Potato Puttu – Urulaikizhangu Puttu

Puttu is basically peeled and mashed vegetable that is tempered with spices, green chillies and onion. This Potato Puttu is a simple yet flavourful side dish for rice. This goes well with sambar, rasam & most of all with any spicy kuzhambu. Usually I make some kootu variety to pair with it, but this Potato Puttu is also a favourite at home. When we get bored with the usual potato fry with all the masalas, I make this much milder version.

Now to the recipe…

[Preparation Time-10 mins : Cooking Time- 20 mins]

Potato Puttu Ingredients:

• Potato – 4
• Onion – 2
• Ginger – 1/2 inch piece
• Green chillies – 3
• Curry leaves – a sprig
• Coconut – 2 tbsp (grated)
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Mustard – 1 tsp
• Urad dal – 1 tsp
• Salt – as needed
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Method:

• Wash and pressure cook potatoes for 4-5 whistles. We need the potatoes to be cooked soft so that it is easy to mash. Once cooked, peel the skin and grate it. U can mash it randomly too. Heat a pan and temper with mustard & urad dal. Add the onion, ginger, chillies and curry leaves. Saute until onion is transparent.

• Now add the grated potato along with salt and turmeric powder. Saute well for a few minutes until all the ingredients blend well and the potato gets roasted a bit.

• Finally add grated coconut and mix well. Saute for a couple of more minutes and switch off the flame. We prefer it to be a little bit roasted, so I continued for a little more time and then switched off.

Thats it! Yummy and flavourful Potato Puttu is ready!

Serve with hot rice and kuzhambu of your choice.

Tips:

1. Adding grated coconut finally gives a unique flavour. U can skip it if u dont want.
2. Green chillies adds the required spiciness for this Potato Puttu. So add accordingly. If u substitute with red chilli powder, it will be like a normal potato fry. Do not skip green chillies.
3. Make sure to cook the potatoes until soft & mushy.
4. U can grate it or mash it randomly.

– By Sundari Nathan