Punjabi Dum Aloo Recipe | Dum Aloo in Restaurant Style

February 14, 2015

Punjabi dum aloo is one such flavorful dish. This is more restaurant style like and not spicy like the kashmiri dum aloo. This semi - dry curry just packs in all flavors from the freshly ground Indian spices, tang from tangy tomatoes and sweet hint from onions. It's very easy and quick to make.

There are some food that never go out of season or flavors and dum aloo is one of them. Dum Aloo is best served with roti's, paratha's or with butter naan. I served with simple roti , boiled rice and a side veggie salad. It is one the most popular dish in Indian Cuisine.

Potato is cooked in a rich buttery onion-tomato silky gravy and other Indian spices. This recipe is classic North-Indian dish served in restaurants but this is purely Homemade style. I learn this recipe from one of the food channel, just saw it and tried it at home and make very tasty. Me and my family especially my cook guru "My Mom" really liked it...feeling awesome =D 8-)

If you are looking for more aloo recipes then do check aloo ka bharta aloo-methi crispy aloo cheela, aloo-gobhi-matar and jeera aloo

Let's start the recipe of "Dum Aloo" with step by step process followed by pictures also, if you don’t do it properly, you won’t get the right flavors and taste in your final dish.

Ingredients :

Baby potatoes - 8 or 9 pieces
Finely Chopped Onions - 1 no (large-sized)
Finely Chopped Tomatoes - 2 no (medium-sized)
Yogurt / Curd - 4 tbsp
Slit Green chillies - 2 nos
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Cloves / laung - 4
Black cardamom - 1
Cinnamon stick - 1
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Red chilli powder / Paprika - ½ tsp
Coriander powder/dhania powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - ½ tsp
Water - 1 to 1.5 cup
Chopped Coriander Leaves for garnishing

Preparation Method :

1. In a deep dish with water, add about a teaspoon of salt and halve or quarter potatoes if big in size or keep them whole, boil it for about 10 to 12 mins. Drain all the water and peel the potatoes now.

Tips : Adding a salt in water while boiling potatoes, the skin should come off easily.

In the meanwhile, take a pan or kadai, add a tbsp of oil and a pinch of haldi/turmeric powder. I use the same kadai, which I used to make my gravy, you can use in different kadai or pan. Add the boiled potatoes and fry for a few minutes to get a nice golden color on the potatoes.
OR
You could also skip this step and instead follow the traditional method - rinse the baby potatoes and wipe them dry keep the peel on, halve or quarter them if big in size or keep them whole. Shallow or deep fry in medium hot oil till they are golden browned and completely cooked.

2. In a kadai, heat about 2 tbsp of oil. Add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick and black cardamom. Saute for a couple of minutes. Now, add ginger-garlic paste and saute for few minutes till its raw smell gone, then add chopped onions and green chillies.
Saute well for at least 6 to 8 mins until the onions are translucent or palely brown. Now add the spices, turmeric, coriander, red chilli, garam masala powder and salt. Saute for a couple of minutes, shown below in 1 or 2 pic

At this time, chop/dice the tomatoes and add to the onion mixture. Let cook until the onions are soft and tender. Turn off the gas and let the mixture cool for at-least 5 mins.(shown in 3 or 4 pic above)

3. In a blender, take the onion-tomato mixture and blend into a smooth puree.

Add about 1/2 cup water and 4 heaped tbsp of yogurt/curd. Further blend for a minute or so.

Empty the grave back into the skillet/kadai.

4. Add, the fried baby potatoes to the gravy skillet with remaining 1 cup water (make sure not add more than 1 cup), bring the gravy to a 1 boil in high flame.

Cover with a air-tight lid or place a lid and seal off the gaps with some dough(i used wheat flour dough) as shown in below pic Let the potatoes further cook in the gravy to take in all the flavors of the gravy.

Keep the stove on low-medium heat and let it simmer for 8 to 10 minutes till the gravy thickens.

5. Remove the lid, check for salt and adjust if needed. Turn off the gas.

6. Garnish dum aloo with some chopped coriander leaves and serve "Punjabi dum aloo" hot with roti's or steamed basmati rice.