Aloo Mutter

The gravy is tomato made creamy, and the spicing is mild on purpose.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (single cream).

Ingredients

• 500 g potatoes, in 3 cm chunks
• 300 g peas
• 500 g tomatoes, chopped
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• 100 ml single cream
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red chilli
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 3 tablespoons ghee
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 300 ml water
• 20 g coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1. THE GRAVY IS TOMATO MADE CREAMY, AND THE SPICING IS MILD ON PURPOSE. Its article is specific: potatoes and peas in a MILDLY SPICED CREAMY TOMATO-BASED gravy. Both halves are instructions. Creamy and tomato together means the tomato is the body and the cream only softens it, which is a different thing from the nut-paste gravies elsewhere on these pages. And mild is the dish: half a teaspoon of chilli for four people, where the other gravies here carry two or three times that.
2. THE TOMATOES ARE COOKED UNTIL THE FAT SEPARATES. Twelve to fifteen minutes. In a gravy this gently spiced there is nothing to hide behind, and undercooked tomato tastes raw right through it.
3. THE CREAM GOES IN AT THE END, OFF THE BOIL. A hundred millilitres, stirred through with the pan barely bubbling. Boiled, it splits.
4. IT CAN BE MADE WITHOUT ONION OR GARLIC AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS SO. Leave both out, double the ginger and add a pinch of asafoetida to the hot fat. Worth knowing rather than worth hiding.
5. THE POTATOES GO IN BEFORE THE PEAS, BY A LONG WAY. Fifteen minutes against three or four. Peas in at the start go grey and floury.
6. THE GARAM MASALA IS LAST, OFF THE HEAT. As with every gravy here: it is a finishing blend and simmering flattens it.
7. THE GRAVY IS LOOSE ENOUGH TO SPOON. Three hundred millilitres of water, reduced until it coats the back of a spoon and no further.
8. ITS ARTICLE RECORDS IT AS A DOSA FILLING TOO. Drained of most of its gravy and spooned into a Dosa, as on its own page.
9. IT IS SERVED WITH A BREAD OR WITH RICE. Naan, as on its own page, is the usual one.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes