Dum Aloo is a North Indian curry with baby potatoes simmered in onion and tomato-based gravy, spiced with turmeric, red chili pepper, garam masala, and garnished with dried fenugreek leaves. This vegetarian Instant Pot recipe is ready in under 30 minutes with creamy kid-friendly flavors that can be easily spiced down or up. A perfect weeknight dinner and a sure-hit dish for potlucks and parties!
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This Recipe originally published in April 2017 has been updated with new photos, a video, and tips.
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Mom's signature recipe
Dum aloo is my mom's signature recipe that I grew up eating. The baby potatoes are cooked to perfection in a smooth, aromatic, and creamy sauce with a hint of homemade garam masala , and dried fenugreek leaves that take the flavors and aromas to the next level. Just like my EASY Palak Paneer and Mushroom Masala, this creamy, restaurant-style Indian curry uses a swirl of cashew paste to round up the flavors.
Ingredient Spotlight
- Baby Potatoes - red or yellow baby potatoes in this recipe, traditionally the potatoes are peeled for this recipe but you may choose to keep the skin on for added nutrients.
- Spices - Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric, garam masala add the perfect warmth and authetic flavors to this curry
- Ginger and Garlic - fresh homemade ginger and garlic paste
- Tomatoes - I like to add store-bought tomato puree to this dish which adds vibrant red color to the dish. You can use homemade tomato puree by simply pureeing 3 rough-chopped ripe tomatoes in a blender.
Tips and Substitutes
- Potatoes - You can buy red or yellow baby potatoes, available in most grocery stores. A mix of 2 also works well. Coring baby potatoes is an optional step. I know that is the most tedious step in this recipe, so go ahead and skip coring potatoes. It will be still delicious If you do not find baby potatoes, use Yukon gold or Russet potatoes, peel, and cut into big 2-inch pieces
- Tomatoes - 1 cup of store-bought tomato puree can be used in place of fresh tomato puree
- Gluten-Free - The curry itself is gluten-free. Serve with rice for a gluten-free meal
- Vegan Dum Aloo - Use cooking oil instead of ghee and soak cashews in water instead of milk.
- Kid-Friendly - Adjust the garam masala and Kashmiri red chili powder to make the dish less spicy
- Nut Allergies - Use heavy cream or unsweetened coconut cream instead of cashew cream
- Dried fenugreek leaves - These are not the same as fenugreek seeds. So simply skip it if you do not have them
How to make Dum Aloo
- Peel the potatoes and core about half an inch using a pairing knife. Reserve the cored potato bits as we will be adding them to the sauce. (photos 1 -4)
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and heat ghee. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes with a glass lid on. Add ginger and garlic paste, tomato puree, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, and salt. Cook on saute mode for a minute. Next, add the potatoes, the carved-out pieces, and water. Give a quick stir and close the Instant Pot. Pressure cook(Hi) for 8 minutes followed by Quick Release (photos 5 - 8)
- Open the Instant Pot and add dried fenugreek leaves, cashew paste, and chopped cilantro. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and mix everything together. Add salt to taste. Bring to a gentle boil and then turn the Instant Pot off. (photos 9 - 12)
Serving
Serve with homemade whole wheat parathas and crunchy cucumber salad. You can also serve the dum aloo with roti, kale parathas, cabbage parathas, methi thepla, or naan. For a gluten-free meal serve with Basmati rice, Brown rice, or Yogurt-Rice
Storing
Refrigerate leftover Dum Aloo for up to 5 days. To reheat simply microwave or heat on the stovetop. This is also a perfect make-ahead dish.
Love Indian food? Here are some more delicious Indian Instant Pot Recipes:
- Aloo Rasedar
- Curried Baby Eggplant
- Curried Chickpeas
- Spicy potatoes
- Vegetable Kurma
- Pav Bhaji
- Misal Pav
★ Have you tried this recipe? We love your feedback, Please click on the stars in the recipe card below to rate.
Recipe
Instant Pot Dum Aloo
Equipment
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 10 baby potatoes peeled and cored from the top (save the carved out potato pieces)
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 large yellow onion finely diced
- 2 teaspoons ginger grated
- 2 teaspoons garlic grated
- 2 tomatoes pureed
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder or any other mild red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup water See Note 8
- 15 cashews
- ¼ cup warm milk or water for dairy free
- 1 tablespoon kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Soak cashews in warm milk for 10 minutes and set aside. Blend together to make smooth paste and reserve.
- Set the Instant Pot to saute mode and heat add ghee. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes with a glass lid on, stirring few times. Add ginger and garlic paste, cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the carved-out pieces from the potatoes. Add tomato puree, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, and salt. Cook everything on saute mode for 2 minutes with glass lid on, stirring a couple of times. Press the cancel button to turn off the saute mode.
- Add the potatoes to the Instant Pot insert along with the water and give a quick stir. Close the Instant Pot, and pressure cook(Hi) for 8 minutes followed by Quick Release.
- Stir in dried fenugreek leaves, cashew paste and chopped cilantro. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and mix everything together. Add salt to taste. Bring to gentle boil and then turn the Instant Pot off. Serve with hot parathas.
Notes
- Potatoes - You can buy red or yellow baby potatoes, available in most grocery stores. A mix of 2 also works well. Coring baby potatoes is an optional step. I know that is the most tedious step in this recipe, so go ahead and skip coring potatoes. It will be still delicious If you do not find baby potatoes, use Yukon gold or Russet potatoes, peel, and cut into big 2-inch pieces
- Tomatoes - 1 cup of store-bought tomato puree can be used in place of fresh tomato puree
- Gluten-Free - The curry itself is gluten-free. Serve with rice for a gluten-free meal
- Vegan Dum Aloo - Use cooking oil instead of ghee and soak cashews in water instead of milk.
- Kid-Friendly - Adjust the garam masala and Kashmiri red chili powder to make the dish less spicy
- Nut Allergies - Use heavy cream or unsweetened coconut cream instead of cashew cream
- Dried fenugreek leaves - These are not the same as fenugreek seeds. So simply skip it if you do not have them
- BURN Error - The newer Instant Pots are more sensitive to the BURN. You may need to add an extra ¼ cup of water.
Nutrition
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Sai Pradyumna says
This recipe came out really well and the cashew cream and fenugreek leaves added a lot of richness to the curry. I was wondering how adding spinach to this recipe would work. I would love to know your thoughts. As an aside, it would be great if you could try and share a Hariyali Dum Aloo recipe.
Archana says
I love addition of spinach, and I always add chopped spinach after pressure cooking is done as it cooks so quickly.
Ruchi says
Turned out really well. We finished the entire thing in no time.
Jack Chawla says
Excellent recipe. Family loved it.
Namita Shukla says
Thank you for this recipe turned out very good and my family enjoyed it with white rice.
Urvika says
Hello there, I am about to make this— can I use canned tomatoes? And does this freeze well?
Archana says
Yes, you can use canned tomatoes. It will freeze well.
Renu says
Why do you core the potatoes?
Archana says
Mom always did as it cooks the potatoes well and the cored out pieces also adds a nice body to the gravy.
MC Hickory says
Under the nutritional information, is the data based on the entire dish or serving size?
Archana says
Its based on the servings size
Snehal Berajawala says
This dish was phenomenal. I made mine vegan by using oil instead of ghee and pureed the cashews in water. I ended up pureeing the gravy part bc my husband doesn't like chunky gravy.
Easynutfreevegan says
Is there a way to make this nut free (replace cashews with pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds??)
Archana says
yes! You can use heavy cream
Missy pretty says
Enjoy making and with my family - it was very delicious; one alteration at my end- I blended the onion tomato masala paste before filing inthe potatoes and made it into a gravy; required to add water as I got burn sign after 5 mins of setting to cook but after adding more water and setting for another 5 mins it was perfect - no mushy potatoes
Savi says
Excellent dish! So easy to make and fool prof recipe! I pierced holes in the small potatoes and it still tasted heavenly. Ty Archana for another awesome recipe!
Mona Patel says
Absolutely Amazing!!!
Dana Renee' says
SOooooooo good. Me and my family have seriously loved every recipe I've made from you! Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes!!!!
Dana Renee' says
SOooooooo good! My family and I have enjoyed every recipe is yours that I've made!
Alicia says
Made this tonight and loved it but I made it way too spicy and I only did the 1/2 for Garam and chili. I made naan and raita which helped balance it out. I can’t wait to try this again. I think it will go into my regular rotation.
Trudy says
How much heavy cream should be used in place of the cashew paste?
Archana says
1/2 cup
Arti says
I made dum aloo many years ago using my mom’s recipe, needless to say it was a tedious process. This recipe makes it very easy without compromising on taste! Yum, yum, yum!
Mayuri D. says
One of my favorite recipes ever! Anytime I make and serve this, everyone loves it. Thank you so much for posting your recipes, keep it up!
Mala says
Archana, I am a big fan of your recipes. I tried your Paneer Butter Masala and your Paneer Kathi Roll and they were both awesome. I will try this dum aloo now. I have the following questions:
1. How much heavy cream instead of cashew cream?
2. How much Pomi strained tomotoes for this recipe? Can I use pomi strained tomatoes?
3. I use 8qt ultra IP and it didnt come with a glass lid? Can I use any glass lid I have for another cooking pot?
4. When cooking with glass lid, should IP be in sautee mode? Low or medium?
5. If I don't core the potatoes, should I prick them all over with a fork?
Archana says
Here are the answers:
1. How much heavy cream instead of cashew cream - 1/2 cup. More or less per taste.
2. How much Pomi strained tomotoes for this recipe? Can I use pomi strained tomatoes? - 1 cup strained tomatoes.
3. I use 8qt ultra IP and it didnt come with a glass lid? Can I use any glass lid I have for another cooking pot? - yes!
4. When cooking with glass lid, should IP be in sautee mode? Low or medium? - medium which is the default.
5. If I don’t core the potatoes, should I prick them all over with a fork? 0 yes!
Jessica says
I have made this recipe many times and it is one of my favorites. I just ate leftovers for breakfast with rice and boondi raita, absolutely killer.
Most important note I have is that 8 minutes has never been enough time on high pressure in my instant pot. I recommend 12 minutes with 1 cup water, potatoes are cooked through at that point but not before.
I personally start with only 1 teaspoon of chili powder because mine is quite spicy, I add more after pressure cooking and tasting if needed. I also usually add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and of garam masala. And double the fenugreek (methi)
Also at least double the garlic, but that is personal preference.
Jessica says
Also I puree the garlic and onion before I cook it! Turns a bit green but thats okay.
Archana says
yes! Pureeing also adds more creamy textures.
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback, Jessica. I am glad you are adjusting the spices to your taste. 12 minutes seems a lot for baby potatoes, but they come in all sizes. Love the addition of more garlic!
Rashmi thakur says
Made this dum aloo, tastes amazing,
Can't believe that it got ready in 20-25 minutes. Excellent recipe
Archana says
Thank you Rashmi!