Aloo tikki is a flavorful and versatile potato patty that can be paired with a simple masoor dal, served alongside chai or sandwiched between a couple of flaky buns for the perfect veggie burger.
About Ciudad Juarez
I recently returned to Washington D.C. from a two-year stay in Juarez, Mexico. I have been meaning to complete my “goodbye Mexico” post for weeks but it’s been a difficult post to write.
The post is meant to be a love letter to the border. But what’s made it difficult is that my time in Juarez was complicated. 2018 has been complicated. Last year I wrote about the pain of transition, and using cooking as means of coping and becoming a part of a community. I had hoped that this post would provide an elegant end to that story. Thanks to the power of food, I succeeded! Spoiler alert: I didn’t.
The problem with “honest writing” is that I have found people eager to latch on to a single story. While personal posts a great way to meaningfully connect with readers, it’s also offensive when people approach you saying, “it’s so brave of you to put yourself out there”, for narrating back my own story as one that is “sad”.
So when it came to writing about Juarez, I knew that it would be difficult to tell a complex, multi-faceted story that communicated the generous, resilient spirit of the border while still being honest about my time there.
I take my time with places and people. With Juarez, I never felt I had the time and space to crack it. The border’s story is tragic in parts, and beautiful in parts. Living there provided me with an opportunity to witness what NAFTA looked like in color. It showed me what happens to a place when America decides to export the worst parts of its culture and policy. It also felt depressingly similar to Pakistan in what I saw as a wild rush among a growing middle class to equate mobility with aggressive amounts of consumption. Some of the most crowded places in Juarez are its shopping malls and American chain restaurants. The historical center of the city is shrinking due to rapid development that is making Juarez look and feel a lot like a poorer Texas suburb. Because of the way Juarez is growing, it’s difficult for an outsider to access the heart and spirit of the city. But what makes the border beautiful and powerful is how subversive it is.
The border’s creative and activist community is aware of how NAFTA and aggressive, uneven development is changing the fabric of the community, making its members more vulnerable to violence. They recognize the social and cultural (not just economic) interdependence of Juarez and El Paso; reminding me that you cannot understand one without knowing the other.
What inspired me throughout my time in the border was the ferocity and authenticity with which the border community tells its story. You could see it in the complex murals that punctuate Juarez’s most unexpected neighborhoods. In El Paso and Juarez’s music scene that feels both fresh and rooted. In the stories that told me, many of whom trained and worked in El Paso. Inside Juarez and El Paso’s many dive bars where you sit with people from all ages and backgrounds, each person happy to share their own take of El Paso-Juarez’s unique trajectory. It’s this authenticity and rawness that has fed me creatively these past two years. I hope I can find a way to carry it with me wherever I go. #VivaLaBorder
About this Recipe
I had been wanting to writing a post comparing the Mexican torta with the South Asian bun kebab for months. This my friends is not that post. You can enjoy aloo tikki any way you want but I personally love it sandwiched between toasted flaky burger buns and Maggi sauce. This is why I think this is a recipe my friends in Mexico will be able to appreciate.
Bun kebab is a fried patty sandwiched between flaky burger buns, fried egg served with either a sweet and tangy red sauce or a punchy green chutney. The meat version has shami kebab and the vegetarian one has either a fried potato patty as seen here or one made with chana dal (check out Chai and Churros’s fantastic recipe here). Enjoy.
Aloo Tikki (Fried Potato Patty)
Ingredients
- 5 small potatoes
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 2 tablespoon cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 bird's eye green chili roughly chopped
- ½ small red onion roughly chopped
- 1 egg beaten
- ¼ cup neutral oil canola/vegetable oil
Instructions
- Boil potatoes until soft. Briefly run the potatoes under cold water and peel them. Set aside.
- Toss chopped cilantro, green chili and red onion into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. If you don't have a food processor, you can finely slice them as well.
- Mash potatoes to an even consistency.
- Add salt, red chili powder and chopped ingredients into the mashed potato mixture. Stir until well-mixed.
- Take fistfuls of the potato mixture (roughly 3 tablespoon worth) and flatten them into patties. Place them in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes so they can hold shape while frying.
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan or skillet on medium heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, brush the patties with a beaten egg and gently place on pan. Fry each patty roughly 2 minutes per side until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and serve.
Areesha Zahid says
“tragic broken Bun Kebab” – well that just wouldn’t do at all!! This looks like a fab dish – thanks for sharing! My Himself loves this kind of meal, shall have to make it for him as a treat.
Areesha | https://www.puro.pk
Maryam Jillani says
Thanks Areesha! Let me know how it turns out!