Aloo Matar | Aloo Mutter
Aloo mutter orAloo matar is a vegetarian North Indian dish – typical of Punjabi cuisine -made from potatoes (Aloo) and green peas (Matar). The dish is a simple curry consisting of fresh or frozen potatoes and green peas in a sauce cooked with fresh tomatoes, pureed garlic, onion, cilantro, cumin seeds, red chili, and other spices. It can also be made without onion or garlic, making it vegan.
Ingredients
For Grinding or Blending
½ Cup Chopped Onions or 80 Grams or 2 Medium-sized onion
1 Cup chopped tomatoes or 150 grams or 2 medium to large tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped ginger or 1 inch ginger.
1 teaspoon chopped garlic or 3 to 4 small to medium garlic.
Other Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil – any neutral oil
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon Ghee or Butter.
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh malai or 1 tablespoon heavy cream or 1 tablespoon almond or cashew powder (optional)
250 grams potatoes or 3 medium or 2 large potatoes – peeled and diced.
1 cup Green peas – fresh or frozen
1 generous pinch asafoetida (hing) – optional
½ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper, add as required
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder (ground turmeric)
½ teaspoon Garam Masala or as required
1.5 Cups water or add as required
2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
Salt as required
Crush 1 Teaspoon Dried Fenugreek Leaves or kasoori Methi Leaves.
Instructions
- Preparation· Take chopped onions,tomatoes, ginger and garlic in a grinder or blender jar.· Without addingany water, grind or blend to a smooth paste. · Keep this groundpaste aside.· Heat oil in a potor pressure cooker. Keep the heat to a low. First crackle the cumin seeds.· Then add theground onion-tomato paste. Be careful as the paste splutters when you add it tothe oil.· Stir and then addthe malai (which is a thick layer of cream that is formed on the top of wholemilk when it is boiled and later cooled). Swap it with almond powder or cashewpowder or heavy cream. You can choose to skip cream altogether.· Saute the groundpaste till the oil releases from the sides. The masala paste will also thicken,become glossy and will come together.· The mixturesplutters initially. So do cover partly with a lid. Once the mixture stopsspluttering, then remove the lid and saute.· Once the pastehas been sauteed well then add the asafoetida powder, red chilli powder andturmeric powder.· Stir and then addthe peas and potatoes. Saute for a minute. Add water and salt as required.· Stir well andcover the pot. Simmer till the potatoes and peas are cooked tender for about 20to 30 minutes. You can alter the consistency of the curry by adding less ormore water.· Ifusing a stove-top pressure cooker add1 cup water and pressure cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium-heat until thepotatoes & peas are cooked completely.· Ifmaking in the Instant Pot firstfry the spices and sauté the onion-tomato paste. Then pressure cook for 5minutes on high after you add the peas, potatoes, salt and water.· Lastly sprinklegaram masala powder and stir.· Then add choppedcoriander leaves.· Stir well andserve aloo matar hot with poori, chapati, naan, paratha or steamed rice.Making AlooMatar
Notes
- To make the almond or cashew powder, simply grind about 8 to 10 almonds or cashews in a small dry grinder or coffee grinder.
- Make sure to use tomatoes that are ripe, red with a sweet taste. Don’t use overly tangy tomatoes as this can make the gravy highly sour to taste. If this happens then balance the sour taste by adding a bit of sugar and 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream.
- Though I prefer to use fresh peas in the recipe, feel free to use frozen green peas.
- You can also use baby potatoes or new potatoes to make this curry.
- To make it more healthy and hearty you can opt to add vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, french beans, sweet corn and capsicum (bell pepper).
- For an added boost of protein consider adding some pan-fried tofu or paneer (Indian cottage cheese) once the gravy is cooked.
- The recipe can be scaled to make a small batch or a big batch.