Aloo Posto is a potato curry cooked in poppy seed or posto paste.
A quintessential dish that is served mostly with Rice and Kalai (urad) or Moong dal.
Posto is basically Bengali for Poppy seeds. This little ingredient is extremely popular among Bengalis and is prevalent in bong kitchen.
It is one of the authentic Bong dish as potato and poppy seeds have a very special ingredients.
A quintessential dish that makes for a easy and quick meal for a busy or a laid back when served with rice and kalai or moong dal. Today was one such day where I wanted to try some thing different but was not in the mood for a fancy meal prep. So I decided to make aloo posto with my costco mini potatos.
I first heard about this dish from a colleague form work who was a bengali. He loved his fish and chicken biryani and would often joke that the only vegetable he know to replace these were aloo/potatos. And we ended uo discussing all the different potato dishes from Bengal and I learnt about – Kolkata Aloo biryani and Aloo posto, two gems of potato dishes that are keeper.
I also wanted to pair this with an authentic Bengali dal and did some browsing to find this moong dal recipe on a nice bong recipe site – Experiences of a gastronomad. I ended up making Bengali Moong Dal for Saturday Lunch adding my little twist to it to pair with Aloo posto. It was a fulfilling meal. Kids enjoyed it as well.
Aloo Posto
INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups cooked baby potatoes
-1/2 tsp turmeric powder
-1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
-1/2 tsp mustard seeds
-3-4 tbs of oil
-Salt to taste
For posto masala:
-3 tbs khaskhas or poppy seeds (soak in water for 30 mins to 2 hrs)
-1 green chilli
-½ inch ginger
METHOD
1. Pressure cook Potatoes in pressure cooker for upto 2 whistles or for about 6-7 minutes in pressure cook mode in your IntantPot.
2. Make sure not to boil them too mushy. Once done let it cool and remove the skin ( I let the skin on as I like it that way)
3. Now in a kadhai or pan add oil or Ghee and add in the Mustard and Cumin seeds and let it splatter.
4. Then add the turmeric, cooked and peeled potatoes and salt to the pan and let it roast.
5. Meanwhile grind the poppy seeds, green chillis and ginger into a smooth paste.
6. Now when all the potatoes are roasted, add in the posto paste to the mix and let it cook till the paste dries up a bit and coats the potatoes nicely.
7. Adjust consistency to you preference by adding water as needed.
8. Turn off the heat and Aloo Posto is ready to be enjoyed.
Recipe Notes:
1. Usually it is not made as gravy but more as a sukhi subji
2. Make sure to soak the poppy seeds at least for 30+ minutes to get a smooth texture
