Kashmiri Dum Aloo Recipe

Kashmiri Dum Aloo is a gravy with baby potatoes simmered or dum cooked in a spicy curd based sauce. This is a delicious rich gravy from Kashmiri cuisine. Authentically kashmiri dum aloo is made without onion and garlic. It is a spicy gravy which is apt for the biting cold in Kashmir. The Dum Aloo recipe uses Kashmiri spices like kashmiri red chilli powder, fennel and dry ginger powder.

Dum Aloo gets its name because it is cooked under Dum or slow cooking. Kashmiri Dum Aloo is quite easy to make as there is no chopping / grinding, you can make the gravy in flat 30 mins. Using Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder gives a bright red color to the gravies – I usually use homemade red chilli powder.I got this recipe from my cousin who watched it in a TV show which had kashmir recipes, then I had my own adjustments and here comes the recipe from my kitchen.

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Kashmiri Dum Aloo Ingredients

• Baby potatoes: Choose baby potatoes that are small or medium sized for the gravy to blend well with the potatoes. If you have big potatoes then cut them into half and use it.
• Kashmiri Red chilli powder: Kashmiri red chilli powder is the main ingredient here for the spiciness and bright red color. Kashmiri red chilli powder is not spicy like the regular chilli powder, also authentically kashmiri red chilli powder is used for this recipe.
• Spices: Other fragrant spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and shahi jeera are used to give a aroma and warm flavour to this curry. Spice powders like dry ginger powder and fennel seeds powder are added to this curry too.
• Curd: Take thick curd, I used homemade curd. If the curd is watery or runny then the gravy may turn watery too.

Dum Cooking

Dum cooking is a cooking technique in which meat or vegetables are simmered or cooked over low flame, with dough sealed at the edges. Dum means to ‘cook the food on slow fire’. Usually the pan is tightly closed with lid and sealed with chapathi dough or cloth at the edges to avoid steam from escaping. This process of slow cooking without steam escaping is called dum cooking. You can use a handi or sauce pot to cook the gravy if you are doing in a big batch.

Variations

• Baby potatoes are usually deep fried with skin but I chose to peel the skin. Incase if you want to toast potatoes with less oil or shallow fry it then pressure cook potatoes for 2 whistles then proceed.
• Instead of kashmiri chilli powder you can add red chilli paste too. For red chilli paste : Take 5 nos kashmiri red chillies soak in hot water for 15 mins then grind it to a paste and add it.
• If you don’t have kashmiri red chilli powder then add 1 tsp regular chilli powder.
• Kashmiri dum aloo is authentically made with baby potatoes but if you want you can try with regular potatoes cut into cubes too.
• I have used a tight heavy lid so did not seal the edges. You can seal the edges using chapathi dough too.Alternatively you can use cloth or aluminium foil over the pot/pan and close with tight lid.
• You can add hing while tempering.
• Though garam masala is optional I recommend adding it as it adds a great flavour to this dish.

Serving & Storing

• It goes well with roti, paratha,phulka, jeera rice, basmati rice etc.
• This gravy has curd as base so I would suggest to consume it the same day itself. Though it keeps well for 2 days when refrigerated.

• For Dum Cooking : You can even keep the pan closed tightly with a lid and seal the pan and lid with chapathi dough.This way you can keep the pan straight on the stove itself.
• Parboiling potatoes is a optional step. You can even deep fry them directly.
• Cook in low flame or low medium when you are cooking curd as it might curdle easily.
• There is no onion tomato or garlic in this recipe , its spicy gravy so adjust spice level accordingly.
• Choose baby potatoes that are a bit small.
• The consistency should be semi thick so adjust accordingly.
• Traditionally the potatoes are used with skin, but if you prefer you can peel them after parboiling as I have did.

FAQs

1.What is Kashmiri Dum Aloo?

Kashmiri dum aloo is a gravy made with baby potatoes simmered in a yogurt based spicy sauce. It is one of the popular dishes in Kasmiri cuisine.

2.What is the difference between Kashmiri dum aloo and dum aloo?

Kashmiri dum aloo has no onion no garlic also uses minimal spices and kashmiri red chilli powder. But regular dum aloo restaurant style uses onion, tomato, cashews as base for gravy and other spices too. Both are entirely different in taste and texture.

3.What is dum cooking in kashmiri dum aloo?

Dum cooking is a cooking technique in which vegetables are simmered or cooked over low flame, with dough sealed at the edges. A simple yogurt based gravy is prepared along with potatoes slow cooked or dum cooked to get a delicious warm flavour.

4.I don’t have kashmiri red chilli powder? What can I replace it with?

You can replace kashmiri red chilli powder with regular chilli powder. But add only 1 tsp else it will be too spicy.

5.Can I use normal potatoes instead of baby potatoes?

Yes you can use regular potatoes. First parboil it then cut into cubes and deep fry it and proceed with the steps.