Potato fry (Aloo fry)

Potato fry is an Indian side dish made with potatoes, spices and herbs. Also known as aloo fry, this 25 minutes super quick dish is a fantastic way to serve spiced potatoes in your meal. In Indian cuisine, stir fry dishes are commonly referred as ‘fry’ so this dish of stir fried potatoes is known as potato fry, though no frying is actually involved in the recipe. Learn to make the perfect crispy & non-sticky spiced potato stir fry with the help of my easy recipe.

In South Indian cuisine, we usually serve stir fry dishes with rice, rasam or sambar, so is this aloo fry. You can also serve it in a meal of dal fry or dal tadka, jeera rice or even with plain rice and ghee.

My kids love this with just anything, so I sometimes also pack it in their school box with some rotis and veggie salad. For a quick interesting dinner, I spread some green chutney on roti and wrap them up with a filling of this stir fried potatoes, lemon juice or chaat masala, kachumber and coriander leaves.

Sometimes when the mood strikes in I use this for the sandwiches too. Smear some schezwan sauce or mayo or hung curd and stuff these stir fry potatoes. The options are endless!

I have made this potato fry in South Indian style with curry leaves, garlic and urad dal tempering. You can simply skip the curry leaves and urad dal if you don’t have. You can also make a North Indian version of this by using crushed kasuri methi, amchur powder or chaat masala.

Tips to make potato fry

1. To stir fry always use potatoes that are not from the cold storage section as they don’t get cooked or roasted quickly. Use any old potatoes like the regular potatoes, Yukon gold or Russet Potatoes.
2. Always keep the potatoes immersed in a bowl of water to get rid of the excess starch. Also rinse them well before adding to the pan. This prevents them from sticking to each other while frying.
3. Also keeping them in water hydrates the potatoes and help to cook well easily.
4. I have used a basic garam masala to spice up the aloo fry. You can also use pav bhaji masala, kitchen king masala or sambar powder.
5. Always add salt to potatoes only after are cooked well. Adding salt early to the potatoes hinders them from cooking well.
6. I don’t make very hot & spicy foods at home as my kids cannot eat. So this potato fry is lightly spiced with red chili powder & light garam masala. Do adjust them to suit your taste.

How to make potato fry

1. Wash 250 grams potatoes well. Peel them and cube to bite sizes or about half inch cubes.
2. Immerse them in a bowl of water until used further.
3. Crush or chop garlic and rinse the curry leaves.

4. Heat a pan with 1½ to 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil becomes hot, add ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and ½ teaspoon urad dal. Let the urad roast until light golden, then add 1 broken red chili, 1 to 2 chopped or crushed garlic cloves and 1 sprig curry leaves. If you don’t have curry leaves you can use pudina.

5. Remove the water from the potatoes. Rinse them well and add them to the pan. Make sure the pan is hot before you add the potatoes. Also add ⅛ teaspoon turmeric.

6. Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.

7. If you want crisp aloo fry, continue to fry them without covering until they are fork tender. For softer potatoes, I regulate the heat to low. Cook covered till the potatoes are soft cooked. If the potatoes are too dry then you may sprinkle water.

8. Add ½ teaspoon red chili powder and ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala.

9. Mix and fry for few more minutes, till the chili powder blends well with potatoes. If you want you can add more chilli powder. Taste test and adjust salt.

Serve aloo fry with rice and rasam.

You may like to check these aloo curry, South Indian aloo kurma, quick potato sagu, simple aloo rice, biryani and potato sandwich.

For more potato recipes, you may like to check
Aloo gobi masala
Aloo matar
Jeera aloo
Aloo tikka

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