It's been close to 6 weeks and I know I've been away.. I dont want to be whining about it.. hectic is an understatement.. and I shall not talk about it henceforth.. ;) I shall post whenever I can and whatever I can :) but with love of course :) you see the foodie in me never rests.. it's wide awake.. and full of verve to get back on to it's kingdom of culinary art and reign it with majesty! And it shall! Amen :)
It's past Ganesh chaturthi, Navarathri and Diwali too.. It took me 3 festivals to settle down and stop shuttling between Mysore and Bangalore!! albeit Mysore is an elysium.. I'm gonna miss it like never before!
Anyway now getting back to the post, I will have more time to make conventional Indian recipes and also talk about Indian festivals with all other embellishments as a part of it.. But I'm definitely gonna miss my huge baking oven up in the US and also miss baking as often as I used to.
Unless I get myself an OTG here :)
I made Dum aloo while in US just a few days befor eour departure and trust me I had never ever tasted or tried this recipe anywhere, not even in restaurants.. but the outcome was unbelievably delectable!! it was a heavenly treat for the tastebuds..
Serves- 4
Shelf life- 2 days if refrigerated.
Ingredients
To grind into a paste
-
Onions, roughly chopped
1
Fennel seeds/ saunf
3 tbsp
Cloves
2
Cashews
2 tsp
elichi
5 pods
Jeera/ cumin
1 ½ tsp
Potatoes, boiled and cubed 3 onions 2 Tomato 2 Garam masala 1 tsp Red chilli powder 1 tsp Dhaniya powder 1 tsp Turmeric powder 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste, ( optional) 1 ½ tsp Curd 2 tbsp Oil 4 tbsp + 1 tbsp Salt As needed -
Bay leaves 3 Cinnamon 1 inch Red chilli 3 Oil 1 tsp
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan ( non-stick) and add the potatoes and roast them until golden brown on both the sides.
2. In another pan heat a tablespoon of oil and add jeera, fennel and cashew fry for a minute and then add the onions. Allow it to cool and grind it into a fine paste adding little water.
3. In the same pan add 2 tablespoons of oil and add the bay leaves, red chilli, cinnamon and add the onions, saute until it turns pink, now add the tomatoes and fry until it turns gooey. Add red chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric, coriander powder and give it a stir and add the curds. Now add the ground mixture and give another stir. Mix in the roasted potatoes and add salt. Give it another stir and garnish it with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/ naan/ chapathi or rice. I made peas pulav along with this. It tasted like ambrosia :)
Note
- I didn't add the ginger-garlic paste, it's totally optional, you can add it if you want for that great aroma and taste.
- It is important to roast the potatoes as it gives a distinct flavor blending with the gravy and also remains firm.
- Usually baby potatoes are preferred for this dish as they're compact but even the normal potatoes will do, just make sure you cut them into medium size pieces.