Aloo Methi: Potato Curry With Fenugreek Leaves

Aloo Methi is a dry potato curry with fenugreek leaves. It’s a modes vegetarian dish that has an exquisite aroma with a comfortingly delicious taste

This potato curry with fenugreek leaves is a simply heartwarming dish that offers a big flavour. Itโ€™s another recipe idea for potato lovers.

Aloo Methi 

Aloo Methi aka aloo methi sabzi is another staple dish for people in north India, Pakistan, Punjab and Kashmir regions.

It is basically potato curry with fragrant fenugreek leaves. 

potato curry with fenugreek leaves with a overlay text

Itโ€™s a vegan dish that is so easy to make with very simple ingredients. Yet, it offers comfort and a big taste that potato lovers like my husband would have any day. 

So if you love potato curry, you will love this aloo methi. And the addition of fenugreek actually enhances the flavour of potatoes a few degrees higher. 

I guess the exquisite aroma of the leaves and their slightly bitter taste give the dish an intoxicating scent and flavour. 

Just like any other food, there are so many ways and methods of how to make aloo methi. 

The recipe Iโ€™m sharing with you here is actually my sister in lawโ€™s recipe. With her consent and encouragement, Iโ€™m sharing the recipe that will help you make aloo methi in Pakistani style. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do. 

Simple ingredients 

So, to make this simple vegetarian dish, you will need potatoes and fenugreek leaves as the main ingredients. 

When it comes to the spud, waxy potatoes are best for this recipe. 

The reason is that they wonโ€™t break easily and get mushy. My favourites are baby potatoes, charlotte potatoes, or salad potatoes. 

As for the spices, apart from the fenugreek (methi) seeds and black mustard seeds, you only need the usual spices and herbs for Pakistani/ Indian foods, such as cumin seeds, ground coriander, ground cumin, chilli powder, turmeric powder, onion, ginger and garlic.

And you also need some chopped tomatoes. You can opt for the fresh ones or the canned/ tinned ones. 

You will also need a little oil to fry the spices. You can choose any neutral oil that you like. I personally use rapeseed oil or sunflower oil most of the time.

How to cook

Firstly, you saute the sliced onion with methi seeds, black mustard seeds and whole cumin seeds until the onion becomes translucent. 

frying onion slices with fenugreek seeds
onion slices with whole spices

Secondly, add the potato slices, the rest of the spices and the fenugreek leaves. Cook further for a minute or two. Then add a little water and leave it to cook.

potato slices with spices in the pan
adding fenugreek leaves into potato curry

When the vegetables are half-cooked, add the chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned). Give the curry a good stir. Then let it cook with the pan lid on at moderate-low heat until all the potatoes are fully cooked and fenugreek leaves are soft. 

cooking potato curry with fenugreek leaves
ready cooked aloo methi

Top tips to make delicious aloo methi

  • Choose the right potatoes. Waxy potatoes such as baby potatoes, salad potatoes or charlotte potatoes are the best choices.
  • Get the freshest fenugreek leaves that you can, and pick the young leaves more than the old ones. So they wonโ€™t taste as bitter. 
  • Keep checking and stirring your aloo methi whilst cooking to prevent it from burning at the bottom. 
  • As you stir, try mashing the tomatoes as much as you can.  

Ways to enjoy

Just any kind of dry curry, this methi aloo is best eaten with flatbreads such as roti/ chapati, naan bread, or pitta bread. 

But, if you want to enjoy it, even more, try having it with Makki ki roti. It is unleavened flat cornmeal bread.

This vegan potato curry with fenugreek leaves is also delicious to have for your sandwich filling. Put a generous amount of it on a good quality bread and top it up with grated cheese. You can grill the sandwich to make it a more mouthwatering snack. 

More vegan recipes for dry curries

Thank you for checking this aloo methi recipe. I hope you are now intrigued to try it. If you do, can you please share what you think about it in the comments below (leave a reply box)? And please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest. To sneak a peek at whatโ€™s cooking in my kitchen. 

Before you go, donโ€™t forget to check out my other recipes for dry curries.

Thank you and all the best.

Pakistani Aloo Methi - Potato and Fenugreek Leaves Curry
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5 from 4 votes

Aloo Methi – Potato and Fenugreek Leaves Curry

Aloo Methi is one vegetarian dish that not only is delicious but it has an exquisite aroma thanks to the fenugreek. Enjoy with any flatbreads.
Author: Devy Dar
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Pakistani
Servings: 7

Equipment

  • Cooking pan with lid.
  • Wooden spoon

Ingredients

  • 3.5 ounces methi leaves (fenugreek leaves), approximately 2 cups of chopped leaves.
  • 2 large potatoes, approximately 1.3 lbs. Cut in small slices.
  • 1 medium-size onion sliced.
  • ยฝ teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
  • ยฝ teaspoon black mustard seeds.
  • 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds.
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced.
  • โ…“ – inch ginger minced
  • โ…“ – inch ginger sliced.
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander.
  • 1 teaspoon paprika powder/ chilli powder.
  • ยฝ teaspoon turmeric powder.
  • โ…“ cup tinned chopped tomatoes or 3 medium-sized fresh tomatoes, chopped.
  • 1 ยฝ teaspoon salt.
  • โ…“ cup cooking oil I use either rapeseed oil or sunflower oil.

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in a cooking pan and fry the onion slices with methi seeds, mustard seeds, and whole cumin seeds until the onion becomes translucent.
  • Then put the potatoes in and cook for a minute.
  • After that, add the minced ginger and garlic in, followed with the rest of the spices and the salt. Stir well and cook further for a minute or two before you put the tomatoes in. Let it cook for about two minutes and then add the chopped Methi leaves in.ย 
  • Give the vegetables a good stir and cook at low heat with the lid on. Keep checking and stirring every now and then. You can add about ยผ cup of water (or more) if your Aloo Methi looks too dry.ย 
  • Your Aloo Methi is ready when all vegetables are cooked and soft.ย 

Notes

  • I sometimes mix the paprika powder and chilli powder so that my curries are not too hot. And when my kids were little, I used to put only paprika powder to ensure they can eat as well. There are so many types of chilli powder, my favourite is Kashmiri chilli powder as it has a vibrant colour and more flavour to it.
  • Here in the UK, the Asian shops sell the Methi leaves in bunches. And to make this recipe, I used the leaves of one bunch and discarded the stalks.ย 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 273kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 794mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g

Disclaimer

Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.

Author: Devy Dar

Title: Food Writer, Recipe Developer, and Digital Content Creator.

Bio:

Devy Dar founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Readerโ€™s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appetit, and more.ย 

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14 Comments

  1. We are always looking for new curry recipes to try and this looks delicious. So much flavour!

  2. All the flavors in this dish are stunning. It comes together really fast and the whole house smells fantastic while it’s cooking.

    1. Thank you. I’m so pleased you like it.

  3. I tried cooking this way and got so much appreciation. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  4. Claudia Lamascolo says:

    5 stars
    sounds fantastic!

  5. Claudia Lamascolo says:

    I am just loving the flavors in this the potatoes must be bursting with fabulous flavors with turmeric and that coriander wow a must make!

    1. Thank you. Hope you like it.

  6. 5 stars
    This Potato and Fenugreek Leaves Curry turned out amazing!!! I really loved how easy it is to make and all those flavors. Thanks for the recipe!

  7. Hi Devy. Would it be possible to substitute dried Methi? No chance of getting fresh round here, sadly. Or leave it out and up the seeds instead? This sounds like true comfort food!

    1. Hi Susan, though technically you can use dried methi as herbs, for this particular recipe you want fresh methi. So you can appreciate the dish better. Because the fenugreek leaves are one of the key ingredients and not additional like herbs. However, if you just want to taste the potatoes in fenugreek fragrance, then by all means just use the dried methi. But go easy on it. I’d put a teaspoon or two for this recipe. Let me know how you like it.

      1. Hi Devy,
        I used frozen methi instead. It still came out lovely. However, it was way too salty. Would this be because I used frozen?

        1. Hi Samia, I’m afraid I can’t say for sure if you used the shop-bought frozen methi. I usually buy fresh methi in bulk, prep them, wash them, dry them and store them in the freezer. Also, there is a chance that the salt content in this recipe is simply too salty for your tastebud. So feel free to put the salt to your liking.

  8. Many thanks, Devy. Yep, the dried Methi can be a bit thuggish ( rather like a lot of dried herbs), no comparison with the fresh. I’ll think on it … Y’know, when I moved from London to the country, I’ve found the only thing I miss is my local Indian grocer!

    1. It may be a good idea to wait for a chance of going to the city. So you can go to an Asian shop and buy the leaves in bulk. You can always freeze them.

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