Recipe: Alur Dom

Bengali alur dom is the Bengali avatar of the popular Indian dish, commonly known as ‘aloo dum’ or ‘dum aloo'. It is a lightly spiced and slightly sweet potato curry made with onions, tomatoes and spices.

Bong Eats

1. Place 700 gms baby potatoes in a saucepan or boiling pot along with 30 gms salt and 1 litre of water. boil the potatoes until tender. this should take about 30 minutes.

2. Once the potatoes are tender, drain the water and peel them immediately. coat with 10 gms of salt while the potatoes are still hot. this will help in further absorption of salt.

3. In a small bowl, make a paste of 1 tsp cumin powder, 1.5 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp amchur / dried mango powder, 1/4 tsp black salt, 15 gms ginger paste, and 25 gms water. keep aside.

4. Heat 30 gms mustard oil in a pan. temper it with 2 dried red chillies, 2 bay leaves, 3 cloves, 2 green cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, and 1/4 tsp hing / asafoetida. let them splutter.

5. Then add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder. fry for 20 seconds. dry spices are prone to getting burnt in oil, so be very careful and keep the heat low. (we would normally add turmeric powder and red chilli powder to the paste we made earlier, but for this dish, frying them directly in oil will lend the gravy a rich red colour)

6. Next, stir in the prepared spice paste and 6 gms green chilli paste. cook until the smell of raw spices is gone and they have started to release oil. this should take about 5 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, beat 50 gms yogurt until it is lump-free. add it to the pan, stirring vigorously to prevent it from splitting. cook off the raw yogurt for a couple of minutes before stirring in 20 gms tomato ketchup.

7. Now add the boiled and salted potatoes, and fold them in. sauté them with the spices for about 4 minutes.

(We’ve chosen not to fry the potatoes before adding them, as boiling them directly in the curry leads to juicier potatoes)

8. Add the remaining 5 gm salt and 18 gms sugar to the pan, along with 400 gms of hot water. this will form the gravy.

9. Crumble 1/2 tsp kasuri methi / dry fenugreek leaves and add that to the pan too. cover and allow the potatoes to simmer in the curry for about 20 minutes until the gravy has reduced and the potatoes are juicy and tender. stir regularly so the bottom doesn’t catch.

10. Once the gravy has reduced, add 20 gms ground cashewnuts and 50 gms blanched peas. cook for a minute before garnishing with 5 gm ghee and 1/4 tsp bengali garam masala powder. turn off heat, cover, and allow alu’r dom to rest for 2 minutes before serving.

Tips

1. Boiling the potatoes in heavily salted water ensures that they are uniformly seasoned. besides, it also causes the potatoes to lose water, because of osmosis, improving their texture.