Aloo Gobi Recipe

Make the best Aloo Gobi that’s simply delicious, flavor packed & healthy! There is nothing more comforting for an Indian soul than a bowl of fresh cooked sabzi (veggies) served with some hot fluffy Basmati Rice, puffed rotis or Chapati and Dal Tadka. This potato cauliflower curry is a pure comfort food if you love the magical Indian flavors. Made with pantry staples, this dish is surely going to win your heart for its simplicity & delicious flavors.

Aloo Gobi is a simple Indian vegetarian dish made with potatoes, cauliflower, spices and herbs. The dish gets its name from the Hindi words, – ‘Aloo’ translates to ‘potatoes’ and ‘Gobi’ to ‘Cauliflower’. It is a popular everyday dish from the Indian sub-continent and is made in numerous ways.

Traditionally it is a dry dish (with no sauce/gravy) but you will also find semi dry and curried versions (gravy) often. In fact every family & restaurant has their own recipe. Surprisingly no two restaurant serve the same tasting dish and everyone’s version is unique.

About the recipes

My family is a huge fan of this dish and they love it anytime. In this post I share 2 versions of the dish – semi dry and gravy. The semi dry version is made by simply stir frying the ingredients. Aloo & Gobi are a match made in the heaven! Stir frying them with spices and herbs, not only brings out the natural earthy flavor of potatoes and nutty aroma of cauliflower but also help them soak up the flavors of the spices.

This potato & cauliflower curry goes well with roti, rice, Plain Paratha or with flavored rice like Jeera Rice and Ghee Rice. For a restaurant kind meal, serve the gravy with Butter Naan or Tandoori Roti.

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All the ingredients used to make Indian sabzis (curries) are used here as well but the cooking process in not the same. Aloo and gobi both have different cook times so adding them to the pan at different stages is crucial. A perfectly made aloo gobi has soft cooked potatoes & slightly crunchy cauliflower that’s not soggy.

In a lot of standard Indian restaurants, both these veggies are mostly deep fried until golden and crisp. A spicy onion tomato masala is made and then the fried veggies are stir fried or simmered with it. Deep frying the veggies makes a huge difference as they cook down to a lighter texture and bring out the natural flavor.

My homemade Aloo Gobi stir fry (Recipe 1) is healthy, easy to make in one pan and tastes delicious too. It also goes well in the school and office lunch boxes. I mostly make the restaurant style gravy version on the weekends or occasions, to go with our favorite jeera rice and butter naan.

This is how my homestyle gravy looks like but a lot more healthier than the restaurant version. For the recipe scroll down where I show the process with the step by step pictures.

More Cauliflower Recipes
Cauliflower Stir Fry
Gobi Manchurian
Gobi 65
Cauliflower Curry
Cauliflower Pakoda
Coconut Cauliflower Kurma

Photo Guide

How to make Aloo Gobi (Recipe 1- Stepwise photos)

Preparation

1. Prepare the following ingredients:

• Peel & cube 2 medium potatoes to make 1½ cup pieces of ¾ by ¾ inch each. Keep them immersed in water until required.
• Chop a cauliflower head, to make 2 cups (180 grams) florets, chopped to 1½ inch. Optionally add the florets to slightly hot water and rest for 3 to 4 mins. Later rinse them well and drain.
• Fine chop 1 medium onion, to make ¾ to 1 cup chopped onions
• Deseed & fine chop 2 medium tomatoes to make ¾ to 1 cup (or ¼ cup canned tomato puree (without citric acid) or use 2 tbsp tomato paste stirred with 3 tablespoons water)
• ½ tablespoon (½ inch) ginger peeled & minced or grated
• ½ tablespoon (3 to 4) garlic cloves, peeled & minced or pressed
• 1 green chili slit or chopped (optional)

Stir Fry Potatoes

2. Pour 2 tablespoons oil to a heavy bottom pan and heat it. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds. When they begin to sizzle, add ginger and garlic. Saute just for 30 seconds.

3. Add fine chopped onion & chopped green chili. Saute them until onions turn transparent.

4. Drain the potatoes from water and add them. Saute for 2 to 3 mins.

5. Cover and cook until they are half done, for about 8 to 9 mins. If the potatoes dry out, sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons water as you cook.

Stir Fry Potato & Cauliflower

6. When the potatoes are half cooked, add cauliflower and stir fry for 3 mins. Add

• ¾ to 1¼ teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 to 1½ teaspoon garam masala (adjust as needed)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric

7. Mix well. Sprinkle some water (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) all over or across the sides of the pan. This prevents the dish from becoming dry. Cook covered, stirring after every few minutes, until both potatoes and cauliflower are almost tender. Sprinkle salt and mix. Cover and cook again until potatoes are soft & fully cooked. The cauliflower should remain slightly crunchy.

8. Add chopped tomatoes (or tomato puree or tomato paste) (optional). Crush 1 tablespoon kasuri methi in your palms and sprinkle it here. Stir fry on a medium high heat until the tomato blends well with the aloo gobi masala. The raw flavor of the tomatoes should vanish. This just takes 2 to 3 mins. At this stage taste test and add more salt and ground spice spices if needed.

9. Sprinkle ½ to 1 teaspoon Amchur (optional) if using. Garnish aloo gobi with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or roti. You can sprinkle lemon juice if you love the tang.

Serve Aloo gobi with roti, rice or paratha.

Expert Tips

1. Always sauté & cook potatoes until half done before adding the cauliflower. Potatoes take longer to cook than cauliflower so avoid adding them together to the pan.
2. Do not add salt till the potatoes are almost done. Adding salt will prevent them from cooking well since there is not much water used.
3. The latter part of cooking has to be done on a low flame which helps the veggies to release some moisture and cook well without burning.
4. If using tomatoes do not add them until the potatoes are soft cooked. The acidity in tomatoes will prevent the aloo from cooking faster.

Variations

1. This can be made without onion, tomatoes, garlic & even green chili. I do make this baby version for my young boys as they are fussy to eat it with all those ingredients.
2. My recipe shared here has all of the above ingredients and makes the best aloo gobi. However leaving out onion or tomatoes is just okay and the dish still turns out good. Leaving out both makes the dish very dry so use more oil.
3. For a quicker version, just toss potatoes and cauliflower in spice powders along with little oil. Then bake them in a oven or air fryer. Make the onion tomato masala and then add the baked potatoes and cauliflower to the masala.

Photo Guide

Recipe 2 – Aloo Gobi Masala (Restaurant Style)

In restaurants, aloo and gobi is first deep fried to quicken the process and make the dish more delicious. For healthy home style, I have baked them in the oven. You can also air fry or stir fry or steam them.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
• 3 green cardamoms (optional, may use bay leaf, cinnamon stick or cloves if you prefer)
• 1 cup (135 grams) fine chopped onions (1 large onion)
• 1¼ cup (265 grams) tomato puree (3 medium tomatoes/ 2 cups chopped and pureed or 1 cup canned)
• 1½ teaspoon ginger grated
• 1½ teaspoon garlic minced
• ½ cup cashew cream (20 cashews pureed with 1/3 cup water) or coconut milk or 1½ tbsps. Cashew butter (you may leave out this to make a semi-dry version)
• 1¼ cup water (adjust as required, cut down to make a semi-dry version)
• ¾ to 1¼ teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder (reduce for low heat or use ½ tsp paprika & ¼ tsp cayenne)
• 1½ teaspoons Garam masala (more if required)
• 1½ teaspoons Coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
• 1/3 teaspoon amchur (dried mango powder or lemon juice to serve)
• ¾ tablespoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

To roast /stir fry or air fry or steam

• 350 grams (¾ pound) cauliflower florets (1½ to 2 inch florets, 1 medium head cauliflower)
• 350 grams (¾ pound) potatoes, diced to 1 inch cubes
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (leave out for low heat)
• 2 teaspoons oil (or 2 tbsps to stir fry)
• ¾ teaspoon garam masala
• 1/3 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)

Instructions

Prepare aloo and gobi

1. You have 3 options to prepare your potatoes and cauliflower. They need to cook fully or at least al dente, before adding to the sauce else they may take forever to cook in the sauce.
a. You can steam them in a steamer. First steam the potatoes until half done, then add the cauliflower. Steam till al dente and not mushy.
b. Or Pan fry or shallow fry them separately (one after the other) in 2 tablespoons oil until crisp & golden.
c. Or Air Fry them or bake. Here I am using the oven to bake them

2. Preheat the oven to 450 F – 220 C for 15 mins. (You can also steam or air fry or stir fry the potatoes and cauliflower separately in batches using 2 tablespoons oil). Meanwhile peel and dice potatoes to 1 inch pieces. Add them to a prepared baking tray (lined with parchment paper). To another tray, lined with parchment paper, add cauliflower florets.

3. Mix together ¼ to ½ Kashmiri chili powder, 1/3 teaspoon salt and ¾ teaspoon garam masala in a small bowl and sprinkle half of it over the potatoes and the other half over the cauliflower. Add one teaspoon oil each to potatoes and cauliflower, mix them well and spread on the tray.

4. Place the potatoes in the lower rack and the cauliflower in the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 20 to 22 mins, until fully cooked, golden and slightly crisp, but not overcooked. You don’t need to stir them at all.

Make the Gravy

5. While the aloo and gobi bake, heat a pan with oil and add the whole spices – cumin and cardamoms.

6. When they begin to sizzle, stir in the onions and saute on a medium heat until golden, for 7 minutes. Stir in ginger garlic and saute for 40 to 50 seconds.

7. Add the tomatoes and saute until they break down and turn mushy.

8. Add the ground spices – chili powder, turmeric, cumin powder, garam masala and coriander powder.

9. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes until the masala turns fragrant.

10. Stir in ½ to ¾ cup water and cashew cream. Bring to a rolling boil on a high heat and reduce to low. (Variation: If you want to make a semi-dry curry with no gravy, simply cut down the water to ¼ cup and leave out the cashew cream. Bring to a rolling boil and leave out the next step. Leaving out this step will save you 10 mins time).

11. Cook covered until the sauce turns thick and creamy. This step can take about 8 to 10 minutes.

12. Add the cauliflower and potatoes. Mix well. (Optionally, add a splash of hot water if required, if the sauce is too thick.) Cover and simmer just for 2 to 3 mins.

13. Add salt, amchur (optional) and crush kasuri methi in your palms and sprinkle it. Taste test and add more salt or garam masala to taste if you want. Garnish aloo gobi with chopped coriander leaves. Squeeze some lemon juice before serving. Serve it over Basmati rice or with Chapati or butter naan.

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Aloo Gobi Recipe first published in May 2016. Updated & Republished in May 2023.

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