Chettinad Urali : Kongu Memories

Coimbatore has a beautiful charm to it. For instance, the respectful Kongu dialect (tamil), Kongu Gounders even refer to a baby with at most respect. The peppery curries, extra dash of sour tamarind in their gravies and the ilanir payasam (kheer made up of tender coconut water) are difficult to avoid. Not to forget the soothing rains, evening breeze from Palakkad and the sweet Siruvani water. I miss having a home there. Nevertheless, it was a blessing to have Vasanthi aunty in Coimbatore (I have known her since I was 2 yrs). It was so much of fun loitering in her garden on bare foot in the evening while smelling each one of her flowers plants among the plethora of fauna. I still remember how we gossiped while drinking her adrak chai (ginger tea) sitting on the steps at the entrance of the veranda (we south Indians enjoy doing this), enjoying the cool breeze disturbing our beautifully layered hair bangs. Every now and then pearls of laughter would ensue and sometimes we would get bit serious and discuss our favorite topic -food as well. This recipe is a result of one such twilight conversations. The perfect Chettinad urali according to me is explained below; As I had memorized while sipping some chai at leisure.

Ingredients:-
10 baby potatoes cooked and peeled (do not over boil, or else they tend to break)2 pods of garlic grated4-5 coriander leaves chopped1 large onion chopped (medium size)1/4tsp turmeric powder4 tbl spn oil1 tsp mustard seeds
To powder:-2-3 curry leaves1/2tsp of jeera1/2 tsp peppercons1 tsp urad dal/black gram1tsp chana dal/bengal gram1 tsp coriander seeds3 red chillies (according to taste)salt to taste

Method:-
Cook the potatoes and peel the skin carefully.
Heat 4 tbl spns oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and wait for them to crackle. Add the onions and garlic.
Add the potatoes,salt, turmeric powder and the ground mixture. Toss them carefully so as to make sure  the powder covers all the potatoes uniformly.
Keep the heat at medium and toss every 2 mins so that the potatoes get roasted well on all sides.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve Hot .