Aloo Matar (Potatoes & Peas Curry in Gravy Style)- Recipe- Step by Step

Aloo matar (Aloo: potato, matar: green peas) was one of the first gravies I learnt when I was just starting off and exploring the world of cooking. This is an incredibly delicious dish, and today’s recipe houses Aloo and Matar cooked with spices in an unbelievably silky, smooth, tomato-onion-cashew gravy. Cashew nuts give the gravy its richness and volume. Tomatoes and onions form the base of most of the gravy-style dishes and one can make a big batch of tomato-onion gravy/paste and store it for days together in the refrigerator- this is very versatile and can be used in sauces/gravies or simply as a side dish for idlis, dosas, chapatis, puris, etc.

For curries on a day-to-day basis, using a tomato-onion paste would be more than sufficient. Adding cashews will really give your dish that restaurant style feel and taste. This recipe is sure to impress guests, including kids, especially if you are making it on special occasions. You could also turn this into a mixed vegetable curry by adding additional veggies of your choice! You will be amazed at how the taste changes with different veggies and the kind of masalas you use.

Aloo Matar sides well with rotis, naans, kulcha, hot steamed basmati rice, jeera rice, curd rice, pulao- the list is endless! Read on for the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Potatoes/Aloo- 4 to 5, medium sized
2. Fresh Green Peas- 1/2 cup
3. Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli paste- 2 tsp
4. Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
5. Red Chilli powder (Kashmiri variety)- 1 tsp
6. Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
7. Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
8. Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp
9. Oil- 1 tbsp
10. Salt- to taste
11. Fresh Coriander- chopped, to garnish
12. Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek leaves)- about a tsp, crushed, to garnish

For the gravy base

1. Oil- 1 tsp
2. Tomatoes- 1 or 2 large, roughly chopped
3. Onion- 1 large, roughly chopped
4. Cashew nuts- 5 to 6, broken
5. Salt- 1/2 tsp
6. Sugar- 1/2 tsp

Method

• Wash the potatoes well in water. Then, chop them roughly into big cubes.
• Take half a cup of fresh green peas, and pressure cook with the chopped potatoes and some water (enough to cover the veggies) for 2 whistles.
• Once the pressure releases, drain them in a colander and let them cool down. Save the stock for later use.
• Then, peel the potatoes and chop them into smaller cubes.

To make the gravy/sauce

• In a pan on medium flame, add a teaspoon of oil. Once it is hot, throw in some roughly chopped onions.
• Sauté until they are slightly brown on the sides.

• Then, add your chopped tomatoes, followed by some salt and sugar.
• Cook until the tomatoes become slightly mushy.
• Then, add the broken cashews.
• Fry for a couple of minutes. Switch off and cool it down.
• Grind to a smooth paste with some water in a blender.

The Aloo Matar curry

• In a wide pan, heat some oil. Once hot, add a teaspoon of cumin and let them splutter.
• Then, add your ginger garlic-green-chilli paste and sauté for a minute. Let the raw smell disappear.
• Add your cooked potatoes and green peas and saute for a minute.

• Add all spices one by one- turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and some salt. Mix well and cover with a lid.
• Let the veggies absorb all the spices for a minute. Then, add in your prepared ground paste.
• Sauté well. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. The veggies and the gravy will blend in well with the spices. Check for any extra salt and add at this point.

• Add water and the vegetable stock, so it reaches a nice smooth gravy consistency. Turn your flame down to low. Let it boil for a minute or two.
• Lastly, garnish with some chopped fresh coriander leaves. I also crushed some kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) in my palms and added it to the gravy.
• Give this one last mix, and switch off.

Serve hot with any flatbread of your choice! 😀

As you may have seen in the previous post, I served this with some utterly delicious, Tawa Butter naans! 🙂

SIDE NOTES

• You could also use soaked almonds for this recipe. Simply soak them in boiling hot water, get rid of the outer skin and use.
• I used farm/Bangalore tomatoes for this recipe. If you have the local variety, then reduce the number by half as they have an inherent sour taste. I remember not knowing this back when I was a beginner. So, I ended up with a really sour gravy.
• For the Ginger-Garlic-Green Chilli paste, I simply ground 1/2 an inch piece of ginger, 4 pods of garlic and 3 green chillies to a coarse paste. In my opinion, the flavours are better enhanced when they are cooked in oil separately, instead of adding them as part of the base sauce.

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