Potato roast is a versatile dish that can satisfy a year’s babies to 100-year human craving. People around the world have been making potato roast in multiple ways. On this post, I am sharing a Spicy potato roast/fry recipe made with besan/gram flour, originated in Tamil Nadu, India. In Tamil Nadu, this version of potato roast has mainly prepared by the Brahmin’s community. They call it Potato kara Kari. Brahmin is an Indian community that follows a vegetarian diet. In Brahmin’s Tamil Kari, is nothing but vegetables sauteed in the Indian spices. So the literal meaning for potato kara Kari is spicy sauteed potatoes.
Memories “the potato kara Kari” brings back to mind:
Curd rice(Indian yogurt mixed with rice) and potato kara Kari is the most loved comfort food among vegetarians. But, one of my ex-colleagues and a friend Vasupradha used to bring chapati(Indian flatbread) and potato kara Kari for lunch. From then on, I’ve started to like chapati with potato kara Kari combo. We friends call her Vasu, an Iyengar girl. Iyengar is a part of the brahmin community. Most of the kids from the Brahmin community learn Karnatic music. Vasu is not exceptional. Some of them stop practicing music at some of their life but, Vasu kept practicing and, her voice is a beautiful soft voice.
The last time I saw her was on the Facebook profile picture. It was her wedding picture. Petite lady with fair skin, long lustrous black hair, wear eyeglasses, and got an intellectual brain and look. An avid reader, a great fan of harry potter books but, don’t buy a single book. Such a penny pincher always borrowed the books from the library :-D, even her family make fun of her spending habit. Her claim is she doesn’t spend less intentionally, somehow spending less has become her nature. I had got a chance to know her for only three months.
I met vasu at my job training in Chennai. We had put in the same batch for the three months of training and assigned to different projects. A few years later, she got married and moved to Bangalore. We still are staying in contact since both got very busy in our life rarely share a text. In my life journey, Vasu is one of the favorite females with a dignified, positive, and ambitious attitude I have met. I wish I had more days to know her better.
Some people make a strong impression though we had spent only a few days with them. Vasu is one of those some people. I still clearly remember the words she has said. Her mom makes the best potato kara Kari. She chops the potato into tiny cubes for kara Kari. Whenever I asked vasu about how her mom had got time and patience to chop the potatoes into small cubes early in the morning and cook the kara Kari then pack it for her lunch. Vasu’s answer was always the same and casual Because “kara Kari is easy to make and easy to pack”!
Her other usual dialogue was “cooking is not rocket science.” I doubt she remembers all these incidents now!
Checkout my mothers Potato chips fry recipe here.
Ingredients:
- 600 grams potatoes, cubed
- 3 tbsp of oil (if required add in extra oil while roasting the potatoes)
- 1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp of urad dhal
- a stalk of curry leaves
- 1 clove of crushed garlic with skin
Spice Mix:
- 2 tbsp of besan flour/gram flour
- 1 tsp of red chili powder(1/2 for mild spice)
- 1 to 1.25 tsp of salt(adjust to taste)
- 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
- 1 tsp of Kashmiri chili powder(optional)
- a pinch of asafoetida(optional)
- 1 tsp of coriander powder
Procedure:
Step 1:
- Chop the cleaned potatoes into small cubes and then rinse it in the cold water. Rinsing the chopped potatoes helps to remove excess starch.
- Steam the potatoes until 80% cooked. If the potatoes are 100% cooked then, it will become mushy while roasting.
- While the potatoes are steaming, Take a small cup, combine all the ingredients under ‘Spice Mix’ and keep it ready.
- Transfer the steamed potatoes to a wide bowl. Add the curry leaves and Sprinkle the prepared spice mix over the potatoes and mix well using a spoon. Make sure the potatoes are well coated in the spices.
Step 2:
- In a wide frying pan, add the crushed garlic and oil. Heat the oil, when the oil becomes nice and hot, remove the garlic and add in mustard seeds and urad dhal.
- Add in the prepared potatoes and mix well. Arrange the potatoes in one single layer and allow it to roast over medium heat. Every five minutes, stir the potatoes and again arrange them in a single layer. It might take around 30 minutes or so to roast the potatoes. While roasting if the potatoes are dry or sticks to the pan, add in one or two tsp of oil.
- After the potatoes developed the roasted marks and slightly crisp on the outside, turn off the stove.
Here are some other potato recipes.
Potato Paal Curry
Potato peas Masala
