This delicious Punjabi Dum Aloo Recipe is a unique Indian potato curry. It is made by adding fried potatoes to the Indian curry, and it is creamy and full of flavors. It is easy and saves time when you make it in your Instant Pot.
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Dum Aloo is a very popular North Indian dish. There are many versions of Dum Aloo: Punjabi Dum Aloo, Kashmiri Dum Aloo, Bengali Dum Aloo, and many more. Each variety has its unique flavors. The recipe I'm posting here is for Punjabi Dum Aloo.
Punjabi Dum Aloo Recipe is one of those recipes that I have relished throughout my childhood. And I love it even now. These taste better than any restaurant-style dum aloo. This is a creamy & flavorful dish just like Shahi Paneer but made with fried baby potatoes instead of paneer.
Being born in a Punjabi family, I enjoyed eating Dum Aloo. My Mom used to make it whenever there was any special occasion (like a birthday or Anniversary or any festival) or when we wanted to eat something special.
The post contains Helpful Tips & Tricks to make the Punjabi Dum Aloo Recipe. But if you're in a hurry, you can also click "Jump to Recipe' under the Heading to go directly to the Recipe Card.
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🥘INGREDIENTS & SUBSTITUTIONS
- Potatoes: You can use normal potatoes cut in bite-size or you can use baby potatoes. Baby Potatoes are better for this dish. You either deep-fry them or shallow-fry by adding some spices in the oil.
- Onion-Tomato Masala: You can either make it fresh or can also use the frozen one. I usually make it fresh as it only takes 5 minutes and flavors are much better that way.
- Spices: I add whole spices as well as Indian Spice Powder like garam masala, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder, etc. Adding whole spices makes the dish more aromatic. I also add Kashmiri Red Chili Powder just for the color.
- Cashew Paste/Almond Flour: This is used to make the curry creamier. You can use almond/cashew paste or can also add 1-2 tablespoon of almond flour. I usually don't use when making dum aloo recipe.
- Honey/Sugar: It's always recommended to add little sweetness if its a savory dish and a little salt if its sweet dish. So add 1 teaspoon of sugar or honey or maple syrup, etc in the curry.
- Cream/Yogurt: For extra creamy Dum Aloo recipe, add cream/yogurt in the end.
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪HOW TO MAKE PUNJABI DUM ALOO
Check the recipe card below for the full recipe, but you refer here for step-by-step photo instructions.
This recipe of dum aloo can be made in an Instant Pot and stove-top. You can make it in dry masala, or you can also make it in a curry.
Prepare Potatoes
- First take the baby potatoes & wash them properly. Then boil them in an Instant Pot or on stove-top. You can boil in Instant Pot for 7 minutes at High-pressure level. You can boil the potatoes on stove-top for 15-20 minutes in the boiling water or until tender.
- Once baby potatoes cooked, strain the water and let them cool down fro 10-15 minutes. Then remove the skin of the potatoes & place them in a bowl.
- Using fork or knife, pork the potatoes couple of times. That way the masala of dum aloo gravy will reach inside the potatoes too & potatoes will not have any bland flavor.
- In a pan or instant pot, add mustard oil or any other cooking oil. When oil is hot, add spices (red chili powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, and roasted cumin powder) and stir.
- Then add potatoes in the oil and mix until all the potatoes are properly coated with the spices. Shallow-fry the potatoes until a little golden in color.
Prepare Gravy
- Add oilive oil or mustard oil in a pan. At medium flame, add roughly chopped onions and cook fro 2-3 minutes or until golden in color.
- Then add ginger garlic paste to the onions and fry for 1 minute. Or you can also add dry ginger powder and garlic powder.
- Once onions are cooked, then add tomato puree. Cook for 3-5 minutes until oil starts to separate.
- Then add spices (a teaspoon garam masala powder, red chili powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, mango powder, coriander powder, roasted cumin powder (or teaspoon cumin seeds).
Dum Aloo Gravy
- Then add a cup of water, 1-2 tablespoon yogurt, crushed kasuri methi (or dried fenugreek leaves), and fried potatoes.
- Boil it and cook for 10-15 minutes at low flame until it reaches desired consistency. Then garnish with cilantro. You can also sprinkle a teaspoon of fennel seeds for aromatic flavor. Serve with Indian flatbread or steamed basmati rice.
💭TOP TIP
- Use Baby Potatoes when making Instant Pot Dum Aloo, as they are perfect for the dish. They taste great in the dish, just perfect size. And secondly, less hassle as you don't need to cut the potatoes.
- Before adding to the curry, either deep-fry the potatoes or shallow-fry them with some spices. If you want to make this dish oil-free or with less oil/butter, then you can air-fry them too.
- Adding Almond Flour to the curry gives creamy texture even without using cream/yogurt. Or you can also use almond/ cashew paste.
- Before adding in the masala, poke the potatoes with fork or knife. That way when you add them to the curry, the masala will go in the potatoes and they won't remain bland.
- I add Kasuri Methi while making the curry and not at the end. This brings nice color and taste to the curry.
- I also like to add diced tomatoes or tomato paste in the masala. This brings a nice color to the curry.
- If you shallow-fry potatoes in Mustard Oil, it will bring the smoky flavor in the curry.
- When you add yogurt, cook the curry at low flame. This will bring out the rich flavor of Instant Pot Dum Aloo.
- You can also add Maple Syrup or Honey or Sugar, etc. for a little sweetness.
📖VARIATIONS
This Dum Aloo Recipe tastes great, but with a few alterations, you make it best suited for your taste. For example, I like to make it a little healthier with less spicy. But here are some variations you can try to bring out the best flavor.
- Spicy - add chili powder along with some chopped green chili to make this potato curry spicy. Also if you add Kashmirir Red Chili Powder, it will give the color to the curry.
- Deluxe - add ghee when frying the potatoes, it bring the best flavor. Also you can add cream instead of yogurt to make the curry creamy. You can also add some crumbled Paneer to make it tastes more delicious.
🍽EQUIPEMENT
The next question is what equipment you should use to make this Indian potato curry. If you want to make it quick, then use Instant Pot. You can make Instant Pot Dum Aloo in under 30 minutes & the flavor will not be lost.
But if you want to taste the authentic flavor, I recommend making it on the stove-top. I personally like using Indian Kadai (or wok). Kadai is a deep-sided wok in which food gets cooked quickly & flavors are bonded more nicely.
🧾FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You can store it in the refrigerator or freezer; the taste will remain the same. Store the leftover Dum Aloo in the fridge for 3-5 days. Or freeze this dish in an air-tight container for 1-2 months. Before using the freezer stored Dum Aloo, just thaw and heat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stove-top until boiled & adequately heated.
You can make Vegan Dum Aloo without any issue. I usually add yogurt at the end for the creamy flavor. So you can either skip yogurt or add vegan yogurt to the curry.
Dum aloo tastes absolutely wonderful with any Indian Flatbread like Naan, Poori, Lacha Parantha, or Kulche. You can also pair them with steamed rice or pulao.
Yes, you can make the recipe without yogurt. But if you like the rich & creamy curry, you can add cream. Or add almond/cashew paste.
Yes, you can make dum aloo without onion & garlic, but the taste will not be the same. Instead of adding onion, make a puree of tomato and ginger and add it to the pan. Add spices and cook for 3-5 minutes. Then add fried potatoes and cook until you get the desired consistency.
If you don't want to add fried potatoes or you want to make a healthier version of Dum Aloo in Instant Pot, you can air fry the boiled baby potatoes. Place the boiled potatoes in the air fryer basket and air fry at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until golden brown in color.
First, make the cashew paste by grinding ½ cup of cashews with ¾ cups of water until smooth & creamy. Then at the end, add 1-2 tablespoons of cashew cream instead of yogurt.
You can use any variety of baby potatoes. I like using red or golden baby potatoes in my dum aloo. If you don't have baby potatoes, you can use normal-sized potatoes too. Just cut them into big-sized chunks.
Each person can have 2-3 baby potatoes per serving.
You can use leftover Dum Aloo to make Dum Biryani. Or you also use it as a filling in the rolls.
⭐SIMILAR RECIPES
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Punjabi Dum Aloo
Equipment
Ingredients
For Frying Potatoes
- 8 Baby Potatoes peeled
- 4 tablespoon Oil for deep frying/ shallow frying
- ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
For Dum Aloo Gravy
- 2 Tomatoes pureed
- ½ cup Diced Tomatoes
- 1 Onion chopped
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon Mango/Amchur Powder
- 1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste
- ¼ cup Yogurt/ Cream
- 1 cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Kasuri Methi
- Salt
Instructions
INSTANT POT COOKING:
- Press Saute in Instant Pot and add oil to the inner pot. When the oil is hot, add Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder, and Garam Masala Powder. Saute for 1 minute and add potatoes.4 tablespoon Oil, ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder, ¼ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder, 8 Baby Potatoes
- Fry the potatoes by stirring continuously until they turn golden brown in color. Remove the potatoes from the instant pot. (Note: Keep stirring so the potatoes do not burn).
- Then in the same oil add chopped onions and cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden in color. Then add ginger & garlic paste (or chopped ginger & garlic) and saute for 1 minute. Then add tomatoes &diced tomatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes until soft & mushy.
- When tomatoes are mushy, cancel saute. Add spices (Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Garam Masala Powder, and Amchur Powder) and saute more 1 more minute.
- Then add potatoes, water, and salt. Mix the ingredients and close the lid.(Note: Deglaze the pot and add 1 cup of water to avoid Burn Notice. Before adding potatoes, I poke them a couple of times using a fork/knife. This helps bring the flavor of masala inside the potatoes and prevents them from tasting bland).).
- With the vent in the sealing position, pressure cook for 5 minutes. When the timer beeps, NPR (No Pressure Release) for 10 minutes and move the vent to the venting position and Quick Release.
- When the valve goes down and steam is released, open the lid.
- Press saute and add Cream/Yogurt, Kasuri Methi, and let it simmer till you get desired consistency. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or any Indian flatbread.(Note: Add more oil, if needed to fry the masala properly).
How to make Dum Aloo on Stove-Top:
- First, take the baby potatoes & wash them properly. Then boil them in an Instant Pot or on stove-top. You can boil in Instant Pot for 7 minutes at a High-pressure level. You can boil the potatoes on the stove-top for 15-20 minutes in the boiling water or until tender.
- Once baby potatoes are cooked, strain the water and let them cool down for 10-15 minutes. Then remove the skin of the potatoes & place them in a bowl.
- Using a fork or knife, pork the potatoes couple of times. That way the masala of dum aloo gravy will reach inside the potatoes too & potatoes will not have any bland flavor.
- In a pan or instant pot, add oil. When oil is hot, add spices (red chili powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, and roasted cumin powder) and stir.
- Then add potatoes in the oil and mix until all the potatoes are properly coated with the spices. Shallow-fry the potatoes until a little golden in color.
- Add oil to a pan. At medium flame, add chopped onions and cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden in color.
- Then add ginger garlic paste to the onions and fry for 1 minute. Or you can also add dry ginger powder and garlic powder.
- Once onions are cooked, then add tomatoes && diced tomatoes. Cook for 3-5 minutes until oil starts to separate.
- Then add spices including teaspoon garam masala powder, red chili powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, mango powder, coriander powder, roasted cumin powder (or teaspoon cumin seeds).
- Then add a cup of water, 1-2 tablespoon yogurt, crushed kasuri methi (or dried fenugreek leaves), and fried potatoes.
- Boil it and cook for 10-15 minutes until it reaches desired consistency. Once baby potatoes are simmered, then garnish with cilantro. You can also sprinkle a teaspoon of fennel seeds for an aromatic flavor. Serve with Indian flatbread or steamed basmati rice.(Note: Add more oil, if needed to fry the masala properly).
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
The potatoes look gorgeous. We are having a curry tomorrow night so these will go perfectly.
Dana Sandonato says
I am such a sucker for any curry that includes potatoes, so this is a DREAM. I mean, there's nothing cozier to me. Warms the belly and the soul!
SunGari says
Yeah same for me too...nothing is more heavenly
Tavo says
I loved this Indian recipe!. So good!
Toni says
This is so good!! Everyone at my house was impressed! Thanks for the recipe!
SunGari says
My Pleasure
Ieva says
Yum! I've been looking for recipes to use Amchur powder that I bought a while back, and I am so pleased to have found your recipe! We had it last night with some rice and Naan and will definitely make this again soon! Thanks for the recipe!
SunGari says
I'm so glad you loved the recipe. This is one of my favorite with Naan too.