Dum Aloo

Dum Aloo is a traditional dish from the Kashmir region in India. Dum refers to steam cooked and aloo is potatoes. It is usually made with baby potatoes that are steamed or parboiled, shallow fried and then added to a wonderfully spiced tomato and cashew nut sauce.

Serves 4

Spice mix ingredients

• 2-3 tsp coriander seeds
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• ½ tsp cardamom seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon stick 2 cloves

Ingredients

• 500 grams baby potatoes (about 12-14 potatoes)
• Oil 1 large onion chopped
• 1-2 green chilli
• 3 tsp garlic paste
• 3 tsp ginger paste
• 10-12 cashew nuts
• ½ cup passata
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander cumin powder
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp sugar or honey
• 2 tbsp. yoghurt
• 2-3 tsp kasuri methi (fenugreek)
• ¼ tsp garam masala (optional)
• 1 cup water or as needed
• Fresh coriander to garnish

Instructions

Wash and peel the potatoes and put them in a large pan of boiling water and parboil.

You can prick them with a fork to check.

Drain and leave aside to cool.

Next, place all the ingredients for the spice mix in a small frying pan, dry roast them for a few minutes on low heat until you can smell the lovely aroma from them.

Once cooled, grind into a powder in a blender.

Heat 2-3 tbsp. oil in a non-stick pan and shallow fry the potatoes until they are golden brown, remove from pan and leave aside.

In the same pan, add a little more oil if required and add the green chilli, garlic and ginger paste.

Fry for a minute and then add the onions and cashews.

Cook these for another 2-3 minutes until the onions are soft. Stir in passata and tomato puree.

Cool the mixture and then transfer to a blender to make a smooth paste.

To the same pan, heat 1 tbsp. oil and add the cumin seeds and bay leaf and let sizzle.

Add the blended onion mixture next followed by the turmeric, salt, chilli powder, coriander cumin powder, and black pepper and mix well and leave to cook for 2 minutes.

Next, add in your ground spices and cook for a further minute.

Whisk the yoghurt in small bowl until smooth and add a couple of spoons of the tomato sauce to it.

Mix together and then add this back to rest of the sauce with the sugar/honey.

Cook sauce for 5 minutes and then add your potatoes to it with ½ cup of water.

Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 5 more minutes.

Add the kasuri methi and garam masala and stir through.

Cover and cook again until you see the oil on top of the sauce (approx. 5-8 minutes).

Garnish with the chopped coriander and serve with naan or rice.