Dum Aaloo (Whole Potatoes)

I have made dum aaloo (whole potatoes in gravy) before, but I wanted to see if I can make it again in a different way this time. So I hunted for recipe online and found a good one by Tarla Dalaal. It required a lot of spices!! I don't think I have ever made anything like this before. It was exciting for me to try this recipe out - and it turned out quite well. This is the first time I felt that something tasted like it would in an Indian restaurant!!

There were also a lot of dry whole spices (which I had hardly ever used in curry! I use the powdered one)

Ingredients:
(For 4 servings - some of the spices shown)

1. 14 Small baby potatoes
2. 3 tbsp oil
3. 2 medium onions
4. 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
5. 1/2 tsp crushed ginger
6. 2-3 green chilli (hotness is on you!)
7. 1 tsp cumin seeds
8. few cloves
9. 2-3 small pieces of cinnamon
10. 1/2 tsp anise seeds
11. 1/2 tsp black peppercorn
12. 2-3 tbsp cashews
13. Salt, pepper to taste
14. 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
15. 1 can tomato puree
16. 2 tsp sour cream (I don't usually use cream - but that is what was in the original recipe)
17. 1/2 tsp sugar

The gravy turned out to be quite a lot - so I have frozen half of it.

Process:

1. Wash the potatoes and poke some holes using a fork. Soak in salted water for 20-30 mins.
2. While they are soaking you can make the curry.
3. Cut the onion into small or medium pieces. Add all the ingredients through and blend them in the blender.
4. Add 3 tbsp of oil in a pan and add the blended mixture to the pan and fry until the oil separates out.
5. Add salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
6. Add the tomato puree and cook for about 15 mins or to make a nice curry. 
7. Add the 1/2 tsp sugar. 
8. Add the 2 tsp sour cream and mix the gravy.  
   
   
   
9. Remove the potatoes and dry them. I broiled the potatoes for 10 mins or so, but the skin was becoming a little burned, so I took them out and fried them in hot oil. To make it easy for people to eat, I took a knife and made some shallow cuts on the skin so it could be cut with a spoon without the potato flying out of the curry.
10. Add the potatoes to the curry and cook for a few minutes (or not...because everything is cooked). 
    
11. Top it off with the cilantro garnish and serve hot.

I served it with naan and rice.  The taste of the dum aaloo was quite amazing! I am going to try this out with vegetable kofta or paneer, especially since I have half the gravy in the freezer!