Potato Kurma with Fried Onion. Remembering my grandmother through her favorite recipes.

To commemorate my paternal grandmother’s first year death anniversary, I am posting a series of my grandmothers favorite recipes. This potato kurma recipe is second in the series. Read my first post in the series here.

My grandmother with my father

My grandmother with me

Of everyone in our family, I think I spent the most time with with my grandmother. She raised me, I shared a room with her, and went with her every where. I was always by her side. And I learnt a lot from this amazing woman just from tagging along. “Don’t depend on anyone. You must learn to do things yourself”, she’d say again and again. Every time I traveled with her, which was a lot, she would teach me again and again how to be independent. Through her, I experienced the joy that comes from not depending. As early as 10 years old, she’d make me check in at airports. There I’d be, not even reaching the counter, checking in for the two of us. It made my 10 year old self feel empowered and confident.

My grandmother also often said it was important to learn to cook and I think its one of there reasons I took an interest in cooking early one. (Ironically, she never cooked herself!). She relished this potato kuruma, often having her cook make it for dinner with fresh chappatis. This kurma, made with coconut milk and topped with fried onions, is rich and comforting. And the home made masala which is the flavor base of this kuruma is well worth the effort.

Take care not to overly brown the chills and the spices in the masala. If you over toast the spices, the kuruma will taste bitter. The trick is to stir constantly so the spices toast evenly. Remove the spices from the heat as soon as they smell fragrant.

Potato Kurma with Fried Onion Recipe

serves about 4

Ingredients
For the Masala
1 teaspoon oil
6-8 dried red chilis
2 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon uncooked rice, optional

For the Kuruma
1lb yukon gold potatoes
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
6 curry leaves
Salt
1 cup coconut milk

For the topping
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions or shallots
1 dried chile
6 curry leaves

Method
1. First make the masala. Heat oil in a small skillet, and add chilis. Cook them on medium heat just till they turn color, about 45 seconds. The chills should still be fairly red in color, not black. Remove the chiles and place on a plate.
2. To the same pan, add the remaining masala ingredients. (No need to add extra oil). Fry till they are fragrant and lightly browned, about 45 seconds.
3.Using a spice grinder, grind the chiles and spices using a little water, into a thick paste. Set aside.
4. Now make the kuruma. Peel and cube the potatoes. You should have approximately 5 handfuls of cubed potatoes.
5. In a large wok or saucepan, heat the oil and add onions and curry leaves. Cook on medium heat till the onion is soft, about 1 minute.
6. Add the potato cubes and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes.
7. And the ground masala paste and salt. Stir well.
8. Add enough water to cover the potatoes (about 2 cups). Bring to a boil. Then cover the wok with a lid, and let the potatoes cook on a lively simmer till the potatoes are soft but still holding their shape. Then remove the lid, and continue cooking till most the water is absorbed.
10. Now pour in coconut milk. Stir and turn off heat.
11. While the potatoes are cooking, work in the topping – heat oil in a small saucepan, add mustard seeds and let them pop. Then add all remaining topping ingredients and sauté on medium heat till the onions are browned.
12. Top kurma with the fried onion topping. Serve kuruma with rotis or naan.

Tomato Coconut Stew. Remembering my grandmother through her favorite recipes.

My paternal grandmother passed away a year ago this month. My grandmother raised me, and taught me a great deal. In her memory, I will be posting a series of her favorite recipes. The first in the series is this tomato stew with coconut milk. My grandmother relished this dish, often eating it with steaming hot idlis for dinner.

I’ve already written a little about my grandmother and what an accomplished woman she was in this post. In this series, I will share more memories of her through her favorite recipes. My grandmother was far ahead of her times. She pursued higher education, a career and a public life – something very few Indian women did during her time. She was a PhD in philosophy and literature, a public speaker, author of many books and an educationalist. And she spent a life time championing womens’ education in India.

Not only was she a career woman, she also enjoyed hosting and entertaining guests in her home..

Tomato stew with coconut milk - one of my grandmother's favorites.

My grandmother playing with my iPhone on Pongal day 2013. This was the last picture taken of her.

Diwali, 2002

Getting ready for bedtime, 1982

My grandmother’s dinner parties were legendary and her hospitality impeccable. Although she never took an interest in cooking, she had a keen palate and a great love of hosting and feeding people. She would give her cook, Mariappan detailed instructions before the dinner parties. She would have the coconut trees in her lawn decorated with strings of light bulbs. She took care of every detail – the decoration, neatly folded napkins, extra large sized silver plates, polished cutlery, and a lovingly curated menu.

A typical menu made by the talented cook Mariappan would include tomato rasam and rice wafers for dipping, green pea rice scented with cumin, plump vegetable cutlets coated with golden bread crumbs, fried puris, fragrant garlicky cauliflower masala and delicate sweet polis made with lentils, cardamom and drenched in ghee. As a child, I looked forward to those balmy evenings when my grandmother would regale her guests, laughing, quoting poetry, and coaxing them to eat more. Nobody ever went home hungry after visiting my grandmothers house!

Even in her passing she found an opportunity to entertain people. Let me explain. Where I come from in India, it is customary to host a lunch in the honor of the deceased a few days after the funeral. My grandmother must have known intuitively that her death was near. So one week before her passing she wrote out the menu for the post funeral lunch, along with detailed instructions on how it should be served. Thats right, my grandmother made the menu and gave instructions for her own funeral lunch!

As per my grandmother’s wishes, my family organized a multi course lunch, with four desserts (she had quite the sweet tooth!) served on the largest, freshest banana leaves on the very same lawn where she had regally presided over dinner parties for fifty years. It was the best send off we could have given to a woman who was so passionate about food, people and life.

It is an honor to have been raised by a woman who was so intelligent, beautiful and exuberant. Her life was grand and her love was abundant. This post is the first in a series of recipes I will be posting as a tribute to my grandmother. These recipes have all been tried and tested over decades. Every single recipe I will be posting was a favorite of my grandmother’s. Each one brings back a flood of memories.

In creating these posts, I am filled with tremendous pride to have been part of this incredible woman’s life, and at the same time I am filled with great grief that she is no more.

 

Tomato Coconut Stew

serves about 4 as an accompaniment/curry

Ingredients
1 lb ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon oil
1/4th teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4th teaspoon urad dal
1 small onion, minced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
6 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method
1. Bring plenty of water to boil in a saucepan. Drop the tomatoes into the water. Let them boil till their skins blister, about 2 minutes. Then drain.
2. When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and discard the skins. Then puree the tomatoes without any water. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add the urad dal, and mustard seeds.
4. When the mustard seeds pop, add the onion, garlic, curry leaves and cook for about 2 minutes.
5. Pour in the tomato puree, chili and turmeric powders, salt, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil.
6. Then reduce heat, and cook on medium-low heat, uncovered, till the sauce becomes thick. About 15 minutes.
7. Add the coconut milk, stir, and turn off heat.
8. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with roti, idlis, dosa, or neer dosa.

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