Potato podimaas recipe

If you are looking for something less oil-laden to go with your sambar and rasam rice than "Urulai-kizhangu (potato) Roast", try "Urulai-kizhangu (potato) Podimaas". I think "podimaas" means something like "crumbled" or "mashed". Although V prefers the roast, he gets it only on occassion. This time, when we had some guests over, there was a special request for the podimaas. So the whole menu was worked out around the podimaas. V, who initially said he did not like podimaas, ate it gladly. Infact, the next day, with the leftovers, we made adais stuffed with podimaas (a la masala dosa).

Here's the recipe for "Urulai-kizhangu Podimaas".

Ingredients:

White/Yellow Potatoes - 4 or 5 large
1/2 cup frozen shelled green peas (I don't think this is used traditionally)
1/2 inch pc. ginger grated or sliced fine
4-5 green chilies slit open or chopped fine
shredded coconut - 2 Tbsp
Lemon/Lime juice - 2 Tbsp
salt to taste

For tempering:
1 tbsp oil
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Perungaayam (Asafoetida) - pinch
ulutham paruppu (urad daal) - 1 tsp
kadalai paruppu (chana daal) - 1 tsp
red chilies - 2 broken up

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Method:
1. Wash, and cut the potatoes into halves

2. Pressure cook them or cook them on the stove until soft

3. Peel the skins off the potatoes and crumble them with your fingers when cool enough to touch

4. Heat the oil in a wok and add the mustard seeds. When they start sputtering, lower the heat and add the other tempering ingredients

5. When the paruppu is golden brown, add the green chilies and the grated ginger

6. Add the shredded coconut and stir

7. Add the crumbled potatoes, green peas, and increase the heat to medium

8. Add the salt, adjust to taste

9. When heated through, switch off the heat and sprinkle the lime juice and cilantro

My mom also makes podimaas with "Vaazhai kaai" or raw banana. The method stays the same!