Aloo Posto

Aloo Posto

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

Preparation:

v   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. 

v   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. 

v   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. 

v  Stir in salt and sugar. The mixture should be thick and the poppy seeds paste should be sticking to the potato pieces by now. 

v   Remove from fire, stir in the ghee and serve warm with rice.