I am leafing through Mom’s cookbook. It looks like she picked up some recipes when visiting Dad’s sister in Patiala. Mom was a recipe collector (maybe less of a junkie than I am!). You can almost tell whom she had visited and stayed with by the recipes in her book. I decided to try one of them. This recipe is from her sister-in-law. Auntie Norma was Dad”s elder sister. She helped Dad when he was going through college before joining the army, and he was ever grateful for that.
Dahi Allu (Potatoes in a Creamy Yogurt Gravy)
Potatoes in a creamy yogurt gravy mixed with chickpea flour and exotic spices.
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes (boiled, peeled, and quartered into bite-size bits )
- 1 cup plain yogurt (whole or lowfat)
- ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)
- 1 small green chili (or to your taste)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp black pepper powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp red chili powder (optional, or to your taste)
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped - about ½ to ¾ cup)
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- ½ cup cooking oil (I like canola, peanut, or vegetable for frying)
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
- Mix the yogurt with half a cup of water and the chickpea flour. Blend until smooth, and set aside.
- Add all the spice powders to a small bowl and mix them together. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized pot, pour in a 1/2 cup of oil. Deep fry the potatoes on high heat. You may have to do it in batches and add more oil, if necessary. Fry until the potatoes start to brown at the edges, about 7-8 minutes. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
- In the same pot, remove excess oil until about 2-3 tablespoons are left. Heat on medium-high. Add the cumin seeds and let them crackle for 30 seconds.
- Add the onions and fry until half-brown. About 7-8 minutes.
- Add the ginger and garlic paste and fry for 1 minute, then add all the dry masala powders. Stir and sauté for another minute or two.
- Add the yogurt mixture slowly, stirring as you go. Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, stir carefully, and let simmer for another 5 minutes for the potatoes to absorb some of the gray. If the gravy gets too thick, add about a half cup of hot water to thin it out. Do not make it too watery, as this dish needs a reasonably thick gravy.
- Turn the heat off. Pour the Dahi Allu into a serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped cilantro.
- Serve with roti, naan, paratha, boiled rice, or a simple pilaf.
Notes
If you do not want to fry the potatoes, you can just crumble the boiled potatoes coarsely with your finger and add it to the curry mix.
