Potato is a tuber called solanum tuberosum, brought to Europe from South America in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadores. The English called it potato, after the Spanish name patata. Its cultivation spread across Europe over the centuries. Some sociologists have even called it the fuel for the industrial revolution. The Portuguese introduced potatoes to the west coast in India in late seventeenth century and called it batata. The British introduced it to Bengal in the 1800s when they started the residency at Kolkata and slowly enlarged their reach. They called it aloo, and the etymology is uncertain. It travelled through Bihar, UP to the northern hills by the end of the nineteenth century, and even reached Tibet through the trade routes. Potato is the fourth largest crop in the world, and India is the second largest producer. China and India together produce close to 40% of the world's output.
On being the first to get it from the gora sahebs, and finding that it grows well, Bengalis fell in love with this lowly tuber. They are obsessed with potatoes and use them in virtually every possible dish, except may be the chutney! Starting with a breakfast of luchi (puri) and aloor tarkari or aloor dum, through lunch which can include the humble aloo bhatey(mashed potatoes), aloo bhaja (fried potatoes), and be included in every other dish including machher jhol (fish curry) or even mangshor jhol (mutton curry). Bengalis add potatoes to thicken the mutton jhol, considered almost runny by northerners!
The aloo bhaja needs special mention- it can range from diced, cut straight like french fries, rings, and even thinnest straws- each with its own set of spices. The season's first baby potatoes fried in their skin is a treat in itself. Alu-posto (potato and paste of poppy seed husk) is another dish which makes almost every Bengali salivate. Nothing compares to the sheer bliss of a post-lunch siesta on a Sunday, especially if the menu includes some posto dish like aloo-posto, jhingey (spined gourd)-posto or poshto-bora. Posto has a sordid history. The British employed all unholy methods to force the farmers in the Gangetic plains to grow only poppy, to extract opium which was then shipped to China and exchanged for silver and tea. This unholy trade led to the so-called Boxer Rebellion, and the word 'gunboat diplomacy' was born when British warships bombarded the Imperial Chinese fleet near Hong Kong to continue with their opium trade. Unable to grow vegetables, some Bengali farmer may have discovered that the husk of the poppy seed can be used to prepare a curry and it had mild sedative properties. So posto became a part of the Bengali cuisine, under duress!
The evening snacks can revolve round aloo chop or potato slices dipped in gram flour (besan) batter and fried with slices of brinjal and seasonal vegetables. Dinner can be an encore for the curries in lunch.
Legend has it that the last Nawab of Oudh, Wajid Ali Shah was banished to what was then outskirts of Kolkata by the British. His favourite khansama added potato to the famous Awadhi biryani to increase the volume, as the dire straits of the imprisoned nawab did not allow for much mutton. And so, the lowly potato ensconced itself as an integral part of the biryani recipe of Kolkata, and thus giving it a character of its own. This is particularly disliked by the lovers of Hyderabadi Biryani, and frowned upon by the purists of the Awadhi biryani. But then the Awadhi cuisine also looks down upon the Hyderabadi cousin for using too many spices and essence in abundance!
Although aloo paratha is a staple food in entire northern India, made in fried or tandoor form round the round clock and round the year- northerners actually protest if there are too many potato dishes! Bihar suffered tremendously during the long rule of Laloo Yadav. He is said to have proclaimed that "Laloo would rule Bihar as long as there are aloo in the stuffing of singhara (samosa to the rest of India)". Fortunately, aloo still remains the favourite stuffing in singharas in Bihar and Bengal, but Laloo has long since lost the political battle, and is shuttling from one jail to another, and being probably fed aloo subzi in some jail.
The Mumbaikar loves his batata vada, but would probably baulk if too much of it appeared in his daily diet. In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana all masala dosas receive a filling of mainly aloo, but it is not preferred as a vegetable to be included in the daily diet! Which is strange, because these states seem to have accepted tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, french beans- all later imports, and some of them recent, in to their cuisine. So the poor aloo languishes at the fringes and is out of favour. Incidentally these four states together hardly produce any potato! Bengal or is it Bangla now, is probably the second largest potato crop on the country and the four southern states hardly produce any significant crop of potatoes.
