Crispy Indian spiced potato balls inspired by aloo tikki, but oven baked for a healthier version. Just as crispy outside but soft & fluffy inside.

Crispy Indian Spiced Potato Balls (Aloo Tikki)

Name: Crispy Indian Spiced Potato Balls (Aloo Tikki)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 22 potato balls (how many depends on size)
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 500g baby potatoes, peeled (chop any bigger baby potatoes into small pieces); 1 red chilli, finely chopped (you can use less and remove the seeds to reduce the heat); 3 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped; 1 handful fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped; Juice of 1/2 lemon; 1 teaspoon chilli powder; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 teaspoon garam masala; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1 teaspoon salt (original recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, but I prefer to use less); 2 tablespoons cornflour; 2 tablespoons of rice flour; 1 teaspoon oil to spray (you will need more to drizzle or brush over potato balls before cooking)

I had you at potato right?

And how good do those crispy Indian spiced potato balls look?

Soft mashed potato mixed with onion and spices made into a twist on the more traditional aloo tikki, which are usually shaped into patties and fried.

These little beauties are popular with adults and kids.

A super simple recipe too, there's no need for a food processor, all you need is a potato masher (or just a fork) and a mixing bowl.

The recipe is from an exciting new cookibook from Renu Bhardwaj.

Cover of Celebrate Diwali book by Renu Bhardwaj.

Celebrate Diwali by Renu Bhardwaj

This stunning new book by Renu Bhardwaj celebrates the Hindu festival of Lights which is called Diwali (pronunced divali).

The festival is held over 5 days and coincides with Halloween this year.

It has similar themes to our pagan ritual too, as it's all about light winning over dark and good against evil.

Diwali is celebrated by decorating your house with colourful decoartions, dressing up in new clothes, lighting small oil lamps (diyas), exchanging gifts, feasting and often fireworks too.

Celebrate Diwali explains the festival and includes a gorgeous section of delicious recipes that are all vegetarian and mosty vegan too (with a couple of tweaks).

It also has ideas and templates for decorations, crafts, gift ideas (including edible gifts) and a section on planning your celebration.

The book is a colourful and fun as the festival itself.

Although, I would recommend it for the recipes alone!

Recipes in Celebrate Diwali

The recipes are all suitable for vegetarians and nearly all of them are suitable for vegans too, some with simple tweaks like using plant mik or butter.

I have inluded my suggestions for swaps, next to the recipes.

Starters

Samosa Chaat - Smashed samosa & spiced chickpea salad
Spicy Potato Balls - Spiced potato bites
Chilli Paneer - An Indian cheese dish, where tofu could be substituted

Mains

Chole Bhatura - Spiced chickpeas served with puffed deep-fried bread
Maslala Chips - Indian style dirty fries
Dal Makhani - Rich and creamy dal made with black lentils and kidney beans
Achari Aloo - Pickled spiced potatoes
Paneer Biryani - This one is vegetarian not vegan, a Indian cheese curry, but it does include really good tips for cooking the perfect rice.

Sides

Kachumber Salad - An Indian chopped salad with a zingy citrus dressing
Mint & Coriander Chutney - I shared this tasty Indian dip recipe over at The Vegan Lunchbox
Cucumber & Cumin Raita - A cooling yoghurt sauce, use vegan Greek yoghurt for this one
Naan & Garlic Naan - Simple plain or garlic naan bread made with Greek yoghurt (you can use plant-based yoghurt)

Desserts

Nanni's Kheer - Creamy rice pudding (use plant-based milk)
Gulab Jamun - Deep-fried dumplings in syrup
Kulfi - Nutty, spiced ice cream

Drinks

Masala Chai - Spiced milky tea
Spiced Spritzer - Fruity spiced mocktail
Cucumber Mint Cooler - Refreshing mocktail
Apple, Elderflower & Mint Sparkle - Sparkling summer drink
Festive Ice Cubes - Flavourful ice cubes made with fruit and spices

EDIBLE GIFTS

Masala Nuts - Crunchy spiced nuts

Nankhatai - Buttery almond cookies (use plant-based butter)

Coconut Ladoo - Coconut balls topped with a nut (use plant-based condensed milk)

Easy Barfi - White fudge like treat (vegetarian)

Chocolate Dates - Decorated with nuts

Chocolate & Nut Coins - Similar to chocolate bark, but a cookie cutter is used for the shape

Rose & Pistachio Biscuits - Buttery biscuits (use plant-based butter)

Pistachio Barfi Truffles - Nut based truffles coated in chocolate (vegetarian)

As you can see a fabulous selection of recipes.

You can pick this book up from all good bookshops and online in hardback or from Amazon for kindle.

Title : Celebrate Diwali

Author : Renu Bhardwaj
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pop Press (15 Aug. 2024)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 152993415X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1529934151

What you need to make Indian spiced potato balls

Here are the ingredients you need to make this twist on traditional Indian street food.

Baby potatoes
Red chilli pepper
Spring onions (sclallions)
Fresh coriander (cilantro leaves)
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Chilli powder (red chilli powder as mild or hot as you like)
Ground turmeric
Garam masala
Ground cumin
Smoked paprika
Salt
Corn flour (corn starch)
Rice flour

The potato balls are drizzled or brushed with oil before they are cooked in the oven for a crispy crust, but I like to use a spray bottle of olive oil or rapeseed oil as it gives a good coating but uses less oil.

Either way, this recipe uses much less oil than shallow frying or deep frying

The printable recipe card is at the bottom of this page with full ingredient list method and nutritional information.

Use leftover mashed potato

This is the perfect recipe to make if you have leftover mashed potato from dinner.

As long as you haven't added too much vegan butter or milk, you could use the leftover mashed potatoes to make these crispy little potato bites.

I would go as far as to suggest when you are making mash for dinner next time, make extra, then you can make a batch of this aloo tikki and pop them in to cook after dinner, to add to lunch boxes the next day or check out my other serving suggestions below.

Air fryer or oven?

The recipe includes instructions for baking these crispy aloo tikki bites in an oven, but you could use your air fryer if you have one.

I personally use my air fryer for just about everything these days, it's so quick and convenient to use.

If you are baking these Indian potato patties or balls in the air fryer, give them a jiggle about during cooking to make sure they are crisp all over and remember they will bake quicker, so keep an eye on them.

Aloo Tikki - Crispy Indian Spiced Potato Balls.

Serving aloo tikki inspired potato bites

Renu suggests serving these spiced potato ball fritters (which she says are a healthier version of batata vada) with the green chutney (mint and coriander chutney) I featured in my review over in the lunchbox.

She also says they are good with salad or on sandwiches.

Here's a list of serving suggestions for these tasty little Indian potato bites.

Dips - served with coriander mint chutney and mango chutney as a snack
Kid style - kids would love these served with some ketchup for dunking
Nursery style - with sausages and baked beans
Curry - serve these and onion or vegetable bhajis with your next curry
Sandwich - on a sandwich with salad, mango chutney and some Bombay mix for crunch
Wrap - on a wrap with green chutney, salad and cashew nuts
Bagel - in a tasted bagel with hummus, grated carrot and mango chutney
Salad - add them to a salad
Full cooked breakfast - add these little beauties to a cooked breakfast instead of hash browns
Spaghetti - tossed through spaghetti with a tomato sauce

I'm sure you will have some good ideas too.

Definitely add them to lunch boxes.

Prepare them ahead

You can make up the potato mixture, roll it into balls and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. then cook them from chilled when you are ready.

The uncooked bites will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Freeze the aloo tikki bites

Freeze uncooked balls for up to 6 months in a airtight container or freezer bag.

To help prevent them from sticking together, flash freeze them on a tray first, then add them to a labelled and dated freezer bag or tub.

Cooked potato balls can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Defrost for 1-2 hours (or overnight in the fridge) then bake in the oven (or air fryer) at 180c / 160c fan / 350f / gas mark 4 for 10 - 15 minutes until they are crisp and golden brown.

aloo tikki, spiced potato balls, aloo tikki bites, aloo tikki balls, Indian tater tots, baked potato balls

Lunch, Snack

Indian

Yield: 22 potato balls (how many depends on size)

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum