Alu Posto – Potatoes in a Creamy Poppy Seed Paste

As I write to share this recipe for Alu Posto or Potatoes in a Poppy Seed Paste, which I think is perfect for the cold weather. Simple in its preparation and use of ingredients, it is a much beloved offering on the Bengali plate. It is the second recipe with poppy seeds or posto on the blog. The first one being this one with zucchini or jhinge. This dish is an all time favorite. The cozy comforting flavors certainly are great during the winter months. However, it is also prescribed during summer due to the cooling properties of the posto or poppy seeds.

The Onion in Alu Posto

There are maybe three or four ingredients that come together in this very simple recipe. A strict Indian vegetarian often avoids onions. That translates to Satvik cuisine, that I tell you about in this post.

As I write more about this recipe, I will tell you that I am offering a variation on the recipe in my book, to make it sans onions. My mother makes it this way. I love the added flavor that the onion provides.

This variation is pretty simple, eliminate the onions and add in a pinch of asafetida with the panch phoron. The sans onion version is just a little bit quicker. Sharing it on my blog is prompted on request of Amini Ramchandran. This happened when I requested her to review my cookbook.

Ammini has been so reassuring and supportive of my cookbook. Her feedback was the first external feedback that I received on the book and went a long way in making me feel at least the book would be palatable to some.

In one of her exchanges with me she shared her nostalgia about this recipe, this is what she told me,

“When I first came to the US many years ago it was hard to find most Indian ingredients. As graduate students my husband and I shared a small house with a Bengali couple. We lived downstairs and they were upstairs. When the fragrance of poppy seed masala wafted downstairs, practically every week, I knew Gowri Mukhopadhyay was cooking that delicious potato dish. Soon she would knock on my door with bowl of her potatoes. In Rhode Island, potatoes were easy to find and she had brought a good stock of poppy seeds with her, so it was a staple in her house.”

So, I think of Ammini and many others as I share with you this simple recipe that we Bengalis call comfort food. I have also included a video demo, which might have some technical glitches, but something that my husband is learning to work on.

Why we love Alu Posto and about texture

Other than its extreme simplicity, something magical happens when soft and creamy poppy seeds meet potatoes. There are two rules to making good alu posto, with or without onions. The potatoes should be very soft and the posto or poppy seed paste should be soft and creamy.

How to Enjoy your Alu Posto

This is an uncomplicated dish. It is best enjoyed with a simple dal. People have their preferences on what dal to use. For me the dal of choice is always red lentils or mushoor dal.