Kashmiri Aloo Dum

Did you know that J&K is home to half a dozen valleys like Kashmir, Tawi, Chenab, Poonch, Sindh & Lidder? No it has nothing to do with KAL; just a piece of silly info am sharing :P

Kashmiri aloo dum is not a complicated dish (contrary to popular belief). But it is tasty as hell, according to popular belief ;)

You'll need the following:

- 500 gm baby potatoes

- 1 1/2 cup curd

- 1/2 tbsp gram flour (besan)

- 4 black cardamoms (badi elaichi)

- 4 green cardamoms (choti elaichi)

- 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder (saunth)

- 3/4 tsp fennel seed powder (saunf)

- 5 cloves (laung)

- 2 cinnamon sticks (dalchini)

- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 2-3 red chilies

- Mustard (sarso) oil for frying
- Salt to taste

Here's how:

1. First of, grind the black cardamoms, cloves & cinnamon sticks together, then put them aside.

2. Iske baad, boil the potatoes until they are half cooked, and peel them while they are still warm. Then pierce each potato 2-3 times with a wooden toothpick (I can't figure out why this is done, though) :| Damn it.
3. Anyway, now heat the oil in a kadhai, and fry the potatoes on a medium flame till they turn golden brown and begin to float on top. Then drain the excess oil from the potatoes and keep aside.
4. After this, add the gram flour, salt and a cup of water to the curd. Mix it well. Lump-free-ness to be ensured! :D
5. Now, take 4 tbsp of the same oil from the kadhai and reheat in another pan. And add the red chilies & green cardamoms and fry for a minute.
6. Then, remove this from the flame and allow it to cool for a bit. And then pour it onto the curd mixture, stirring continuously. Avoiding you-know-what ;) (lumps. duh!)
7. Now, bring this entire mix back to the flame, and bring to a boil. Finally, add the potatoes, along with the dry ginger powder, fennel seed powder, and the ground masala (of black cardamoms, cloves & cinnamon sticks). Cook on a medium flame for 10 minutes.

11. Rice lovers - have my KAL with plain boiled rice. Ungliyaan chaat-te reh jaoge! ;)