Aloo Gobi – Spiced Potatoes And Cauliflower Curry

Aloo gobi is a popular Indian dish made with cauliflower and potatoes. This recipe I am sharing is a simple, easy to make, flavor packed and healthy dish you can serve with rice or roti. Vegan and gluten free

Aloo means potato and gobi means cauliflower in India. This is a mildly spiced potato and cauliflower stir fry made with very few simple ingredients. It is one of the most loved and very popular Indian dishes that goes well with paratha, basmati rice, jeera rice, biryani rice, naan and many more dishes.

There are many many ways to make aloo gobi recipe right from humble stir fry to semi gravy and masala loaded gravy. We like this dry aloo gobi the most and I am sharing the same here. I make this whenever I have a good stash of fresh potatoes and cauliflower.

I will say this dish truly captures the essence of Indian home cooking. It is the most popular among Indian vegetable dishes.

Humble ingredients, easy steps and quick to make aloo gobi recipe with step by step photos and video, simple yet a flavor packed delicious curry with potato and cauliflower that is hearty and wholesome.

Potatoes and cauliflower are two most popular vegetables used in Indian cooking. In this potatoes and cauliflower curry recipe these veggies are sautéed in Indian spices and finished with an optional garnish of cilantro leaves.

What Is Aloo Gobi?

Aloo gobi literally means potatoes and cauliflower. It is a very popular Punjabi side dish made very commonly in north Indian homes. It is a wholesome and hearty dish and really delicious.

You can make aloo gobi recipe in many ways. Usually at home we make this dry stir fry version and in restaurants you will find a rich curry or gravy version made in the similar lines of paneer butter masala. In this post I am sharing simple stir fried version.

While the homestyle Punjabi aloo gobi recipe is comforting & hearty, the restaurant style creamy curry is wonderful to serve in parties, special occasions.

Why This Recipe Works?

This recipe yields you one of the best potatoes and cauliflower stir fry that is perfectly seasoned, delicious and flavorful.

One of the common complaints about this potato and cauliflower dish is that cauliflower florets either turn mushy or bland. With my recipe you will have perfectly cooked cauliflower with seasonings seeped in and not mushy at all.

This is a super easy aloo gobi recipe where you don’t have to cook the potatoes before hand or any heavy prep work.

This dry stir fried gobi aloo can be served in many ways. This is a mildly spiced curry that kids will absolutely enjoy. Even if they don’t care for cauliflower, the potatoes will attract them 🙂

Do try and enjoy this aloo gobi recipe with step by step photos which is

easy and simple to make

delicious, flavorful

comforting and wholesome

vegan and gluten free

Kid friendly

Ingredients

The best part about this perfect aloo gobi recipe is you can make it easily with pantry staple ingredients. No need to visit any specialty store for this recipe. Here is the list of ingredients for alu gobi.

Potato & Cauliflower

Use fresh new potatoes that are less starch for best results. You can use russet variety if you are in the United States. I have just rinsed and cut the potatoes. You can also par boil the potatoes to reduce the cooking time.

Use fresh and tender florets as they are delicious and easy to cook. I always blanch the cauliflower first with a pinch of turmeric to get rid of any worms. You can also use broccoli if you do not prefer using gobi.

Spice Powders

You will need the very basic spice powders namely garam masala powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.

Other ingredients

Oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chilies, kasuri methi, chopped coriander leaves., lemon juice.

How To Make Aloo Gobi- Recipe 1

Preparation

Scrub 2 large potatoes thoroughly and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Place the cubed potatoes soaked in a large bowl of water. This step will remove the excess starch from the potatoes and prevent them from turning mushy.

Chop 1 small head cauliflower into bite size florets.

Bring a large pot of water to rolling boil, add a big pinch of salt and switch it off. Add the cauliflower florets and let sit for 5 minutes.

Drain the florets in a colander and rinse them with cold water immediately to prevent them turning soggy.

Once the potato and cauliflower are prepped, finely chop one large onion, slit one green chili, mince 1/2 inch peeled ginger and 2 cloves garlic.

Making Aloo Gobi

Heat oil in a heavy pan or kadai. I prefer to make this recipe in cast iron pan. You can use mustard oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil or even sesame oil for this recipe.

Once the oil is hot add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, slit green chilies, minced ginger garlic cloves and saute for a minute in medium heat. You can also use 1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste.

Add finely chopped onions and few curry leaves next. Saute for a minute or two until the onions turn a bit soft.

Now drain the water from soaked sliced potatoes and add to the pan.

Mix and saute in high flame for a minute. Add cauliflower florets.

Mix and add the spice powders- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder and 1 teaspoon garam masala powder.

Mix well, cover and cook until the potatoes are soft. Takes around 10-12 minutes in medium flame. I do not add any water as sometimes it turns the curry dish mushy, especially if the potatoes are of more starchy variety.

Open the pan and add crushed kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves. Also add 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves or coriander leaves.

Mix well and remove from heat. Serve aloo gobi warm or hot.

Restaurant Style Aloo Gobi Masala

Preparation

Peel and cube the potatoes. You can also cut them into wedges. Par boil the potatoes until fork tender in salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and wipe in a kitchen towel.

Cut the cauliflower into bite size florets and blanch them in hot water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside,

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan for shallow frying. Add potatoes to hot oil.

Shallow fry the potatoes till golden and crispy. You can also deep fry if you wish.

Also shallow fry the gobi in the same oil.

In the meantime blend 2 large tomatoes, 1 onion, 10 cashews, 3 garlic cloves and a 1/2 inch piece of ginger into a smooth paste.

Making aloo gobi curry

Heat 2 tablespoon oil or butter in a pan or large skillet. Saute bay leaf, cloves and 2 small cardamoms.

Next add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add 1/2 teaspoon ginger and garlic paste.

Add the prepared tomato puree and mix well.

Add all the spice powders- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder and mix well. Season with salt. Saute till the raw smell leaves.

Cook in medium high heat until tomato puree gets well cooked and fat releases from the sides.

Add required water to adjust consistency. Simmer for 7-8 minutes.

Add the sautéed veggies and toss well. Simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Add garam masala powder and kasuri methi. Mix well. You can also add fresh cream now.

Serve aloo gobi masala hot.

Instant Pot Perfect Aloo Gobi

To make Indian aloo gobi in instant pot here are the steps.
Place the steel insert inside your IP and switch it on. Press saute mode.

Once it is hot add oil and fry the mustard seeds, add cumin seeds, slit green chili, curry leaves.

Add the finely chopped onions and saute. Add the prepared potatoes and cauliflower and saute again. Now add spice powders, salt and mix well.

Now add 2 tablespoons water and close the IP. Cancel saute, press pressure cook or manual mode and set timer for 3 minutes. Pressure valve sealed.

Once done let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes. Open and add coriander leaves, kasuri methi, amchur or lemon juice. Mix well and serve hot.

While making this in IP make sure not to add more water than mentioned. If you add more water than required, the curry will turn mushy.

Serving Suggestions

Aloo gobi is an excellent side dish in any Indian food. You can serve this with roti, basmati rice, dal fry or dal makhani and side salad like kachumber or onion raita for a complete meal.

This also goes well with sambar rice, lemon rice, coconut rice, biryani rice, ghee rice. You can also pack this curry in toddlers and kids lunch box.

This perfect aloo gobi also tastes delicious with naan or kulcha with some pickle or salad in the side.

This curry also tastes great as filling in wraps, sandwich etc.

Expert Tips

To prevent this curry from turning soggy.

First, use fresh potatoes that are less starchy. Keep the potatoes immersed in water for 15 minutes to remove excess starch. Baking potatoes are best suited for this recipe.

Next parboil the cauliflower only for five minutes. If you let the gobi boil for long time or let them sit in hot water for long time they will get fully cooked and by the time you add in curry, they are already soggy.

Also after draining the parboiled cauliflower, rinse in cold water and wipe gently with a kitchen towel. This will prevent cauliflower from getting soggy.

Both the veggies should be completely dry. After steaming or pressure cooking the potatoes, let cool for some time so it doesn’t turn mushy or soggy.

Cook this curry keeping the pan open: 

Always cook this curry in a open pan. Sautéing in medium high flame, keeping the pan open ensures that the aloo gobi stays dry and crispy. If you close the pan, the curry will sweat out and turn soggy. Also I prefer not to add any water while cooking this recipe,

Kasuri methi- 

Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek leaves. It adds a wonderful flavor and distinct taste to this curry. If you can get this, I highly recommend adding it in this curry. Else just skip it, there is no alternate for this ingredient.

Spice powders- 

Increase or decrease the spice powders as per preference. This recipe is for mildly spiced aloo gobi. If you are making for kids you can reduce the spice powders further too. You can leave out red chili powder or even add cayenne pepper instead.

Coriander powder adds a wonderful flavor to this curry. If coriander powder is unavailable you can even crush 1/4 teaspoon while coriander seeds and saute along with cumin seeds.

You can double or triple this aloo gobi recipe.

Variations With this Recipe:

You can leave out onion in this recipe for making no onion garlic version.

To give this aloo gobi curry a nice tangy flavor you can add a pinch of amchur or dried mango powder along with garam masala powder.

Add some green peas to this recipe to make aloo matar gobi.

Add 3/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes after sautéing onions to make a semi dry curry. You can use this semi dry curry as filling for aloo sandwich or even wrap.

For rich flavor you can use butter instead of oil.

If you prefer you can shallow fry or pan roast the potatoes and cauliflower before tossing with the spices.

You can sprinkle a pinch of garam masala before serving for extra flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Paneer Butter Masala

Veg Kadai

Shahi Paneer

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