Aloo nimki is an incredibly popular street food from the eastern Nepali city of Dharan. It's a crunchy, saucy, flavourful symphony in your mouth. I remember as a kid in Dharan, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Aloo Nimki vendor. His vibrant blue cart gleamed under the sun, and his animated call of "Aloo Nimki!" rung through the streets, beckoning one and all. The distinct sound of ingredients mingling in the vendor's plastic jug, the signature crunch of the nimki, and the slosh of the rich sauce– simply sublime! Served on a newspaper cone and cardboard square for a spoon was so iconic. You can recreate this treat right at home, with this recipe. The recipe I'm about to share with you is authentically Dharan.
Prep Time:25minutes mins
Cook Time:15minutes mins
Course;snack, Starters and appetizer
Cuisine;nepal
Servings:6
Calories:367 kcal
Ingredients:
Nimki- buy from a store or make your own with the following ingredients
200 gram Plain flour
1 tablespoon Ajwain seeds (Jwano)
2 tablespoon Ghiu (ghee/ clarified butter) melted in a microwave or pan
½ teaspoon Salt
Oil to deep fry The amount you require will depend on your pan.
Spice Sauce
5 tablespoon Gram Flour (besan) You can substitute with plain flour
4 cup Water
4 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
7 Dried red chilly
1 Tomato finely chopped
1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Brown sugar
2 teaspoon Coriander powder
1 teaspoon Himalayan black salt
5 tablespoon Lemon Juice
Vegetables
500 gram Potato boiled and cut into small cubes
1 Red Onion medium sized finely chopped
7 stems Coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions:
Making Nimki Dough
Start by melting your ghiu (that's clarified butter) in the microwave for about 30 seconds or you can also melt it in a pan.
Once that's done, get a big bowl and put in your flour, salt, carom seeds and the melted ghiu. Begin to mix everything together, rubbing it in between your fingers until you get a crumbly texture.
Then pour in some water and knead until you have a nice dough. Give your dough a rest, covering it for 20 minutes.
Whilst waiting for the dough start to prepare the rest of the ingredients. Start by chopping the vegetables. Then prepare the spice sauce.
Sauce Preparation
Start with making the gram flour mix. Get a mixing bowl, put in your gram flour and add water. Whisk it all together until you get rid of all the lumps.
Next, heat some vegetable oil in a pan. Add your dried red chilly and turmeric powder. Fry them until the chilly gives off its wonderful aroma. Then, pop in your tomato, salt, and brown sugar. Cook until the tomato gets a little soft.
Now, stir your gram flour mix one more time and add it to the pan. Cook everything together until the sauce thickens up a bit to a thick gravy. consistency.
Turn off the heat and then add the coriander powder, Himalayan black salt, and lemon juice. Mix well and let it cool.
Don't forget to take out the dried red chilly pieces once it's cooled. As the sauce cools the nimki dough should be ready to roll and cut.
Nimki Shaping and Frying
Make 2 balls from the rested dough. Use a rolling pin to flatten each dough ball to a medium thickness of around 0.5cm.
Then, use a knife to cut the flattened dough into diamond shapes.
Get your frying pan, heat up some oil and then reduce the heat once the oil gets hot. Time to fry those nimkis on low heat. This will make them nice and crunchy.
Once they're golden, take them out and let them drain on a paper towel and let them cool down for 5-10 minutes
Combining Everything
Grab a large mixing bowl. Toss in your sliced onion, coriander leaves, and cubed boiled potatoes.
Add the spice sauce you just made and 4 cups of nimki. Mix it all up so everything is coated nicely.
Serve it up and sprinkle some coriander on top for an extra punch.
Remember to enjoy it immediately to keep the nimki from getting soggy.
*You can also make this in individual batches if you prefer.
For each portion, you'll need- 4 tablespoon potato, 5 tablespoon spice sauce, 2 tablespoon onion, 1 tablespoon coriander leaves and ½ heaped cup nimki. If you love a saucy aloo nimki, don't hesitate to add extra sauce.
