Aaloo Tiki; crispy on the outside and melt in your mouth inside. What India calls Aaloo Tiki, the world calls Potato Croquettes. Nothing against croquettes, but saying croquettes just doesn’t warm up the memories like Aaloo Tiki does. Dil se translates to “from the heart,” after all it’s Valentines 🙂
A staple street food in North India, Aaloo Tikki vendors, have this huge griddle or taws as it is called in India. Perfect for shallow frying the taws had a lake of boiling oil in the center. Yes, it was a lot of grease, and surrounding the grease were tikki’s – round patties of mashed potatoes an spices stuffed with spiced chana dal (Bengal gram spilt legumes) and molded into this perfect round.
The customer arrives and the vendor pushes the partially cooked tikkis into the pool of oil where it sizzles hot perfectly to a crispy brown goodness.
The Tikki has since evolved from the streets of Delhi to a gourmet delicacy. It’s yummy and versatile. Make them tiny, they are the show stopper at your next holiday party. Make them bigger and cater a vegetarian BBQ, make them just right and have a chaat party at home OR twist them a little, change the shape and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.
Here’s how I make Aaloo Tiki. Again, these are my ingredient choices, the base is potato and honestly, you can’t go wrong with potatoes, the add on’s can be anything; from mixed vegetables to cheese, or just keep it plain. Either way, because you made it with love, it will taste amazing.
So here goes:
For the Stuffing:
If you want to stuff the tikki with the lentil’s (bengal gram dal) – Take about one cup of dry lentils and soak the lentils for about 3 hours,
boil them with minimal water so they are just soft and not mushed.
Add salt to taste, cayenne pepper, and a squirt of Sriracha sauce or any other hot sauce of choice.
Mix it all in and keep it aside.
You can use anything for the stuffing, cheese, paneer (home made cheese) Or even a dollop of sour cream and dill.
For the Tikki’s – Potato Croquette
Take 5-6 medium sized potatoes, boil them, peel them and mash them.
As a general rule – one medium sized potato will make two small Tikki’s.
If you want your Tikki’s bigger and thicker, then one medium sized potato for one Tikki.
(10 lbs of potatoes makes 45-50 Tikki’s)
Add a handful of crushed ginger, about a teaspoon of finely chopped green chillies (if you want to keep it mild, you can omit the chills. But do add the ginger)
salt to taste, a handful of finely chopped cilantro, a dash of dry mango powder and a tbsp of lemon juice.
Now Add about a cup of bread crumbs.
Mix them all to make a potato dough 🙂
Now let the fun start – take a handful of mashed potatoes, flatten it out,
add about a tablespoon of the stuffing, and gently wrap the potatoes around it.
You can either shape it as a pattie or go artsy and get those cookie cutters out.
Shape it the way you like.
Take a pan, add some oil and shallow fry the tikki.
You have yourself melt in your mouth goodness – Aaloo Tikki – An Imperfectly Perfect Delight.
Souse it with the chutneys of choice. I topped it with some spiced split peas, finely chopped onions, tamarind and cilantro chutney.
