Potato fry recipe with a quick video and step by step photos. Learn how to make easy aloo fry just under 25 minutes. Potato is a versatile vegetable and can be used to prepare many dishes like curries, pulao, snacks & even stir fry. These spicy stir fried potatoes will be a great addition to your meal. Serve them as a side in any meal. They go so well with rice or roti.
We usually serve this aloo fry with tomato rasam or this instant rasam and plain rice. I am sure you will love it too that way. This simple aloo fry also goes great with some dal fry and jeera rice or basmati rice as well.
My kids some times also take this in their school box with some roti & veggie salad. You can also use this potato fry to make some wraps. I do sometimes spread a green chutney and add this to the roti & make quick snack rolls.
Tips to make potato fry
- To stir fry always use potatoes that are not from the cold storage section as they don’t get cooked or roasted quickly.
- Always keep the potatoes immersed in a bowl of water to get rid of the excess starch. This prevents them from sticking to each other while frying.
- Also keeping them in water hydrates the potatoes and help to cook well easily.
- 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.
- Always add salt to potatoes only after are cooked well. Adding salt early to the potatoes hinders them from cooking well.
- 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.
Preparation
1. Wash 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.
How to make potato fry
4. Heat a pan with oil, add mustard, cumin and urad dal, when the dal gets lightly roasted add red chili, garlic and curry leaves. If you don’t have curry leaves you can use pudina.
5. Add potatoes and 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 red chili powder and garam masala.
9. Mix and fry for few more minutes, till the chili powder blends well with potatoes.
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
Recipe card
Potato fry
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 1¼ cup potatoes (½ inch cubes, 250 grams, 2 to 3 medium)
- 1½ tablespoon oil (adjust to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves chopped or crushed
- ½ teaspoon urad dal (optional)
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 dried red chili broken (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder (adjust to taste)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon garam masala or sambar powder
- ⅓ teaspoon salt as needed
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash potatoes and peel. Cube to small bite sizes about half inch cubes. Keep them in a bowl of water until used. This helps to remove the excess starch and prevents them from sticking to each other while frying.
- Crush or chop garlic. Rinse curry leaves and set aside.
Making potato fry
- Pour oil to a heavy bottom non stick or cast iron pan. When the oil turns hot, add cumin, mustard, red chili and dal (optional). Fry until the dal turns golden.
- Add curry leaves and garlic. When the garlic is lightly fried, add hing.
- Drain the water from potatoes and then add them to the pan. Sprinkle turmeric. Mix and fry potatoes for about 3 to 4 minutes on a medium heat stirring often.
- For crispy aloo fry, keep stirring and fry them without covering until fork tender. You can also add more oil for better roasting.
- For soft potatoes, lower the flame. Cover and cook till the potatoes are fork tender. Stir in between to prevent burning.
- When the potatoes are done, prick them with a fork to check if they are cooked completely. You shouldn't feel them hard from inside. Otherwise cook them for a little longer.
- Then sprinkle chili powder, salt and garam masala. Toss everything well and fry for a minute or two to blend well. I usually add a tsp of oil at this stage so the spice powders coat all of the potatoes easily.
- Serve potato fry with rice and rasam, sambar.
Notes
- For a change you can also sprinkle some chaat masala.
- Adjust the amount of spice powders to your taste. Too much of spice powders will dry out the aloo fry so use only as needed.
- You may use pav bhaji masala or any other spice powder of your choice.
- Soaking potatoes in lot of water for sometime helps to get rid of the excess starch. This step also hydrates the potatoes and fries them quickly in the pan. They won’t stick to each other while frying.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Divya says
Easy and quick recipe.
swasthi says
Thank you
Rom says
Hi Swasthi, can you please post Taro root fry (Chamadumpa) here? Once problem I am facing with Taro root is, it gets slimy after boiling for removing the outer skin. So I kept the boiled roots in the refrigerator for several hours, then peeled the skin, cut into small pieces and fried. Thinking that this would remove the sliminess. But to my disappointment, still the individual pieces are sticking to each other during frying and still slimy. I am wondering if there is anyway to drastically reduce the sliminess in Taro root while cooking. May be the Taro root we get here in US is of a different species compared to the ones that are available in India. I am just thinking out loud here. In any case, if you happen to know to make Taro root fry, nice and dry and crispy, let me know. Thanks
swasthi says
Hi Rom garu,
I think they become slimy if they are a old stock or have been in the cold storage (warehouse) for long time. I too had the same experience as you so stopped buying them.
Msk says
Swasthi, how to make sure that the potatoes don’t turn mushy? I always have problem with that! Please help..
swasthi says
Hi,
Don’t cover the pan. Add more oil and saute them on a slightly higher flame. Some potatoes get mushy very soon if covered. Hope this helps
🙂
Saranya says
Hi madam….. I want to know about nutrition information can you please explain me
swasthi says
Hi Saranya,
All the nutrition info shared on the recipes are only estimates or approximations only. For this recipe it is per serving.
swarna says
Lovely. Turned out good.
swasthi says
Thank you
ST says
Your recipe is so easy and quick to make.
Parvin says
Very tasty recipe
Good to cook very yummy
ANITHA says
Hello SWASTHI JI
just tried this recipe . very easy to make & very tasty as well . tastes good for rice as well as roti . good part is this is not a very spicy dish. love this dish .
one quick suggestion .
please launch a MOBILE APP so that it would be more convenient for us.
thank you . .
Neelima says
Nice recipe
Geevino says
I really luv ur recipe collections & i tried many recipes frm ur site it came well and my hubby luvs it. Thank u so much.
One more tip in the above recipe Potato Fry: after adding spices jst add a half a spoon of besan flour it wud help to bind the spices with potato.
Crystal says
Thank you so much for your recipes! I just got married in Dec 2016 and have been cooking for my husband his fav Andhra dishes (I’m not from Andhra). Your recipes have helped a great deal! My husband is very happy with my cooking thanks to you! ?
P.S I added onions (cause we love onions) to this recipe and it tasted super yummy. Thanks again!
prasanthkarnan says
It is v.good
neetha says
I loved the recipe,but potatoes cubes sticked to each other, what should be done to get it perfectly.
Rakshitha gowda says
I always search for your recipes .I loved it .Thank u , not only this recipe I have tried so many recipes from your list
Calvin says
Wanted to try a quick potato snack with chapatis and tried this…Came out great..didnt use urad dal and by mistake added lilttle more mustard seeds and oil..will do perfectly next time but this time too it was super delicious..thanks for this great yet simple recipe!