Curry aloo is a simple and delicious dish that's very cheap to make. Pieces of potato are sautéed in curry and seasoned with herbs. Hot water is then added and then it's simmered until all the flavors meld, the potatoes are tender and a nice thickened sauce is achieved. It can be eaten alone with any of our popular roti, including sada roti, dost roti, paratha roti and dhapluri roti. Eaten as a side to curry chicken, curry goat, curry lamb, curry duck or even stewed chicken it really completes the meal. I love the simplicity it adds to these seemingly complex curry dishes. A palette cleanser of sorts before you dive into your next bite.
Peel potatoes, rinse and cut into 1 inch cubes. Set aside.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot (dutch oven) over low heat
When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds. When it starts to pop and darken, add onion and hot pepper and cook until the edges begin to brown.
Add curry and cook for 2 minutes. Add turmeric and cook another minute or until it is fragrant.
Add potatoes and stir to coat with the curry. Stir in chopped scallion, culantro, thyme, garlic and salt.
Ensure that the heat is low, cover and cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until the potatoes begin to stick to the pot.
Add about 2 cups of hot water or enough to cover, raise heat to high, bring to a boil, reduce heat back to medium low, cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.
Remove cover, mash about ½ of the potatoes and any large pieces with the back of the spoon. Cover the pot and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly. Feel free to add more water to create as much sauce as you like. Keep in mind that it thickens as it cools.
Taste and add more salt if required, add ground cumin and chopped culantro and serve with roti or rice.
Video
Notes
Cilantro is a good substitute for culantro, (bandhania, shado beni)
If you don't have access to cilantro, culantro, you may use only scallion and thyme or 2 tbs green seasoning if you have on hand.