Aloo Poshto

My first taste of aloo poshto is when my best friend in Mumbai had invited me and a couple of more friends for lunch and her mother has cooked this for us! Needless to say, she is a Bengali, of whose help i had taken along with my pet-client, now a friend, Arpita, when making the Payesh.

I have had aloo poshto at a few Bengali restaurants but that homemade taste always lingered on my mind. Poshto is basically khas-khas (poppy seeds) made along with potatoes. Since i had a packet of khas-khas in my kitchen, i decided to give it a try (knowing that it won't taste as good as aunty had made), but to my surprise, it turned out so good that now i feel extremely 'stupid' to have not tried it before for the fear of getting it all wrong.

When my friend gave me the recipe, i did search a few other websites and blogs on the internet to know their version of the dish, and i found that there are many ways in which this is made and eaten. Some make this dry, some keep it wet... A few i saw, add kalonji (onion seeds) while some just add jeera (cumin seeds). A few fry the aloo, few steam it and some cook it along with the poshto. This version here is exactly how my friend told me (Adjust the green chillies according to taste)

Ingredients:

Potatoes (aloo) - 2 -3 medium

Khas khas - 6 tbsp

Mustard oil (you can use normal oil too) - 2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch

Green chillies - 2-3 (according to taste)

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder (optional) - 1/4tsp- 1/2 tsp

Water - as needed

Recipe:

Soak the khas khas in water overnight or at least for 6 hours. ( If you don't have time at hand, soak it in warm water for at least half an hour before cooking)

Now drain the water and put this in a mixer-grinder. Grind to a fine paste along with 1 green chilli. The paste should really be fine and smooth. If needed, add little water, or else make a paste just like that. The khas khas will tend to rise (become fluffy), don't stir it. Let it be

In a pan, add the oil, asafoetida and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the green chilli. Now add the potatoes and fry them for a while.

Cover and cook for about 3-4 minutes on low flame. Now add turmeric powder and salt (and chilli powder if adding). Mix it all well, and again cover and cook . You can also put some water inside the pan to cook the potatoes, but don't over cook it. The potatoes shouldn't become mushy.

For me, covering and stirring it in between ( so the potatoes don't stick to the pan or burn) was just fine.

Now add the poshto paste and mix well, so that the potatoes are covered with the paste.

Add salt and water (according to the consistency wanted), and cook for another 5 minutes.

Garnish with a spoonful of mustard oil.

Serve this along with roti, puris or rice.

Happy cooking :)