Jhiri jhiri aloo bhaja/Potato shoestring fries

Aloo in any form has always been a bong’s favorite. Aloo bhaja, aloo posto, aloor dum, aloo bhorta or mangser jhol r aloo (potato in meat curry). But this particular aloo bhaja finds a special place in bong’s cuisine. Daal, jhiri jhiri aloo bhaja, a vegetable dish and a machher jhol, and a Bengali meal is all sorted. This is not so simple though. This is just the basic. Off course then there is posto, sorse bata, bhape….and the list goes on. This aloo bhaja is a favorite of kids as well as adults, be it biyebari(marriage ceremony) to grihoprabesh (house warming) to onnoprason (rice ceremony).

However, at my home, this aloo bhaja never survived till we reach the table for a meal. It gets consumed during the process of frying. I had to strictly tell my husband not to eat them this time, as I had to click pictures.

While preparing jhiri jhiri aloo bhaja you need to remember some important points. The potatoes should be washed with lot of water. This removes the excess starch from the potatoes and helps in making the fry crunchy. The grated potatoes should be dried properly before frying.

Step by step instructions to prepare jhiri jhiri aloo bhaja

Peel the potatoes and then grate them using the bigger hole of the grater.

Wash the grated potatoes in water twice and then leave the potatoes in water for about half an hour. Leaving them in water helps to remove the starch from the potatoes.

Transfer the potatoes on a dry kitchen towel and leave it for air drying till the potatoes are completely dry. Discard the water. You can change towels to speedup the process of drying.

Once the potatoes are completely dry, they are ready for frying. Sprinkle the salt and turmeric powder to the potatoes and mix them with the potatoes.

In a kadai, take oil and heat it. Once the oil is hot, add the potatoes to the oil.

Now, with a fork separate the potato strands from each other else they will form lumps and not fry properly.

Fry them on low medium flame till they are golden brown in color. Remove the jhuri aloo bhaja with a slotted spoon and keep them on a tissue paper to soak the excess oil.

Once you are done with frying all the potatoes, fry the peanuts and the curry leaves.

Mix the fried peanuts and curry leaves with the aloo bhaja and you are ready to serve.

Thank you for stopping by. If you like the recipe do not forget to hit like. If you prepare this dish and publish your photos on Facebook and Instagram do tag #theepicureanfeast. Also for queries you can mail me epicureanfeast2019@gmail.com