Aloo Gobi – Potatoes & Cauliflower
Sep 18, 2014, Updated Jun 13, 2019
Aloo Gobi - Potatoes and cauliflower cooked with onion, tomatoes & spices is a popular Indian recipe. [Vegan]
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Spiced Potatoes with Cauliflower. This Aloo Gobi is packed with flavors, super comforting, vegan and simply the best aloo gobi you will ever have!
Aloo gobi (potatoes & cauliflower) is a popular Indian dish in which potatoes and cauliflower are cooked with onions, tomatoes and spices. This dish can be made in several ways, you can make it with only onions or only tomatoes or use no onion-tomato at all. I also make it in different ways depending on what ingredients I have on hand, the aloo gobi recipe that I am sharing today is one of my favorite versions. It has onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and yes spices!
One common problem with aloo gobi is that when you cook it, the cauliflower becomes really soggy and you don’t want that. You want the veggies to be cooked and tender but not soggy, that kind of spoils the taste and texture of this dish. Few tips can help prevent this:
1. Half cook the cauliflower and potatoes before adding it to the onion-tomato masala. You can parboil the potatoes and cauliflower or do what I did – fry them in little oil till they are half cooked. This helps in retaining the shape and texture.
2. Don’t cover and cook the cauliflower, you can cover towards the end and cook on low flame only.
3. Add salt towards the end when the dish is almost done.
I have made mistakes in the past where my cauliflower was all soggy and I didn’t like it at all and that’s how I learnt my lessons. If you follow the above tips, the texture should be perfect.
This recipe is vegan just like so many other Indian recipes. I had never heard the term “vegan” till about 2 years ago and now when I think about it, I literally grew up eating vegan all the time. India has countless vegetarian recipes that I grew up eating. We eat simple lentils, rice and veggies everyday and almost all of it is vegan. So enjoy this spicy potatoes and cauliflower vegan recipe from India and I hope you like it.
Method
Heat 2 teaspoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Add cauliflower florets and fry for 2-3 minutes and then add the sliced potatoes.
Fry on medium-low flame for 7-8 minutes till potatoes and cauliflower have some brown spots on them.
Drain on a tissue paper and set aside.
In the same pan heat 1.5 teaspoon of oil on medium heat and add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes or till onion is translucent.
Add the ginger-garlic paste.
Cook for another 2 minutes or till the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes away.
Add the chopped tomatoes.
Cook for 2 minutes till tomatoes are little soft.
Once the tomatoes are little soft, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and amchur (mango powder). Cover the pan and let the masala cook for 2-3 minutes.
Now add the potatoes and cauliflower to it and mix.
Add chopped coriander leaves and give a good mix.
Add some garam masala and cook the potato and cauliflower on medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes.
Add salt and cover the pan and cook for additional 6-7 minutes on low flame or till the potato and cauliflower are tender but not soggy. If you feel the masala is sticking, you may add some water. Add 1 tablespoon at a time and only add enough to cook the veggies. I did not add any water in mine.
Garnish with some more coriander leaves.
Serve aloo gobi with naan, paratha or roti.
If you’ve tried this Aloo Gobi Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook and Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Aloo Gobi - Potatoes & Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 2 potatoes medium, sliced or cubed
- 1 cauliflower medium, cut into small florets
- 1 onion medium, chopped
- 2 tomatoes medium, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1.5 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mango powder amchur
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 3-4 teaspoons oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat 2 teaspoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Add cauliflower florets and fry for 2-3 minutes and then add the sliced potatoes.
- Fry on medium-low flame for 7-8 minutes till potatoes and cauliflower have some brown spots on them.
- Drain on a tissue paper and set aside.
- In the same pan heat 1.5 teaspoon of oil on medium heat and add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
- Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes till translucent.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for another 2 minutes or till the raw smell goes away.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes till they are little soft.
- Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and amchur (mango powder).
- Cover the pan and let the masala cook for 2-3 minutes and then add the potatoes and cauliflower to it and mix.
- Add chopped coriander leaves and give a good mix.
- Add garam masala and cook the potato and cauliflower on medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes.
- Add salt and cover the pan and cook more additional 6-7 minutes on low flame or till the potato and cauliflower are tender but not soggy. If you feel the masala is sticking, you may add some water. Add 1 tablespoon at a time and only add enough to cook the veggies. I did not add any water in mine.
- Garnish with some more coriander leaves and serve hot with any Indian bread.
Notes
- Add lots of chopped cilantro leaves to your aloo gobi, it adds a lot to the flavor.
- You can even deep fry the potatoes and cauliflower till they are completely cooked and then add them to the masala. But deep frying = more calories so it's not the way I make aloo-gobhi at home regularly.
- Adjust spice levels to taste.
- You can also sprinkle some kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) on top for added flavor.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Aloo Gobi
Hi thankyou for your amazing recipes !! One thing i am trying to understand is about the spices. I notice in many recipes , not just here either , that you always add the garam masala to the cooked masala last with other ingredients. Just really would like to educate myself as to why it is not simmered with the other spices and onion, garlic etc. thankyou so much!!
Hi Suzanne, garam masala is a fragrant mix of spices and I add it at the end so that the dish retains the flavors when served. You can definitely simmer the garam masala with other spices too, that’s just my way of cooking. I feel garam masala retain it’s maximum flavor this way when you add it at the end 🙂
A very good recipe, thank you. I will be looking for more from you. I do not like to fry or use a great deal of oil, so I dry-roast the cauliflower in my pot and pre-boil the potatoes.
Excellent.
I have all the ingredients in my pantry including dried home grown mthi. I am not Indian nor do I like hot spicy food, just a crazy Iranian who is married to an Englishman!
Making this recipe again day after tomorrow.
Also thanks for your instructions re cooking for a crowd and baking it in the oven.
Welcome! 🙂
Family loved it! I’m allergic to garlic so didn’t use the ginger garlic paste. But it was still awesome!
I don’t like cauliflower especially due to it’s aroma after cooking but today I showed your recipe to my mom & when she cooked it, we just loved it.. The simplicity of cooking it & it’s taste was awesome.. Also we noticed there’s no cauliflower kind of aroma from it after cooking.. Thanks a lot!
I loved the idea of roasting the vegetables first. The aloo Gobi turned out fantastic. Thank you!!
I’m so glad I found your recipe Manali! I’ve tried making this a few times without a recipe but it was never quite right. Your ingredients and methods were so helpful. I live in a pretty rural area so mango powder isn’t anywhere local so I just left it out. I see from a comment that I could’ve used some lemon juice. I’ll try that next time. Also, I live in a very big produce growing area in Canada called “Ontario’s garden” and our cauliflower is usually the size of a large bowling ball so I only used half. I did pre boil the potatoes and cauliflower as per one of your suggestions, it really helped get the right consistency. When I made some before I could never get the potatoes to cook properly.
I look forward to checking out more of your awesome recipes!
I tried this wonderful recipe.. I made one change.. I shallow fried the onions tomatoes and the masala powders. It tasted wow!! Thank you!!
This was a great recipe. I tried many different recipes and the step by step method was extremely helpful. To help other readers, I was able to get the right texture by cutting cauliflower into medium size pieces and parboiling cauliflower in lightly salted water for about 2 minutes. I cut the potatoes into 1/4” slices and parboiled in lightly salted water on medium high heat uncovered for about 4 minutes. I followed the other steps as written.
What is the purpose of dry mango powder?
amchur/amchoor (dry mango powder) is used in Indian recipes for its tangy/citrusy flavor. You may use lemon juice in place.
Hi, I can’t wait too try this recipe! It looks delicious… I need enough to feed about 20 people!! Approximately how many recipes will feed 20 people?? Thank you!
if you are serving it with other things, I will just do the recipe 5 times..that should be good enough provided there are other dishes on the table too
I’m Mexican and my husband is Indian! Thank you for so easy and tasty recipe! I cooked it and he loved and so did I
Made this today and my husband loved it.
awesome!
Easy and simple to follow beautiful recipe, it turned out beautiful and enjoyed by all….
awesome!
Hello! What a great recipe! It tasted delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I’m trying not to devour the entire dish by myself. ?
you are welcome!
I’m going to try it with brocolli instead of gobi. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Excellent and easy to make. Thanks for adding the extra step at the beginning so it doesn’t get soggy. That made all the difference! Sooo good!
Yeah I love that extra step! glad you liked it
9.9 from the wife. My expert critic who rarely goes above 9 for anything. Great taste, wonderful colours and really easy to prepare. Thanks a million for such a delicious recipe. Love from Belize
I will take that 9.9! 😀
Manali,
This was the best aloo gobi recipe I have ever made. Thank you for all the tips !!
you are welcome! glad you enjoyed it
I have tried several recipes of Gobhi Aloo and failed. Thank you for changing that!
you are welcome!
I made this for the first time this evening. I made the vegan recipe version. I used sweet potatoes in mine ,as my wife loves them. Thank you for sharing this with us all. Andrew
Welcome! sweet potatoes are yummy 🙂
This was so good! Thank you!
Welcome! glad you enjoyed it
My son turned me on to the idea of making this because he’s vegan and it’s one of his favorite Indian meals. Followed this recipe to a “T” and the whole family loved it!!! Definitely something I will be making again!!! Thank you! For anyone new to the spices, I found them all on Amazon and had them the next day!
awesome! It’s definitely a staple 🙂
I have tried ur recipe today
I hope you liked it
Hi Manli I tried. Your recipe. It was very good. I have to make a lot of quantity for a Puja. I can easily mix it and put it in the oven. The last few steps instead of cooking on the range. I am going to deep fry first. Any suggestions please.
Hi Sunita..if you are making this for a large crowd, you can even oven roast the veggies..425 F for 15-20 minutes..just spray the potatoes and cauliflower with oil, sprinkle some salt and roast..meanwhile get the masala ready and once the veggies are done simply mix them with the masala. OR you can prepare the masala, deep dry the aloo and gobi until they are little cooked (but not entirely cooked) and then add everything in a pan and cover with aluminium foil and bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes until done.
made this today and it was delicious, I will be making it again, frequently I think lol. I would recommend this recipe, it was was easy to make we had most of the ingredients already.
Fabulous……thank you 🙂
Welcome, glad you enjoyed it Doreen
I made this dish yesterday for a family day Indian themed pot lock…it was amazing!!! Will be making this again.
awesome!
I just made this for lunch today and it was delicious, better than the restaurant. I didn’t have to add any extra water but the potatoes did take an extra ten – fifteen minutes to cook. Will be making again for sure! Thank you.
Welcome! happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi Manali, Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe. I just made it the other day for my family and they all absolutely loved it !!! This recipe is a keeper. Thanks
Good to know 🙂 It’s my favorite too!
How much fesh garlic or fresh ginger could you use instead of paste?
1-inch ginger, 3-4 garlic cloves
Thank you, was looking for this comment
Loved the recipe…and your explanations. Thanks!
Welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
by the time I got to fry the onions had to add more oil. I used ghee with a little MCT oil and put oil for part of the frying. Didn’t have a tomato so used tomato paste. No mango powder but will buy before i make next time…really good dish and attractive too!
Loved this recipe. I made it with half a lemon juiced instead of mango powder and no tomatoes. Delicious! I’m going to make it all the time. The precook really helped it not get mushy.
I am glad to hear that Jennifer! 🙂
Yummy! It turned out great? Thank you for a lovely recipe! ( next time I will try with the mango powder)
good to know! 🙂
Found this recipe because I was trying to use up potatoes and a cauliflower. I love Indian food, so it was an easy sell. I am so glad I decided to go out and get the amchur (found at Walmart) because it gave an authentic flavor that I know made the dish even better.
Yay for getting amchur! Yes it does make a difference! 🙂 Glad you liked the recipe Melissa!
Great tip of pre cooking the veggies , they kind of gave a caramelised flavour ! Easy and delicious dish . I skipped amchur , my tomatoes were sour enough
glad to know Sara!
This was delicious! Fantastic tip about pre-cooking the cauliflower and potato! Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 This is my favorite too!
I made this dish and followed all direction, except I did not fry anything in oil, since I do not use oils or any fat in my foods. the dish came out amazing and was scarfed up by every one. ( I took it to my church for a covered dish , even the meat eaters loved it and asked for the recipe)
good to know Kerstin! 🙂
Wonderful dish indeed. My daughter too enjoyed your aloo gobi recipe. Too good. Thanks for sharing. Easy and delicious too. Please share more easy and tasty recipes . Thsnks
Glad to know Hazel!
Delicious recipe! Made it two times now.
I roasted the cauliflower & potato in the oven with some cumin, garlic salt & pepper for about 20 min before sautéing in the pan. Turned out amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
love the idea of roasting the potatoes & cauliflower in the oven first! glad you enjoyed the recipe!
How do you roast cauliflower and potatoes ? Do you brush or add oil in the pan and what temperature and for how long ? I want to try this recipe as well. I love Aloo Gobi but my only problem is that my Gobi always become soggy. I love the nice and crispy one you get from the restaurants and hence I am going try roasting it so that I don’t have to cook it for long.
Hmm Babitha, if you read the instructions, everything is mentioned in detail. Please go through it and let me know if you have any issues. Gobi won’t be soggy if you follow all the steps in this recipe!
Hi Babitha,
I roasted the potato and cauliflower at 400 degrees and put salt, cumin, chilli powder and olive oil on it and roast for about 20-25 minutes! Turns out delish!!!
good idea to roast! yum
My whole family loved this one!
Aloo Gobi……..recipe was the best of others I tried!!!!
Glad to know Sonia!
This is amazing. Will try this recipe.Any difference without adding mango powder?..I don’t have it.
It will be okay without the mango powder too Nasreen, you can add little lemon juice in place. Hope you like it.
I made it. It was amazing, thank you Manali for this wonderful dish.
Manali, thank you so much! The recipe is spot on and better than the already excellent Indian food close to home. Learned a lot. Highly recommend
Glad you liked it Jenny!
Manali – this is one of my favorite dishes I always order out, but now I can make it at home! Going to gather all the ingredients at the grocery store – thank you!
Absolutely amazing, thank you for the recipe! I had to add two cups of water as my potatoes wouldn’t cook otherwise but still… so flavourfull, I’ll be definitely making it again.
You are welcome,glad you liked it!
Made it for the 1St time as a side dish with khuri kitchri, and I also added a few slit green chillies…. Smells amazing!
Awesome Sofhia! Glad you liked it!
I loved this dish! Easy to follow and i’m glad i followed the steps! I didn’t have mango powder and my husband can’t handle to much spice, so i didn’t add the chili, upped the tumeric and garam masala and added more tomatoes. perfect!
Glad you liked it Jocelyn!
Aloo gobi is one of my favs. this looks very flavourful.. love that you added mango powder imparts a lovely tanginess to this dish.. 🙂
Thanks Arpita! it’s my husband’s favorite and so I make it quite often and try to make it different every time!
I love the combination of cauliflower and potatoes in this dish Manali! The colour is also so beautiful.
Thanks Jessica…this combination is very popular in India! 🙂