Kashmiri Dum Aloo ~ ICC November 2010

Delicious Kasmiri style potato curry cooked in wonderful selection of  fragrant and aromatic  spices using the dum method.(Cooked in steam)

This recipe is from Indian Food and it is set  for the Indian Cooking Challenge by Srivalli of  Spicing your Life

Ingredients:
1 kg baby potatoes / even small potatoes
Cumin seeds, - 1 tsp, roasted gently and ground into a powder
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Kashmiri red chillies - 3-4 nos roasted and powdered
Fresh yoghurt - 2 1/2 cups (must not be sour)
Ginger powder - 1 tsp
Fennel /aniseed powder - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil- 4 tbsps
Cloves roasted and powdered - 6
A pinch of asafetida
Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil to deep fry potatoes / roasting potatoes
Salt to taste
A cup of firm dough made from flour and water

Method :

1.Wash the the potatoes and poke all over with a fork. (I kept the skin on) Add ateaspoon of salt to a pan of water and soak  the potatoes in the water for 20 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
2. Heat a roasting pan with 2 tablespoons of oil  and place in the oven, when oil is hot , add the potatoes and stir them around to coat with oil. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 200 centigrade/ 400 Farenheit till potatoes are golden brown and cooked in the centre.(You may need to turn potatoes half way through cooking.)
3.Make a paste of curds /yogurt, chili powder, ginger, cardamom and fennel powders. Then add the roasted potatoes  and mix well with this paste and keep it aside.
4.Heat the olive oil in another pan, add the clove powder and astofetida and mix well.
5.Then add a half cup of hot water and salt to taste and bring to a boil.
6.To this mix, add in the potato-yoghurt mix, stir thoroughly and cover.
7.To do the dum, seal the edges of the pan's cover with the dough to ensure no steam can escape. Put on the stove, cook on a low flame for 10-15 minutes.
8.Turn off the flame, remove the cover and add the cumin and garam masala powders, and cover again quickly. Leave for 5 minutes.

Serve hot with Chapatis or Naan  and Rice.

NB -Changes I made were I used olive oil instead of mustard oil and roasted the potatoes instead of deep frying to avoid excess oil consumption.

You may like:
Potatoes in green gravy.