Spicy Aloo gravy | Potato gravy

ABOUT

This Spicy Potato Gravy is a delicious side dish made with roasted potatoes, ginger, garlic, whole spices, Onions, Tomatoes and spice powder. This is a curry suitable for both your rice varieties like Jeera rice, Ghee rice, Pulao, Garlic jeera rice etc., as well as rotis like naan, phulka, parathas and so on. This is a multiuse gravy and goes well with almost everything. Potatoes are the most loved vegetable in this entire world!!! Anything with Potatoes are a HIT!!! . So how about this super delicious aloo gravy made with simple ingredients.

Looking back to my childhood days, I always used to love potatoes and is the only vegetable I eat. However we aren’t aware of the dramas going around us with a debate of carbohydrates, weight gain, good food ! Bad food etc., 🙁 .But as I age, I started to avoid potatoes treating it as an unhealthy food. But now I have understood the food science that Potatoes are as healthy as any other vegetables and portion control is the key!! 🙂 So here I present you, one of the most delicious potato gravy you can ever have!! Time to Dig in!! 😀

TIPS AND NOTES

• Here I have shallow fried the potatoes to crisp, for this you have to blanch them for around 5-7 mins in boiling water. This cooks them to almost 50-60% which is perfect for frying. I always prefer like this. In case of deep frying also I would recommend blanching at least for 3 minutes.
• Completely cooking the potatoes will lead to mushy ones and can never be fried properly. Always open cook potatoes in such cases.
• If you are health conscious , try to air fry them, or roast them in an oven to get that crispy and crunchy outer. This is important as it gives us a fantastic taste to the gravy
• Use of Kashmiri chilli is mainly for its natural color and they have very less spice compared to other chillis. So I have mixed them and used to get a red spicy gravy.
• Sautéing Onions plays a major role in taste. It should have crossed the translucent stage and the aroma will be felt while sautéing.
• For the raw smell to go, always add some water after adding spice powder, this ensures your gravy not to dry up and burns the spices and also combines everything together.
• It is also important to close and cook in low to medium flame till oil oozes out. If your flame is high, the gravy will become dry very soon leaving behind the raw smell.

INGREDIENTS

Potatoes

I have used large potatoes here, you can choose baby potatoes too. Their cooking must be intact to get crunchy outer layer and soft interior. They can either be blanched and then cut or cut into cubes and then blanched. Both ways work

Garam masala

This is the key spice in this gravy in addition to whole spices , which enhances the flavor and taste of the dish. However if you like to give a variation try adding amchur powder for a tangy chaat flavor.

Kashmiri chilli

This gives the natural beautiful red color to our gravy. However it doesn’t add much to the spice level . If it is not available it can be totally skipped since there is no compromise in taste.

ADD-ONS

Green Peas: 1/2 cup of green peas either frozen (which can be directly added) or the normal peas which requires a cooking time of 10-12 minutes.

Chickpeas : Chickpeas goes great with Potatoes and 1/4 cup boiled chickpeas can be added along. However for cooking chickpeas , it has to be soaked at least for 6 hrs and then pressure cooked to make it softer.

Bell Peppers: This is an instant add on. Just cut them into cubes, add around 1 cup and give it a sauté after cooking Onions. Don’t overcook them as it tastes best when crunchy.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS WITH PHOTOS

1. To a mixer jar add all the ingredients to grind
   
   
2. Grind them to a fine paste and keep aside
   
   
3. Blanch the potatoes, peel and cube them. Potatoes must be 50-60% cooked. Now to a pan add oil. Add the blanched potatoes, some salt and roast them
   
   
4. The potatoes must be roasted till outer layer is crispy and slight golden. Keep them aside
   
5. Now to the same oil, add all the whole spices, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon and garlic. Let the garlic starts to let out aroma.
   
   
6. Add the Onions (thinly sliced) , Kashmiri chilli and sauté till onion turns translucent.
   
   
7. Add the grinded tomato masala and cook till everything blends. It takes around 3-5 minutes for the raw flavors to disappear
   
   
8. Add all the spice powders mentioned: chilli powder, garam masala, cumin and coriander powder
   
   
9. Now cook till raw smell goes. This gravy after 2 minutes will start to dry, at that time add water and cook till there is no raw smell in the gravy around 5-7 minutes.
   
   
10. Once the raw smell goes and the gravy starts to ooze out slight oil, add the roasted potatoes and mix well. Let them absorb all the flavors.
    
    
11. Once the oil oozes out add kasthuri methi, coriander leaves and mix them. Our gravy is ready to serve
    
    
12. Enjoy your food!! Happy Eating!! 🙂

STORAGE

This Potato gravy can be stored up to a week in refrigerator and up to one day in room temperature. While reusing the gravy from refrigerator, add say 1/4 cup of water and heat them to a nice boil before consumption, else the gravy will be dry and potatoes will be cold and hard.