Dum aloo, family style

Update: Photos found and added, yayy!

Dear foodies,

I know, you must be wondering, ' Is this a joke!! Where are all those big sized, high resolution photos that she has been throwing on us lately? Right? right! Sigh....I could not find any more photos of this dish :( I am sure I took some really lovely photos of this dish, they had come out really well :( But now I cannot find them :(( They are not on my laptop or on the external hard drive, I might have deleted them by mistake, but I cannot see how :(( Has this happened to any of you ?

For those who noticed, this photo has been sitting on the sidebar for more than a month having the 'coming soon' tag on it. I am sure if it could really move, it would jump out of that sidebar and shout out at me. Sonu, a reader with a very keen eye noticed this and sent me an email asking me if I ever intended to post the recipe :D So without any further delay, pictures or not, this dish deserves a post and so here it is.

I will not claim this to be authentic, but its dum aloo to me, our family's style! Its one of my favorite ways of eating potatoes and my mother makes it the best. It has a nice khata/tangy flavor mixed with the spiciness of the dish. Baby potatoes work the best in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 10 nos - small baby Potatoes
  
• 1 nos - medium Onion, cubed
  
• 3 nos - vine-ripe Tomatoes, cubed
  
• 1 tsp - Tamarind extract (adjust to taste)
  
• 1 nos - clove of Garlic
  
• 1" dia ginger piece
  
• 1 Tbsp - Oil + for roasting potatoes
  
• 1/2 tsp -Turmeric
  
• 1 tsp - Jeera/cumin sides
  
• 1 tsp - Garam masala
  
• 11/2 tsp - Red chilli powder
• 1 tsp - Dhaniya powder
  
• 1 tsp - Amchur powder
  
• Salt to taste
  

Method:

1. Scrub the potatoes clean and boil them in salted water until cooked through. They should still hold their shape though, and not turn into a mush.
   
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Drain the potatoes, peel them when cool enough to handle. Pat dry with a cloth and spread them on a baking sheet, spray a little oil and roast them in the oven to crispen the edges. Bake for 10 mins then place on broil for the last few minutes. Adjust times based on your oven temperature and cooking times. You can also do this on the stove-top by heating 1-2Tbsp of oil and roasting them on all sides.
   
3. In the meantime, boil the tomatoes and onions in 1 -1 1/2 cups of water, until the onions turn translucent and the tomatoes squish easily. Cool them and grind to a paste along with the ginger and garlic. Based on the tanginess of the tomatoes add the tamarind extract.
   
4. Heat oil in a kadai and splutter the jeera, then add the turmeric and ground paste. Simmer it for 7-8 mins until the raw smell goes away, add the spice powders (garam masala, red chilli, dhaniya powder and amchur), salt and cook for a few more minutes until the oil separates out of the gravy.
   
5. Add 1/2 cup of water (or less), the roasted potatoes and simmer on low heat for 10 mins, allowing time for the masala to get soaked by the potatoes. This gravy needs to be clinging to the potatoes so you get a the tanginess with each bite of the potato.
   

I could have a bowl of it just by itself, you can do that too :D But if not, serve it with some chapati's or jeera rice (or pulao), we had it with both :) If you cannot find baby potatoes, then use the medium sized potatoes like yukon gold or red potatoes, cut them in half and boil, prick them with a fork to get them to cook evenly. Don't forget the salt :) Enjoy!