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.

Green Chilly Sauce

Green Chilli Sauce

When the ever hungry teenage children demand fast food specially Noodles at the drop of hat there is a need of a healthy, pure and less expensive sauce which is ready at hand.What does one do! Well make them at home as I did, and the yummy taste made the sauce a hit not only with the kids but with their mothers also as they used it with Pakoras and other snacks.

Preparation Time: 30 min.(Soaking time not Included)

Servings: 300 ml of thick sauce

Ingredients required

• 50gm Dark Green chilies 

Green Chillies

• 8-10 Kashmiri Green Chilies(for beautiful green color)

Kashmiri Green Chillies

• 200 ml White Vinegar 
• 2 teaspoons Salt 
• 5-6 Garlic cloves 
• 2 Inch piece Ginger
• 2 Medium size Potatoes

Directions to prepare Green Chilly Sauce: 

• Wash, peel and cut ginger to small pieces.
• Peel and cut garlic.
• Cut both type chillies to pieces.
• Take Green chilli pieces, garlic, ginger in a bowl and soak them in 100 ml. vinegar for one day.

Green Chilli, garlic, ginger after soaking

•  Put the soaked mixture in a grinder mixer and grind to paste
• Add 50 ml. water during grinding.

Paste of chilli,garlic,ginger

• Boil the potatoes.
• Peel the boiled potatoes and crush to small pieces.
•  Add boiled crushed potatoes to the chilli paste and grind again till all ingredients are one soft homogeneous paste. 

Paste after adding Potato

• Take out the above mixture in a bowl and add vinegar till in turns into consistency of sauce.

Sauce ready for bottling

• Store in a glass bottle.

Green Chilli Sauce

 Tips:

• Plastic bottles should be avoided.
• If you do not like your sauce to be too sour with vinegar then instead 200 ml. vinegar you can take vinegar water mixture. (100 ml water + 100 ml. vinegar)

Suggested Variation:

• Those who do not like garlic or do not eat garlic can omit it.
• The sauce can be made of different flavor by adding more garlic and no ginger, or no garlic and more ginger. 

Red Chilli Sauce

Please store me in a bottle says the red chilli sauce

Red chilli sauce

 Red chilli sauce is most like sauce in my family as it goes very well with noodles, pakoras and most of the salty snacks.When made at home one can always custom make it according to ones need. So I always make the sauces at home. Try this red chilli sauce and you will know the difference between home made and marketed sauce yourself.

 Preparation Time:20 min.(soaking time not included)

Cooking Time: 15min. (to boil potatoes)

Servings: Makes 200 - 300 ml. sauce.

Ingredients required

• 50gm Red chilies 
• 8-10 Red Kashmiri Chilies(for beautiful red color)
• 250 ml White Vinegar 
• 2 teaspoons Salt 
• 5-6 Garlic cloves peeled and cut 
• 2 inches piece Ginger, washed, dried, cleaned and cut
• 2 medium size or 3 small size Potatoes, boiled, peeled and cut

Directions to prepare Red Chilly Sauce

• Take all  ingredients except potatoes and soak them in 100 ml. vinegar for 2 days. 
• Chilies will become soft. Put them in a grinder mixer and grind to paste
• Add potatoes and grind again till all ingredients are one soft homogeneous paste. 

Paste of soaked red chillies and boiled potatoes in vinegar

• Take out the above mixture in a bowl and add vinegar till in turns into consistency of sauce.

Red chilli sauce ready to be bottled

• Store in a glass bottle, Plastic bottles should be avoided.

Red chilli sauce

 Tips:

• If you want the color to be more red and sauce to be less hot decrease the amount of red chillies and increase the amount of Kashmiri mirchi as per your taste. 

Suggest Variations:

• To change the flavor cloves/Cinnamon can also be added. 

Badi ki Sabzi /बड़ी की सब्ज़ी ( indian Curry of Badi)

Badi Ki Sabji

Badi are made of urad  dal.To the soaked, ground urad dal some times grated and nicely squeezed cucumber/bottle gourd are added, then after mixing them are dropped as small globules on an oiled plate or on a plastic and dried under sun. These can be stored and use as and when required.In Punjab instead of cucumber/ bottle gourd lots of chilli and garam masala is added to make them real spicy.I find badi one of the best discovery made by house wife.God bless the soul of the lady who brought it to existence!!!

Preparation Time : 10 min.
Cooking Time : 30 -40 min.
Servings : 4 medium servings.

Ingredients required for Badi ki Sabji

• 10 - 12 Badi , and if it is Punjab badi then one big broken into small pieces

Home made Badi

• 2 Medium size Potatoes peeled and cut to 1 inches size

Potatoes cut to pieces

• 2 medium size Tomatoes made to paste

Tomato Paste

• 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric powder.
• 2 Teaspoon Coriander seed powder.
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds.
• 1/4 Teaspoon mustard seeds.
• One red dry chilly.
• Garam masala 1/2 tea spoon.
• Salt to taste.
• 5 - 10 ml. Cooking oil. 

Directions to prepare Badi ki Sabji

• Heat oil in kadai ( wok), and shallow fry the badi in it till golden in color.

Badi being shallow fried

• Remove them from kadai once done .

Shallow fried Badi

• Add cumin seeds, red chilly pieces in the remaining oil and cook for a min. 

Cumin seeds and red chilli being cooked in the remaining oil

• Add potatoes in it and stir fry for 5 min.

Potatoes being cooked with seasoning

• Add  fried badi in it and stir and cook for a min.

Badi , added after frying potatoes

•  Add tomato paste and cook till the mixture leaves the wall of wok.

Tomatoes being cooked with badi

•  Add turmeric powder, salt, garam masala, coriander seed powder,mix thoroughly and cook for a min.

Masala added to badi potato mix in the wok.

• Add 300 ml of water mix and cover it.

Water added  to the mixture in the wok

• Allow to cook on low flame for 20 minutes.
• Keep stirring in between.
• Remove from heat when potatoes and badi are tender.
• Put the cooked badi sabji in serving bowl and garnish it with finely cut coriander leaves .

Add caption

Enjoy the sabji with cooked rice and curd, or chapati and curd/raita :) 

My son enjoying Badi ki sabji with Bathue ka raita and rice

Tips :

• Fry the badi light brown as due to hot oil in them they will gain darker color even after removing from heat. 
• If you are using Punjabi badi then cook in cooker as it will cook fast and will turn out tender.

Suggested Variations:

• Badi ki sabji can be made in Micro wave 

• Take a spoonful of oil coat he badi with it and micro for a min so that Badi become brown.

• Cook the potato pieces with little water and salt in micro for 2-3 min.

• Mix the browned badi, potato pieces, paste of tomato, and pieces in a micro wave cooking container and cook for 10min.
• Take 1/2Teaspoon of oil in a small pan /spoon heat it and add cumin seeds, 1-2 whole red chili and when the cumin seeds split and chili become brownish red pour them over them micro cooked badi ki sabji.