Aloo Tikki – Indian Potato Cakes

July 18, 2021

Aloo tikki are Indian potato cakes filled with spiced minced beef, onion, and raisins. Aloo is Hindi for potato, and the potato itself arrived late to Indian cuisine – it was introduced to the subcontinent by the Portuguese in the 1600s but quickly became indispensable.

The dish is popular as a snack and street food across the Indian subcontinent. It also works as a side dish for a larger Indian meal, served with chutney or a fresh salad of peppers and radish.

The method is straightforward: a spiced filling is wrapped in cooked mashed potato, shaped into flat cakes, and fried golden in oil. The raisins add a touch of sweetness that balances the spices and salt in the filling.

Ingredients

Serves 4

3 tbsp oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
250 g minced beef
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 kg potatoes, boiled and mashed with a little milk and salt
flour, for dusting
oil, for frying
salt
½ red bell pepper, in strips
½ yellow bell pepper, in strips
1 radish, very finely sliced (optional)

Directions

Filling

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and ginger and fry until golden, stirring, 3–4 minutes.

Add the ground coriander and minced beef. Brown the meat, breaking up any lumps.

Add the raisins and salt to taste. Reduce to low heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the meat is tender and the filling is dry enough to hold its shape.

Stir in the chopped coriander leaves. Remove from the heat and let the filling cool.

Potato Cakes

Divide the mashed potato into 8 equal portions.

Dust your hands with flour and press each portion into a flat disc in your palm.

Place 3 tsp of filling in the centre of each disc. Fold the potato up around the filling so it is completely enclosed, then gently shape into a flat cake about the size of a burger patty.

Dust each cake lightly with flour.

Heat a generous layer of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the cakes a few at a time until crisp and golden on both sides. Turn them carefully – the filling must not break through.

Transfer the finished cakes to kitchen paper. Serve with strips of red and yellow bell pepper and, if you like, finely sliced radish.

Notes

Active time about 1 hour, frying time about 15 minutes.

The mashed potato must be dry and firm, or the cakes will fall apart in the pan. If it is too wet, dry it out over low heat before shaping.

The filling can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge – it is easier to work with when cold.

The beef can be replaced with minced lamb or chicken. Without meat this becomes a vegetarian version, where the filling can instead be spiced peas and potato (aloo matar).