Jeera Aloo

5 from 4 votes

Jeera Aloo, a simple Indian dish of stir-fried potatoes with cumin, needs just seven ingredients and comes together in 20 minutes. It's so yummy, however, that you will fall in love. This makes a great vegetable side dish for dinner served with roti or puri or with dal and rice. In addition to being vegan, this dish is also gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free. It's also very kid-friendly.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Vegetable side

Cuisine: Indian, nut-free, Soy-free

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Ingredients

4 large potatoes (boiled and cubed. Use any kind. A potato that will hold its shape is better, like a yellow or red, but russet potatoes will work here too).
1 teaspoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
1 ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
20 curry leaves (can sub with 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves)
1-inch knob ginger (julienned)
½ teaspoon turmeric
2 green chili peppers (like jalapeno or serrano, finely minced. Deseed if sensitive to heat.)
Salt to taste

Instructions

Heat the oil in a wok or large fry pan. Add the cumin seeds and as they start to darken slightly, add the curry leaves, ginger, green chili peppers, and turmeric.
Stir quickly to mix and add the potato cubes.
Stir-fry the potatoes for a couple of minutes to warm them through. Add salt and turn off heat. You can squeeze some lemon juice into this sabzi, but I prefer it without any.

Notes

Serve the jeera aloo with dal and rice or with an Indian flatbread like puri or roti. Try it with my Garlicky Spinach Dal.
If you don't have curry leaves use cilantro or coriander leaves.
You can sub the green chilli peppers with dry red chillies, broken into pieces. Or use red pepper flakes, or, if you want less heat, use a pinch or two of red chilli powder.
You can boil the potatoes whole on a stovetop for this dish or pressure cook them. I sometimes use my microwave but keep in mind that large potatoes, like russets, can remain raw in the middle when using a microwave. If using a stovetop pressure cooker place the potatoes in a couple of inches of water and cook for two whistles for small or medium potatoes or three whistles for large. You can also use your Instant Pot to boil the potatoes. Pour a cup of water in the IP liner, then place a trivet in the liner and place the potatoes on it. Pressure cook for 6-8 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. For larger potatoes, like russets, you might need up to 10 minutes.
Some cooks add other ingredients to jeera aloo, including coriander powder, amchur or mango powder and tomatoes for a spicier version. I prefer not to because that just overwhelms the flavor of the cumin and makes it disappear, instead of shine in this dish.

Nutrition