This is Aloo Pyaz sabzi is an Indian dhaba-style food recipe which is quite popular during the winter months. Here, baby potatoes and shallots are fried in ghee or clarified, and then cooked in a nutty tomato-based gravy. This is a vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and paleo-friendly dish that is quite popular to be served with butter-laden naans or tandoori rotis or Indian bread baked in clay ovens.

This Indian curry has fried baby potatoes and shallots, cooked in a gravy made with the Indian cooking essentials, like tomato, ginger and spices along with cashew nuts & seeds.

Dhabas or Indian highway restaurants have been somewhat of stalwarts of Indian cuisine. It is believed that they came up first with the opening of the Grand Trunk Road which runs between Peshawar (now in Pakistan) and Kolkata. Earlier, the truck drivers would frequent these highway food outlets for its cheap and fresh food. Mostly these dhabas or highway restaurants would serve spicy Punjabi cuisine dishes which were mostly prefered by the driver’s community.

Winter Delight – Aloo Pyaz Sabji – Baby Potato & Shallots Curry

This was a seasonal delight in my childhood when we would wait for the winters for this extremely delicious dish. Since it used to be one of the most exotic dishes on the menu, it would be made once in a week and would also get finished first. Those who knew would make a beeline for it on that particular day of the week to get it first.

While going through some of my childhood stuff, the memory of this dish suddenly came back. A quick call to my mother and I wrote down the recipe for this dish. While I was making this aloo pyaz sabzi, I realised why this was such a rare appearance on dhaba menus.

While I was writing this post, I quickly checked some of the menu leaflets of the local dhabas and realised that none of them serves Aloo Pyaz. Recipes like these are getting lost by the passage of time. Owing to the complexity in prepping the ingredients and cooking, most of the food outlets have phased out dishes like this. Also, busy lives have taken a toll on traditional cooking.

Earlier the ladies of the family would chat and gossip while prepping for meals like these. Peeling baby potatoes and shallots along with prepping the gravy base, all of this takes a while. However, the dish you get in the end is worth every minute of time and every ounce of effort spent on it.

Ingredients for Aloo Pyaz Sabji:

• Baby Potatoes – This recipe calls for baby potatoes and cooking them as a whole. However, if baby potatoes aren’t available then larger ones are also perfectly fine. Simply peel them and cut them in smaller cubes. Make sure your potato cubes are equal in size to the shallots and uniform
• Shallots – Peel the shallots and use them in this recipe. You can use small red onions as well
• Nuts & Seeds – This recipe calls for golden fried Cashews. Also, the gravy base is made of Cashew paste and Melon & White Sesame Seeds paste
• Tomato – The gravy is made with tomatoes. This makes the gravy body richer
• Ginger & Garlic
• Indian Spices – Actually this recipe requires minimal spices. All we need are Cinnamon and Green Cardamom
• Mustard Oil & Ghee or Clarified Butter – Originally this recipe is made with a ton of Ghee or Clarified Butter. potatoes, onion and Cashews are separately fried in Ghee, and then the curry is again made in ghee. However, I have made a switch to Mustard Oil while frying the potatoes, onions and cashew.

So, let’s check out the step-by-step process of making Aloo Pyaz Sabji

1. In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat some Mustard Oil and then fry the baby potatoes till they turn golden on a slow flame. This will take some time however, it will cook the potatoes in the inside. Once done take them out and keep them aside.
2. Now, in the same oil, toss in the shallots or baby red onions. Simply turn them around in the hot oil till they turn shiny and translucent. Once done, take them out and keep them aside.
3. Now, fry the cashews in the same oil and let them turn golden.

4. In the same Oil, add some Ghee and once it’s hot enough, add the semi crushed Green Cardamom and Cinnamon.
5. Add the gravy mix of tomatoes, ginger, garlic, fenugreek seeds or methi, dried fenugreek leaves or kasuri methi and nuts & seeds paste
6. Once the gravy mix reduces in half, add back the fried baby potatoes and let it simmer

7. Add a pinch of my homemade Garam Masala and Red Chili Powder
8. Once the baby potatoes are thoroughly cooked in the inside and you see a little bit of fat floating on the top of the gravy, its time to add back the fried onions/shallots and cashew
9. Add the fried shallots and cashew, and cook for a couple of minutes more. Give everything a good mix and then turn off the heat to serve

How to serve Aloo Pyaaz Sabji?

Ideally, this would be served with tandoori rotis or Indian flatbreads baked in clay ovens. They also go perfectly well with Naans as well as rice.

Pin this Aloo Pyaz Sabji recipe for later!

Share it with your Friends & Family!