Indian Cooking 101 Know Your Spice Jeera Aloo

Before I start to talk about cooking Indian food, here are a few tips that I think would help make the process a tad bit simpler, followed by a quick and easy recipe for Jeera Aloo (Potatoes with Cumin). I also have a video for this recipe here. While I already have a Quick-Start Guide on my homepage, this list is minimal for those who want to start slow.

What spices do you need for Indian cooking?

If you’ve never cooked Indian food before, and the only spice even remotely connected to Indian cooking ever to step into your spice collection is curry powder, then don’t fret. Start with the basics. Here is a list of the most standard spices that would help you cook many delicious Indian meals without making you go all out and splurge on many exotic flavours that you may be clueless about.

Cumin Seeds Mustard seeds Turmeric powder Red Chili powder/Cayenne Coriander Powder Garam Masala

Once you have these staples and are confident about playing with them, then go a step further and try out a few more new to you. Slowly, but surely, you’ll have your own collection of spices that you’re fond of and those that you know would enable you to cook meals that you like.

What cookware do you need for Indian cooking?

While certain dishes require certain traditionally designed equipment, a good start would be to invest in a few simple cookware pieces that you already may or may not have.

a non-stick wide pan a deep heavy-bottomed pot a kadhai, or wok, preferably non-stick or aluminum

How to cook simple Indian food?

When it comes to cooking simple Indian food, like this Jeera Aloo, you only need to be familiar with a few spices and the flavours that go with them. As a self-starter, it’s very easy to lose yourself in the wide selection of spices. True, they may seem intimidating at first, but then as you go along and acquaint yourself with the robust flavours they have to offer, you can’t help but get excited at the prospect of shopping and stocking your spice racks with some of your favourites. As a first in this series, I thought I’d start with this recipe of Jeera Aloo which is so simple, yet so flavourful, that would help you identify its distinct taste and aroma. Most Indian cooking would begin with a tempering, simply put, it’s just a process where spices like cumin or mustard seeds are added to hot oil and allowed to sizzle. Doing so adds plenty of flavour to the oil, which then helps in penetrating through the dish during the cooking process. Tempering, or tadka, is also a common way of adding a burst of flavour to a subtly spiced Dal. The one thing I like about this Jeera Aloo recipe is how the cumin dominates in taste. Another reason for adding it to the menu today is to allow you to experiment and play around with some of the flavours you already love, or some that you wish to try. Potatoes are a wonderful vegetable to use when you need to experiment with a certain spice. Since they lack a strong flavour themselves and carry out others with ease, I’d suggest you use not more than a combination of 2-3 spices, to begin with. This would help you identify the flavours and also enable you to decide whether or not you like the mingling of them together.

Some other additions and substitutions to try with this recipe:

Decrease the amount of cumin seeds in half, substituting the other half denomination with coriander seeds. Sprinkle a pinch of dried fenugreek leaves a few minutes before the potatoes are done. Add about a cup and a half of bite-size cauliflower florets along with the potatoes to make Aloo Gobhi. Add a cup of frozen peas and cook covered for an extra 5 minutes once potatoes are tender to made delicious Aloo Matar. Add a small onion, finely diced, before adding the spices. Follow the remaining method and add a chopped tomato towards the end of the cooking process. Let it cook covered till tomatoes soften and pulp.

This post was originally published in February 2007 and has been recently updated. If you liked this Jeera Aloo recipe, I’m sure you will love my Aloo Tamatar Sabzi, Chana Aloo and my Aloo Shimla-Mirch as well. Tried this recipe? Leave a Comment and let me know, also Rate it by clicking the number of stars on the recipe card. Want to share your version with me? Tag me on Instagram @hookedonheat