Aloo beans is a popular north Indian dry curry made with spiced potatoes and green beans. It’s a simple and tasty dish that takes minutes to make in an Instant Pot.
These Punjabi potatoes and green beans are cooked in basic Indian spices and are easy to make, especially in an electric pressure cooker. Potatoes absorb flavor well, and so while simple, this dish is also very flavorful.
Aloo beans take minutes to prep (especially if you decide not to peel the potatoes) and minutes to cook. I typically use Yukon gold potatoes when making this dish, but any potato will work. Yukon golds have a thin peel, so you can get away with leaving the peel on if you use them.
This is a dry side dish that pairs nicely with dal or any saucy curry. And yes, it’s absolutely possible to make a dry dish in an instant pot! I have already shared recipes for dry dishes like aloo methi, achari aloo baingan, chicken bhuna, and aloo gobi, to name a few.
Serve this tasty dry aloo beans sabzi with dal or chicken curry and basmati rice. Enjoy!
Instant Pot Punjabi Potatoes and Green Beans (Aloo Bean Sabzi)
Instant Pot Punjabi Potatoes and Green Beans (Aloo Bean Sabzi)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil of choice
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 onion diced
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 pound green beans chopped
- 2 medium potatoes approx. 1 pound, chopped into 1-inch cubes
Spices
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
- ¼ cup water
- Cilantro garnish
Instructions
- Press the sauté button, add the oil and allow it to heat up for a minute. Add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Once the cumin seeds begin to brown and the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the onion. Stir-fry the onion for 6-7 minutes, or until it begins to brown.
- Add the garlic and the ginger and give everything a good stir. Then add the tomato and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes, or until it begins to break down.
- Add the green beans and potatoes then sprinkle the spices on top. Give everything a good mix then add the ¼ cup water.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 4 minutes at high pressure.
- Open the valve to quick release any remaining pressure.
- Garnish with cilantro.
Notes
- I have successfully doubled this recipe in my 6 quart by doubling all ingredients and keeping the cook time the same.
- I usually use Yukon gold potatoes but any potatoes will work. If you use Yukon golds, you can leave the thin skin on the potatoes to save time (if you don’t mind the peels).
S says
I’ve made it the written way 3 times now and it always came out perfect. I was in a hurry today, so I used 1/2 cup frozen onion masala in place of the tomato, onion, garlic and ginger. I kept everything else the same and it turned out just as good as the original way. Thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you like this recipe 🙂
Laura says
How would I adjust this recipe if I want to use frozen green beans?
SMS says
Did you get a response to your question? I have the same question.
Roopa says
Hi Ashley,
Do you think I can use peeled plantains cubes instead of potato?
What will be cooking time and water I would need?
Thanks
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Roopa, I haven’t tried this so I’m not sure about the cook time but hopefully another reader can chime in! If you experiment, please let us know how it goes!
Kelly Friesch says
My potatoes didn’t cook! Any suggestions?
Padmaksi says
Can we get the same dry texture with frozen beans? I am assuming that need to skip adding any water, have you tried with frozen beans? Thanks for sharing all your recipes for instant pot, they are pretty good and very helpful.
Neil says
I made this last night. Amazing and so authentic. I Doubled the quantities— added more water than was called for, as I was dreading a potential burn message. Perhaps I wouldn’t have needed it. Thank you
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Neil, I’m glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Reir says
Hi Ashley, I have recently discovered your blog, and I have been trying out some of the recipes. This one turned out really well. I already had the daal going in instapot, so followed the directions exactly, but cooked it on stovetop. My parents loved it! Thank you.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Reir, happy to hear you found my blog and are trying my recipes! Thanks for letting me know how this one turned out for you – glad your parents loved it 🙂
Rashvinda says
Absolutely perfect! The potatoes are tender and everything tastes absolutely divine!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Rashvinda! Happy to hear that you liked this dish so much 🙂
Amit says
Anyone get the dreaded burn message with this?
I added 1/2 cup water and deglazed for double the recipe.
Annie Lee says
I have used this recipe a lot with many types of potato including sweet and all delicious. I have a foot injury so my 12 year old was cooking dinner tonight and used a can of chickpeas added as well for protein. it was delicious!
My Heart Beets says
Annie, what a great kiddo to help out like that! I hope your foot is feeling better! Also, I really like the idea of adding chickpeas – thanks for sharing that with us 🙂
Maleeha says
Hi would you use the same cooking time for sweet potatoes?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Maleeha, I haven’t tried this with sweet potatoes so I’m not sure, but my guess would be to keep the same cook time.
Lisa says
I did this on the stove top and it cooked within 10-15 mins once the water was in and lid on.
It was just delicious and super flavourful. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
My Heart Beets says
Lisa, that’s awesome! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Dianne says
Made this with sweet potatoes and wow it was great!
My Heart Beets says
Dianne, awesome! Great to know it worked well with sweet potatoes 🙂
Lindsay says
This was great – I was feeling lazy so I used your onion masala in place of the tomato, onion, garlic and ginger. Even less prep and turned out great! I probably used about 2/3 cup?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Lindsay, that’s awesome! Love that you used the onion masala – thank you for sharing!
Shilpa Sharma says
Hi Ashley, I tried this recipe a few weeks ago but forgot to comment. It was easy and delicious and the spices were perfectly on point. Thanks for such a super recipe. Can’t wait to try more!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Shilpa! Thanks so much for letting me know how it turned out 🙂 I’m really glad you liked it!
Sally says
I made this tonight and it was wonderful! Thank you, it’s going in my favourites book (old fashioned). Thanks again ☺️
My Heart Beets says
Sally, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked this dish 🙂
Nicholas says
How can I modify this for half the quantity?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Nicholas, I haven’t tried but I’d just reduce the ingredients by half and keep the cook time the same – it should reach pressure faster since there will be less in the pot. Let me know how it goes!
Barbara says
Delicious! Mine still had a lot of water in there. Maybe because I used frozen cut beans and it was still pretty watery in there after sauteeing the tomato – do you think so? Very good regardless. Potatoes perfect, beans maybe a bit overcooked but not bad at all.
My Heart Beets says
Hi Barbara, I’m sure it was watery because of the frozen green beans – if you try it again with frozen green beans I wouldn’t add the additional 1/4 cup water. Let me know how that goes if you make it that way! 🙂
Suzanne Tobin says
Spot on with the don’t add additional water if you’re using frozen green beans. It came out perfect tonight. I previously made it with fresh and honestly I couldn’t tell a difference.
My Heart Beets says
Suzanne, awesome! Thank you for letting us know how it turned out with the frozen beans! 🙂
Todd says
I love Indian food and just recently started cooking it for myself. I’m so glad I found this site. This is the first recipe of yours that I made and it’s delicious!
PS, My second recipe was your onion masala.
My Heart Beets says
Todd, I’m so glad you found my site too! Happy to hear that you liked the aloo beans! Hope you love everything you make with the onion masala 🙂
Mark Andrew says
No Indian dish would include paprika, nor Cayenne pepper. Tsk tsk.
My Heart Beets says
You can use kashmiri chili powder for paprika and red chili pepper for cayenne. Paprika and cayenne are easy to find here in the US. Also, did you know that the only pepper native to India is actually black pepper? Maybe reserve your judgement Mark 😉
Abha says
How much water would you use if you used frozen cut beans?
Maryann Raj says
I was wondering about this too…
Amit says
I ran into an issue with the dreaded “burn” message when I tried the recipe. I deglazed the instant pot before switching to pressure mode. I used 1/2 cup water instead of 1/4 cup was barely enough to cover the liner bottom.
My Heart Beets says
Do you have an 8 quart? All of my recipes are tested with a 6 quart… the extra surface area of a larger pot might require more liquid – let me know!
Ns says
How can a adapt to make this with onion masala? Will it taste as good?
Poo says
I tried this recipe today but did not look anywhere close to yours. It came out over cooked. Of course I cut beans smaller to about half an inch. When you switch from sauté mode to pressure cook mode in IP Duo, it takes few minutes before 4 minute timer comes on. Is it the same for you? Thank you.
My Heart Beets says
Hi, yes, the pressure cooker takes time to build pressure – did you wait until the 4 minute timer went off? If you cut the veggies into small pieces then they are more likely to overcook – I suggest cutting the potatoes into 1 inch pieces for that reason. Hope you give it another try!