Dum aloo is one of the most popular potato dishes in India. 
It is usually made with fried potatoes in a spicy tomato-based gravy. Sometimes it is also made with a yogurt-based gravy. In either case, this dish is an oil-hog. I will refer to the original as the high-fat dum aloo. It has been one of my favorites, and I have devised a low fat baked version that does not compromise on taste one bit. This dish is best made with baby potatoes such as the ones on the right.
There are three major steps - 1. Preparing potatoes, 2. Preparing masala, 3. Final Mixing with tomato.
We will describe each one in turn.
Preparing Potatoes
1. We will use 1Kg baby potatoes. First peel potatoes. No boiling or steaming. (In high-fat dum aloo, you pressure cook them first, then peel them). Cut the really large ones into halves.
2. Take a steel fork and poke holes in the peeled aloos as below. It is not as hard as one might think. Pricking is important for the final gravy to soak into the potatoes. Also this prevents potatoes from exploding when we bake them in a subsequent step.
3. Toss the pricked potatoes in very little oil (1-2 teaspoons) in a non-stick shallow pan.
4. Spread the potatoes on a foil or use a baking tray. Bake them on 450F for 45 mins. In the meantime, check them and turn them on their sides after 20 mins or so. Your potatoes should now be brown and crisp like below.
Preparing Masala
There are a variety of ways of preparing the masala. Here I give one version which works fine. Feel free to experiment with your own ingredients.
1. 5-6 Elaichi seeds shelled.
2. 5 Clove seeds
3. 1/2 Cinnamon stick
4. 2 tsp Dhania seeds
5. 1/2 tsp Methi seeds
6. 1 tsp Ajwain seeds
Crush them to a dry powder either in a blender or with a pestle and mortar. Keep aside this masala.
Final Preparation
1. In a frying pan, heat 2 tsp oil.
2. Add 1 large finely chopped onion and fry till it turns translucent.
3. Add the ground masala of previous step into the fried onions and let it fry for a bit more.
4. Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and fry for a bit.
5. Add 2-3 tbsp tomato puree into this mixture and fry.
6. Add some more garam masala or kitchen king masala to this mixture and mix well.
7. Put the baked potatoes, add some water and cover it and let it boil on low flame for 10-15 mins. This is how the final dish would look like. Enjoy.
It is usually made with fried potatoes in a spicy tomato-based gravy. Sometimes it is also made with a yogurt-based gravy. In either case, this dish is an oil-hog. I will refer to the original as the high-fat dum aloo. It has been one of my favorites, and I have devised a low fat baked version that does not compromise on taste one bit. This dish is best made with baby potatoes such as the ones on the right.There are three major steps - 1. Preparing potatoes, 2. Preparing masala, 3. Final Mixing with tomato.
We will describe each one in turn.
Preparing Potatoes
1. We will use 1Kg baby potatoes. First peel potatoes. No boiling or steaming. (In high-fat dum aloo, you pressure cook them first, then peel them). Cut the really large ones into halves.
2. Take a steel fork and poke holes in the peeled aloos as below. It is not as hard as one might think. Pricking is important for the final gravy to soak into the potatoes. Also this prevents potatoes from exploding when we bake them in a subsequent step.
3. Toss the pricked potatoes in very little oil (1-2 teaspoons) in a non-stick shallow pan.
4. Spread the potatoes on a foil or use a baking tray. Bake them on 450F for 45 mins. In the meantime, check them and turn them on their sides after 20 mins or so. Your potatoes should now be brown and crisp like below.
Preparing Masala
There are a variety of ways of preparing the masala. Here I give one version which works fine. Feel free to experiment with your own ingredients.
1. 5-6 Elaichi seeds shelled.
2. 5 Clove seeds
3. 1/2 Cinnamon stick
4. 2 tsp Dhania seeds
5. 1/2 tsp Methi seeds
6. 1 tsp Ajwain seeds
Crush them to a dry powder either in a blender or with a pestle and mortar. Keep aside this masala.
Final Preparation
1. In a frying pan, heat 2 tsp oil.
2. Add 1 large finely chopped onion and fry till it turns translucent.
3. Add the ground masala of previous step into the fried onions and let it fry for a bit more.
4. Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and fry for a bit.
5. Add 2-3 tbsp tomato puree into this mixture and fry.
6. Add some more garam masala or kitchen king masala to this mixture and mix well.
7. Put the baked potatoes, add some water and cover it and let it boil on low flame for 10-15 mins. This is how the final dish would look like. Enjoy.
