Potala Rasa Recipe

Potala rasa is a delightful curry prepared with fresh Potala, potatoes, and handy kitchen staples. Here I will share the whole recipe with step-by-step pictures and video. Prepare this flavorful Potala recipe at home and enjoy it with your lunch or dinner. You can eat this Potala Rasa with rice or rotis, it’s up to you!!

If you are getting tired of making aloo Potala bhaja, now it’s time for trying something new. This Potala Rasa (Parwal curry) is a pure vegetarian recipe made with pointed gourd, potato, tomato, and simple Indian spices used in most curries. 

What is Potala Rasa?

Potala Rasa is a famous Odia dish prepared with pointed gourd and potatoes. It is simple, easy yet delicious. 

In Odia, a pointed gourd is known as  “Potala” and gravy means “Rasa”. Parwal is the Hindi name of the pointed gourd.

Potala rasa is a vegan and gluten-free dish that every vegetarian loves to eat.

This Potala curry is prepared in most Odia houses in summer as it is widely available during this time. You can prepare many dishes out of it, but here I share the gravy version of it. Potala rasa can also be prepared without onion and garlic mostly at the festival time or on Puja days. In this recipe, I am using the onion and garlic paste to increase the thickness of the gravy.

What to serve with Potala Rasa?

Potala curry or Potala rasa is a gravy-based curry that goes well with rice, rotis, parathas, or puris. You can try this with flatbread also. The onion, ginger-garlic paste, and tomato puree make the gravy so smooth that the Potala rasa can be paired with any food you like.

 List of ingredients for Potala Rasa Recipe:

1. Pointed gourd (Potala) – Parwals are full of vitamins and minerals and also a good source of nutrients. Pick fresh parwals to make Potala rasa as it is easy to peel the skin.
2. Potatoes – Peeled potatoes are used for this recipe. If you don’t like it, you can skip it.
3. Tomato – I have used tomato puree to make the recipe. You can use chopped tomatoes instead.
4. Onion and ginger-garlic paste – This gives a smooth texture to the gravy. You can even make Potala rasa without onion and garlic. Make a smooth paste of ginger and cumin and add it as a replacement for onion, garlic.
5. Indian whole spices – For this Potala Rasa Odia recipe I have used cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves to make the recipe aromatic. If you don’t have all these spices you can skip them, but I highly recommend them.
6. Other Indian spices – I have included turmeric powder, chili powder, Kashmiri chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, kasoori methi powder.

How to cook Parwal Recipe?

1. Before starting the recipe, prepare the vegetables and masala paste for the Odia Potala recipe. First, cut both the tips. Peel the parwals, wash and cut them in half. Again give two cut marks for every single piece. This way the potol can cook evenly and also look beautiful. You can cut in any shape which you like.
   
2. Wash and peel potatoes. Slice potatoes in required chunks.
3. Make a smooth paste of onion, ginger, garlic along with cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves. These whole spices give a beautiful aroma to the dish. If you don’t have it you can skip it.
4. Pour oil and let it heat. Add sliced Potala, cover, and cook until it is fried completely. You can deep fry them. It will take 12-15 minutes in low flame to fry them. Stir occasionally to cook evenly.
   
5. After frying all potols, keep them on a plate. In the same oil add chopped potatoes and fry until golden brown in low-medium flame.
   
6. Again add oil if required. Add cumin into the hot oil.
7. Now pour freshly prepared masala paste and sauté until oil separates with occasional stirring. Don’t hurry while sautéing masala because if the rawness doesn’t go it will spoil the curry. Take your time to sauté masala in low flame. A masala is something that can make or break the recipe.
   
8. After the oil separates, add tomato puree and sauté until the tomato is cooked well.
   
9. Here add all the dry masalas, turmeric powder, chili powder, Kashmiri chili powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder. Mix all dry ingredients and sauté for a minute.
   
10. Add fried Potala and potatoes along with salt. Sauté with masala for another 5 minutes. 
    
11. Now for making gravy or rasa add warm water. Warm water is good for any curry as the cooking process starts early.
    
12. Add a little sugar. It is optional but believe me this absolutely enhances the taste of Parwal recipe.
13. Cook in low flame until the gravy is thick and also check the potala and potatoes whether they are cooked or not. If not, cook for another 5 minutes. For more info see instructions.
14. Finally, add dry roast kasoori methi powder and mix. You can add garam masala powder.
    
15. Serve hot odia style potala rasa.

How to store Potala Rasa?

• You can store Potala curry in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
• Though veggies are perishable and it is a simple curry. So I don’t recommend storing it for more days.
• It is your own preference, you can try to store for more days. But that may change the taste of the curry.