Achari Aloo / Spicy Pickled Baby Potato Recipe

Achari Aloo is a flavorful dry potato dish from North India . Achar in Hindi means pickle, and in this dish , potatoes are tempered with spices usually used to make pickles and hence the name of the dish. This spicy , tangy , flavorful dry potato dish is a treat to the taste buds . Achari Aloo can be served as a starter dish or a side dish and goes very well with hot pooris , rice , chapati  or as an accompaniment with Curd Rice.

Generally , Mustard oil is used in the preparation of this dish , but i have made the dish in my regular Sunflower oil , as my family does not like the strong flavor of mustard oil. I have not added garlic or onion in this dish, so this is a onion garlic free recipe. The recipe calls for use of baby potatoes, which are more tastier , though you may use regular potatoes in this dish if baby potatoes are not available. To cut down the extra calories , i have boiled the baby potatoes instead of deep frying them.  If you too are a fan of the versatile potato , you will surely like this dish. Do give it a try :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg Baby Potatoes
• 3-4 whole dry Red Chilies
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds / Rai
• 2 tsp Fennel seeds / Sauf
• 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds / Methi dana
• 1 tsp Nigella / Onion seeds / Kalonji
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera
• 1 tsp Red Chilly powder
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• Pinch of Asafoetida / Hing
• 1/2 tsp dry Mango powder /Amchur powder
• 1 tsp grated Ginger
• 1 tbsp Vinegar
• 2-3 tbsp Oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and boil the baby potatoes . Peel on cooling and keep aside. If using regular potatoes, chop them into cubes after boiling and peeling. 

     2.  Grind the whole red chilies , fenugreek seeds , mustard seeds and fennel seeds coarsely and keep aside until use.

                           

     3.   In a pan heat up oil , add onion seeds and cumin seeds to it. Once the cumin seeds crackle, add the grated ginger , saute it for a while. Now add the Asafoetida and Turmeric powder followed by the boiled potatoes. Stir fry the potatoes for about a minute. 

                           

    4.   Now add the coarsely ground powder of ( red chilies , fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds) . Along with it add the amchur powder , red chilly powder and salt. 

                           

     5.   Stir nicely so that all the spices blend very well with the potatoes. Now add the vinegar and little water . Mix well. Cook the potatoes , until all the water is soaked up. Adding water is optional , but this step ensures the potatoes are moist and the spices do not burn up.

   6.   Put off the flame and serve the tasty achari aloo hot with chapati or rice.

                           

 If you too are a fan of the versatile potato , you will surely like this flavorful dish. Do give it a try :) 

For more potato recipes , do check my posts on

• Kashmiri Dum Aloo
• Spicy Potato Salad
• Chickpea leaves with Potato Stir Fry
• Sweet Potato Chaat