KASHMIRI DUM ALOO
KASHMIRI DUM ALOO IS A RICH VEGETARIAN POTATO CURRY.
Kashmiri bottle gourd curry recipe that is light, healthy, and delicious. A traditional Kashmiri recipe that is easy to digest and spiced with subtlety. Bui, my aunt, shares all the tips on spicing bottle gourd.
Learn more about how to cook dum aloo >
RECIPE DETAILS
Serves: 4 as part of an Indian meal.
Cooking time: 75 minutes, including prep time.
Dietary Style: Gluten Free. Vegetarian.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE PRESSURE COOK
- 800 grams evenly sized chat potatoes
FOR THE FRYING
- 1 to 2 cups mustard oil
- 1 tsp fine white salt (prefereably sea salt)
- .5 tsp turmeric powder
PREPARE
- 1/3 cup curd water or buttermilk mixed through with 1 tsp dried red chilli powder
- 1/3 cup water mixed through with 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
FOR THE MASALA
- 4 tbsp mustard oil
- 2 pinches hing powder
- 1.5 tsp cumin seed
- curd water with red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp curd / yoghurt
- more chilli water
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 3 tsp fennel powder
- 2 tsp fine white salt
TO FINISH
- 1 tsp garam masala
METHOD
How to make our Kashmiri dum aloo curry recipe.
STEP 1
Make sure you use chat potatoes that are very close to being the same size, so that they cook evenly. This is important. In a pressure cooker, pop your potatoes and just cover with cold water. Cook under pressure for around four to five minutes, or one to two whistles. You want them to be not hard, but also not falling apart—this last is important, because the potatoes have to face a long cook. There is no seasoning for this part of the early preparatory cook. Using a pressure cooker means the potatoes don’t go soggy. If you don’t have one, use a pot of boiling water and be careful not to boil so much that the potatoes become soggy. Strain the potatoes, allow to cool, and then peel them of their skin carefully: part of the end beauty of this dish is lovely looking potatoes.
STEP 2
With a toothpick or fine skewer, poke all the way through the potatoes. Each potatoes should have around 30 holes all the way through. It’s a lot and takes ages! But this part is important because it prepares the potatoes for the next stage… to cook through with mustard oil.
STEP 3
In a kadai or heavy based pot, use enough mustard oil so that you can fry the potatoes all at once without them popping above the oil surface. One to two cups should suffice. Heat the oil to very hot. Once it’s hot, add the salt and turmeric powder. This prevents the potatoes from sticking.
Put in all the potatoes at once. With so much produce, the oil will cool a little and the potatoes have the chance to cook all the way through—we do cook them in all for around 30 minutes, so we want the temperature to be hot enough that they bubble and boil, and not so hot that they just get obliterated by heat. Have a look to this point in the video to see what that looks like. Also Bui’s stirring technique is important. She rolls them through the oil to tip them over and make sure they cook on all sides, never disturbing them too much. This way they won’t break apart.
STEP 4
During the frying process, at 10 minute-intervals, we want to turn down the heat just a little, and add water to the boiling oil and potatoes. I know. Terrifying. Once the water is added, pop a lid on so that the steam from the oil and water mix is contained. This steam bath pushes the oil through the potatoes. Be very careful. Do it three times, throughout the 30 minute fry. As a note: this is much safer to do if you use a kadai or pot that’s big enough, so that the oil can climb the pot once the water is added and not run over the side. Once this part of the cook has been completed, remove the potatoes from the mustard oil with a slotted spoon, and set on kitchen towel or newspaper to drain. Reserve the mustard oil.
STEP 5
In a large frying pan or a fantastic flat-ish pressure cooker like Bui has in the video—I’m for sure going to get one—heat 4 tbsp of the mustard oil we used for the frying. This is a great tip. The mustard oil already has so much flavour… starch from the potatoes, caramelisation, plus that injection of salt and turmeric powder. Once the oil is heating, on a medium heat, add the masala in parts.
First add the hing, cumin seed, and the chilli-curd water and stir through a few minutes. Next add the curd or yoghurt, and stir through and cook for a minute. Add the chilli water and stir through for a few minutes. And then add the rest of the spice for this section of the cook, turn down the heat a little, and simmer. Taking time to stir through as we add liquid components gives the masala time to cook off the spice and create subtle structural tiers of taste.
STEP 6
Add back the dum aloo and stir through the masala gently. Simmer on low for a few minutes. The water in the masala should almost cover the potatoes, leaving a small circle of their topside exposed. If there isn’t enough water, just add a little more. Set the pressure cooker lid, or transfer gently to a pressure cooker at this point. Add the garam masala and put to pressure cook for one to two whistles, or until soft. They shouldn’t break apart at this point, unless you really overdo it, because the oil and extended period frying has built in very strong structure. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, cook in a heavy based frying pan or pot on a medium heat until the potatoes are soft but not breaking apart. You may have to add water if you choose this method as it will evaporate in the cook.
STEP 7
Once ready, set aside for a few hours to let the dum aloo really absorb the masala before serving. Serve with roti or chapatti, dal, raw cucumber and onion salad, and pickle.
LEARN MORE ABOUT
DUM ALOO
Is it safe to put water in the mustard oil when frying the potatoes?
You will notice in the video recipe that adding water to the frying potatoes is a part of the cooking process. The first time Bui does this, the oil overflows and sets fire to the stovetop. Top tip to prevent this happening: turn the flame down to very low when adding the water. And use a frying vessel to begin with that is deeper than the oil requirement.
What is dum aloo?
Dum aloo is a traditional Kashmiri vegetarian potato curry. Kashmiri Hindu food is from the northern part of India, and is often richly spiced. Dum aloo is a complex dish served at special occasions that involves thrice-cooking potatoes. It is “meaty” for a vegetarian dish, and can be served simply with dal and rice for a complete meal.
Is dum aloo healthy?
Dum aloo is made using natural fats, lots of beautiful spices, and potatoes. The deep frying does add a rich calorie factor to the vegetarian curry. But using natural ingredients makes this a healthy and satisfying dish when eaten in small quantities.
Can I cook dum aloo without a pressure cooker?
Yes. Use a heavy-bottomed pot to replace the pressure cooker at the two stages when it is used. 1.) In the beginning to parboil the potatoes and 2.) in order to cook the fried dum aloo in the masala. Cooking times will simply require lenghthening.
KITCHEN HACKS
