Indian Roast Bombay Potatoes or Aloo

Roast Bombay potatoes or Bombay aloo featuring roasted & lightly crushed baby spuds cooked in whole spices with red onions and tomatoes.

The wonderful recipe is a fantastic way to change up your sides for an Indian curry, ditch the rice and add these wonderful vegan Bombay aloo instead!

Bombay Aloo

I think that potatoes are all too often an overlooked ingredient in Indian and Pakistani cooking by folk in the "west". To be fair, I may be biased as I think that potatoes are all too often overlooked in "modern" cooking.

Spuds appear in loads of classic Indian dishes, everything from mains like saag aloo to sides like aloo methi and curries like the classic dum aloo and the wonderful Bengali dish of chanar dalna.

Arguably the most well-known Indian potato dish is Bombay potatoes or Bombay aloo, a name that covers a whole spectrum of recipes.

Everything from a dry spiced potato dish like this to a wet curry with a masala-style sauce. If that is your thing you should definitely check out my aloo matar recipe.

My version is the latter, we take potatoes and parboil them with dried chillies to get the flavours started.

Then we crush them and toss them in oil with some whole spices.

Fennel, cumin, mustard and onion seeds join curry leaves and asafoetida to maximise the flavour in this recipe.

Then it is all roasted in the oven whilst you prepare whatever you want to serve with your Bombay aloo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the type of potatoes matter?

Yes and no! You can use any type of potato and the dish will taste awesome and your timings will be the same.

But using a waxy new potato as I do here will lead to a Bombay potatoes dish with more of robust texture. Perfect if serving with a dahl or something like my rajma masala.

Floury potatoes I think work better with a meaty wet curry like my classic pork vindaloo.

Where can I get curry leaves?

You will likely need to hunt down an Indian store for these.

They will often be sold frozen and this is the perfect way to use them and store them. Try and avoid dried curry leaves, they have practically no flavour.

What is Asafoetida?

It is an ingredient derived from the fennel plant, it does not taste like fennel and it is also known as hing.

Often presented in a small plastic tub that looks like something from a pharmacy rather than a grocery store.

It has an odd indescribable flavour and an insane aroma and it is THE “secret” ingredient that is most often left out of Indian food.

Particularly vegetarian or vegan Indian food and it is a real star in these Bombay potatoes. Just drop some in hot oil and you are instantly transported to your favourite Indian restaurant!

Serving Suggestions

My roast Bombay potatoes are a dish that I cook when I can be bothered to serve Indian food with something other than rice and naan bread.

They have made cameo appearances alongside my roast spiced chicken legs (pictured below) and tandoori lamb chops (pictured above), as well as the Nargis kebabs and mango chutney pork chops on my site.

But they are also awesome alongside a wet curry like a chicken pathia, chicken cafreal, garlic chilli chicken or lamb madras. They are also wonderful with my baked mango chutney chicken breast recipe.

I also think that Bombay potatoes make a great side dish for dahl recipes like this mung dahl.

There is definitely life beyond Indian flatbreads, although if I were honest, I usually serve both.

Equipment Used

I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Stovetop.
• Oven.
• 15cm or 6" saucepan.
• 28cm or 11" frying pan or skillet.
• Kitchen knife chopping board.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen knife.
• Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
• Stirring and serving spoons.