Aloo Matar
Potatoes simmered in a tomato masala until the gravy clings, with peas thrown in late so they stay green and sweet.
- Prep
- 15m
- Cook
- 30m
- Total
- 45m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 3 tbsp | Bloom the whole spices in hot oil until the cumin darkens 2m | Cook the onion and tomato down until the oil separates at the edges 15m Wait for the split. It is the difference between a sauce and a masala. | Simmer the potatoes in the masala until a knife meets no resistance 18m Lid on, low heat. They should absorb the masala, not boil in water alongside it. | Add the peas and simmer uncovered until the gravy coats the potato rather than pooling round it 10m Peas need 6 minutes at most. Longer and they turn khaki and floury. | |
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1/4 tsp | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 1 | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 2 tsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 500 g | |||||
| 1 1/2 cups | |||||
| 1 1/2 cups | |||||
| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| a handful | |||||
-
Bloom the whole spices in hot oil until the cumin darkens
2m- neutral oil 3 tbsp
- cumin seeds 1 tsp
- asafoetida 1/4 tsp
- bay leaf 1
-
Cook the onion and tomato down until the oil separates at the edges
15m- from 1 Bloom the whole spices in hot oil until the cumin darkens
- onion 1
- ginger and garlic paste 1 tbsp
- tomatoes 3
- ground turmeric 1/2 tsp
- ground coriander 2 tsp
- red chilli powder 1 tsp
- salt 1 1/2 tsp
Wait for the split. It is the difference between a sauce and a masala.
-
Simmer the potatoes in the masala until a knife meets no resistance
18m- from 2 Cook the onion and tomato down until the oil separates at the edges
- waxy potatoes 500 g
- hot water 1 1/2 cups
Lid on, low heat. They should absorb the masala, not boil in water alongside it.
-
Add the peas and simmer uncovered until the gravy coats the potato rather than pooling round it
10m- from 3 Simmer the potatoes in the masala until a knife meets no resistance
- frozen peas 1 1/2 cups
- garam masala 1/2 tsp
- coriander leaves a handful
Peas need 6 minutes at most. Longer and they turn khaki and floury.
Why the water has to be hot
Adding cold water to a masala that has just split drops the pan temperature by thirty or forty degrees and stalls everything — the potatoes sit in tepid liquid while it climbs back, and the surface starch leaches out and clouds the gravy. Boiling water keeps the simmer unbroken. The potatoes themselves should be waxy rather than floury; low-starch varieties hold their shape through twenty minutes in liquid, where a baking potato disintegrates and thickens the gravy into wallpaper paste.
Notes
- One or two potatoes crushed against the pan will thicken the gravy without any flour.
- Garam masala at the end, not the beginning. Its aromatics are volatile and boil away in minutes.
- Frozen peas are genuinely better than most fresh ones here — they are blanched within hours of picking.