Kashmiri Aloo Curry

If you want to make changes in your cooking, change the variety of red chilly you use. I have been trying few dry red chilly and its interesting how it changes the color and taste of the dish. Recently i bought these kashmiri dry red chilly and we love the color it gives. Kashmiri chilly powder available in the markets should plead with these red chilies.

I followed the recipe for Dum aloo, but did not dum cook the curry. It turned out good. The thumb rule to prepare this is you need to use fresh curd rather using sour curd. Lots of spices are part of kashmiri cuisine. Black cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cumin all give up a great aroma to this curry.

Though the color of the curry looks dark, it is not spicy at all.

Ingredients:

• Baby Aloo - 1/2 kg
• Fresh Curd - 1 cup
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Garam masla - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 2 tsp's
• Bay leaf - 1
• Cinnamon stick - 1 ' inch
• Cloves - 3
• Black Cardamom - 2
• Corriander leaves - to garnish

For grinding the spices:

• Kashmiri Dry Red Chilly - 5
• Cardamom - 2
• Corriander seeds - 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Cook the baby potatoes in pressure cooker for up to 4 whistles. Oncecooked, peel off its skin and prick them with a fork. Now heat a pan, add 1 tsp of oil and roast the baby potatoes for a minute or two.

2. First Dry roast Kashmiri red chilly, cardamom, corriander seeds and cumin seeds in slow flame till they change into light brown color.

3. Cool and Grind the spices into a fine powder and set aside.

4. Whisk a cup of curd well. add the grounded spice powder, ginger garlic paste and garam masala to the curd and mix well. set this aside.

5. In a Pan, add ghee, when its hot add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves.

6. Slow the flame and add in the curd mix. add salt according to your taste. Once the curd is added to the ghee, give a mix. it will  look like the curdled. but you need not worry. You can add 1/2 or 1 cup of water based on which consistency you need this curry. Then just simmer the flame and close the pan with its lid for 5 minutes and switch off the flame.

7. Rest the pan for about 5 minutes and then remove the curry from pan to a serving bowl. garnish with corriander leaves.

Notes:

Use Fresh curd to prepare this curry.

If you do not have Kashmiri dry red chilli, add 2 tsp's kashmiri chilly powder.