The Wonder That Is Potato

One of the popular slogans in Bihar during Lalu Yadav’s political reign was – ‘Jab tak rahega samosa mein aloo, tab tak rahega Bihar mein Lalu.’

If Indians are told about comfort food potato being recent in our country, I am sure nobody will believe it. But we have to go by facts — regarding potato’s timeline and foreign origins.

In ‘History of Agriculture in India up to – C. 1200 AD’, it is recorded that domestication of potato was found in central Peru. It is likely that the potato might have been domesticated and cultivated in the Lake Titicaca to Lake Poopo region of north Bolivia. This crop was known as ‘camata’ or ‘batata’ in the Caribbean and travelled to Spain and other parts in the 16th century. ‘Batata’ became potato when it went to England. In Maharastra, the spud is still called ‘batata.’

The Portuguese were the first to introduce potato in India during the early 17th century. It was the British who planted it in the gardens of colonial homes in northern India and Sri Lanka (erstwhile Ceylon). Potato was a well-established garden crop in Surat, Karnataka (Coorg region) as early as 1675. For cultivation, it was introduced in Shimla in 1828 and Nilgiri Hills in 1830.

The Europeans were the first to introduce potato in the Indian kitchen, which was then patronised by Muslims. Among the Europeans, it was basically the Dutch who popularised potato. When the potato first made its appearance in the markets, it was viewed with suspicion and there was wild speculation of how it is bad for health, and that it increased people’s sex drive.

Potato aka aloo is a chameleon vegetable that goes well with every dish — be it meat, vegetable or rice. It is one of the basic ingredients of north Indian cuisine. When cooked properly with curry and meat, aloo tends to absorb the flavour of both meat and the spices, taking on a new character with every dish.

Cheap, readily available and versatile, potatoes have given us many drool-worthy dishes — from chokha and stuffing of pani puri to masala of dosa, chaat and, of course, aloo ke parathe. It is infinite — imagine the simple aloo matar sabji as accompaniment with pooris, which is the most comforting food. In some lingo it is referred as salan, Hindu sabji, Anglo yellow potato curry, Railway nasta sabji and so on. It is essentially just a spiced curry and one can come up with many variations depending on the primary ingredients used.

It is one vegetable with which you can make literally anything. From snacks to the main dishes and even appetizers (affable French fries), there are about 200 varieties of potatoes. But the diversity of potatoes can be clubbed under 7 types. If you are also a potato lover like us, then here are the different varieties of potatoes you should know about:

Red Potato: It’s small and smooth with red skin and waxy, which means that it will retain the shape on getting chopped, even when it’s boiled. Best for salads, soups and even stews.

Russet Potato: Oval-shaped and generally medium to long to height. Commonly used for baking and roasting purposes.

Purple Potato: Best used for grilling and baking purposes. It has a nutty and earthy flavour with a moist and firm flesh. Has a deep purple skin and matching lavender flesh.

White Potato: Low sugar potato with medium starch presence in it and a delicate thin white skin. Best for making mashed potatoes, it is also good for frying, boiling and steaming purposes.

Fingerling Potato: Fingerling potatoes are shaped like human fingers and best used for pan-frying and roasting.

Yellow Potato: KMoist and velvety, these potatoes have a buttery flavour with a hint of subtle sweetness used for grilling and roasting purposes.

Petite Potato: Very tiny. Best for frying and roasting.

For the road —  In Odisha, the most common variety consumed is Yellow Potato type. They are large, round, white, somewhat flattened eyes, and white flesh that is dull. Though this vegetable is quite popular and is present in most vegetable dishes, still it’s not used in Mahaprasad.

The best potatoes for French fries are Russet potatoes, also known as Idaho potatoes due to the high starch and low moisture content. And the Russet Burbank potato is the best type of russet for fries.