Dum Aloo

I have an uncontrollable attraction towards baby potatoes.That too the baby potatoes we get in my native are unbelievably tiny compared to what we get in Chennai or Bangalore.It is a pleasant site to see these cuties being arranged size wise in the evening market and I never fail to pick up some during my visit.As most of us I like to use these potatoes with out any cutting so as to retain the shape.Recently when I bought these potatoes,the first thing that came to mind was dum aloo.As per my knowledge there seems to be two versions of dum aloo-Kashmiri and Punjabi.According to my knowledge and what I have tasted,Kashmiri version uses a yogurt  based gravy while Punjabi one uses tomato based gravy.Here I have chosen tomato gravy version as this seemed to be more spicy and tangy.I referred Tarla dalal's recipe and the finished dum aloo was lip smacking.We thoroughly enjoyed it with hot pooris.Though the list of ingredients may look lengthy,it is a very simple and easy recipe to make.Please try and let me know.

Dum aloo-Punjabi style
Star ingredient:Baby potatoes
Time:30 minutes
Serves:3
Ingredients:
20 baby potatoes
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Salt to taste
Cilantro to garnish
Oil
To grind:
Set 1
3 large tomatoes blanched and peeled
2 dried red chillies
Set 2
2 onions
2 green chillies
2 teaspoons cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 small piece ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon
2 cardamoms  
Set 3
12-15 cashew nuts
2 table spoons boiled milk
Method:
1.Wash and pressure cook the baby potatoes upto 2 whistles.Once pressure is released,peel the potatoes and spread them on a wide plate to dry.Prick the potatoes with a clean fork
2.Heat oil in a pan and fry the potatoes till golden in batches.
3.Grind all the ingredients set wise separately and keep aside.
4.Heat some butter in the same pan and add the ground onion paste.Fry till the raw smell goes off.
5.Add the tomato puree,salt,garam masala and cook in medium till the gravy slightly thickens.
6.Now add the cashew paste and cook for 5 minutes.Gently add the fried potatoes and cook in low flame for 10 minutes till the gravy come together.
7.Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Notes:
1.Make sure to prick the poatoes in several places so as to make them light and that also lets the salt and masala steep inside them
2.Instead of deep frying you can also shallow fry the potatoes.
3.The other very popular version of dum aloo uses yoghurt based gravy,I sahll try out and post it soon.
4.It is best eaten hot as potatoes may loose their crispness and turn soggy as the gravy begins to cool