How to make Bengali Dum Aloo recipe

The meaning of  "Aloo"  in most of the Indian languages is potatoes.  "Dum" means slow cooked.  Because the potatoes are already boiled, the "dum" part takes very little time.  In this article we will learn how to prepare the famous Bengali Dum Aloo...

There are two varieties of Bengali Dum Aloo.  One is onion-tomato version and the other one is a variation made with yogurt.  In this article, we will see how to make the onion-tomato version of Bengali Dum Aloo.  The Bengali dum aloo can be taken as a combination with poories.  It can also be taken with chapattis.   The potatoes are boiled and then fried in mustard oil.  

Ingredients (american measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

main ingredients:

• 5-6 medium potatoes or 12-15 baby potatoes
• 3 to 4 tbsp mustard oil/sarson ka tel
• 1 bay leaf/tej patta
• ½ tsp kashmiri red chili powder or degi mirch (adjust as required if using a hotter variety of chili powder)
• ½ tsp coriander powder/dhania powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
• 1 tsp cumin powder/jeera powder
• 1 cup water
• ½ tsp sugar or as required
• salt as required

grind to a semi fine paste:

• 2 medium onions
• ½ inch ginger
• 2-3 garlic cloves

make a semi coarse puree of:

• 1 large tomato - approx 1 cup tomato puree

powder or grind:

• 1.5 to 2 inch cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves

topping:

• 1 tsp ghee (optional)

Instructions

1. rinse the potatoes very well. if using baby potatoes, then remove the mud lodged in the peels with a soft brush.
2. then parboil the potatoes in a steamer or pressure cooker.
3. when the potatoes are cooking, you do the following.
4. grind the onion, ginger and garlic in a grinder or blender. no need to any water while grinding. make a semi fine paste and not a smooth paste.
5. chop the tomatoes and pulse them in a blender till you get a puree which is not smooth but semi coarse. you can also finely chop the tomatoes.
6. grind the clove and cinnamon in a dry grinder or coffee grinder to a fine powder.
7. once the potatoes are parboiled/half cooked, let them cool. then remove the peels and dice them. for baby potatoes you can keep the peels and prick the potatoes with a fork. an optional step.
8. sprinkle ¼ tsp turmeric powder on the potatoes and mix well.
9. heat the mustard oil in a pan. fry the potatoes till light golden. drain and keep aside.
10. in the same oil, fry the bay leaf till fragrant for a few seconds.
11. add the onion-ginger-garlic paste. saute till oil starts to leaves the mixture and till the paste becomes a light brown.
12. add the tomato puree, the remaining ¼ tsp turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander power, salt and sugar. saute till oil begins to leave the onion-tomato masala paste.
13. then add the potatoes and stir till the masala coats the potatoes well.
14. add 1 cup water along with the ground cinnamon and cloves powder.
15. you can also add about ¼ tsp of garam masala powder instead of the cinnamon and cloves powder.if adding garam masala, then add it towards the end once the dish is cooked.
16. simmer the dum aloo on a low flame till the water almost dries up and the gravy has coated the potatoes well.
17. when serving add a teaspoon of ghee on the dum aloo. serve bengali dum aloo hot with luchis or pooris.