What makes this recipe so good?
Tributes sprout in my mind when I think how the humble potato can transform into a crispy succulent dish like this Jeera Aloo. When there’s no vegetable available at home this starchy tuber comes to the rescue. The great part of this Jeera Aloo recipe is, you can not only serve it as a side dish with bread or dal rice, but also enjoy as a snack as well as appetizer. Be it lunch, dinner or breakfast, my family would happily welcome this tantalizing potato side dish. The aroma of the potatoes sizzling in oil infused with cumins fills the air, they are in pure joy waiting for the dish to arrive at the table. It’s a perfect meal during fasts which helps in keeping your empty stomach satisfied. As this recipe has cumin seeds and roasted cumin powder, it enhances the flavor of this zingy dish. It also helps in the process of digestion along with ginger, turmeric, coriander seeds and also naturally add flavor to this dish. Now, coming to the secret that makes this dry Jeera Aloo fry so delicious is the use of special homemade Jeera Masala. Lightly roasted mix of spices gives boiled baby potatoes a perfect Punjabi dhaba style flavor which is totally irresistible. If you have boiled potatoes stored in your refrigerator, then you can pull it off in flat 15 minutes. Isn’t it so easy and quick? 🙂
This Jeera Aloo is:
Simple, quick and easyVersatile - serve it as snack, side dish, appetizer or mainsVegan, gluten free, paleo and whole30 approveEasily customisable for larger crowd
Ingredients + Notes
Coming down to the ingredients which you can below, you only need handful of pantry stuffs to make this delicious jeera aloo fry. Potato : As you see here, I am using boiled baby potatoes for this recipe. But feel free to use regular boiled potato cubes here. Chilies : Feel free to use serrano peppers in case if green chilies are not handy.
How to make Jeera Aloo
First, start with dry roasting the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and dried red chilies until fragrant. Then, add the dry roasted masala and ½ teaspoon dry mango powder to the blender and blend to a coarse powder. The Jeera Masala is ready to use, set it aside. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. When the oil hot enough, reduce the flame to medium and add the cumin seeds and green chillies. Allow the cumin seeds to crackle for few seconds until fragrant, does not burn. Add grated ginger and sauté for few seconds. Then, add turmeric powder and cook for few seconds making sure it does not burn. Keep the flame medium low as to avoid burning. Then add boiled baby potatoes, salt and toss very well, cover and cook on low for 3-4 minutes. TIP: Let the potato sear for few extra minutes to give nice crispy golden layer. After cooking boiled potatoes for few minutes, add ground jeera masala powder and mix. Cook on low heat for not more than 1 minute only, cooking for too long may burn the masala. Finally, add lemon juice (or lime juice) and chopped cilantro leaves and toss. Serve hot with puri, roti or paratha along with some sliced onions on side.
Expert Tips
To get the best dhaba style taste, please do not compromise on and skip jeera masala steps. It provides amazing flavor profile to this jeera aloo sabji. As said above, you can use regular boiled potato cubes instead of baby potatoes here. For the below mentioned amount, use 2 and half cups boiled potatoes cubes. Another key point to remember, heat the oil very well and then simmer the heat before adding cumin. The hot oil on simmering heat will infuse the cumin flavor to the oil perfectly without burning it. Increase or decrease the amount of green chillies and red chillies as per your taste.
Serving Suggestion
You can serve this jeera aloo with any of your favorite Indian breads like Paratha, Roti, Puri or Bedmi Puri. Or simply pair it with Khichdi or Dal Rice with some salad and papad on side. A small bowl of cooked potatoes for breakfast keeps body energetic all day long. So, at times we even enjoy this small bowl of cumin potatoes as breakfast just like that! 🙂
More delicious potato recipes for you
Aloo TikkiSpicy Baby PotatoesAloo MatarBread RollPotato Curry
If you made my Punjabi dhaba style Jeera Aloo recipe, please let me know how it turned out for you! I’d love to hear through your comments and ratings below. If you are looking for more delicious and easy recipes delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up for my email newsletter. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook to see more of my kitchen creations.
📖 Recipe
