Kashmiri Dum Aloo – a mildly spicy, delicious no onion-no garlic needed potato curry from the Indian state of Kashmir.
Infused with aromatic flavors of ginger and fennel powders, it is perfect to enjoy with rice or naan!
(It comes out so good, be it with baby potatoes or even whole potatoes cut into chunks.
I do not even remember how many times I have made it now...that delicious)!
Our gourmet foodie Facebook group "Healthy Wellthy Cuisines" had chosen the theme Kashmiri cuisine to present for our bimonthly events. I was excited as I get to make this delicious, spicy and oh-so flavorful potato curry to enjoy with my family!
I had bookmarked this recipe a long time back and decided to make my version now.
Coincidentally, last weekend, I was so thrilled when I found a bag of baby potatoes in the store and could not wait to get back home to make this!
Don't worry! No need to rush out and grab a bag of small baby potatoes right now. You can make this with regular large potatoes too.... just peel and cut into bite sized pieces and you are good to go!
The best part is you can rustle this up with minimal ingredients, just yogurt, spice powders like ginger, fennel and coriander along with a bit of heat from red Kashmiri chili powder for that lovely red color!
The key to making this dish more delicious is deep frying (or shallow frying like I did) the potatoes (after steaming them) to lend a lovely texture to the curry!
Just boil, peel and poke holes in the small potatoes (to allow the wonderful spices and flavors to infuse into it!) and then cook for about 10 minutes in a yogurt based spicy gravy.
But if you are short on time or making this on a whim just before dinner or lunchtime, then absolutely no worries!
Just peel and shallow fry in oil for a longer time to fry it! If using whole, large regular potatoes, then peel and cut into chunks.
Rest of the cooking is done in that delicious, fiery red gravy. This step ensures each chunk of potato is infused with the flavors of Kashmiri cuisine flavors...fennel powder, ginger powder etc.
One tip to remember, as potatoes tend to absorb moisture very soon, the curry ends up dry if you let it sit, which we actually love!
But if you prefer a gravy like curry, just add more water to the dish and give it a gentle boil.
Garnish with a shower of cilantro or coriander leaves and enjoy with rotis, parathas, naan etc.
UPDATED AUGUST 23, 2109:
Made another batch of Kashmiri Dum Aloo using whole, large potatoes.
Just boiled, cubed and then proceeded with the same method. This version never disappoints.
Actually my family prefers this one rather than the one with baby potatoes.
So, feel free to use whole big potatoes or even small baby potatoes.
UPDATED FEBRUARY 2024:
Wanted to make some aloo parathas for lunch albeit using some fresh moringa leaves from our garden in the paratha dough to amp up the nutrition.
When looking to make a curry to enjoy it with, could not think of anything other than Kashmiri Dum Aloo again which is my hubby's favorite. This is one curry he does not mind taking seconds or even thirds!
But I did not have any preboiled potatoes or baby potatoes, so ended up just peeling the potatoes and shallow frying the for a longer time to make the curry!
Came out equally delicious and lip smacking good!
Served this easy Kashmiri style no onion-no garlic needed Dum Aloo with soft, nutritious Moringa Aloo Parathas and some fresh salad (grated carrots, radish, pomegranate, green chilies, lemon juice, salt with a tempering of oil, mustard seeds and curry leaves)
Absolutely soul satisfying lunch!
Do try this Kashmiri style Dum Aloo.... you and your family will definitely enjoy it too!
Enjoy and Happy Cooking/Eating!
Step-by-step Instructions to make Kashmiri Dum Aloo:
TO PREPARE THE BABY POTATOES:
Wash small baby potatoes well and cook in pressure cooker (for one to maximum two whistles) until just soft.
Cool, peel, poke each with a fork all over and set aside. This ensures the masala infuses the potato while cooking.
(Like I mentioned in the post, if you are using large potatoes, have not time to preboil them, then just peel, cut into chunks and then shallow fry in the hot oil on medium heat for a longer time)
Heat the mustard oil in a deep and wide saucepan.
(Preferably use mustard oil but if you cannot source it, then any cooking oil is good to go).
Once the oil is hot, drop the peeled potatoes in medium hot oil and deep fry, stirring continuously until golden brown and crisp.
Do this in batches in order not to overcrowd the pan and ensure a crisp fried aloo.
Drain all the potatoes and place on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
PREPARING THE YOGURT AND CHILLI MIXTURES:
Mix the ginger and saunf/fennel powder in well beaten yogurt and keep aside.
Stir a little water in the red chili powder and mix well. Set aside.
MAKING KASHMIRI ALOO DUM CURRY:
Heat the remaining oil in the kadai/saucepan and add the dry whole spices; cloves, bay leaf and both green and black cardamoms. (If needed, add more oil).
Sauté on medium heat until they start to sizzle and you get a good aroma. This is done to flavor and infuse the oil with the spices.
Add the red chili powder dissolved in a little water and give it a good mix.
Water is added in order not to burn the chili powder in the hot oil.
Keep stirring on medium heat and add the ground spices; coriander powder and hing/asafetida powder.
Mix well and sauté again for a few seconds. You will see oil starting to ooze out from the sides.
Now add the beaten curd/yoghurt to the hot mixture, stirring continuously. Make sure the flame is on medium or medium low or the yogurt may split.
(My tip would be to remove the pan from heat, add yogurt mixture by the spoonfuls, mixing gently at each step until all the yogurt mixture is added. This ensures or prevent splitting of yogurt).
Add salt to taste and mix well.
Increase the heat to medium high and once the mixture comes to a boil, stir in the fried baby potatoes.
Give the mixture a good stir, add more water if necessary, close with a lid and cook on medium low for about 8 to 10 minutes to allow the potatoes to absorb all the flavors of the curry!
After 10 minutes, remove the lid. Stir well.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
Enjoy and Happy Cooking!
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Kashmiri Dum Aloo – a spicy, delicious no onion-no garlic potato curry from the state of Kashmir in India. Infused with aromatic flavors of ginger and fennel powders, it is perfect to enjoy with rice or naan!
Ingredients
- ½ kg Baby potatoes (about 15 to 20 small potatoes)
- ¾ cup yogurt
- 2 tbsp saunf/fennel powder
- 1 tbsp dry ginger powder
- 2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- 4 cloves
- 1 cinnamon
- 1 large bay leaf
- 1 large black cardamom/badi elaichi
- 1 small green cardamom
- 2 tbsp coriander powder
- ¼ tsp hing/asafetida powder
- Salt to taste
- ¼ to ½ cup oil (preferably mustard oil)
- Cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Wash small baby potatoes well and cook in pressure cooker (for one to maximum two whistles) until just soft. Do not overcook. You need a fork tender but firm potato.
- Cool, peel, poke each with a fork all over and set aside. This ensures the masala infuses the potato while cooking.
- Heat mustard oil in a deep and wide saucepan. Once the oil is hot, drop the peeled potatoes in medium hot oil and deep fry, stirring continuously until golden brown and crisp. Do this in batches in order not to overcrowd the pan and ensure a crisp fried aloo.
- Drain all the potatoes and place on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
- Mix the ginger and saunf/fennel powder in well beaten yogurt and keep aside.
- Stir a little water in the red chilli powder and mix well. Set aside.
- Heat remaining oil in the kadai/s and add the dry whole spices; cloves, bay leaf and cardamoms. If needed, add more oil.
- Sauté on medium heat until they start to sizzle and you get a good aroma. This is done to flavor the oil with the spices.
- Add the red chilli powder dissolved in water and give it a good mix. Water is added in order not to burn the chilli powder.
- Keep stirring on medium heat and add the ground spices; coriander powder and hing powder. Mix well and sauté again for a few seconds. You will see oil starting to ooze out from the sides.
- Now add beaten curd/yoghurt to the hot mixture, stirring continuously. Make sure the flame is on medium or medium low or the yogurt may split.
- Add salt to taste and mix well.
- Increase the heat to medium high and once the mixture comes to a boil, stir in the fried baby potatoes.
- Give the mixture a good stir, add more water if necessary, close with a lid and cook on medium low for about 8 to 10 minutes to allow the potatoes to absorb all the flavors of the curry!
- After 10 minutes, remove the lid. Stir well again.
- Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve hot spicy and aromatic Kashmiri Dum Aloo curry with any Indian flat bread like phulkas, rotis, naan, parathas etc.! Some enjoy this with rice too!
- A squeeze of lime or lemon juice gives it a nice tangy twist; totally optional.
Notes
If you find the curry to be too dry (potatoes tend to absorb moisture), add some more water and give it a boil.
Adjust the spices according to taste.
If you do not like deep frying, you can shallow fry the potatoes; but deep frying gives them the authentic Kashmiri aloo dum taste!
You can use any oil if you do not have mustard oil.
Check out these other no onion-no garlic curries from this blog:
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Have fun cooking, eating and sharing!!!!
I am sharing this my Facebook gourmet foodie group "Healthy Wellthy Cuisines" for this fortnight's theme of Kashmiri cuisine.
Do check out these scrumptious Kashmiri delights from my friends:
Kashmiri Paneer Saunfia Chaman by Rosy
Kashmiri Pulao by Shalu
Noon Chai/Kashmiri Pink Chai by Sasmita
Awesome delicious kashmiri dum aloo recipe. Looks absolutely sinful!
Thanks a bunch Meghna 🙂
I love the aromatic Kashmiri dum aloo and to think that the gravy is entirely made of these wonderful spices and no onion and garlic! Kashmiri Dum aloo was the first recipe I started my blog with almost 8 years ago! So it does hold a special place in my heart 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Oh, so nice Ashima!! I am happy I was able to refresh your first blog post memories 🙂 Thanks so much!!