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 potato dish with a more 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 and store them. Try to 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 incredible aroma, and it is THE “secret” ingredient that is most often left out of Indian food.
Particularly vegetarian or vegan Indian food that omits onion, 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, masala lamb chops 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.
- Hob/stovetop.
- Oven.
- 15cm or 6" saucepan.
- 28cm or 11" frying pan or skillet.
- Kitchen knife chopping board.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- A combination of weighing scales, measuring cups and spoons.
- Stirring and serving spoons.
Roast Bombay Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 375 g New Potatoes 2 Cups
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 Dried Kashmiri Chilli Peppers
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 Medium Red Onion 1 Cup
- 2 Medium Tomatoes 250g
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida
- 8 Curry Leaves
- 1 teaspoon Black Mustard Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Fennel Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Black Onion Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Dried Fenugreek Leaves
Instructions
- Bring a 15cm or 6" pan of water to a boil, add the salt and throw in the dried chillies and potatoes and boil for 10 minutes to soften.
- Peel and slice the red onion into 2-3mm (⅛") thick half-moon shapes.
- Roughly chop the tomato into a 1-1½cm (½") dice.
- Peel the garlic cloves and slice them as finely as you can.
- Heat the oil in a 28cm or 11" frying pan or skillet and add the seeds and asafoetida.
- When your seeds start to pop and crackle, add in the onion and curry leaves, then cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Drain your potatoes, making sure you reserve the chilli peppers.
- Lightly crush your potatoes; you do not want them squished, just broken open a little.
- Chop as much of the chilli as you want to add.
- Add the tomatoes and stir until they start to break down, which will take a few minutes.
- Add the turmeric to the onions, followed by the chilli, garlic, and crushed potatoes, then crush the fenugreek leaves over the dish with the palms of your hands and toss to coat.
- Transfer to the oven and roast at 200°C or 400°F for 30-35 minutes.
Fantastic! Made it as a side to your (also fantastic!)Macher Jehol Fish Curry. Certainly making this again!
Glad you enjoyed it Afra, thank you for taking the time to come and tell me 🙂
Brian
Deliciously robustly aromatic potato dish - Bombastic!
I came across your site by accident and I’m so glad that I did. I’ve just made these tatties in an Instantpot with an air fryer lid. Didn’t change anything other than reduce the cooking time by 10 minutes. Stunning, simple accompaniment that will become a staple in our house. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed them Will, fab hint on using an air fryer lid for an Instant Pot.
Thanks for taking the time to tell me 🙂
It's Sunday here and yet again curry day as requested by the family so it's got to be your amazing Bombay potatoes . I'm finally going to have a go at the naam bread to compliment all the other curries from your site. Your recipes are so well thought out and taste just like the takeaway. Keep the curries coming I'll try anything once and most probably a few times. Have a great day xxx
There are more than a few curries to choose from, over 60 at the last count 😮 Glad you enjoyed these,I love em 🙂
Hi Brian
After discovering your site purely by accident i am in awe. tonight I've cooked chicken saagwala beef bhuna and roasted Bombay potatoes. Just amazing tbh.loved it all. Ty xxx
So glad you stumbled on my site, that sounds like a proper feast and they are some of my favourite recipes, in fact, I made the Bhuna last night for dinner 🙂
This is, hands down, one of my family's favourite side dishes for weekend curry nights. Thank you Brian, your recipes never fail to delight.
Thanks Julie, glad you like it, it's one of my favourites too!
This looks so good and I love how easy it is!! Will be making these for sure!
I love all the seasonings going on here, especially the fennel and the cumin. Yum.
Looks like a great dinner recipe for a busy weeknight. My family is sure to love it.
Oh my, his looks scrumptious ! We are huge Indian food lovers and I know my family would love your Bombay potatoes (and for once, I actually DO have all the ingredients on hand!)
I'm short of Fenugreek here in Thailand But I'm going to go for it this week.
Would you have a recommendation for a replacement ?
Difficult because Fenugreek is so distinctive.
Regards Paul
PS. Those moving pictures were a bit scary at first haha !!!!
Haha. I personally think that Fenugreek is very difficult to substitute... I have read that a combination of mustard seeds and fennel seeds toasted off and then ground does an ok job although I am a little skeptical. Many Indian curry powders contain fenugreek so you could play around with the balance of seeds and add a little curry powder that you like, although make sure that curry powder is fresh as it loses its flavour really quickly.
The great thing about Indian food is that you can be driven by your nose, I use a sense of smell to work out when the balance is correct when I start a new Indian recipe and then tweak from there.
If you really can't get it then omit and increase the mustard which will change the flaovur but will still taste great!
Enjoy 🙂
This looks so good and I love how easy it is!! Will be making these for sure!
Enjoy
Looks like a great dinner recipe for a busy weeknight. My family is sure to love it.
Thanks Lisa.
Oh my, his looks scrumptious ! We are huge Indian food lovers and I know my family would love your potatoes (and for once, I actually DO have all the ingredients on hand!)
lol, it is bizarre how the availability of ingredients vary around the World, I do not struggle to get any of the ingredients I use in Hungary which genuinely is the land that food progress forgot. I do have to go to a big city for supplies though.
I love all the seasonings going on here, especially the fennel and the cumin. Yum.
Two of my favourite spices.
Loving the combination of these potatoes with chicken, that really makes a whole meal of it and your photos are making me super hungry. Such a great idea!
Thank you.