Instant Pot Punjabi Dum Aloo (Restaurant style)

Warming Restaurant style Dum Aloo is made in the Instant Pot using whole baby potatoes. This baby potato curry is ready in an electric pressure cooker in 5 minutes making it a perfect mid-week meal, or transform it into a weekend feast with delicious rice, raita, naans, and salad.

Adrian Davis

I made this recipe and per your instructions it took only 5 minutes in the instant pot, but at least another 5 minutes to cook the masala with the other ingredients so yes, I got this finger-licking curry ready in such a short time, thanks for sharing!

Sara Peters

I made this curry last night for my hubby and he finished it all, I made it very fast in our instant pot, but I had the few ingredients ready, and just cooked in the IP and within 10 minutes it was ready!

Ann M Leis

It was very tasty, i made half the amount due to pressed for time. Will make this again.

Dum aloo is an Indian dish. Aloo means potatoes and "dum" is the process by which they are cooked. Dum means to trap the steam, allowing the food to cook in its own aroma and flavours.

Regions in India all have their own variations and ingredients to cook dum aloo.

This is a restaurant-style Dum Aloo cooked in an authentic Punjabi gravy flavoured with the most aromatic kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) and creamy yogurt.

We also love this Kashmiri Dum Aloo which is without onion and garlic and uses a gorgeous homemade red masala powder.

You can also make Farali Dum Aloo which is also without onion and garlic and safe to eat during Hindu fasts or vrat.

My Mum makes Goda masala Dum Aloo using Maharashtrian flavours that are usually found in the likes of pav bhaji.

Instant Pot Dum Aloo Ingredients:

Baby potatoes - The beauty of dum aloo and what sets it apart from other potato curries is that the potatoes used are never floury and will keep their shape. Mushy potatoes will not work well for a dum aloo as the sauce is always rich and heavy. However, see tips below if you do not have baby potatoes and still want to make this recipe.

Our Aloo butter Masala has been made with English Jersey Royals - the best of both worlds.

Whole spices - so aromatic and lend such wonderful flavours to the dish so try not to skip adding these! We have used bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom and dried red chillies.  They go in immediately after the oil is added to the pan.

Onion, garlic and ginger paste - this forms the delicious base for the curry and gives it the "Punjabi" flavour.

Tomatoes - either crush tinned tomatoes or use passata. I have found that fresh tomatoes are not red enough and don't have the same depth to get a thick gravy but you can definitely use crushed fresh tomatoes if you do not have another option. Add a little tomato paste if you have it.

Dum Aloo Masala - we finish off our dum aloo recipes with our homemade dum aloo masala (see our Marwari dum aloo recipe) for a bit more depth. You can leave this step out.

Yogurt - this dish uses strong ingredients so needs something light to cool down the gravy. We have used full-fat natural greek yogurt. Vegan options below.

Oil - use vegetable, sunflower or olive oil. We tend to stick to olive oil for our food. To ramp up the taste, use ghee instead.

Don't have baby potatoes?

Use potatoes that are waxy if possible and slice them. Charlotte potatoes are one such variety that you can use. You can skip the process of pan-frying these potatoes and add them directly to the masala. Instant Pot on high for 2 minutes instead and quick release.

We get good quality produce in the UK so our ingredients require very little water and time to cook - you may have to adjust this setting according to what you get.

Cooking secrets to get the PERFECT gravy

You may hear this phrase very often used in Indian cooking "when oil releases" or "tel chhod dena".

This is when the oil that is initially added starts to separate from the other ingredients - usually a base of onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies +/- tomatoes. This is the indication that our base is properly cooked.

Without this method, the base will have a raw flavour of the ingredients and will not allow the gravy to become smooth and thick.

It may be hard to visualize exactly what this entails, but when you see it, you'll know exactly what I mean (see our video for examples).

It is a fool-proof method to get the tastiest gravy for any Indian meal. This technique is something that I use for other cuisines too - whether it's cooking a Mexican chilli or preparing a base for soup.

It takes time and patience but the end result is oh-so-worth-it!

Vegan Dum Aloo

This dum aloo can so easily be made vegan. Instead of adding dairy yogurt, add vegan yogurt.

Or, why not add a cashew nut paste to the sauce? Simply grind soaked cashew nuts with a little water until smooth and add alongside the pan-fried potatoes. It will cook up and thicken nicely.

What to serve with Restaurant style Instant Pot Dum Aloo

Without a doubt, you need a stack of round and soft Gujarati rotlis (or chapatis). If you're feeling indulgent, go for Restaurant style Garlic and Coriander Naan. This pillowy naan is dripping with garlic butter - for serious food lovers only!

A great accompaniment to dum aloo is daal for completeness of the meal. We love ours with Dhaba style daal fry

Rice is a sure-fire way of creating a BOMB Indian thali, so a delicate Instant Pot coconut, coriander and lime rice is the way to go here - and it's ready in only 1 minute.

Feeling the heat with the spices? Then a cooling raita is the way to go here. Maybe roasted tomato raita? Or simply serve with a bowl of yogurt - I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't handle my spice!

I LOVE indulging in a sweet lassi every now and then, rose lassi and mango and lime lassi are some of my favourites. For the salty version, soda chaas is a sparkling alternative.

Sneak some veggies in with a side salad, like Indian Kachumber Salad - it takes only 5 minutes of your time to prepare!

Method:

Arrange inner pot in the Instant pot and select saute mode for 10-12 minutes, add oil (pic 1)

Saute the potatoes for 5-6 minutes or until slightly golden, keep stirring all the time and remove (pic 3)

Add more oil, whole spices in the pan once they splutter add onion puree (pic 4)

Saute onions for 3-4 minutes then add ginger-garlic puree (pic 5)

Cook the mixture for another 2-3 minutes (pic 6)

Now add passata or tomato puree and cook everything until you see oil is visible again in the pan - tel chod dena step (pic 7)

Add red chilli, turmeric powder, garam masala and ground cumin and coriander. Keep stirring all the time (pic 8)

Crush some kasoori methi in your palm and add along with beaten yogurt (pic 9)

Mix it, add sauteed potatoes (pic 10)

Add water (pic 11)

Season with salt and close the pot with the lid. Select HIGH PRESSURE for 5 Minutes (pic 12)

After 15 minutes NPR open the lid, add DUM ALOO MASALA - optional step. If there is more water SAUTE for 2-3 minutes. The gravy will be thicker once the curry gets cooler (pic 13)

Dum aloo is ready to serve (pic 14)

Storing:

Once cooled, store in a container in the fridge for up to ¾ days.

The gravy will have thickened so to reheat, add a little water, or yogurt and water, or some milk or cream to get the consistency back to normal. Best reheated stovetop rather than a microwave.

You can make this curry in advance and eat the next day - the flavours will have absorbed into the potatoes creating the best ever Dum Aloo!

Other Potato Recipes:

Easy Potato Chips Curry

Aloo Matar - Instant Pot and Stovetop

Gujarati Bateta Jamanvar nu Saak - a Gujarati potato curry for special occasions.