Poppy seed Potatoes/Aloo Recipe
Designed to dope you into a deep slumber in hot summer afternoons, these potatoes are a specialty from Bengal.
Ingredients
- 6 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 4-5 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, picked(khaskhas/खसखस)
- 2 green chilies, deseeded
- 2 dry red chilies
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½-3/4 teaspoon sugar
- Salt to taste
Utensils
Any heavy-bottomed pan with a lid; an electric blender or grinder, a tava
Method
- Heat the oil to smoking point/then wait 5 minutes. Get fry the potatoes, in batches if necessary, to a light brown color. Remove from the oil.
- Heat the tava and on it gently roast the poppy seeds they are just beginning to change color. Grind them all with the chilies to as fine a paste as possible. You can do in an electric grinder or manually on a grinding stone. In either case, you will need to add a few tablespoons of water.
- In the same oil in which the potatoes were fried, add red chilies, turmeric and salt and in a few seconds. Let the excess water evaporate and after separation fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring continuously.
- Turn the lightly fried potatoes into the pan, stir to mix well with the mixture, add a little water, cover and leave on slow fire to soften. This should take at least 15 minutes to evaporate excess water.
- Add the sugar, stir well and check seasoning before serving
Serves 4
