Aloo Tikki - Potato cutlet

[Monica Bhide]

BBhasin.. I await your answer here....

This is the one we had on our trip to Delhi last -- boiled potatoes mashed with onions and green chilies, pan fried and then doused in cilantro chutney

[Monica Bhide]

The size of the griddle used to pan fry these is, well, enormous.

[bague25]

Episure

Don't you have a secret for tikkis? What is your recipe?

The best Tikkis I've eaten are the ones that were made by my Sindhi neighbour - every Sindhi cook worth its salt has a special recipe - I love the peas stuffed ones and the chutney stuffed ones...

[Episure]

The main secret is to use old/aged potatoes with low moisture content.

Variations are spiced chana dal stuffing, spiced corn kernels, spiced peas.......

This is one tikki that has to be slowly shallow fried as in your pics, the potato shell has to develop a crust. Sometimes I eat only the crust.

My current fav is red chilli flakes, chopped basil and corn kernels.

Edited August 19, 2004 by Episure (log)

[bague25]

Come on Episure, Don't make me beg give us a more precise recipe...

PS: Thanks for the tips.

PPS: They are absolutely delicious with date & tamarind chutney

[deliad]

Come on Episure, Don't make me beg give us a more precise recipe...

PS: Thanks for the tips.

PPS: They are absolutely delicious with date & tamarind chutney

Remembering my college days here...

They were even more delicious with "A" date and date and tamarind chutney.

I also like to sprinkle red onions and mint chutney over it. Another variation is to mix some spinach and mashed peas with Aloos and make a hara bhara kabab/tikki

[Edward]

I hardly ever make aloo tikkis. Every 1 1/2 years or so....I wonder why? I would like to eat them much more than that. I like mine gingery and cooked very slowly on a griddle just brushed with oil/ghee. They develop a very thin and delicate crust this way and have a more potatoey flavor than the shallow fried kind, but i'll take any kind. Just so long as they are tasty.

[Episure]

I hardly ever make aloo tikkis. Every 1 1/2 years or so....I wonder why? I would like to eat them much more than that. I like mine gingery and cooked very slowly on a griddle just brushed with oil/ghee. They develop a very thin and delicate crust this way and have a more potatoey flavor than the shallow fried kind, but i'll take any kind. Just so long as they are tasty.

Edward, the tawa in the pic is great for doing just that, you let it brown and then move it to the edge to develop the crust slowly. The tikkiwallahs in the North have 50 - 60 tikkis at a time on the tawas.

Although mostly I advocate the use of deep frying, tikkis warrant this method.

[gingerly]

i don't make them too often and i know exactly why last favourite was from jasleen dhamija again-basil,amchur,chilli powder,crushed peanuts,oil and salt mixed to a paste(o) and used as filling.completely addictive.

[jw46]

The main secret is to use old/aged potatoes with low moisture content.

What type of potato you are using?...

High starch low moisture... Like Russet Burbank

Medium starch potatoes...Like Yukon Gold

Low starch high moisture potates, like the round red ones...

Sounds like a very good way to get rid of spuds who have sat in our pantry a little too long and are a bit withered, though edible...

[Edward]

I hardly ever make aloo tikkis. Every 1 1/2 years or so....I wonder why? I would like to eat them much more than that. I like mine gingery and cooked very slowly on a griddle just brushed with oil/ghee. They develop a very thin and delicate crust this way and have a more potatoey flavor than the shallow fried kind, but i'll take any kind. Just so long as they are tasty.

Edward, the tawa in the pic is great for doing just that, you let it brown and then move it to the edge to develop the crust slowly. The tikkiwallahs in the North have 50 - 60 tikkis at a time on the tawas.

Although mostly I advocate the use of deep frying, tikkis warrant this method.

Oh, I see. Those tikkis in the picture do look ridiculously delicious. I'm going to have to get Monica to tell me exactly where in Delhi that tikkiwallah is so that when I go in October I can eat about 50-60!

[Episure]

Come on Episure, Don't make me beg give us a more precise recipe...

PS: Thanks for the tips.

PPS: They are absolutely delicious with date & tamarind chutney

Boil the potatoes till soft, remove from the water as soon as possible and let cool on a rack. This ensures moisture evaporation and will go a long way to make the tikkis kadak(crisp and crusty). Mash them with a fork and then knead with a little salt till it becomes a stiff dough. If need be add leftover bread which has been toasted and pulsed in a grinder.

Par boil chana dal till 'dal dente'( ) and saute with a little ghee or oil in red chilli powder, amchoor, jeera and a little garam masala. Stuff this spiced dal into a rolled out roundel of potato and close edges to form a ball. Flatten with hands and shallow fry as in Monica's' pictures.

Tips:

->Dont forget to let the boiled potatoes 'sweat'.

->Splurge and use Ghee/Butter to saute the dal, enclosed in the shell, a little of it goes a long way.

->If you dont have a concave pan, use a flat griddle/pan and support it with a tilt. You can now maneuver the browned tikkis to the side to develop a crust without blackening.

-> not that it makes a difference but try and use a heart shape mould/cookie cutter, it will make my tribe happy.

And remember 'dal dente'

[Monica Bhide]

Episure - I am sitting here reading an age old issue of a Hindi magazine and they have a variation on the classic aloo tikki - the patties are dipped into cornflour (mixed with water) and then covered with crushed red chili pappads and fried. Sounds quite good doesnt it?

[Episure]

Something similar, I like my tikkis served on a bed of Chivda/ Bombay mix or whatever you all call it there. And raw onions and chatni.

[raghavan iyer]

They are absolutely delicious with date & tamarind chutney

Besides that chutney (or a mint-cilantro one perhaps) are there any typical sauces that accompany the tikkis? I have also sampled spiced, partially sprouted mung/moong beans as a filling.

[carswell]

Boil the potatoes till soft, remove from the water as soon as possible and let cool on a rack. This ensures moisture evaporation and will go a long way to make the tikkis kadak(crisp and crusty).

[snip]

->Dont forget to let the boiled potatoes 'sweat'.

Just wondering, Episure, if you've ever tried Joel Robuchon's trick of returning the warm potatoes to the pot (emptied of its water, of course), mashing them there and then drying them out over a medium flame for 4–5 minutes, sans oil and stirring constantly.

Thanks, everyone, for your input. It's the kind of discussion that makes this forum so useful. Am really looking forward to making — and eating! — aloo tikki soon.

[Episure]

Boil the potatoes till soft, remove from the water as soon as possible and let cool on a rack. This ensures moisture evaporation and will go a long way to make the tikkis kadak(crisp and crusty).

[snip]

->Dont forget to let the boiled potatoes 'sweat'.

Just wondering, Episure, if you've ever tried Joel Robuchon's trick of returning the warm potatoes to the pot (emptied of its water, of course), mashing them there and then drying them out over a medium flame for 4–5 minutes, sans oil and stirring constantly.

Thanks, everyone, for your input. It's the kind of discussion that makes this forum so useful. Am really looking forward to making — and eating! — aloo tikki soon.

Carswell,

Joel Robuchon's tip sounds logical, I'm sure it will work, I'll try it the next time. Thanks.

Am really looking forward to making — and eating! — aloo tikki soon.

stuffed with Sevruga or Ossetra?

[bague25]

Thanks Episure

Will make tikkis tommorrow...

[da_coolestofall]

I used to eath these tikis in Noida(suburb of delhi), where what teh guy did was instead of mashing the potatoes, he boiled them and then used a grater to grate the potaoes. This made them extra crispy. Plus he only fried them in clarified butter. His were not as thick as the ones inthe picture, they were thinner and bigger. He fried them a little and then applied some pressure on them to make em flatter and fried them again. high in calories tho!

[Monica Bhide]

da_coolestofall

Welcome to the India forum! Do tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you posting from?

[da_coolestofall]

Oops I guess i should have done that before, but i didnt see like a FAQ or New Member post. Anyhow, I am originally from Delhi/Noida. I have been living in Southern California for aboutthe past 6 years. I just chanced upon thios forum and I am glad I did

[v. gautam]

Dear Coolest,

Your Noida tikki man appears to have reinvented the Jewish potato latkes [minus onions] !

[rajsuman]

Tikkis are my absolute favourites! Monica, there should be a law against posting such pictures - you're making some of us very homesick!

Suman

P.S. How did your beautiful manicured fingers transform into hairy-knuckled ones ?

[Monica Bhide]

P.S. How did your beautiful manicured fingers transform into hairy-knuckled ones ?

Its a generational thing

Dad!