Aloo sabzis are the go-to sabzis be it on a festival or on regular days. Aloo or potatoes just work with anything and everything. After I decided to prepare Bengali style khichuri and tamatar chatni for Durgashtami I was thinking of a sabzi to go along with the chatni and phulkas/rotis, finally I zeroed in on making aloo posto. The star of the show is not aloo though. It is a paste made from lightly roasted khus-khus/gasa gase/poppy seeds. They give a pungent flavour to the sabzi and add great texture. Aloo posto is generally made in mustard oil like most Bengali dishes. It is a simple sabzi and is ready in no time. Do try other khus-khus or poppy seeds related dishes and aloo dishes.
Aloo Posto | Bengali Aloo Poshto | How to make aloo posto?
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Pungent and flavourful aloo posto - aloo sabzi with khus-khus paste
Author: Vindhya Desai
Recipe type: Lunch
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 4 people
Ingredients
- 2 medium potatoes
- 3 Tbsp khus-khus/gasa gase/poppy seeds
- ½ Tbsp mustard/cooking oil
- ¼ Tsp jeera
- ¼ Tsp ground raw mustard seeds/rai
- 1 broken dry red chilli
- ½" grated ginger
- 1 slit green chilli
- ¼ Tsp haldi/turmeric
- Salt to taste
- 2 Tbsp water to make posto (poppy seeds paste)
- Coriander leaves to garnish
Method
- Peel and dice potatoes into large dices
- Boil potatoes till almost soft. Keep aside
- While potatoes are boiling, in another pan, lightly roast gasa gase/khus-khus till they release their aroma. Do this on low flame. Allow them to cool
- Once the gasa gase/khus-khus are cooled, dry grind them without water into a coarse powder
- Add 1-2 Tbsp water and grind into a paste. Keep aside
- In a pan, heat oil and add ¼ Tsp jeera and ground raw mustard and let the jeera splutter
- Add dry red chilli, fry. Add slit green chilli and grated ginger
- Next add boiled and drained potatoes and mix well
- Add haldi,salt and mix well
- Add posto or gasa gase/khus-khus paste. Mix
- Adjust consistency by adding 1-2 Tbsp water so that all the gasa gase/khus-khus paste coats the aloo. Cook covered for 5 minutes on low flame
- Garnish with coriander. Serve hot
Notes
Potatoes can also be cooked in the tadka itself. Boiling them before makes the posto faster to prepare
Add a pinch of hing/asafoetida for extra flavour
Adjust spiciness as per your taste
Add a pinch of hing/asafoetida for extra flavour
Adjust spiciness as per your taste
Stepwise:
Peel and dice potatoes into large dices
Boil potatoes till almost soft. Keep aside
While potatoes are boiling, in another pan, lightly roast gasa gase/khus-khus till they release their aroma. Do this on low flame. Allow them to cool
Once the gasa gase/khus-khus are cooled, dry grind them without water into a coarse powder
Add 1-2 Tbsp water and grind into a paste. Keep aside
In a pan, heat oil and add 1/4 Tsp jeera and ground raw mustard and let the jeera splutter
Add dry red chilli, fry. Add slit green chilli and grated ginger
Next add boiled and drained potatoes and mix well
Add haldi, salt and mix well
Add posto or gasa gase/khus-khus paste. Mix
Adjust consistency by adding 1-2 Tbsp water so that all the gasa gase/khus-khus paste coats the aloo. Cook covered for 5 minutes on low flame
Garnish with coriander. Serve hot
