Aloo matar with brown butter tadka

Aloo matar is a vegetarian North Indian curry featuring potatoes and peas cooked in a spiced tomato gravy. This aloo matar from Adam Liaw features the use of a tadka, a cooking technique used widely in Indian cuisine where spices or aromatics are bloomed in hot ghee or oil to create a fragrant infusion to pour over dishes, elevating its flavour and aroma.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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One Pan Spicy Veg

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

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episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

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Ingredients

• 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 10 g butter
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 cm x 3 cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• ½ cup passata
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vegetable stock powder (optional)
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp Korean or Kashmiri chilli powder
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 large potatoes, peeled, cut into 1.5 cm cubes
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ½ cup (125 ml) water
• 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves, optional (methi)

For the tadka

• 20 g butter, unsalted
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp Korean or Kashmiri chilli powder

Instructions

1. Heat a large frying pan with a lid over medium heat. Add the oil, butter and cumin seeds. When the cumin begins to crackle, add the onion, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, or until softened.
   
2. Stir through the passata and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the salt, stock powder (if using) and spices. Stir to combine, then add the potatoes, peas and ½ a cup of water. You can add an extra splash of water if required during the cooking process, but the ideal result is a thickened sauce.
   
3. Cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Stir through the fenugreek leaves and transfer the aloo matar to a serving plate.
   
4. To make the tadka, heat the butter, cumin seeds and garlic in a small saucepan until the butter and garlic are lightly browned. Stir through the chilli powder, pour the tadka over the aloo matar and serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

One Pan Spicy Veg

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G