South Indian Roast potatoes is a soul-warming potato dish commonly prepared in South Indian holes that pairs well with curd rice, rasam rice or rotis.
Table of Contents
South Indian Roasted Potatoes
South Indian roast potatoes are a comfort food with a crispy exterior with the holy trinity of South Indian spices – mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida. The dish has mild heat due to the use of red chilli powder.
As a lover of anything potato, this South Indian Style roast potato curry is my go-to recipe for something simple and understated. My stand-in request to my mother was always to make these potatoes when visiting home for the weekend.
These potatoes are comforting after you’ve had one of those days when it has been never-ending. All you need are roast potatoes and curd rice, and all will be well with the world.
In Tamil, this dish goes by the name of Urulai roast or Urulakazhangu roast.
Ingredients for South Indian Roast Potatoes
Potatoes – It is important to use medium-sized potatoes so that when you pressure-cook them, they all get cooked evenly.
Gingelly Oil – I highly recommend using gingelly oil since they add a great flavour to the dish. If you do not have it, normal refined oil will do too.
Curry Leaves – They add freshness to the dish by rendering their fantastic flavour. I use at least two sprigs of curry leaves for roasting 4 medium-sized potatoes.
Turmeric powder and red chilli powder – The mixture of turmeric and red chilli powders creates that golden hue when roasting the potatoes. You can use regular red chilli powder or Kashmiri red chilli powder, depending on the spice levels that you and your family are comfortable with.
Asafoetida and Mustard seeds – These two ingredients complete the classic south Indian spice palette. While both mustard seeds and asafoetida aid in digestion, the asafoetida renders that classic umami flavour that no other ingredient can do in South Indian vegetarian cooking.
How to make South Indian Roast Potatoes
The first step is to cook the potatoes. You may choose to pressure cook or boil the potatoes in a pot of water. If you are choosing the former, you can rinse and place the potatoes in a small pressure cooker with an inch of water at the bottom. Let 2-3 whistles and then switch off the cooker.
If you are boiling the potatoes on an open pot of water, place a heavy-bottomed pan filled with water. Once the water begins to boil slightly, add the potatoes and let them cook until tender. This should take close to 15 minutes.
Remove the skin off the potatoes and cut them into large chunks or small chunks depending on your preference.
If you want to make your morning a little easier, you can cook the potatoes and leave them in the fridge overnight. Chop them up next morning. The taste of your roast potatoes will be even better.
You must read this article about roasting potatoes – it gives the science behind potatoes and roasting techniques.
Roasting the potatoes
In my experience, the use of a cast iron or iron kadai has yielded the best results in terms of taste and colour on the potatoes. You can use a nonstick or stainless steel kadai too. I’ve even roasted these potatoes in the air fryer (your job will get done, but it’s not the same in terms of taste).
Place a kadai on medium heat and allow it to preheat. Add a generous two tablespoons of gingelly oil and let the oil warm up. Once warm, add the mustard seeds and split Urad dal – allow it to sputter.
Follow the mustards seeds with curry leaves and asafoetida. Toast it for a few seconds and now you can add the chopped potatoes. Make sure the potatoes are thoroughly coated in oil.
Now comes the spice powders – turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Add them and mix well. Once mixed, make sure to spread the potatoes in the kadai so that each piece is touching the surface of the pan.
The process of roasting has begun. Allow it to roast on each side for 3-4 minutes on one side. It might tempt you to move the piece of potatoes around, but resist. After 4 minutes, mix the potatoes and allow it to roast on the other sides. The entire roasting process should take you about twenty minutes. Trust me, the wait it worth it.
Finally, season the potatoes with salt and serve these delicious South Indian roast potatoes with hot rasam rice or curd rice.
Variations in South Indian Roast Potatoes
- This recipe isn’t too spicy, but if you have kids or older people who can’t handle spice, just leave out the red chilli powder and add a bit of black pepper to the potatoes instead.
- Sambar Powder or Rasam powder – Instead of adding turmeric and red chilli powder, use sambar or rasam powder for that extra zing. I have tried them several times, and they taste great, I must say.
Notes for Beginners
This is a simple recipe that first-time home cooks can master without difficulty. If you cannot source all the ingredients, it is alright. If you don’t have many ingredients, you can still make delicious roast potatoes by using potatoes, oil, turmeric powder, and red chilli powder..
Notes
- Cooking on an iron pan helps with the roasting and adds to the dish’s nutritional profile.
- You can pre-boil the potatoes, store them in the fridge and roast them the next day. (The taste gets better)
Shelf Life and Storage
Shelf Life–These pan roasted potatoes can stay on the shelf without spoiling during the day. If you’ve made them for dinner, it’s best to put them in the fridge.
Storage–These roasted potatoes are best eaten fresh since it will lose the crispness when stored in the fridge. Store cooked food either in a stainless steel box or glass box.
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Recipe
South Indian Roast Potatoes | Urulai kazhangu Roast Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Potatoes medium
- 2 tbsp Gingelly Oil any cooking oil will do
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Split Urad Dal
- 2 sprig Curry Leaves
- ½ tsp Asafoetida
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder adjust according to taste
- Salt according to taste
Instructions
Prep Work
- Clean the dirt off the potatoes, put it in a cup and place it in a pressure cooker containing an inch of water. Pressure cook the potatoes for 3 whistles on medium heat. Once done, let the pressure come down naturally.
- Once the pressure is down, remove the potatoes from the cooker and pleace them in a bowl of cold water. At this point, the skin should come off easily.Dice the potatoes and keep them aside.
- If you are boiling potatoes in water, place the washed potatoes in a pot of water with 2 inches of water over the potatoes. It will take roughly 20 minutes for the potatoes to cook completely. Once the potatoes are cooked, cool them down, peel the skin and dice them.
- Wash curry leaves, dry them and keep aside.
How to Make South Indian Roasted Potatoes
- Place a pan on medium flame and let the pan warm up. Add the gingelly oil and wait for 10-15 seconds for the oil to warm.
- Once the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds. Wait for the seeds to sputter. Once they do, add the urad dal. Give it a good stir until the dal is slightly golden.
- Now add the turmeric powder and asafoetida. Toasting the spices slightly in this oil will ensure that the spices get coated evenly on the potatoes.Toast the spices for a few seconds only so as not let them burn.
- Next, add the curry leaves and wait for them to crisp up. You will now be able to smell the curry leaves and asafoetida predominantly.
- Add the chopped potatoes and give it a good mix. Add salt to taste and mix it well until the masalas and oil are coated well on the potatoes.
- Sprinkle red chili powder on the potatoes and give it a mix until each potato has been coated. Once mixed, spread the potato pieces so that they touch the surface of your pan.
- Make sure the flame is on low and let the pan do its job of crisping up the side of the potatoes with the spices.
- Every 3-4 minutes give the potatoes a mix and see if you can get another surface of the potato get roasted.
- Pan roasting the potatoes for a good 15 minutes will give it a good crispy exterior with a soft interior.
- When you see the golden hue of the crisp potatoes, turn off the flame and let the potatoes roast in the residual heat.
- Enjoy your South Indian Roast Potatoes with Rasam rice or curd rice.
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