Dum Aloo (Potato)

          Dum Aloo, this is another recipe that I cherish from Madhur Jaffrey, a very authentic and classic one. Whenever I get baby potatoes, this is the first dish that comes to my mind. Dum is a process of slow cooking in reduced heat and the dish is covered well to keep the flavors in. Though the method might be a little time consuming, the end result is worth all of it, very rich and delicious, goes very well with rotis, naans, parathas, pilafs or I can eat it with even plain bread..

Need To Have

• Baby Potatoes - 30
• Onion - 1 medium chopped
• Cardamom - 4 slightly crushed
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Curd Or Yogurt - 8 oz or 1/4 l
• Garam Masala - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

For The Paste

• Almonds - 12
• White Poppy Seeds - 2 tablespoons
• Cardamom - 4
• Ground Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Roasted Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Grated Ginger - 1 tablespoon

Method

          Peel the potatoes and soak in salt water for an hour (I didn't soak the potatoes). Make a paste with all the given ingredients. Heat some oil and shallow fry the potatoes till they turn golden, remove and drain the excess oil.

          Now heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, cardamom, once they start popping, add the onions, saute till it turns transparent. Then add the turmeric and chilli powders, followed by the ground paste, keep sauteing.

          When the mixture starts sticking to the pan, add 2 teaspoons of the curd, keep mixing, repeat the process till you are done with all the yogurt. At this stage add the potatoes, garam masala, water ( about 4 cups), salt, mix, cover tightly, reduce heat and cook for 30 mins. Serve it warm with rotis or rice or as I already said, even with plain bread.
 Sending it to Sizzling Veggies for Gayathri's WTML event and
                to Simply.Food for Sara's Cooking With Love - Dad event.

Note
Do not add the curd all at one time, this is very important, you'll not get the right flavor.
In the final 30 mins, you can check to see if the water is enough, if it seems to dry up fast, add some more water.
The potatoes were very small, so I used 30, you can reduce it if you want more gravy and less potatoes.
The final consistency is a rich creamy one, but do not make it too thick, when it cools down, the dish thickens even further.
The original recipe calls for deep frying the potatoes, I prefer shallow fry with a few teaspoons of oil.

Update
When I updated with step wise pictures I've reduced the recipe to half, I've used 15 potatoes in place of 30, and I've reduced all the ingredients accordingly.