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Malai Aloo Curry (Creamy Indian Potato Curry)

Tanvi Srivastava
This malai aloo curry is a creamy preparation of potatoes in a spiced yogurt & cashew base. A rich indian potato curry recipe perfect for special celebrations or festive meals. It tastes amazing with garlic naan, paratha or pooris, or with steamed rice.
5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4
Calories 288 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 8-10 (~400g) potatoes I used gold potatoes, baby potatoes work fine too
  • 1 small yellow onion peeled & roughly chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 inch ginger
  • 3 thai green chilli or 1 serrano green pepper adjust to taste
  • 12 cashew
  • ½ teaspoon white poppy seeds
  • 4 tablespoon ghee
  • 5 green cardamom
  • ½ inch cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1.5 teaspoon coriander powder
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper powder skip if not available
  • ⅓ cup yogurt plain
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon shahi jeera
  • ⅓ cup heavy cream
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg freshy ground
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions
 

  • Peel and cut the potatoes. Add to a large pot of water, add ¼ teaspoon salt and set on stove. Once the water is boiling, reduce the stove and let cook for 8-10 minutes or until the potatoes are 90 percent cooked.
    Pro Tip : Adding salt to water makes the potatoes taste 10 times better. You can also add a pinch of turmeric powder to water for for nicer color on the potatoes.
  • To check, insert a fork in the potatoes, it should go in without any effort. Cook the potatoes a little more than par boiling.The time of cooking will depend on the kind of potatoes as well as how you cut them. Drain and keep near. 
  • Soak the cashwes and poppy seeds for 10 minutes in warm water. While the cashews are soaking, add onions, green chillies, ginger & garlic to a small blender jar and make a smooth paste. 
  • Add ghee to a pot and let warm. On low stove, add the cinnamon stick & green cardamom to and stir for 10-15 seconds. Add the onion paste next and on low medium heat, let cook. We will cook the onions till the raw smell is gone, however take care that the color should not change color much else the color of sauce with be dark. 
  • While the onions are cooking, add cashew and poppy seeds to the same blender jar along with water and grind to a smooth paste. 
    Pro Tip : Poppy seeds can be pretty difficult to grind, however soaking them helps. As you grind, the paste will get thicker, add tiny amount of water as required to aid the blending process. We need a paste like consistency.
  • To the onions, add the potatoes. Sprinkle the powdered spices. Stir around till the potatoes are coated in spices. Dont brown too much. 
  • Reduce the heat to low or take off the pot from stove and add the beaten yogurt along with cashew paste. Return the pot to stove and keep stirring so that the yogurt is warmed through. You will notice small bubbles on the edges. 
  • Next add 1 - 1.5 cup warm water, sugar and cover the pot.Let simmer for 10-12 minutes on low heat or until the potatoes are cooked through. 
    Tip:- The sauce will thicken as it sits, however very runny sauce doesnt taste good in this preperation. I start with 1 cup water and then adjust at the end once potatoes are cooked through.
  • Finish the malai aloo curry with fresh grind of nutmeg, heavy cream and cilantro. Simmer for additional 2-3 minutes. Dont let boil. At this point if you wish, you can add some kasuri methi and garam masala to add a punjabi touch to this curry. (however I don't since this is more awadhi style aloo sabzi).
  • Dish out and serve warm with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

Notes

  • I personally dont like too soft potatoes in such creamy preparations, take care that you dont overcook the potatoes else they will break and spoil the texture of curry.
  • The color of this curry makes it unique, try to preserve it and take care by notover browning the onions.
  • A little amount of poppy seeds goes a long way plus if used more they will impart their taste to the sauce, we dont want that, we just want them for thickening the sauce.
  • Dont make a very runny sauce, wont taste good.
  • You may use a combo of almonds and cashew for the sauce, however dont skip the cashews completely.
  • You can add some fried onions on top while serving.
  • All these needed ingredients should be easily available in your indian grocery store or amazon.

Some Variations

  • For a richer version, add some crumbled khoya/mawa to this curry.
  • Add some blanched peas to the aloo curry. The burst of sweet peas taste really good.
  • If you dont want to make the sabzi with potatoes, you can use the same recipe base for vegetables like cauliflower or whole white button mushrooms.

Nutrition

Calories: 288kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 4gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 607mgPotassium: 272mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 365IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 90mgIron: 2mg
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