Aloo Posto or Potatoes with Poppy Seeds (Bengali Dish)

Aloo Posto (আলু পোস্ত) is one vegetarian dish that is tremendously popular with Bengalis. It is quite easy to prepare and needs very few ingredients. The main ingredients are Potatoes and Poppy seeds. This dish can be tweaked in many ways but here we present our version.

Cooking time - Approx. 30 minutes
Servings - 4-5

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 200-250 gm
Posto (Poppy seeds), white - 50 gm
Green chillies - 2-3 or as per tolerance
Turmeric powder (Optional) - 1 tsp
Mustard oil - 2 tbsp
Water - 1 cup
Salt - To taste

Procedure:

1. Dry roast 1 tsp of posto and keep aside.
2. Soak the remaining posto in warm water for about 30 minutes, drain and grind it coarsely with 1-2 green chillies into a paste.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut into about 1/2" cubes
4. Heat 3/4 of the mustard oil in a kadahi/pan.
5. Fry the potatoes in the oil till they are light yellow in colour and semi-cooked.
6. Add the posto-chillies paste and turmeric powder (optional), remaining mustard oil, salt and a cup of water.
7. Cover the kadahi/pan and cook till the potatoes are cooked. The consistency should be pasty when done.
8. Garnish with the roasted posto seeds and green chillies and serve.

Aloo posto goes well with rice as well with rotis/phulkas, or even without anything. Just dig in with a spoon, as we prefer to do sometimes.

Aloo Posto

Do try this recipe and let us know your feedback.