Chettinad Urulai Roast

Chettinad is a small region in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is very famous for its spicy and aromatic cuisine, palatial homes, and beautiful local arts and crafts. Naatukotai Chettiars is a popular community in this region. Chettiars are known for their trading skills. This community is generally known for their wealth and you can see it at their weddings.

I remember a small incident which my husband often tells me. This was during one of his friend’s wedding, he and some others had gone to attend the wedding and since they were the boy’s close friends, they received a royal welcome. And after a while, an aachi from the girl’s side came up to them, took them to this magnificent house filled with things for the bride to be. She even asked them to make a checklist and to let her know even they had missed out any item.( During a daughter’s marriage, she is gifted everything that would be needed to start a family from a box of mustard seeds to vessels, clothes, footwear, almirahs, cots, mattresses, jewelry and the list just continues. You name it and it should be there.) The couple moved to Singapore immediately after marriage and all their belongings remain in their ancestral house till date.
The Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest cuisines. It is famous for its variety of non vegetarian treats. The vegetarians need not despair as they have a mouthwatering array of vegetarian dishes as well. The use of various spices like Marathi Moggu, Annasipoo , fennel seeds, and other spices like bay leaves, peppercorn etc are very common.

That was a very brief introduction on the Chettinad region and cuisine. Now coming to our recipe, I learnt this recipe from a chettiar friend of mine. She taught me a few other recipes too. But this recipe was a great hit at home and we’ve stuck to this recipe for long now. So it’s a really tried, tested and tasted dish. The recipe has been slightly modified to satisfy our taste buds.

Ingredients

1. Baby Potatoes – 250 gms

Dry Roast and Powder

1. Split Urad Dal – 1 to 2 tsps
2. Dried Red Chillies – 2 – 3
3. Whole Black Peppercorns – 5 – 6
4. Salt to taste

For Seasoning

1. Oil – 2 – 3 tsps
2. Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
3. Hing – 1 pinch
4. Turmeric Powder – 1 Pinch
5. Curry Leaves a few

Method

1. Boil and peel the baby potatoes.
2. Heat a Kadai, dry roast the split Urad dal. Once it starts changing color add the peppercorns and red chillies. Roast until Dal turn nice and brown. Cool, grind and keep aside.
3. In the same Kadai, add oil. Once oil is heated, add the mustard seeds and hing. Next add the turmeric powder and the curry leaves.
4. Next add the boiled and peeled potates. Give it a good stir. Add salt to taste and sauté for a about 5 mins.
5. Finally add the spice powder and mix well.

Spicy Chettinad Urulai Roast is ready to be had with a combination of steaming hot rice and Sambar or with just a simple Rasam. Tastes out of the world!

Note:

1. If baby potatoes are not available, use big ones. Boil and cut them into medium sized chunks.
2. Adjust spice according to your taste.
3. You could also add sliced onions and garlic to this. Saute these before adding the potatoes.

Sending this to Radhika's event CBB Series #2 ~ Chettinad Special