Aloo Dum

By: Manjula Jain

Serving : 4 people
Total Time :45 minutes

Rate this recipe:

4.34 from 6 votes

Aloo Dum

Aloo Dum is an exotic delicious main course dish. Just the smell of aloo dum can make you hungry! To make this dish, potatoes are fried and then soaked in the spicy aromatic gravy. This is a perfect dish for any dinner party.

Aloo Dum (Potato Curry)

Ingredients

  • 4 medium potatoes
  • 2 tbsp oil canola, vegetable
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds jeera
  • 1/8 tsp asafetida hing
  • 1 tbsp besan gram flour
  • 6 whole red chilies
  • 1/4 cup yogurt dahai, curd
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp coconut powder
  • 1/4 inch ginger adrak
  • 1 green chili
  • 1 tbsp coriander powder dhania
  • 1 tbsp fennel seed powder saunf
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric haldi
  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped hara dhania

Oil to Fry

Instructions

  • Peel and cut the potatoes into ½” cubes.
  • Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
  • Frying pan should have at least 1 inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one piece of potato in the oil. The potato should sizzle right away. If potatoes are fried on low heat, they will be very oily.
  • Fry the potatoes till they are cooked through; turn the potatoes a few times while frying. Take out potatoes with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and place on a paper towel. Keep it aside.
  • Heat the pan on medium heat and stir-fry the sesame seeds for about a minute until seeds lightly change color. Take them out and keep aside.
  • Blend sesame seeds, coconut, ginger, green chili, and make it into a paste. Use water as needed to blend into paste.
  • In a small bowl mix, sesame paste, yogurt, ginger, green chili, coriander powder, funnels seed powder, paprika, red chili powder, and turmeric into a paste. Keep it aside.
  • Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready. Add the cumin asafetida and cumin seeds. After the cumin seeds crack, add whole red chili and besan (gram flour). Stir-fry for about half a minute until the besan (gram flour) is golden-brown.
  • Add the spice paste and stir-fry for about 2 minutes on medium heat until the spices start to separate from the oil.
  • Add the potatoes, mix it well and add about 1cup of water. After the gravy boils, let it cook on low-medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Adjust the gravy to your liking.
  • Add the cilantro and garam masala, cover the pan, and turn off the heat. Let it sit for a few minutes before taking off the cover. This helps bring the color to the top of the dish.
Aloo Dum (Potato Curry)

Aloo Dum

Aloo Dum is an exotic delicious main course dish. Just the smell of aloo dum can make you hungry! To make this dish, potatoes are fried and then soaked in the spicy aromatic gravy. This is a perfect dish for any dinner party.
4.34 from 6 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 4 medium potatoes
  • 2 tbsp oil canola, vegetable
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds jeera
  • 1/8 tsp asafetida hing
  • 1 tbsp besan gram flour
  • 6 whole red chilies
  • 1/4 cup yogurt dahai, curd
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp coconut powder
  • 1/4 inch ginger adrak
  • 1 green chili
  • 1 tbsp coriander powder dhania
  • 1 tbsp fennel seed powder saunf
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric haldi
  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped hara dhania

Oil to Fry

Instructions
 

  • Peel and cut the potatoes into ½” cubes.
  • Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
  • Frying pan should have at least 1 inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one piece of potato in the oil. The potato should sizzle right away. If potatoes are fried on low heat, they will be very oily.
  • Fry the potatoes till they are cooked through; turn the potatoes a few times while frying. Take out potatoes with a slotted spoon (this allows excess oil to drip back into the frying pan) and place on a paper towel. Keep it aside.
  • Heat the pan on medium heat and stir-fry the sesame seeds for about a minute until seeds lightly change color. Take them out and keep aside.
  • Blend sesame seeds, coconut, ginger, green chili, and make it into a paste. Use water as needed to blend into paste.
  • In a small bowl mix, sesame paste, yogurt, ginger, green chili, coriander powder, funnels seed powder, paprika, red chili powder, and turmeric into a paste. Keep it aside.
  • Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready. Add the cumin asafetida and cumin seeds. After the cumin seeds crack, add whole red chili and besan (gram flour). Stir-fry for about half a minute until the besan (gram flour) is golden-brown.
  • Add the spice paste and stir-fry for about 2 minutes on medium heat until the spices start to separate from the oil.
  • Add the potatoes, mix it well and add about 1cup of water. After the gravy boils, let it cook on low-medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Adjust the gravy to your liking.
  • Add the cilantro and garam masala, cover the pan, and turn off the heat. Let it sit for a few minutes before taking off the cover. This helps bring the color to the top of the dish.
Keyword Exotic, Party Food, Side Dish, Spicy Potatoes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Comments

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    gung
    February 22, 2019 at 4:12 am

    5 stars
    This is my daughters favorite dish and I always have to make it at her birthday 😉

    Chetna Chauhan
    December 12, 2016 at 10:22 am

    Aloo dum is really very good recipe and we love it. Thank you manjulaji

      Manjula Jain
      December 13, 2016 at 10:06 am

      Chetna, thank you

        K N susheela
        October 25, 2018 at 8:25 am

        5 stars
        Your recipies are easy to fallow and finally comes good am a veg so always look to your way of cooking you are great madam all the food tastes awesome ,Thankyou please keep adding your latest recepies.

          Manjula Jain
          October 27, 2018 at 8:51 pm

          Susheele, Thank you

    NewYork Pizza
    February 19, 2016 at 2:17 am

    Easy and instant delicious recipe for food lovers.

    chithrubini Hari
    December 4, 2015 at 6:30 am

    Dear majula mam

    I tried most of your recipes all r out of the world thank you so much for all the wonderful recipes.

    By
    Chithrubini Hari

      Manjula Jain
      December 4, 2015 at 11:02 pm

      chithrubini Hari, Thank you, I appreciate your comment

    Farzana khan
    August 17, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Munjula aap you are great,your each recipe is excellent,thanks for such delecious aalo dum

    Bradley
    June 12, 2015 at 11:42 am

    Love your recipes…especially Dal Tadka! I want to try this Aloo Dum tonight…what would you think if I turned it into Aloo Gobi Dum, as I have lots of cauliflower on hand?

      Manjula Jain
      June 15, 2015 at 10:45 pm

      Bradly, I am late responding, but did you try I think it should have been good

    Nidhi
    June 3, 2015 at 11:12 am

    Absolutely delightful recipe. Thank you so much for sharing. I just increased the amount of curd as I wanted it little more sour than it tasted with original amount of curd. Apart from that, no change. It has such lovely flavors. Loved it!! 🙂 A follower now!

    Neelu singh
    March 30, 2015 at 4:31 am

    is der any substitute for yogurt..
    Bcoz I hate it….

      Sonaxi Mishra
      August 4, 2016 at 6:54 am

      you can use lemon it will do good like yogurt .I have tried that.

    Molly Felix
    February 5, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    I am a big fan of your recepies. ..Thank you somuch

    Regina AlShawabkeh
    September 9, 2013 at 3:24 am

    Hello, I would like to know about asafoetida. I dont have this is there a substitute?
    thanks, love your recipes 🙂

    Aelia
    February 9, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    why do you never use garlic and onion?

      Manjula Jain
      February 10, 2013 at 12:42 am

      Aelia,
      Personal preference

      rachita
      August 5, 2014 at 11:46 pm

      Aelia,some people consider it as non pure in the form of food. Mainly brahmins and jains.

    Hinal k
    January 14, 2013 at 7:17 am

    It is a wonderful and a very delicious receipe. I have tried before to cook good food many times but was not so successful. your receipes has made me a good cook. Thanks.

    Susanne Berg
    December 14, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Dear Manjula.

    your cooking is so fantastic that I am speechless. You are simply the best!

    Ellen
    December 14, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    I really like your recipes, this potato curry is really delicious, I tried two times to make this recipe, thank you so much for sharing.

    nidhi
    November 21, 2012 at 5:19 am

    thank you manjula mam. your dishes are extremely delicious and my family enjoys your dishes.
    Thankyou for making me a good cook.
    regards,
    Nidhi

    Renuka
    October 29, 2012 at 6:58 am

    Hi Aunty,
    My ‘Dum Aloo’ did not turn out like your, I mean the color.
    was totally the opposite.
    can you let me know what I did wrong.
    Regards,
    AnuRadha

    Vani
    July 17, 2012 at 8:00 am

    Madame Manjula,

    First of all I must thank you for sharing your delicious recipes. I have prepared Aaloo Dum last night and used your recipe. I had to modify it a little because couple of my folks have hypertension and one of them with serious heart problem. So I have to make extremely low salt(low sodium) and low fat dishes prepared with garlic and chillies. So instead of deep-frying the potatoes, I stir-fried red-skinned potatoes without peeling the skin and while grinding the sesame-coconut & spice paste I added 3 cloves of garlic along with ginger and green chillies. Other than these small changes I followed your recipe exactly the way you have shown us. I didn’t add salt while cooking and I added the salt just a pinch only on the plate before serving. This was a super hit!! Thank you once again.
    My husband just loved it! We hope to meet you some day and take a picture with you 🙂

    anamika singh
    May 22, 2012 at 1:21 am

    teri recepes bahut achhi h re kaha se seekhi h hume bhi sikha de na.

    Vani
    April 21, 2012 at 11:09 am

    I have made this last week. It was great!! I like your recipes because they are so easy to make. Thank you Manjulaji.

    deepthi
    April 13, 2012 at 2:33 am

    Hi aunty,

    your aloo dum recipe looks tempting.. so i decided to try it out.
    it tasted simply superb and my husband totally loved it!!
    thank u very much for it 🙂

    Suraj
    January 15, 2012 at 3:49 pm

    Hello Manjula Aunty,

    Love you!!!! This is an incredible service you are doing to all the food lovers/vegetarians/bachelors.

    God Bless you !!!

    Namaskar
    Suraj

    Priyanka
    December 31, 2011 at 7:31 am

    I have yet not made it, bt it really sounds deliciously yummy and awesome

    Jamie
    October 24, 2011 at 9:28 am

    I’ve always wondered how this dish was made? Now, I know! Just the sort of dish for autumn. I’m probably going to use and cook some red kidney beans and rice for my sides. While I use garbanzo beans, I have never really used gram flour? Barely knowing of it’s existence. After seeing a lot of your recipes using the ingredient. It’s now #1 on my to do list. Thanks and cheers!

    Kumar
    October 18, 2011 at 11:01 pm

    Mataji, what should I do if I can’t get Amchoor (mango powder) for the Aloo Gobi? Can I replace it with something else??

    Deepa sundar
    August 8, 2011 at 8:13 am

    I liked the recipe but there was a slight bitterness in the taste.
    What could be the reason?

      Bridget
      August 25, 2011 at 11:05 pm

      Overcooking the spices can cause this

    Amateur Cook
    July 30, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    I bet it smells and tastes delicious. A great way to use potatoes.

    sarika
    June 22, 2011 at 5:41 am

    Hello aunty
    can i use cashewnut pdr instead of coconut pdr?

    Keyoor
    January 29, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    Hello Manjula aunty,

    We, the group of Indian students decided to make Aloo dum according to your recipe. It was simply delicious. Everyone was so pleased because of its authentic traditional taste. A big thank you from all of us!

    Deepika
    December 23, 2010 at 5:13 am

    Awesome..Looks delicious aunty. i am going to try it today.

    Paula
    October 28, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    I love all your recipes. I do have a problem with this particular one. I used too much fennel (I didn’t have powder so I used fennel seeds) and now this is the spice that takes over all the flavors. It is too much fennel. What can I do to save the dish? Please HELP!!!

    Neha
    October 22, 2010 at 9:00 am

    Aunty can I make this without the sesame seeds?

      Manjula Jain
      October 22, 2010 at 10:11 am

      Neha,
      Yes you can do without sesame seed.

    Vipul S
    July 30, 2010 at 3:14 pm

    Wow Manjula,
    This recipe was amazing. Thanks for such a wonderful experience. Added just a pinch of sugar for a bit of sweetness at the end. Superb!

    Daniel
    July 23, 2010 at 12:10 am

    Great videos and instructions!!

    Spent the last 7 years in S. E. Asia and S. Asia. Wonderful Indian food was the staple. I enjoy cooking, but was really worried about coming back to the States because I didn’t know how to make Indian stuff myself (My wife is Indian, but can’t cook…at all:-)) with ingredients available here. Your videos have greatly improved my life!!

    Can’t live without Indian food!!!

    dr.rajesh
    July 11, 2010 at 12:25 am

    i prepare ur wonderful receipes, they are superb.

    SAMONA
    July 1, 2010 at 10:17 am

    I tried your recipe and it was fantastic! I will definately come back for more. I am now officially a fan of this website. Did you come up with these recipes on your own? They are terrific! And do you add salt to the aloo? Thank you so much Ms. Manjula!!

      SAMONA
      July 1, 2010 at 10:30 am

      Sorry i didnt see the video about the salt. But thank you.

    Radhika Chandran
    July 1, 2010 at 12:19 am

    Hello Manjula aunty,

    your recipies are simply great done very quickly with home found ingredients. I have tried ur home made dhoodh pedas it had come out well but when i added sugar it became little thin in consistency i added bit of milk powder and made it rite it was good and tastier.
    thank you for the recipie.

    snowmoonelk
    June 23, 2010 at 9:01 am

    Do the potatoes have to be fried first? Could I par-boil them?

      Manjula Jain
      June 23, 2010 at 4:16 pm

      snowmoonelk,
      How about if you stir-fry the potatoes, par boil will work but will change the texture.

        snowmoonelk
        June 24, 2010 at 3:05 pm

        Thank you Manjula, you are right, I will fry them like you do – I want them to be authentic, after all!

    sunita
    June 2, 2010 at 5:07 am

    Hi manjula aunty,
    THANKS A LOT FOR ALL YOUR RECIPES.YOUR RECIPES AND VIDEOS TURNED OUT TO BE EXCELLENT.
    MY HUSBAND IS VERY MUCH IMPRESSED.THE INGREDIENTS ARE VERY SIMPLE AND EASY TO GET.I AM SURE I WILL LEARN LOT OF DISHES WITH YOUR HELP.
    THANK U VERY MUCH.

    Ruchi
    June 1, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    Jai Jinendra Manjula ji,

    Another great recipe from you thanks for posting this .
    Whenever I add yogurt in hot dish it tears…..
    what to do ?

    Su
    May 23, 2010 at 10:37 am

    I cooked Aloo dum from with the help of ur recipe…it tasted superb! My husband was very happy. This is the 3rd recipe I tried from ur website (carrot halwa, bhoondi laddoo n aloo dum)…they always come out really good.
    Ur videos r very helpful.
    Thank u so much Manjula aunty…u make cooking really easy, interesting and enthusiastic.

    Neha Jain
    May 20, 2010 at 5:50 pm

    Jaijinendra aunty,

    I just made dum aloo ,it turned out really good,although I didn’t add coconut powder & degi mirch as I didn’t have any.I will buy these 2 ingredients & definetely try this again.

    All your recipes are very delicious & easy to follow.

    Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, my husband enjoyed the naan,it came out perfect.

    Kay Moore
    May 3, 2010 at 4:29 pm

    I love this website, my husband is Indian and I love making and trying new dishes, thank you so much.

    Pavithra
    April 19, 2010 at 2:51 pm

    Hi Manjula Maam

    Your recipes are wonderful. I have tried many websites, but have not experienced the taste that your recipes have. I totally trust your website and have tried most of the subzi section. I will try others too!
    thanks!
    Pavithra

    Rashmi
    March 17, 2010 at 5:04 am

    Dear Madam

    This is great site and your recipes are so easy as well as tempting to look.

    I’ll definitely try this out.

    Thanks a lot for this great site.

    Amber
    February 18, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    I made this for dinner tonight, along with your naan recipe. Both were delicious!

    Amber
    February 18, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    I made this for dinner tonight, along with your naan recipe. Both were delicious! I didn’t have any coconut or asafetida, but I made due and the result was still wonderful. After having tried many, many sources for Indian recipes, you are the one I trust!

    Ramaa
    February 14, 2010 at 8:18 am

    Dear Manjula Aunty,

    Thank you so much for all your recipes and video. My dishes get a lot of appreciation and it is all because of you. Thank you very much. Please keep the good work going. All dishes when followed as per your directions come out so well.

    Warm regards,

    Rakhi
    February 9, 2010 at 8:25 pm

    Hi Manjula aunty,

    I love the way you make every recipe without onions and garlic.I don’t like to add them too as they overpower all the other tastes.Your site is unique as it is the best one among the vegetarian ones..Dum aaloo recipe turned out to be great..Thanks

    Rachel B.
    January 25, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    Is the coconut powder coconut meat in a powder form or is it coconut milk powder? Is there a substitute for it?

    Guria
    January 20, 2010 at 8:26 am

    Pl tell me where you bought the stainless steel dish which is indeed very easy to cook & keep spotlessly clean.
    Thank You Guria

    Meena
    January 9, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    Manjula aunty, can you please tell the name of the blender you used to grind

    Hausfrau
    December 31, 2009 at 6:13 am

    There is a small spelling error: it’s ‘fennel’, not funnel or funnels.

    Kaustubh Mani
    December 28, 2009 at 11:24 pm

    hello Manju aunty… I’m preparing dishes after taking help from ur videos… and thiz a fantastic job for me to get the best appreciations from my family… This is all because of u… so thanks to u…!!

    Prerna
    December 22, 2009 at 10:16 am

    manjula aunty,

    I love your recipes. Do we need to use paprika in this recipe or can we do without? This is an ingredient I normally do not keep.

      Manjula Jain
      December 22, 2009 at 2:30 pm

      Hi Prerna,
      Paprika gives the color to dish, you dont have to use it.

        Claire
        January 17, 2022 at 2:26 pm

        Hi Manjula, your recipe does not indicate how much paprika should be added. It looks roughly 1 tsp from your video recipe – can you confirm? thanks!

    Marshmallow Goat
    December 21, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    This curry also works really well with sweet potato and chickpeas

    Mili
    December 13, 2009 at 8:42 pm

    Hi Manjulaji,

    Can we replace sesame seeds with some other ingredient (like khus-khus) or omit it from the recipe ? Please let me know….

    Thanks.

    Pooja
    November 11, 2009 at 4:06 pm

    Hi,

    I am a fan of you and have tried many of your recipes. You have mentioned coriander powder in many recipes. Is it dry roasted coriander or should it be roasted with a little oil? Thank you.

      Manjula Jain
      November 11, 2009 at 4:30 pm

      Hi Pooja,
      I do not use roasted coriander powder.

    sharee
    November 10, 2009 at 2:42 am

    hi i want to bake pizza a easy pizza

    marysol
    November 2, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    Hi, Manjula Iam wanting to try this recipe can I use fennel seeds instead of powder?

      Manjula Jain
      November 2, 2009 at 5:26 pm

      Hi Marysol,
      You can use funnel seed but it does taste batter if you just crush them.

    Huma
    October 28, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    Awesome recipe! Turned out really great…Manjula Aunty, you are the best -thanks!

    Vidya
    October 22, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    i am surprised that other viewers have not noticed that curd is added while making the paste.

    Kudos to Manjula Aunty for another wonderful post!!! Thank you for making us all good cooks.

    Renuka
    October 21, 2009 at 9:41 am

    I really need the type of pots you use. How can I purchase.
    I tried Amazon.co but still unsuccessful for a long time now.

    Thanks,
    Regards,

    Renuka

      Manjula Jain
      October 21, 2009 at 11:32 am

      Hello Renuka,
      check the products on my web site.

    swathi
    October 21, 2009 at 9:35 am

    Hi there,

    i am sorry i have seen it again there was curd inthe recipe,

    i m really sorry

    thank you

    swathi
    October 21, 2009 at 9:10 am

    hi there,

    i have seen dum aloo video , at the starting of the show while u were showing ingredients u showed us the curd but u did not add curd anywhere in recipe. we should ad curd or shouldnt , let me know.

    thank you,
    Swathi

    Sandho
    October 20, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    Hi anuty,

    thankyou so much for all yr receipes especially kalakand, also when we go to indian food places, they have sweet fennal seeds (sonf) that seem rosted and sweetned, can u teach us how to make it

    thanks again

    Sudeshna
    October 20, 2009 at 8:50 am

    @Nivi,

    I saw your comment regarding the nutritional facts of paprika, saw this wiki link and so thought of sharing it with you – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paprika

    Madhu
    October 18, 2009 at 8:29 am

    Hello Aunty,

    Wish you a vey Happy Diwali.
    I have tried most of your delicious recipes. They turn out really good.

    I do have a question about you clean pots and pans. How do you clean your stainless steel pots and pans and your nonstick pans especially after deep frying them. Yours looks so clean with no oil greasy stains as mine becomes after deep frying couple of times.

    Please do let me know.

    Thanks
    Madhu

    Sudeshna
    October 17, 2009 at 6:55 am

    Manjula,
    Wish you a very happy and safe Diwali.

    I had wrote about a alu dum a few days back in my blog. I had prepared it differently and used grounded raw rice as one of the ingredients to enhance the flavour. You can have a look at it here – http://bengalicuisine.net/2009/10/12/chal-diye-alu-dum/. Hope you like it.

    krithiga
    October 15, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    Hi Manjulaji,

    This looks good..! Happy Diwali to you and your family…!

    Cecilia Fraga
    October 15, 2009 at 4:57 pm

    Dear Manjula,
    this recipe is very powerful, I enjoy it very much.
    thanks from the heart,
    cecilia from Brazil

    munni
    October 15, 2009 at 8:33 am

    can we use thoes potatoes that sells at the store in can.. the baby potatoes… do we need to make hole in there ?

    Valerie
    October 15, 2009 at 8:01 am

    Nivi, I found the following on the internet. I hope it helps with your question.

    Paprika is unusually high in vitamin C. Hungary’s Nobel prize-winning Professor Szent Gyorgyi first discovered the vitamin in paprika chile peppers. The capsicum peppers used for paprika contain six to nine times as much vitamin C as tomatoes by weight.

    High heat leaches the vitamins from peppers, thus commercially-dried peppers are not as nutritious as those dried naturally in the sun.

    As an antibacterial agent and stimulant, paprika can help normalize blood pressure, improve circulation, and increase the production of saliva and stomach acids to aid digestion.

    Natalie
    October 15, 2009 at 6:52 am

    Thank you Manjula. My question is do you think I can substitute soy yogurt for dairy yogurt? There is a brand at the local store in plain flavor. Thank you again.

    nivi
    October 15, 2009 at 4:46 am

    the recipe sounds great! by the way, is paprika good for health?

    Valerie
    October 14, 2009 at 2:17 pm

    I have everything in the house; I’m making this tonight. It looks delicious. Thanks and very happy Diwali to you and your family.