Easy Kerala Koorka Upperi recipe (Chinese Potato)

When Amma sends you Koorka, what do you make?

Koorka Upperi - can't be simpler than this.

Recipe

Step 1:

Get 1 kg Koorka nannakiyad (means cleaned, peeled and cooked) from Amma. Or the supermarket. 

Whenever we return to Kochi from Thrissur, Amma sends a big shopper with enough food to last for a couple of days. These items vary every time and range from curry leaves, coconuts, a jar of mango pickle to mango pullisery, chicken curry, biriyani, pothichor and sometimes nannakiya koorka. Koorka, being tiny, is super hard to cook because getting it prepared is the bigger ordeal. Being small and numerous, Amma would have to spend hours cleaning and peeling them. Once this is done, she cooks it with a little turmeric powder and stores it in the freezer or refrigerator, depending on when we go to Thrissur. On returning to Kochi, we have access to koorka upperi for at least 2 meals, which we would otherwise never consider buying. Recently, however, nannakiya koorka is available in supermarkets - they are stored in water and packaged and cost way more.

Step 2:

Heat oil in a deep pan, splutter mustard seeds, and add chopped shallots (12 to 15 nos.), curry leaves (two stems), and 2 dried red chillis to the oil. Add salt, a pinch of turmeric powder and let it cook. As the colour of the shallot changes from pink to a wilted brown, add half a cup of water and let it boil. Add the koorka to this and mix in well for a minute.

On a high flame, let the water evaporate, and there you go, Kooraka Upperi is ready. Enjoy it with some tangy morru curry or just plain curd and pickle.