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Aloo Posto – Bengali Aloo Poshto Recipe

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Reema sent me this recipe for Bengali Aloo Posto ages ago (over a year back, to be precise). I had to first get some poppy seeds from India because apparently they are not available (aka banned) in Singapore. Poppy seeds are said to induce a high and generally make you sleepy if you take it in large quantities. Although this aloo posto disappoints in that regard, there’s a payasam / payesh they make in Karnataka that is said to have this effect, and that’s next in my agenda 😉

Looking for more Indian potato recipes? Then check out this Punjabi aloo gobi recipe, potato soya chunks masala, or these baked garlic potato wedges, one of my favourite evening snacks. 

Poppy Seeds

Poppy seeds are also used in Kerala cooking, although sparingly. It is a good substitute for coconut (definitely not in flavour but in consistency) and I used to make this chicken curry with poppy seeds / khus khus that was such a hit that each time we bought chicken at home, which was rarely, I would insist on making this dish with some of it. 
Soaking is necessary to get the seeds rolling. Always soak in warm water for 15-20 mins before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. 
Kalonji

Meet kalonji. It looks a lot like black sesame seeds but kalonji is actually Nigella, or black caraway or popularly known in Bengal as Kala Jeera (black jeera). I have no relationship with these seeds, mind you. I am using them for the first time in this dish and they give a nice crunch to the aloo posto. Ah, the joys of experimenting. 
Bengali Aloo Posto (Potato in Poppy Seed Paste) Recipe
Ingredients:
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1″ cubes
2-3 tbsp khus-khus / posto / poppy seeds
1 tbsp mustard oil (I used normal cooking oil)
1 tbsp kalonji / kala jeera / nigella seeds
2 Green chillies, slit (I used 3 dry red chillies since I was out of green chillies)
1 tsp ghee
A pinch of sugar
Salt to taste
Instructions:
1. Soak the poppy seeds in 1 cup warm water for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain (use a tea strainer, the seeds will stick to your fingers and generally annoy you) and grind to a smooth paste. Add water by the tsp while grinding if it gets too thick. 
2. Heat the oil in a pan and add the kalonji. Fry for about 2 mins. Then add the potatoes and cook for 5 mins, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Make sure that your flame is kept to medium. 
3. Now add the poppy seed paste and the red chillies, broken into halves (or the green chillies which is what you should actually be using).  Fry for 3 mins and then top off with about a cup of water and cook covered for 10-12 mins until the potatoes are cooked through. 
4 .Stir in salt and sugar. The mixture should be thick and the poppy seeds paste should be sticking to the potato pieces by now. 
5. Remove from fire, stir in the ghee and serve warm with rice. 
The flavour was like nothing I had ever tasted. We immensely enjoyed this simple dish although next time I think I would make sure I add green chillies or maybe throw in a couple more red chillies. 
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  3. Hi Nags,

    I had recently tried a slightly diff version of aloo poshto as they had shown it on chak le India on NDTV good times. Though its a is li'l subtle for my spice loving mallu palette, it sure does taste good.

    Prathibha

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  6. I have always wanted to make this as i have heard a lot about aloo posto, thanks for the recipe, bookmarked! Love the last pic, looks very inviting!

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  7. This looks really great Nags…am very proud of you 🙂 My mom makes super Aloo Posto…I so miss it! A variation she does (which I believe is the secret to the great taste) is she fries some julienned onions in the oil first…fries them nicely, & then adds the potatoes & rest of he stuff. She also ads a lil tomato puree to the fried onions…the extra tang along with the sweetness of the sugar & the heat of the chillies….heavenly!!!

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  8. Looks lovely and makes me miss home even more. Another popular variant is using Ridge Gourd along with potato. Skin and cut the ridge gourd into small pieces. Heat 1 tsp of oil, add the gourd, a bit of salt, mix well and cover and cook, till the gourd is soft. No need to add water, just keep the heat low. What we often do is, cook ridge gourd, cook potato in the same way (with little water), and fry the poppy paste till a reddish color, keep everything aside. Heat oil, add chopped onion, mix turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder and jeera powder which is half the quantity of dhania powder. Fry till oil separates, add the potato, ridge gourd and poppy seeds. Add little hot water, few green chillies, balance salt and sugar and cook till it is thick. top with some ghee

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  14. Hi Nags

    Thank you for this recipe. Sometimes it is good to try a new potato recipe. I constantly try to make variations. Next time its going to be this one.

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  15. This somehow looks like kappapuzhukku to me..u knw..the one we have with meen curry..thenga okke itta types..:)..havent trioed poppy paste other than in biriyani..looks good..:)

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  16. Aloo looks moist and yummy – but the part I like is about getting high! LOL! That's actually a lot of poppy seeds you've used here – sure might help with the getting high part. I didn't know that these were banned there – we do get them here, but they're freaking expensive! Do the Spore feds know that you are cooking this yummy concoction up yet?

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  17. You had me at "high" 🙂 Poppy seeds always remind me of that Seinfeld episode with Elaine's drug test… Great start with Bengali cuisine, I've got to try one of their fish recipes soon too.

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  19. OH YEAH! Every festival in and around Mysore, K'taka isn't complete without Gasegase(Poppy) payasa made with coconut, pooy and sugar and you find most of them snoring after that heavy meal! ;D

    Aloo looks so yum, I made it with sandeepa's recipe, love it.Looks great.

    Nigella seeds look pretty sprinkled on Naans.

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  20. Sayantani, not at all!! I love that people give tips here, its all about learning from each other. this is my first bengal recipe and i wanted to start with the simple aloo posto 🙂 i will update the preparation method with what you said. thanks for that!!

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  22. I had tried this a while back with similar measurement and had a Bengali try it. He said it should be drenched in Postho to give that authentic feel. Still, I love the dish! 🙂

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  23. Alu posto is the most staple in our kitchen. you made it look super delicious. though their are various ways f cooking this but mostly green chillies are used in this recipe, also when you add the poppy seed paste you can also fry it for a couple of minutes along with the potato on low heat and then add the water. this will heighten the aroma.
    hope you dont mind that I said this. Happy cooking dear.

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  26. Very interesting recipe!:-) Kalonji is what is used in Falooda also, if I am not mistaken, also known as sabja seeds. Would love to try this, as soon as I can start eating potatoes again..~Shreya

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  28. I have this thing going on with them taters, and you just fuelled the relationship a level higher! The Posto is screaming: "Eat me!" and how I wish I could do just that from the picture on my screen!

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