By Jehan Yusoof  |  Updated September 27, 2026  |  ★ 4.3 (35 reviews) | 6 comments

Sri Lankan Potato Curry (ala kiri hodi) is a mild, creamy curry where parboiled potatoes are slow-cooked in coconut milk and aromatics.
Once you’ve learned to make the most popular Sri Lankan dhal curry, this is the next staple to learn.
A creamy gravy made with coconut milk and slow-cooked potatoes is just the mild curry dish you’ll want to pour over your favourite Sri Lankan rice and curry dishes.

★★★★★
If you try this, I’d love to know how it turned out. Just tap the stars in the recipe card; it helps other cooks find this recipe.

Why this recipe works

Parboiling the potatoes with the skin on results in only a gentle, slow simmer in the coconut milk gravy.
The curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon, cardamom, onion, garlic, and turmeric tempered in oil help build flavour. When the half-cooked potatoes are added, it soaks up all of the above elements, resulting in a creamy potato curry.

Ingredients for Sri Lankan Potato Curry

You’ll find exact quantities in the recipe card below.

• Potatoes
  • Large or medium-sized potatoes cut into about 1½–2 inch (4–5 cm).
    Once parboiled, the potatoes are already soft, so cut them into bigger pieces; they are likely to break when you cook them.
• Coconut milk
  • Canned, tinned or coconut powder. Dilute with water if the coconut milk is thick.
• For tempering: oil, a sprig of curry leaves (about 5 to 8 leaves), a piece of pandan leaf (rampe, optional), lightly bruised cardamom, cinnamon, sliced onion, garlic, turmeric powder and mustard seeds.
• Green chillies: to give the mildest heat and salt to season.

What you will need in the kitchen

• Chopping board and knife
• Bowls to hold the ingredients
• Wooden spoon and serving spoons
• Medium-sized pan to cook the potatoes
• A small frying pan to temper the ingredients
• Medium-sized bowl to serve the Potato curry

How to make the Potato curry (step-by-step)

Photo tutorial

Boil the Potatoes

In a large pan, boil the potatoes in their skins until tender enough that when you stick a fork, it goes through. Don’t add salt. This should take 10 to 15 minutes.
Once they are boiled, let them cool, peel the potatoes, cut them into large cubes and set aside.

Temper the spices

In a clay pot or pan, pour in the oil and heat it for a few seconds.
Add curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon, cardamom and sliced garlic; temper for a few minutes.
Add green chillies, chopped or sliced onions, and turmeric powder to the tempering ingredients and cook for a few minutes or until onions and garlic turn golden.

Simmer in coconut milk

Add the boiled potatoes and gently combine them over low-medium heat for a few minutes. Try not to break the potatoes into smaller pieces while combining them.

Add the mustard seeds and mix with the potatoes. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes or until the mustard seeds blister.

Pour in the coconut milk and season with salt.
Let the potato curry simmer over low heat until the potatoes are tender with a thick gravy.

Make sure to taste the gravy and season with salt. Serve warm with your other rice and curry dishes.

• For a quicker way without par-boiling the potatoes, check recipe card notes under recipe instructions.

What to serve with Sri Lankan potato curry

• Rice dishes
  • How to cook rice on the stove
  • Sri Lankan Yellow Rice (turmeric rice)
  • Indian ghee rice (nei choru)
  • Garlic and egg fried rice (in 30 minutes)

• Flatbreads: Serve with garlic naan roti, poori, Sri Lankan coconut roti or paratha roti, even egg paratha roti
• Vegetarian curries and sides
  • Sri Lankan dry bean curry
  • Gotu kola (pennywort salad)sambol
  • Spinach and coconut mallung (nivithi mallung)
  • Sri Lankan wambatu moju (eggplant pickle)
  • Easy eggplant stir-fry

• Meat, chicken and seafood curries
  • Chilli chicken (Indo-Chinese recipe)
  • Sri Lankan chicken curry
  • Slow-cooked beef curry (like my grandmother makes)
  • Sri Lankan red chilli fish curry (Thalapath malu mirisata)
  • Slow-cooked Indian beef korma

More Potato curries

• Spicy devilled potato stir-fry
• Potato korma
• Creamy potato and bean curry
• Spicy potato and beans stir-fry
• Bombay potatoes

How to Store, Freeze and Reheat Potato Curry

• Storing in the refrigerator
  • Once cool, store in an airtight container; avoid storing in plastic containers as the curry will stain. refrigerate and use within 3 to 4 days.
• Freezing
  • I don’t recommend freezing the potato curry.
• Reheating
  • Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir and use as needed.
• Stop food waste by
  • Only cook as much as you need for the family.
  • Cook the potatoes until the gravy is completely reduced, break down the potatoes into smaller pieces, fry with a little oil, spice it up with red chilli flakes, and use it as a filling for empanadas, quick sandwiches, and to top off a toast.
  • I’ve also occasionally removed all the onions, green chillies, and curry leaves, and mixed them with cooked red rice and meat to feed my pet doggie.

Watch more Sri Lankan recipes on my YouTube channel

Continue to Content

Sri Lankan Potato curry with coconut milk (ala kiri hodi).

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

A mild, creamy Sri Lankan potato curry: parboiled potatoes tossed in tempered curry leaves, pandan and spices, then simmered in coconut milk.

Vegan and gluten-free.

4.3 Stars (35 Reviews)

Print

Ingredients

• Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.
• 500g of potatoes
• Coconut Oil (to temper, 4 tablespoons should do)
• A sprig curry leaves (5 to 8 leaves, substitute with 1 bay leaf)
• A 2-inch piece of pandan leaf (optional)
• 2 to 3 cardamoms lightly bruised
• Half an inch cinnamon stick
• 2 to 3 green chillies
• 3 cloves of garlic sliced fine
• 1 large onion chopped or sliced fine
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 Teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 and a half cup of coconut milk
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Gather all the ingredients to make the potato curry recipe.

Boiling the potatoes

1. In a large pan, boil the potatoes (500g) with their skins until tender enough that when you stick a fork in, it goes through. This should take 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Once they’re done, peel the skin and cut them to the required size. Make sure to cut them into bigger cubes. Do not add salt at this point.

Temper the ingredients

1. In a Clay pot or pan, over medium heat, add four to five tablespoons of oil.
2. Add the curry leaves (5 to 8 leaves) and the Pandan leaf (1 inch, optional), followed by cinnamon, cardamom (3), and sliced garlic (3 cloves). Temper for 2 minutes.
3. Add the green chillies (2), chopped or sliced onions (1 large), and turmeric powder (1 teaspoon). cook for 1 or 2 minutes.

Cooking the potato curry

1. Once the onions turn golden brown, add the boiled potatoes and gently combine over low-medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Try not to break the potatoes into smaller pieces while combining them.
2. Add the mustard seeds(1 teaspoon), and mix with the potatoes.
3. Let it cook for a few minutes or until the mustard seeds blister.
4. Pour in the coconut milk(1 and 1/2 cups), stir for a few seconds and season with salt.
5. Let the potato curry simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft with a thick gravy.
6. Optional finish: temper a small sliced onion, 2 sliced garlic pods, 3 to 4 curry leaves and 1 dried red chilli in 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook for 2 minutes and pour it over the curry for extra flavour and colour.
7. Serve warm with your other rice and curry dishes.

Made this creamy potato curry?
I'd love to know how it turned out.
Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and a comment; I read every one; it helps other visitors trust the recipe and find me too.

Notes

Sri Lankan Potato curry in a hurry(the cheat’s way)

1. For daily cooking, sometimes you just want to get lunch on the table with less work.
2. Skip boiling the potatoes: 1
3. Add the raw potato cubes to the tempered spices just after the onions turn golden brown.
4. Add 1 and a half cups of water and cook until the potatoes are really soft and the water has reduced completely; only then season with salt.
5. Add 1 cup of coconut milk and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the curry thickens.
6. Check the seasoning and your potato curry is ready.

Optional finish: Do the tempering as mentioned above on the recipe instructions.

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  Organic Turmeric Powder - 1LB Jar - 100% Raw w/Curcumin From India - by Jiva Organics
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  Aroy-d Coconut Milk 100% Original Net 8.5 Oz.(pack of 12)

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 265Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 11gUnsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 22mgCarbohydrates: 35gFiber: 5gSugar: 4gProtein: 6g

Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JEHAN
Recipe creator. Food Blogger. Video creator
I’ve been cooking and sharing Sri Lankan recipes, along with other dishes I love making at home on Island Smile since 2015. I’ve tested every recipe on this site more than once in my own kitchen before it goes on the blog.
I grew up eating this food, and I still cook it the way my family taught me, just written down clearly enough for you to follow.
If a recipe doesn’t work the way I say it will, tell me in the comments; I read every one, and I’ll help you fix it.