Shahi Dum Aloo Recipe

Dum Aloo, also known as Aloo Dum Pukht, is a favored Indian Curry recipe that you often get to see on many restaurant menus, and this home-made Shahi variation is nothing less! Who doesn't like potatoes? especially when they are baby potatoes simmered in creamy & aromatic gravy made with almonds and cashews and flavored with traditional Indian spices! What makes this recipe different and special is the choice of onions, yogurt, tamarind, almonds and cashews as a base for the gravy. With aromatic spices like cardamom, fennel, ginger, and addition of some milk and cream to add a richness to the recipe, the resulting Shahi Dum Aloo was a wonderful treat for our family. B actually liked it better than the Malai Koftas, which means I actually scored a victory with this make-as-you-go recipe venture!

Ingredients
8-10 baby potatoes
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 mid-size onion
4 tbsp yogurt (plain, not sour)
2 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
3 tbsps almond-cashewnut paste
** soak the nuts in water, then remove skin and blend to a paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp dhania powder (dry coriander powder)
1/2 tsp kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
2 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 tsp fennel powder (saunf)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp dry ginger powder
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
salt and lemon juice - to taste
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp fresh cream
fresh coriander - chopped for garnish

Method
Skin the onions and blanch them in hot water for 3 mins, then puree them to form a paste. Make a paste from the blanched almonds and cashews and keep aside.

Take 2 tbsp yogurt, add the tamarind paste, fennel powder, red-chilli powder, ginger powder, cardamom powder and sugar to it, and beat it well to form a smooth blend. Keep aside.

Boil the potatoes in a microwave or a pressure-cooker, taking care not to over-cook them. Just microwave till tender, but not mashable. Take a toothpick, and poke some holes into the baby potatoes, then keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan, add the bay leaf and the cloves, then add the onion paste and saute till light-brown. Add ginger-garlic paste. Saute for 3 minutes. Add all the dry spices (masalas) and roast for anther 2 mins. Finally add the almond-cashew paste and roast for another 5 mins.

Add the tomato puree, the yogurt-tamaring blend, crushed kasuri methi, and salt. Stir and let it simmer for some time. Then cover with a lid, and let it cook on medium flame for another 10 mins, till the curry becomes think and everything blends well to form a smooth texture.

Add the baby potatoes, lower the flame, and and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add 2 tbsp milk or whipping cream, and allow the potatoes to be cooked entirely. They will also suck up some of the flavor from the curry and spices, thanks to the holes you poked them with!

Garnish with coriander leaves and fresh cream if you like. Throw some more chopped nuts and raisins on the top. Serve the delicious Shahi Dum Aloo with any bread of your choice, pulao or simply jeera rice.

Related Recipes:
Paneer Butter Masala
Lauki Koftas in Almond Gravy
Bhindi Masala with Peanuts & Coconut

Related Tags
indian-gravies, potatoes, parathas, nuts

Adadiyapak - Healthy Gujarati Sweet

Anyone who has spent at least a couple winters in Gujarat, would be familiar with the traditional Gujarati sweet called "Adadiyapak". Made with Adad(Udad) Flour, and filled with naturally healthy ingredients, its one sweet that is really good for you and your body! It's especially made in winter, due to availability of ingredients, but nowadays, you can find these at any grocery store around the year. They are filled with the goodness of health and richness of taste, but when they come packaged in a "stainless-steel dabba" all the way from India, marked with the stamp of being labeled as Mom's homemade Adadiya, its extra-special, healthy and extremely delicious. So here's sharing with you my granny's recipe for Adadiyapak, executed perfectly by none other than Mom!

Ingredients
500gm black gram flour (adad no lot)
50gm besan (chickpea flour - optional)
450gm ground sugar
400gm + 200gm ghee (clarified butter)
1 cup milk

Spices
few pieces of edible gum (gaund)
50 gm ginger powder
50 gm ganthoda powder (optional)
25 gm vasanu (optional, skip it if you can't find it)
100gm cashew nuts + almonds - (crushed coarsely into powder)

Method
Mix 100gm ghee, milk, black gram flour and besan and keep it aside for 3 hours. Once it cools down a little, pass this flour mixture through a filter (sieve), to form granular flour mixture (looks like Sooji or Semmolina), and keep it aside.

Take another 100gm ghee and fry the edible gum in a pan on high flame; then let it cool for a couple mins, and grind it in a blender to form coarse granules.

Take 400gm ghee in a pan and add black gram flour in it. Stir it continuously on low flame till flour becomes golden brown. Add ginger powder, vasanu and ganthoda powder to this, and mix well.

When it turns golden brown, and the flour looks properly roasted, and starts giving out a nice smell, about 10 mins or so, remove it from the flame. Let it cool a little (about 2 mins), then add the edible gum powder into it. Stir it well and mix properly. Then allow the entire thing to cool for about 20 mins.

Finally, add the sugar and cashew-almond powder into it and mix it well.

Take a deep steel thali (or non-stick flat pan), grease it with a little ghee, and spread the mixture into the thali evenly, levelling the surface.

Garnish it with slivered almonds or pistachios, if you like, then let it set completely for about 10 minutes. Now cut it into squares and keep them out, uncovered for about an hour.

Once cooled enough, you can store the Adadiya squares in an air-tight container, and keep it refrigerated for about 20-30 days. Just let it come to room temperature before eating; one small piece a day is a great way to keep yourself healthy, as long as the supplies last!:)

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Gajar Halwa (Carrot Pudding)
Pineapple Rava Kesari (Microwave recipe)
Churma na Ladoo (Wheatflour Laddus)
Homemade Kaju Katri (Burfi)