Easy Air fryer Indian potatoes, carrots and peas

If you like aloo gobi, this air fryer aloo gajar matar is another vegetable dish worth trying. The name isn’t quite as familiar in the UK, but the ingredients probably are: potatoes, carrots and peas cooked with cumin, turmeric, chilli, garlic and lime.

I love Indian food, especially when we have several different dishes on the table rather than just one curry and some rice. Give me a little bit of this, a spoonful of that, some chutney and something to dip in yoghurt and I’m happy!

Aloo gajar matar works really well as part of that sort of meal. You can serve it alongside a curry, rice and air fryer onion bhajis, or make a larger portion and have it as a simple vegetable-based meal.

This version is made in the air fryer rather than cooked traditionally on the hob. It’s therefore not meant to be an authentic replacement for every version of aloo gajar matar; it’s simply the way I’ve adapted the dish to make it in my air fryer.

What is aloo gajar matar?

The name is much less complicated than it initially looks. Aloo means potato, gajar means carrot and matar means peas, so the three main ingredients are right there in the name.

There are lots of variations in how the dish is prepared and seasoned. Mine uses cumin seeds, turmeric, chilli, garlic and lime alongside the vegetables.

The vegetables are cut quite small before cooking, which is particularly important when you’re making this version in the air fryer. Huge chunks of carrot and potato aren’t going to cook at the same speed as little 1cm pieces.

Ingredients for air fryer aloo gajar matar

You’ll need white potatoes, carrots and frozen peas for the vegetables, along with cumin seeds, garlic, ground turmeric, mild chilli powder and salt.

There’s also an optional fresh green chilli if you’d like a little more heat and lime juice stirred through at the end.

I use a little spray oil during cooking. You don’t need to absolutely drench the vegetables in oil, but a little helps with the way they cook and brown.

If you don’t like much heat, simply leave the fresh chilli out. The mild chilli powder adds flavour as well as heat, so I wouldn’t immediately remove all of that too unless you know you’re particularly sensitive to chilli.

Cut the vegetables quite small

Cut the potatoes into cubes of approximately 1cm, then cut the carrots to roughly the same size.

This isn’t a recipe where I’d be too precious about every cube being identical, but keeping them reasonably similar means they’re much more likely to cook at the same speed.

I don’t usually bother peeling either if the vegetables are clean. That’s entirely personal preference though, so peel yours if you prefer them that way.

It’s also a good recipe for wonky carrots and potatoes because nobody is going to know what shape they started once you’ve chopped everything into little cubes anyway.

Seasoning the potatoes and carrots

Put the potatoes and carrots into a large bowl, then add the cumin seeds, garlic, turmeric, chilli powder and salt.

If you’re using the optional fresh chilli, chop it finely and add that too.

Mix everything thoroughly so the seasoning is distributed across the vegetables rather than having one potato cube covered in turmeric while everything else has escaped completely!

Add the water and mix again, then leave the vegetables for around ten minutes while you preheat the air fryer to 200°C.

How long does aloo gajar matar take in the air fryer?

The vegetables take approximately 30 minutes at 200°C in my air fryer.

Put the seasoned potato and carrot mixture into the air fryer and cook for ten minutes.

Give everything a good stir, add a light spray of oil and cook for another ten minutes.

Stir again, add the frozen peas and another light spray of oil if needed, then cook for the final ten minutes.

The important thing is to check the vegetables rather than blindly trusting the timer. Your potato and carrot pieces should be cooked through and tender.

Air fryers vary, and chopping the vegetables larger than I have will also increase the cooking time.

Once everything is cooked, stir through the lime juice before serving.

Do I need an air fryer liner?

I originally made this using a silicone liner because it makes the mixture easy to stir and stops small peas disappearing through any larger gaps in the basket.

You don’t necessarily need one, though.

If you use a liner, make sure it’s suitable for your particular air fryer and doesn’t interfere with the airflow your machine needs to cook properly.

How spicy is this recipe?

I’d describe my version as mildly spiced rather than fiery.

The easiest way to control the heat is to leave out the fresh green chilli. You still have the cumin, turmeric, garlic and mild chilli powder giving the vegetables plenty of flavour.

If you make it once and still find it hotter than you’d like, reduce the chilli powder next time rather than cutting all the spices in half. Cumin and turmeric aren’t simply there to make the dish hot, so removing those would change the overall flavour unnecessarily.

What should I serve with aloo gajar matar?

This is where I’d go for the little-bit-of-everything approach.

Serve it alongside one of my vegetarian curry recipes, some rice and air fryer onion bhajis, with mango chutney and a simple yoghurt and mint dip on the side.

For the dip, I usually mix natural Greek-style yoghurt with finely chopped fresh mint or a little mint sauce. Nothing fancy is required.

It’s also lovely alongside aloo gobi if you’re putting several dishes on the table, although admittedly that does mean you’re committing pretty heavily to potatoes. I’m not convinced that’s necessarily a bad thing!

Can I make aloo gajar matar into a main meal?

I usually think of this as a side dish, particularly because it’s lovely as part of an Indian-inspired meal with several different things to try.

That said, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from serving a bigger portion as a simple meal.

The current recipe makes around six side-dish portions, or approximately three to four larger portions.

Can I use different vegetables?

I’d be wary of throwing completely different vegetables into this exact recipe and assuming they’ll all take 30 minutes.

The cooking time works around relatively small cubes of carrot and potato, with the peas going in much later.

If you’ve got other vegetables to use up, think about how quickly they normally cook and add quicker-cooking vegetables later rather than putting everything in at the beginning.

Can I freeze leftovers?

Yes. Let leftovers cool and freeze them in a suitable airtight container.

I’d divide them into useful portions first so you don’t have to defrost an enormous block of potato, carrot and peas when you only want enough for one meal.

Defrost thoroughly and reheat until piping hot before serving.

More air fryer and Indian-inspired recipes

If this air fryer aloo gajar matar has persuaded you to try something different in your air fryer, my air fryer recipes and cooking tips brings all my air fryer recipes and guides together.

For more Indian-inspired ideas, have a look through my curry recipes and vegetarian curry recipes too. You’ll also find recipes such as air fryer onion bhajis, aloo gobi and plenty of curries that work well alongside this.

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