This Masala Aloo recipe is one of the most popular posts on my blog, bringing in millions of visitors over the years. It is also one of my favourite ways to cook potatoes. Try this super simple recipe and you will LOVE how it turns out.
[Post originally published on 29 Nov 2012 / rewritten and published in 2018]
I’d first seen this Masala Aloo recipe in a cookery show, Khana Khazana, one of the longest running cooking shows in India by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. What I remember about this one was that he was cooking authentic Punjabi dishes with his mum.
What stood out in this recipe was one unique technique which I had never tried or seen before. To know what that is, you will have to go read through the entire post ????
Potatoes, who doesn’t love them? It is the absolute basic ingredient across cuisines in the world. It is one of the first dishes I learnt to cook. You might think it is utterly impossible to mess up a potato dish. But, a look at cooking reality shows like Masterchef Australia and you realise how much thought and skill goes into making a simple dish like mashed potatoes.
Potatoes are the sponges of the culinary world. They absorb most flavours beautifully, go with any vegetable most amicably and you need to work really hard to make a potato taste BAD!
I think the make or break in most potato dishes is seasoning. They need adequate salt to taste good, or it’s just a bland boiled chunk of a starchy vegetable.
This Masala Aloo recipe can be nailed by any beginner cook. All you need is to manage to cook the potatoes well in their skins.
Pressure cooker (or Instant Pot) works best here, but if you have a phobia to my favourite implement in the kitchen, you need some patience to boil the potatoes whole, in their skins, until they are well cooked right till the middle and then proceed with the recipe [Details on cooking potatoes in pressure cooker and pot given at the end of the post in recipe notes]
You could get more adventurous with this recipe using more spices like amchoor (dried mango powder) or crushed dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) but before you go raid the spice aisle, try making this Masala Aloo Recipe with the basic spices. I can promise you will be wowed!
For my readers from outside India, if you are new to Indian cooking, and you want to try a simple curry recipe, this Masala Aloo recipe is the perfect one for you. Few ingredients, simple technique and superb results 🙂
Potato curry was one of the first things I cooked as a 10 year old girl. My grand mom would keep boiled potatoes ready and I would make a simple potato roast.
Look at the beautiful spice crust
9 Easy Delicious Potato Recipes from Indian Cuisine
- Recipe for Egg and Potato Curry
- Recipe for Tilwale Aloo | Potato curry in sesame sauce
- Smashed Potato & Black Eyed Peas Curry – Aloo ki Thechwani
- Potato and Spinach Rice – Aloo Palak Biryani
- Saag Aloo Recipe – Potatoes with greens
- My Everyday Curry ready in 20 minutes
- Aloo Paneer Tikki – Potato Paneer Croquettes
- Aloo Paratha – Potato Stuffed Flatbread
- Aloo Palda – Potato recipe from the mountains of Himachal
The secret to absolutely delicious Masala Aloo
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Post originally published on 29 Nov 2012 / rewritten and published in 2018
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Great tip! I’ll try this recipe very soon. Potato sabji is always a winner at home.
But Potatoes develop a nice crunch even without the rice flour, no?I am going to try the salt tip for sure. Would it work in general for all our usual stir frys?
Forgive me for this extremely beginner’s question (Very reluctant cook here), but rice flour is not maida, is it? I just look for a packet called rice flour in the store?
Hi Sathy No its not maida – it should be available as rice flour. Welcome to cooking. I remember back when i was in the same boat! you’ll grow to love it!
Great recipe, great post! Just the kind of dish I would like to make with rice and dal on a weekend…congrats on your first appearance on television!
Ummm, that spice flavour combo sounds heavenly. The crust…. ummm. Here in the Caribbean when we make this, we actually cook the potatoes with the masala – no water. Once everything is “fried up” the heat is turned low and the pan covered so the potatoes can cook through and absorb more of the flavor.
That is so tempting and am drooling here!!!SowmyaOngoing Event – CWF – Whole Wheat FlourOngoing Event – Let’s Party – Eggless Bakes and Treats
Bookmarked. will try for sure 🙂
Do let me know how this turns out for you, Chitra.
Cynthia, so happy to hear your comments. Yes, putting the potatoes in raw is a technique used here too, but using boiled potatoes makes this extremely quick for us, as most indian homes use pressure cooker everyday with separators to cook dal, rice and vegetables together.
Thanks Suma!
Like Deepa has already replied to you, rice flour is ground rice, easily available as RICE FLOUR in all supermarkets. It is very useful to thicken sambars and other gravies and also for a variety of snacks.
That is true, but adding rice flour hastens the process and you dont need as much oil for this. Try it sometime.
like i said, who in their right minds doesn’t like potato curry 🙂
i could hold your hand and weep, and sob my gratitude-filled thanks.the dish turned out fantastic, and as of this morning, i have wiped out the general opinion that i am a bit of a “potato-duh”ma famille, well, they thought i could only fry the potatoes.to them today i can say, “pip pip” i can pressure cook too:-)
Its was amazing. Thanks for sharing this. It became hit with my inlaws. :)www.mayanchocolatz.blogspot.com
Hello! So glad to hear that this was of use to you! See you around 🙂
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Nandita, I made this dish twice in one week on popular demand by my two boys at home 🙂 Only changes to the recipe was I added curry leaves to the tadka and left out coriander leaves. It turned out fantastic and I will be making some more with few tweaks to thespice powders. Thank you for posting this lovely recipe 🙂
I tried one of ur tips, adding the salt while frying, and used it in a achaari aloo i made recently and it did make a difference. Thanks for those tips.
Amazing recipe my wife just loved it.. Its a super hit
Lovely post nandita. I normally use the rice flour method for the Arbi Fry that I don`t regularly make and It does a great job of providing an amazing crust not to mention the oil free Calphalon sear pan that I use! The Aloo Masala click is a killer.You always always have a winner in them! Happy New Year to you and your family. My sister loves to cook off your blog!!!Shobha
Hi Nandita. I tried this recipe this afternoon and it was an instant winner, just like the 2 noodles minute-Maggi that ad moms make! I didn’t have rice flour so I subbed gunpowder (menthyadahittu in kannada) instead. What I thought might be a disaster turned out great! Thanks for such a quick, versatile and super delicious recipe, my very happy tummy owes you. 🙂
Hello Nandita, I tried your Masala Aloo yesterday and it was an instant succes with my family! Great combination of spices and wonderful crunchy crust. Will make it for guests soon. Greetings from the sunny Caribbean!
Get ready to make your delicious recipe by entering natural and organic indian spices that is available online at Tradus with affordable price from the market. For more visit at http://www.tradus.com/spices-masala-whole/t/12365
Lovely post Nandita. A small question. Do I need to close the container with the potatoes with a lid or keep it open when cooking in a pressure cooker?
If you using the pressure cooker pot as a normal pot (no lid and cap on), you dont need to cover it… But if you want to pressure cook the potatoes i.e using the lid with the cap on, then please do not open the lid or cap until it has cooled down completely once removed from the heat. You don’t want to burn yourself with the steam. It’s dangerous!
Thanks for sharing. potato powder is the best for giving differnt taste to your food. use potato powder in your cooking and make your food delicious,http://www.potatopowder.org/index.html
Best Recipe. I loved it. Thanks for sharing the wonderful recipe with us. Spices Online
Potatoes were my first dish too 🙂 oddly enough when I was a tenner too. lovely recipe 🙂
Looks delicious, I’m going to make it. Very nice blog!
Nandita, this recipe is Amazing! Made it just now and it turned out awesome. So easy yet a crowd pleaser, this is definitely going to be my go to recipe for parties. Thanks so much!
It was Holi on sunday and I was busy making Vada in the kitchen along with other savory and sweet treats. I said to myself, I have not made samosa for a while now. While I was in the process of getting ingredients ready this recipe of yours clicked into my mind. And I must say the crispy potatoes as the filling in the samosa was an added bonus!
It turned out well!.. Never thought adding rice flour to the potatoes would make them crispy!
I love Aloo recipe..thanks for sharing aloo recipe it looks so delicious
Loved it. Your secret ingredient was a game changer. Salt in oil was a good tip. I add salt to browning onions to quicken the process while making gravies and then add red chili powder n a little water to have that glorious color to the gravy. Always a pleasure to learn a new trick. Thanks for this.
glad you liked it!
Thanks for this! Interesting twist to the regular methods I am used to. I was however concerned that the masala would burn even though it was over the slightest of flame so splashed bits of water in it. In the end I added lemon juice and amchur powder to add sourness and moistness to the dish.
That’s great 🙂 thanks for trying and letting me know!
Hi Nandita, from a safety point of view, not using water in a pressure cooker (especially aluminium ones) weakens the walls of cooker, making it prone to explosion.
I think you got me wrong. I am in no way advocating pressure cooking without water. The pressure cooker has enough water in it, all i’ve said is not to keep water in the vessel inside in which the potatoes are kept so that it doesn’t turn soggy.
This is delicious! I reduced the amount of coriander powder as it seemed like too much in relation to the potatoes. Is it really 2 Tablespoons, not 2 teaspoons? Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
Coriander powder is quite mild, and it is also used to make a crust around the potatoes, so yes two tablespoons will be fine. reduce to 1.5 tbsp if you think it will be too strong for you 🙂
Superb, I love potatoes and I try out all most all potato recipes I come across…