Baby potatoes or halved potatoes, slow-cooked in scrumptious gravy, such that the potatoes burst with flavors when one digs into, is dum aloo. Dum aloo is prepared in a number of ways. There is dum aloo Banarasi, dum aloo Punjabi, and Kashmiri dum aloo and alur dum. Alur dom is the Bengali recipe for dum aloo. Alur dom can be prepared in two ways, one is with the onions and garlic and then there is Niramish Alur Dom which is prepared without onion and garlic using yogurt or tomatoes or both along with a bundle of spices.
Here I have used yogurt to make this Bengali dish. Niramish alur dom is a Bengali recipe which uses baby potatoes and is flavored with whole spices such as bay leaf, cinnamon stick, red chili, cardamom etc, it has the sharpness of mustard oil and the heat of chilies and ginger. All this combine to make a spicy and absolutely lip-smacking main course potato recipe. Niramish alur dom can be served with luchi.0
Potato recipes are many. You can make a potato dish for every occasion for every person. We just saw that a potato recipe of dum aloo has so many variations. In fact, the Bengali recipe has two variations which further have more variations. Let’s have a look at the ingredients required for Niramish Alur Dom:
Potatoes: I like to use baby potatoes to make dum aloo. You can use the regular ones too and halve or quarter the same accordingly. Generally, fried potatoes are used to make dum aloo. However, in this recipe the potatoes have been boiled in a cooking pan and not fried.
Spices: These give the entire flavor to the dum aloo and what awesome flavor! Whole as well as powdered spices add so much taste to this Bengali dish. Bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, dried red chilies, Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, roasted cumin seeds powder etc have been used.
Flavorings: Fresh ginger and green chili paste add a lot of flavors and the required heat.
Yogurt: Yogurt has been used to give a body to the dish. Fresh yogurt should be used. It should be well-whisked before adding to the gravy.
If you are looking for more Bengali recipes you might like layered and crisp nimki. Likewise, you might also like masala muri and doodh cha.
Serve it with luchi for Sunday brunch. I shall soon post the luchi recipe on the blog.
1.This recipe serves 3-4 persons.
2.In a cooking pan boil enough water. Add 1 tbsp of salt.
3.Add in 350 g baby potatoes.
4.Cover and cook these till tender.
5.Peel while these are still warm and add 1 tsp salt and toss well. Keep aside for now.
6.Mix together 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 roasted cumin seeds (jeera) powder, and ½ tsp dry mango (amchur) powder and ½ tbsp ginger paste.
7.Add in 1 tbsp of hot water. Mix well to make a paste. Keep aside for now.
8.Heat 2 tbsp of mustard oil (sarso ka tel) in a cooking pan. Let it heat till the smoking point. Thereafter switch off the flame. Once the oil cools down, switch on the flame. Add 1 dry red chili. Let it puff up. Next add 1 bay leaf (tej patta), cook till crisp, next add 3 cloves (laung), 1 inch cinnamon (dal chini), 1 green cardamom (choti elaichi), cook till the spices puff up; add ½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera) and a pinch of asafetida (heeng). Cook till aromatic.
9.Add ¼ tsp turmeric powder and 2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder. Keep the flame low and make sure the spices do not burn. Kashmiri red chili powder is more red and less hot. And therefore it gives a very good color to the dish without making it too spicy. However, if you are using the regular chili powder add up to 1 tsp or as per taste.
10.Now add the paste of spices and ginger paste prepared in the step above. Cook for 2-3 minutes till the raw smell of ginger and spices go away.
11.Add 1 tsp green chili paste. Cook for a minute.
12.Switch off the flame. Add ½ cup well whisked yogurt. Cook well till the oil oozes. Add ½ tsp corn flour in yogurt prevent it from splitting.
13.Add in the boiled and seasoned potatoes.
14.Toss them well. Add ½ tsp salt and 1 and ½ tsp sugar.
15.Add in 1/2 cup of water.
16.Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes. Check and adjust the seasoning and consistency.
17.Bon appétit!
PREP TIME 10 minutes
COOK TIME 60 minutes
TOTAL TIME 70 minutes
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