KASHMIRI DUM ALOO

I love the Kashmiri recipes. Every dish is creamy textured with wonderful colors and aroma. Nuts and dry fruits are used in almost every dish. The slightly sweeter taste in the curries makes them special. The costliest spice,Saffron(widely grown in Kashmir) is also used in many of the dishes. It not only gives the great color but also infuses great aroma into the dish.  Kashmiri dum aloo is one such dish which goes well with all Indian breads, fried rice etc. The deep fried baby potatoes are delicately cooked in onion and nuts gravy along with the curd and cream paste to attain a perfect taste. The cashew badam paste enhances the taste even more and make every one a fan of the dish. Here I give the recipe for the Kashmiri dum aloo. I made small variations to cut down the calories but made sure the taste remains the same. 
INGREDIENTS

• Baby potatoes                    1/4 kg
• Onion                                  1 large
• Cashew and badam             1/4 cup
• Curd                                   1/4 cup
• Salt                                     to taste
• Red chilly powder               1/2 tsp
• Paprika                                1/2 tsp(for color)        
• Coriander                            1 tsp
• Jeera                                  1/2 tsp
• Cardamom                           2
• Cloves                                 3
• Cinnamon                           2 small pieces
• Bay leaves                           1 large
• Pepper corns                      4 
• Oil                                       4 Tsp
• Sugar                                   1 tsp
• Coriander leaves                 2 Tsp( finely chopped)
• Cream                                 3 Tsp

PROCEDURE
PREPREPARATION:
Take very small potatoes, preferably baby potatoes. If you do not get the baby potatoes I give you a trick. Take the larger potatoes and cut them with the water melon scooper( it is just like small ice cream scoop with sharp edge). Boil these potatoes till soft but not too mushy. Retain the skins, prick them with fork all over. Keep them aside.
Dry roast the coriander seeds and jeera. Powder them along with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns.
Traditionally the boiled potatoes are deep fried in hot oil till golden brown. But I prefer less calories so I pop the boiled potatoes in 300degree oven for 30 minutes and they are done. Alternatively marinate the boiled potatoes in oil, salt, turmeric, garlic powder mixture for 20 minutes and fry them in a nonstick pan with 3 table spoons of oil till golden brown and crisp.
Chop the onions and fry them in a tablespoon of oil till golden brown and grind this into a paste
Similarly soak the cashews and badam for a hour in hot water, remove the skins on almonds and grind both of them to a fine paste.
Now comes the actual preparation:
Take 4 Table spoons of oil in a pan and heat it. Add the bay leaves. Now add the onion paste and cashew- badam paste. On a low flame cook them for 2 minutes. Now add the dry spice powder, potatoes and little bit of water. Cover and cook on a slow flame for 2 minutes. Remove the lid and add the salt and chilly powder, sugar, paprika. Mix well and add the well beat curds. Mix thoroughly so that the curds do not split. When the curds mix well with the potatoes adjust the gravy consistency you want and switch off the flame. Finally add the cream and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and serve hot with any Indian bread or rice.  
TIPS

• Curd should be fresh so that the curry tastes awesome.
• Generally the skin on the baby potatoes is very thin so they are served with skins on. If you are using the larger potatoes you can remove the skin.
• If you do not have the watermelon scooper you can cut the potatoes into large chunks.
• Usually tomato is not used in the gravy as it has the tendency to split the curds.