Aloo Posto with White Poppy Seeds and Nigella
Lalkila Kitchen · Plant based · Vegetarian · Vegetables · Side dishes · Everyday cooking · Bengali cooking
Aloo posto coats potatoes in a ground white-poppy-seed paste rather than a tomato gravy. Here the potatoes remain in pieces, with whole green chillies and nigella providing contrast. Grinding a small amount of seeds is the part that deserves attention before you put the pan on the heat.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp white poppy seeds
- 1/4 cup water for soaking
- 1 tbsp water for grinding, plus more if needed
- 1 green chilli for the paste
- 300 g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 tbsp culinary mustard oil or neutral cooking oil
- 1/2 tsp nigella seeds
- 2 whole green chillies, stalks removed
- 1/2–2/3 cup water for cooking, adjusted as needed
- Salt to taste
Method
- Soak poppy seeds in the smaller soaking-water measure until softened, then drain through a fine sieve. Grind with one chilli and a tablespoon water into a fine paste.
- Warm cooking oil in a pan. Add nigella, then potatoes, and stir gently.
- Add seed paste, whole chillies, cooking water and salt. Cover and simmer, stirring and adding a little water as needed, until potatoes are tender.
- Uncover and reduce excess liquid so the paste coats the potatoes without a watery gravy.
Cooking notes
Choose oil labelled for culinary use. If you choose neutral oil, expect a different aroma from the mustard-oil version. Use a small grinder that can catch the seeds rather than sending them around a large empty jar. Take care when removing the lid and stirring the thickening paste. This adaptation follows the source’s onion-free direction and leaves out its optional turmeric and sugar.
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Source and adaptation
Adapted from Dassana Amit’s Aloo Posto, Dassana’s Veg Recipes. Original recipe.
Omitted optional turmeric and sugar, allowed neutral culinary oil as a clearly different flavour option, and used gentle heating instead of instructing readers to smoke the oil.
This is an editorial adaptation, not kitchen-tested by Lalkila. FoodSafety.gov cooking temperatures and safe food handling provide the safety references. The featured image is a generated illustration of this recipe.