Potato Patty / Aloo Tikki

There are too many appetizer recipes that are based on potatoes. If you think about it, these are really versatile and their advantage is the ability to absorb flavors. And they are cheap too if you want to feed a crowd. For some reason, I had never made aloo tikki before. We South Indians prefer to make bonda or deep fried fritter using potato stuffing rather than this. I made this since it consumes lot less oil and gets done very fast too.

One Year Back - Honey Cardamom Snack Cake, Chutney Powder Version 1
Two Years Back - Baklava
Ingredients: 
Potatoes - 3 medium
Frozen peas - 1 cup
Red Onion - 1/2 of a medium one chopped fine
Oil - 3 TBSP divided use
Ginger - 1/2" piece grated
Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies - 3 - 4 sliced very thin
Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
Salt - to taste
Lemon/Lime juice - 1 - 2 TBSP
Chickpea flour / besan - 2 TBSP
Cilantro - 2 TBSP chopped

To Serve:
Tamarind Date Chutney

Method:
Boil potatoes with skin. Peel and mash when it is still warm. In a small pan, heat 1 TBSP oil. When hot, add grated ginger, chopped chillies followed by onion. Sprinkle a bit of salt. Add turmeric, spice powders, garam masala. Mix well. Let the onions cook. In the meantime, microwave the peas for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the peas to the onion and mix well. Add cilantro and turn off the heat. When it is cool enough to handle, add this mixture to the mashed potatoes. Add besan/chickpea flour, lemon/lime juice and mix with a fork or by hand. Check for the salt and add if needed. Divide them into 12 lime sized balls.
Take a shallow skillet. Heat it on medium. Brush the whole skillet with 1 TBSP of oil. Take the balls of veggie mixture and flatten a bit to make them patties. Place them on the skillet and let it stay for 2 minutes or so. Flip them and repeat the process on the other side too.

Everything is already cooked in the mixture except for the chickpea flour. Reason for toasting is to get the char and make it stay as one piece. Repeat with the remaining. I had to do it in two batches but I didn't use 2 TBSP of oil at all for that. Many people use lot more oil than what I have mentioned here. Serve hot with the chutney or even ketchup.

Enjoy.