Stuffed Aloo Tikki (Instant Pot)

I’m sharing a recipe for stuffed aloo tikki today! Crispy golden potato fritters filled with tangy spiced chana dal.

I’m sharing the simplest and fastest way to make stuffed aloo tikki. You can cook potatoes and lentils together in an instant pot – in minutes!

What is Aloo Tikki?

Aloo tikki is a really popular type of Indian street food. This type of tikki is made with boiled potatoes, spices and sometimes (like in this recipe) it’s stuffed with lentils.

Aloo tikki translates to potato cutlet. These pan-fried fritters are both crispy and creamy and thanks to the lentil filling, they’re spicy and tangy and nutty too.

“This recipe came out delicious. Easy to follow. It passed the mom and dad’s taste test! Thanks Ashley 😊.”

Nicki

How to Make Aloo Tikki

Let’s Chaat Chat About How We’re Going to Make Tikki!

First, we’re going to cook the soaked chana dal and the gold potatoes together in our instant pot. Make sure to use gold/yellow potatoes for this recipe (they’re not as starchy as other potatoes).

Once the dal and potatoes are done cooking, we’re going to drain the dal and spice it up! We want the stuffing to be really flavorful – tangy and spicy.

Then we mash the potatoes and add some rice flour or cornstarch and mix until it forms a dough. The rice flour/cornstarch helps make the dough easier to shape and will also help in making the crust crisp.

Mash the Potatoes?! But Ashley, Aren’t You Supposed to Grate Potatoes?

To mash or grate? This is apparently a “controversial issue” when it comes to making tikkis. Gotta love a good food fight. 😉

After talking tikki with family and friends, I’ve learned that there is this notion that you’re supposed to hand grate potatoes when making aloo tikki because otherwise “the tikkis won’t be smooth inside.”

I’m here to tell you, that’s just not true. Mashing potatoes will result in tikkis that are just as good and way easier to make – as long as you mash them well, that is.

Get yourself a potato masher (and get rid of your hand-grater). And I’m not just telling you to get something you’ll only use once in a blue moon. I’m a city-dweller who understands the value of limited kitchen drawer space. I use my potato masher surprisingly often – to make tikkis, Pav Bhaji, Aloo Curry, Mashed Potatoes.

Just the thought of having to hand-grate potatoes is enough to turn me off from making a recipe. But my parents insist that I tell you that you can grate the potatoes if you want to, lol. 😂

Now that we’ve settled that…

Roll the dough into a log make 8 slices (or however many slices you want).

Flatten it, stuff with dal, roll it into a round patty.

And pan-fry! You can shallow or deep-fry. I usually shallow-fry and have listed the amount of oil I use in the recipe card below.

Just so you know, I tried frying these guys in my instant pot (the way I fry my Kadhi Pakoras) but it was too difficult to flip the tikkis in the IP which is why I suggest frying them on the stovetop. Much easier.

Look at that crispy, golden crust!

You can serve stuffed aloo tikkis with:

If you want to make this more of a meal, you can serve this with chana masala to make aloo tikki chole or you can put a tikki in between a bun for an aloo tikki burger.

Or just eat them plain! They’re awesome as is. Tell me what you think!

Instant Pot Stuffed Aloo Tikki

Instant Pot Stuffed Aloo Tikki

5 from 13 reviews

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Servings 8 stuffed tikkis

Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

 

• ▢ 1 ½ pounds yukon gold potatoes peeled*
• ▢ ¼ cup chana dal soaked for 3 hours
• ▢ 1 cup water

For Dal Stuffing:

• ▢ ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ▢ 1 green chili minced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon amchur dried green mango powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon coriander powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon fennel powder or fennel seeds
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon cayenne

 

• ▢ 3 tablespoons rice flour or 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ cup oil I like avocado oil

Instructions

 

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• Soak the chana dal for 3 hours. Drain and rinse. 
• Add the dal and 1 cup of water to the instant pot. Place the potatoes on top of the dal. Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 7 minutes at high pressure.
  
• Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes.
• Using tongs, place the potatoes into a bowl and set aside. Drain the dal and put it into a bowl along with all of the ingredients listed under “dal stuffing,” mix well and set aside. Then use a potato masher to mash the potatoes (there shouldn’t be any lumps).
  
• Add 3 tablespoons of rice flour and ½ teaspoon of salt to the potatoes and mix well. Pour a bit of oil onto your hands and roll the mixture into a log, dividing it into 8 parts. 
  
• With oil-greased hands, take one part of the potato mixture, flatten it and fill it with a tablespoon of dal stuffing, then close the potato around the stuffing and form into a patty. Repeat to make 8 tikkis.
• Add oil to a frying pan (or dutch oven) on the stovetop over medium heat and once the oil heats up, shallow fry the tikkis on both sides until crisp and golden brown. 
  
• Serve with chutney or ketchup and garnish with cilantro leaves if desired.

Video

Notes

• *I suggest using gold potatoes when making tikki. They’re not as starchy as other potatoes and they make for sweet/smooth tikkis. The amount of flour suggested is for gold potatoes. If you use a different type of potato, you’ll need to adjust the amount of flour and they may not turn out as well as what you see here.

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