Easy Palak Aloo (Spinach and potato curry)

Make this easy potato spinach curry (Aloo palak) in under 30 minutes for your lunch or dinner today. This curried potatoes and spinach is a vegan and gluten-free recipe that is healthy and delicious.

What is Aloo Palak

Aloo Palak is Indian-style curried potatoes and spinach. There are many versions of this curry that vary from region to region in India. Aloo means potato, and palak means spinach.

My version of this curry is a dry curry with potato cubes and chopped spinach. With simple spices, when potatoes and spinach are cooked together, it makes a delicious and healthy side dish for naan bread, roti, rice, millet, or even quinoa.

We also make another version of potato and spinach curry called Saag aloo. We get an altogether different curry in taste and consistency with almost the same ingredients.

Ingredients

• Potatoes: You can use any kind of potatoes to make this potato spinach curry. Baby potatoes also go well with this recipe. Depending on the type and size of potatoes, the cooking time of the curry varies. Also, some potatoes take more water to cook, and some use little water, so adjust the water accordingly if making this curry using stovetop instructions.
• Spinach: Spinach tastes best with potato, but you can use other leafy greens like radish greens, mustard greens, carrot tops, and kale to make this potato curry. If using baby spinach, you need not chop it. Else finely chop the spinach, and I also use the finely chopped spinach stems to make this curry.
• Spices: Regular spices like ground cumin, ground coriander, red chili powder, and turmeric powder make this aloo spinach flavorful. I also used garam masala powder, and you can instead use curry powder.

Stovetop instructions

• Heat a heavy-bottomed pan or skillet. Once it is hot, add oil, cumin seeds, grated ginger, and grated garlic.

• Once the cumin seeds start spluttering, add finely chopped onions and let them fry for a couple of minutes.

• To this onion mixture, add potato cubes and salt. Roast them on low flame for a couple of minutes.

• Add ¼ cup water and cook on medium heat with a closed lid for about 12 to 15 minutes. Potatoes should be almost cooked; if required, you can add a few tablespoons of water. 

• Add spice powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, ground cumin, and ground coriander. Mix everything well so that potatoes are coated with the spices.

• Now add chopped spinach and cook on medium to high flame for 5 to 6 minutes.

• The curry should be dry; if needed, you can cook it for a few more minutes.

Instant pot instructions

Usually, this Indian-style spinach potato curry will be dry. So if you prefer the dry version, make it using the stovetop method. But Instant pot comes in handy when we are out of time and yet want to cook a meal at home.

• Start the Instant pot in saute mode.
• Add oil, cumin seeds, grated ginger, and grated garlic. And let cumin seeds splutter.
• Add finely chopped onions and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
• Now add potato cubes, spice powders - turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder, ground cumin, coriander powder, and salt. Mix everything well.
• Add water and stir it well. Deglaze the pot if required to avoid the burn signal.
• Stop the Instant pot saute mode and close it with its lid. And seal the vent.
• Start the Instant pot in manual or pressure cook mode and cook it for 0 minutes on high pressure.
• Once the Instant pot finishes cooking, quickly release the pressure.
• Start the Instant pot in saute mode and add finely chopped spinach. And cook the potato spinach curry for a couple of minutes until the spinach is wilted and the curry is dry.
• Delicious Instant pot palak aloo curry is ready to serve with basmati rice or naan bread.

Recipe notes

• Some types of potatoes take a little more water to cook. You can use more water for cooking the potatoes, but the curry should be dry, so I prefer adding water little by little so that the potatoes are not overcooked.
• Clean the spinach and drain the water from it well. You can also use a salad spinner to remove water from spinach completely.
• You can add half a teaspoon of dry mango powder or a teaspoon of lemon juice at the end to make the curry a little tangy.
• Onion is optional, and you can skip it.
• You can also use leftover boiled potatoes or parboiled potatoes to make this Indian-style potato spinach curry.
• If using boiled potatoes, cook the spinach for a couple of minutes, add chopped potatoes, and let it cook further for a couple of more minutes.
• You can make this potato spinach curry with leftover roasted potatoes also. Simply stir fry the onions, add spinach, spices, and roasted potatoes. Cook it on medium-high flame for 4 to 5 minutes. 

• Instead of potatoes, you can use sweet potatoes. The only difference will be the cooking time. Sweet potatoes cook faster when compared to potatoes.
• Veggies like green peas and sweet corn are an excellent addition to this curry.
• Green chili or jalapeno goes well with spinach and potato. So I used one green chili for the spiciness. You can use red chili powder or paprika powder as well. 
• Instead of spinach, you can make this potato curry with other leafy greens like kale, mustard greens, beet greens, swiss chard, radish greens, and carrot greens. 
• To flavor the curry, you can add roasted peanut powder or almond powder to this curry. You can also use roughly chopped peanuts or almonds.

Serving suggestions

Usually, this Indian spinach potato curry goes well with any flatbread like roti, naan bread, or crepes.
But you could serve aloo palak along with rice or quinoa also. Curry might be a little dry and will be a good side dish for any Indian dal and rice.

Storage

Potato does not keep well at room temperatures, especially if it is hot. So serve the curry immediately, and it will be good for about 6 to 8 hours at room temperature.
And you can store this spinach potato curry in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

As you are here, you will like my other curry recipes.

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