Soft potatoes in a delicately spiced, thick, and creamy coconut milk sauce; this potato curry is great with rotis or rice. The cooking is easy and while it does take a long time to cook the dish, for most part it is latent cooking.
Last weekend I was meeting a friend after almost 9 months. She had left Angola for her delivery and she just got back. Of course we had a lot of catching up to do but her first demand was Indian food at our home. So we had the little prince and the new parents over during the weekend. Now she has had almost everything I cook so I wanted to try something new and not-so-spicy and I came across the recipe for this potato curry made with coconut milk. Using mustard seeds, dried chillies, curry leaves and coconut milk, the recipe is more like a South Indian Potato curry recipe. I don’t cook a lot with coconut and this was actually the first time I was making a coconut milk gravy so I was both excited to try something new and also worried if it didn’t turn out too great. On the weekend it was part of a big Indian dinner menu —
for starters — Hara Bhara Kebab and Bhel Puri
dishes for mains — Butter Chicken; Chana Daal Fry and Potato Curry with Coconut Milk
accompaniments for mains — Cucumber and Lime raita, Rotis and Steamed Rice
dessert — Custard and Nutella Cake Pudding
…so I had little to worry about. It turned out so delicious that I made it again during the week. Paired with plain parathas, this potato curry makes a delightful and filling dinner.
Potato curry in coconut milk
Ingredients (1cup = 240ml; 1tbsp = 15ml; 1tsp = 5ml)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 3 dried red chillies
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 4 tomatoes finely chopped
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Salt to taste
- 7-8 potatoes ~800gms, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
- 400 gms coconut milk
Instructions
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, dried chillies and curry leaves. Reserve a couple of curry leaves for garnish. I love the sound of mustard seeds crackling in hot oil.
- Add the chopped onions and sauté for about 8-10 minutes until the onions have browned.
- Add chopped tomatoes. Mix well and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
- Add coriander powder, turmeric, salt and garam masala to the pan. Mix well and cook for about 5 minutes till the tomatoes and the spices are cooked through.
- Add the potatoes and stir to coat the potatoes in the onion-tomato mixture.
- Pour in the coconut milk along with a little water (~1/2 cup). Bring the curry to a boil and then cook covered for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are just tender. Remove in a serving dish.
- For garnish, I made a quick tempering in a spoon. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a ladle spoon, when the oil is hot add the reserved curry leaves and kashmiri red chilli powder. When the curry leaves are crisp, pour onto the potato curry.
- Serve hot with rotis or rice.
Did you make this recipe? Potato is one of the most popular vegetables, what is your favourite potato recipe?
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We cooked the Potato curry in coconut milk today and it was very simple to do yet extremely tasty. The whole family loved it. For sure this won’t be a one timer. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Martina!
Thank you so much! I am so happy that you loved the recipe.. I have made it so many times and every time even I am amazed how easy and delicious it really is 🙂 Recently I also tried chickpeas and sweet potato in coconut curry which also turned out excellent.. Will share recipe soon!
I will try
Thanks, Barbara!
Would love to know your feedback when you try it. It is one of my favorite curries.
I’m curious, Barbara, why you gave this recipe four out of five stars before even trying it. Not a fair assessment in my opinion.
Kristi,
Sometimes a reader may like the overall recipe but they may not totally like the choice of a particular ingredient or the process because of which they might rate it less. It is everyone’s perception of the feel of a recipe.
Thank you so much for dropping by! Hope you found useful recipes here.
I make this most weeks now! Thank you so much. (I use only a teaspoon of chilli flakes though).
Thanks, Sophie!
I am so happy to read this 🙂 And about chilli flakes! well, as they say, to each her own 😉
My daughter is a vegan so I made this for her when she came to visit! its absolutely delicious and I am planning on making it again for myself! thank you
Thanks so much for sharing this, Louise!!! I am so happy to read that you all loved it 🙂 It is the encouragement like this that keeps me motivated!
Great recipe.
I did change it up slightly, I used 3 parts paprika to 1 part cayenne pepper instead of the kashmiri red chilli powder.
Even my neighbours tried some as they smelt me cooking it.
Hey Adam!
So happy to read that everyone loved the recipe and thank you for sharing your feedback and adaptation! Kashmiri red chili powder is very similar to mild paprika. It adds the color naturally without too much heat. I often used paprika instead of Kashmiri red chili powder when I was living outside of India and couldn’t find all the spices 🙂
Wonderful recipe, Ashima. I used freshly picked tomatoes from my garden, and everyone loved the flavors! Please keep posting your recipes.
That’s so lovely, Max! Nothing like freshly picked tomatoes from your own garden! I wish I could get a taste of the curry too. Thank you so much for your feedback, it really encourages me! I have been lately busy with family commitments and not able to post since last 2 months but hopefully will be back to normal soon!
Really enjoyed this!
Substitutions – outof necessity to use what I had on hand:
– used dry mustard powder instead of mustard seeds
– used bay leaves in place of curry leaves
– used dried habanero flakes in place of red chilies
– used new potatoes with skins on
– used store brand generic chili powder
Also, I added chick peas
After all that, it was still delicious! I’ll make this again!
Hey Lynn,
I am so glad you liked the recipe and I love your changes 🙂 Thank you for all the substitutions! They are really good suggestions to modify this curry 🙂
Hey Ashima,
Tried out the recipe today. It was a hit with everyone at home. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe
Thanks, Niti!
I am so glad that your family loved it. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Do you boil the potato’s first?
Hello, Trevor,
I do not boil the potatoes first. They get cooked with the masalas…
I am in love with this recipe! I’ve made a full batch almost every week for months, and never tire of it. I like that it retains all its flavor even after being in the refrigerator for several days. This is a winner!
I really love this recipe, it was easy and delicious. I will add it to my recipe box.
I have made this recipe countless times for the past couple years and want to share my appreciation to you for this beautiful recipe! I’m craving it again and wanted to check I had the right quantities in my head still, it’s one of my go-tos for a comforting meal! 🙂