Keep bread, butter, eggs, oats and cornflakes for weekday breakfast. Sunday calls for something special, something different from your strict health regime. This week, Toshali Mandal is serving Kashmiri dum alu and peas kachori, a delicious combination for breakfast. Peas kachori is a winter-special dish and sold in many roadside shops. But there is nothing like home-made kachoris. So put your apron on and get going.
Kashmiri Dum Alu
Ingredients
500 gm of potatoes or 20-22 baby potatoes; 3-3.5 cups of water; ¼ teaspoon of salt; 3 teaspoons of Kashmiri red chilli powder (or deghi mirch) mixed in 2 tablespoons of water; ½ tablespoon of ginger powder; 1 tablespoon of fennel powder;
1 teaspoon of caraway seeds (shah jeera); 1 inch cinnamon; 3 cloves; 1 black cardamom; 4 to 5 black peppers; 1 green cardamom, optional; 6 tablespoons of fresh full fat curd, beaten or whisked till smooth (yogurt); 1.5 cups of water ¾ cup of mustard oil for frying potatoes; 2 tablespoons of fresh mustard oil for making gravy or reserve 2 tablespoons of mustard oil from the ¾ cup that is used for frying potatoes; salt as required; some caraway seeds for garnishing
Direction
Rinse the potatoes well. Take 3.5 cups water in a pan and add the potatoes. On a medium to high flame, boil the water so that the potatoes are half cooked. Drain the water and allow the potatoes to become cool down at room temperature. Peel the potatoes if you want to. With a fork, toothpick or skewer, poke holes in the potatoes all over. Halve them or you can keep them whole if they are small. This is done so that the potatoes can absorb the flavours of the masala while cooking.
Whisk the curd or yogurt till smooth. Keep aside. In a small bowl, take Kashmiri red chilli powder and water. Mix and stir well to get a smooth mixture. In a pan, heat mustard oil till it begins to smoke. Add the potatoes and begin to fry them on a low to medium flame. With a slotted spoon, turn them over while frying when one side is light golden. Remove the potatoes which are golden and crisp. Fry them well or else they remain uncooked inside. Place them on kitchen paper towels. If you want you can again poke holes in the fried potatoes.
Lower the flame. Remove the extra oil and keep oil in the same pan. Let the oil temperature come down. In the same oil, add asafoetida powder. Stir well. Then add the red chilli and water solution and stir well. Be careful as the mixture splutters. Now add the beaten curd. When you are adding the curd, with a spoon or wired whisk, stir continuously, so that the curd does not split. Add the curd on a low flame. Now add water and continue to stir. Stir and mix well. Then add fennel powder. If you do not have ready fennel powder then you have to make it. Add the whole spices and ginger powder. Stir well.
Now add the potatoes. Again stir. Season with salt and stir again. Cover the pan tightly with a lid. Cook the Kashmiri dum alu for 8 to 10 minutes on a low to medium flame. Here we are cooking the potato gravy on dum. The gravy should become thick. You can always add less or more water depending on how thick or thin you want the gravy to be. If you cook more, then the kashmiri dum aloo gravy will reduce more. Sprinkle some caraway seeds on top (optional) and serve it.
Peas kachori
Ingredients
For kachori dough
2.5 cups of maida; 2-2.5 tablespoons of ghee or oil; water and salt as required
For stuffing
1 cup of fresh or frozen peas or matar;
1 to 2 green chillies, chopped; ½ inch ginger, chopped; 1 teaspoon of cumin powder; ¼ teaspoon of red chili powder;
a pinch of asafoetida (hing) and a pinch of turmeric; 1 to 1.5 teaspoon of oil; sugar and salt as required; oil for deep frying
Direction
For the dough, add flour, salt and ghee or oil in a bowl. Mix everything thoroughly. Add water in intervals and knead to a smooth and soft dough. Cover the dough with a wet napkin and keep aside for 30-45 minutes at room temperature.
For stuffing, rinse the green peas. Take them in a grinder or blender along with green chillies and ginger. Grind to a semi coarse consistency without adding any water. If not able to grind in your mixer or grinder, then add 1 or 2 teaspoon of water.
Heat oil in a small pan. On a low flame, add cumin powder, red chilli powder, asafoetida and turmeric. Fry for 2-3 seconds. Then add the ground peas, chillies and ginger mixture along with sugar and salt. Saute for three minutes. Stir continuously. Take the matar stuffing in a bowl or plate and let it cool. Prepare small balls.
Before making the kachoris, heat oil in a pan. Make lemon-sized balls from the dough. Take one ball and flatten it with your palm and apply oil on both sides. Place the ball on the rolling board and roll to a 3-inch diameter circle. Keep the stuffing at the centre and close in the edges of the dough on it. Apply some more oil if required and roll the stuffed kachori to a circle of 4 to 5 inches. If the dough tears, then patch that spot with a piece of dough.
Drop a small piece of dough in the oil and if it comes steadily from the bottom to the top, then the oil is hot enough. Gently drop each kachori into the oil. With a slotted spoon, apply gentle pressure on the kachori to help it puff up. When one side is all puffed up, you will see that the oil has stopped sizzling. Turn over and fry the other side. When the kachori is crisp and pale creamish golden, remove with the slotted spoon and put it on kitchen paper towels. Serve the kachori with Kashmiri dum alu.