Kashmiri Dum Aloo
Baby potatoes fried till the skins wrinkle, then cooked slow in a deep red curd gravy that clings to every one. No onion, no garlic, no tomato.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 600 g small potatoes (16 to 20), all about the same size
- 1 tsp salt, for boiling the potatoes
- 1 cup (240 g) thick full-fat curd (dahi), at room temperature
- 2 tsp Stone Ground Red Chilli Powder (Kashmiri)
- 1½ tsp saunf (fennel) powder
- 1 tsp sonth (dry ginger) powder
- ¼ tsp hing (asafoetida)
- 4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 2 cloves and a 1-inch piece of cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste, for the gravy
- 1½ cups (350 ml) Cold Pressed Yellow Mustard Oil, for deep frying
- 2 tbsp Cold Pressed Yellow Mustard Oil, for the gravy
- 1 cup (240 ml) hot water
- ½ tsp garam masala
Quantities are scaled up. Taste as you go and adjust the salt and spice.
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A Kashmiri kitchen in the cold months, and there is not an onion or a clove of garlic in the pot. The whole colour comes from chilli and the whole body from curd. The potatoes go into hot mustard oil and come out gold, their skins pulled tight and wrinkled, and each one has been pricked all over so the gravy can find its way in. The lid goes on and the pan is only shaken, never stirred, for twenty minutes.
Wooden cold pressed yellow mustard oil is the oil of that kitchen. Yellow mustard is a shade gentler than black, warm and nutty rather than biting, which suits a dish with no onion to hide behind. Heat it till it thins and a light smoke lifts off, then drop the flame at once, and the raw sting goes while the flavour stays. Our Stone Ground Red Chilli Powder gives the deep red without much heat, and it goes into the whisked curd, never into hot oil.
The one thing that decides this dish is the minute the curd goes in. Keep the flame at its lowest and stir without stopping for two to three full minutes. Stop stirring, or let the pan get hot, and the curd breaks into grains and oil, and the gravy will never come back smooth.
How to make it
- Boil the potatoes with their skin in salted water till a knife goes in but they still hold their shape, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Peel, then prick each one all over with a fork or toothpick. This lets the gravy go inside.
- Whisk the curd in a bowl with the Kashmiri chilli powder, fennel powder, dry ginger powder and 1 tsp salt till smooth. Keep aside.
- Heat the frying oil in a kadhai on medium-high till it is very hot and a light smoke rises, then lower the flame to medium. Fry the potatoes in two batches till golden and wrinkled, 6 to 8 minutes a batch. Lift out onto a plate.
- In a heavy pan, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil on low. Add the hing, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Let them sizzle for 20 seconds.
- Keep the flame at its lowest. Pour in the curd mix and stir without stopping for 2 to 3 minutes. Stirring keeps the curd from splitting.
- Add the fried potatoes and the hot water. Mix gently so the potatoes stay whole.
- Cover with a tight lid. Cook on low for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking the pan now and then instead of stirring. The gravy will thicken and turn a deep red.
- Sprinkle the garam masala, cover, and rest for 5 minutes off the heat. Serve with plain steamed rice.
Tips
- Use full-fat curd at room temperature. Cold curd straight from the fridge is more likely to split when it meets the hot pan.
- No small potatoes? Cut 4 medium potatoes into halves or thick chunks, then boil and fry them the same way.
- Boil and fry the potatoes a day ahead and keep them in the fridge. Make the gravy fresh, and dinner is on the table in 30 minutes.
- Strain the frying oil once it cools and keep it in a bottle. Use it within a few days for your next tadka or fry.
