and dal. Before making any preparations, it should be cleaned well to get rid of the dark outer skin. Traditionally, these small spuds are rubbed against a jute gunny bag and then properly washed twice or thrice. I usually use a knife to scrape out the outer skin, but not before wearing a pair of gloves. If you use bare hands, the stain remains on the fingers and will not go away for a few days.
Cleaning & peeling the potatoes is a major task, but once you are done it takes very little time to make the curry. Here is a commonly done coconut curry with these potatoes.
What you’ll need :
1 cup chinese potato cut into halves
1 cup grated coconut
4-5 red chillies (sauted in 2 drops of oil in medium heat for 2 minutes)
1 tsp coriander seeds
Marble sized tamarind
Salt to taste
For tempering :
1 tbsp coconut (or any other) oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
7-8 curry leaves
How to :
In a deep bottomed pan, boil the potatoes in water for around 20 min (or until cooked). They have a very earthy smell, and as they start to cook, the kitchen smells wonderful.
Once done, turn off the heat and discard the water.
Grind the coconut, red chillies, coriander seeds and tamarind to a coarse mixture using little water. If you want the gravy with watery consistency, you can add more water.
In a separate pan, add the boiled potatoes, ground masala and heat it on medium heat. Adjust the salt and allow to boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep it aside.
Meanwhile heat some oil in a tempering pan, add the mustard seeds. Once it begins to sputter, add the curry leaves and turn off the heat and pour over the curry. Stir well and serve after half an hour. Any coconut curry should rest for atleast half an hour, so that the gravy takes the taste of the vegetables or lentils.
