Aloo Bhujia Sabzi (Potato Stir Fry)

Name: Aloo Bhujia Sabzi
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 large potatoes (around 500-600 grams, sliced lengthwise); 3-3.5 tablespoons mustard oil; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 2 whole dried red chilies (broken); 6-7 large garlic cloves (thinly sliced); 2 medium red onion (thinly sliced); 3/4-1 teaspoon turmeric (adjust to taste, I used 1 teaspoon); 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste); squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

By Manali Singh

5 from 3 votes

Jan 18, 2020

Simple potato stir fry made in mustard oil and flavored with cumin seeds, garlic and turmeric. This Aloo Bhujia is very popular stir fry in states of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh in India!

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Aloo Bhujia Sabzi made the way it’s made in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

This simple potato stir-fry is made in mustard oil and uses minimal spices.

One of my goals this year for the blog is to share more recipes that I grew up eating.

I tend to ignore them, thinking who would want to read about them.

But last year I shared making aloo bhujia on my Instagram stories and so many reached out to me to share the recipe.

So, I thought it was about time I started sharing recipes which my mom made on a regular basis.

Aloo Bhujia (that’s what we call aloo ki sabzi in eastern Uttar Pradesh where I am from) was one constant thing in my lunch box.

I can say this with confidence that out of 365 days in a year, mom would give me aloo bhujia with plain paratha for lunch for at least 300 days.

Needless to say, it was my least favorite thing then.

I didn’t like it because I thought it was so boring always found the sandwiches and burgers more appealing!

Fast forward to many years, now I love it for it’s simplicity. Give me dal, roti and aloo bhujia everyday and I would eat it without complaining.

This Aloo Bhujia Sabzi

✓ is vegan and gluten-free

✓ super simple potato stir-fry made with minimal ingredients

✓ makes a great side with dal and rice

✓ good for lunch boxes!

Few important things for this aloo bhujia recipe!

Use mustard oil: no you can’t use any other oil if you are looking for that authentic taste.

Make sure mustard oil is really hot before you add the tempering: so, this is the thing with mustard oil.

If you don’t heat it well and add the tempering or add the veggies to it, the final dish will have a raw oil taste which is not good at all.

The key to avoid that is heat up your oil really well. I heat up the point where it’s almost smoking, and then low the heat, remove my pan from heat and add the seasoning.

Use some extra oil: this recipe uses more oil than I normally would. The potatoes need to get nicely charred for that authentic taste and for that you need some extra oil.

More turmeric: along with oil, the recipe also uses more turmeric. It gives the bhujia it’s nice bright yellow color and of course the taste.

No spices: other than turmeric and tempering of cumin seeds, no other spice is added to the bhujia.

My mom sometimes also added methi daana (fenugreek seeds) to the tempering but that was about it.

I have to say this sabzi stains everything because there’s so much turmeric used and also the mustard oil adds to it.

So be careful of not putting it on things from where it’s difficult to remove the stain.

Serving Suggestions

Now, my mom always gave me this aloo bhujia with plain paratha.

That’s the best combination.

But you can have it as a side with any Indian meal.

You can even stuff leftovers into bread and make sandwich.

Method

1- Peel the potatoes and then wash them. Cut them into thick rounds and then cut each round lengthwise like you would cut for a french fry, around 1/2 inch wide. See picture below.

2- Heat mustard oil until it’s smoking hot (very important so that the final dish doesn’t have that raw oil taste), then lower the heat and add the cumin seeds. They will immediately sizzle.

Add the dried red chilies and garlic and cook for a minute until garlic starts changing color.

3- Add the sliced onion and potatoes and mix.

4- Then add in the turmeric. I used 1 full teaspoon turmeric, you can use half of it but this recipes does need more turmeric.

5- Toss to combine everything together.

6- Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often on medium heat. The potatoes need to get charred and roasted brown.

Then add the salt and cook for 5 to 10 more minutes until potatoes are cooked through.

7- You may cover the potatoes for the last 5 minutes or so.

8- Your potatoes are done when they are nicely charred.

Squeeze in lemon juice if you like. Serve aloo bhujia with rice and dal or plain paratha.

If you’ve tried this Aloo Bhujia Sabzi Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!