Potato Curry (also called Aloo Curry) is a flavorful North Indian curry made with potatoes cooked in a sautéed onion-tomato masala with herbs and spices. This easy one-pot recipe comes together quickly and pairs well with rice, roti or paratha. It is naturally vegan and gluten-free.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 4 medium-sized or (280 grams) potatoes (- rinsed, peeled and chopped)
  • ½ cup or (60 grams) onions (- chopped)
  • 1 cup tightly packed or (160 grams) tomatoes (- chopped)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic (- finely chopped)
  • 3 tablespoons oil (- any neutral oil, you can also add 2 tablespoons oil)
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder ((ground turmeric))
  • 1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder (or ½ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper)
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder ((ground coriander))
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder ((ground cumin), optional)
  • 2 cups water (or add as needed)
  • ¼ cup coriander leaves (- chopped (cilantro))
  • salt (as required)

Method

Sautéing Onions & Tomatoes

  1. Heat oil in a pan or wok or kadai. You can use any neutral flavored oil. My personal preference is to use peanut oil for this recipe.
  2. Add finely chopped garlic and sauté for a few seconds. No need to brown garlic.
  3. Next add chopped onions. Keep on stirring in intervals and sauté on medium-low or medium heat until they turn translucent and are softened.
  4. Next add the chopped tomatoes and mix very well.
  5. Cover the pan with its lid and simmer on a low or medium-low heat till the tomatoes soften and become mushy. Do check a couple of times when the tomatoes are cooking.
  6. When the tomatoes have softened nicely and turned mushy lower the heat. Add turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and cumin powder (optional).
  7. Mix the ground spice powders thoroughly with the onion-tomato mixture.

Adding Potatoes

  1. Next add diced potatoes. Season with salt as required. Mix very well.
  2. Pour 2 cups water and mix again.

Cooking Potato Curry

  1. Cover the pan with its lid and simmer on a medium to medium-high heat until the potatoes are cooked well.
  2. The potatoes may take about 15 to 20 minutes to cook and become fork tender depending on their quality and the size of the diced cubes.
  3. Do check a couple of times when the curry is simmering.
  4. The curry will thicken slightly by the time the potatoes are done.
  5. You can adjust the consistency of the curry as per your needs. Example if you want to serve this potato curry with rice then you can add a bit more water and let the curry be slightly thin in consistency. In case you are planing to have it with roti or plain paratha, then you can add less water and make the curry consistency more thick.
  6. Once you get the desired consistency in the curry and the potatoes are fork tender, turn off the heat and add chopped coriander leaves. Mix very well.
  7. Serve this simple basic Indian Potato Curry hot or warm with your preferred side dish. Garnish with some coriander leaves if you prefer.

Serving Suggestions

  1. Indian breads: Roti, paratha, poori pair nicely with this potato curry.
  2. Rice: Steamed white rice or jeera rice also tastes good with aloo curry.
  3. Baked breads: Any good loaf of white bread or whole grain bread pairs well with potato curry. You can also serve it with dinner rolls.

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.