Dilli Wali Aloo | Delhi Style Aloo Curry | Easy Potato Curry

When we speak about Dilli ka khana or food from Delhi, Dilli Wali Aloo is often spoken with love and reverence. This traditional Dilli Wali Aloo recipe makes for a delectably flavourful Delhi style potato curry and is usually devoured with fried Indian breads such as poori or bedmi, along with suji ka halwa. It is absolutely perfect for a lazy Sunday breakfast or brunch, and even for celebrations, though we like it at any meal. A staple breakfast in the old Delhi area, these Delhi style potatoes are now served at many restaurants across the city. Red-orange-ish in colour, aromatic, rich, and piquant, Dilli wale aloo or Dilli wali aloo is a dish that is unrivalled in taste.

Try our traditional dilli wali aloo recipe once and we are sure you will be hooked for life.
 

Ingredients for Dilli Wali Aloo Recipe

To make this Delhi aloo recipe you need fragrant bay leaves, spicy cloves, finely chopped fresh ginger, green chillies, pureed tomatoes for tanginess, fennel or saunf powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder to impart heat and colour to the dish, coriander powder, salt for seasoning, dried fenugreek or kasoori methi, lightly whisked yogurt, and oil. And of course, the star of this Delhi style aloo curry – potatoes. The potatoes need to be boiled, peeled, and then broken by hand into uneven small to medium pieces rather than being cut with a knife.
 

What is Dilli ka Khana?

Delhi is considered to be a city of settlers and the hospitality of its denizens is well-known. The food of Dilli or Dilli ka Khana has been influenced by the Mughals, who were the city's erstwhile rulers, along with influences from those who settled here in the last 300 years including Kayasths, Jain, Punjabis, among many other. Each of these communities brought their cuisines to Delhi’s melting pot. The food thus eaten in Delhi is a rich indicator of its cultural ethos. Delhi cuisine includes but is not limited to kababs and biryanis, tandoor ka khana or food cooked in coal fired ovens such as tikkas and various leavened and unleavened breads, matar kulche, chaat such as dahi bhalla, golgappas, papdi chaat, kachori, kulle chaat, aloo tikki, dishes such as butter chicken and butter paneer masala, dal makhani, and several other dishes. Chandni Chowk in North-East Delhi is where you can still find shops and restaurants that have existed for a really long time selling traditional food just as it was done in the past. Other than that, you would need an invitation to the homes of the original residents of Delhi to get your share of Dilli ka khana.
 

Dilli Wali Aloo and pooris or bedmi are an inseparable combination, often eaten for breakfast in Delhi. When it is a Sunday or a special occasion, poori-aloo is accompanied with suji ka halwa or semolina halwa, rounding off the meal perfectly.

This Delhi famous aloo is sometimes paired with other fried foods such as kachoris, samosas, and even bread pakodas, thus turning them into a quick street-side meal or snack in between mealtimes.
 

Variations of potato curry preparations are found across the country where the ingredients keep changing with the region and so does the recipe. You have the ‘dubki wale aloo’ in Uttar Pradesh that are a famed delicacy of the city of Mathura. Across Northern India, potato curry is known as ‘rasse wale aloo’, ‘rassa’ being the curry. In Bengal, they are called ‘aloo tarkari’ and are made with a five spice mix of panch phoron along with other ingredients. Famous from Kerala is the delicious Potato Mappas and from Hyderabad – Aloo ka Korma.
 

How to make dilli wali aloo well:

Follow our Dilli Wale Aloo recipe step by step to get the dish like it is served at our favourite eateries around Delhi. Note that it is important to break the boiled potatoes by hand rather than cut them with a knife. This simple step gives them a texture which is far superior and quite different from the other variants of potato curry.
 

It is also quite important to follow the sequence of adding ingredients to the recipe. The dried fenugreek or kasoori methi is added close to the end as you want to retain its aroma and flavour. Yogurt is added last after turning off the heat. It is important to have the heat off and to stir the yogurt continuously till it blends completely with the Delhi style aloo curry so that the yogurt does not curdle. Pro-tip: Use this technique (low heat and stirring continuously) in any yogurt-based recipe for best results and to avoid curdling as well.

Watch our dilli wali aloo recipe video for detailed steps on making this dish perfectly.
 

Serving Suggestions for Delhi Style Potato Curry:

Serve Dilli Wale Aloo hot with bedmi or pooris of your choice accompanied with sweet suji ka halwa. While this dish can be eaten be rotis or paranthas too but the combination of bedmi and dilli wale aloo is unmatched. Add to this combination, a side of sliced onions and a seasonal instant pickle like gobi shalgam ka achar and you have a treat ready! You could garnish the Dilli Wale Aloo with chopped coriander leaves if you wish.

If it’s just potatoes you want, then see all our Potato Recipes right here!

Or read more in our article on Traditional Indian Cooking Techniques if you have an interest in learning about Indian cuisine.