Aloo gutuk ( Potato vegetable Kumauni Style)

Aloo gutuk

Potatoes are grown in Kumaon region of Northern India in large quantity,  may be that is why  we Kumauni are very fond of Potatoes. If ever you get chance to go to Kumaon you will see  in all the places where taxis and bus stop,  shop selling hot spicy aloo Gutuk , tangy Kheere ka raita, hot Pakodas and steaming hot tea. The combination of Aloo Gutuk and Pahari Kheere ka raita is simply lip smacking. In Kumaon aloo Gutuk are made along with singal (a fried sweet made of rice flour / semolina) and ever green raita.

When we used to go to Almora from Lucknow we used to wait eagerly for Garam Pani (a small town where bus and taxi used to stop) because the aloo Gutuk used to be best there and we used to be so hungry by then that we used to eat plate full after plate full of Gutuk and raita. The aroma and taste lingers till now in my memory.

Preparation Time: 10 min.

Cooking Time: 30min.

Servings: 6-7 Medium Servings

Ingredients Required for Making Aloo Gutuk:

500 gm. Potatoes

1 Tea spoon Cumin Seeds

1/2 Tea spoon Mustard seeds

3-4 Whole Red Chilies

Cumin Seeds, Mustard seeds and Red Chilies

1/2Tea spoon Jambu ( herb grown in higher region of Kumaon and Nepal) (optional)

Jambu

Pinch of Asafoetida

1/2Tea spoon Turmeric Powder

1 Tea spoon Red chili Powder

1 Tea spoon Anar Dana Paste / Amchur

Salt to taste

20 ml. Mustard oil / Ghee / or any other cooking oil.

Coriander leaves for garnishing.

 Direction for Making Aloo Gutuk:

 

Peel, wash and cut potatoes to long 1cm. thick pieces.

Potato pieces

Take oil in a thick bottom wok and heat on high flame.

Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies and Jambu.

Red chili, Jambu, Cumin seeds, mustard being cooked in oil

When the cumin seed splutter and chilies become dark in color (not black) add asafoetida and potato pieces.

Potatoes added to oil and seasonings

Mix nicely and add turmeric powder, chili powder salt and mix nicely.

Spices mixed to potatoes

Cover and cook on low flame for 10-15 min. with occasional stirring.

The color of potatoes will become golden brown,.

Potato cooked to golden brown color

Sprinkle 25-30 ml. water and mix.

Cover and cook till all water gets soaked in potato pieces.

Add anar dana paste / amchur mix and cook for a min.

Cover and switch off the gas.

Take out in a serving bowl and garnish with finely cut coriander leaves.

Add caption

Serve steaming hot Gutuk with roti, puri along with Pahari Tangy Kheere Ka Raita / thick curd.

Tips:

Mustard oil / ghee give the best result so try it once before you change to oil of your liking.

Do not allow the cumin seeds become black.

Jambu is an herb grown in higher region of Kumaon and Nepal so may not be available everywhere but Aloo Gutuk can be made without jambu also.

In the absence of anar dana and amchur serve the Gutuk with a wedge of lemon.

Oil amount should not be reduced but can be increased if you want.

Suggested Variations:

Instead or raw potatoes, potatoes can be boiled and peeled and cut then used to make Gutuk.

Dum Aloo (Stuffed potatoes cooked in gravy, Main course, Vegetarian)

Dum-Aloo with cream dressing

Dum is a method of cooking in which the vessel with all ingredients is sealed and then placed on low heat without disturbing for the time duration required.  In earlier times when food was cooked on charcoal stove, Dum cooking used to be totally different as the subtle heat of charcoal stove is totally different than the heat of gas stove.  Baking in sealed vessel is the good alternative. Kashmir is famous for its scenic beauty and rich delicious food. Dum Aloo is prepared in almost whole of the Northern India with different variations but the one made in Kashmir is simply delicious and I place it in number one position. I give here my own version of Dum Aloo which my children love very much :)

Preparation Time:   20min.

Cooking Time: 60min.

Servings:  Makes six large servings.

Ingredients Required For Preparing Aloo for Dum Aloo:

• 250gm. Potatoes (medium size)

For Stuffing:

• 50 gm. Cottage cheese

• 4-5 cashew nuts

• 1 Tea spoon finely cut onion

• 1/4 Tea spoon finely cut Green chili

• 1/4tea spoon Amchur

• 2Tea spoon Mozilla cheese (optional)

• 50 gm. Corn flour

• Salt to taste

• Cooking oil for frying

Ingredients Required for gravy of Dum Aloo:

• 2 Medium size Onions

• 4-5 Cloves of garlic

• 2-3 cm. Piece of Ginger

• 1 Medium size Tomato

• 2cm. Piece of Cinnamon

• 2-3 Cloves

• 2 Bay leaves

Ingredients for Dum Aloo

• 10-15 ml. Cream

• 3-4 Teaspoon Grated Mozilla Cheese

• Red Chili powder to taste

• 1 Tea spoon Kashmiri Mirchi Powder

• 10ml. Cooking oil

Directions for Preparing Dum Aloo:

• Boil the potatoes.

• Peel them and cut to two equal halves.

• Scoop the center portion of the potatoes to form a cup of each half.

Boiled potato being scooped to make a cup

Cups of Boiled potato made to cup by scooping the center of potato

• Keep each half with its pair.

• Mash the potato pieces which have been obtained by scooping each piece of boiled potato.

• Take cheese, onion, cashew, salt, mashed scooping of potatoes, green chili and amchur.

• Mix all the ingredients in the bowl nicely.

Filling of Paneer, Mozilla cheese, onion, cashew and scooped potato pieces

• In a bowl take 3-4 tea spoon of corn flour and 2-3 spoon water. Mix to make a batter.

• Take each half of potato with a hollow in the center and fill the hollow with the cheese mixture.

One half of the boiled scooped potato being filled with the filling

Potato cups filled with the filling

•  Apply a little corn flour paste on the outer edges of the hollow and stick the two parts together.

Two filled halves being joined with the help of corn flour paste

•  Keep the filled potato aside to allow the two halves to stick to each other.

Two halves of stuffed Potato joined together

• Repeat with all the halved and scooped pair of potatoes.

• Roll the filled potatoes in corn flour to cover them with corn flour.

• Take oil in a thick bottom wok and heat on high flame, when the oil is smoking hot lower the flame.

• Put the potatoes one by one in the hot oil and fry to golden brown color on low flame.

Stuffed Potatoes rolled in corn flour and  being fried

• Potatoes are ready to be added to the gravy and cooked it dum.

Stuffed and fried potatoes for Dum Aloo

 Direction for Making Gravy for Dum Aloo:

• Peel and cut onions, garlic and grate ginger.

• Cut Tomato.

• Take 10 ml. cooking oil in a wok and heat it in high flame.

• When the oil is hot then add to it bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon.

• Let it cook for 30sec.

• Add cut onions and cook with regular stirring till they turn golden brown.

• Add garlic and ginger and cook for one min.

• Add tomato and cook till tomato pieces get cooked and become soft.

• Remove from gas and cool.

• Grind it to make a fine paste.

• Take a thick bottom pan with lid and take the paste of cooked spices in it.

• Add

• 100 ml. water

• Mozilla cheese

• Red chili powder

• Kashmiri Mirchi Powder

• Salt and mix nicely.

• Put stuffed potatoes in the gravy and cover with the lid.

• Seal the lid with dough of wheat flour,

• Keep a thick tawa (iron plate) on low flame and keep the pan with gravy and potatoes on it and let it cook in dum for at least 30min.

• Switch off the gas and let the pan be on hot tawa for another 10-15 min.

• Break the seal carefully.

• Open the lid and add cream.

• Give a gentle stir.

• Take out in a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves/ cherry/or simply ringlets of onion.

Aloo Dum

• Serve hot Dum Aloo with roti http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/roti-indian-bread-no-oil-dry-so-low-on.html
  

  

  Aloo Dum with Paratha and Raita

     Tips:

• Make sure that the gravy is thinner than you require when you put potatoes to be cooked in it.

• Finally cooked gravy should never be flowing thin; it should be like cake batter.

• The pan taken for cooking in dum should be very thick bottom else dum aloo will burn.

 Suggested Variations:

• The gravy and fried potatoes can be taken in a glass container covered and sealed and baked at 180 C for 30 min.

• Into the cooked dum aloo finely cut and fried cashew and almonds can be added.

• Make Gravy Lazawab http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/11/white-gravy-1.html,  or Creamy Delicious Gravy http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/11/white-gravy-2.html  and cook stuffed fried potatoes in dum in  any of the two gravies.

Baked Samosas( less oily, low calory snack)

Baked Samosas

While fried samosas have got their own wonderful taste they are very high in calories, so  I dedicate this recipe to all health and figure concious people who love eating but get detered some times due to oil and clories involved in fried samosas.


Preparation time: 15- 20 min.

Baking time: 10 - 15 min.

Servings made: Total Samosa made from above material  10 - 15.

Ingredients Required For Baked Samosas 

• 200 gm.  Maida (Refined wheat flour) .
• 3 gegg's White (Yolk to be discarded)
• 10 gm.  Butter 
• 4 medium sized Boiled Potatoes 
• 2-3 teaspoons Par boiled peas 
• 1 teaspoon finely cut  Green chilies 
• 1 teaspoon Dry mango powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon Red chilly powder 
• 1 teaspoon Garam masala 
• 1 teaspoon Coriander leaves finely cut 
• Salt to taste
• 50 ml. Milk 

Directions to prepare Baked Samosas

• Mix butter and maida nicely till it resembles bread crumbs.
• Beat egg white and add it to the butter maida mixture with continuous mixing and kneading.
• If required add little milk to it while kneading. 
• Knead the mixture to a soft but firm dough. Make sure the dough is firm, other wise the samosas will not be crispy.
• Keep the dough covered for 5 min.
• Mash potatoes to small pieces (not to pulp).
• Take1 tea spoon of oil in a wok and heat the oil, add cumin seeds let them splutter. 
• Add the following and cook for 5 min., mixing them continuously:
• Potatoes
• Peas
• Dry Mango powder
• Turmeric
• Green chilies
• Red Chilly powder 
• Take the above mixture in a bowl and add garam masala. Allow it to cool.
• Make small balls from the dough and roll them to 5-6 inches diameter circle.

Dough for baked samosa,rolled ball of dough and filling of potato,peas and spices

• Cut them to half with the knife, and make a cone out of the half piece and fill it 3/4 with the potato mixture.

Making cone of one half of the rolled ball of the dough

Filling the cone with potato, peas and spices mixture

• Seal the open ends by applying drop of water and pressing them together firmly. 
• Repeat the same for all the dough and bake them in preheated  oven at 150 C till they become golden in color(some prefer it slightly brownish golden). Turn them over when top side starts becoming golden brown.
• Bake again till other side also becomes golden brown.(Approximately 5-7 min. each side

Samosa getting baked

Enjoy the crispy less fatty samosas with coriander chutney / Hariyali chutney

Baked Samosas

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/sweet-tamarind-chutney.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/hariyali-chutney-raw-mango-chutney.html

Tip(s) :

• Do not bake to dark brown color.

•  For those who do not take eggs, eggs can be replaced by butter/ghee. 

Suggested variation:

• Minced meat (mutton / chicken ) can taken instead of potatoes.
• Coarsely ground powder of roasted moong dal can be taken instead of potatoes and peas.