Home-style recipes from around the world

EN
Nepali aloo tama, a yellow soup of potatoes, bamboo shoots and black-eyed peas, served with white rice
Prep15 min
Cook55 min
Serves4 servings
CuisineNepali
South Asia

Aloo Tama: Nepali Sour Bamboo Shoot, Potato and Black-Eyed Pea Soup-Curry

A Nepali home-style aloo tama made with potatoes, bamboo shoots, black-eyed peas, tomatoes and spices. Its role at Newar feasts, how to get fermented-bamboo tang with lemon juice, browning the onions and keeping the broth plentiful.

Total: 1 hr 10 minLevel: Beginner

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 7

Cut the vegetables

Sliced onions, 3 cm potato cubes and sliced bamboo shoots
Cut the potatoes into 3 cm cubes and the bamboo shoots 5 mm thick for even sizes

Cut the onions in half lengthwise, then slice 3 mm thick. Grate or finely chop the ginger, and press the garlic with the flat of a knife until it is just crushed. Peel the potatoes and cut them into roughly 3 cm cubes. If you use new potatoes, you can leave the skin on and cut them in half. Slice the bamboo shoots 5 mm thick. Once you're done cutting in about 3 minutes, keep the potatoes in water.

STEP 22 / 7

Parboil the potatoes

A pot of potatoes parboiling for 15 minutes in salted water
Drain when a skewer goes in but the center still has a little resistance

Put the potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover and a little salt over medium heat, and boil for about 15 minutes after it comes to a boil. A bamboo skewer should slide easily through the outside while the center keeps slight resistance. If you cook them completely soft here, they will fall apart when simmered later. When done, drain in a colander and let the water run off well.

STEP 33 / 7

Brown the onions well

Frying sliced onions in a large pot until golden brown
Fry for about 15 minutes until deep golden brown overall

In a separate large pot, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil over medium-high heat (slightly above medium), and add the sliced onions. Fry for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions have reduced to about half their volume, turned soft and gathered together, and become a deep golden brown overall. Browning them thoroughly gives the soup sweetness and depth. If the bottom of the pot looks about to scorch, lower the heat a little and add 1 tbsp water.

STEP 44 / 7

Add the ginger and garlic

Adding ginger and garlic to the golden onions and frying on low heat
Fry on low heat for 2–3 minutes until the garlic aroma rises

Once the onions have colored, add the ginger and garlic. Lower the heat and fry slowly for 2–3 minutes. It is enough when the garlic aroma rises and the moisture from the ginger has cooked off so the contents of the pot hold together moistly. Burnt garlic turns bitter, so don't raise the heat.

STEP 55 / 7

Fry the spices and add the lemon juice

Adding spices to the onions until they turn yellow, then squeezing in lemon juice
Fry the spices for 1 minute and add the lemon juice when the aroma rises

Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, Sichuan pepper, red pepper flakes and 1 tsp salt all at once, and fry for about 1 minute on low heat, stirring constantly. When the spices have blended into the oil, the onions have turned yellow all over and the aroma rises, squeeze in the lemon juice and stir. Spices scorch easily, so move on right away after 1 minute.

STEP 66 / 7

Add the main ingredients and simmer 20–30 minutes

A pot of potatoes, bamboo shoots, black-eyed peas and tomatoes simmering on low heat
Simmer with plenty of broth left until the potatoes are tender

Add the drained and rinsed black-eyed peas, the parboiled potatoes, the bamboo shoots and the canned tomatoes. Put a little water into the empty tomato can to rinse it, add that water to the pot, and add another 250 ml water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 20–30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It is done when a skewer slides easily into the potatoes and the soup has thickened slightly. Leaving plenty of broth is the right finish for this dish, so don't reduce it too far.

STEP 77 / 7

Adjust the seasoning and finish

Aloo tama in a bowl scattered with cilantro
Adjust the sourness with salt and lemon juice and scatter cilantro

Before turning off the heat, taste and adjust with salt and lemon juice. If the sourness is lacking, add lemon juice a little at a time until the sourness of the bamboo shoots stands out. Let the flavors blend on low heat for about 1 minute, and turn off the heat when the soup has a light thickness and the potatoes are tender but holding their shape. Ladle into bowls and scatter with roughly chopped cilantro.

0 / 0
Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 2

Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Substitutes & notes
Potatoes 500 g Waxy potatoes that hold their shape
Black-eyed peas (canned) 400 g Drain and rinse. If dried, soak overnight and boil
Bamboo shoots (packed in water) 225 g Sliced. Use sour pickled bamboo shoots if you have them
Canned tomatoes (diced) 400 g —
Onions 2 medium Thinly sliced
Fresh ginger 5 cm Grated or finely chopped
Garlic 3 cloves Crushed
Water 250 ml Separate from the water used to rinse the tomato can
2 / 2

Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Substitutes & notes
Vegetable oil 2 tbsp Sunflower oil also works
Ground cumin 2 tsp —
Ground coriander 2 tsp —
Turmeric 1 tsp —
Sichuan pepper (ground) 1/4 tsp In place of Nepali timur. May be omitted
Red pepper flakes or chili powder 1/4 tsp Heat to taste
Salt 1 tsp Separate from the salt for parboiling the potatoes
Lemon juice Juice of 1/2 lemon Taste at the end and add more
Cilantro A handful Roughly chopped. For finishing
0 / 0

At a celebration feast in the Kathmandu Valley, guests sit in a row and small portions of many dishes are set out in front of them. Beside them, a generous pour of yellow soup. One sip is sharply sour, and after the aroma of spices comes the bite of bamboo shoots. This is Nepal's aloo tama (आलु तामा / Aloo tama), a simmered dish of potatoes, bamboo shoots and black-eyed peas.

A sour bamboo shoot soup

Stirring a pot of aloo tama in a Nepali home kitchen

In the name, "aloo" means potato and "tama" means bamboo shoot. The version with black-eyed peas adds "bodi," meaning beans, and is also called "aloo bodi tama." English-language descriptions introduce it as a dish eaten in Nepal's hill country, either as a brothy soup or as a curry spooned over rice. The sour, slightly sharp taste is its biggest appeal.

Accounts differ about the bamboo shoots that give the sourness. Most descriptions say tama is a fermented bamboo shoot with a strong sourness. On the other hand, a blog by a Nepali-born writer living in Australia explains that tama is a processed bamboo shoot that is not fermented, and shows a way of adding sourness with lemon juice. It is natural to think that the bamboo shoots used differ by region and by household.

Good to know

At the Newar people's feast "bhoj," held by the community that has long lived in the Kathmandu Valley, aloo tama is said to always appear. In Nepal it is an everyday dish made in most households, loved as a warming home-style taste.

A spice often used in Nepali kitchens is timur, a relative of Sichuan pepper. It has a citrusy aroma that numbs the tongue, with a flavor close to Sichuan huajiao. In aloo tama, it layers a fresh fragrance over the sourness of the bamboo shoots. Using Sichuan peppercorn instead is the easiest substitute.

Things to know when making it in a home kitchen

Canned bamboo shoots in water, canned black-eyed peas, waxy potatoes and canned tomatoes

Fermented bamboo shoots are hard to find in most places. So here we use bamboo shoots packed in water, available at ordinary supermarkets, and add sourness with lemon juice. English-language recipes also show methods that combine canned bamboo shoots with lemon juice. If you find sour pickled bamboo shoots at an Asian grocer or similar, taste them before adding the lemon juice, and add it only if the sourness is lacking.

Black-eyed peas are white beans with a black dot at the eye, and canned or dried ones are available at Indian groceries, import shops and online. Using canned saves the trouble of soaking beans overnight. For the potatoes, waxy types that hold their shape and new potatoes suit this dish.

Tip

Bamboo shoots differ in texture between the tip and the base. Using mainly the base leaves a crisp texture even after simmering. The tips are soft, so slice them thin and add them at the end to keep their shape.

For the chili, a recipe from a British food shop uses the very hot bhut jolokia. For a home kitchen, 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes or chili powder keeps the heat mild. If you like it hot, add more red pepper flakes at the table.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Aloo tama ingredients: potatoes, bamboo shoots in water, black-eyed peas, canned tomatoes, onions and spices

Main ingredients

Spices and seasoning

Tip

Cumin, coriander and turmeric are all easy to find in the spice aisle of a supermarket. Measure the spices before frying and put them together in a small dish, so you can add them all at once without scorching.

Caution

Sichuan pepper and timur have a strong aroma that numbs the tongue even in small amounts. Leave them out if small children will be eating.

How to make aloo tama

Allow about 15 minutes of prep and about 55 minutes of cooking, about 1 hour 10 minutes in all. The parboiling of the potatoes and the frying of the onions take the same time, so working with two pots side by side makes it efficient.

Tip

If the liquid cooks down during simmering and the ingredients poke out, add 50 ml of water at a time to keep it soup-like. Aloo tama is eaten as a soupy dish, so the key is not to make it heavy like a curry.

Serving and how it is eaten in Nepal

A table with aloo tama served with white rice
Ladle plenty of soup into a deep bowl and serve with rice

Serve generously, broth and all, in a deep bowl with white rice or thin flatbread roti. It is satisfying even as a soup on its own. If you picture a Nepali home table, it also pairs well with dal bhat, which lines up lentil soup, rice and side dishes on one plate.

To make a plate reminiscent of a Newar feast, try placing it with a celebration-day dish such as yomari. Taking sour soup between bites refreshes the mouth between rich dishes and sweet ones.

Enjoying variations

Aloo tama with chicken beside aloo tama with only vegetables

Aloo tama can be made without meat, so as is it is a plate of vegetables and beans. If you want to add meat, cut chicken thighs into bite-size pieces and fry them after step 5 before adding the main ingredients, which makes a soup with more body. In that case, make sure the chicken is cooked through to the center.

For the beans, you can make it with chickpeas or boiled soybeans instead of black-eyed peas. Changing the bean changes the texture, so trying whichever beans are easy for you to cook at home is one way to enjoy it. If you increase the bamboo shoots and reduce the potatoes, the sourness and bite come further forward.

Frequently asked questions

Aloo tama being transferred to a storage container to cool

What if I don't have fermented bamboo shoots?

You can make it with bamboo shoots packed in water and add sourness with lemon juice. The ingredient list in this article follows that method. If you find sour pickled bamboo shoots at an Asian grocer or similar, taste them before adding lemon juice and adjust the sourness.

What if I'm using dried black-eyed peas?

Soak them overnight in water, then boil until tender. If you forgot to soak, you can also soak them for a few hours in hot water.

How do I make it less spicy?

Leave out the red pepper flakes and Sichuan pepper, and you get a mild flavor with only the aroma of the spices. If children are eating, make it without them, and let adults add red pepper flakes at the table.

Can I make it ahead?

Cool it slightly and refrigerate promptly, and when reheating, heat it in a pot until the whole thing is thoroughly boiling. Potatoes soak up the soup over time, so adding a little water when reheating brings it back to a soup.

Sources