Potol Recipe | Bengali Aloo Potol

Yes, it is a fact that Bengali cuisine is popular for its many varieties of non-vegetarian dishes, including fish preparations. But it is also not wrong to say that this food culture offers some of the most delectable vegetarian dishes, some of which are naturally vegan and even without any onion or garlic in them. One such dish is this Potol Recipe or the Aloo Potoler Dalna. This Aloo Potol Recipe is a typically Bengali spiced curry, simple yet sophisticatedly sumptuous in flavors.  

About Aloo Potol Recipe

To begin with, the literal meaning of this Bengali Potol Recipe:

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

Potoler – Potol is ‘pointed gourd’ or more commonly parwal in Hindi, and the Bengali suffix ‘-er/-r’ means ‘of’

Dalna – A basic curry or gravy with typical Bengali spices and spice blends

Parwal is one of my favorite vegetables and in addition to this Aloo Potol Recipe, I also make a simple parwal fry, potol posto (another Bengali favorite with pointed gourd and poppy seeds) and the Punjabi style Parwal ki Sabji.

Another specific feature about this Aloo Potoler Dalna is, this dish also fits perfectly under the ‘niramish’ category. The logic is that in Bengali cuisine, a dish qualifies as niramish or true-blue vegetarian, when it is prepared without certain heat inducing plant-based ingredients too, like onion, garlic, some lentils, etc. 

I make this Potol Recipe in the same way I make the Aloo Phulkopir Dalna (potato cauliflower curry), where the Bengali garam masala also plays an important part. Both these curries pair deliciously with steamed rice, phulka, chapatis or Luchi alike.

However, this Aloo Potol Recipe is not a quick one and takes a good amount of time to get done, as compared to other curry recipes where everything is added in a pan and cooked. In this Aloo Potoler Dalna, you have to first pan fry the vegetables in mustard oil and then add to the gravy or curry.

This way, the dish turns out to be completely unique in taste. Also, for best results, I would suggest to use mustard oil. The pungency of mustard oil cannot be matched by any other oil.

How to make Aloo Potol

Make Bengali Garam Masala

1. In a dry grinder or coffee grinder, take seeds of 2 green cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon and 2 to 3 cloves.

If using cassia cinnamon, then use ½ inch of it.

2. Grind to a fine powder. You can also crush these spices in a mortar-pestle. Remove the Bengali garam masala and keep aside.

Prep Veggies & Fry Them

3. Firstly, rinse 250 grams pointed gourd (potol/parwal) very well in water. Then, peel them. You can even lightly scrape off the skin, if you want. Chop the pointed gourds in 2 to 3 pieces. 

There are seeds and pith in this vegetable. If the seeds are mature and large, vertically slice the parwal in 2 parts, scrape the seeds and pith and then chop. If the seeds are tiny and tender, you don’t need to remove the seeds and pith.

4. Add ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder and ⅛ teaspoon salt. Adding both turmeric and salt is optional and can be skipped.

5. Mix well.

6. On a low to medium flame, heat 3 tablespoons mustard oil in a kadai or pan and let it come to its smoking point.

7. Reduce the heat and add the pointed gourd pieces.

8. Mix well and begin to fry the pointed gourd pieces on medium-low to medium heat. Fry them in batches.

9. Fry the pointed gourd, stirring often, for even cooking.

10. While the potol is getting fried, rinse, peel and slice 2 medium to large (250 grams) potatoes into cubes.

 Sprinkle ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder, ⅛ teaspoon salt and mix well. Adding both turmeric and salt is optional and can be skipped.

11. Fry potol pieces till light golden. You just need to fry them till they are almost cooked.

12. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper towels.

13. Now, add the potato cubes in the same pan.

14. Fry potato cubes, stirring often, for even cooking. Fry till you see golden spots on the edges and the potatoes are almost cooked.

15. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper towels.

Make Aloo Potoler Dalna

16. Now in the same oil, add 1 bay leaf (tej patta) and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.

17. Let the cumin seeds splutter.

18. Now, add ¾ cup finely chopped tomatoes and stir.

19. Add 1 slit green chili and 1 teaspoon minced ginger or ginger paste.

20. Mix well and begin to sauté tomatoes on low to medium heat.

21. Sauté till the tomatoes soften and turn mushy.

22. Next, add the spices listed below:

• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• ½ tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

23. Mix and sauté for a minute on low heat.

24. Add ½ to ⅔ cup water.

25. Mix well.

26. Now, add the fried potol pieces and potato cubes.

27. Season with 1 teaspoon sugar and salt as per taste.

28. Mix again.

29. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer on medium-low heat for 6 to 7 minutes. Check the Aloo Potol curry in between. If the curry looks dry, then add some more water.

30. Simmer till the Aloo Potol curry thickens a bit. The potatoes and potol will also be completely cooked in 6 to 7 minutes.

31. Once the vegetables are done, add the prepared Bengali garam masala.

32. Then, add 1 teaspoon ghee. Adding ghee is optional and can be skipped.

33. Mix well and turn off the heat.

34. Serve Aloo Potoler Dalna with steamed rice, chapatis, paratha, luchi or poori. You can also garnish with some coriander leaves while serving.

Expert Tips

1. The potol or parwal has to be rinsed well and then peeled or lightly scraped and chopped. If the seeds are large and mature, discard them. If tiny and tender, you can keep them.
2. If you have Bengali garam masala ready at home, add about ½ teaspoon of it. Then, no need to grind the whole spices separately.
3. You can use tomato puree in place of chopped tomatoes in this recipe.
4. It is best made in mustard oil to keep the traditional Bengali aspect intact. However, if you have an aversion towards this particular oil, then use any other oil in this recipe.
5. Add water according to how you want the consistency of the curry to be.
6. In the end, you can add some ghee to enhance the flavor of this dish. This is optional.

This Potol recipe from the archives, originally published in January 2018 has been updated and republished on February 2023.