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Home » Mains - Vegetaraian

Dum Aloo - Slow Cooked Spiced Potatoes

Published: Sep 25, 2013 · Modified: Nov 9, 2021 by Tanvi · This post may contain affiliate links

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Sinfully Spicy Dum Aloo - Slow Cooked Spicy Potatoes001

I loved it when it was the potato harvest time at grandma's house. Those few days when our maali ( gardener) pulled out the tubers from the soil, we were allowed to assist him. I remember that he used to water the garden a day before the D-day so that the plucking becomes easier. Next morning, exchanging chirpy conversations and knee-deep in the moist ground, we dug up aloo (potatoes) for hours. In the afternoon, just before lunch, mom gave us a bath in the house veranda, rubbing mud off our stained fingers, slathering petroleum jelly on them.

Sinfully Spicy - Dum Aloo, Spicy Potatoes002

It was then time to rub off the flaky, paper thin skin off the dug up potatoes. She would soak them in seasoned water for a while and then use a tooth-brush to clean. Just a simple tempering of cumin or fenugreek seeds in mustard oil did the trick.

For weekend brunch it was dum aloo & triangle parathas along with mint- coriander chutney. 

Sinfully Spicy Dum Aloo - Slow Cooked Spicy Potatoes003

I grew up eating dum aloo done with new baby potatoes. However, P does not like the taste of new potatoes. How weird? right? So, mostly I make it with the usual diced up white potatoes.Even though any kind will work here, for authentic taste, use new tots.

Sinfully Spicy Dum Aloo - Slow Cooked Spicy Potatoes004

In hindi ' dum' refers to slow cooking. Here potatoes are slow cooked with spices and yogurt to make for a scrumptious curry. You will find a lot of dum aloo recipes in India, differing from region to region.In my family, every aunt's recipe is different from mom's. But still, all very delicious and comforting , after potato is another name for comfort in the culinary world!

Sinfully Spicy Dum Aloo - Slow Cooked Spicy Potatoes005

Ingredients (Serves 3-4)
  • 4-5 medium size white or red potatoes, washed ( or about 1 lb baby potatoes)
  • 3 cups of warm water + ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoon mustard oil ( or any oil)
  • 1 small tejpatta (indian bay leaf)
  • ½ ' dalchini stick (indian cinnamon)
  • ¾ cup thinly sliced red onion
  • ¼ tsp hing powder (asafoetida)
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli ( or cayanne, adjust to taste)
  • 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder ( this lends the beautiful color)
  • 3 tablespoon plain, slightly sour yogurt, beaten
  • 2-3 medium roma tomatoes, finely chopped ( about ¾ cup)
  • 1" fresh ginger shoot,minced
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • ½ cup-¾ cup water (depending on desired gravy consistency)
  • Salt to taste
  • Chopped Cilantro for garnish

Coarsely grind together

  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ¾ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 2 cloves
  • 2-3 green cardamom
  • 1.5 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds

Method 

Cut up the potatoes in half and in a large bowl, soak them in salted warm(not hot) water for 8-10 minutes. After soaking up, drain the water, peel off the skin (you can skip this for baby potatoes) and quarter them if you like.Using a kitchen towel or paper towel, dry up the potatoes. Set aside.

In a heavy bottomed pot, heat up the oil on medium heat. If using mustard oil, heat it up till its smoky to do away the raw smell. Lower the heat once oil is hot. Wait for 1-2 minutes. Add the tejpatta and cinnamon stick to the oil. Let crackle for 20-30 seconds.

Add the sliced onions and potatoes to the oil. Also add the hing. On medium - low heat, stir around the potatoes and onions and cook for 5-7 minutes.You will see that the onions begin to soften. Next add the coarsely ground spices to the pot along with chilli powders and turmeric. Stir and continue cooking on low for another 3-5 minutes. Next, add the tomatoes, ginger & yogurt to the pot, stir everything and continue cooking on low heat. The potatoes will release their juices and you will see the gravy becoming watery, but do not worry.

After about 20-25 minutes ( this will depend on size and variety of potatoes, adjust accordingly), you will see that the potatoes have almost cooked, the gravy has a nice reddish color and thin oil bubbles have separated on the sides of the pot. At this point, add the water, sprinkle the garam maasala, cover the pot and let cook on low heat for another 8-10 minutes till the potatoes are totally cooked.

Let sit covered for at least 1 hour before serving. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve warm.

Notes-

  1. Please avoid using starchy variety like russet potatoes here.
  2. The cooking time depends on the quality and the size of cut of potatoes, you need to adjust.
  3. You can substitute the whole spices with ready to use store bought ground spices.
  4. Indian dalchini (cinnamon) is quite sharp in taste, if using the usual ones, you can go ahead and use the whole stick for a pronounced taste. 

Enjoy & Thanks for stopping by!

More Mains - Vegetaraian

  • Methi Dal
  • Urad Dal Khichdi
  • Aloo Bharta
  • Moong Dal Khichdi (With Palak)

Filed Under: Mains - Vegetaraian Tagged With: dum aloo, Easy Recipe, Fats and Oils/Tel, ginger, Green Chilli, how to make dum aloo, ind, indian cuisine, indian curry, indian festival recipes, indian food, indian food blogs, indian side dishes, indian spices, indian spicy potatoes, indian vegetarian, Lucknawi cuisine, north indian recipes, potatoes, Recipe from blogs, slow cooked vegetables, Spices & Seasonings/Masaale, spicy recipe

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. shwetajani01

    September 25, 2013 at 9:24 pm

    This is my idea of comfort food & of course there should be some puris to go with it : )

    Reply
  2. Riddhi

    September 25, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    Lovely post! Dum Aloo is everyone's favorite I believe and you're right, the recipe is different in every household.. Love your version! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Rosa Mayland

    September 25, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    Scrumptious and comforting! Totally my kind of dish... I love potatoes and spices!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  4. mindfullyspiced

    September 25, 2013 at 10:00 pm

    I love Dum aloos.....and now, I have to make some this weekend!!
    Thank you - lovely post, beautiful photographs and scrumptious looking food.

    Reply
  5. chinmayie @ love food eat

    September 25, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    I can't wait to try this Dum Aloo recipe 🙂 We all love potatoes and there can never be too many potato recipes.

    Reply
  6. Sally

    September 26, 2013 at 2:17 am

    Bookmarked! Just the kind of food my family like to eat.

    Reply
  7. Namrata

    September 26, 2013 at 4:18 am

    Dum aloo looks gorgeous Tanvi. Beautiful pics.

    Reply
  8. Shema | LifeScoops

    September 26, 2013 at 5:11 am

    Love you childhood story... Dum aloo is one of my fav veggie dishes. I am so hungry now looking at these pictures..

    Reply
  9. Deepa

    September 26, 2013 at 5:14 am

    I love this dish!! Dum aloo is indeed one of those things that everyone has their own version of. Yours looks delish 🙂

    Reply
  10. TasteFood

    September 26, 2013 at 5:35 am

    I'll be trying this - it looks lovely.

    Reply
  11. AnithaNayak

    September 26, 2013 at 5:50 am

    Lovely pictures as usual.. ! love dum aloo.. 🙂

    Reply
  12. reggiorif

    September 26, 2013 at 6:30 am

    Really lovely! It took me some time to figure out all of the ingredients and their possible substitutes but now, I can go for it 😉

    Reply
    • Tanvi

      September 26, 2013 at 9:38 pm

      Thanks

      Reply
  13. spicesandpisces

    September 26, 2013 at 7:17 am

    It looks absolutely delicious. I dug up some potatoes few weeks ago and with that I dug up some memories too. It's a coincidence that I posted a new potato recipe just few days ago on my blog. This weekend my MIL will make a dum aloo to go with Bengali luchi 🙂 I'll try yours soon.

    Reply
  14. Priya

    September 26, 2013 at 1:07 pm

    Beautifully done, who can resist to this wonderful dum aloo..

    Reply
  15. malvikajaswal

    September 26, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    aloooooooooooo!! I want to go home!!!!!! I can't even see what I am typing right now........

    Reply
    • Tanvi

      September 26, 2013 at 7:55 pm

      🙂 You are funny! Thanks

      Reply
  16. Lail | With A Spin

    September 27, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    Love aloo dum and agree it's the best weekend food ever. Like you said there are many variations of the recipe. I use tamarind instead of yogurt in my version. Scrumptious photos.

    Reply
    • Tanvi

      September 30, 2013 at 10:57 am

      Now, tamarind sounds very unique & flavorful. Do you have a recipe to share?

      Reply
      • Lail | With A Spin

        October 01, 2013 at 12:38 am

        Coming up shortly on the blog. It's one of my aunt's recipe that is a family favorite and absolutely delicious.

  17. Shruti

    September 29, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    Was trying to look for some specific recipe n got redirected to your lovely post!!!

    Visiting your space for the 1st time... n now will be a regular visitor 🙂 Happy to connect...

    Visit me @ http://www.cookingwithsj.com

    Reply
    • Tanvi

      September 30, 2013 at 10:57 am

      Thanks Shruti for stopping by. You have a lovely blog. Happy to connect too

      Reply
  18. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com

    September 29, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    This is my kind of comfort food, with some rotis, pickles and a hot cup of chai thereafter. Divine 🙂

    Reply
  19. [email protected]

    September 30, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    This is one of my dad's favorite dishes to eat every week. Gorgeous photos as always!

    Reply
  20. Namagiri

    October 02, 2013 at 2:33 pm

    Hi Tanvi,

    Can we use slow cooker for this recipe? Can you update the recipe for a slow cooker?

    Reply
    • Tanvi

      October 03, 2013 at 12:43 pm

      Slow Cooker cannot be used for this recipe.

      Reply
      • Namagiri

        October 03, 2013 at 1:21 pm

        Thank you. Do add some slow cooker recipes when you get a chance.

  21. Namagiri

    October 03, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    Tanvi,

    By Ginger shoot you mean ordinary ginger root or anything different? I am going to soon try this.

    Reply
    • Tanvi

      October 03, 2013 at 3:49 pm

      I mean ginger root

      Reply
      • Namagiri

        October 04, 2013 at 6:01 am

        Thanks

  22. Namagiri

    November 11, 2013 at 10:30 am

    Tanvi,

    When you say let sit for one hour in the end - you mean in the lowest flame or just turn it off and let it sit on stove top? Thanks. Will be making this for dinner. Cant wait!

    Reply
  23. Namagiri

    November 11, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    I also have another question - except in places where you mentioned cover & cook - did you cook uncovered all along?

    I made this tonight. Me & my hubby both loved it. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  24. Namagiri

    April 17, 2014 at 8:38 am

    Hi Tanvi,

    Your bread looks so good. Reminding Dhaba days (Nostalgic!)

    Please post a recipe for that.

    Reply
  25. Lisa

    February 12, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    I am even more excited now to plant potatoes in the spring!!! ^-^
    Every time I will water them, I will think of this recipe :]

    Reply

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