Dum Aloo Recipe (Mughlai Style)

Dum Aloo is a typical Indian style spiced potato curry that is slow cooked on low heat using the steaming method, also called dum. And just like many other dishes in Indian cuisine, the Dum Aloo Recipe also has its set of variations that differ as you travel from region to region. This recipe is a rich and creamy restaurant style version with North Indian flavors, perfect for your indulgent weekend meals or special gatherings. Just follow the recipe for the same.

About Dum Aloo Recipe

The Persian word ‘dum’ comes from the traditional cooking technique of dum pukht. The word ‘dum’ means ‘breath’ which here refers to ‘steam’.

The word ‘pukht’ means ‘choking’ which aptly describes how the steam is trapped and prevented from escaping during the slow cooking process. In the dum cooking method, the food is cooked slowly in its own steam and juices.

The Hindi word ‘aloo’ means potatoes. So this dish is essentially a potato curry cooked slowly in its own steam. There are many variations of making this dish across many Indian states.

This dum pukht cooking technique is employed to make many more dishes. A few popular ones are biryanis like Dum Biryani and Paneer Dum Biryani. A few more interesting recipes are Yakhni Pulao, Dum Chai, Tehri and Dum Ke Baingan.

This Dum Aloo Recipe is a preparation that resembles more to the ones that are usually served at North Indian restaurants across the Indian subcontinent.

The taste and flavors typically come from the ingredients, which make up the cuisine of Northern India.

This recipe of Dum Aloo uses a mix of onions, cashews and curd (yogurt) along with some choicest of spices.

Since there is no addition of tomatoes in this recipe, the color of this particular variation is towards creamish or the lightest brown or yellow, and not a deep red or ombre.  

In this Dum Aloo Recipe, the gravy as well as the baby potatoes are dum cooked. Sealing the pan tightly and slow cooking the gravy in it, does bring a different flavor in this dish.

It makes for a truly rich, creamy and restaurant style version that is perfect for special occasions or on days you just want to have a rich potato curry.

About My Recipe

Basically, this Mughlai style Dum Aloo recipe has 3 major steps to follow – you begin by cooking the baby potatoes in salted water until they are just about cooked. Next, an onion-cashew paste is made.

This paste also has ginger, garlic and fennel seeds (saunf) and yogurt (curd) in it. This paste is sautéed first with the addition of some spices.

Finally, adding water, a spiced gravy is made with this paste to which the baby potatoes are added and simmered on low heat or dum.

For the gravy of this Dum Aloo Recipe, it is best you use ghee (clarified butter) to cook it. However, you can even use oil instead, if you wish to make a slightly less rich version.

Apart from this, other ingredients that go into making the curry of this Dum Aloo are whole spices like cinnamon, cloves, green cardamoms, caraway seeds (shahi jeera) and Indian bay leaf (tej patta).

Cashews and yogurt give the gravy a rich mouth feel making it creamy and smooth. The onions and spices add a lot of flavor.

The ground spices that are added in this Dum Aloo Recipe are turmeric powder, red chili powder (can even use Kashmiri red chili powder), coriander powder and garam masala powder.

For the garam masala powder, I would always recommend you to use a homemade one over a readymade store-bought one.

This North Indian style Dum Aloo is simply delicious and tastes fantastic with Indian flatbreads like roti, paratha or naan. So, you can serve it with these or even with steamed rice or jeera rice.

Variations

Another variants to this dish is the Banarasi Dum Aloo too – a specialty from Banaras (Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh, North India.

And the Kashmiri Dum Aloo which is a unique tasting spicy preparation from the state of Kashmir; made with spices and without onion & garlic. Also, not to forget the very flavorful and delicious Bengali Alur Dom.

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If you enjoy rich and creamy gravies, especially those with Mughlai flavors, do check out these popular vegetarian recipes:

• Paneer Do Pyaza – A tasty curry made with paneer and lots of onions in a rich base with tomatoes, spices, herbs and cream.
• Shahi Paneer – A royal paneer curry with a smooth, mildly sweet gravy made with nuts, seeds and yogurt.
• Navratan Korma – A mix of vegetables and nuts in a creamy, lightly spiced sauce.

How to make Dum Aloo

Preparation

1. Rinse and scrub 250 grams baby potatoes very well in water. Then, bring 2.5 cups water to a boil in a pan or saucepan.

2. Add the baby potatoes. Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes.

3. Simmer until the baby potatoes are almost cooked. Do not overcook. In the picture below, the baby potatoes are almost softened and tender.

Check with a fork or knife. The potatoes must be tender but a bit firm too.

4. Drain all the water and let the potatoes become warm or cool to room temperature.

5. Once the baby potatoes become warm, peel them. Prick with a fork or toothpick. If you want, you can keep the peels too.

Pricking the potatoes helps them to absorb the flavors while dum cooking.

Make Curry Paste

6. Meanwhile, when the baby potatoes are cooking, soak 10 cashews in ⅓ cup hot water for 20 to 30 minutes. After 20 to 30 minutes, drain the water and set the cashews aside.

Meanwhile prep the remaining ingredients for the gravy or curry paste.

7. In a high-speed grinder or blender, take the following ingredients:

• 1 cup roughly chopped onions
• the soaked cashews
• 1 inch peeled and chopped ginger
• 5 small to medium peeled and chopped garlic cloves
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf)

8. Add 2 tablespoons water and grind to a fine and smooth paste.

9. Next, add ¼ cup fresh curd (yogurt).

10. Just blend for some seconds till the curd mixes well with the onion paste. Do not overdo.

Cook Curry Paste

11. Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a pot or pan. Turn the heat to a low or medium and add the following spices:

• 1 inch cinnamon
• 2 cloves
• 2 green cardamoms
• 1 small to medium tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
• ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera)

Let the spices crackle.

12. Keep the heat to low or you can turn off the heat. Then, add the prepared curry paste. The curry paste splutters, so take care.

13. Mix very well with a spoon.

14. Cover the pan with its lid and cook the paste. The pan needs to be covered with a lid as a lot of spluttering happens.

In between, check after every 2 to 3 minutes, so that the paste does not stick to the pan. Also, stir very well.

15. The curry paste needs to be cooked till the color changes and you see some specks of ghee floating on the top and the sides.

Sautéing the paste takes about 7 to 8 minutes on low to medium heat.

16. Next, add the following ground spice powders:

• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon red chili powder (or Kashmiri red chili powder)
• ½ teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon garam masala powder

17. Mix the ground spice powders very well with the curry paste.

Make Dum Aloo

18. Add the baby potatoes. Mix them gently with the sautéed masala paste.

19. Pour 1 cup water.

20. Season with salt as required.

21. Mix very well.

22. Seal the pan tightly with a foil.

If you do not prefer a foil, then use a tight fitting lid which does not have any vent that won’t allow any steam to escape from the pan.

23. Cover the pan with its lid.

24. On low heat, dum cook the curry for 10 to 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the gravy to rest for 3 to 4 minutes. Then, open the lid and the foil.

You can also add 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream at this point for a more richer taste and flavor.

25. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves. Stir to combine.

26. Serve Restaurant Style Dum Aloo with:

• Flatbreads: Chapati, Naan, Pudina Paratha, Tandoori Butter Roti, Sheermal
• Fried Bread: Poori
• Rice: Jeera Rice, Ghee Rice, Saffron Rice or a simple steamed Basmati Rice.

These pairings make for a hearty and flavorful meal, perfect for lunch or dinner.

Expert Tips

1. Potato Type: Baby potatoes are essentially used in this recipe. But if you do not get baby potatoes, you can use regular potatoes too. You can also opt to use new potatoes. Simply cut them into chunks or cubes.
2. Cooking Potatoes: Ensure to cook the potatoes in a pan with water until they are almost cooked and tender. They must be tender but a bit firm as well. Ensure that they are not overdone as this will make them break during the cooking process.
3. Prepping Cooked Potatoes: Do prick the potatoes with a fork or bamboo skewer as doing this helps the potatoes to absorb the flavors better. You can keep the peels of the cooked baby potatoes on, if you wish to.
4. Frying Options: I have kept the recipe healthy, as I have not fried the potatoes. If you want, you can parboil and then fry the potatoes or fry the potatoes directly too without parboiling them. You could also air-fry or bake the potatoes.
5. Slow Cooking: It is essential to slow cook this dish on a low heat in a tightly covered pan or pot. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid or seal it with foil to trap the steam inside for the dum cooking to happen. This helps in making the dish incredibly flavorful with tender and soft beautifully cooked delicious potatoes.
6. Cashew Replacement: For the gravy, you can use almonds in place of cashews.
7. Adjusting Spices: You can add less or more of the ground spice powders according to your taste and spice preferences.
8. Infusing Smoky Flavor: If you want, you can even try the dhungar method once the gravy is done, to infuse a smoky charcoal aroma in the dish.

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