Dum aloo recipe | Punjabi dum aloo recipe | How to make dhaba style dum aloo recipe
Dum aloo recipe is a rich and creamy spicy curry made from onion, tomatoes and cashew paste. This recipe typically belongs from North Indian – Punjabi cuisine. There are also many other versions of dum aloo like Punjabi dum aloo, Kashmiri dum aloo, etc. The creamy gravy of dum aloo recipe is ideally served with phulka roti, parathas, butter naan or also with jeera rice, or pulao.
In this dum aloo recipe, we are using baby potatoes and if you don’t have baby potatoes, use regular potatoes and chop them into bite-size dice. Also, the masala gravy and the baby potatoes are cooked on low flame and this gives the perfect taste to the dum aloo recipe.
In restaurants, the cooked baby potatoes are deep fried till they turn golden brown which adds flavour and aroma. But, here in this recipe, I am avoiding deep frying to make it healthy without compensating with the taste and spice flavours. To get the authentic taste of Punjabi dum aloo, first, the baby potatoes are parboiled for 3 to 4 minutes or pressure cook it for 1 whistle. Then, it is poked with forks and shallow fried and cooked in the onions, tomatoes and cashew paste with other Indian spices.
The dum cooking process of this recipe enhances the taste of spices and masala gets absorbed in the aloo which provides a delicious and flavourful thick and creamy curry.
Dum aloo recipe Card
Dum aloo recipe
Dum aloo recipe is a rich and creamy spicy curry made from onion, tomatoes and cashew paste.
Yield: 4 to 5
Calories: 259kcal
Materials
For boiling and frying baby potatoes:
- 200 gms Baby potatoes 20 to 25 pieces of baby potatoes
- ½ tsp Salt or as per taste
- 3 cups Water for pressure cooking baby potatoes
- 2 tbsp Mustard oil
- ½ tsp Red chilli powder
- ½ tsp Haldi/ turmeric powder
For making onion tomato masala paste:
- 1-inch Dalchini/ Cinnamon stick
- 2 to 3 pods of green cardamom
- 2 Bay leafs
- 10 to12 Kaju/ Cashews
- ½ cup Hot water for soaking cashews
- 2 large Onions thinly sliced
- 3 large Tomatoes chopped
- 2 to 3 Green chillies
- 1-inch Ginger chopped
- 3 to 4 Garlic cloves chopped
- 2 to 3 tbsp water for grinding
For making dum aloo curry:
- 2 tbsp Mustard oil
- 1 tsp Jeera/ Cumin seeds
- ½ tsp Lal mirch/ Red chilli powder
- ½ tsp Haldi/ Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Dhaniya/ Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Kitchen king masala
- Salt per taste
- ¾ cup Fresh curd/ yoghurt
- ½ tbsp Kasuri methi
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 1 or 2 tbsp Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing finely chopped
Instructions
For boiling and frying baby potatoes:
- First, take 200 gms of baby potato and rinse them under the running water.
- Put the baby potatoes in the pressure cooker with 3 cups of water or till the baby potatoes are dipped in water.
- Add ½ tsp salt and cover the cooker with the lid and pressure cook it for 1 whistle.
- When the pressure settles down, transfer the baby potatoes in the plate and let it cool down to room temperature.
- Till then, soak the cashews in the hot boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Now, peel off the skin of the baby potatoes.
- Prick the baby potatoes 4 to 5 times with the help of a fork.
- In a wide thick broad pan, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add in ½ tsp of red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
- Immediately, add the peeled and poked potatoes and mix all the ingredients nicely.
- Shallow fry the baby potatoes till it is tenderly cooked and turns crispy and golden in colour.
- Turn off the flame and transfer the baby potatoes to the plate.
For making onion tomato masala paste:
- In the same pan, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil and add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods and saute for few seconds.
- Then, add finely sliced onions into the pan and saute till it turns translucent and golden brown in colour.
- Now, add chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies into the pan and saute till it is cooked and raw smell of garlic goes away.
- Then, add chopped tomatoes and cook till for 3 to 4 minutes till it turns mushy and the masala turns little dry.
- Add soaked cashews into the pan and saute for some time
- Turn the flame off and let the mixture cool down.
- Once the mixture is cooled, pick the bay leaves and put it aside. Transfer the fried onion, tomato and cashew masala into the grinder jar and grind it into a smooth paste.
For making dum aloo curry:
- In the same pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and add 1 tsp of jeera, saute till it splutters.
- Now, add the onion-tomato & cashew paste into the pan and mix it nicely and cook for 7 to 8 mins.
- Then, add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and kitchen king masala and mix it nicely with the onion-tomato paste.
- When the onion-tomato paste is cooked and oil starts leaving from the corners of the pan, lower the flame and add whisked curd or yoghurt into the pan and give it a nice mix.
- Add water as required to adjust the consistency and let it boil for a minute or two.
- Then, add shallow fried baby potatoes into the pan and mix evenly so that the potatoes are uniformly coated with onion-tomato gravy.
- Cover and cook on medium-low flame for about 7 to 8 mins till the gravy is reached to the desired consistency and you feel a nice aroma.
- Finally, add ½ tbsp kasuri methi crushed with your palms and 1 tsp garam masala.
- Give it a nice mix and cook for 2 to 3 mins and lastly add finely chopped fresh coriander leaves.
- Mix all the ingredients nicely and turn off the flame and cover the pan with the lid so that the flavours of the spices and aroma is completely absorbed.
- Finally, serve the dhaba style dum aloo recipe garnished with coriander leaves or a pinch of kasuri methi.
Step by step instructions:
For boiling and frying baby potatoes:
- First, take 200 gms of baby potato and rinse them under the running water.
- Put the baby potatoes in the pressure cooker with 3 cups of water or till the baby potatoes are dipped in water.
- Add ½ tsp salt and cover the cooker with the lid and pressure cook it for 1 whistle.
- When the pressure settles down, transfer the baby potatoes in the plate and let it cool down to room temperature.
- Till then, soak the cashews in the hot boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Now, peel off the skin of the baby potatoes.
- Prick the baby potatoes 4 to 5 times with the help of a fork.
- In a wide thick broad pan, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add in ½ tsp of red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
- Immediately, add the peeled and poked potatoes and mix all the ingredients nicely.
- Shallow fry the baby potatoes till it is tenderly cooked and turns crispy and golden in colour.
- Turn off the flame and transfer the baby potatoes to the plate.
For making onion tomato masala paste:
- In the same pan, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil and add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods and saute for few seconds.
- Then, add finely sliced onions into the pan and saute till it turns translucent and golden brown in colour.
- Now, add chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies into the pan and saute till it is cooked and raw smell of garlic goes away.
- Then, add chopped tomatoes and cook till for 3 to 4 minutes till it turns mushy and the masala turns little dry.
- Add soaked cashews into the pan and saute for some time.
- Turn the flame off and let the mixture cool down.
- Once the mixture is cooled, pick the bay leaves and put it aside. Transfer the fried onion, tomato and cashew masala into the grinder jar and grind it into a smooth paste.
For making dum aloo curry:
- In the same pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and add 1 tsp of jeera, saute till it splutters.
- Now, add the onion-tomato & cashew paste into the pan and mix it nicely and cook for 7 to 8 mins.
- Then, add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and kitchen king masala and mix it nicely with the onion-tomato paste.
- When the onion-tomato paste is cooked and oil starts leaving from the corners of the pan, lower the flame and add whisked curd or yoghurt into the pan and give it a nice mix.
- Add water as required to adjust the consistency and let it boil for a minute or two.
- Then, add shallow fried baby potatoes into the pan and mix evenly so that the potatoes are uniformly coated with onion-tomato gravy.
- Cover and cook on medium-low flame for about 7 to 8 mins till the gravy is reached to the desired consistency and you feel a nice aroma.
- Finally, add ½ tbsp kasuri methi crushed with your palms and 1 tsp garam masala.
- Give it a nice mix and cook for 2 to 3 mins and lastly add finely chopped fresh coriander leaves.
- Mix all the ingredients nicely and turn off the flame and cover the pan with the lid so that the flavours of the spices and aroma is completely absorbed.
- Finally, serve the dhaba style dum aloo recipe garnished with coriander leaves or a pinch of kasuri methi.
Important tips for making dum aloo:
- If you do not have baby potatoes, use regular potatoes diced into bite-size.
- Do not overcook the baby potatoes while pressure cooking, otherwise, it would turn mushy.
- Dum cooking (slow cooking) helps potatoes to absorb the spice flavours.
- Instead of shallow frying, you can even deep fry the parboiled potatoes to get the authentic taste of dum aloo.
- Cashew paste imparts a thick and creamy consistency to the dum aloo gravy. You can even use fresh cream for garnishing to make it more flavourful.
- Add the fresh curd or yoghurt and not the sour curd, it will get curdled into the pan.
- Always add curd on low flame and mix it gently to get a smooth texture.
- You can even add lemon juice instead of curd without compensating with flavours and texture.
- Finally, adjust the spice levels according to your taste. Dum aloo tastes delicious when served creamy and spicy.
Finally, I would like to share my other veg Curry recipes from my blog. This includes Matar Jhol recipe, spicy misal pav recipe, matar ke chole recipe, etc. In addition to this, do visit my other recipes collection from my blog like Main course collection, Breakfast collection, Desserts collection, etc.
I tried this recipe today and it’s really superb. Everyone loved it. Thanks for the recipe.