Aloo Matar Ki Subji, Restaurant Style

Nothing beats home cooked food...better if it’s made by your mother. Agree? 7.30 pm and I was back from my accounts tuition class. Maa was in the kitchen, in a printed blue chiffon sari, cooking dinner for us. Very carefully she added spices and gave it a mix. Quickly she kneads the dough and started making piping hot parathas. Oh that moment, when I close my eyes, I can see it all. Quick boil in the curry and she gave a spoon and asked to taste it. I grabbed the spoon and tasted aloo mutter ki subji, she waited for my answer...with spark in my eyes I replied-maa its super yummy, just like restaurant, how do you cook it?  Those little moments between a daughter and a mom, I wish I could freeze them forever.

Years later, she taught me how to make Aloo Mutter ki subji, like hers. Every now and then when I cook this subji, I wish I was a young girl who could go back to those days again. That’s about cooking, it engulfs you in memories and then when you bite into it, everything becomes better. Restaurant style aloo mutter ki subji (potatoes and peas curry) is one of those memorable dishes that happens once a while in my kitchen...it is a not every day curry, you need time and patience to cook this.

[More aloo subji (potato curry) recipes- aloo tamatar ki subji for kachori,  sukha aloo puri,  rassewale aloo,  aloo matar ki subji in cooker,   aloo channa]

So what makes a perfect restaurant style Aloo Mattar Ki Subji?

• Consistency-it is not dry (sukha) and it is not very watery (rassewali, jholwali) either; it is the balance of two, where you add water only to coat the veggies.
• Dried fenugreek leaves (Kasturi methi)- you have and have to serve this curry with sprinkle of  kasturi methi.
• Ginger and garlic paste- this is a must too. For the authentic taste, you need to add ginger garlic paste.
• Tomato puree- for the restaurant style, tomato puree is what you need; there must be no chunks of tomatoes.
• Garam Massala- Garam massala is a hot spice mix and it is one of the most important ingredients to make the perfect restaurant style curry.

So to master the perfect taste, please follow the above steps- not that complicated-isn’t it? So, lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

4 medium size potatoes, boiled and chopped

1/2 cup green peas/mutter boiled

2 medium size tomatoes

1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

2 tablespoons oil

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida/hing

1 bay leaf/tej patta

1 teaspoon cumin seeds/jeera

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi

1 and 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder/lal mirch

1 teaspoon coriander powder/dhaniya

1/2 teaspoon garam massala (recipe here)

Salt to taste

1 cup water

1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves/kasuri methi (see notes)

Method:

In a blender, blend tomatoes with 4 tablespoons of water, garam massala, coriander powder, turmeric powder and red chilli powder into puree.

Heat oil in a wok/kadai. When hot, add cumin seeds. Let it crackle.

Add, bay leaf and asafoetida.

Add ginger garlic paste and cook for 1 minute. Turn the heat to slow.

Add tomato and spices puree. Mix. Cover and cook till tomatoes paste become red in colour and oil starts appear on the sides. Approximately for 8 minutes.

Add salt, chopped potatoes and peas. Mix. Add 1 cup water. Cover and cook again for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, cook again for 5 minutes, the spices must have coated the potatoes and peas. If you see it is water, let it boil for more time.

Garnish with kasuri methi and serve.

Notes:

Cook it on slow heat, this ensures that spices are well blended with potatoes and peas.

You can add chopped coriander leaves as well.

This is a bit on spicy side, feel free to reduce the quantity of red chilli powder as per your taste.

Kasturi methi (dried fenugreek leaves) is easily available in any Indian grocery store. I used MDH one.  

Serving suggestions:

Serve with any Indian bread- roti, parathas, puri or naan.

It is simple in process, but the taste is really elegant, so why not serve in parties.

Goes well with rice as well.

For Punjabi thali, serve it with rice, makke ki roti, dal makhani and some chilli pickle.

For gujarati thali, serve it with palak puri, keri nu ras and dhokla.

For rajasthani thali- serve it with jowar ki roti, marwadi Bharwa Bhindi. and parathas.