Potatoes
आलूآلو
ālū
Yukon Gold or red.
Its job: The body of the curry.
Science-backed recipe
From the MedRise Food Science kitchenPublished
Aloo Mattar: The Everyday Potato and Pea Curry
Also called Aloo Matar · Aloo Mutter · आलू मटर · آلو مٹر
Tender potatoes and sweet peas in a spiced onion-tomato gravy, the comfort sabzi of North Indian homes.
From the MedRise Food Science kitchenPublished - Active
- 40 min
- Prep
- 15 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Serves
- 4
Why this recipe works
- ✓Pantry ingredientsPotatoes, frozen peas, onion and tomato.
- ✓Self-thickening gravyCrush a few potatoes.
- ✓Vegan with oilNo dairy needed.
- ✓Instant Pot4 minutes under pressure.
What is aloo mattar?
Aloo mattar is potatoes (aloo) and peas (mattar) in a spiced tomato gravy, an everyday North Indian sabzi with roti, puri or rice.
Meet the ingredients
The main ingredients, with their English, Hindi and Urdu names.
Green peas
मटरمٹر
maṭar
Frozen peas work perfectly.
Its job: Sweetness and color.
Tomatoes
टमाटरٹماٹر
ṭamāṭar
Peeled and pureed.
Its job: The gravy.
Grow it yourself: Potatoes, Tomatoes, Cilantro (dhania), Garlic, Ginger
The lab notes
The science behind every step
Restaurant cooks do these things by habit. Here’s what each step is actually doing to the food, so you can cook by understanding instead of guesswork.
Lab note01
Crush a few potatoes
Mash a few potato pieces into the gravy.
Cooked potatoes release gelatinized starch when broken, which thickens the gravy without cream or flour.
Lab note02
Same-size cubes
Cut the potatoes into even 1-inch cubes.
Even pieces cook through at the same time under pressure.
How to peel tomatoes, the food-science way
Score, blanch for 30–60 seconds, chill in ice water, and the skins slip right off. Peeled tomatoes cook into a smoother, silkier masala with no chewy flecks of skin.
1. ScoreCut a shallow X through the skin on the bottom of each tomato.
2. BlanchLower the tomatoes into rolling boiling water (a saucepan, or the Instant Pot on Sauté, More/High) for 30–60 seconds, just until the skin at the X starts to split.
3. ChillLift them straight into a bowl of ice water for about 1 minute.
4. PeelStarting at the X, slip the skins off with your fingers. Cut out the core, then chop or blend.
Why peel at all?
Tomato skin is a tough, waxy layer that doesn’t break down with cooking; in a long-cooked masala it curls into chewy flecks. The skin is also where almost all of a tomato’s flavonoids sit, mainly naringenin chalcone and rutin, the kind of plant compounds that can taste faintly bitter or astringent. Texture is the bigger, better-proven reason, but peeled tomatoes give the smoothest, cleanest-tasting gravy.
Why the boiling water works
A short plunge heats only the outer layer. The heat weakens the pectin that glues the skin to the flesh, and steam forming underneath pushes the skin away, so it splits and curls back at the X while the flesh inside stays raw and firm.
Why the ice bath
Ice water stops the cooking at once, so the flesh doesn’t turn soft and mushy, and makes the tomatoes cool enough to peel right away. More than about a minute in the boiling water starts to cook the flesh.
Sources: National Center for Home Food Preservation: Put It Up! Boiling Water Canning · Muir et al., Nature Biotechnology (2001): flavonoids in tomato peel
How to make it, at a glance
- Bloom the cuminSelect Sauté (More/High) and heat the oil. Add the cumin seeds for 20–30 seconds.
- Brown the onionsAdd the onions and cook until golden, 7–8 minutes.
- Ginger-garlic, then spicesAdd the ginger-garlic paste for 1 minute, then the salt, chili powder, turmeric and coriander for 30 seconds.
- TomatoesAdd the tomatoes and cook until thick and the oil separates, 5–6 minutes.
- Pressure cookAdd the potatoes and water, scrape the bottom well, lock the lid and pressure cook on High for 4 minutes. Natural release 5 minutes, then quick release.
- Peas and finishSelect Sauté, add the peas and crush a few potatoes into the gravy. Simmer 3 minutes, stir in the garam masala and top with cilantro.
Exact amounts and timings are in the recipe card below.
Questions, answered
Is aloo mattar vegan?
Yes, cooked in oil.
Can I use fresh peas?
Yes; add them with the potatoes if they’re large and starchy.
About MedRise Food Science
Desi restaurant favorites, recreated at home and explained with food science: every recipe is tested in a home kitchen and comes with the why behind each step.
Recipe card
Aloo Mattar
Punjabi aloo mattar in the Instant Pot: potatoes and peas in a thin, spiced tomato gravy, ready in 30 minutes. Vegan with oil, with the food science of a gravy that thickens itself.
Prep15 minCook25 minTotal40 minServes4 servings
Ingredients
Indian base
Curry
Instructions (Instant Pot)
- Bloom the cuminSelect Sauté (More/High) and heat the oil. Add the cumin seeds for 20–30 seconds.
- Brown the onionsAdd the onions and cook until golden, 7–8 minutes.
- Ginger-garlic, then spicesAdd the ginger-garlic paste for 1 minute, then the salt, chili powder, turmeric and coriander for 30 seconds.
- TomatoesAdd the tomatoes and cook until thick and the oil separates, 5–6 minutes.
- Pressure cookAdd the potatoes and water, scrape the bottom well, lock the lid and pressure cook on High for 4 minutes. Natural release 5 minutes, then quick release.
- Peas and finishSelect Sauté, add the peas and crush a few potatoes into the gravy. Simmer 3 minutes, stir in the garam masala and top with cilantro.
Stovetop method
Use a heavy pot with a lid.
- SimmerMake the base, add the potatoes and 2 cups water, cover and simmer 20 minutes until tender, then finish as above.
Notes
- Storage
- Refrigerate up to 4 days.
Equipment
- Instant Pot (6 qt)