This one is for my Nepali friends who live abroad, we really miss aloo ko achar the most! The aromatic and spicy mustard and sesame flavors with the hearty texture of the potato really capture the essence of home-cooked Nepali staples. Served as an appetizer or a side dish chilled or at room temp, aloo ko achar is a staple at any Nepali dinner or celebration.

For my non-Nepali friends, the literal translation of aloo ko achar is pickled potato, and I bet you’ve never tasted anything like it. Far from “conventional” methods of pickling with vinegar, this potato dish is first boiled and heavily seasoned with spices, citrus, herbs, and infamously potent and aromatic mustard oil. I hope you try this dish out and tell me how you like it.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 - 60 minutes

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

• 5-6 big red potatoes (this potato hold shape when boiled)

• 1 seedless cucumber or seed a regular cucumber (optional)

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro

• 1/2 cup diced red onion (optional)

• 1 cup freshly ground roasted sesame seed

• 4 Thai chili chopped (optional)

• 1 tbsp paprika powder (or to taste)

• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seed

• 3-4 tbsp mustard oil

• 2- 3 small lime (to taste)

• salt to taste

Recipe:

Making freshly roasted sesame powder.
So here’s the thing, I reroast my roasted sesame seeds. You can buy unhulled raw sesame seeds and that’s your best option. But most grocery stores (at least in the U.S.) sell roasted sesame seeds. You will notice a difference, trust me! When I buy roasted sesame, it usually becomes a bit stale or slightly rancid over time. As most oils go rancid, especially nut oils, sesame seeds are packed with oil and share the same fate. So I re-roast it to a light-medium brown in a skillet on medium-high heat, constantly stirring and flipping the seeds. Roughly for 5 minutes. When done, ground the seeds into a fine powder. The sesame will clump due to its high oil content and that’s how it do! Keep aside for later.

Boiling the potato
Let’s get the pot of water going with a teaspoon of salt. Boil water and drop the tates in em and boil for roughly 30 minutes? It’s hard to say because boiling potato really depends on size and type. My tip to knowing when potatoes are done is to poke it into the center with a fork, not a spoon, not a knife.. a fork. If the fork slides out as easily as it did when poking it. It’s done. Make sure you are using this technique every 5-10 minutes so you know when it’s close to being done and not an overcooked mush. The use of red potato is best for boiling as it holds its shape than other potatoes like Yukon which is best mashed.

Remove from heat and give the potatoes a cool bath under the faucet to stop the cooking process. Peel potatoes and cut into rough 1-2 inch cubes and put it in a mixing bowl big enough for other ingredients you’ll be adding later.

Prep other ingredients
Half the cucumber down the length, deseed, and cut it into a size comparable to the potatoes. Add them to the mixing bowl.

Protip: To seed a cucumber, slice vertically down the middle, use a spoon to scrape down the middle section where the seeds are. Flip over and chop the cucumber. If you buy English cucumbers, you won’t have to deseed it.

Now is the fun part of getting the spice blend going. Add the cilantro, onion, sesame powder, chili powder, and salt on top of the potato and cucumbers. No need to mix it right now.

Take a small saucepan and bring the mustard oil to its smoking point on high heat. Add the fenugreek seed to the hot oil and let it get to a deep brown. Keep a close eye on it, it can burn quite easily. Right when the fenugreek seed is a deep brown add in the turmeric and Thai chili, and turn off the heat. Swirl the mixture for about 30 seconds and pour it on top of the other ingredients in the mixing bowl. Squeeze half of the lime on top and 1/2 cup of water and start folding in the mixture. Folding vs mixing keeps the potato from releasing too much starch, so keep that in mind, you don’t want to end up with a gummy mess.

Add the other 1/2 cup of water and now start adjusting your salt and sour levels. Once you get it to the right * pops tongue * sourness you are done!

Serve at room temp as an appetizer or a side dish to rice. Enjoy the nom noms! This recipe is very special to me and I’m happy to be sharing it with you. What I just described above might seem complicated, but don’t worry, you got it. Follow the sequence and you’ll be fine!