We’re heading to the West Coast this week to visit family, which is AWESOME, considering it snowed this weekend. We’re really looking forward to some of the family meeting our little girl for the first time! In the meantime, we’re trying to be on our best behavior prior to leaving so we don’t eat out. Usually when we travel, I’m awful about making food at home being I don’t ‘want it to go to waste’, therefore we must go out to eat. Just a lame excuse to eat out though. That being said, I really wanted to make this aloo mutter.
I spent most of Saturday making us our own Indian buffet at home. We have aloo gobi, chana masala with sauteed greens, this aloo mutter, and rice. I was super excited to make this because one of my favorites from the buffet is aloo jeera, which I adapted this recipe from a typical aloo jeera recipe. Adding the peas made it slightly less guilt for eating a bunch of potatoes.
How to make vegan aloo mutter?
First you’ll need to boil the chopped potatoes and peas in a pot (I love my dutch oven for this). If you have larger potatoes, use 4 and if they’re slightly smaller than use 5. Also if you prefer a higher ratio of potatoes to peas, you can divide the bag of peas in half and save it for next time (or make some baby food if you are like us and have a little one that’s starting to eat). The yellow potatoes I’ve been getting from the farmer’s market take about 20 minutes to boil to a soft enough texture. This is slightly longer than I am used to, but it’s best to go by texture. Try to pierce your cubes with a fork and if it easily penetrates, they’re ready to go!
Once you’ve got the potatoes and peas cooked, you can heat olive oil on the stove. Next add the cumin seeds and give them a few seconds to sizzle. This will release that great aroma and flavor we all love. After a few seconds, add the spices and mix well. The cayenne pepper can be added at your own risk – we usually do about 1/8 of a tsp in most of our 4 serving dishes. It is quite hot, so use with caution. If you’re not into heat, omit it. After the spices are mixed in, add the peas and potatoes. Stir them in well to coat with the spices and oil. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Serve hot with rotis or naan.
What ingredients do I need?
- Potatoes – the bulk of the dish
- Peas – add some protein and texture
- Olive Oil – this is a slightly healthier restaurant style dish. Olive oil is how you impart some of that flavor.
- Cumin – cumin is in almost every Indian dish. It packs so much flavor.
- Garam Masala – this is a combination of several spices, and adds a lot of that ‘curry’ flavor anyone that’s tried Indian food will recognize.
- Coriander/cumin – these spices add a lot of flavor. Coriander is quite a complex profile, while cumin is very distinct earthy and nutty.
- Chili powder – the typical Tex-Mex flavor profile comes from this spice mix
- Cayenne Pepper – bring on the heat!
Aloo Mutter (Dry Sabzi)
Ingredients
- 5 medium yellow potatoes, cubed
- 1 bag of frozen peas
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp coriander cumin powder
- 2 tsp garam masala (can substitute curry powder)
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- cayenne pepper (as needed for spice level)
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Bring water to boil on stovetop. While it is heating up, wash and cut up potatoes.
- Once water is boiling, boil potatoes until easily pierced with a fork (~20 minutes) but judge with tenderness as all potatoes cook slightly different.
- Once the potato tenderness is about right, add the peas.
- Cook the peas and potatoes for another 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water (I do it all in the same colander since it's all added together at the same time later).
- In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add the cumin seeds until they start to sizzle.
- Add all the dry spices and allow them to be fully absorbed into the olive oil. Mix well.
- Stir in the potatoes and peas. Make sure to coat all the peas and potatoes with spices.
- Allow to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Optional: Top with cilantro and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. Serve warm with a chapati (roti), naan, or over rice.
Nutrition
Let me know what you think of this one in the comments below! You can modify this to remove the peas by adding about 3 more potatoes.
-Cassie 🙂