Amritsari Dum Aloo

Dum Aloo is named so because it is cooked under pressure 'DUM' (pressure in hindi) and Aloo means potatoes. IT is one of the famous and the most popular north indian dish. It belongs specially, to Kashmiri Cuisine but is also popular dish of Punjabi, Bengali cuisine. The potatoes used in Dum Aloo are baby potatoes and are first deep fried and cooked slowly in spices for long time.

Today I am going to show you how to make Amritsari Dum Aloo has a tang from tomatoes and yogurt and sweetness from onions in combination with Punjabi khada masala.

There are many variations of Dum Aloo i.e. ways to prepare aloo from deep frying, semi cooked in water and then fried or even can oven roast it, all depends on what you prefer If you ask me i personally prefer to deep fry first and then add in gravy but it is upto you to decide what way you would like to make. All variations taste almost same the key is in the making of gravy.

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time : 30 mins

Serves : 4

Ingredients : 

20 - 25 baby potatoes

For Gravy:

1 1/2 cup / 3 medium sized onion chopped

1 tsp ginger chopped

1 tbsp garlic chopped

3 tomatoes blanched and chopped

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp haldi

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp khada masala

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 cup yogurt / dahi

3 tbsp ghee

1 leaf taj patta/ Bay leaf

For Garnish:

few leaves of coriander / cilantro

ginger julienne/ cut into thin strips

Method : 

1. Peel, wash and prick potatoes with fork and soak in salted water for 10 mins. Heat sufficient oil in pan and deep fry potatoes on medium flame till golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel / absorbent paper and keep it aside.
   
2. Heat ghee in pan add bay leaf and cumin seed cook till seeds are brown.
   
3. Add in chopped onions and saute for two or three minutes or till it changes colour to pink. Add chopped ginger garlic and saute for a min, it sticks to pan add little water and saute well.
   
4. Add blanched and chopped tomatoes to onions and saute till oil separates, if it sticks to pan add little water.
   
5. Add in all masala i.e. red chillie powder, haldi, garam masala, cumin powder and coriander powder, saute for 5 mins or till it separates oil.
   
6. Add in fried potatoes let it cook in masala for 2 mins before adding flavour. ( This will help the masala to penetrate in the potatoes).
   
7. Add 1/2 cup water at a time and cook for 5 mins. When gravy thickens add water again and cook for 5 mins more.
8. Final stage add in yogurt and simmer for 5 mins.
9. Remove from heat and serve hot, garnish with coriander leaves and thin strips of ginger.

 Note:

• You can substitute baby potatoes with big potatoes diced in big chunks.
• To make healthy version bake potatoes in oven till brown.
• Can also add cream if you want to make it creamy and rich.
• Remember to saute the masala well to get rich flavoured and authentic dish as in olden days they used to cook it slowly just like slow cooker dish and tastes good.