Aloo Matar (also spelled Aloo Mutter) is an evergreen North Indian Punjabi curry made with potatoes and green peas cooked in an onion tomato masala base. The gravy is light and uses everyday spices like cumin, turmeric, red chilli powder and garam masala. Serve it with roti, paratha or steamed rice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (80 grams or 2 medium-sized) onions (– chopped)
  • 1 cup (150 grams or 2 medium-sized tomatoes (– chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon or 1 inch ginger (– chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon or 3 to 4 small to medium cloves of garlic (– chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons oil (- any neutral oil)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh malai (or 1 tablespoon heavy cream or 1 tablespoon almond or cashew powder, optional)
  • 250 grams (3 medium or 2 large) potatoes (– peeled and diced)
  • 1 cup green peas (– fresh or frozen)
  • 1 generous pinch of asafoetida ((hing), optional)
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder (or cayenne pepper, add as required)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala (or add as required)
  • 1.5 cups water (or add as required)
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (– chopped (cilantro))
  • salt (as required)

Method

Making Masala Paste

  1. Take chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic in a grinder or blender jar.
  2. Without adding any water, grind or blend to a smooth and fine paste.
  3. Keep this finely ground paste aside.

Making Aloo Matar

  1. Heat oil in a pot or a 3 litre stovetop pressure cooker. Keep the heat to a low or medium-low. First crackle the cumin seeds.
  2. Next add the ground onion-tomato paste. Be careful as the paste splutters when you add it to the oil.
  3. Mix and then add the malai (which is a thick layer of cream that is formed on the top of whole milk when it is boiled and later cooled). Swap it with almond powder or cashew powder or heavy cream. You can choose to skip cream altogether.
  4. Sauté the ground paste till the oil separates at the sides. The masala paste will also thicken, become glossy and will come together.
  5. The masala paste splutters initially. So do cover partly with a lid. Once the mixture stops spluttering, then remove the lid and sauté.
  6. Once the paste has been sautéed well, add the asafoetida powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
  7. Mix well and then add the peas and potatoes. Sauté for a minute. Add water and salt according to taste.
  8. Stir well and cover the pot. Simmer till the potatoes and peas are cooked tender for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can alter the consistency of the curry by adding less or more water.
  9. If using a stove-top pressure cooker add 1 cup water and pressure cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium-heat until the potatoes & peas are cooked completely.
  10. If making in the Instant Pot first fry the spices and sauté the onion-tomato paste. Then pressure cook for 5 minutes on high after you add the peas, potatoes, salt and water.
  11. Lastly sprinkle garam masala powder and stir.
  12. Next add chopped coriander leaves.
  13. Stir well and serve Aloo Matar hot or warm with poori, chapati, naan, paratha or steamed rice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.