После прогулки мне захотелось простой горячей картошки.

After the walk, I felt like having simple hot potatoes.

Breakdown of После прогулки мне захотелось простой горячей картошки.

• мне: me
• прогулка: the walk
• после: after
• горячий: hot

Questions & Answers about После прогулки мне захотелось простой горячей картошки.

Why is прогулки in the form прогулки and not прогулка?

Because после always takes the genitive case.

• прогулка = nominative
• после прогулки = after the walk / after a walk

So this is just a case change required by the preposition после.

A useful pattern:

• после урока = after the lesson
• после работы = after work
• после прогулки = after the walk / after a walk

Russian also has no articles, so после прогулки can mean either after the walk or after a walk, depending on context.

Why is it мне захотелось instead of я захотел?

This is a very common Russian way to talk about a feeling or desire that comes over someone.

• мне is dative
• захотелось is an impersonal verb form

So the structure is roughly:

• мне захотелось X = I felt like X / I suddenly wanted X

Literally, it is closer to to me, it became desirable than to I wanted.

This construction often sounds more natural when talking about cravings, moods, or spontaneous wishes:

• Мне захотелось спать. = I suddenly felt sleepy / I felt like sleeping.
• Мне захотелось чаю. = I felt like some tea.