Koorka mezhukupuratti/ Chinese potato stir fry

Koorka is my favourite!!! Rice with  koorka mezhukupuratti brings back nostalgic memories. The earthen smell it gives off when being cooked makes it distinct from other tubers. Just as I love the earthen smell that comes with the first rain, like wise I love the smell of koorka getting cooked. But yes, as I am very very lazy I hardly buy this vegetable, as cleaning it, is a bit tedious.

 Back home in Kerala, what I have seen being done in all the households is putting the koorka in a jute bag and beating it on the floor until the skin peels off. Using a knife the remaining skin is then grated off. The end result of this procedure will end you up with stained hands too.(You can choose to wear gloves if you don't want that to happen). Other than that another method is washing the koorka well and steaming it until half cooked and then peeling off the skin just like potatoes. Now this is more easier, but frankly speaking the traditional way, the flavour is retained the most.

  

Ingredients

1/2 kg koorka/chinese potatoes

8-10 shallots

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp red chilli powder

few curry leaves

salt

Method

• Peel and steam the koorka until cooked. The large koorka/chinese potaotes can be cut into smaller pieces.The small ones can be added as such.
• Slightly grind the shallots with the curry leaves and chilli powder.
• Heat coconut oil in a kadai. Add the grinded shallots mixture and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the cooked koorka and salt to this and mix well. 
• Cover and cook on low flame for 10 minutes.
• Open and stir fry for a 1-2 minutes until roasted. Serve hot.