Aloo, Alu, Batata: Potato Names and Dishes

You read a recipe that says "boil 3 batata", the shop shelf says "Maris Piper", and your mother's voice note says "aloo le aana". It is all the same vegetable. The names change with the language of the cook, and sometimes with the street you are standing on.

This guide sorts out the aloo, alu, batata and potato names, shows which dishes tend to use which word, and ends with a short guide to the bags you will actually find abroad.

One vegetable, four names

• Aloo is the word you will see in Urdu and Hindi recipe titles. Spelled aloo, aaloo or alu in Roman script, depending on who typed it.
• Alu is the common spelling in Bengali, and it is also how many Hindi speakers romanise the word. The vowel is short, close to "ah-loo".
• Batata is widely used in Marathi and Gujarati, and it is also the word for potato in Portuguese, which is why Goa and parts of Mumbai often use it. The word travelled through the same trade routes that brought the vegetable to India.
• Potato is the English word and the one you will see on a label in the US or UK.

Spelling is not standardised, so treat the Roman-script spellings as loose. If a recipe says "alu gobi" and another says "aloo gobi", it is the same dish.

Where each name shows up

The easiest way to remember it is by dish title.

The pattern is only a tendency. A Mumbai restaurant menu may print "aloo" and a Lahore home may say "batata" for a certain stuffed snack. When a name varies, trust the dish, not the word.

Dishes that lean on potato

Some recipes use potato as a side player, and others are built on it.

Meat and potato. In aloo gosht, the potato soaks up the gravy and goes soft at the edges. The usual choice is a chunky cut so the pieces hold their shape through a long simmer.

Dry sabzi. Aloo gobi is potato and cauliflower fried with a few whole spices. The potato should be cut about the same size as the cauliflower florets so both finish together. If you want to fix a dry sabzi that went wrong, this troubleshooting guide covers it.

Stuffed bread. Aloo paratha needs boiled, thoroughly mashed potato with no lumps, because a lump pokes through the dough as you roll.

Street food. Pav bhaji mashes potato into the vegetable base, and vada pav wraps a spiced potato mash in a gram flour batter. Both are Mumbai classics.

Boiled, fried, mashed: which potato for which job

Potato varieties differ in how much starch they carry, and that changes the result.

• Floury or starchy potatoes fall apart and go fluffy. Good for mash, for the filling in paratha and vada, and for pav bhaji.
• Waxy potatoes keep their shape. Good for aloo gosht, aloo gobi and anything where you want a clean cube.
• All-purpose potatoes sit in the middle. They work for most home sabzi.

You will usually see this described on the bag. If it is not, press a raw potato: a waxy one feels dense and smooth, a floury one a little drier on the surface. That is a rough guide, not a rule.

Buying abroad: names on the bag

Supermarket labels differ by country, so use these as starting points rather than promises.

• UK: a bag marked "Maris Piper" is a floury, all-round potato often used for mash and chips. "Charlotte" or "Jersey Royal" style bags are waxy. A "baking potato" is large and starchy.
• US: "Russet" is the large, brown, starchy potato. "Yukon Gold" sits between starchy and waxy and suits most curries. "Red potatoes" are waxy.
• Baby potatoes in either country work well for dum aloo style dishes, because they stay whole.

For a typical family curry, 500 g (about 1.1 lb) of potato usually feeds four as a side, though exact amounts depend on the recipe. If you cannot find the type a recipe suggests, use the next closest one on the list and cut the pieces a little larger if the potato is floury.

Storage notes that save money

Keep potatoes in a cool, dark, dry place. Skip the fridge for raw ones, since cold can turn them sweet and they tend to brown more when fried. Do not eat potatoes that have turned green or sprouted heavily; cut away small sprouts and any green skin, and bin the ones that are bitter or very green.

For more on storing potatoes with the rest of your pantry, see our potato pantry guide. If you are cooking abroad and short on the usual spices, desi ingredient substitutes abroad and the masala dabba basics help fill the gaps.

A quick name list to screenshot

• Boiled potato: aloo ubla hua (Hindi/Urdu, loosely), "uble aloo" in some homes.
• Mashed potato: aloo ka bharta in many Hindi-speaking homes, though that term varies.
• Potato cubes: aloo ke tukde.
• Baby potatoes: chhote aloo.
• Sweet potato: shakarkandi (Hindi/Urdu), a different vegetable.

Degchi tracks aloo, alu and batata as the same pantry item, so searching in any spelling finds the recipes. Try it in the pantry sandbox if you want to see which dishes your bag of potatoes already covers.