Kashmiri Dum Aloo

A chilly winter Sunday afternoon, and you’re looking for something flavourful and vegan for lunch? Trust me, you have something in common with Kashmiri Pandits, who were thinking the exact same thing when they came up with Kashmiri Dum Aloo. This fried spicy baby potato recipe is sure to make you warm up to the Winter weather. The spicy gravy is just perfect for dipping a paratha and enjoying the rich flavors of Kashmir right from home.

What is a Kashmiri Dum Aloo?

‘Dum’ refers to a cooking process where simmering the ingredients under pressure cooks them through. Kashmiri dum aloo is chili-coated fried baby potatoes cooked in yogurt-based fennel, cardamom, and Kashmiri red chili flavored curry. If that description sounds like a mouthful, it’s belying the dish itself. It’s a simple spicy fried potato in a rich and spicy yogurt-based curry. The flavor mix of rich and aromatic spices is unique to Kashmiri cuisine. If you like comfortable North Indian food, you are sure to love this recipe.

Notable Ingredients at a Glance

Potatoes – Use boiled and peeled baby potatoes. I have used baby potatoes since it makes the recipe more authentic Indian. However, if baby potatoes are hard to come by, you can also use big golden potatoes cut into small cubes.

Yogurt – Unsweetened yogurt adds acidity to the dish.

Cooking oil – In total, you will need 4 tablespoons of oil, 3 tablespoons for frying the potatoes, and 1 tablespoon for cooking. You can use any neutral oil of your choice.

Kashmiri red chili powder – This is the hero ingredient, as the name of the recipe clearly states. Regular red chili powder is spicier than the Kashmiri variety. You can substitute with paprika if you cannot find Kashmiri red chili powder. This is mainly used to add heat along with the bright red color of the gravy.

Whole spices – 2 black cardamom pods, 4 green cardamom pods, and 4 cloves (crush them in a mortar and pestle)

Dry ginger powder – Instead of ginger powder you can also use ginger paste.

Rock salt – Rock salt adds a characteristic Indian street food smell to any food. Himalayan pink salt can also do the same for you. If you do not like the pungent smell that it adds, You can use table salt as well.

How to prepare Kashmiri Dum Aloo?

Starting off, we will boil and peel the potatoes and let them cool. Now with the help of a fork prick the potatoes so that all the masalas enter the potatoes while cooking.

In a pan, heat oil and fry the potatoes. You can even deep fry them but I have shallow fried them for added lightness. Shallow fry all of them in batches and keep them aside. You can add turmeric powder while frying. Turmeric gives a nice color to the potatoes while frying.

Now heat a pan and add oil; let it come to its smoking temperature. Add the potatoes, sprinkle some turmeric powder and fry them on low flame.

Keep tossing them so that they fry evenly. The potatoes will caramelize and change color. This will take about 5 minutes as we are frying them on low heat. Once done, keep them aside.

Now heat a pan or kadai and add oil. Add whole spices and let it splutter. Add cumin seeds and saute for half a minute. Add salt, asafetida, saunth powder, fennel powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, and Kashmiri chili powder. Saute the masala for a minute but be careful not to burn the masala. The powdered masalas tend to be very easy to burn, which is why we added them last

Now add your yogurt and mix well. Keep the heat low to prevent the yogurt from splitting

Cook the masala for 3 to 4 minutes. When the oil starts separating from the masala add the fried potatoes. Mix well. Add up to half a cup of water if required to achieve the consistency you desire and cover with a lid.

Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 2 minutes.

Kashmiri dum aloo is now ready to serve. Garnish with some fresh coriander and enjoy.

Some expert tips for preparing Kashmiri Dum Aloo

• Pricking the potatoes should result in a very fluffy light fried potato. If you do not end up with fluffy light potatoes, then you have not pricked them enough.
• The size of the potato affects your cooking time. It also affects the flavor since the masala cannot reach into the interiors of a bigger potato. Make sure to only use the smallest potato you can find. Traditionally this recipe only uses baby potatoes.
• This recipe is the authentic Kashmiri version that tastes sour and spicy. The Indian restaurant version incorporates tomato and onions in the gravy for a sweet balanced taste.

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