Aloo gobi, a classic Indian dish made of spiced potatoes and cauliflower, is one of the most popular Indian vegetarian recipes. This is a side dish that you’ll find in any Indian restaurant and it’s also served in many Indian homes.
Anyone who loves Indian food has heard of aloo gobi, a simple yet flavorful vegetarian/vegan dish made with spiced potatoes and cauliflower.
Aloo gobi literally translates to “potato cauliflower” – these two humble ingredients are known for their ability to soak up flavor and so when combined with spices, the dish transforms into something pretty darn special.
MY LATEST VIDEOSI am sharing my recipe for aloo gobi using two cooking methods: the instant pot and the stovetop. I personally prefer using my instant pot these days because it makes cooking so much easier but feel free to make it either way. I will share a few notes for those of you planning to use your pressure cooker to make this.
Instant Pot Aloo Gobi
Aloo gobi is a dry dish and yes, it is absolutely possible to make a dry dish in an instant pot. In fact, I have several “dry recipes” in my cookbook, Indian Food Under Pressure.
When using an electric pressure cooker, you need just enough water to bring the pot to pressure – and keep in mind that veggies release water too. As I’ve mentioned in the past, all of my electric pressure cooker recipes are tested using a 6 quart instant pot and so if you are using a larger or smaller pot, you may need to adjust the recipe. If you have questions, join my Indian instant pot facebook group and someone can hopefully help you out 🙂
As for the cauliflower – I prefer mine to be tender with a bit of bite to it so I cut my cauli into large florets. If you prefer soft cauliflower, then you can cut it into smaller florets. Feel free to adapt the recipe to your preference.
What can I serve aloo gobi with?
You can serve aloo gobi with anything! I prefer to pair this dry dish with a saucy dish. Here are some meal ideas for you:
- main dish: butter chicken Or butter chickpeas OR vegetable korma
- basics: basmati rice and/or naan and raita/yogurt and pickle
- sides: aloo gobi AND dal makhani
I can’t believe that I haven’t shared a recipe for aloo gobi on my blog until now. To be fair, I have a recipe for stovetop aloo gobi in my first ebook and an instant pot recipe in my second book (find both of my cookbooks here). So I suppose my recipes have been out in the word for awhile now, just not on the world wide web. Now you can bookmark this page or visit my website any time from anywhere and make some delicious and authentic homemade aloo gobi 🙂
Aloo Gobi (Instant Pot and Stovetop)
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Aloo Gobi translates to “Potato Cauliflower.” This is a very flavorful dish mainly because these two vegetables are known for their ability soak up flavor. Some prefer the cauliflower in this dish to be soft, but I prefer mine to have a bit of crunch. Adapt this recipe to your preference: use small cauliflower florets if you like soft cauliflower or keep the pieces a little larger for extra crunch.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil of choice or ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ – 1 Serrano pepper or green chili, minced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 2 medium potatoes (approx. 1 pound), cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
Spices
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne, adjust to taste
- Cilantro, garnish
Instructions
Instant Pot Directions:
- Press the sauté button, add the oil and allow it to heat up for a minute. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. Once the cumin seeds brown and the mustard seeds pop, add the onion and Serrano pepper. Stir-fry for 6-7 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown.
- Add the garlic, ginger, potatoes and and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Pour ¼ cup water into the pot, secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 3 minutes at high pressure.
- Open the valve to quick release any remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid, stir the potatoes, then add the cauliflower florets and sprinkle the spices on top of the florets. Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 1 minute on high pressure. Quick release remaining pressure.
- Remove the lid, mix well, garnish with cilantro and serve.
Stovetop Directions:
- Melt 2 tablespoons oil/ghee in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
- Once the seeds begin to splutter, add onions and stir frequently for for 5 minutes, or until they begin to brown.
- Add the potatoes and the remaining tablespoon of oil/ghee and continue to stir frequently for about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, ginger, Serrano pepper and spices. Stir for a minute, then add the cauliflower.
- Mix well, add ¼ cup water then cover the pot with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, stir, then cook for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
- Garnish with cilantro, serve.
Notes
- all of my electric pressure cooker recipes are tested using a 6 quart instant pot and so if you are using a larger or smaller pot, you may need to adjust the amount of water you use in the recipe.
Was excited to try this, but ended up with the “burn” message while cooking the potatoes. Will try increasing the water next time to see if that helps.
Hi Jen, just wanted to ask – are you using a 6 quart? In the post I mention that you may need to adjust the recipe if using another size so just thought I’d ask 🙂 Please let me know! I hope it works out next time!
Yes, 6 quart Duo 60. Recipe ended up tasting good, but the potatoes were mush after adding more water and recovering from the burn message.
Jen, aw man I am not sure why it did that – sorry about that! If you try it again, let me know how it goes.
I made this today and only variation is added 1 cup frozen peas with cauliflower in the last 1 min. Loved how great and easy the IP version is.
Thank you Ashley for sharing this.
Looking fwd to making the other veg dishes on your site!
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Anisha, awesome! I’m so glad you liked the recipe 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what you think of any other recipes that you try!
Made the stovetop version because I had your butter chicken going in the Instant Pot. I overcooked it a little but it was still delicious. Great beginner recipe using common supermarket ingredients (no amchur, methi, hing).
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Sarah, love that you made both this and the butter chicken! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Made this and my family loved it – the cauliflower and potatoes were not mushy – awesome recipe and easy to follow! Thanks Ashley!
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I’m so glad you and your fam liked the aloo gobi! Thanks for letting me know how it went 🙂
I loved this! Delicious and easy to make. Came on this site originally for a bitter melon recipe and can’t wait to try many of your recipes. Question though….do you buy your ghee? I know it’s a silly question🙂
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Renee, that’s so great to hear! I’m glad you liked this 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the bitter melon or any other recipes you try! As for ghee – I almost always make it myself because it’s so easy and economical but if you’re looking to buy then I suggest Pure Indian Foods – their ghee is great quality.
Turned out to be a great recipe! I felt the potatoes ended up being slightly overdone and the cauliflower slightly underdone, so next time I might reduce the cook time on the potatoes by 1 minute and increase the cook time by 1 minute after adding the cauliflower. But the flavor was really on point!
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Hi Ashley – I am loving all your instant pot recipes! I’m trying them out one by one. I did have a general question – I see that you use cayenne + paprika in your Indian recipes, as opposed to the traditional Indian chilli powder. Is there a specific reason for that?
Thanks!
Thank you!! I love that you are trying them out one by one! Great question – I do that because Indian chili powder can vary in spice level and I want to make sure that when my blog readers make my recipes they get consistent results (don’t want anyone to tell me I made something too spicy or too bland) but you can absolutely use Indian chili powder to taste if you prefer 🙂
This recipe did not work for me. The potatoes started off good, and they were done. I added the cauliflower, the spices on top, cooked per recipe. When I opened the lid, the cauliflower underdone almost raw like and the potatoes were mush, and burned the bottom of the pot. Transferred everything to the stove to finish. Does anyone have suggestions? I felt like there was not enough liquid? Did anyone cook the cauliflower longer?
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The cauliflowers turned out mushy. I did follow the recipe to a T. Not sure what went wrong. Bummer
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Soni, you can try cutting the florets a little bigger next time – you can adjust the size according to your preferred texture.