Dum Aloo & Daal Soup Recipes

Aloo Dum (Spicy Potato)

Potato (Aloo): 500 gm.(Serves four) Cooking Oil : 4 tbsp. Bay leaf (Tez patta): 2 nos. Cardamom (Elaichi): 2 nos. Cinnamon (Dalchini): 2 cm x 1 cm Onion : 200 gm. Ginger (Adrak) paste : 1 tsp. Garlic (Lasun) paste : 1/2 tsp. (some prefer diced garlic instead of the paste) Turmeric (Haldi) powder : 1/2 tsp. Cumin (Jeera) powder : 1 tsp. Red pepper (Lal Mirch) powder : 1/2 tsp. (you may use diced green pepper instead) Tomato : 200 gm. (each tomato cut into eight pieces) Coriander (Dhania) leaves for garnishing Salt to taste

Wash potato. Boil potato in salt water without peeling off the jacket. Peel off jacket after potato cools down. Cut potato into halves (if potato is small) or into quarters (if potato is large).

Pre-heat oil in a frying pan. Add bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamom. Heat for 15 secs. Add onion, ginger paste and garlic paste. Stir and fry until light brown. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, red pepper powder and salt to taste. Stir well and heat for 15 secs.

Add potato to the frying pan. Turn down the heat to medium, and stir well for about 5 mins. Add tomato and sprinkle a little water. Continue to stir for another 10 mins. During cooking, whenever the contents look like drying, add a little water and stir. Do not add more than 2 tbsp. water at a time. The idea is to have a thick gravy when the potato is cooked.

Aloo Dum is ready. Garnish with coriander leaves. This may be had with rice or paratha. Dal (Lentil) Soup Ingredients

Dal(Lentil) 1 cup (serves four) Tomato 1 medium sized Capsicum 1 small or medium (as u prefer it) GreenChili 3 (cut verticaly from middle into 2 pieces each) Red chili(dry) 2 cut into two pieces each. Fenugreek 1/2 tsp. Water 5 cup. Termeric powder 1/2 tsp. Mustard oil 3 tbsp. Salt to taste. Corriander leaves, chopped for garnishing.

Procedure Wash Dal thoroughly. Boil dal in 2&1/2 cup water in pan with medium heat. Add salt, termeric powder and 1 tbsp mustard oil in the pan before u boil it. While boiling froth will come out. Do not get puzzled. Simmer heat, stir the dal. Froth will go down. Again put it into medium heat. Boiling time sometimes varies due to quality of the dal and also temperature(As in weather). Generally it takes 15-20 mins. keep aside when done.

Preheat a pan. Heat 2 tbsp of mustard oil. Add fenugreek, redchili and green chili. Stir softly and fry for 20 seconds. Add chopped tomato and capsicum , stir for another 20 secs. Simmer heat. Pour the boiled dal slowly. Cook for 3 more mins with simmer heat. Put off heat. Add the chopped corriander leaves and put a lead. Your dal soup is ready. Serve hot after 5-10 mins.

You can make the soup lighter or heavier according to your choice. Some tips to make it tastier (As I like it !) Some people don't like it fully boiled into paste. Remove it from heat. Whip it carefully with an egg-whipper after boiling and keep aside

Contributed by :

 * Indiancuisineandculture Y-Group