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Aloo tama
Aloo tama bodi: Kathmandu Valley curry of potatoes, sour fermented bamboo shoots and black-eyed beans
Aloo tama is the curry that tells you you are in Nepal: potatoes (aloo) and black-eyed beans (bodi) simmered with tama, slivers of bamboo shoot that have been fermented until they are pleasantly sour and funky. It is a Newar dish at heart, cooked all over the Kathmandu Valley for weddings, feasts and cold winter evenings, and every Nepali restaurant abroad keeps a pot of it. The sourness comes from the bamboo, sharpened with tomato, and the warmth from fenugreek seeds burnt nearly black in mustard oil and a dusting of timur, the Nepali Sichuan pepper that numbs the lips. Eat it with rice or beaten rice (chiura). Don't skip rinsing the bamboo: straight from the jar it can be so sharp that it takes over the whole pot. Chef's tip: let the fenugreek seeds turn a deep reddish brown before anything else goes in; that bitter-sweet, almost maple smell is the backbone of the curry.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Put 7 oz fermented bamboo shoots (tama) in a sieve and rinse it under cold running water for a minute, squeezing it gently. Taste a strip: it should be pleasantly sour, not harsh. If it still bites, soak it in fresh water for 5 minutes and drain.
5 minStep 2: Heat 3 tbsp mustard oil in a heavy pot over a medium-high heat until it smokes lightly, then lower the heat to medium. Add ½ tsp fenugreek seeds and 2 dried red chillies and fry for 20–30 seconds, until the seeds are deep reddish brown and smell like burnt sugar. Pull the pan off the heat if they race towards black.
2 minStep 3: Add 1 onion and fry for 5 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges. Add 4 garlic cloves and ½ oz fresh ginger and fry for 1 minute, until the raw smell is gone.
6 minStep 4: Add 14 oz potatoes and the drained bamboo, then ½ tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander and ½ tsp chilli powder. Stir-fry for 4 minutes over a medium heat; the bamboo will give off a sharp, sour smell and the potatoes will start to stick a little. That's fine.
4 minStep 5: Add 2 tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes, pressing them with the spoon, until they break into a thick paste and the oil starts to show at the edges.
4 minStep 6: Add 8 ½ oz cooked black-eyed beans (bodi), 3 cups hot water and 1 ¼ tsp salt. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over a medium-low heat for 15–18 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and a few have crumbled into the broth to thicken it. Aloo tama should be soupy, not dry.
18 minStep 7: Stir in ½ tsp timur (Nepali Sichuan pepper) and simmer 1 minute more; it should make your lips tingle faintly. Taste and add salt if needed. Scatter with ⅓ oz fresh coriander and serve hot with rice or beaten rice. It tastes even better the next day.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 36 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does aloo tama take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of fenugreek seeds?
- Leave them out, or add a little extra mustard seed (you lose the slightly bitter, maple-like note).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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