Aloo Matar (also spelled Aloo Mutter) is one of the most comforting and beloved Punjabi curries around. I learned how to make this spiced, delicious tomato-based potato and green peas curry from my mother-in-law, and it is now a favorite recipe in our house. Serve Aloo Mutter with Indian breads like Poori, Roti or Paratha for a meal that feels like a hug!
What is Aloo Matar
Aloo (meaning “potatoes”) and matar (also spelled mattar or mutter, meaning “peas”) join forces in this delightfully saucy curry. It is also known as aloo matar ki sabji in Hindi. When I’m in need of comfort food, this is the recipe I turn to.
Aloo matar can be made either in a spiced or spicy gravy or curry base or made dry like sautéed veggies. In any way it is made, potatoes and peas are a lovely classic combination and always taste delicious.
Homestyle food is not only easier and quicker to make than restaurant-style recipes, but it is also often more familiar as well. One of the things I like about this Aloo Matar curry is how cozy and comforting it feels.
When you’re feeling under the weather or have had a rough day (or year), this recipe is an excellent balm for your soul.
My family recipe for this popular Punjabi potato and peas curry is also simple to make and requires very little kitchen expertise.
And as far as Indian recipes are concerned, it has a rather short list of ingredients, making it a perfect entry-level recipe for new cooks.
While beautifully spiced and full of flavor, this aloo mutter is equally appealing to both picky children and “foodie” adults.
The potatoes and peas become tender and almost creamy while cooking, making them a lovely foil to the tangy spiced tomato sauce.
And don’t forget about the bread! When served with Puri (Indian fried bread), roti, paratha or naan, you’ll have an easy way to sop up all the spicy gravy goodness left at the bottom of the bowl. Honestly, is there anything more soothing than using fresh bread to clean your plate?
So if you are in need of a recipe that is quick and easy to make, free from any esoteric ingredients or fancy equipment, THIS is the dish for you.
Make my Aloo Mutter curry today and relish the contentment on your loved one’s faces as they enjoy every last bite.
How to make Aloo Matar
To help ease your cooking troubles, my step-by-step photos are here to guide you. If you follow them, you can make this simple, tasty homestyle aloo matar recipe.
Note: I have cooked the gravy in a pan, but if you are short of time you can use a stove-top pressure cooker or Instant Pot instead. I have mentioned the details of cooking in a pressure cooker or Instant pot in the recipe card below.
Blend Curry Ingredients
1. Take ½ cup chopped onions, 1 cup chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger (chopped) and 1 teaspoon chopped garlic in a grinder or blender jar.
2. Without adding any water, grind or blend to a smooth paste.
Cook Curry Masala Paste
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a thick-bottomed pot or pressure cooker. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and cook until they crackle.
You can use any neutral flavored oil. For a richer taste you can also use ghee (clarified butter).
4. Now add the ground onion-tomato paste to the oil in the pan. Keep the heat to a low and also take care as the mixture splutters.
5. Stir well and then add 1 tablespoon malai (the thick layer of cream floating on top of boiled cooled whole milk).
If you don’t have malai, you can add 1 tablespoon of almond powder (almond meal) or 1 tablespoon of cashew powder or 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Or you can completely omit the cream.
6. Tip: The curry masala mixture splutters, so cover the pot or cooker partly with a lid.
7. Once the mixture stops spluttering, then remove the lid and sauté.
8. Stir often so that the curry masala does not get browned or gets stuck to the base of the pot.
9. Sauté the ground paste till the oil releases from the sides and the masala paste thickens. You will see that the paste becomes glossy and comes together in a kind of lump.
10. Then add a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing), ½ teaspoon red chili powder and ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder. Stir and mix the spice powders with the rest of the sautéed masala paste.
Note: If you are gluten-free, please check the label of your asafoetida. Many commercially available brands are processed with wheat products. If necessary, omit the asafoetida from the recipe.
Cook Aloo Matar Curry
11. Add 1 cup green peas and 2 large potatoes (peeled and diced) to the curry masala paste.
12. Stir and sauté for a minute.
13. If cooking in a pot, add 1.5 cups of water.
If using a stovetop pressure cooker then add 1 cup water and pressure cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium-heat until the potatoes and peas are cooked completely.
If using an Instant Pot first fry the spices and sauté the onion-tomato paste. Then pressure cook for 5 minutes on high after you add the peas, potatoes, salt and water.
14. Season with salt as required.
15. Stir well and cover the pot with the lid.
16. Simmer till the potatoes and peas are cooked tender. If necessary, you can add some more water.
If you are cooking in a pot on the stovetop, it will take about 20 to 30 minutes on a low to medium heat. The time will vary with the intensity of the heat and thickness and quality of the pot.
17. Lastly sprinkle in ½ teaspoon garam masala powder. Stir again.
17. Then add 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro).
18. Stir well and serve Aloo Matar hot from the pan, preferably with Indian breads like poori, roti, paratha, naan or serve with steamed rice or cumin rice.
FAQs
I prefer to use fresh peas over frozen ones in any dish where matar is one of the main ingredients. If you do not have fresh green peas, then you can use frozen ones. Here I used fresh peas which I had previously shelled and frozen.
I generally buy two kilograms of fresh peas and then pod them. After all the green peas are collected, I store them in the freezer in an air tight box. Afterwards you can use these frozen peas to make a variety of Green Peas Recipes.
The thickness of your gravy is a result of how much water you add to the dish. If you prefer a thicker gravy, add less water. Alternately, you can allow it to simmer with the lid off to evaporate away some more water.
The recipe as written is not very spicy; rather, I’d describe it as a spiced gravy. It should be mild enough for children. If you’d prefer a spicier potato and pea curry, you can adjust the amount of dry red chili powder that you add. You can also add a green chili to the tomato-onion paste when you grind it.
More Indian Curry Recipes
Paneer Recipes
Potato Recipes
Paneer Recipes
Vegetable Recipes
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Aloo Matar Recipe | Punjabi Aloo Mutter
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 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 chili 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
Instructions
Preparation
- Take chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic in a grinder or blender jar.
- Without adding any water, grind or blend to a smooth paste.
- Keep this ground paste aside.
Making aloo matar
- Heat oil in a pot or pressure cooker. Keep the heat to a low. First crackle the cumin seeds.
- Then add the ground onion-tomato paste. Be careful as the paste splutters when you add it to the oil.
- Stir and then add the malai (which is a thick layer of cream that is formed on the top of whole milk when it is boiled and later cooled). Swap it with almond powder or cashew powder or heavy cream. You can choose to skip cream altogether.
- Saute the ground paste till the oil releases from the sides. The masala paste will also thicken, become glossy and will come together.
- The mixture splutters initially. So do cover partly with a lid. Once the mixture stops spluttering, then remove the lid and saute.
- Once the paste has been sauteed well then add the asafoetida powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
- Stir and then add the peas and potatoes. Saute for a minute. Add water and salt as required.
- Stir well and cover the pot. Simmer till the potatoes and peas are cooked tender for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can alter the consistency of the curry by adding less or more water.
- If using a stove-top pressure cooker add 1 cup water and pressure cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium-heat until the potatoes & peas are cooked completely.
- If making in the Instant Pot first fry the spices and sauté the onion-tomato paste. Then pressure cook for 5 minutes on high after you add the peas, potatoes, salt and water.
- Lastly sprinkle garam masala powder and stir.
- Then add chopped coriander leaves.
- Stir well and serve aloo matar hot with poori, chapati, naan, paratha or steamed rice.
Video
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.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Aloo Matar recipe post from the blog archives first published in December 2013 has been updated and republished on October 2022.
I always try out recipes from your blog and what to say…. They just turn out….. awesome. Today I made also matar.. d same way n that also is simply super.
thankyou krupali for your honest feedback and pleased to know you liked the recipes from our blog 🙂
Hi Dassana, i follow ur recipes whenever i try something new and ofcourse they do turn out well :). thank you for making cooking easier….
thankyou supritha 🙂 pleased to know this and you are welcome.
Thank you so much for your recipes. I refer whenever I have to make something special.
welcome smita and thankyou for your positive words 🙂
Thanks for the recipe my husband is very foody he loved it
welcome shagufta
Awesome. My husband loved it . Thank you.
welcome neha
Hi ,
Tried this recipe today, turned out to be delicious..
thanks nikita
Gr8 recipie tried today and now on I will follow your blog
thanks harita for sharing positive feedback.
Great recipe… tried it today… came very nicely.. Now I am a constant follower of your blog… Thanks a lot..
welcome sumam. thanks for sharing positive feedback.
Simply Outstanding….. thnx…
welcome khushi
Hi..I am a beginner in kitchen classes… yesterday, for the first time I made aalu mattar… n i couldn’t believe it sooooo yummmmyyy…. Thanks for all delicious recipes. I will try other recipes also…
welcome khushi. thanks for sharing positive feedback. glad to know this.
Delicious Fan Hogaya yaar
I tried this recipe yesterday and it came out very well. Very easy and very delicious. Thanx for all ur wonderful recipes Dassana 🙂
welcome deepika. glad to know this.
absolutely delicious. Hubby takes at least three servings when I cook this recipe 🙂 thanks for making me filling his tummy so easy for me!
welcome simmy. thanks for sharing your positive feedback.
Hi Dasanna
I have tried this dish last night without Almond powder and fresh Ginger but still it worked out very well.
I felt like after long time I had a delicious curry
I wanted to try Kaju khoya but can not find khoya but I may try Double cream instead of khoya. What do you think ?
Thanks lot for your website and I will be trying more and more
Chandra
hi chandra, thanks for the feedback. almond just adds to the thickness of the gravy, but without them its also fine. for kaju khoya you can try with double cream. a slight difference in taste but i think will be delicious. but just add the cream towards the end and not before.
You now have two avid vegan followers in Alaska! My partner and I really, really enjoy your recipes/website. After years of scouring books and other Western websites for good Indian cooking (and being sorely disappointed), we found your blog. As my partner actually spent a year traveling in India, she has a pretty good idea of what is authentic flavor, and when a recipe is missing something, allowing for variations aside.
So, thanks for an amazing resource. Really, really love it.
thanks taylor for these words. also convey my thanks to your partner. your partner has indeed a good idea of indian cooking. from a few indian books i have read by western authors, there are a lot of changes and adaptions done to suit the ingredients available abroad and the western palette. even i find some recipes presented which are not actually made it like the way we make it here. do try some recipes. indian recipes can be easily veganized.