Tikki Tales: The Ultimate Guide To Make Perfect Aloo Tikki Everytime

Being a fussy-eater made my mother a quick thinker in the kitchen, she says. I wasn’t always as big on aloo parathas as I am now, so with the left-over boiled potato mixture, she would fix me some aloo tikkis that I would gladly have for breakfast. I had no qualms about carrying the same in my school lunchbox. In a world of paratha and pohas, tikki seemed like a novelty, and because my tiffin was special, I always felt special. Aloo tikki, for the uninitiated, can be both a potato patty or potato cutlet depending upon the number of ingredients used and time invested. 

The snack’s ubiquity on Indian streets, especially in North India, is proof that both aloo tikki and fans of aloo tikki are here to stay for a long, long time. Also known as Ragda patties in the Western part of India, Aloo tikki is one of the crown jewels of India’s ‘chaat fare’. Potatoes are boiled and mashed together and flattened using palms. A spicy potato mixture is placed in the centre of the flattened cakes which are then folded into round patties and fried till golden brown. The crispy aloo tikkis are served with yoghurt, chutneys and chickpea curry. But, of course, you need not make it so elaborate when preparing it at home. You can mix your mashed potatoes with all the veggies, herbs and masalas (think: carrots, peas, coriander, ginger powder, chaat masala etc.). Mix them all, shape them as tikkis, and shallow fry them on your tawa. To further keep the calories in check, you can also air-fry them. The key to crispy tikkis is corn flour, so make sure you have that by your side, if not, we'll suggest alternatives too. Read on. 

Here are some tips for mastering those aloo tikkis at home. 

1. To make the tikkis, you need to rinse and peel the potatoes and boil them until cooked. You do not want very soft potatoes for these; cook them on medium heat. If you are cooking potatoes in a pressure cooker, let the pressure release naturally.
2. After the potatoes are cooked, mash them using a spoon or masher. And also, make sure that the potatoes are cooled down ultimately before you start adding other ingredients like flour and breadcrumbs to it; otherwise, they may get soggy or sticky. 
3. Again, only once the potatoes are cool, add things like coriander leaves, ginger, green chilli, garam masala, et al to the potatoes, followed by cornflour. If you don’t have corn flour, you can use rice flour and bread crumbs. Bread crumbs can also be substituted with powdered poha or chiwda. All these are essential for your tikkis to be crispy. 
4. Mix all the ingredients and make one ball. At this point, you have to make sure your ball or potato mixture should not feel soggy or sticky. If it does, you can add more bread crumbs. If your mixture is soggy, your tikkis won’t come out crispy. 
5. From this ball, pull out small balls and shape them as tikkis using your palms. You can grease your palms with ghee to ensure the mixture doesn’t stick to your hand. If there are any cracks or crevices on the edof the tikkis, smoothen it using your hands. 
6. To check if your oil is hot, you can do a heat test. First, you can drop a bit of the mixture on the pan. If it lifts without browning a lot, it is perfect for frying your tikkis.

Here is a step-by-step to make some fabulous aloo tikkis at home. Try it soon and let us know how you liked it.