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Alur Dom or Dam Aloo (Potato Curry)

Bengali Cuisine Veg Curries

Alur Dom or Dam Aloo (Potato Curry)

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  • Cooking Delight

“Alur dom” or Dam aloo” is a common but lovely vegetarian side dish. It goes well with roti, paratha, puri, kachori and pulao.

In fact Bengali’s one of the favourite Sunday breakfast is “luchi- alur dom”. Here “Luchi” is nothing but the plain puri.

“Luchi & alur dom” is also a traditional form of food offered to god in many of Bengali’s “puja” or celebration of idol worshiping. I still recall my grandmother used to make these in the pujas arranged in our house. The “alur dom” made by her used to be so tasty like no one could replicate.

There are various ways to prepare Alur dom across India depending upon regional preferences. Here I present more of a Bengali style of Alur Dom which is quite a daily household food, still reviving its charm over generations.

Alur dom or Dam Aloo
Alur dom or Dam Aloo

Ingredients to serve 4 :

  1. Baby potato – 250 gm.
  2. Chopped tomato – ½ piece
  3. Ginger paste – ½ tbspoon
  4. Yogurt – 2 tbspoon
  5. Cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon
  6. Pinch of asafoetida or hing
  7. Whole garam masala (Cinnamon stick –  ½ inchs, Cloves – 3, Cardamom – 3)
  8. Bay leaf – 1
  9. Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
  10. Coriander powder – ½ teaspoon
  11. Pinch of turmeric powder
  12. Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
  13. Garam masala powder – ¼ teaspoon
  14. Salt & sugar to taste
  15. Cooking oil
  16. Coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)

Procedure :

Wash and boil the potatoes without removing their skins. After boiling let the potatoes cool at room temperature and then remove their skin.

Now prick the potatoes with a fork, coat them with salt and turmeric powder and lightly fry them in oil.

Now heat 1 – 2 tbspoon of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add asafoetida, whole garam masala, bay leaf and cumin seeds into it, saute them till you get the nice aroma of the species.

Then add the chopped tomato and ginger paste, cook until the tomato gets softened.

Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin & coriander powder. Cook the dry spices till their raw flavour goes away.

Now add the yogurt and give it a good stir.

Then add the fried potatoes and mix well with the spice mixture. Cook for few minutes till oil comes out from the mixture.

Then add warm water to make the gravy according to your preference. There is no need to add plenty of water as the potatoes are already boiled. Put the lead of the pan and let it cook until the gravy thickens and the flavour of the spices are well incorporated into the potatoes.

Now add garam masala powder and mix it very well.

Put the gas off and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. This is completely optional. If you don’t want the flavour of coriander leaves into your “alur dom”, then don’t add it.

Serve it with roti, paratha, puri or pulao.

Dry Alur dom
Dry Alur dom

Note :

  1. Keep a watchful eye while boiling the potato. Don’t make it too soft otherwise it will break while cooking in the gravy and you will finish with a mushy potato curry.
  2. We make “alur dom” sometimes with a thick gravy or otherwise dry. So thicken your gravy as per your desire.
  3. You can use normal potatoes instead of baby potatoes, just cut them into medium size pieces.
  4. You can add cashew nut paste while adding all the dry spices to make your gravy more rich and tasty.
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22 thoughts on “Alur Dom or Dam Aloo (Potato Curry)”

    1. Jayeeta

      Reply

      Thanks Aruna but I forget to mention that if you don’t have baby potatoes then you can use the normal ones. If you have medium size potatoes then cut them into two halves. Baby potatoes just enhance the look of the dish not the taste. 🙂

      1. My Kitchen Moments

        Reply

        I prepare the Punjabi version of dum aloo at home… This is slightly different i think. Is there any differences between the Bengali and Punjabi version? If there is any, say in the preparation or ingredients, do let me know…

    2. Jayeeta

      Reply

      Actually I don’t know the Punjabi version, Aiswarya. Do you use onion or garlic in your preparation ??? Mine is completely a vegetarian one. Actually, we Bengalis consider even onion as non-veg. As we offer this dish to god, so we don’t use onion in it. 🙂

      1. My Kitchen Moments

        Reply

        Actually in Punjabi version, there is tanginess of tomatoes + ginger garlic paste and onion cooked with masalas and then the cashew paste and yoghurt is added to the gravy to which the fried baby potatoes are cooked. Well thats how i prepare.

        Even we dont use onion and garlic in foods offered as Prashad to God. And this is entirely cooked separately for offering to God. And also on specific days of a week, we dont add onion and garlic in food since there are special prayers and food has to be offered to God. Otherwise if we are eating, then we add onion and garlic and we keep that food separately.

    3. Jayeeta

      Reply

      Absolutely Aiswarya, we do the same during puja at our home.
      Punjabi version also sounds delicious. I have to give it a try. 😉
      You can also try this recipe as it requires less effort and ingredients too. 🙂

  6. Lynz Real Cooking

    Reply

    This looks very good! I had a very good friend from Bangladesh, Roxanna and she taught me a curry with tomatoes and potatoes! This looks delicious! I look forward to looking through your recipes!

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