Quick and Easy Mashed Potato Recipe

Most mashed potato recipes are made using butter and cream, but I made my own spicy version using a paste that I made from dried red chilies, tomatoes, coriander seeds, garlic, and onion.

It had heat, depth, and a golden curry-like gravy coating, which I ate with rice and flatbread.

This mashed potato recipe took about 25 to 30 minutes, which makes it a quick option for a weeknight side.

Ingredients

• 500 grams potatoes
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 8 dried red chilies
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 5 to 6 cloves garlic
• 1-inch piece of ginger
• 1 medium onion
• 70 grams oil (about 5 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Fresh cilantro for garnish

How to Make It: Mashed Potato

Start the Potatoes First

You need to take the potatoes, and you don’t have to peel them at all; just wash them as they are, put them in a pot, and leave them to boil over a high flame on your gas stove. 

After around 15 to 20 minutes, your potatoes will be boiled and ready.

You don’t want to peel the potatoes before boiling because their skin doesn’t let too much water get absorbed inside, and potatoes already contain water anyway. 

However, once they’re boiled, drain all the water, then peel them and mash them properly in a separate container or in the same pot; it’s not necessary to completely smooth them.

[Image: boiled potatoes on a plate alongside a small steel bowl with chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder, and cumin seeds on the side]

Alt text: “boiled potatoes with tomato and turmeric prep on a plate”

[Image: roughly mashed boiled potatoes in a steel pot with a metal spoon]

Alt text: “mashed boiled potatoes in a steel pot”

Make the Spice Paste While the Potatoes Cook

Add the tomatoes, coriander seeds, ground coriander, dried red chilies, turmeric, cumin seeds, garlic, ginger, and onion to a grinder and blend into a smooth paste. 

Heat 70 grams of oil in a separate pot on medium-high heat, add the paste, and cook it while stirring often. 

Now wait for the raw smell from the onion and garlic to cook off completely and for the paste to darken and pull away from the sides of the pot, which will take around 8 to 10 minutes. 

Add the teaspoon of salt at this stage so the base is seasoned before you add potatoes.

Bring It All Together

Add the mashed potatoes into the pot with the cooked spice paste, and stir everything together so the paste works through the potato evenly, then pour in about half a cup of water to loosen the mixture. 

Keep cooking on medium heat, and keep stirring continuously until the water is absorbed and the whole thing comes together into a thick, flowing potato curry with no dry patches.

Take it off the heat, scatter fresh chopped cilantro on top, and serve.

You can use cilantro too, but it’s good for adding freshness against the spiced potato, and it also breaks up the deep yellow color of the dish.

What This Version Tastes Like

If you’ve only had butter and cream mashed potatoes before, this will taste like a completely different dish, and I deliberately made it like that.

Whether you eat it with rice, bread, or flatbread, you’ll get the taste of the spices in every bite, even if you eat it on its own, because the red chilies we used blend really well into it.

Apart from that, the coriander, cumin, and everything else we used give it an earthy, smoky type of flavor. And I used tomatoes so that there would be a little sweetness, because we added a lot of chili to this.

So if you pay attention, you’ll get several different flavors in this, like a little spicy, which I’ve kept at number one, salty, which you obviously need, and also a little sweet. So I can say it has a complex flavor.

And this mashed potato recipe isn’t an alternative to the regular mashed potato. It’s a completely different dish, and I made it in my own way. 

So don’t expect it to be creamy, neutral, mild, or anything like that. It’s not. It’s spicy, and it goes really well with rice, breads, etc.

Tips for Getting the Mash Right

• Cook the spice paste until the oil separates: The biggest sign that your mash is completely ready is that after 8 to 10 minutes, you’ll start seeing a little oil and glossiness, and you’ll also be able to tell from its aroma. If it still feels a little raw, keep cooking it; otherwise, it’s completely ready.
• Mash the potatoes roughly, not completely smooth: You want some texture remaining in the mash, because the stirring during the final stage will break it down further. If you mash it too fine before combining, the finished dish will be kinda paste-like and dense.
• Add the water gradually, not all at once: Start with half a cup and stir it through before deciding if you need more; the amount of water depends on how dry your mashed potatoes are and how long you cook the paste. If you want a thicker, scoopable result, use less water.
• Let it rest for a minute or two off the heat before serving: The spiced potatoes firm up very slightly as they cool from the cooking temperature, which improves the consistency. If you serve straight off the flame while everything is still actively bubbling, it means the mash will be slightly looser.

What Goes Well With This

My first choice is plain white rice; it’s the most natural pairing because the neutral base lets the spiced potato take the lead. 

Besides this, flatbread also works well, especially for scooping. 

If you want something alongside to balance the heat, a simple salad of sliced cucumber, tomato, and raw onion with lemon juice does that without adding anything heavy.

If you want potato dishes, you can make a buffalo meat and potato recipe or yellow rice with potato; I made both using potatoes.

Storing Leftovers

If you use an Airtight container and keep that in the fridge, your potato mash will be safe for up to 2 days.

However, the potato mixture will firm once cold, so next time, add a little water, like a tablespoon and reheat on a medium flame. It will loosen back to the right consistency once warm.

Questions About Mashed Potato Recipe

How do I know the potatoes are cooked through before mashing?

You can stick a knife into the thickest part of the largest potato; if it’s going in easily and the potato doesn’t cling to it when you pull it back out, they’re ready. 

Otherwise, cook more for the next 3 to 5 minutes, as undercooked potato won’t mash smoothly no matter how much effort you put in.

The spice paste keeps sticking to the bottom of the pan- why?

Probably, you haven’t stirred, particularly in the first few minutes while it was raw and had moisture from the tomatoes and onion. 

Once that moisture cooks off, the paste will get drier and catch more easily. 

If you see it starting to stick, you should add a tablespoon of water and keep stirring. 

How hot is this exactly with eight dried red chilies?

The 500 grams of potato absorbs a lot of the heat, so eight chilies in this recipe are medium, not spicy. 

Because we use tomatoes and coriander too, and they add sweetness. 

Can I use a different type of potato?

Starchy potatoes (like russets) mash much better than waxy ones (like red potatoes), so they work better for this potato recipe. 

Waxy potatoes tend to stay a bit firm and gluey rather than breaking down into the paste easily. 

If starchy potatoes aren’t available, you can use any general-purpose potato, but you might get a denser texture.