Holi or the Indian spring festival of colors brings back a ton of memories for me from different phases of my life. When I was little, it would mean playing with my cousin and other neighborhood kids with a water-gun (pichkari) and a bucket full of colored water. Dad would mix a whole pail of the colored water for us. My aunt (boro-pishi) would bring over some sweet treats and mom would have dad stock up on store-bought treats, as my mom was never an enthusiastic cook. This was probably when I was 6-7.
Aloo Pakora Curry Recipe
A little later in life when we moved to Shillong, Holi actually meant nothing. Our neighbors seldom played except for kids playing with dry colors for a little while during the day. It would be just another holiday with some good meals served for breakfast (poori-sabji), lunch (spicy meat curry, fish curry, pulao and the likes of it) and dinner (of course, if you had a heavy lunch it would be roti, sabji or something of the sorts). And add to that again the Holi snacks would be abundant. Sweets like boondi, gulab jamun, rabri, jalebi just to name a few. This was through my middle to high school.
I went to college in Kolkata and again Holi pretty much meant staying indoors and not inviting trouble especially since I was a young girl in the later teens now. Aunts, uncles or family friends would come over and much of the day would be spent over good food and unimaginable banter, baba (dad) taking the lead every time. Now in my growing up years, I have often heard ma (mom) and baba refer to a particular Holi a year, just after they had got married.
Looks like my baba was the only son-in-law and with mom having 3 younger sisters and another 2 younger cousins next door, it was a riot between them on one side and baba on the other. In fact, it ended with dadu (granddad) intervening and rescuing baba as these girls were planning to throw a bucket full of water from the nearby pothole on his head. Baba would always refer to that as one helluva memorable Holi.
Now moving onto US with my man, Holi would be participating in communal events where all you did was dance with your friends to the latest Bollywood numbers the Dj churned out and have some great Indian food at the venue.
As you can clearly tell, my Holis have been very average so far. But then Holi or this time of the year is very special to me otherwise. The advent of Holi takes me back to the two most memorable years of my life. In 2003, right around this time, I was getting ready to embark on this life with the love of my life. And in 2004, I was waiting to welcome Ms. G to the world around this time. So the advent of spring has special significance in my life.
To the recipe now, this curry and plain parathas (grilled flatbread) is what I cooked for brunch on Sam’s birthday, which was last Saturday, Mar 19. We did not do a party this time. We had a small religious ceremony at home in the morning followed by a minimalistic brunch. We decided to go easy on the grub this year. And instead, I took the man shopping and got some great clothes. I had not realized that menswear could be so expensive. It did burn a hole in my wallet and had I known, I would have thought twice before taking him shopping. But I love the fact that he is a well-groomed guy. Also, I baked him the Chocolate Espresso cake below.
Coming to the brunch, this aloo pakora curry recipe (potato-lentil fritter) or similar aloo curries is a thing, which is immensely enjoyed for breakfast all over India along with deep-fried pooris (flatbreads). This curry is made sans onion, ginger and garlic. Places like Tiwaris or Sharmas, which are sweet vendors generally, carry this curry with kachoris in their menu. And given the ideal scenario, this would be the most sought after breakfast on Holi morning along with some jalebi and rabri. Now my mouth is seriously watering and given that I am on a weight-loss challenge, I did not even eat it. I stuck to my macros and the scale did not disappoint this week. So all good so far.
Just in case you are wondering, I made rabri for last year’s Holi.
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Aloo Pakora Curry Recipe
- Prep Time: 40
- Total Time: 50
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Try out this Aloo Pakora Curry Recipe at home. A tangy potato curry which is traditionally served in breakfast along with a side of bread in India.
Ingredients
For the Pakodis
- Besan/Chickpea Flour – 1 cup
- Salt – 11/2 tsp
- Sugar – ½ tsp
- Hing/Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric – ½ tsp
- Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp
- Cilantro – ½ cup, finely chopped
- Water – ½ cup, (add couple of tbsps more if needed)
For the Curry
- Potatoes – 3, cubed
- Peas – ½ cup
- Asafoetida – 1 tsp
- Whole jeera- 1 tsp
- Whole red chilies – 1
- Red chili powder – 1 tsp
- Turmeric – 1 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1 tsp
- Cumin powder – 1 tsp
- Amchur (Dried Mango Powder) – 1 tsp
- Tomatoes – 1, finely chopped
- Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) – ½ tbsp
- Cilantro – 3 tbsp, finely chopped
- Salt – To taste
- Sugar – To taste
- Garam Masala – 1 tsp
- Ghee – 2 tbsp
- Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp
Instructions
For the Pakodis
- Bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil.
- Mix together all the ingredients together. The batter should be thick and not runny.
- As the water boils, drop 1 tsp of batter in the water. Continue till you are done with the whole of it.
- Let it boil for 10 mins, fish out the pakodis from the water and save the water for later.
For the curry
- In a frying pan, heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil and I tsp of ghee.
- Throw in the whole jeera seeds, asafoetida and the whole red chilly. Let the seeds splutter.
- Add the cubed potatoes and the tomato and saute lightly for 5 minutes. Add the salt.
- In a bowl, in ½ cup of the water you saved from boiling the pakodis, mix the amchur, chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.
- Add this mixture to the pan and sauté further. Take care not to burn at this stage.
- Add 1 cup of the water left from boiling the pakodis and peas. Cover and cook for 7-8 minutes.
- Add the sugar to taste at this stage.
- Throw in the kasoori methi, cilantro and garam masala and mix.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of ghee on top and serve.
- I chose them to serve with parathas. Ideally they are served with pooris.
Notes
- Feel free to add a little more water if want a runnier consistency.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 276
- Sugar: 6
- Sodium: 3333
- Fat: 6
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 48
- Protein: 10
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: Aloo Pakora Curry Recipe