Where Potato is the Hero

Dum aloo is a delightful and all time favourite dish from India, which has the potential to garner much popularity in the western world. Of course, it needs more publicity and promotion by celebrated Chefs across the world than what it is presently getting. It is a potato-based curry dish, which can be ideally had with rice, or with Indian breads like roti, naan, parantha or luchi. It is a dish where your humble potato is the hero for a change, though its performance is boosted by a few competent side actors (ingredients).

It is a delicious dish of potato curry made with baby potatoes. Here dum refers to dum cooking style of Indian cuisine where dishes are cooked on low heat by sealing the pot, which retains the original flavour of the dish. Though dum aloo is generally cooked in a kadhai or cauldron but for preparing dum aloo instant pot can also be used.

Varied Routes to Delight

However, let us at the very outset understand that there is no one type of dum aloo. The culinary delicacy is an example of the cultural diversity of India. Within the broad and highly diversified ambit of Indian cuisine there are a variety of regional styles of preparing this wonderful dish such as Kashmiri dum aloo, which is a hallmark dish of the Kashmiri cuisine; dum aloo Punjabi, a dish from the border state of Punjab; and Bengali aloo dum recipe, which is an integral part of the complex and nuanced Bengali cuisine.

There is distinctive difference in tastes in different versions of dum aloo too. Kashmiri dum aloo, which is also known as aloo olav in Kashmir, is sour and spicy whereas the typical Punjabi dum aloo recipe is characterized by the taste of creamy gravy and spices; original Kashmiri dum aloo does not have such creamy gravy.  In the Kashmiri dum aloo recipe, Kashmiri red chilli powder or deghi mirch which gives a red colour to the final dish is very much used.

No wonder, in many Indian diaspora homes, preparation of dum aloo, say on a leisurely Sunday morning, also has the potential to revive and refresh many fond memories with the wafting aroma of the spices. The dish, if made well, surely has the potential to garner praise from your family and/or guests.

Now your mind must be getting eager to have a dum aloo recipe, which can serve as a culinary template for you to explore making the dish in your kitchen, perhaps along with your own creative modifications. Learning how to make dum aloo can not only bring smiles among your family and/or guests but also enhance your culinary repertoire.

A Kashmiri Delicacy

Let us now explore the question of how to make Kashmiri dum aloo.

Now let us first explore a Kashmiri dum aloo recipe, which is inspired by a recipe from a Chef from another corner of the world. Manoj Rai is the Corporate Director, Food & Beverages, Anardana Kitchen. Anardana Kitchen is a Delhi-based restaurant chain having three restaurants and three cloud kitchens within its ambit. Out of these three restaurants, two are in Delhi and one is there in Chandigarh.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo Recipe

Ingredients

Preparation

Peel the small parboiled potatoes, which need to be boiled in salted water, and prick them with a fork to make holes in them.

Making holes in the potatoes will help the potatoes to absorb masala.

 Heat the oil in a kadhai and deep fry the parboiled potatoes till they turn golden brown.  Keep the potatoes aside on a plate.

Mix curd, Kashmiri red chilli powder and garam masala and rest all spices.

Heat the oil in a pan, add asafoetida and ginger garlic paste and then add tomato gravy.

Then add curd and spices mixture, stir it well, then add water, and bring the concoction to boil.

Now add fried baby potatoes in the pan, add salt and mix well. Now cover the pan with a lid.

Cook for 8-10 minutes on a low to medium flame or until potato dish absorbs the gravy and oil comes on the surface. The gravy should be thick.

So your Kashmiri dum aloo is ready. The dish served with steamed basmati rice can be a delightful affair, though having it with Indian breads like naan, roti or paratha can be tasty also.

Aroma from Punjab

It is a popular dish in another border state of India –in Punjab, the land of five rivers.

Dum aloo Punjabi is frequently cooked in many north Indian homes and it does not require any exotic ingredients. You can also use this dish to impress sudden guests around lunch time. In dum aloo Punjabi also we have baby potatoes cooked in a spicy curry. The curry in this type of dum aloo generally has infusion of yogurt and cream.

Dum aloo Punjabi, if prepared well, can taste ethereal with pulao topped with cashews. It can also taste great with rice or naan.

Let us explore this variant of dum aloo too with an easy dum aloo recipe.

Punjabi Dum Aloo Recipe

Ingredients

10 small or baby potatoes

½ cup yogurt or curd

1 large onion, chopped

1 pinch of asafoetida

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/4th tsp turmeric powder

1 tbs ginger garlic paste

1 tbs coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 piece of cinnamon

4 green cardamoms

10-15 cashew nuts

Tomato gravy

2 tbs cream

½ tsp fenugreek leaves

4 tbsp oil(preferably use mustard oil)

Salt as per taste

Method

Boil the potatoes to the point where their skin comes off easily. Do not over boil them. Better to boil them in a pan than in a pressure cooker.

Now peel the boiled potatoes and prick them with fork to make holes in them so that they absorb the spices well.

Roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom and grind them using a spice grinder. Freshly ground spices add flavour to the dish. Roast them for 2-3 minutes, and then let them cool down a bit and thereafter transfer the spices to the spice grinder. Also grind the cashew nuts.

Heat 2bsp oil in a cauldron or kadhai and add boiled potatoes in them and shallow fry them until they turn light brown in hue. Keep them aside. Ensure that mustard oil is really hot before you add potatoes to it. Otherwise, it will have raw smell.

Heat 2 tbs oil in the same kadhai, over medium flame. Add a pinch of asafoetida, and chopped onion. Sauté until onion turns light brown. Then add ginger garlic paste and sauté for another 30-45 seconds. Then add tomato gravy and further stir for 1 minute.

Now add the spice powder and grinded cashew nuts and sauté the concoction for a minute.

Whisk the curd and pour it slowly on the pan. Stir the yogurt with the mixture well.

Now add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Stir till the oil begins to separate. Around 2-3 minutes stirring may be required at this stage.

Then add the fried potatoes and mix well. Add ½ tsp sugar, and salt. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5-6 minutes on low flame.

Then add cream and fenugreek leaves and some ¾ th cup water. Let the curry simmer for 3-4 minutes more. Then turn off the heat.

So your Punjabi dum aloo recipe is ready which you and your family and/or guests can have with pulao, rice or naan to get good deal of enjoyment from the dish.

Dished from Bengal

Another form of dum aloo is being prepared in the eastern part of India, in West Bengal, a land whose rich culture complements its long culinary traditions.

Dum aloo Bengali is characterized by a tangy taste of tomatoes. It generally also has a slight sweet taste.

Any good Bengali aloo dum recipe would make the dish ideal to have with luchi, which is a deep-fried flatbread from Bengal, made of maida or refined wheat flour. Luchi aloor dum is a delightful breakfast option in many a Bengali households.

Here we are presenting a simple aloo dum recipe, which is not expected to take much of your time but may give you and your family much delight. However, do keep in mind that there is no instant dum aloo recipe as the dish usually takes45 minutes to 1 hour in preparation.

Bengali Aloo Dum Recipe

Ingredients

Eight medium sized potatoes or 15-16 baby potatoes

5 green chillies

4 tbsp mustard oil

2 bay leaves

2 pcs of cardamom

1.5 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp cumin seeds

3 red chillies

2 tsp red chilli powder

2-3 garlic cloves

2 pcs cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

1.5 cup water

½ tsp sugar

1 large tomato

½ tsp amchur (dried mango powder)

One pinch of asafoetida

½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves

½ inch ginger

3 cloves

Salt as per taste

Method

Rinse the potatoes very well, removing the mud from them.

Parboil the potatoes in a pressure cooker with 1 litre water and 30 gm salt.

While the potatoes are getting parboiled, grind ginger, garlic, tomato and green chillies with little water to make a smooth paste.

Grind the cloves and cinnamon in a dry grinder to make a powder mixture of them.

After the potatoes are parboiled, cool them for 5 minutes. Then remove their peels and slice them.

Mix the potatoes with ¼ tsp turmeric powder and little bit of salt.

Heat the mustard oil in a pan and put the potatoes there. Fry them till they acquire a light golden hue. Drain oil from them and keep them aside.

Now in the same oil fry ½ tsp cumin seeds, 2 pcs cardamom, three red chillies, bay leaves for a few seconds till fragrance emits from them.

Add the ginger, garlic, tomato and green chillies paste. Saute till the oil starts   leaving the paste.

Now add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, coriander power, dried mango powder, salt and sugar. Saute till the oil starts leaving the paste.

Then add the fried potatoes and stir till the potatoes are well coated with masala.

Add 1.5 cup water and cinnamon and cloves powder. You can add 1 cup water instead of 1.5 cup if you want a thick dum aloo curry or if you want your dum aloo dry.

Place a lid on the dish and let it simmer on a low flame.

Garnish with dried fenugreek leaves.

Now your dum aloo Bengali is ready to be served. Preferably have it with luchi.

One can also have restaurant style dum aloo, which is rich and creamy, where onion, cashew and curd play important roles. By having this at home you may simulate an eating out experience in an authentic north Indian restaurant at probably 1/10^th of its cost.

Then there is dum aloo Banarasi recipe which has originated from the ancient city of Banaras, in UP.

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