Aloo Posto – Bengali Potato Poppy Seed Curry

Last Updated on December 14, 2020 by Chef Mireille

This week’s BM theme is to pick a regional state of India and cook a few dishes from that cuisine. I already have cooked many Bengali dishes when I made this thali here and in other posts. The state of West Bengal is unique when compared to other South Indian states as there are very few Bengali Vegetarians. Fish is always included as part of their daily diet. Even the Bengali Hindu pandits are not Vegetarian. The one group of Bengali’s who were Vegetarian were widows. When women became widows, they were no longer allowed to eat meat as well as other foods like onion and garlic, foods deemed to incite feelings of passion. However, this is changing in modern times.

Because of this, onion and garlic are now used in many traditional Bengali dishes, when they weren’t used in the past. However, some dishes are so flavorful and delicious, who needs it? This poppy seed curry is one of those. Poppy seeds combined with the intoxicating aromatic nigella seed make this a wonderfully delicious Vegetarian side dish.

Aloo Posto

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons white poppy seeds
• 5 green chiles
• 1 tablespoon mustard oil
• 1 teaspoon nigella seeds/ kalonji
• 12 oz. potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons ghee

Soak poppy seeds in 1/4 cup water for 2-3 hours.

Using coffee/spice grinder, grind the poppy seeds with the green chillies to form a paste.

Heat oil in a deep skillet. Add nigella seeds and fry for 1 minute.

Add potatoes and turmeric. Stir fry on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add cumin, 1/2 cup water and salt. Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated.

Add poppy seed paste, sugar and 3/4 cup water. Simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are cooked and fork tender.

Add ghee and cook for 1 more minute.

Notes:

If all the liquid has evaporated and the potatoes are still not fork tender, add a little more water 1/4 cup at a time, until the potatoes are cooked. It is meant to be a semi-dry curry.

The spices here are very mild when compared to most Indian curries, but the nigella is so fragrant and creates such a lasting effect on the palate that the spices aren’t missed.

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Aloo Posto – Bengali Potato Poppy Seed Curry

Prep Time2 hours hrs

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons white poppy seeds
• 5 green chiles
• 1 tablespoon mustard oil
• 1 teaspoon black onion seed/nigella
• 12 oz. potatoes peeled and cut into large dice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons ghee

Instructions

• Soak poppy seeds in 1/4 cup water for 2-3 hours.
• Using coffee/spice grinder, grind the poppy seeds with the green chillies to form a paste.
• Heat oil in a deep skillet. Add nigella seeds and fry for 1 minute.
• Add potatoes and turmeric. Stir fry on medium heat for 5 minutes.
• Add cumin, 1/2 cup water and salt. Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated.
• Add poppy seed paste, sugar and 3/4 cup water. Simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are cooked and fork tender.
• Add ghee and cook for 1 more minute.

Notes

If all the liquid has evaporated and the potatoes are still not fork tender, add a little more water 1/4 cup at a time, until the potatoes are cooked. It is meant to be a semi-dry curry.

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