Aloo Dum

Aloor dum

If winter comes, can spring be far behind!!

If the motorshutir kochuri is here can the aloor dum be far behind!!

Now luchi or motorshutri kochuri is incomplete without aloor dum/aloo dum. It is a very simple and humble dish made up of potatoes simmered in a very basic onion and tomato gravy. Being a non resident Bengali residing in delhi there are a lot of things that I miss about West Bengal but living in a bong area makes uo for most of it. Even today if you visit the markets of Chittaranjan Park you can find the sweet shops selling not only benghali sweets but also the simple luchi torkari...the torkari or vegetable dish being the aloor dum. Peas being a seasonal vegetable instead of motorshutir kochuri you wil mostly find the radhaballabhi all the year round. It is variant of the kochuri which, instead of peas filling, has a dal filling. Tastes very nice and is always accompanied by its trusted side kick the aloor dum.

Ingredients

½ kg potatoes

2 onion

2 tomatoes

1 tbsp ginger paste

3 green chillies, slit

½ cup yogurt

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp coriander powder

½ tbsp cumin powder

½ tbsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

½ tsp green cardamom powder

¼ tsp cinnamon powder

  Boil the potatoes, peel and quarter them. Now the next step is optional. Heat some mustard oil and sauté the potatoes. You can omit this step if you want.

Make a paste of onion, tomatoes and ginger.

Heat some oil. Add the slit green chilies. Add some cumin seeds to the hot oil. Add the onion paste and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric and salt. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add the curd, cook and then add the potatoes.

Fry on high flame for a few minutes and add some water. Once the water starts boiling, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Before taking it off the flame add the cardamom powder and the cinnamon powder.