Dry Aloo Matar recipe

Dry aloo matar is a very easy vegan and gluten-free recipe from India. Made with potatoes and green peas, this delicious dish gets ready in less than 30 minutes. If you like Indian food and want to learn Indian cooking, start with this simple dish.

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Indian cuisine has an impressive variety of dishes made with vegetables. Vegetables are cooked in so many different ways that you cannot exhaust these recipes even after trying one new recipe in every single meal for an entire year.

Dal-chawal (lentil and rice) and roti-sabzi (roti and a vegetable dish) are the staple diet for most of the Indians.

The vegetables are generally cooked in two different ways – dry and with gravy.

I have already shared a lot of Indian vegetable recipes on my blog which you can check below:

Dry Sabzi (Vegetable) recipes

1. Aloo methi (vegan)
2. Baingan bharta (vegan)
3. Kerala style pepper mushroom (vegan)
4. Aloo gobhi (vegan)
5. Aloo baingan
6. Bhindi masala (vegan)

Vegetables with gravy

1. Matar mushroom (vegan)
2. Lauki ke kofte (vegan)
3. Palak Paneer  (Vegetarian)

Today I am sharing another very simple yet delicious and popular vegetable dish – dry aloo matar. Though it can be enjoyed at any time of the year, it tastes best when made with fresh green peas during winter.

Serve it with crispy paratha (Indian flatbread) and a cup of  Indian ginger tea on a cold morning. Nothing could be more satisfying.

What is Aloo Matar

Aloo is the Hindi word for potato and matar for green peas. So Aloo matar is an Indian dish made with potatoes and green peas.

This potatoes and peas dish is eaten both in dry form and with gravy. Today, I am sharing the recipe of dry aloo matar.

As a kid, I loved carrying dry aloo matar with Paratha (Indian fried flatbread) in my lunch box to school. In India, even the fussiest eater kid relishes this dish.

I remember when I was just a toddler there was a TV commercial of some cooking oil in which a mother used to ask her daughter what special she wants to eat on Sunday and the daughter's reply was, ”Aloo Matar aur dher sari pooriyan (Aloo Matar and lots of Indian fried bread ”).

My sister and I used to love that advertisement so during those years we always gave the same reply to our mother whenever she asked us what special we want to eat  – Aloo matar aur dher sari pooriyan 🙂.

If you have boiled potatoes in your fridge, this dish gets ready under 30 minutes.

Ingredients required and substitute suggestions

This simple Indian recipe needs just the following basic ingredients:

1. Boiled potatoes: You can also use raw potatoes. Cut them into small cubes and add after onion. Add peas only once the potatoes are half cooked. You can add around 1/4 cup water to cook potatoes.
2. Green peas: Fresh/ frozen
3. Red onion: Any other type of onion is fine too
4. Garlic
5. Ginger
6. Green chili peppers
7. Fresh coriander leaves (for garnishing)
8. Cumin seeds
9. Dried mango powder (amchoor powder): As a substitute, squeeze some fresh lime juice once aloo matar is cooked.
10. Coriander powder
11. Turmeric powder
12. Red chili powder
13. Salt

You can also use other spices of your choice like kasoori methi, cumin powder, or a pinch of garam masala.

How to make it

Making aloo matar is very simple. If you already have boiled potatoes in your kitchen the process becomes simpler. 

It involves only the following main steps:

1. Prepare a base of ginger, garlic, and onion: Heat oil and add cumin seeds. Add ginger, garlic, and cook until the raw smell goes away. Add onion and saute until it turns translucent.
2. Cook peas with spices: When the onion is done, add green peas, chilies, salt, and powdered spices except for dried mango powder. Saute for about a minute then add some water and cover the pan. Let the peas get cooked.
3. Adding potatoes: When the peas are cooked, add boiled potatoes, mango powder, mix, and cover the pan. Cook for around 2 minutes. Switch off the gas. If using lime juice, squeeze after switching off the gas.
4. Garnishing: Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves. 

How to serve

This dish can be eaten at any time of the day and is generally served with Indian bread like roti, paratha, puri.

You can also serve it as a side dish with rice and dal.

Use the leftover aloo matar as stuffing in grilled sandwiches, it tastes delicious. Or, you can use it to fill your vegan rolls too.

How to store

Cooked potatoes go bad quickly so I won't recommend storing it for long. Store the leftover in an airtight container and put in the fridge. Consume it within 2 days of cooking. 

Though in India, the concept of freezing cooked food is not very popular and people generally eat freshly cooked food (within 24 hours of cooking), if you want you can store this dish in the freezer for 2-3 months. 

Tips & Tricks

1. You can also make aloo matar with gravy if you prefer. For that, add 1 large tomato-finely chopped, once the onion is cooked. Cook tomatoes until they turn mushy. Then add peas, potato, spices, chili, salt, and saute for about a minute. Add water and cook until peas are cooked nicely. You can skip lime juice and dried mango powder if adding tomatoes.
2. If you don't have boiled potatoes, just use the raw potato cubes. Add them once the onion is cooked and saute until the potatoes are almost cooked before adding green peas and spices. The remaining process will be the same.

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Step by step photo instructions