A simple niramish street food recipe from Odisha, that anyone can follow. Seasoned mashed potatoes balls dipped in chickpea flour/besan batter and then deep fried to perfection. Enjoy these slightly crispy from outside and soft from inside cutlets as your evening snack with a cup of tea or coffee.



WHAT IS ALOO CHOP?
“Aloo” means potato, and the word “chop” means a small cutlet fritters or croquette in Odia.
Aloo Chop is an Indian fried snack made with boiled potatoes and various spices. If you have ever been to the Eastern part of India – Odisha and West Bengal, you will find these yummy potato cutlets being sold as street food on every nook and corner.

The Oriya style Aloo chop recipe is made in the same way as Maharashtrian Batata vada. Though in this recipe, the use of spices simpler. There is also no onion or garlic used in this recipe, making them niramish.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- Great as a snack made with pantry ingredients
- Best use of leftover boiled or mashed potatoes.
- Can be air fried
- Can be used as a patty for sandwiches
- Vegan
- This recipe doesn’t have onion or garlic making them Niramish aloo chop.
- batter-coated potato stuffed fritter dumplings.


INGREDIENTS USED TO MAKE ODIA STYLE ALOO CHOP
POTATOES:
I have used 3 medium sized potatoes
GREEN CHILIES
Used 3 green chilies. Since potatoes are bland, a little spice can elevate the flavors.
BESAN/CHICKPEA FLOUR
This is needed for making a flour batter to dip the potato balls. Chickpea flour/besan is available in Indian stores. You can also use Bob’s Red Mill chickpea flour from major American grocery stores.
RICE FLOUR
This is required to make the aloo chop batter crispier. You can substitute corn flour for rice flour
CUMIN POWDER, CORIANDER POWDER, TURMERIC, SALT, GARAM MASALA
These are the seasonings used to make the rice fritters spicier.
VEGETABLE OIL
You will need vegetable oil for deep frying the aloo chops


STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
BOIL THE POTATOES
I have boiled the potatoes in a pan on stove top. You can use an Instant pot or a pressure cooker.
- Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut them into small pieces so that they boil faster on stove top. The potatoes have to be cooked well and to check their doneness, slide a fork through the center of the potatoes and it should slid smoothly without any resistance.
- Remove the potatoes and let them become cool.
- Once cooled, mash the potatoes smooth. Keep aside.
MAKE THE ALOO CHOP STUFFING
- In a nonstick pan, heat 3 tbsp oil
- Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- Add 1 tsp ginger paste and 2 finely chopped chilies and 2 spoons of peanuts. Sauté on low heat for 2 minutes.
- Add 1 chopped tomato, salt, turmeric, cumin powder, and coriander powder, and keep cooking on low heat till tomatoes are cooked through and the base is prepared. This will take approximately 7 to 8 minutes on low to medium heat.
- Add the mashed potatoes to the tomato base and mix thoroughly.
- Cook on low heat for 5 to 6 minutes. Switch off the heat and add 2 tbsp chopped cilantro. Mix well.
- Once the potato stuffing is cool down, make small to medium-sized potato balls from them. Keep aside.
ALOO CHOP BATTER
While the aloo/potato stuffing is cooling. lets prepare the besan batter.
- In a big bowl, take 1 cup besan. Add 2 tablespoon rice flour, 1 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt.
- Now add 1/3 cups water in batches. Make sure that the batter isn’t too runny nor too thick. It should be a little thicker than the pancake batter.
FRYING THE ALOO CHOPS
Time to make aloo chops in Odisha style
- Heat oil in a kadhai/deep bottomed pan
NOTE – To test if the oil is hot enough, add a small spoon of the batter in the oil. If the batter comes up steadily on top of the oil, the oil is ready for frying.
2. Dip a potato ball in the besan batter and drop it carefully into the hot oil.
3. Fry the aloo chops on medium flame.
4. When one side is light golden and lightly crisp, then turn them over with a slotted spoon and fry the second side.
5. Again turn them over when the second side is light golden or golden.
NOTE – Line your platter with a kitchen paper towel before placing the aloo chops on it. The paper towel will absorb extra oil.


HOW TO SERVE ALOO CHOP
Aloo chop is served with a side of chopped onion and some spicy dipping sauce.
TIPS & TRICKS
- The fried Potato Chops, can be frozen for days. Defrost the cutlets before reheating in a toaster oven or microwave.
- While mashing the potatoes to prepare the potato chop dough, make sure that there is very little moisture.
- The aloo chops can be shaped in whatever shapes you wish.
- While deep frying the aloo chops, deep fry in a low to medium flame till they are golden in color.
- rice flour handy, you can use corn flour.
- Whisk besan batter for 2-3 minutes, so air particles incorporate into it and help to make fluffy aloo chop.
- The leftover besan batter can be used to make onion pakoras. Add some chopped onion into the batter and deep fry a spoonful of the mixture to have a hot and spicy onion pakoda.

Aloo Chop Recipe (Oriya Style)
Equipment
- 1 Deep Pan (To boil potatoes)
- 1 Kadhai (To deep fry the aloo chops)
Ingredients
FOR MAKING MASHED POTATOES FOR ALOO CHOP
- 3 Medium Potatoes – Skinned and boiled
FOR SEASONING THE MASHED POTATOES
- 1 TSP Cumin seeds
- 1/2 TSP Mustard seeds
- 1 Tomato chopped
- 1 TBSP Chopped coriander leaves
- 1 Tsp Coriander powder
- 1 Tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 Tsp Turmeric
- 2 Chillies chopped
- 1 Tsp Garam Masala
- 1 Tsp Chopped ginger
- 1 Tbsp Peanuts
FOR THE BESAN BATTER
- 1 Cup Besan or chickpea flour
- 2 Tbsp Rice flour
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Turmeric powder
FOR DEEP FRYING THE POTATO FRITTERS
- Vegetable Oil
Instructions
MAKE MASHED POTATOES
- Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut them into small pieces so that they boil faster on the stovetop. The potatoes have to be cooked well and to check their doneness, slide a fork through the center of the potatoes and it should be slid smoothly without any resistance. Remove the potatoes and let them become cool. Once cooled, mash the potatoes smoothly. Keep aside.
SEASON THE MASHED POTATOES
- In a nonstick pan, heat 3 tbsp oil. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp cumin seeds to the hot oil.
- Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, add 1 tsp ginger paste and 2 finely chopped chilies, and 2 spoons of peanuts. Sauté on low heat for 2 minutes.
- Add 1 chopped tomato, salt, turmeric, cumin powder, garam masala and coriander powder, and keep cooking on low heat till the tomatoes are cooked through and the base is prepared. This will take approximately 7 to 8 minutes on low to medium heat.
- Add the mashed potatoes to the tomato base and mix thoroughly. Cook on low heat for 5 to 6 minutes. Switch off the heat and add 2 tbsp chopped cilantro. Mix well.
- Once the potato stuffing is cool down, make small to medium-sized potato balls from them. Keep aside.
PREPARE THE BESAN BATTER
- In a big bowl, take 1 cup of besan. Add 2 tablespoons of rice flour, 1 tsp turmeric, and 1 tsp salt. Now add 1/3 cup of water in batches. Make sure that the batter isn't too runny or too thick. It should be a little thicker than the pancake batter.
FRYING THE ALOO CHOPS
- Heat oil in a kadhai/deep bottomed pan. make sure that you have enough oil to deep fry the aloo chops.
- Time to make aloo chops in Odisha styleNOTE – To test if the oil is hot enough, add a small spoon of the batter to the oil. If the batter comes up steadily on top of the oil, the oil is ready for frying.Dip a potato ball in the besan batter and drop it carefully into the hot oil. Fry the aloo chops on medium flame.
- When one side is lightly golden and lightly crisp, then turn them over with a slotted spoon and fry the second side. Again turn them over when the second side is light golden or golden.
- NOTE – Line your platter with a kitchen paper towel before placing the aloo chops on it. The paper towel will absorb extra oil.
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