Hot and Spicy Curried Potato or Aloo Fry curry cooked South Indian style! It's a delicious vegan side dish made with spices and crispy roast potatoes. A quick and easy meal for busy weeknights.
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Reminds me of home
If I got a dime for every time I prepared this curry, I would be a billionaire by now! We South Indians love this potato fry curry to death. This is part of our comfort food along with sambhar, rasam, and curd rice.
It is a very simple yet popular stir-fry recipe with potatoes. This curry is served at South Indian weddings and on all other happy occasions. It's similar to the Bengali Aloo Bhaja.
What's key to the dish is the special spice mix used. Every South Indian potato fry will taste a tad different because of this spice powder. We use sambhar powder in this curry that gives it a hot and fiery taste along with a power-packed flavor.
In our households, we call it Urulai Kizhangu (means potato in Tamil) Roast. You can also call it Potato Roast, Potato Stir-Fry, Aloo Fry, or crispy Indian potatoes.
No matter what the name, the point is that it is one of the easiest, simplest and tastiest ways to prepare potatoes.
In this recipe, basically, potatoes (either parboiled or raw) are tossed in a specific spice blend and slow-roasted in the pan till they turn golden and crispy! Yum!
Also, contrary to many beliefs, potatoes are good for us when consumed in moderation! They are a source of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. So do include this Aloo Fry in your weekly menu!
Why make this
While we don't need a reason to make this Indian Potato curry, here are some pointers for you!
- Vegan and gluten-free
- Very minimalistic recipe
- Great on flavors
- Hot and fiery
- Simple, easy, and quick recipe
- An ideal recipe for beginners
- Requires no onion, no garlic
Ingredients needed 🧾
Like I said before, this South Indian Potato Curry is truly a minimalistic recipe! That's why it is perfect for busy days.
Potatoes - Idaho, Russet, or Gold Yukon potatoes work well for this recipe. But feel free to use any kind available to you.
Spices - Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric, and urad dal give this dish an earthy flavor.
Herbs - Cilantro gives this dish a nice aromatic flavor.
Sambhar Powder - This is the main seasoning in this curry. Use good quality spicy sambhar powder for the best flavor. Since this spice mix has all the required flavors, there is no need to add any other seasoning.
I prefer using homemade sambhar powder. However, it is easily available in Indian grocery stores and on Amazon.
For those who are not aware of this South Indian spice mix, it is prepared by roasting and grinding different lentils and spices. You can prepare a small batch and use it in many other recipes too. 
How to make it 🔪
- The first step is to prep the potatoes. Now there are two ways you can do that. You can either parboil the potatoes, then peel
and cut them into cubes, or first peel and cut them into cubes and then fry them without parboiling. I have parboiled them in the microwave for this recipe. To parboil, add potatoes to a bowl along with water, salt and turmeric. Microwave on HIGH for 13-15 minutes. Drain, peel, and cut in cubes. However, you can parboil the potatoes in a pressure cooker, Instant pot, or stovetop. - Heat oil or ghee in a pan. Once it's hot, add the mustard seeds and let them crackle. After that, add the cumin seeds and urad dal. Fry till the dal turns light golden.
- Then add half of the chopped cilantro, turmeric powder, and sambhar powder.
- Fry for 30 seconds and then immediately add the potatoes along with salt. Fry it all together till the potatoes are done and coated with the masala. Chef Tip - It could take about 10 - 12 minutes on medium flame. Keep stirring at regular intervals to ensure even roasting. You can stick a fork in them, or try to split them with a spatula or spoon to check if they are done. Finally, garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro. You can also garnish with shredded coconut.
and 
them into cubes, or first peel and cut them into cubes and then fry them without parboiling. I have parboiled them in the microwave for this recipe. To parboil, add potatoes to a bowl along with water, salt and 
in a 
. Once it's hot, add the mustard seeds
and let them crackle. After that, add the cumin seeds
and urad dal
. Fry till the dal turns light golden.
Serving Suggestions 🍽
There are many versatile ways to serve this South Indian Potato curry/Stir-Fry! It tastes great with anything and that's why this Aloo Fry is the perfect side dish.
We serve it with sambhar/rasam and rice along with some fried papad. Sometimes we also serve it with Kalanda Sadam (Mixed Rice) like Tomato Rice, Lemon Rice, Coconut Rice, Mustard Rice, etc.
This is a great recipe to pack in lunchboxes. My mom would pack this along with few slices of bread. Not just me, even my friends would look forward to my lunchbox the days she sent that. Try this combo.
On lazy days, we just make some Curd Rice and this curry to go with it! It tastes amazing! A simple homecooked comfort meal!
Otherwise, you can serve this curry with any kind of Kootu or Avial. It tastes amazing even when paired with any Indian Dal and Jeera Rice.
You can use them as stuffing for tacos, dosa, wraps, sandwiches, or mash them lightly, and stuff them in parathas, etc. The options are endless. They can also be served as a side with any Indian flatbread or Poori.
If you are looking for some drinks to pair with this meal, serve a tall glass of Chaas/Buttermilk or Cold Cucumber Soup with it.
Leftovers can be mashed and be used to make Mashed Potato Hummus Waffles or Grilled Potato Cheese Sandwiches.
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Top recipe tips 💭
For more flavoring, you can add garlic powder, asafoetida, and curry leaves when frying the other ingredients.
You can also add garlic, onions, and tomatoes to this Aloo Fry. If you are vegan, then you can use vegan ghee to cook this curry.
Some like to add 1-2 tablespoons of chickpea flour/besan after adding the spice mix to help with the spices bind with the potatoes.
Normally this is a spicy crispy roast potatoes recipe, but you can tone down the spice levels if intolerant or making for children by adding less sambhar powder.
While this is a dry curry, you can make it gravy by adding water or vegetable stock. Then you easily mix it with rice and enjoy it without having to make sambhar, rasam, or dal.
Recipe FAQs 📖
Russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes are ideal for this recipe. You can also use baby potatoes for this recipe.
If you are not parboiling the potatoes first and using them raw, soak the cubes in water for 15 minutes. They will turn out crispier and get rid of the extra starch.
If you are parboiling them first, add little salt and turmeric when doing so. This ensures the flavor and color get infused into them.
Remember, in the end, the potato cubes must hold their shape and not become mushy. Do not overcook them. Leave the skin on if needed, to tap in its nutrients.
Do not cover the pan while cooking and add more oil and cook on a low-medium flame. This will make the potato roast crispier.
There is another mashed version of this potato curry that's also very popular in South India.
For that, just cook the potatoes fully. Then follow the remaining steps of this recipe. The potatoes will mash slightly but that's the texture we are going for here.
You can follow this same recipe and use Plantains, cauliflower, yams, sweet potatoes, or any other veggies instead.
If you don't have sambhar powder, you can use rasam powder or any other curry powder. However, the taste will differ.
Some North Indian spices mix like Garam masala, Kitchen King Masala, or even Pav Bhaji Masala can be used. All these will yield wonderful results but you will not get the authentic South Indian taste.
This Aloo Fry curry stays well in the fridge for 4-5 days. You can also freeze it. Just heat it up and serve.
You can also freeze the cut potatoes (before cooking them) to speed up your cooking process.
Innovative recipes with potatoes
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Recipe 📖
South Indian Spicy Potato Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 potatoes
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoon urad dal
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 tablespoon sambhar powder
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- The first step is to prep the potatoes. Now there are two ways you can do that.
- You can parboil the potatoes, then peel and cut them into cubes, or first peel and cut them into cubes and then fry them without parboiling.
- I have parboiled them in the microwave for this recipe. To parboil, add potatoes to a bowl along with water, salt and turmeric. Microwave on HIGH for 13-15 minutes. Drain, peel, and cut in cubes.
- However, you can also parboil the potatoes in a pressure cooker, Instant pot, or stovetop.
- Heat oil or ghee in a pan. Once it's hot, add the mustard seeds and let them crackle. After that, add the cumin seeds and urad dal. Fry till the dal turns light golden.
- Then add half of the chopped cilantro, turmeric powder, and sambhar powder.
- Fry for 30 seconds and then immediately add the potatoes along with salt. Fry it all together till the potatoes are done and coated with the masala.
- It could take about 10 - 12 minutes on medium flame. Keep stirring at regular intervals to ensure even roasting.
- Finally, garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro. You can also garnish with shredded coconut.
- Keep stirring so the potatoes are evenly cooked. You can stick a fork in them, or try to split them with a spatula or spoon.
- It could take about 10 - 12 minutes on medium flame. Keep stirring at regular intervals to ensure even roasting. You can stick a fork in them, or try to split them with a spatula or spoon to check if they are done.
- Finally, garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro. You can also garnish with shredded coconut.
Want to save this recipe?
We'll email this recipe to you, so that you can look at it later!
Penny says
Hi there. I'm a bit puzzled about the urad dal, which isn't something I've used before. The packet talks about soaking it, and then it needing at least 30 minutes to cook in water. Is it OK just fried for 10-15 minutes or so or do I need to prepare it first? Thanks!
Priya says
Hi, oh yes, you can directly fry it in oil for 30 - 45 seconds (you don't need to fry it fr 10-15 minutes), it will begin to turn golden, then continue with the recipe. The soaking of urad dal is done in another recipe. Not in this one. Hope I clarified your doubt.