Dum aloo recipe – Easy, delicious, creamy & flavorful restaurant style dum aloo recipe made of spicy onion, tomatoes, cashews & yogurt gravy. Dum aloo is one of the classic Indian dishes served in a special meals like weddings, celebrations or festivals . Dum translates to steam cooked & aloo to potatoes. So dum aloo translates to potatoes that are steam cooked.
In Indian cuisine there are a lot of dishes that are made by dum cooking. Dum biryani, dum aloo, dum baingan are some of the popular dishes.
These dishes are cooked by sealing the pot to trap the steam. These are basically slow cooked which makes the dishes very flavorful & delicious.
There are different ways a dum aloo is made. Some use besan, some use only spice powders & some use both besan & yogurt. The dum aloo recipe shared here is made with basic ingredients in the simplest way and does not use besan or gram flour.
Tips to make dum aloo
In restaurants to make dum aloo recipe, most times potatoes are deep fried which impart a great unique melt-in-the-mouth texture to the potatoes.
They turn light, tender, delicious and flavorful when added to the spicy gravy. This texture can however not be got by just boiling or steaming them.
For a home cooked dum aloo recipe to make the dish healthy, the potatoes can be boiled and used. However I have parboiled them for 3 to 4 mins, then fried them in 3 to 4 tbsp oil for 3 to 4 mins.
Then drained the oil and fried until golden. Then they are added to the gravy and dum cooked for a brief time. The dum cooking process makes the aloo very flavorful and delicious.
Servings suggestions
Dum aloo goes great with ghee rice, plain basmati rice, jeera rice, lachha paratha, plain paratha, puri, naan or roti.
More Indian potato recipes
Potato curry
Aloo gobi
Potato kurma
Dum aloo recipe
Dum aloo recipe
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients
- 250 grams potatoes (about 25 small baby potatoes)
- 1 cup onions cubed (2 large)
- 1 medium tomato ( do not use sour tomato)
- 10 cashew nuts or almonds
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 green chilli chopped (optional)
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- salt as needed
- 3 tablespoon thick curd (plain yogurt) ( do not use sour one)
- 2 tablespoon coriander leaves chopped
Spices for dum aloo
- 1 bay leaf (very small or half)
- 1 green cardamom
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala (adjust to taste)
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder (adjust to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¾ teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
How to make the recipe
Preparation
- Wash and peel potatoes. If using large potatoes, then cube them to equal size.
- If using baby potatoes make sure all are of the same size. Prick each aloo with a fork 3 to 4 times to ensure they get cooked from inside as well.
Preparing aloo for dum aloo
- Option 1 – Boil the potatoes in 3 cups water until almost cooked or al dente (not mushy).
- Option 2 – Parboil them for 3 to 4 mins. Then cool & shallow fry them in 3 to 4 tbsp of oil until golden. Set them aside. Parboiled and then fried potatoes taste best in the gravy.
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add onions to it. Boil for 3 to 4 mins until they turn pale and transparent.
- Drain them completely and add to a blender jar along with cashews and tomatoes. Make a smooth paste. If you do not have a powerful blender, then filter the puree. Keep this aside.
Making dum aloo recipe
- Heat a pan with oil, and saute bay leaf and cardamom.
- Fry ginger garlic paste until the raw smell goes.
- Add the onion tomato paste and saute until the raw smell goes away and the paste thickens slightly.
- Next add chili powder, garam masala, coriander powder (optional), salt and turmeric.
- Saute until the masala smells good and leave the sides of the pan.
- Pour curd and saute until it turns thick.
- Add potatoes and ½ to ¾ cup water. Stir well and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Cover with a tight lid or foil. Dum cook on a low heat for 5 to 7 minutes. At this stage the gravy must be thick and potatoes fully cooked.
- Sprinkle crushed kasuri methi. Stir and cook for just another minute. Turn off.
- Lastly sprinkle coriander leaves and transfer dum aloo to a serving bowl. Keep covered until dum aloo is served.
- Serve it with rice, roti, naan or even with flavored rice like jeera rice, ghee rice or pulao.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
- Some kind of onions taste bitter when pureed raw directly. So boil the onions and make a paste along with tomatoes and cashews.
- Dum aloo in restaurants is made by deep frying the potatoes until golden. This makes them light, tender and really delicious when added to the gravy. You can either deep fry, shallow fry or just boil and use them in this dum aloo recipe.
- Avoid using sour tasting yogurt as it makes the gravy sour.
If you are new to cooking, follow my detailed step by step photo instructions for best results.
Preparation for dum aloo recipe
1. I have used baby potatoes, but they can be replaced with cubed medium sized potatoes. Wash, peel, cube if large and prick them with fork randomly a few times.
If using uneven sized baby potatoes, cut the large size ones to make all of them of the same size. This way they cook evenly.
Preparing potatoes
2. Option 1 – Boil the potatoes in 3 cups of water until almost cooked or al dente (not mushy). Remove from water and keep aside.
OR
Option 2 – Parboil potatoes for just 3 to 4 mins. Cool & then fry them in 3 to 4 tbsps of oil until golden. You can shallow fry, deep fry or pan fry until golden.
I prefer to parboil first and then fry them for 3 mins in oil.
3. I drained off the oil and pan roasted until golden. I do this just to avoid heating oil for a long time. Set these aside.
4. Boil onions in 2 cups water until transparent for about 3 mins. Drain them. Add the cooled onions, tomatoes and cashews to a blender jar. I am not sure if you can skip cashews. But they lend a richness to the gravy.
5. Make a smooth paste. If your blender is not strong enough then filter the puree otherwise the gravy will not be smooth enough.
How to make dum aloo recipe
6. Heat the pan with little oil. Add bay leaf & green cardamom. Saute just for a minute. Add ginger garlic paste and green chili. Saute until the raw smell goes off.
7. Add the ground paste.
8. Saute until the paste thickens and raw smell goes away.
9. Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala & coriander powder. I used this punjabi garam masala.
10. Saute until the onion tomato masala begins to leave the sides of the pan. Make sure the raw smell has completely gone before you proceed with the next step.
11. Add fresh curd / yogurt. Please note: Do not use sour curd / yogurt.
12. Saute until it thickens and bubbles.
13. Add the fried potatoes and then ½ cup water. If needed add ¼ cup more.
14. Bring the gravy to a boil. Cover with a air tight lid or foil. Then dum cook on a very low flame for 5 to 7 mins. Check whether the potatoes are soft cooked. Make sure the gravy has reached a thick consistency. It thickens a bit more when cooled.
15. Add crushed kasuri methi. Cook for just a minute. Switch off.
Transfer to a serving bowl. Keep dum aloo covered until you serve. Serve with plain paratha, laccha paratha, naan, roti, plain basmathi rice or jeera rice.
Rita Gauba says
I use many of your recepies and find them very good.
swasthi says
Thank you
Prabhesh says
I tried making this and it turnsout very good.. simple and very delicious… thank you for sharing… we loved it..
swasthi says
You are welcome! Glad to know it turned out good.
Thank you!
Deepa Mavani says
Very well explained with pictures, Everyone loved this recipe, thank you
swasthi says
Glad to know Deepa!
Moni says
Can I meal prep this recipe? How long can it last in the fridge? Thank you!
swasthi says
I haven’t tried. So not sure
Chloe says
I love your recipes and all their helpful details Swasthi! I’m gaining a better understanding of Indian cooking, thanks to you. With this recipe, I skipped the whole and ground chilis (making for young children) and used Greek yogurt (I saw another comment where you said that was fine) but the end result was a bit more sour and less flavorful than I expected. Should I use cream next time (couldn’t find curds, even at our Indian grocer)?
I also didn’t find the ground coriander called for in the recipe in any of the cooking steps. Was it meant to be used somewhere?
Thank you!!
swasthi says
Hi Chloe
Thank you so much! Ground chili is very important in this recipe to balance the sour taste from yogurt. I use this homemade curd/ yogurt. I haven’t tried with cream. Instead you can up the cashews & that works well. I think the sour yogurt dominated the other flavors. Coriander powder is optional and is added along with the garam masala. I have updated the post with more details. Hope this helps.
Sheetal P Mote says
Great recipe. Even though I choose to not add the cashewnuts, it still turned out to be super delicious.
swasthi says
Thanks Sheetal
Nishi Ali says
I made this for the first time and my husband literally licked the plate with his tongue coz it was so delicious
swasthi says
Very glad to know it turned out delicious. Thank you so much!
Dee says
Hi. I was wondering if you could clarify something for me. What do you mean by sour yoghurt, just curious if I could use plain Greek yoghurt. Thank you!
swasthi says
Hi Dee,
Yes you can use plain greek yogurt. Sour yogurt is just the plain yogurt that has turned sour.
Retu says
Very nice recipe.very simple and easy to cook.keep posting this type of easy and delicious food item.
Thanks
swasthi says
Hi Retu,
You are welcome. Yes sure will keep posting! Thank you!
Kausik says
Hello, I make non-veg dishes regularly for my daughter but tried your dum aloo recipe first time and it was awesome. She wants dum aloo regularly now😊 Thanks so much for such a nice recipe. Keep posting.
swasthi says
Hi Kaushik,
You are welcome. Glad your daughter liked it. Yes sure, will keep posting.
Dipali says
Awesome dum aloo recipe. I made this so many times. I grill the tandoori aloo following your tandoori chicken masala and later add them to the masala. My friends and family love my cooking very much. Thank you for the awesome recipes.
swasthi says
Hi Dipali
You are most welcome. Wow! loved your idea of grilling the potatoes with tandoori masala instead of frying. Thanks much for trying the recipes. Glad it turned out good!
🙂
Sanchita says
Hi!
I tried your aloo dum recipe… It was just yum!!
Thanks a lot.. keep posting… Will follow you regularly now🙂
swasthi says
Hi Sanchita,
You are welcome. Glad you liked the dum aloo. Thank you.
🙂
Harini says
Hi Swasthi, I tried your palak paneer it came out very good. Can I make this without onion and garlic. Will it still taste good. Thanks for such good recipes.
swasthi says
Hi Harini,
You are welcome. Onion is used here to balance the tang from tomatoes and yogurt. If onion is skipped the gravy may taste very sour. You can use 6 more cashews or 2 tbsps of roasted besan as a substitute to onion. If using besan, dry roast it very well on a medium flame until aromatic and puree it with tomatoes and cashews. Hope you enjoy it.
🙂
Subha says
Hi Swasthi, I follow your recipes only and it turns out to be fabulous. Your recipes are simple with great taste & flavor. Keep posting new recipes. Thank you
swasthi says
Hi Subha,
You are welcome. Thanks for trying. Glad the recipes are helpful.
🙂
Supreet says
Nicely explained … Thanks my dish is a hit!
swasthi says
Welcome Supreet
Glad yours turned out good!
Vedasmrita says
Thanks for the recipes.. I made dum aloo and quite a couple of other recipes.. The dishes turned out to be lip smacking…The best part of your recipes are that the ingredients are simple and the steps are easy to follow. Keep posting nice recipes… All the best👍💯
swasthi says
Hi Vedasmrita,
You are welcome. Thank you so much for trying the recipes. So happy to know the food turned out good.
🙂
Pallavi says
Can I use red potatoes?
swasthi says
Yes you can use
Mel says
Hi Swasthi,
The recipe states to use methi (fenugreek seeds?) or fenugreek leaves. I’ve read that the flavors of the seeds and leaves are different. Is that true? Will the dish taste different depending on which one I use? Can the two be used interchangeably?
Also, I just bought a bag of dried fenugreek leaves. Is there an efficient way to separate the leaves from the stems or a brand you recommend that has less leaves?
Thank you very much,
Mel
swasthi says
Hi Mel
I have mentioned it as dried fenugreek leaves. We use the leaves along with the stems as most of the flavor comes from the stems.I usually keep the leaves in the fridge. They will turn crisp. Just before adding to the curries, I crush them in my palm and add. The stems will get crushed as they are crisp and turn to small bits. The flavor comes out well this way. Hope this helps.
jo says
sooper receipe… thank you soo much . u r great . heliping lot of people by sharing healthy receipies
swasthi says
Welcome Jo
Thank you so much.
Shwetha says
Please update crab curry .I follow only ur website..
Thanks.
swasthi says
Hi Shwetha
I do not know how to make crab curry. We don’t eat
Shewta says
I made this dum aloo, ghee rice, vegetables pakora for a small party. All turned out fabulous. My guests were astonished as my cooking skills as I am just 19 years. Thank you di for the blog
swasthi says
Hi Shweta
You are welcome. Thank you so much for the comment. Very happy to know you could make good food. Thanks again
🙂
Drishti says
Yummy 😋