Koorkka Olathiyathu – An aromatic spicy stir-fry with a special variety of tuber.

The thought or the mere mention of Koorkka takes me back to a particular ritual practiced at home...a ritual my mother carried out...... a sack filled with Koorkka was thrashed on the floor until its skins fell off partially. Then she would spend the rest of the evening scraping the skins off with a knife and at the end of this ritual her fingers and nails would be left with some dark brown stains, so she could save some time in the morning and get us ready for school and pack our lunch boxes too……that was one of those rare days I asked my mother to keep rice and side dishes instead of non –rice items for the lunch box...I looked forward to opening the lunch box to get a whiff of that tantalizing aroma emanating from the stir fry my mother prepared with koorkka......that smell still entices me and still makes me drool...... the only difference is that neither do I thrash the sack on the floor nor do I have brown stains on my fingers....instead I buy a frozen packet of scraped and cleaned Koorkka and try to recreate the same smell and taste of home and I must say, the frozen packet I get here is not all that bad....it tastes really good , especially when the dish is accented by the distinct flavour of coconut oil and the aroma of fresh curry leaves.

Koorkka is a particular variety of tuber widely used in Kerala kitchens. On the frozen packet I got, it is written 'Chinese Potato ' but the chinese potato I have seen here at the local farmers market has no resemblance with the Koorkka I have seen back home. I am not certain of the English name of this particular tuber, but a post by Inji Pennu has some significant information. Please check her post and the picture of Koorkka she has harvested from her backyard.

Koorkka Olathiyathu/Stir -Fry is one of my favourite side dishes. Strange as it may sound, I enjoy this dish as a snack along with a glass of ice cold water....one of my childhood pleasures :) It is one of the simplest preparations but something that gains its character with a dash of coconut oil and a touch of curry leaves.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Koorkka, skin scraped and cut into small pieces
• 4-5 Indian green chillies, cut lengthwise
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 15-17 small red pearl onions ( If big, use around 8-10)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 ½ tsp crushed dry red chillies/ red chilly flakes (adjust as per your tolerance)
• 1 ½ tbsp + ½ tsp coconut oil
• Water to cook Koorkka

Directions:

• Cook chopped Koorkka along with turmeric powder, green chillies , salt and enough water in a pressure cooker or on a shallow pan, until it is cooked fully and soft.
• Crush small red pearl onions and garlic cloves with mortar and pestle or pound and crush with the flat end of a rolling pin.
• Heat oil in a pan, add crushed onions, garlic and stir in low flame till translucent. Tear off half of the curry leaves and add to this; sprinkle crushed dry red chillies/chilli flakes and stir for a minute without burning the same. Now add the cooked Koorkka (without any water) and let it cook along with the onion-garlic chilli base for a minute or two in low flame. Do a taste-test and adjust salt if required. Just before turning off the heat, tear of the rest of the curry leaves and sprinkle ½ tsp coconut oil . Do not skip this final ceremony as it really enhances the taste and aroma of this dish.
• Serve as a side dish for rice.

Luv
Shn

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