Aloo Tikki

The peas go inside the potato and it is shaped into a cutlet.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 700 g potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 150 g peas, cooked and lightly crushed
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon amchoor, dried mango powder
• 3 tablespoons cornflour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons ghee, for shallow frying
• 20 g coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1. THE PEAS GO INSIDE THE POTATO AND IT IS SHAPED INTO A CUTLET. Its article gives both: made of boiled potatoes, PEAS and Indian spices, and tikki means a small CUTLET OR CROQUETTE. The peas are what separate this from the other potato cutlet on these pages, which has none -- and they are mixed through rather than stuffed in, so every bite has them. Shaped flat, it cooks in a film of fat; rolled into a ball it would need deep fat and would be something else.
2. THE POTATO IS BOILED, COOLED AND MASHED DRY. Mashed warm and wet, the mixture will not hold a shape and falls apart in the pan. Spread it out to cool and dry before mashing.
3. THE PEAS ARE CRUSHED, NOT PUREED AND NOT LEFT WHOLE. Pressed with a fork so each one breaks. Whole peas slide out of the patty as it cooks; pureed, they turn the mixture green and wet.
4. THE CORNFLOUR IS THE BINDER AND THERE IS NOT MUCH. Three tablespoons. More makes a tikki that tastes of starch; none and it breaks.
5. THE AMCHOOR IS THE SOURNESS AND IT GOES IN THE MIX. Not lemon juice, which adds water the mixture does not want.
6. THEY ARE PRESSED TO ABOUT A CENTIMETRE AND CHILLED. Twenty minutes in the fridge before frying. A cold patty holds together; a warm one slumps.
7. THEY ARE SHALLOW-FRIED AND TURNED ONCE. Four tablespoons of ghee in a heavy pan, five or six minutes a side, undisturbed. Moved about, the crust never forms.
8. ITS ARTICLE IS PRECISE ABOUT WHAT GOES WITH IT. Saunth, tamarind, and a coriander-mint sauce, and sometimes dahi or chickpeas. Served hot.
9. ITS ARTICLE ALSO NAMES WHAT IT TURNS INTO. With a spicy curry and chutneys it is ragda pattice; in bread it is the thing some eateries make of it. Neither is a page here.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes