Tender chunks of lamb and potatoes braised in a tomato-onion masala — Pakistan's everyday Sunday lunch.
Aloo gosht ('potato meat') is the most-cooked curry in Pakistani households — the dish learned first by every cook, served at Sunday family lunches with chapatis or rice. Built on a foundation of slow-cooked onion, tomato and yoghurt, with a simple but resonant spice profile, it is comfort food in the deepest sense. The potatoes thicken the gravy and absorb its richness as they cook.
Serves 6
Fry onions in oil 10 minutes until golden brown.
Add ginger-garlic paste, stir 1 minute. Add lamb and brown 6 minutes.
Add turmeric, chilli, coriander, cumin, salt. Stir 1 min. Add tomatoes and yoghurt. Cook 10 min until oil separates.
Add water. Cover and simmer 45 min until lamb is tender.
Add potatoes. Cook uncovered 20–25 min until potatoes are tender and gravy is reduced.
Sprinkle garam masala. Garnish with green chillies and coriander. Rest 5 min.
Serve with chapati, naan or basmati rice.
Brown the onions properly — pale onions give pale gravy.
Add the potatoes whole or in large quarters so they hold shape.
Beef aloo gosht — increase cook time to 90 min
Chicken aloo — reduce meat cooking time to 25 min
Spinach version: add 200g spinach in the last 10 min for palak gosht style
Refrigerate up to 4 days. Improves overnight as flavours meld.
Aloo gosht is the everyday currey of the Indus plains, eaten across Punjabi and Sindhi homes. Its foundation — onion, tomato, yoghurt, basic spices — represents the bedrock of Pakistani home cooking, on which dozens of regional variations are built.
Yes — use chuck or shoulder, increase simmering time to 90 minutes for tender meat.
No — they break apart. Always add in the final 25 minutes.
Per serving · 6 servings total
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