FOOD BOOK REVIEW: SPICY AND TANGY 'KASHMIRI DUM ALOO'

SPONSORED: Wellknown TV personality Kunal Vijayakar, an avid foodie and traveller, translates his love for food through his new book, ‘Made in India’ a selection of favourite recipes that he discovered during his journeys.

His passion is to dig into all manner of unfamiliar fare with unfazed relish and boundless curiosity and he takes great joy in sharing this passion with all. The recipe book, published by Jaico Books, has been authored by those many people who not only fed the writer, along his eightyear journey as a ‘Foodie’, but also friends, family and chefs that left a lasting impression not just on this foodie’s mind, but on his stomach. Kunal had to delve into his beginnings, flashback his excursions to select and deliver these recipes.

Egg, but no egg Bath Tub! Zen Lollipop. Ishudder when I see Dum Aloo on the menu of a Mughlai or Punjabi restaurant. It often comes as softened full potatoes, stuffed with dry fruit, in a thick creamy gravy, sometimes garnished with cashews and pomegranate seeds. It tastes slightly sweet like Shahi Kofta. Unfortunately, that's not what Kashmiri Dum Aloo is meant to be. 

Two Kashmiri Pandits in particular need to be mentioned here: Rajni Vanchu, a housewife who fed me a huge meal in Srinagar, and Chef Suman Maul of ITC hotels. This recipe is Chef Maul's version of Dum Aloo. Pandit food tends to be really spicy, often eaten with white rice to balance the flavours. 

Similarly, Kashmiri Dum Aloo is spicy, dry and leaves behind oil or ‘rogan’, which in Persian means clarified butter or fat. 

Ingredients

• Medium-sized potatoes 500 gm
• green cardamom pods 
• 3-4 large black cardamom pods
• 2 cumin seeds (jeera)
•  1 tbsp cloves 
•  4-5 two-inch cinnamon sticks 2 bay leaves
•  2-3 black pepper powder 
• 1 tbsp coriander powder 1 tbsp red chilli powder 
•  1 tbsp dry ginger powder  
• 1/2 tsp fennel powder 
• 1 tbsp ghee 
• 1 tbsp mustard oil 4 tbsp (plus 1 cup more for frying 
• Salt to taste water 
• 31/2 cups coriander leaves
• chopped 1 tbsp

Preparation: 45 mins
Serves: 4 with steamed rice or paratha.

Method
Boil potatoes, peel and prick them with a toothpick. In a deep pan, pour mustard oil.

Heat the oil and fry the potatoes. In another pan, heat four tbsp of oil.

Temper with cumin seeds, pepper powder, cloves, green and black cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.

When the cumin seeds start popping, add chilli powder and half a cup of water and stir. Now add in the dry ginger powder, fennel powder and coriander powder. Stir for another two minutes.

Mix in the ghee and continue to stir gently. Allow the ghee to rise to the top and then pour three cups of water.

When the water begins to boil, add in the fried potatoes. Sprinkle salt over the dish, cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes on low heat, or until the gravy is reduced to a quarter of its original quantity. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.