Urulakizhangu Pappas/ Potato Stew

Published: Mar 5, 2013 · Modified: Mar 20, 2021 ·by Swathi.This post may contain affiliate links ·

Delicious Urulakizhangu Pappas/ Potato Stew made with potato and onion with mild spices. Sweetness of coconut milk perfectly join with potato and spices

Urulakizhangu Pappas/ Potato Stew: Aranmula Valla Sadhya Special is a simple and easy stew is a mild tasting curry goes well as accompaintment of breakfast bread or bowl of rice.

Hope everybody had a nice weekend. We too had a very nice one. As usual after giving babies to hubby to take care I cooked and baked some bread. March is here and in India it is time of year end exams, my two nieces are going to take 10^th exam this year. When we call them they say they are studying, we know only after result come. Hope that they do well! Summer heat is also started showing up there.

Urulakizhangu ishtu/potato stew is common breakfast side dish in my home town, Kerala, Southern India. It is usually served with appam a fermented pancake with yeast, and I love it. But I didn’t see them in any Sadya/ Feast recipes which I attended and mom never made it. But I came to know about this Urulakizhangu pappas/ potato stew from a television show about Aranmula Valla Sadya prepared in the temple kitchen tat Aranmula Parthasarathy Swamy Temple. It is located in Village Aranmula near Chenganur, Kerala, India.

Legend about this temple is that the five Pandava ( Epic Mahabharata) crowned their heir Parikshit as the king and left on a pilgrimage around the country. When they were in Kerala, each one of the brothers established a temple in honor of Vishnu and worshipped there. Yudhishtira built a temple at Chengannur, Bheema built one at Thiruppuliyur, Arjuna at Aranmula, Nakula at Thiruvamundur, and Sahadeva at Thirukkadittaanam. It is said that Arjuna initially made this Vishnu temple at Nilakkal, near Sabarimalai, and then it was brought here on a raft made out of six pieces of bamboo. And hence the name Aranmula stuck ('Aranmula' means six pieces of bamboo). It is believed that Arjuna built this temple to absolve himself of the sin for having killed Karna, who was Nirayuthapani (weaponless) on the battlefield (according to Dharma, one is not supposed to kill an unarmed enemy in battle). Read more about temple from here

Aranmula valla sadya is feast organized on Ashtamirohoni (August-September) day. During Valla Sadhya, Lord Krishna, the main deity worshipped in the temple, will come to take the offerings from people. The legend is that in a Valla Sadya all dishes asked for must be given to the people in order to please the Lord. It is usually done as offering for things to get done well. It is a giant feast and about 60 dishes will be served. Earlier I tried one recipe from the valla sadya, varthua erissery/Raw Banana and Black Eyed Peas in Roasted Coconut Sauce. I am planning to try few other recipes. I will try as time permits.

This is recipe adapted from Flavors of India, Kairali Tv travelogue by Lakshmi Nair. I noted down from the chef in that You Tube clip as he is explaining it to the host. He didn’t give any quantities, so quantities mentioned here is my contribution. Here goes the recipe. It differs from the normal potato stew which my amma used to make. Usually potato, ginger and onion and are cooked with green chilies in diluted coconut milk until potato is done and then finally add thick coconut milk, coconut oil and curry leaves, there will be no seasoning.

However in the valla sadhya special recipe they cook potato separately and mash them into chunks and set aside. Fry the onion, green chili, curry leaves and mustard seeds and mix this mashed chunk potato and then add coconut milk and bring to boil.

While coconut milk boiling add garam masala powder and coriander powder to finish the curry. I made this curry like this.

If you love coconut milk and potato, or fan of Thai cuisine you are going to love this.

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5 from 17 votes