This dum aloo is a Punjabi-style version of this versatile and comforting potato dish. Spicy potatoes sit in a thick yogurt-based gravy.
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It can be hard to adapt cultural traditions when you’re away from home. This year for Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, I want to honor my family’s traditions through food while not pressuring myself to make everything perfect and the exact same way my family does it. Traditions can change! I live in an area where some Indian ingredients are hard to come by and one person can only do so much, so we adapt. Every region of India or every family has their own Diwali recipes and for my family, the running theme is potatoes.
No matter how much I treasure Diwali and the foods we eat at the time, I’ve never loved the puri and aloo (potato) combination as much as my parents do. No disrespect to my mom’s food of course, but for me to enjoy potatoes, they need to be made the way I like. For my content with Our Place, I decided to make dum aloo, which is spicy potatoes in a thick yogurt-based gravy. The potatoes are parboiled and fried, so they are soft with a sturdy texture. Even though I’m away from home for Diwali this year, this recipe still has a taste of home, because my mom sent me off with freshly ground spices. The cumin, coriander, red chili powder, and garam masala are from home, so I can recreate the flavors of home as closely as possible. Here I paired the dum aloo with some leftover tomato rice, my failed baked namak paras, and cardamom and nut-stuffed dates!
Dum Aloo
Ingredients
- 4 white potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (~ 500g)
- 2 tbsp avocado oil or another neutral oil
- 1 bay leaf
- a pinch of hing (asafetida – optional)
- 2 inches ginger, minced
- 1 onion, grinded into a paste or finely chopped
- 1 cup tomato paste (from 1-2 tomatoes)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp red chili powder
- ¾ cup unsweetened plain plant-based yogurt
- 1 cup water
- ½-1 tsp garam masala (add depending on strength of masala – mine is strong so I add ½)
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder (optional for color)
- 1 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Instructions
- Cut potatoes and boil them in salted water for about 10 minutes. They should be soft but sturdy.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Fry potatoes for about 10 minutes, allowing them to become crispy and golden-brown on all sides. Set them aside on a paper towel or cooling rack.
- Heat another 1 tbsp oil in the same pan. Add a bay leaf and a pinch of hing. Let the hing bloom for 30 seconds or so.
- Add ginger and stir for 2 minutes. Add onion and cook for 5-7 minutes or until its water evaporates.
- Add tomato and salt. Cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the tomato juices evaporate.
- Add turmeric, coriander, cumin, and red chili powder. Gently combine them with the tomatoes.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and whisk the yogurt in. Let it come together into a thick gravy before adding 1 cup water and letting it simmer until the gravy is at a texture you like.
- Finish with garam masala, kashmiri chili, and crushed kasoori methi. Add the potatoes in. Enjoy with a roti, paratha, naan, or a flatbread of your choice!
For more fun additions to celebrations…
