Bengali Culture and Cuisine

Potato poppy(Aloo Posto)

It is a Bengal dish from the state of West Bengal. It is served with Poori/Lucchi and Steamed Rice. It is a dry recipe in which potatoes are cooked in Poppy paste and have very mild flavors. This is the following recipe:-

INGREDIENTS60 g mustard oil¼ tsp kaalo jeere (nigella seeds)2 pcs dried red chilies25 g onions500 g potatoes50 g Posto (poppy seeds)4 pcs green chilies12 g salt‍8 g sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak poppy seeds in water for two hours. Strain and add to a grinder jar, along with 2 green chilies and 75 g water. Grind to a coarse paste. Set aside.Peel and cut the potatoes into 1-cm cubes. If using onions, slice them too.Heat mustard oil in a pan. Once smoking lightly and pale yellow, add the onions. Fry until lightly colored (about 1 minute). Drain from the oil and set it aside.Temper the oil with dried red chilies and kaalo jeere. Add the potatoes. Fry for about 5 minutes. The potatoes should not brown, so keep stirring them regularly.Add the poppy-seed paste, along with salt and sugar. Cook on low heat until the raw smell of the poppy paste goes away. This should take about 4 minutes.Continue cooking on low heat, with the lid on until the potatoes are soft. Once in a while, when the pan dries out, you may have to add a splash of hot water to ensure the potatoes don't stick to the pan.Finish with 2 slit green chilies and 1 tsp of mustard oil.If you fried the onions earlier, add those now too, and give a final stir, before serving with hot rice and dal, or with roti.