Kashmiri Dum Aloo (No Onion, No Garlic Yogurt Gravy)
Baby potatoes, pricked and fried, then dum-cooked in a yogurt gravy with fennel, dry ginger, and Kashmiri chili. No onion, no garlic, no tomato.
Equipment
- Heavy-bottomed pan or kadhai with a lid
- Toothpick or skewer
- Air fryer optional, instead of frying
Ingredients
For the potatoes
- 1 lb baby potatoes 500 g
- 1/2 teaspoon salt for the boiling water
- 1/2 cup mustard oil for shallow-frying, or oil spray for the air fryer
For the chili slurry
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 tablespoons water
For the gravy
- 2 tablespoons mustard oil or ghee
- pinch hing (asafoetida)
- 1/2 teaspoon shahi jeera or cumin seeds
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom pod
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 4-5 black peppercorns
- 1/2 cup full-fat yogurt or Greek yogurt whisked, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon fennel powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dry ginger powder (sonth)
- 1-1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
To finish
- 2-3 pinches shahi jeera or cumin optional
- fresh cilantro optional, not traditional
Instructions
Prep the potatoes
- Scrub the baby potatoes. Put them in a pot, cover with water, and add 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover, and leave 10 to 15 minutes, until the skins just slip. Drain and cool until you can handle them.
- Peel. Halve any that are larger than a golf ball. Prick each potato all the way through with a toothpick, 4 or 5 times. Do not mash-soft boil them or they will split.
Shallow-fry the potatoes
- Heat mustard oil in the kadhai over medium-high until it just smokes. Take it off the heat 30 seconds, then return to medium.
- Fry the potatoes in batches until gold and blistered, turning as needed, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on a paper towel.
- When they are cool enough to touch, prick them again.
Air fryer (optional)
- Heat the air fryer to 400°F (200°C). Spray the potatoes and the basket.
- Cook 14 to 18 minutes, shaking once, until the outsides blister and take color.
- Cool a minute, then prick again.
Make the gravy
- Stir the Kashmiri chili with 2 tablespoons water until smooth.
- Heat 2 tablespoons mustard oil or ghee in a clean kadhai over medium. Add hing and shahi jeera. When the seeds move, add cinnamon, cloves, both cardamoms, and peppercorns. Let them smell fragrant, about 20 seconds.
- Take the pan off the heat. Add the chili slurry and stir 5 seconds. It will sputter.
- Add the whisked yogurt. Stir constantly until it disappears into the oil and the color turns brick red. If the pan is still roaring hot, wait 30 seconds before the yogurt goes in.
- Return the pan to low heat. Add fennel powder, dry ginger, and salt. Stir 20 seconds.
- Add 1 cup water and keep stirring until the gravy looks even.
Dum
- Add the fried potatoes. Turn them so every hole meets the gravy.
- Add up to 1/2 cup more water if the pot looks dry. You want the potatoes sitting in sauce, not swimming.
- Cover tightly. Cook on low 10 to 12 minutes. Do not walk away past 15 minutes or the potatoes go mushy.
- Uncover. The gravy should coat a spoon and cling to the potatoes. If it is thin, simmer 1 to 2 minutes uncovered. If it is a glaze and you wanted a bowl, splash in 1/4 cup warm water and stir off the heat.
Serve
- Rest 5 minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of shahi jeera if you like. Serve hot.
Notes
Pull the potatoes when the skin slips, not when they mash. Soft potatoes split when you prick them.
Prick twice: after peeling, and after frying. That is how the masala gets inside.
Yogurt must be full-fat, whisked, and room temperature. Add it off the heat.
If you are nervous about splitting, whisk 1 teaspoon besan or cornstarch into the yogurt first.
Mustard oil: heat to a light smoke, then cool 30 seconds. Ghee is the clean swap.
No baby potatoes: cube Yukon Gold to 1.5 inches and use the same method.
No fennel powder: toast 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, cool, and grind.
Skip garam masala if you want the cleaner Pandit taste. A pinch at the end is optional. I skip it.
This is already Jain / no onion, no garlic. Skip hing too if your house does not use it.
Vegan: thick unsweetened plain plant yogurt plus 1 teaspoon besan. The tang shifts. The method holds.
Leftovers are better on day two. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. I do not freeze fried potatoes in yogurt.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!