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Assam / Northeast India · Indian

Aloo Pitika (Assamese Mashed Potato with Mustard Oil)

Assam's beloved comfort food: boiled potatoes mashed with raw mustard oil, onion, green chili, and coriander. Three minutes, five ingredients, and one of the purest expressions of the Northeast's light, clean cooking.

By Table & Traditions Editors

Published July 17, 2026

A mound of Assamese aloo pitika — mashed potato flecked with chopped onion, green chili, and coriander, glistening with mustard oil — on a plate beside steamed rice.

Pitika — mashed — is a category of Assamese comfort dishes where a boiled or roasted ingredient is mashed with raw mustard oil and aromatics. Aloo pitika (potato) is the most common, a daily staple eaten with rice and dal. It embodies the Assamese love of clean, light, minimally cooked food where mustard oil does the heavy lifting.

Yield
Serves 4 (as a side)
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Total
25 min
Difficulty
Easy

Aloo pitika is Assam’s everyday comfort food at its most elemental — boiled potatoes mashed with raw mustard oil, onion, green chili, and coriander. Five ingredients, three minutes of work, and a result that’s bright, sharp, and quietly addictive. It belongs to pitika, a whole Assamese category of mashed dishes, and it shows exactly what makes Northeast Indian cooking different: restraint, freshness, and mustard oil doing the work of a spice rack.

Raw mustard oil is the point

In most Indian cooking, mustard oil is heated to smoking first. In pitika, it goes in raw — sharp, pungent, uncooked — and that bracing bite is the entire character of the dish. Use a good, sharp mustard oil and add it off the heat.

Mash, season, eat

There’s barely a method: boil and mash the potatoes warm, fold in the raw oil, onion, chili, coriander, and salt, and taste for balance. Keep a little texture rather than making a smooth purée, so every bite carries the onion and chili.

A whole family of pitikas

Once you’ve made aloo pitika, the technique opens up: fire-roasted eggplant (bengena pitika), boiled pumpkin, even cooked dal all get the same treatment — mashed with mustard oil and aromatics. It’s the Assamese answer to “what’s quick, fresh, and good with rice.”

For the bolder side of the Northeast, see Naga smoked pork with bamboo shoot and the Assamese masor tenga, or browse the full recipe collection.

Ingredients

Serves
4

For the pitika

  • 4 potatoes, boiled and peeled
  • 2 tbsp raw mustard oil Raw, pungent mustard oil is the defining flavour — use a good, sharp one and don't cook it.
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1–2 green chilies, finely chopped
  • fresh coriander, chopped
  • salt

Optional

  • a squeeze of lemon, or a little chopped raw garlic

Method

Tap a step’s number to check it off as you go.

  1. Boil the potatoes until soft, peel, and mash while still warm.

    Why: Warm potatoes mash smoothest and absorb the mustard oil and aromatics best.

  2. Add the raw mustard oil, chopped onion, green chili, coriander, and salt.

    Why: The raw mustard oil is added off any heat — its sharp pungency is the whole point of pitika, and cooking it would lose that.

  3. Mix and mash together until well combined but still with a little texture.

    Why: A bit of texture is nicer than a smooth purée; everything should be evenly distributed so each bite has onion, chili, and oil.

  4. Taste, adjust salt and chili (and add lemon or raw garlic if you like), and serve.

    Why: Pitika is all about balance of pungent oil, sharp onion, heat, and salt — season it to taste, raw and fresh.

A quick, anonymous tap — no review needed.

Variations

  • Roasted (smoky)

    Fire-roast the potatoes instead of boiling for a smoky aloo pitika — closer to some traditional versions.

  • Other pitikas

    The same treatment works for roasted eggplant (bengena pitika), boiled pumpkin, or even cooked dal — mash with mustard oil and aromatics.

  • With kharoli/herbs

    Add chopped local herbs or a touch of fermented mustard for a more traditional Assamese accent.

Serving & Storage

Serve as part of an Assamese meal with steamed rice, dal, and a green — pitika is the simple, sharp note that brightens the plate. A spoonful with the first bites of rice is the classic way.

Pairs with: Steamed rice, Dal, Masor tenga, Boiled greens.

Storage: Best fresh, as the raw onion and mustard oil are at their brightest. Keeps a day refrigerated; re-season with a little fresh oil and salt before serving.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 1/2 cup)

Calories
160
Protein
3 g
Carbs
26 g
Fat
7 g
Fiber
3 g
Sugar
2 g
Sodium
240 mg

Notable micronutrients: Vitamin C, Potassium, Vitamin B6

Estimated using standard ingredient data. Values vary with brands and substitutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is pitika?

Pitika is an Assamese style of mashing a boiled or roasted ingredient (potato, eggplant, pumpkin, dal) with raw mustard oil, onion, green chili, and coriander. Aloo pitika (potato) is the most common. It's quick, raw-oil-based comfort food, central to the everyday Assamese plate.

Why raw mustard oil?

Raw, pungent mustard oil is the defining flavour of pitika — sharp and bracing. Unlike most Indian cooking where mustard oil is heated first, here it's added raw and uncooked, which is exactly what gives the dish its character. Use a good-quality, sharp mustard oil.

Is Assamese food really this simple?

Often, yes — Assamese cuisine prizes clean, light, minimally cooked food that lets the main ingredient and mustard oil shine, in contrast to the spice-heavy cooking of much of India. Dishes like pitika and masor tenga show that restraint can be deeply satisfying.

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