April 11, 2020

BIHARI ALOO DUM

Hello foodies, how quarantine days are going? I hope you all are safe and are staying at home. Here is a weekend special main course recipe of Bihari style aloo dum which will taste as amazing as it tastes on the roadside dhabas in Bihar. I assure you that you are not going to miss your good old weekend days where you used to go out for eating in restaurants with your friends, because we are going to share all those delicious recipes here.
If you are fed up of your work from home situation and want to calm yourself down? Would you like to apply my mantra? Go to your kitchen play your favorite music and cook something, anything you love, even a cup of tea , I promise it will calm you down . Atleast this is what I do on days when I feel low or anxious. I hope it will work for you as well.
So below is the mouthwatering recipe of Bihari style Dum Allu or Allu Dum as you may say, but before that its time to share some facts which I have gathered about the recipe.

GET TO KNOW ABOUT THE DISH :--
  • As the name suggests Dum Allu -- Dum means cooking over slow flame , so potatoes i.e. Allu cooked on slow flame is Dum Allu.
  • It is a part of the traditional Kashmiri Pandit cuisine, from the Kashmir valley. This dish is prepared differently in each corner of India according to their different cooking style.
  • Kashmiri pandits despite of being brahmins consume meat as it used to save them from severe cold. But there are vegetarian Kashmiri pandits too(to the extent that they don't even consume onion) . That's why this dish is prepared spicy as it's a dish from a place where whether is too cold.
  • We Biharis prepare it in pretty different ways , its quite dry and loaded with spices , pretty much on the spicier side. Oh I can still feel its taste while writing.




INGREDIENTS YOU REQUIRE (serve--2) 
  • Baby potatoes --- 5-8
  • Asafoetida(Hing)-- a pinch
  • Kashmiri Red chilli powder-- 2 tbsp.
  • Dried red chilli-- 2
  • Garam masala powder --1tbsp.
  • Turmeric powder-- 1 tbsp.
  • Salt -- according to taste
  • Coriander powder-- 2tbsp.
  • Cumin powder --1tbsp.
  • Ginger garlic paste-- 2tbsp.
  • Bay leave -- 1large 
  • Clove -- 2-3
  • Green cardamom--2
  • Cumin seeds -- 1/2 spoon
  • Onion paste-- 3medium sized onions
  • Ghee-- 1 tablespoon
  • Coriander leaves-- handful for garnishing
  • Water-- 1 cup
  • Mustard oil

COOKING PROCESS:-
  1. First step is to boil the baby potatoes, for that add all the baby potatoes to the pressure cooker, add half teaspoon of salt and pressure cook the potatoes. Cook them for two whistles. Cool them and peel the skin of the potatoes.
  2. When the potatoes get cool prick them from all sides using a toothpick or a folk. Add those potatoes in a bowl and season the potatoes with some salt, and half tablespoon of Kashmiri red chilli powder and 2 tbsp. of mustard oil. Mix them well and leave it for 15 minutes .
  3. Take a pan , heat some oil and shallow fry them for 4-5 minutes on medium flame until they are coated with the spices which are already added to them.
  4. When the potatoes form a nice crisp layer on top of them , its the right time to take them out of the kadhai. Take them out in a kitchen tissue, so that the excess oil is absorbed by them.
  5. Now its time to prepare the gravy. For that heat 3-4 tbsp. of oil in kadhai on medium flame. Add a pinch of asafoetida (hing), and cumin seeds to it. At the same time add dried red chilies, bay leave cloves and green cardamom.
  6.  Fry them for 2 second so that the whole spices release all its flavors in the oil. Now add the ginger garlic paste and fry it for 2-3 minutes on medium flame. After that, when the raw smell of ginger garlic is gone, add the onion paste to the kadhai mix it well and cover the lid. Keep stirring the onion paste until oil comes on the surface. It will take around 5-8 minutes.
  7. While cooking the onions add salt as per your taste and turmeric powder, mix them well and further cook the onions.
  8.  After cooking the onions its time to add the leftover powdered spices i.e. cumin powder, coriander powder and Kashmiri red chilli powder, so add them and fry them for 2-3 minutes and then add the fried potatoes to it. 
  9. Mix and cook the potatoes with the onion masala for 2 -3 minutes so that they stick to the potatoes. After the potatoes cooked properly in  the gravy, add water to it, mix them well and cover the lid.
  10. Cook them for another 3-4 minutes until the oil comes to the surface. Just before switching off the flame add the garam masala powder, coriander leaves and 1 tablespoon of ghee, mix it well, cover the lid and switch off the flame. 
  11. Adding ghee enhances the flavors of  Allu dum and adding garam masala powder adds more flavors and a delicious smell to it.
  12. In the end I have added a spoon of yogurt to make it a bit piquant, its completely optional , I like it like that so I added it. 
And wallah you Bihari style Aloo dum is ready to serve. Serve it with chapatis, parathas or rice, trust me it tastes amazing. Give it a try and let me know in the comment section you liked it or not. 

While writing this recipe I was living in nostalgia. It reminds me of times before corona, when me along with my family, we used to visit our village in Bihar. We used to travel by our car and the best part of the whole travel was stopping by roadside dhabas and having our meal. I must tell you nothing tastes better than that , even the 5 star hotels can't beat that.

So this was the recipe of Bihari allu dum, I hope  you guys love it. Comment down below your thoughts about it and share it with your friends and family. 
In case you try your hands on it don't forget to share the pictures with us. You can connect to us and share pictures on my
 Instagram profile--@neehaa7281
Last blog link--Kadhi Pakora

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