Aloo Chokha (Bihari Mashed Potatoes with Mustard Oil)
Boiled potatoes mashed by hand with raw red onion, green chilies, cilantro, a spoonful of pickle masala and a drizzle of pungent mustard oil, served warm with litti, roti or rice.
Chokha is the mash that comes with litti, the wheat dough balls stuffed with roasted chickpea flour that Bihar Tourism lists among the state's main courses, "best eaten with brinjal bharta or mashed potato". Wikipedia describes chokha as roasted and mashed eggplant, tomato and potato, and says litti chokha is popular across the Bhojpuri region of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and in Nepal). The potato version is the simplest: no butter, no milk, just raw onion, green chili and mustard oil. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's site notes that aloo chokha is also called aloo bharta.
Why it works the kitchen science
Raw, not cooked
The onion, chili and mustard oil go in raw, so they keep their sharp bite against the soft, bland potato, the whole flavor of the dish.
Mustard oil as the butter
Its nose-tingling pungency does the job butter does in a Western mash, carrying flavor through the potato without any dairy.
Step by step
- Step 1
Put the potatoes in a pot, cover with water and boil over medium-high heat about 20 minutes, until completely soft.
- Step 2
Drain and let them cool for about 5 minutes, until you can handle them, then pull off the skins.
- Step 3
Mash the potatoes in a bowl with a masher or your clean hands, leaving it a little rough.
- Step 4
Add the onion, chilies, salt, mustard oil, achar masala and cilantro, and mash and mix until everything is evenly spread through.
- Step 5
Taste and adjust the salt and chili; achar masala is already salty, so add salt last.
- Step 6
Serve warm or at room temperature with litti, roti or dal and rice.
Aloo Chokha (Bihari Mashed Potatoes with Mustard Oil)
Serves 4 · about 2 cups · 30 min total
Potatoes
- 1 lb 2 oz (500 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
Mix-ins
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 to 2 green chilies (such as serrano or Indian green chilies), finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 1/4 tsp mustard oil (see Rules)
- 1 1/2 tsp achar masala (pickle spice mix) or the oily masala from a jar of mango pickle
- 2 to 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Method
- Put the potatoes in a pot, cover with water and boil over medium-high heat about 20 minutes, until completely soft.
- Drain and let them cool for about 5 minutes, until you can handle them, then pull off the skins.
- Mash the potatoes in a bowl with a masher or your clean hands, leaving it a little rough.
- Add the onion, chilies, salt, mustard oil, achar masala and cilantro, and mash and mix until everything is evenly spread through.
- Taste and adjust the salt and chili; achar masala is already salty, so add salt last.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with litti, roti or dal and rice.
Adapted from Manali Singh, "Aloo Chokha", Cook With Manali (February 16, 2026), written from how it was made at home in eastern Uttar Pradesh, as written for 4. She uses 500 g potatoes (Yukon Gold), 1 small red onion, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 to 2 green chilies, 1 1/4 tsp mustard oil, 1 1/2 tsp achar masala and 2 to 3 tbsp cilantro. The fire-roasted option is our addition, based on Wikipedia's description of chokha as roasted and mashed. Archana's Kitchen's version, which sautés the onions and chilies in the mustard oil first, is linked for comparison. Cook With Manali. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- For a smoky chokha, roast the whole unpeeled potatoes directly in a gas flame or over coals, turning, until charred and soft, or bake them at 400°F for 45 to 50 minutes, then peel.
- Manali Singh says not to replace the mustard oil, because it is the key flavor.
- A chopped garlic clove or a roasted tomato are common additions in other versions.
- Mash by hand; this is a rough, rustic mash.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Raw mustard oil or cooked. Disputed: Cook With Manali mixes it in raw; Archana's Kitchen and Sanjeev Kapoor heat the oil and sauté the onions in it first. Both are called aloo chokha.
- Mustard oil is not sold for cooking in the US. Disputed detail: secondary sources (Tasting Table and others, via search results) report that the FDA's Import Alert 26-04 restricts pressed mustard oil because of its erucic acid and that bottles here are often labeled "for external use only"; others note the studies behind it are old. We did not read the FDA alert itself. Tell viewers to check the label; any oil can stand in, with a different taste.
- Chokha is always potato. Documented as false: Bihar Tourism pairs litti with brinjal (eggplant) bharta or mashed potato, and Wikipedia describes chokha made of eggplant, tomato and potato.
- Aloo chokha and aloo bharta are the same dish. Documented as one usage (Sanjeev Kapoor's site); other cooks use the names for slightly different mashes.
- It comes from farmers' fields. Folklore: search results describe litti chokha as a farmers' meal, without a historical source.
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