Ancient Spice - Til Aloo

When Barbara announced 'ancient spice' as the theme for her event, The spice is right, I knew I'd be making something with sesame. I remembered reading in a book that it was the oldest recorded spice; 4000 years old to be precise - now that was sufficiently ancient!

Historians believe the original homeland of sesame is the Indian subcontinent, indicated by it's Latin name: Sesamum indicum, where indicum means 'from India'. Sesame was one of the primary crops of the Indus valley civilisation and the seeds were used for oil before they were used to flavor foods. Gernot Katzner's spice pages explain how this is evident in the etymology of the word 'tel' (oil), which is a derivative of the Sanskrit word 'tila' (sesame).
It is surprising how little we know of the spices that we use in our kitchen everyday.

Sesame is most commonly used to make 'til ladoos' during Makar Sankrant. The seeds are also used to flavor curries and pulaos by grinding them in a paste along with other spices. But the dish that truly gives the sesame it's due is Til Aloo- potato cubes fried with sesame seeds. The preparation is similar to the popular Jeera Aloo, which uses cumin. The blandness of potatoes complements the sesame's nutty flavor nicely.

I ate this dish in a restaurant in Bombay and thought I'd recreate it at home. This wasn't exactly challenging because it's a very simple dish. One bite and you figure out how it's made. Be warned though that you really have to love sesame to like this one!

TIL ALOO (Potatoes fried with sesame seeds)
(serves 2)
4-5 medium size potatoes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp beige sesame seeds
1/2 tbsp black sesame seeds (entirely optional; I like to add them for color)
1/4 tsp ginger paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
lemon juice
1-2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into wedges or large cubes and boil them in salted water until tender (they cook faster this way so keep an eye).

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter add cumin and sesame seeds. Add ginger paste, turmeric and red chilli powder and saute for a few minutes (on low heat or the seeds will turn bitter).

Add potatoes and season to taste. Stir until they are well coated with spices. Sprinkle lemon juice and serve hot. Til aloo is generally served with puris but rotis or rice and dal work well too.

* Don't omit the lemon juice, it balances all the other flavors in the dish.

Tags: sesame potatoes til aloo alu batatachi bhaji