Aloo Bhaja

Aloo bhaja recipe with step by step pics. Aloo bhaja is a delicious cripsy fried potato recipe from Bengali cuisine. There are a number of variations of making aloo bhaja. I am sharing the recipe which I make at home on occasions.

About Aloo Bhaja

First things first, here’s what the dish would mean, when translated to English from Bengali:

Aloo – Your favorite, my favorite, everyone’s favorite potato

Bhaja – Simply means fried

About 5 minutes of preparation, then 10 minutes of cooking and you have a simple Aloo Bhaja which can literally be considered as G.O.A.T – greatest of all times – side dish with your everyday dal-chawal or khichdi meals.

Next time you are planning a meal with a side of homely fried potato chips, try this Bengali style Aloo Bhaja instead. I guarantee you; it is the most simple recipe you would’ve ever come across and made. This way of crisp frying the potatoes is simply delicious.

There’s another very famous variation to the potato bhaja, known as the Jhuri Aloo Bhaja. This is super finely cut potato juliennes, which are crisp fried. Sometimes with curry leaves and peanuts as well. ‘Jhuri’ basically means the cut of the vegetable.

This aloo bhaja recipe is very simple and does not use many ingredients. The frying is done in mustard oil which gives a slight pungent aroma and taste to the potatoes. Aloo bhaja is very easy to make and you can accompany it with a main course of khichdi or dal-rice.

When I make Bhaja muger khichuri, then at times I also make aloo bhaja and Baingan bhaja as a side dish. One of the best combinations for a khichdi is baingan bhaja. Try it and I am sure you will like it.

Apart from serving alu bhaja with khichdi, you can also serve it with some soft rotis or phulkas along with dal or raita or fresh curd.

Some similar vegetable fries from different Indian cuisines which pair very well with moong dal-rice, khichdi, curd rice and rasam-rice are:

• Kurkuri bhindi
• Potato fry
• Tindora fry (tendli or ivy gourd stir fry)
• Karela fry
• Baingan fry

How to make Aloo Bhaja

1. Rinse and then peel one extra large potato or 3 medium potatoes (315 grams). Cut in slices of 0.3 cm to 0.4 cm. Also heat a tawa with 1 to 2 tablespoon oil in it.

2. Take the potato slices in a mixing bowl. Add ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and salt as required.

3. Stir and mix very well.

Making alu bhaja

4. Immediately place the potato slices in the hot oil. Fry on medium low to medium flame. Add less oil while frying in batches as potatoes absorb more oil.

5. When one side is lightly crisp, turn over and fry the second side.

6. Flip again and a couple of times and fry till the potato slices are crisp and golden. This way fry in batches and add more oil if required.

Overall I used 2.5 tablespoons mustard oil for frying.

7. Remove each fried potato slice and place on kitchen paper towels for the extra oil to be absorbed.

8. Alternatively, you can also dredge the potato slices in some rice flour and then fry. This way the alu bhaja becomes more crisp and less oil is absorbed. Sometimes I follow this method also.

9. Serve aloo bhaja hot or warm as a side dish with khichdi, dal-rice or rasam-rice. For more tasty potato recipes you can check this category of many Indian Potato Recipes.

Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more veetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

This Aloo Bhaja post from the archives first published in December 2017 has been republished and updated on January 2023.