Jeera Aloo Recipe is a very popular dish recipe in Northern and Central parts of India. Jeera Aloo is often made in meal – during and after fasting with Indian breads.
To make this dish as a food for fasting you need to add Rock Salt instead of Table Salt.
It is a very fulfilling dish and is served with Plain Paratha or Puri along with Yogurt or Cucumber Raita or Kaddu Raita.
It is famously known as Aloo Ke Gutke in Uttarakhand (a state in North of India) where it forms a part of Pahari cuisines. There are many other special dishes prepared in Uttarakhand like Kulath Ki dal.
Here in Uttarakhand Aloo Ke Gutke or Jeera Aloo forms a part of Pahari cuisines and to spice up you may want to add Whole Red Chillies while cooking rest of the spices.
You may also want to replace Vegetable Oil with mustard oil to get the mustard flavour built deep into your dish.
The word Pahari is the term referred to any of the several peoples inhabiting the Himalayan regions of northern India and Nepal.
Due to the cold climatic conditions the tasty cuisines from these regions are quite spicy.
Jeera Aloo Recipe is a quick and easy recipe to make Jeera Aloo at home. We definitely recommend you give a try to Jeera Aloo with Plain Paratha or Mooli Paratha and some Tea.
Due to excellent blend of cooked spices in Jeera Aloo with some sweet taste of Sugar from Tea it is quite an addictive combination.
The dish can be prepared using raw potatoes or by boiling them first in pressure cooker. There is whole lot of difference in taste when prepared in either ways and we simply love them both.
As a side dish, Jeera Aloo tastes best when served with Puri or Mooli Paratha, with some tea.
You can also serve some Raita such as Cucumber Raita or Kaddu Raita with it.
In case you are planning a road trip and want to cook some food for journey then Jeera Aloo is an excelled choice.
As Jeera Aloo and Puri do not spoil quickly this combination is excellent for road trips. During festivals you should also compliment the dish with some Suji Halwa or Rice Kheer.
Refer detailed steps and recipe card to make Jeera Aloo at home.
Making Jeera Aloo at home
In this section we go through few easy steps which you need to take to make Jeera Aloo at home. We have added pictures of milestones so you can validate your progress as you make Jeera Aloo.
Preparation for Jeera Aloo by boiling Potatoes
Take potatoes in a pressure cooker and add 3 – 4 cup water so that Potatoes are submerged under it. Now switch on the gas and take one whistle on high and one on low flame.
Now chop green chilies and coriander leaves.
Once the pressure gets released open the pressure cooker and peel potatoes. The potatoes may be very hot so either you can wait for another few minutes or use normal or mild cold water to cool them down.
Do not keep potatoes in cold water for long or else the taste may change.
Take peeled potatoes and cut them into small or medium pieces.
Preparation for Jeera Aloo without boiling Potatoes
There is a second method for making Jeera Aloo and in this method the only difference if that you do not boil potatoes before hand. In this method, you simply need to peel potatoes and cut them into small or medium cube or block shapes.
Now, once the spices are cooked, instead of adding boiled potatoes you add these chopped potatoes to make the dish.
While cooking you would also need to add small quantity of water so that potatoes cook properly. Adding small amount of water will also ensure your dish doesn’t stick to the frying pan.
If you use this method, then the preparation time is very less while the cook time will increase slightly. All the remaining steps will remain the same for both methods.
Make Jeera Aloo
Take vegetable oil in a frying pan and put it on high flame burner. Once the oil becomes hot add Cumin seeds to it.
If the Vegetable oil is too hot the next step should be done very quickly else the spices may burn in no time.
When Cumin seeds will start crackling and turn brown in colour add pinch of Asafoetida, 1/2 tsp Salt, 1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder, 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp Coriander powder and chopped green chillies to it and stir for less than a minute.
This will ensure that the spices aka Masalas are cooked but not burnt. Don’t stir for too long else the spices will burn and you might get that burnt flavour in the Jeera Aloo.
Now add Potatoes in the frying pan.
Saute Potatoes for a minute or two.
Now turn off the gas and your Aloo Jeera dish is ready. If you are using raw chopped potatoes you would need to cook slightly longer until potatoes become soft.
Tips & Tricks – To add Pahari cuisine flavour you should use mustard oil and 2 whole Red chillies while cooking spices and your Pahari style Aloo Ke Gutke is ready. We recommend using home made spices to make Jeera Aloo for best flavour.
Before serving the dish, garnish it with some finely chopped Coriander leaves on top.
Serving Ideas – Jeera Aloo
Jeera Aloo is usually prepared during festivals and fasts and goes well with Puri and Paratha.
Since, Jeera Aloo is a dry spicy curry dish hence it is best suited with different kinds of bread, it could even be Chapati with some Clarified butter aka (also known as) Ghee.
You can prepare it as a main dish or a side dish but in all case it is a brilliant spicy food which will just give you that hunger boost. With some other curry dishes it can very well go along with Steamed Rice or Fried Rice.
During fast, if you don’t want to make your whole meal too much bulky in calories, you can even make simple Jeera Aloo and roti aka chapati rolls and have them on their own or with some curd or Raita dishes.
Since, Jeera Aloo is made in vegetable oil and is a bit greasy it does not spoil easily especially during winters and you can make great breakfast combinations for it next day.
With some left over Jeera Aloo you can also make some Bread Sandwiches as breakfast next day.
We are sure that if you make Jeera Aloo sandwiches, you will no longer like the normal ordinary potato sandwiches.
This is probably because of all the spices you used to Jeera Aloo. Give it a try and let us know in comments below this article.
However, during Summer seasons we won’t recommend eating any food item that has been cooked for more than a day.
If you have cooked them for dinner and want to use them next day that it is best to keep them in refrigerator.
In places where the temperature is very hot, even though you refrigerate it is advisable to check them next day before reheating and eating them.
The best way to check if these are any good next day is to smell them and if they smell too much different than the previous day or taste sour they should not be consumed or used to prepare anything else.
Though it is an unconventional idea but you can even try them on their own with Tea or Coffee. The spicy flavour with sweetness from Tea and Coffee gives a very different by tasty flavour.
Chef Recommendation for Jeera Aloo
- If you want, you can have Jeera Aloo during fast however in such case you need to replace Table Salt with Rock Salt.
- Jeera Aloo is best served with Plain Paratha, Mooli Paratha or Puri.
- Add whole Red chillies and use mustard oil instead to give it the Pahari style flavour.
Discover more Recipes
And that is not all folks! Shall we take this opportunity to invite you to discover more tasty and yummy recipes in our food wonderland.
- Jeera Aloo is bit spicy, so why not compliment it with some desserts? Check some sweet and tasty desserts in our Dessert section.
- Why not try few desserts with Jeera Aloo and Puri. Check these desserts –
Jeera Aloo Recipe
Ingredients
Main Ingredients for Jeera Aloo
- 300 g Potato Aloo
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Seed Jeera
- 1/2 tsp Red Chillies Powder Lal Mirch Powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder Haldi Powder
- Pinch of Asafoetida Hing
- 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder Dhaniya Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt Namak or As per taste
- 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- Few Coriander Leaves Hara Dhaniya
Optional Ingredients
- 10 g Green Chillies Hari Mirch
Instructions
Preparation Steps to make Aloo Jeera
- Take potatoes in a pressure cooker and add 3 – 4 cup water so that Potatoes are submerged under it. Now switch on the gas and take one whistle on high and one on low flame.300 g Potato
- Now chop green chilies and coriander leaves.10 g Green Chillies, Few Coriander Leaves
- Once the pressure gets released open the pressure cooker and peel potatoes. The potatoes may be very hot so either you can wait for another few minutes or use normal or mild cold water to cool them down. Do not keep potatoes in cold water for long or else the taste may change.300 g Potato
- Take peeled potatoes and cut them into small or medium pieces.
How to make Aloo Jeera
- Take vegetable oil in a frying pan and put it on high flame burner. Once the oil becomes hot add Cumin seeds to it.3 tbsp Vegetable Oil, 1/2 tsp Cumin Seed
- When Cumin seeds will start crackling and turn brown in color add pinch of Asafetida, Salt, Red Chili powder, Turmeric powder, Coriander powder and chopped green chilies to it and stir for less than a minute.1/2 tsp Red Chillies Powder, 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder, Pinch of Asafoetida, 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder, 10 g Green Chillies, 1/2 tsp Salt
- Now add Potatoes in the frying pan and saute them for a minute or two. Now turn off the gas and your Aloo Jeera dish is ready.300 g Potato
- Before serving the dish, garnish it with some finely chopped Coriander leaves on top.1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
