Mahi's Dum Aloo

I first tried dum aloo after Mahimaa (my undergrad friend) posted the recipe on her blog. I've tried quite a few of her dishes and they were great. Dum aloo was no exception. Today was the second time I tried it and it came out very well once again. I will jot down the recipe from Mahi's blog for my own reference, but for a prettier version, please click here to see Mahi's entry (she is an excellent photographer as well).

Ingredients (about 2 servings):

Potatoes - 3 medium sized ones
Cooking oil - 2 tablespoons
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (vary this to suit your taste)
Coriander powder - 1.5 teaspoons
Garam masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Kasuri methi (optional) - 1 teaspoon crushed
(Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek leaves)
Cilantro - 2 teaspoons finely chopped
Plain yogurt - 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice (optional) - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

To grind to a paste without adding water:

Onion - 1/2 of a medium sized one
Ginger - about an inch
Garlic - about 2 big cloves
Green chilli - 1 or 2

To grind separately to a paste without adding water:

Tomatoes - 2 small

Procedure:

1. Boil, peel and cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
2. Grind onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli to a fine paste without adding water and set aside.
3. Grind tomatoes to a fine paste and set aside.
4. In a pan, heat some cooking oil and add the paste from step 2. Fry the paste for about 5 minutes and then add the paste from step 3. Mix the contents well.
5. To step 4, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and salt, mix everything well once again, simmer and cook until the raw smell of the onions and tomatoes vanish. This takes about 25 - 30 minutes.
6. To the contents in step 5, add the potatoes, yogurt, kasuri methi, chopped cilantro and lemon juice, cook for 5 more minutes and turn off the stove.

Dum aloo goes very well with any kind of roti. I tried it with rice as well and it was pretty good I would say. The first time around when I made this dish, I didn't have any kasuri methi at hand and hence didn't know to what extent it would enhance the flavor, but believe me, when I added kasuri methi the second time, it was simply out of the world :-).