Receipe 4: Dum aloo/Aloo Dum/Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Well.. If you are wondering what is the difference between all these names, its none! The Kashmiri variant will have more sweet in it. Thats about it.

Most of the north indian gravy dishes are similar.. and it is no rocket science either. ! I will tell you how simple can cooking panner butter masala and malai kofta be!

Dum aloo is pretty simple to make. All you need is some patience and interest!

Here we go!

What you need!

Aloo
onions
tomato
green chillies
garlic (cloves/powder.. anything will do)
fresh curd (should not be sour)
curry leaves
garam masala
kitchen king
Oil

Plus -

A Mixie and lots of patience!

Le Method:

Part one: Making of the Yummy Gravy

Cut the onions. Don't trouble yourself to cut it into very small pieces. You have the mixie to help you do that. Cut the tomatos and peel the garlic if you are adding it as cloves. Heat some oil in the pan and add the cut onion to it. Add the garlic with it. Keep frying it till the onion turns slight brown.

Note: The main trick for the gravy to taste good lies in frying the onions. If you blend raw onions, it will taste disastrous. So getting back...

Once you have fried the onions, cool it. Never add hot stuff to mixie. !! I dunno why though!

When it is cooled, add the onions, garlic and tomatoes to the mixie and grind it into a nice paste. Add some water to grind it if needed. Most of the time the water in the tomatoes will do the trick. Our gravy is almost ready now. Keep it aside in a container.

Part two: Making of the ..well ..rest of the stuff

Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Not too small though!..
Heat some oil in the pan and deep fry the potatoes till it gets nice and crispy. Filter it and keep it aside.

Heat around one teaspoon of oil in a pan, add some curry leaves and a green chilli. (slit the chilly vertically). Also add garam masala and kitchen king to the oil. Pour the gravy on this and add some salt to taste. Let it cook for say 3-5 mins. Finally add the potatoes to it. Last but not the least, pour some curd on this gravy and mix it well.

The Kashmiri variant : Add cashews, dry grapes and cut apples and pineapples.

Tada.. done! It was not that difficult right!?

And don't forget to make some nice soft rotis!