Aloo Posto Recipe | Bengali Potato & Poppy Seed with Mustard Oil

Aloo posto is Bengal's quiet comfort dish — potatoes coated in a mild poppy-seed paste, finished with raw mustard oil for that signature aroma.

Ingredients: 3 medium potatoes, cubed; 4 tbsp poppy seeds (posto) ground to a paste with 2 green chillies; 2 tbsp cold-pressed mustard oil; ½ tsp nigella seeds (kalonji); salt; 1 slit green chilli.

1. Heat the mustard oil until it just smokes, lower the heat, and add the nigella seeds and slit chilli.

2. Add the potatoes and sauté until the edges turn golden.

3. Add the poppy-seed paste, salt and a splash of water.

4. Cover and cook on low until the potatoes are tender and the paste coats them.

5. Finish with a raw drizzle of mustard oil off the heat — that final aroma is the whole point.