Shashi Tharoor shares recipe of his favourite south Indian dish: It’s vegetarian and uses simple ingredients like potato

‘My father taught me how to make it’

He described how he loves an authentic Kerala-style potato side dish from the Palakkad region of Kerala and said that it is easy, flavourful, and perfect for any meal. Shashi Tharoor also highlighted its versatility and deliciousness, sharing that it can be served with various accompaniments – rice, roti, puri and more.

Asked to share his ‘favourite meal growing up in a Malayali household’, he said, “The traditional sadya is great. But if you want specific dishes from my home, there were two or three… urulakizhangu upperi (potato stir fry).”

He added that his father, ‘an excellent chef’, taught him how to prepare this ‘fabulous dish’. “My father taught me how to make it because he was a great chef himself,” he said.

Recipe of Shashi Tharoor’s favourite dish

Shashi Tharoor shared details of the recipe for this dish, which involves boiling, dicing, and sauteeing potatoes with a mixture of red chillies and onions. Here’s what he said: “First boil the potatoes, peel them, boil them in water with haldi (turmeric), and salt. Then dice them. And then you toss them, saute them in a mixture that you’ve done in the mixie already of just red chillies and small onions or shallots, the tiny ones.”

He added, “(Add) salt to taste. Some people, if they dare, can also add a little bit of tamarind… my mouth is watering as I think about this. Then you can toss it and saute it, and of course, if you like, you can roast it so much that it turns black, as some people like to do. It is the most delicious dish imaginable. You can have it with rice, you can have it with roti, puri, whatever you want. It’s a fabulous dish.”