Herbivore, carnivore, omnivore — no matter how you identify yourself, for Bengalis, there is hardly any love like the love for potatoes! Fries? Yes! Burger? Sure! A chatpata bhaji? Of course! Fried and topped with cheese? Aw, stop! We can eat our alu in multiple ways, at different times of the day.
For National Potato Day, the My Kolkata team lists their favourite potato dishes that keep our mouth watering for more.
Alu posto Shutterstock
Favourite potato dish: Alu Posto, Sada Alur Torkari and an alu dish made with tamarind that my grandmother used to make
From: My home kitchen
What sets it apart: These are dishes I have been having since childhood. The first is a Bengali favourite, but every household has its own touch — how much will the posto be fried, the hot and sweet quotient, etc. My grandmother (father’s mother) cooked it dry to the point that the posto needed to be scraped off the wok. Also, I like it with some jhinge (ridge gourd). That’s how my mother, and now I, make it and that’s the way I like it. On the hotter side, it doesn’t have a grain of sugar.
Sada Alur Torkari is my favourite side dish for luchi, and again the consistency and spice quotient varies from home to home. In ours, it has some jhol (gravy) and the potatoes just start to break, but are not mashed. No sugar, only salt and the aroma of green chilli. Best had for breakfast, or even brunch. Add some begun bhaja on the side and you are sorted.
I have a third favourite, too. An alu sabzi made with tamarind. My other grandmother (mother’s mother) spent her childhood and the years before marriage in UP, and the family’s recipes sometimes have a hint of those spices like hing (asafoetida). This dish is cooked with the potato skin on and that lends an extra taste.
Best time to have it: Any time. But I would say posto is more lunch, with some hot rice and followed by a bhaat ghoom. Sada Alur Torkari is best had with luchi and the other dish goes well with roti and is usually made for dinner in our home.
A fond memory associated with the dish: The potato and tamarind dish was the last item cooked by my grandmother that we had.
—Sohini Bhattacharya
Cheesy Fries with Pulled Pork from Macazzo, Southern Avenue Jaismita Alexander
Favourite potato dish: Cheesy Fries With Pulled Pork
From: Macazzo, Southern Avenue
What sets it apart: The perfect crispiness of the fries, the smoky flavour of the pork and the gooey cheese makes you want to keep binge on it non-stop. This one is a sinful, comfort food dish.
Best time to have it: Definitely those chilly winter evenings
A fond memory associated with the dish: The first time I had this was in 2020. We had a school reunion where all seniors and juniors met up. We enjoyed the dish so much that we did not order much else.
—Jaismita Alexander
‘Batata chi bhaji’ Rumela Basu
Favourite potato dish: Batata-chi Bhaji and Alu Khosha Bhaja
From: My mother’s kitchen
What sets it apart: The mildly spicy and tangy taste in the Batata-chi Bhaji from the chillies and generous squeeze of lemon. The little crunch from the poppy seeds in the Alu Khosha Bhaja.
Best time to have it: Batata-chi Bhaji, or more correctly Batata-chya bhaji as it is pronounced in Marathi, is a great breakfast item with puris (or luchi), especially when it rains, or a summer-time dinner with puri and some aamras. Alu Khosha Bhaja is fantastic as a side with a Bengali lunch.
A fond memory associated with the dish: These are the tastes of my childhood as a Bengali kid growing up in Mumbai. Batata-chi bhaji and luchi is the first Indian dish I cooked for my husband and in-laws after getting married, and it took me back to my childhood days in Mumbai. The other funny but fond memory with this dish is that I once ended up putting neem leaves in the Batata-chi bhaji instead of curry leaves, and the result was a mild disaster! But according to the people who ate it, it still tasted good. Alu Khosha Bhaja is the ultimate comfort food, and one of those things that I requested my mum to make after I came back to India after my postgraduate studies in the UK.
—Rumela Basu
Stuffed Alu Dum Pooja Mitra
Favourite potato dish: Stuffed Alu Dum
From: My mother’s kitchen
What sets it apart: The fact that Ma has made it
Best time to have it: Any time of the year
A fond memory associated with the dish: I think the first time I had this was when I was very little, and Ma made it on my birthday among other things. It has been a constant favourite ever since. More recently, I had COVID in the first phase of the pandemic and was very unwell. I was rapidly losing weight since I could not eat anything. Ma made this favourite alu dum and sent it over. It was one one of the first things I could eat properly during that time.
—Pooja Mitra
Stuffed Tandoori Aloo from Balwant Singh Dhaba
Favourite potato dish: Stuffed Tandoori Aloo
From: Balwant Singh Dhaba on Harish Mukherjee Road
What sets it apart: What elevates the Stuffed Tandoori Aloo is the tandoor’s smokiness and a generous portion. The foundation is set with boiled potatoes, tender and ready to be marinated in a medley of Indian spices, herbs and yoghurt. The potatoes are then stuffed with more spices, toasted dry fruits and cottage cheese. It is served with charred capsicum and onions and some mint chutney
Best time to have it: Any time though there’s something about charred, smoky potatoes during the winter months!
A fond memory associated with the dish: Around 2006 is when I probably had this for the first time. A late-night office grind was always accompanied by a growling stomach. Back then, options for late-night dining were limited, and that’s where Balwant Singh Dhaba stepped in as my food saviour. It became my go-to stop for Tandoori Aloo, washed down with bhanrs of kesar chai
—Karo Christine Kumar
Mashed potatoes Shutterstock
Favourite potato dish: Mashed potatoes (with generous amounts of butter)
From: Cafe by the Lane, Sovabazar
What sets it apart: I had this in September 2021 for the first time and I what stood out was the melt-in-the mouth feel, the sweetness of the potatoes and the creamy aftertaste
Best time to have it: On a rainy evening with fries or crisps on the side
A fond memory associated with the dish: I visited the cafe with a close friend, and ordered the mashed potatoes alongside a chicken dish. The two of us — hardcore carnivores — completely forgot about the chicken as we could not get enough of the potatoes!
—Priyam Marik
Vada Pav
Favourite potato dish: Vada Pav
From: Sodabottleopenerwala, Kolkata
What sets it apart: The pav-to-vada ratio and the spicy kick
Best time to have it: Almost any time you want a quick snack
A fond memory associated with the dish: During my college days in Mumbai as a Bachelor’s student, I was living a semi-broke life. About ten bucks decided if I would have a meal or not and my go-to food was Mumbai’s most favourite street food, the vada pav. It became a favourite because of the spiciness in the alu vada and kept me full… till the next vada pav. In Kolkata, Sodabottleopenerwala in South City Mall makes a great Mumbai-style vada pav.
—Urvashi Bhattacharya
