3 Potato Recipes

Here are three potato recipes I sent in to the Bangalore based magazine The Bengaluru Pages. This year 2008 has been declared as the year of the potato by the United Nations and you can read all about it here.

Potatoes with poppy seeds/ Aloo Posto
Recipe from Bengal

Poppy seeds add a wonderful nutty flavour to food. Bengalis use a lot of poppy seed in their cooking.

6 firm medium sized potatoes
4 tablespoons oil
3 whole dry red chiiles
½ a cup of white poppy seeds ground as finely as possible
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
4 green chillies
Salt to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces – 2 cm
Heat oil, lower heat, add potatoes and fry till they are golden brown and just half cooked.
Remove with a slotted spoon.
Add the whole red chillies to oil. Once they darken, add ground poppy seeds and 2 tablespoons of warm water
Stir and sauté this paste ill it's a medium brown colour.
Add potatoes, ¾ cup warm water, turmeric, red chili powder, salt and slit green chillies.
Stir to mix and then cover and cook for 10 minutes till the potatoes are done and most of the water absorbed.

Preparation Time – 15 minutes
Cooking Time – 30 minutes



Potatoes with Cumin/ Batata Nu Shaak
Recipe from Gujarat

½ kilo to 700 gms of new potatoes with their skins on (scrubbed but not peeled)
3 tablespoons oil
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
Pinch of ground asafetida
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Juice of half a lime


Cut the new potatoes with skin on into halves
Heat oil, add asafetida, mustard and cumin seeds and let them crackle
Add potatoes and stir for 2-3 minutes on a high heat.
Add turmeric powder, stir every now and then when the potatoes are almost done add coriander, cumin and red chilli powder. Add salt to taste and stir till masalas coat the potatoes nicely.
Sprinkle with lemon juice to make it tangy.

Preperation Time- 10 minutes
Cooking time- 20 minutes


Potato Curry/ Aloo Korma
Recipe from Hyderabad

½ kg large sized potatoes
½ teaspoon turmeric1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 inch piece of ginger
1 teaspoon ground garlic paste
6 cashew nuts
½ dry coconut (kopra)
3 tablespoons oil
2 green cardamoms
2" stick cinnamon
2 cloves
6 green chillies
2 teaspoon coriander powder
4 tomatoes chopped
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
1 cup whisked curd
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves
Juice of 1 lime

Peel potatoes, and cut lengthwise into half. Make 4 long slices with each half.
Boil potato slices in water with turmeric till tender.
Grind poppy seeds, ginger, garlic, cashews and coconut together.
Heat oil, fry cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, and green chillies, add ground paste and coriander powder. Fry well together for 6-8 minutes and till the raw aroma goes.
Add chopped tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes.
Add boiled potatoes and stir gently.
Add salt, chilly powder, whicked curd and simmer.
Add chopped coriander and lemon juice at the end

Preparation Time- 15 minutes
Cooking Time 30 minutes