Bengali aloo posto

BENGALI ALOO POSTO 

BY KUSUM  UMASHANKAR

A staple food in Bengali households .

Aloo Posto or Potatoes in Poppy Seed Paste is an authentic and traditional Bengali recipe and no special occasion is complete without this dish. Poppy seeds are soaked and ground to make a fine paste, later cooked with potatoes. Khus Khus or poppy seeds are known as Posto in Bengali. A quintessential dish that is served mostly with Rice, Bengali Luchi and Phalguni dal with a dash of lemon juice, is easy and quick to make and is a total fuss-free dish with an amazing aroma and taste.

Most Bengali kitchens will always have two ingredients- mustard oil and white poppy seeds. The addition of mustard oil in this recipe brings out a lovely pungent flavour to the dish so if you are able to source mustard oil make sure to use it.

This authentic Bengali Aloo Posto is a perfect side to enjoy with Luchi or Dal Rice. The soft morsels of potatoes coated with a creamy poppy seeds coating with a hint of spice from green chili are a treat to the taste buds.

INGREDIENTS

• Peeled and diced potato – ½ kg
• Khus khus – ¼ cup
• Green chilli – 4
• green chilli slitted – 4 optional [ this is only for flavour not spice ]
• mustard oil – 4 tbsp [ if using  regular oil then reduce it ]
• mustard oil for garnish – 2 tbsp
• Kalaunji / nigella seeds – ½ tsp
• Turmeric pwdr – ¼ tsp
• Salt to taste
• Sugar – ½ tsp
• Sliced onions – 2

Mustard oil tastes better with khus khus .

Don’t reduce oil . The curry gets the main flavour from the oil as there is no masala added.

PREPARATION

1. Clean the khus khus and soak it in enough water for 3 hrs. [ You can soak it in warm water ]n flavour from the he soaked seeds to a strainer to drain off excess water .
2. Transfer to a mixie jar , add 4 green chilli and grind into fine paste.

CLICK ON THE LINK FOR FULL VIDEO – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC9yO1FPLX0

METHOD

Heat oil in a pan.

Let the oil reach its smoking point and then switch off the heat and let the oil cool a little bit.

This is done to reduce the punjency of the mustard oil . [ if using regular oil then skip this step ]

Switch ON the heat after 30 secs and and kalonji seeds in the oil and let them crackle for a few seconds.

Add potatoes and stir fry on high flame for 5 minutes.

Add the onion and mix well.

Add salt + sugar and mix .

Stir fry and cook till the aloo is done upto 80 %.

Add poppy seeds paste along with 1/2 cup of water and cover the pan.

Let the potatoes cook completely till soft . [ 4 to 5 mins]

Once done , open the lid add slit green chilli + 2 tbsp raw mustard oil.

and off the flame

The consistency should be dry and there should be no water in the pan. The poppy seeds paste will also coat the potatoes.

Serve hot with steamed rice or koraishutir kochuri (peas puri or kachori).

NOTES

1. Towards the end if you feel its very dry ,srizzle few tbsps. of hot water .
2. Do check a couple of times when the potatoes are cooking. If the potatoes are undercooked and the water has dried up, then you can add some water.
3. Adding turmeric powder is optional.
4. Try not to replace the mustard oil as that’s what gives it a unique flavour.
5. Use panch phoron spice mixture instead of nigella.
6. Panch Phoron is an equal proportion of aniseed, cumin, mustard, fenugreek, nigella seeds
7. As Aloo Posto is a fairly dry curry it is usually served with a dal.

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