Aloo Tamatar. A UP style simple potato and tomato curry. Perfect with hot pooris.
Aloo Tamatar. Heeng Wale Aloo Tamatar. Rasse wale Aloo. Simply explained, Potatoes in a tomato base Indian Style Curry.
One of the easiest curries around. Lots of asafetida/ heeng in here. This kind of potato curry has been made in our family for the longest time.
Dad belongs to the Western part of UP that is very close to Delhi where I grew up.
We have visited our ancestral home all our childhood. Potatoes have always been integral to meals in that region purely out of convenience and versatility.
They would stuff potatoes in the dough and make aloo parathas and kachoris.
Dad of course loves a good potato curry. He loves his dishes with gravy; if it is a dry vegetable stir fry, he needs some dal to go along.
Festivals or weddings or a simple get together would almost always have a set standard menu in his house. This potato curry, a sweet and sour pumpkin stir fry (khatta-meetha kaddu), tempered curd/ buttermilk (boondi ka raita), a rice pudding (kheer), and hot fluffy pooris (deep-fried bread).
I am drooling as I write this because it takes me back to my childhood; those good days when we were small and would have absolutely no inhibitions regarding food and life. Those days were absolutely glorious.
Coming back to this dish, it comes together in absolutely no time. All you need are some boiled potatoes, tomatoes and some basic spices.
This curry is so good when scooped up with hot ghee rotis and heavenly with some pooris, pickle, and raita. This is a perfect festive meal say on Holi or Diwali even if you do not get to make anything else because of time constraints.
Hope you like it as much as we do.
Aloo Tamatar
Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes
- 3 red tomatoes
- 1 green chili
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
Instructions
- Boil 4 medium potatoes. Peel and mash them roughly with your hands and keep them aside.
- In a deep pan/ wok, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil till smoking hot. Reduce the flame.
- Add 1 tsp cumin seeds and a big, fat pinch of asafetida/ heeng.
- Once the cumin splitters, add 3 large ripe and red tomatoes finely chopped. Stir well.
- Now add 1 tsp grated fresh ginger and 1 slit green chili. Mix well and stir until the tomatoes are soft and well cooked,
- Add 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, and salt to taste.
- Mix and add the roughly mashed potatoes. Toss them well so that they coat well with the masala. Now add 2-3 cups of water depending on your desired consistency. Mix well.
- Cover and cook on a medium flame for about 1o minutes.
- After 10 minutes, add 1 tsp Kasuri methi and simmer for another 5 minutes. Feel free to adjust the spice levels and consistency of the curry.
- Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with any bread of your choice.
- Enjoy!
