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    Home » 30 min meals

    Published: Apr 4, 2020 · Modified: Nov 20, 2022 by Wajiha · This post may contain affiliate links ·

    Aloo ki Tarkari – Potato Curry

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Sunday Brunch is a thing. Aloo ki tarkari for that Brunch is also a thing. Trying to up your aloo ki tarkari game to restaurant level is also a thing. ME rambling on about my love for this tarkari…is also a LEGIT thing!

    It’s definitely part of a very traditional Pakistani / Indian breakfast buffet with much traditional vegetarian food. Brown people call it, “Halwa puri ka nashta” meaning “semolina pudding and fried bread breakfast” but it has this potato curry, along with a chickpea curry that goes with it too.

    What do you pair aloo ki tarkari with?

    • Suji ka halwa and puri
    • Rice Kheer and Puri
    • Cholay ka saalan and puri
    • With a simple paratha / naan….(drooling while typing this)
    • With some serious BBQ options like Chicken tikka
    • As a side with mains like Dam ka keema.
    • with bread…when there’s some left over from last night
    an Indian / Pakistani breakfast buffet with aloo ki tarkari, cholay ka saaan, puri and sooji ka halwa
    Traditional Pakistani / Indian brunch buffet

    How to make Aloo ki tarkari in 4 easy steps

    Step 1 – Chopping the ingredients.

    No matter what level you are on your culinary skills journey, this is a recipe you can DEFINITELY make! This is an overview of the ingredients you will needs for the recipe.

    What important to note here is the size of the chopped potatoes. The cubes that I cut are small. Roughly about 1 cm in size. This is ideal for the tarkari that we are trying to create.

    ingredients laid out in bowls, cut up potaotes, tomatoes, oil, powder and whole spices.
    Ingredients for Aloo ki tarkari

    Step 2 – Caramelizing the onions and dry spices.

    The dry or whole spice mix in this recipe includes mostly seeds like cumin, fennel, nigella, mustard and carom. They are almost crucial to get that amazing aroma and subtle taste that comes with them. I would not in a MILLION years tell you that you can skip it. (BUT if you don’t have these, I mean … you can..but knoww! that the it’ll effect the taste.)

    Fry the onions along with these dry spices. The onion doesn’t need to go to a dark brown color,( like when we use in chicken ka saalan.) Just a light golden brown color is good enough.

    chopped onions and whole spices in oil in a black pan
    chopped onions turned golden brown in oil in a black pan with a wooden spoon in it

    Step 3 – Adding tomatoes and spices

    Then you add tomatoes, garlic ginger paste and all the powdered spices. Once you mix everything up, cover the lid of the pot and reduce the flame to low. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

    Tomatoes release water at lower temperatures. So its important to reduce the flame, to allow tomatoes to soften up and form a nice curry base.

    Give it roughly 5 to 8 mins. And it’ll look something like the picture below.

    tomatoes added in a pot of golden brown onions, with a wooden spoon on top
    a thick tomato curry based ready in a black pot

    Step 4 – Adding potatoes and water.

    When you have your curry base, its Finally time to add potatoes and water. Leave it at medium flame for 15 to 20 mins covered.

    raw potatoes added in a curry base in a black pan

    These potatoes are generally made softer than regular potato curries. In another words, they are slightly overcooked. So in 15 to 20 mins, the water will reduce by 75% and the potatoes will becomes super tender.

    raw potaotes in a watery curry in a black pan

    What happens is, when the water reduces over time, the smaller potato pieces turn into a soft mush and give the gravy a nice thick feel to it. Some people and restaurants add cornflour to their potato curries to give that thick gravy feel. But honestly, for me, cornflour in my aloo ki tarkari is a big no no. It effects the taste, texture and flavors as well.

    After 15 mins or so, you will get a perfectly made aloo ki tarkari, and you’ll see the oil separating on the side to know that.

    cooked down potatoes in a tomato gravy

    Serve with halwa puri or paratha….or you know all the different options we talked about above!

    side view of aloo ki tarkari

    Alternates, Fixes and Remixes

    Alternates

    INGREDIENTSSUBSTITUTES
    Tomatoes1 cup of canned tomatoes
    OR 1/3 cup of tomato paste
    Ginger Garlic pasteFreshly chopped garlic and ginger.
    4 cloves of garlic and 1 inch piece of ginger.
    (Add it when browning the onions)

    Fixes

    • You can reduce the red chili powder if you want your potatoes to be less spicy.
    • For a more reddish hue of the tarkari, add 1/2 tsp of kashmiri lal mirch
    • If you want your tarkari to be MORE spicy, AFTER your dish is ready, add paprika powder or crushed red chili powder.

    Remixes

    • You can add 1/2 cup of boiled chickpeas in this recipe to make aloo channey.
    • If you have left over aloo ki tarkari, you can dry it out at high flame and make aloo samosas.

    More vegetarian Recipes here:

    • aloo bhujia potato fry served in a dish.
      Crispy Aloo Bhujia fry
    • featured image.
      Palak Raita – Spinach Yogurt Dip
    • Tomato Chutney – Hyderabadi style
    side view of aloo ki tarkari

    Aloo ki tarkari

    A popular Indian / Pakistani potato curry, commonly eaten with Suji ka halwa (semolina pudding) and puri (fried flat breads) for breakfast.
    4.72 from 14 votes
    Print Pin
    Course: VEGETARIAN RECIPES
    Cuisine: South Asian
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 5 servings
    Calories: 284kcal
    Author: Wajiha

    Ingredients

    • 4 medium potatoes diced into small cubes
    • 1 medium onion finely chopped
    • 1 tsp garlic ginger paste
    • 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
    • 1/2 tsp red chili powder
    • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder haldi
    • 2 medium tomatoes chopped
    • 1 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
    • 2 cups water or as needed
    • 1/3 cup oil

    Dry spices

    • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds zeera
    • 1/2 tsp nigella seeds kalongi
    • 1/4 tsp mustard seeds rye
    • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds saunf
    • 1/4 tsp carom seeds ajwain

    Instructions

    • In a pot or pan, add oil, onion and all dry spices and heat at medium flame until the onions become light brown.
    • Then add all the other spices, salt and tomatoes. Reduce the flame to medium low and cover the pot. Allow tomatoes to soften up for 5 mins.
    • Once the tomatoes soften up, add potatoes along with 2 cups of water.
    • Cover the pot once more and let the potatoes simmer for 15 mins at medium low flame.
    • The potatoes in this curry are super soft, and over cooked. The overcooking causes some of the fine potato pieces to become mushy and give this dish a thick curry base.
    • Once you reach the desired consistency, turn off the flame and serve with parathas, or halwa puri (fried flatbread)

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1gCalories: 284kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 4gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 14gSodium: 744mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4g
    Can’t wait to see your remakes! Tag meon IG with your pictures @butteroverbae
    « Sooji ka Halwa (Semolina Pudding)
    How to make crispy fried onions and store them »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Emily says

      July 20, 2023 at 1:52 am

      deeeelicious, but, it took me 1 hour to soften my potato! it was diced very small and peeled. Is there a specific type of potato that I should have used?

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        August 24, 2023 at 9:11 am

        hey Emily, Ive made this recipe from a couple of different type of potatoes but they usually soften up within 30 mins. IF you are using harder potatoes, you can pressure cook them instead to reduce your cooking time. Out of curiosity, what potatoes were you using?

        Reply
    2. Afzal says

      September 07, 2021 at 1:03 am

      This has been our go-to aaloo ki tarkari recipe for more than a year now. I just have one question.

      When does the ginger garlic paste get added? We sometimes add it when frying the onion but not sure when it’s actually intended to be added.

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        September 08, 2021 at 9:12 am

        You can add it once your onions have become slightly pinkish golden. Thats the perfect time to add your gg paste

        Reply
    3. Habiba says

      August 23, 2020 at 1:12 am

      I made it last weekend, I can say this is the best aloo dish I’ve made! Very tasty, filling and wholesome! Will make this again!

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        August 23, 2020 at 8:24 pm

        aww Habiba! that is sooo good to hear! thankyou for taking your time out to leave this lovely msg for me.

        Reply
    4. safa says

      April 12, 2020 at 3:14 pm

      I loved the recipe. So easy to make and i paired it with Halwa poori. And taste soo good , lots of love ????????

      Reply
    5. F&F: Ammi's Kitchen says

      April 10, 2020 at 9:12 pm

      YUM! Looks very delicious

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        April 14, 2020 at 3:32 pm

        🙂 it really is a brunch fav! thx man

        Reply
    4.72 from 14 votes (13 ratings without comment)

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