Lucknow ki aloo tikiya ( Fried potato cakes with chutney)

  Ingredients

  4 large potatoes

  salt to taste

  Oil for frying

  2t sps ghee(clarified butter)

  1 cup beaten youghurt

 Green chutnney

  1 cup coriander /cilantro leaves

  1 small onion

  3 cloves of garlic

  1green chilli

  1/2 t sp salt

  juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime

 

  Grind all the ingredients in a grinder and your chutney is ready.

  Tamarind chutney

  1/2 cup tamarind paste

  1 cup jaggery powder or brown sugar or refined sugar

  2 tsps dhania (coriander powder)

  1/2 t sp rock salt 

  1/2 t sp jeera /cumin powder ( dry roast jeera /cumin seeds and pound them coarsely or grind in a grinder)

  red chilli powder to taste

 coarsely ground black pepper

  Table salt to taste

Boil the tamarind paste with 1/4 cup water, add the jaggery powder, add all the masalas and cook till it thickens. Should be a syrupy consistency.Pour into a small jar when cool and store in the fridge.

  Method

• Boil poatatoes with the skin.
• When cool peel the skin and mash potatoes to a smooth paste with the salt.Should be like a soft dough.
• Make tikiyas / round balls with the mash and flatten them on your palm about 1/4" thick and 1 1/2" diameter.
• Heat  2 tb sps oil in a heavy bottom fry pan or a griddle till smoking and spread it around the pan. 
• Place the tikiyas in the fry pan and adjust the heat so that it browns slowly and evenly.
• Turn the side with a flat spatula taking care not to break it and let it brown evenly.
• Add a few drops of oil around the sides if required.
• Keep turning the tikiyas till both sides are well browned and crisp.
• Spread the ghee or butter on the tikiyas and turn the side. Now spread the ghee on the other side,turn again and fry till you get the aroma of the ghee.
• Slide on to a small plate, put 1 tb spoon of beaten yoghurt, over the tikiya, top with the green and red chutney and sprinkle chaat masala.
• Take a bite, close your eyes and find yourself transported to the land of the Nawabs.

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 Note: The tikiyas in Lucknow are actually made with pure ghee only and are really yummy.

Try it when you are in an indulgent mood or go for this watered down version as often as you wish.