Restaurant style aloo matar is easier to create at home than you think! This simple recipe will give you step by step instructions to recreate the restaurant-like magic at home!
My today’s recipe is humble aloo matar which has gained its place in all restaurant’s menu since time immemorial and for quite right reasons too. Aloo matar is a comfort food and suits to almost everyone’s taste buds. Have you ever come across any Indian who is not fond of aloo i.e. potatoes? I haven’t! The soft flavorful cubes of potatoes accompanied with tiny bright green balls of green peas is a match made in heaven. Potatoes being the absolute sucker for spices and flavors, this recipe of aloo matar can beat any other restaurant delicacy at any given day!
If you are not familiar with Indian cuisine, then allow me to decode the dish for you – aloo means potato and matar means green peas. Essentially aloo matar is an Indian vegetarian curry with a creamy and delicious gravy which makes every scoop of roti or paratha or rice simply mind-blowing. Potato being a natural thickener, the gravy of aloo matar turns quite silky and smooth without much use of cream hence making it much lighter than other restaurant style Indian curries. Make this aloo matar for your dinner tonight and witness the lightened-up faces of your family which is the unmatched reward anyone can ever get!
Last month when I was away from home on a business trip for one and a half month, I badly craved for home food. Being a foodie, I can adapt to any kind of cuisine; but no matter what, your soul will crave for your home-style comfort food after a while. At that very moment, this easy aloo matar recipe came to my rescue. I made this in my service apartment’s tiny kitchen and devoured it to my heart’s content. The best part of this recipe is that you will need few very basic ingredients to create this delicious aloo matar at home – nothing fancy yet very tasty. If you know me, I am always for easy recipes which can fit into my hectic weeknight meals and those lavish ones are saved for special occasions!
Matar or green peas seems like little pieces of jewels which compliments any dish and makes it extravagant. They are not only great with this aloo matar, but also with my scrumptious matar paneer. I would always recommend you to keep a bag of frozen peas handy when green peas are not in season and you can perk up any boring dish with the addition of these green little diamonds. But always go for the fresh ones when they are in season as there is nothing like fresh veggies! With that note, I will leave you for the day with my recipe of restaurant style aloo matar to recreate and relish at the comfort of your home!
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- Potato/aloo – 7 to 8, medium (about half a kilo)
- Green peas/matar – 1 cup, fresh
- Mustard/vegetable oil – 4 tbsp
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Hing/asafetida – ¼ tsp
- Onion – 1, large, chopped roughly
- Ginger – 2 inch piece, peeled and chopped roughly
- Garlic – 6 to 8 cloves, peeled
- Green chili – 2 to 3, chopped
- Fresh tomato puree – 1 cup (If using store-bought, use only ½ cup)
- Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
- Red chili powder – 2 tsp
- Coriander powder – 2 tsp
- Sugar – 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Fresh cooking cream – ¼ cup
- Freshly chopped coriander leaves – 1 cup
- Peel and cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Keep them in cold water to prevent them from turning black. Once all the potatoes are cut and ready, cook them in salted boiling water for 6 to 8 minutes until half cooked. Drain and set them aside.
- Cook the fresh green peas in salted boiling water for 10 minutes until ¾th cooked. Drain and set them aside.
- Add chopped onion, ginger, garlic cloves and green chilies to a grinder and grind them to make a smooth paste.
- Heat the oil in a kadai /wok. Once hot, temper the oil with cumin seeds and hing/asafoetida. Sauté for few seconds until they become fragrant.
- Next add the onion-ginger-garlic-green chili paste to the kadai/wok. Sauté them until the paste turns golden brown, about 5-6 minutes on medium heat.
- Pour the tomato puree and cook it for 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and any raw smell of tomato is gone.
- Now add all the spices – turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder – and salt and sugar. Stir and sauté the spices on high until oil starts to separate from them.
- Now add about 1 & ½ cups to 2 cups of water and bring it to boil. Add fresh cream and mix well.
- Next add the parboiled potatoes and green peas. Stir everything thoroughly to distribute all veggies evenly.
- Cover and let the potatoes and peas simmer in the spices for about 10-15 minutes on low heat.
- Uncover and check the doneness of the potatoes. Check and adjust seasoning if needed. Boil off any excess water and bring the gravy to your desired consistency.
- Finally sprinkle freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve warm aloo matar with roti, rice or paratha. Enjoy!
My fav with puri.
Aloo Matar