Puri Bhaji | Batata Bhaji - Dassana's Veg Recipes

5 from 14 votes

Puri Bhaji | Batata Bhaji

This is a warm, lightly spiced potato dish called Batata Bhaji with hints of coriander, ginger and other Indian spices. This semi-dry potato preparation is served with the fried Indian bread called poori (or puri) and thus called Puri Bhaji.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Indian, Maharashtrian

Diet: Vegan

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 341kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

4 potatoes - medium-sized
1 cup onion chopped or 1 large onion
1 teaspoon chopped green chillies or 1 green chilli
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1.5 teaspoon urad dal (husked and split black gram)
⅓ cup water or as needed
½ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
½ cup coriander leaves - chopped, divided
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or 1 inch peeled ginger
12 to 15 curry leaves
2 or 3 tablespoons peanut oil or sunflower oil
salt as required

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Boiling Potatoes

First rinse the potatoes thoroughly in water.
Boil the potatoes in water till they are cooked completely and are fork tender.
You could opt to cook potatoes in a stovetop pressure cooker, steamer pan or the Instant Pot.
Once they are warm or cool down, peel them and chop.

Making Batata Bhaji

In a pan, heat the peanut oil. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and urad dal.
Fry till the mustard crackles and starts making sound and the urad dal begins to turn brown.
Add the chopped onions. Fry on low to medium-heat until they become soft and translucent.
Next add the chopped ginger and green chilies. Fry for some seconds on low heat.
Add the curry leaves. Stir and fry for a few seconds.
Add the turmeric powder and asafoetida. Stir to mix on low heat. Don't burn the turmeric.
Next, add the chopped potatoes, and half of the coriander leaves.
Stir to mix and add water. Season with salt. Stir to combine evenly. Cover the pan with lid.
Let the batata bhaji simmer for 5-6 minutes on a low heat.
There should be some moisture in the bhaji and it should not be very dry.
Turn off heat and add the remaining chopped coriander leaves.
Stir to mix. Serve the Batata Bhaji hot with Poori, chapati or dosa.

Notes

To make soft, crispy puris, check the detailed recipe here - Poori Recipe
Add more green chillies, if you want to make a spicy batata bhaji.
If you like coconut, you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh grated coconut in the bhaji.
Make the bhaji with any neutral tasting oil, if you do not have peanut or sunflower oil.

Nutrition