Recipe for Tilwale Aloo | Potato curry in sesame sauce

Potato is a star vegetable. No matter what situation you put it in, it will come out shining. Also, it is one vegetable that finds an important place in every single cuisine of the world. the previous statement is of course part knowledge and part assumption :P 

Early on in my blogging days, I wrote this post on the different potato recipes in Tambrahm cuisine. Every cuisine in India must have over a dozen recipes for his humble vegetable. When I came across this Til wale aloo on Sangeeta's blog, Banaras Ka Khana, I promptly bookmarked it. But it required a special theme like this month's UP cuisine from #thekitchendivas that made me virtually dust the old bookmarks and cook those dishes. 

According to Sangeeta's blog, this is supposed to be a dish had on fast days, prepared in ghee. Possibly, the potatoes, sesame seeds and the ghee provide a concentrated source of energy (read calories) on a fasting day, Potatoes in a sesame seed base along with the strong flavours from coriander stems seemed intriguing enough for me to try this out and the results were fabulous. The sesame seed paste adds a very unique flavour to this curry. Try it and it will turn into one of your favourite potato recipes. And the nutritional benefits from sesame seeds are the bonus!

Recipe for Til wale Aloo | Potatoes and Sesame seed curry
Serves 2-3 | Prep Time: 30 mins | Cooking time: 10 mins

Equipment needed
Mixer to grind the spice pastes

Ingredients
2 large potatoes, boiled and peeled
2 tbsp sesame seeds
6-7 coriander stems
2 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 green chilli
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp mustard oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Few coriander leaves for garnish

Directions

1. Cut the boiled and peeled potatoes into 1 cm sized cubes. Keep aside.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, on low heat, toast the sesame seeds until lightly golden. Once cooled, in the chutney jar of the mixer, or a coffee grinder, grind to a fine powder, reserving a pinch of seeds for garnish. Add up to 1/4 cup water and grind to make a paste. Remove from mixer and keep aside.
3. Grind the coriander stems, garlic, green chilli, turmeric powder and salt to a fine paste, using 3-4 spoons of water. Keep aside.
4. In the heavy bottomed pan, heat mustard oil. When hot, add cumin seeds. 
5. When seeds splutter, add the coriander stem paste and saute for 1 minute or so. 
6. To this add the cubed potatoes, and stir for 3-4 minutes until well coated.
7. At this point, add the sesame paste along with 1/2 cup water. Keep the heat on low and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes.
8. Remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice, garnish with coriander and a few toasted sesame seeds. 

Serve with rotis, puris or any other flatbread. 

The recipe for Tilwale Aloo is part of the endeavor to create a collection of recipes of Traditional Indian Cuisines in collaboration with a few bloggers who share the same passion of cooking. 
Find more Traditional Recipes from Uttar Pradesh - Lucknowi / Avadhi cuisine by #TheKichenDivas

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Yakhni Pulao - Sinamon Tales
Sooji Ka Halva- Fun Food & Frolic
Arbi ke kabab - Archana's Kitchen