Aloo chokha, which can also be described as Indian style mashed potato, is a pure bliss! This is an uber level of comfort food yet sheer indulgence!
Aloo chokha is something which every Indian, who has been brought up in any part of India, has grown up with! Tell me if I am wrong! Just imagine the plate of hot rice with a bowl of warm dal and a generous helping of aloo chokha!
Have you not started salivating? I bet you did! Same pinch! We Bengalis also love our aloo bhate which is a milder version of aloo chokha and is only flavored with ghee and salt. But aloo chokha has another level of deliciousness with addition of crispy fried sliced onions and kick of dry red chilies.
When we prepare this aromatics by tempering the hot mustard oil with dry red chilies and throw the thinly sliced onions into the hot oil to be fried, our home and kitchen start to feel like a culinary heaven as the fantastic aroma fills our mind and soul!
During my childhood, I had no idea that my ultimate comfort food has an international presence as well! Yeah, the design may be a little different but in essence it the exact same thing – boiled and mashed potato!
We Indians like it spicy, so we make it spicy; Italians like it creamy, so they make it creamy (I have a recipe for Smooth & Creamy Mashed Potato too!). I like both the versions with special inclination towards our very own aloo chokha.
Now let me quickly decode the name if you are not familiar with Indian cuisine – aloo is potato and chokha means something spicy. Being spice lovers, we make our aloo chokha a.k.a Indian mashed potato quite spicy! Try it and trust me you won’t regrest at all!
- Potatoes – 4, medium
- Dry red chilli – 2
- Onions – 2, medium, thinly sliced
- Oil – 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker or in any pan. Potatoes must be very soft after boiling to make the mashing easy.
- Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, temper it with the broken red chillies.
- Add the sliced onion and saute it till golden brown.
- Mash the boiled potatoes with a potato-masher or with your hand (which is much more exciting!)
- Add the mashed potato to the pan fried onion and stir well on low heat.
- Remove the pan from heat and transfer the potato into a plate.
- Add salt and mash well.
- Make four balls and serve with rice and dal. (Yum!)
The flavour quotient is a great website and aloo chokha is great and I love it.
wow…nice post…So hence proved we invented aloo chokha and they made mashed potatoes out of it LOL 🙂 Great presentation
Thanks for your nice comment! 🙂