Crispy & crunchy, aloo tikki is a popular North Indian street food made using potatoes. Potatoes are mixed with herbs and spices, made into patties, and fried until crispy. It is one of the most popular chaat items and can be made easily at home.

If you are a chaat lover, do not forget to check out my post about the best Indian Chaat Recipes.

Here are some more similar recipes, that you can make at home – Veg Hara Bhara Kabab. 

About This Recipe

Aloo = Potato and Tikki = Patti. Aloo tikki basically translates to potato patties. It is a popular Indian street food (chaat) and is made with boiled potatoes, herbs and spices. Perfectly crisp on the outside and soft and spicy from the inside, these are absolutely addictive.

These round and crisp tikkis can be prepared with or without stuffing. Stuffed aloo ki tikki is popular in North India while the ones without stuffing are popular in South India. You can stuff these with a spicy mixture of chana dal, green peas, paneer, nuts, raisins, or even keema (chicken or mutton mince).

These tikkies are

• Crispy
• Spicy
• Addictive
• Easy to make at home
• Perfect for tea time snacks

Here are some more chaat recipes that you may like

• Golgappa
• Papdi Chaat
• Bhel Puri
• Samosa Chaat

Ingredients 

For the Tikki – For the outer layer of the aloo tikki, we will need potatoes, poha (flattened rice), fresh coriander, ginger, green chilies, red chili flakes, dry mango powder, anardana powder (pomegranate seeds powder), salt, black salt, rice flour, and oil. 

You can always skip poha and make these just with aloo, but poha adds a crisp texture to the tikkis so it’s highly recommended. Rice flour is used to bind the potatoes and the other ingredients and make the aloo tikki super crispy.

If making it for vrat days (fasting), then use arrowroot powder in place of rice powder and skip adding poha.

Adjust the amount of green chilies and red chili flakes, to suit your taste. If making for kids, you can avoid adding green chilies too.

Dry mango powder and anardana powder, further adds a tangy taste.

For the Filling – These tikkis are filled with a spicy masala. Here I have used chana dal (Bengal gram lentils) and green peas. Many people even add dry fruits such as cashew, raisins, and almonds to their stuffing. 

Other than these, for the stuffing, you will need oil, hing (asafoetida), cumin seeds, garam masala powder, chaat masala powder, ginger, green chili, red chili powder, coriander seeds, salt, black salt, and coriander leaves. 

The filling can also be made using paneer or chicken and mutton keema, but chana dal filling is most popular.

How to make Aloo Tikki?

Start by boiling the potatoes. You can boil them in a pressure cooker, Instant pot, or in a pot over the stovetop. You will need 3-4 large potatoes to get 2 cups of grated boiled potato.

If using a Pressure cooker, add the potatoes to the cooker. Add water until potatoes are just covered. Close the lid and pressure cook on high heat for 6-7 whistles. Remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid and drain the potatoes.

If using an Instant Pot, add the potatoes to the pot along with 2 cups of water. Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 8 minutes on high pressure. Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release for 10 minutes naturally. Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid. Take out the potatoes from the pot.

If using a Stove Top, add the potatoes to a large pot and cover completely with water. Close the lid of the pot and cook for 20-25 minutes on medium heat until the potatoes are tender.

Once the potatoes are cooked, refrigerate them for 4-6 hours. This step is very important to make crispy tikki. If the potatoes are not cooled well, the aloo tikki will turn out soft and mushy.

Once cooled, peel them and grate using the medium hole of a box grater. Measure out 2 cups of grated potatoes.

Soak ¼ cup poha in 2 tablespoon of water for 10-15 minutes. Be very careful about the amount of water otherwise, your potato mixture will become soggy.

Add 2 cups of grated boiled potatoes, soaked poha, 1 tablespoon chopped coriander, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, 2 teaspoon chopped green chili, 1 teaspoon red chili flakes, 1 teaspoon black salt, salt to taste, 1 teaspoon dry mango powder, 1 teaspoon pomegranate seed powder, and 3 tablespoon rice flour to a large mixing bowl and mix well.

Make a smooth mixture by mashing everything well with your hands. The potato masala is ready.

While the boiled potatoes are cooling, make the filling. You can avoid these steps if you are making the aloo tikki without the filling.

Start by cooking the chana dal and peas. Add ¼ cup chana dal to a pressure cooker along with 1 cup of water and ¼ teaspoon salt. Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles on high heat. Remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally. Drain the dal and keep it aside.

Add ¼ cup peas in a pan along with 1 cup of water. Cover and cook on medium heat for 10-12 minutes until the peas are tender. Drain the peas and keep them aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a pan.

Once the oil is hot, add ¼ teaspoon asafoetida and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and cook for a few seconds.

Add 1 teaspoon grated ginger and 2 teaspoon chopped green chili and fry for a minute.

Add ½ cup of cooked chana dal and ¼ cup tender peas and slightly mash them using the back of a ladle or a potato masher.

Now add ½ teaspoon red chili powder, 1 tablespoon coarsely crushed coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon dry mango powder, ½ teaspoon garam masala powder, ½ teaspoon black salt, and salt to taste and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoon chopped coriander and mix well. Remove the pan from heat and let the filling cool down.

Grease your hands with oil and divide the potato mixture into 6 equal parts. Make each part into a ball and then press gently to make a tikki.

If making the tikki with stuffing, press the ball with your fingers to make a 4 inch circle. Keep 1 tablespoon filling in the centre and bring the ends together.

Roll into a round and then gently press to make a flat tikki.

Make all the tikki in the same manner.

Refrigerate the tikki for 30 minutes. Heat vegetable oil for frying in a non-stick or cast iron pan. Use enough oil to cover about half of the tikki.

When the oil is hot, add the tikki to the pan and shallow fry on medium heat until tikki are browned and crisp from both sides (6-8 minutes on each side). Remove them from the pan and serve hot with coriander mint chutney.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pro Tips By Neha

Potatoes should not be overcooked otherwise the aloo tikki will turn mushy. They should be dry and non-sticky. Cool them well before grating.

Make sure that the oil is hot enough before you add the tikkis. If the oil is not hot, the aloo tikki will soak oil and will not turn out crisp. Adding tikkis in cold oil might also break them and make them oily and soggy.

Adding a binding agent like rice flour or cornflour makes sure the tikkis doesn’t break while frying and they also make them crispy.

if you want a healthy version, you can even bake or air fry aloo tikki.

When you add the tikki to the hot oil, do not disturb them until they become slightly golden in color as there are chances to break if you turn them soon.

You can also add some bread crumbs to the potato mixture to bind them perfectly and make them crisp.

Fry the aloo tikki on a nonstick pan so that they don’t stick to it. Also, the oil in the pan should cover at least half of the tikki (in thickness) while frying.

Serving Suggestions

This classic recipe is best enjoyed topped with dollops of yogurt, Green Chutney, and sweet tamarind chutney.

You can also serve these with chole or with ragda.

Use this tikki to make aloo tikki burger or aloo tikki chaat.

Serve them as a tea time snack along with a hot cup of Masala Chai or South Indian Filter Coffee.

You can use these to make wrap/roll.

Storage Suggestions

You can prepare these tikkis and freeze them for an hour on a tray. After an hour, you can store them in the zip lock freezer bags and freeze them. When you are ready to fry, thaw them for 2-3 hours on the counter and then fry them until crispy.