Beef with Chinese Potato

Koorkka or Chinese Potato is a root vegetable that is very popular in kerala.Unlike the regular potato that has a mild flavor chinese potato has a distinct flavor/taste that can help it stand on its own or added to other ingredients.Koorkka is prepared in many different ways - the simple stirfry being the most popular.

Cleaning koorka is a tedious process and it stains the hands too , but the taste makes up for all the trouble you had to go through.I have added Koorka to beef .Beef or Pork with some fat is perfect to cook with Koorka , the tuber absorbs the flavor of the meat.

In some parts of Kerala meat is almost never cooked alone.Potatoes, raw bananas, coconut slices, breadfruit,chow chow,Tapioca , carrots or some other vegetables are added to meat.Different people have different reasons for adding vegetables with meat .
1. it is a good way to get kids to eat vegetables.
2. You can reduce the consumption of non vegetarian food for health reasons.
3. It is a good way to stretch a dish when you have a large number of people to feed.
4. The vegetable adds some flavor to the dish .

There is a joke that goes around in Thrissur. Usually meat is almost always cooked with some accompaniments in the Thrissur region.when beef with raw banana was served , there were hardly any beef pieces in the dish and it was mostly raw banana .The folks had a tough time searching for meat pieces - the comment " This looks like a cow just ran through the Banana crop ". The meat to vegetable ratio is not fixed ,but it is better to keep it at a 3:1 ratio 3 parts meat to 1 part additive.

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 1 kg (preferably with some fat)cut into cubes.
2. Koorka - 1.5 cups cleaned and cut into slightly big pieces (keep it immersed in cold water until ready to use or it will turn brown)
3. shallots - 10 chopped
4. coriander powder - 3 tbsp
5. chilly powder - 2 tbsp (mix of kashmiri plus regular)
6. vinegar - 2 tbsp
7. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
8. meat masala - 1/2 tsp (crushed pepper,cardamom,fennel,cinnamon,cloves)
9. salt - to taste
10. curry leaves - 2 springs
11. ginger - 2 tbsp chopped
12. garlic - 2 tbsp chopped
13. coconut oil - 4 tbsp

Method:
Add the washed and drained beef along all the rest of the ingredients except Koorka and oil into a pressure cooker and mix well.
Close the lid and cook for 5 whistles (indian beef , if you are outside India this step should not be done in the pressure cooker since the beef will get overcooked)
Leave it aside for 15 minutes until the pressure escapes by itself.
Open the cooker lid and if there is too much gravy ,cook on open flame until the gravy is thick .Add the cleaned koorka and mix well.
Add more salt if needed and close the cooker lid and cook for one whistle.
Turn the flame off and leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
Open the cooker and mix .
The koorka should not be overcooked.
heat oil in a pan and add the cooked eat and koorka mix and stirfry until it is slightly brown.
It should not have much gravy and it should not be too dry as well.
Serve with rice