Aloo Matar: Potato And Green Pea Curry Recipe

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Aloo Matar is my favorite dry curry for busy nights when I need a filling, plant-based meal without a lot of effort. It’s a humble dish made from simple, budget-friendly potatoes and peas, yet it delivers full flavor using only basic pantry staples.

Pakistani Aloo Matar

I turn to this Pakistani-style aloo matar recipe whenever I’m short on time because it’s quick to prepare and entirely vegan. It proves that you don’t need expensive ingredients or hours in the kitchen to make a wholesome, satisfying dinner.

So, if you’re in the same boat as wanting a simple yet tasty vegetarian dish, you’ll like this potato and green pea dry curry. Because it is easy and quick to make. You only need about 20 minutes to create this flavorsome dish. 

Yes, I actually timed myself when cooking it. It took me roughly 20 minutes. In those 20 minutes, I also managed to simultaneously cook Basmati rice on the side. So the full meal was ready in less than half an hour. 

Also, it’s the dish I will make when I feel like having a meat-free meal in a jiffy.

What Is Aloo Matar?

Aloo Matar is likely to have originated in the Punjab region. Its name is as simple as the dish itself: Aloo means potato, and Matar (or Mutter) means green peas. While it is now a year-round staple, it was traditionally a winter delicacy, created to highlight the season’s fresh harvest of sweet green peas and new potatoes.

The dish gained massive popularity across South Asia because it uses easy and affordable ingredients. It has since become a global favorite in Indian/ Pakistani restaurants as a comforting vegan curry. As for the name, you might hear it called Aloo Matar ki Sabzi or simply Potato and Peas Curry, but it all refers to the same dish. And its reputation as the ultimate “home-style” meal remains the same.

Easy Ingredients

Apart from the spices, we only need potatoes, green peas, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic to make this dish.

When it comes to potatoes, I suggest you choose a waxy type of potato. New potatoes, Jersey Royal, or Charlotte potatoes are good options. The reason is that the spud won’t break and go mushy easily. So avoid floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, Desiree, King Edward, etc. 

Ideally, you use fresh green peas that obviously offer a better taste. But don’t fret if you can only get the frozen ones. They will do an equally tasty Aloo Matar, too.

As for ginger garlic, I sometimes make ginger garlic paste in bulk and store it in the freezer. Other times, I buy readily crushed ginger garlic from the shop that comes as frozen cubes. 

So if you only have fresh ginger and garlic, you can mince and pound ½ inch of ginger with 4 garlic cloves. This should be more than enough for this recipe. 

Simple Method

1. So, first, you sizzle the whole cumin and black mustard seeds with a bit of oil.

2. Then add the rest of the spices (ground cumin, paprika powder, ground coriander, turmeric powder, and dried chili flakes), salt, and ginger garlic paste. Stir and fry until the spices release their delicious aroma. 

3. Next, put the prepared and cut potatoes in and continue cooking for about five minutes.

4. Then add the green peas and tomatoes. Cook at medium-high heat with the pan lid on for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft and fully cooked.

5. Keep checking and stirring to prevent burning at the bottom of the pan. Try to mash the tomatoes as much as you can simultaneously. Though it’s a dry curry dish, you don’t want it to over-dry. So add ¼ cup of water if you find it too dry. 

6. Continue cooking until the potatoes and green peas are fully cooked and the liquid has evaporated.

Side Dish and Main Course

I often serve this potato and green peas curry as a side dish alongside meaty stuff such as lamb karahi, kebabs, chicken karahi, etc. 

However, I sometimes make this vegetarian dish on its own as the main course, together with some carbs like plain basmati rice, chapati, or naan bread. 

Storing and Reheating

This vegan potato and pea curry is ideal for your meal planning item. Cook it in bulk, let it cool to room temperature, and store it in tight-lidded food containers before freezing it. They can stay in the freezer for up to 6 weeks. If you just want to keep some leftovers to enjoy a few days later, this dish keeps well in the refrigerator for a week.

You can always reheat it in the microwave or in a frying pan. Make sure you sprinkle a little water and keep stirring if you use the latter method to prevent the spud from going brown and dry.

Aloo Matar: Potato And Green Peas Curry Recipe Pakistani Style

4.99 from 50 votes

Aloo Matar is a vegan side dish of Pakistani style potato and green peas dry curry recipe. It’s a humble dish that offers simplicity with full flavour.

BY: Devy Dar

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Prep : 10 minutes mins

Cook : 20 minutes mins

Total : 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Equipment

• Kitchen knife
• Chopping board
• Peeler
• Cooking pan with lid
• Wooden spoon

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

• 14.11 ounces new potatoes.
• 1 ⅓ cup green peas see the note.
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste see the note.
• ½ teaspoon whole cumin.
• ¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds.
• ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes.
• ¼ teaspoon paprika powder.
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin.
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander.
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder.
• ¾ teaspoon salt.
• ½ cup canned tomatoes.
• Fresh coriander leaves for garnish chopped (optional).
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil.

Instructions

• Scrub and wash the potatoes. And cut them into small pieces roughly ½ inch square with ¼ inch thickness. Soak the potatoes in plenty of water and set them aside. 
• Heat the oil in a cooking pan and put the whole cumin and black mustard seeds.
• Cook the spices for a few minutes until the seeds are crackling. Then add in ginger-garlic paste, salt and the rest of the spices. Fry further until they release the aroma.
• Next, drain the potatoes and add them to the spice mixture. Give it a good stir and cook at medium-high heat for about 5 minutes as you stir every now and again.
• Then add in the green peas followed by the tomatoes. Stir well and leave it to cook with the lid on. 
• Check and stir the potatoes every so often to prevent burning at the bottom of the pan. You can add ¼ cup of water if you find the curry dry too quickly. 
• Continue cooking and stirring for about 15 minutes until your aloo matar is slightly dry with oil separated from the edges. 
• Serve your potato and green peas curry garnished with coriander leaves.

Notes

• You can use fresh green peas from the pods. 
• If tinned tomatoes are not available, you can replace them with fresh tomatoes. Just chop them into small pieces. For this recipe, you only need 2 small tomatoes or 1 medium tomato. 
• Dried chilli flakes can be substituted with red chilli powder. Feel free to adjust the amount according to your taste. 
• Potatoes soak a lot of water. Use your judgement whether or not you need to add more water than it says in this recipe. Though ¼ cup has almost always been sufficient for this recipe. 
• For ginger garlic paste, mince and pound ½ inch ginger with 4 garlic cloves into a paste.  

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 150kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 366mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g

Devy Dar

Devy founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appétit, and more.