Kashmiri Dum Aloo

"Kashmiri Dum Aloo", where was it originated from? Well from the name itself its clearly evident like it falls under Kashmiri cuisine.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo, is an all time favourite and mouth watering vegeterian side dish prepared with whole baby potatoes in a rich and creamy gravy. Traditional Kashmiri cuisine is characterized by the use of yoghurt as it gives a real rich, creamy consistency to the gravies.

Unique taste to this awesome dish is because of the Indian spices and the ingredients used. Dum means anything cooked under low flame and pressure. Here the fried aloo's are cooked in a rich gravy.

This is the first time that I tried out this Dum Aloo and believe me it was an awesome side dish for the flaky parathas. Had this on my dinner just now and posting it right away here in my blog.

Ingredients
Baby Potatoes - 10
Hot Ghee - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 tsp

Preparation for Aloo's
Water - 1/2 litre
Sea Salt - 3/4 tbsp
Oil - to deep fry

Curd Paste
Yoghurt/Curd - 5 tbsp
Salt - little
Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds Powder - 1/4 tsp

To Grind 1
Ghee - 2 tsp
Cloves - 2 or 3
Bay Leaf - a small one
Cinnamon - a small piece
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Pepper corns - 3 or 4
Green Cardamom - 1
Black Cardamom - a small one
Chopped Onions - 1 (medium sized)

To Grind 2
Chopped Tomatoes - 1 small cup
Ginger - a small piece
Garlic Pods - 5 to 7

To Garnish
Green Pepper

Method to Prepare

Add sea salt to half-a-litre of water. Soak the washed baby potatoes in the salty water for 15 minutes.

Boil the soaked potatoes in the same soaked water for 5 to 6 minutes.

To make the curd paste, in a bowl add all the items given in "Curd Paste" section.

Heat Oil in a small kadai.

Wipe the soaked baby potatoes with a towel and deep fry the potatoes in the hot oil, in a medium flame. See to it that it is evenly fried in all the sides.

Heat Ghee in a pan. Add all the items given in the "To Grind 1" section one-by-one. Allow it to cool and grind it to a fine paste.

Make a fine paste of items given in "To Grind 2" section and keep it aside.

Heat Ghee in a pan and in a medium flame, add the onion paste and saute till the raw smell is off. Now add the tomato paste and cook till you find the oil getting separated from it.

To the cooked paste, add corriander powder, turmric powder and saute till the raw smell is off. Add few drops of water if at all required.

Reduce the flame to low and add the curd paste. Cook it open for few minutes till you find the oil separating out. Add the fried baby potatoes at this stage and cook it in medium flame for another few minutes.

Add garam masala powder, sugar and salt if required.

Cover the pan with its tight lid and put the flame in low. See to it that the lid is very tight and no air is seen out i.e., aloo is put in dum.
Cook the deep fried aloos in the rich creamy sauce for 15 minutes.

Open the lid, saute once and add hot ghee to it. Transfer it to a serving dish and garnish with green pepper.

Now the Kashmiri Dum Aloo is ready to be served hot.