Aloo Tikki

Ingredients

• 1 kg Potato
• 1/4 kg Green peas (or 1 cauliflower)
• 3 Tomato
• 1/4 cup Finely chopped onion
• 1 Bread (a whole loaf)
• 1 Mint leaves (small bunch)
• 1 Coriander leaves (small bunch)
• as needed Salt
• 2 Teaspoons Chili powder
• 1 Teaspoon Garam masala powder
• Oil (for cooking)

Instructions

1. Boil the potatoes and shelled peas. Peel the cooked potatoes and mash smooth, with no lumps.
2. Dip each bread slice in water, squeeze out well, and mix into the potato. Add salt, chili powder, garam masala powder, and chopped mint and coriander leaves, and knead thoroughly.
3. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, then peel, grind, and strain.
4. Heat a spoon of oil in a pan and add cumin and chopped onion. Once the onion turns golden, add the tomato puree, salt, a little chili powder, garam masala powder, and the cooked peas. Once the moisture has fully dried up, remove from heat.
5. Shape the potato dough into orange-sized balls. Make a well in each, place a little of the pea masala inside, and reshape into a ball, sealing the filling in.
6. Flatten each ball by hand into a cutlet shape. Deep-fry in hot oil until golden (this can also be shallow-fried on a griddle with oil).
7. Serve hot, topped with chopped onion, alongside tomato sauce or sweet chutney and mint chutney. (Sweet chutney: see the Pani Puri recipe. Mint chutney: see the closing pages of this book.)
8. Alternative method: cauliflower or whole moong beans can be used instead of peas for the filling. Instead of chili powder, ginger-green chili paste can be kneaded into the potato dough directly. The tikki can also be made without any filling at all.