Cumin-Spiced Potatoes

This easy Cumin-Spiced potato dish (also known as jeera potatoes) uses both the Instant Pot and the stovetop to give tender potatoes with the rich flavors of cumin, coriander, garam masala, and chili. We love them as a gluten-free side with any curry, for breakfast, or by themselves. 

What is Jeera?

Jeera is the Hindi word for cumin, and of course that means that calling this recipe Cumin-Spiced Jeera potatoes is pretty redundant. However, I've learned that very few people who don't speak Hindi seem to know the meaning of jeera, so I've taken the risk of that repetition. A new and exciting word for you, maybe.

The lovely recipe you see here is a simplification of the Jeera potatoes recipe by fellow foodie Archana Shroff of @Foodyfables. Her food always looks so good I’m ready to move in next door to her house! She included her recipe right in her Instagram post, which made it so easy to try out right away.

Do Cumin spiced potatoes need special ingredients?

I wasn’t able to find all the ingredients that Archana listed, even at Honolulu's local Indian food market which was closed when I first returned to Hawaii and now has shortened hours due to the coronavirus. I’m planning to make the recipe many times as I find the other ingredients, to enjoy the flavor with asafetida, fenugreek and dry mango powder. (I have cooked with asafetida before, of course, but left my entire supply in Colorado!)

This simpler recipe still results in a savory, aromatic treat that we liked just as it was. Be sure that I will be hunting down the additional ingredients as soon as I can - but you may be in a similar situation to me, and enjoy this potato dish while you wait.

Though coriander powder is not a special ingredient, it's worth mentioning that it is the ground seeds from the cilantro plant - it's one of my favorite spices in both Indian and Mexican cuisines. I wouldn't omit that one!

A two-step process

First, cook the potatoes however you like. I suggest making them in the Instant Pot as if you were making my Salt Potatoes. See note below for a quick summary of my method, or check out my post. 

I don’t use as much salt in the water as in making salt potatoes, since you can season while you saute the jeera potatoes, but the potatoes are delish if you do salt them some.

Here above are my salt potatoes out of the cooker, and you can see the salt rings on a couple of them.

Then, once the pressure-cooked potatoes are cool enough to touch, chop them into chunks. Heat oil in a skillet (I am using my non-stick Cuisinart wok here), stir in the spices and stir-fry them for a minute.

Stir in the potatoes until they are coated with the spices and oil and sear until they start to develop a crust. The best part is tasting them to make sure they are ready - but be careful to let them cool so you don't burn your tongue! 

Assuming you can keep from eating them all right away, try serving the potatoes with Butter Chicken and Swiss Chard Saag and any fresh vegetables you have on hand, like these sliced tomatoes. 

If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave me a comment so that I know how it went. And let me know on social media!

Enjoy,

Beth

Other curry-flavored dishes you may enjoy

Coconut Turmeric Rice

Instant Pot Swiss Chard Saag

Marrakesh Lamb Korma

Spinach and Coconut Three-Bean Curry

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Cumin-Spiced Potatoes

Easy Cumin-Spiced potatoes (also known as Jeera potatoes) uses first the Instant Pot, then the stovetop, to give tender potatoes with the rich flavors of cumin, coriander, garam masala and chili.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword cumin potatoes, curried potatoes, easy side dish, gluten-free side, Indian side dish, jeera potatoes, spiced potato

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8 servings

Author Beth

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of small to medium Yukon gold potatoes) pressure cooked as for salt potatoes (see note)
• 3 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
• 1-2 teaspoons cumin seeds plus 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 heaping teaspoon coriander powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste about 3 cranks of a grinder
• Cilantro to garnish

Instructions

• Pressure cook the potatoes; let cool; cut into medium chunks
• Add oil to the pan and heat it
• Stir in the cumin seeds and cook until they crackle
• Then add the chili, coriander, and cumin powder and mix well with the oil
• Add the potato chunks and stir to coat with seasonings, then let them sear for a few minutes to develop a crust
• Sprinkle on the rest of the spices and once they seem to be evenly distributed, check the seasonings. 

Notes

To pressure cook the potatoes, place them in salted water to cover (about ½ cup kosher salt). Set the Instant Pot for 3 minutes on Manual pressure. When the Instant pot finishes the 3 minutes, allow the pressure to come down naturally for 10 minutes, then release manually the rest of the way. Allow the potatoes to set in the salt water for at least another 5 minutes before removing them to a colander. Don't rinse off the salt, just let the potatoes cool until you can chop them without burning yourself. 

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