Recipe – Aloo Chokha, and my undying love for potatoes!

I am one crazy Aloo eater!! I love potatoes so much that I can even sacrifice my ‘machh-er jhol’ (fish curry) for a nicely prepared bowl of Bengali style subtle potato (aloo) curry (sada aloo-r torkari) or some mashed potatoes, maybe. I am so in love with aloo that I consider Inzi bhai as my role model and people go on to tell that I have aloo-r dosh, but anyway that gives this article an entirely different (spicier) dimension that’s better left unexplored 🙂

Coming back to potatoes, I myself try out various recipes with potatoes which are pretty simple but they are mostly Bengali recipes. So last Sunday while cooking, I remembered a simple potato-based dish which I used to have at home when I was a kid. I still remembered how the dish tasted and then looked up the internet to build a recipe, and then added my touches to make it suit my taste buds! It’s a Bihari dish called Aloo ka Chokha or simply Aloo Chokha! I am sure, many have tried Litti Chokha but not sure if everyone has tried Aloo Chokha, it’s something I absolutely love but I would love to prepare it at home rather than having it outside at some eatery.

Aloo Chokha is a lovely combination of spices, mashed potatoes, and simplicity! It goes really well with bread, roti, or some steamed rice and dal (for Bengalis). Every foodie who is in love with potatoes should love having this dish! Most importantly, it’s pretty easy to prepare and turns out to be delicious in the end. And yeah, it has got a warm homely touch to it! So, let’s make some more aloo guys and get straight to the recipe –

List of Ingredients:

• Cumin Seeds ( whole Jeera) -1/4^th tsp
• Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
• Potatoes – 5 nos. (regular sized)
• Garlic (minced) – 2½ tbsp
• Onions (sliced) – 1 cup.
• Green Chilies (kacha lanka) – 2 nos.
• Dried Red Chillies (shukno lanka) – 2 big ones
• Green Capsicum (finely chopped) – ½ cup
• Garlic Butter (Amul) – 1 tbsp
• Vegetable Oil – 2 tbsp
• Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
• Lemon Juice – 3 tbsp
• Black Pepper – 1 tsp
• Salt (to taste)
• Water (quarter cup)

Cooking Procedure:

• Firstly you have to boil the potatoes, peel off the skin and mash them. Add salt and black pepper to that mixture and let it sit for some time.

• After this, heat some vegetable oil and garlic butter in a kadai (wok) and when it’s heated add the whole cumin seeds to it, let it crackle a bit
• Add the minced garlic, dried red chilies (roughly cut into pieces) and toss them a bit until they turn mild golden brown
• Add one green chili to this and add the finely chopped onions and capsicum as well. Adding capsicum to Aloo Chokha is my brainchild, it adds a bit of character to the dish though it’s not authentic and nowhere used while preparing original Aloo Chokha in Bihar.

• Sprinkle the tinge of garam masala while frying
• Keep tossing and cooking until the onions are very well cooked and almost getting dark brown.
• Now add the mashed potato mixture to this, mix well and keep frying
• Add a sprinkle of water (if required) to keep the dish tad moist

• Now add the lemon juice and one more chopped green chili to this, mix well and keep cooking on high flame for 3 more minutes
• Take the Aloo Chokha off the flame and serve it in a bowl, garnish it with some freshly chopped coriander leaves and sprinkle a bit more fresh lemon juice on top
• It’s ready to be served with some litti, roti or maybe rice!

Hopefully, you will prepare this and love having this dish! Potato is indeed very popular in our country and is associated with several misconceptions as well. Like people think having potatoes will make them really fat. Not really! It is actually a good source of Vitamin C and obviously has loads of starch, niacin, and thiamine. But anyway, you should judge and research well before you eat something. But for me, potatoes are a must-have! Something I can’t live without and I love this Aloo Chokha as well. So, go ahead and try out this dish and let me know how you liked it! Happy cooking!

Cheers!