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If you’re new here, let me just tell you that I love potatoes. I can easily eat a potato a day, if not more! I love potatoes in the form of French fries, cubed up and fried such as in Crispy Potato Bhujia, or mashed like in Creamy Mashed Potatoes!
Want a dish where baby potatoes truly shine? Aloo Dum is the answer! This is one of my favourite ways to eat potatoes, and baby potatoes truly shine in this dish! If you want a hearty, one-pot, restaurant-quality meal, then you’ll want to save this recipe, print it out (full recipe card at the bottom of this post!), and make it for your whole family to enjoy!
What is Dum Aloo?▼
So what the heck does “Dum Aloo” even mean? Does it have any meaning? Well, yes it does! “Aloo” translates to potatoes, and “dum” translates to the cooking method used for these potatoes, which is steaming. As a result, “dum aloo” means “steamed potatoes!” We’ll steam them, and then finish them off in a luxurious creamy and velvety tomato and onion gravy. Yum!
There are plenty of version of dum aloo. I feel every restaurant you go to will have its own variation of the dish. Here are the variations:
- Kashmiri Dum Aloo is known to have yogurt in its gravy for creaminess, and there is no tomato, garlic or tomatoes.
- North Indian/Punjabi Restaurant-style variations of dum aloo typically fry the potatoes before adding them to the gravy, and don’t use whole spices
- Home-style versions only boil the potatoes and then added to the curry, and tend to incorporate whole spices.
- South Indian Dum Aloo will incorporate elements of South Indian cooking, using coconut milk and curry in the gravy.
In fact, I’ve even seen options with dum aloo served with paneer! I’ve honestly never really liked those versions, I’m not sure why!
This variation of dum aloo is a fusion of home-style and North Indian restaurant-style recipes. I’ve got the best of both worlds to really make an incredible feast that won’t take too long or dirty too many dishes! The Instant Pot totally helps speed things up and make prep and cooking easy!
Are you ready to get started? Then let’s get cooking!
Why Make Dum Aloo in the Instant Pot?
I give the same reasons for pretty much any of my Instant Pot recipes, but let’s go over why you should whip out your Instant Pot to make this heavenly Instant Pot Dum Aloo!
- One-pot meal
- Minimal dishes
- Great if you are preparing a dinner party and need stoves to be empty, maximize your efficiency!
- It’s a large vessel, so you can totally make a huge batch to serve a crowd!
What potatoes should I use for Dum Aloo?▼
Ideally you would use baby potatoes. The main reason for this is just because they’re simply adorable and look good in the gravy. It’s purely an aesthetic reason - there’s no other argument for that! However, if you don’t have baby potatoes, then feel free to use regular Yukon-gold yellow potatoes that have been boiled and peeled.
Ingredients for This Dum Aloo Instant Pot Recipe
Let’s review what we’ll need for our exquisite potato recipe! Remember, for the full list of ingredients and their quantities, be sure to check out the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card at the bottom of this post!
- Baby potatoes: The star of the show. In this recipe, the potatoes will be steamed then added to the gravy. Other variations fry their potatoes to give them a nice golden brown color and smokiness. I may try that another time!
- Essentials: Tomato, onion, ginger, and garlic will be used to make the base of our gravy.
- Ghee: A little bit used to cook out our veggies and spices.
- Cashews: As mentioned earlier, some recipes use yogurt to achieve their creamy gravy. I’m going to be using cashews! I really love the nuttiness of cashews to add a velvety texture to my gravy. Of course if you have a nut allergy then certainly omit these! To get your gravy creamy, I would recommend koya (milk solids) or add a splash of cream to your liking!
- Whole spices: Cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamom pod, and clove. I absolutely love using whole spices, so I really recommend you incorporate them in this recipe. They will add an incredible aroma to your gravy!
- Ground spices: Hing, deggi mirch, ground coriander, garam masala, kasoori methi.
- Cilantro: For garnish.
- Salt: To taste.
How to Make North Indian Dum Aloo
- Begin by adding the ginger, garlic, and onion in a food processor with a bit of water. Purée until everything is well combined.
- Puree tomatoes in the same blender and set that aside as well.
- Puree cashews in the same blender with some water until smooth and set aside for later.
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Add ghee (or other cooking oil), hing, cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and clove. Cook until the whole spices turn reddish brown and aromatic.
- Add onion, ginger, garlic puree. Stir well and add Deggi mirch and ground coriander. Mix well and continue cooking until mixture is dry and reddish brown. Add a splash of water if mixture gets too dry and starts to stick.
- Add puréed cashews, stir well and continue cooking until mixture is dry. Add a splash of water if mixture gets too dry and starts to stick.
- Add tomato purée and bring to simmer. Cook with a lid on until the mixture turns redder and becomes dry, about 7-15 minutes. Keep stirring from time to time and add water to prevent masala from burning.
- Season with salt to taste and add baby potatoes. Stir well, and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water to make a runny gravy. Season with salt and simmer on medium low heat until the gravy starts to thicken.
- When the gravy is thick, remove the lid and add crushed kasoori methi and garam masala. Simmer for a few minutes, until you have the desired consistency. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot rice or roti.
Tips for an Incredible Instant Pot Aloo Dum
- At each stage, make sure to cook the masala well until it has dried out, become fluffy and slides around the pan easily.
- Add water whenever necessary to avoid the masala from getting burnt. This helps ensure a strong, developed flavor in the final gravy.
- Don’t skip roasting the potatoes in the dry masala before adding the gravy. This helps inject the potatoes with a ton of flavor!
- If you are unable to find Deggi Mirch, substitute with Paprika. The chilli powder used here is used mostly for colour and not for spice.
- Season with salt at every stage of the cooking process.
Can I make aloo dum vegan?▼
Of course you can! The only dairy item used in this recipe is ghee. To make your Instant Pot Aloo Dum vegan, simply replace ghee with your favourite cooking oil! I recommend olive oil or coconut oil.
I Don’t Have an Instant Pot? What Do I Do!
Don’t worry! I’m not sure how you got here to be honest if you don’t have an Instant Pot, but I’m so glad you decided to check out the recipe! My stove-top Dum Aloo recipe can be found here. Very similar process and the same deliciousness is found there!
Serving Suggestions for Instant Pot Dum Aloo
Dum Aloo can be served with so many sides! Honestly, the possibilities are endless! Here are some bread choices I would recommend:
You could even have Instant Pot Dum Aloo with stuffed parathas! As you’ll see in the video, I enjoyed my Dum Aloo with Pyaaz Paratha, or onion-stuffed paratha!
Want to serve with rice? Here are my recommendations!
You can also pair your dum aloo with your favourite dal, such as Masaledar Chana Dal or serve with some Cucumber Raita to cool off! If you are looking for something that’s not vegetarian, then you could certainly enjoy dum aloo with a non-vegetarian main dish, such as Chicken Tikka Masala!
Can I make This Quick Dum Aloo Recipe Ahead of Time?▼
Sure thing! If you’re going to make this for a crowd, then this recipe is perfect for you! The pot of the Instant Pot really contains a lot - especially if you have one of the larger models - so depending on how much you want to make, you can easily scale the quantities to fit your needs!
If you’re cooking for a dinner party, you can complete the dish up to garnishing with cilantro. Have your Instant Pot on the “Keep Warm” setting until you’re ready to serve. When it’s time to serve, bring your gravy back up to a simmer and then garnish with cilantro.
If you’ve got leftovers or just want to meal prep this North Indian Dum Aloo (seriously, it’s so much fun meal prepping restaurant dishes at home, so I definitely recommend you take advantage of the Instant Pot and meal prep this!), then allow the contents to cool down and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Dum Aloo will stay fresh in the fridge for about 3 days.
You can reheat Dum Aloo in the microwave or over the stove. To reheat in the microwave, heat for about 2-3 minutes, stirring at one minute intervals to ensure the dish has evenly warmed through.
To reheat over the stove, transfer the contents to a non-stick pan or a pot. Let the gravy come to a slow simmer on medium heat, which will take about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the dish has completely warmed through.
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