Paa pichiliye alur dom

Luchi and aalur dom is probably one of my all time favorite combination. There is just some super chemistry between those hot puffed up luchis wrapped around hot and tangy alur dom that you have to experience to really appreciate it. My good friend Shwapna makes a really good alur dom so the last time I showed up at her house to have the special pujar naru and luchi, shobji and of course the alur dom, I just had to take the recipe from her. Contrary to what I thought, the recipe is very simple and very easy to replicate. In fact I made a few days later and got her to taste and comment on it and came back with a pretty good review (phew!). By now the people who do read my blog are quite familiar with my fascination for potatoes so all I needed was one excuse to post yet another yummy potato dish in my blog!

Just could not resist posting a photograph from my graduation ceremony. My certificate arrived yesterday and it occurred to me that all those months of sleepless nights and working my a@& off actually boiled down that one piece of very important paper!

Well actually not. It was a great experience and I know that my professional training did go a long way thanks to the exposure and orientation I got there.

One more thing for everyone. The news of the destruction left behind of Hurrican Sidr is coming in everyday. While it is overwhelming and one can't help but wonder that what we can do and how we can do it, there is always a way. There are a lot of organizations now collecting clothes, dry food, funds for rebuilding houses etc. Just go ahead and give to them. It can be as little is one old sari or a 100 taka note. But even that can make a difference to a person. So no matter how small is our contribution, I feel no contribution goes in vain. We just have to shake out of the shock and do something!!!!

The beauty of the recipe is that you can use a variety of ingredients to bring in the tangy taste. The idea is to have a tangy taste with a bit of the heat of chilies at the very end. Here goes the recipe

Shwapna's Alur Dom
Serves 4-6

Potatoes (medium size) - 8 to 10
Cooking oil - 3 tablespoon
Cardamom pods - 4
Cinnamon stick - 2 pieces each about 2" long
Aniseed (Mouri) - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seed - 1 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger paste - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Chili powder - 1 teaspoon (adjust to taste)
Cumin powder - 1 tablespoon
Green chili (whole) - 3
Salt - to taste
Tomato Sauce - 3 tablespoon or Plain Yogurt - 3 to 4 tablespoons or Tamarind pulp - 2 tablespoons
Sugar - 1 1/2 teaspoon

Boil the potato. Make sure that they are not over boiled and too soft. Peel the skin and roughly break the potatoes into chunks. Set the potatoes aside.

Heat oil in a wok (karai), add the cinnamon and cardamom and fry till the cardamom shells turn brownish in color. Add the Aniseed and cumin seeds and fry till the seeds turn dark brown.

Add the powder spices and the ginger and garlic paste, salt and fry for about 3-5 minutes. Time to time add 2-3 tablespoons of water to prevent the masala mixture from sticking and burning. Once the spices are well cooked and the oil comes up onto the surface, add the boiled potatoes.

Fry the potato and spice mixture for another 5- 7 minutes until the spices are well incorporated into the potato. Take care not to break the potatoes too much while frying. Add the remaining water along with tomato paste or plain yogurt or tamarind paste whichever you prefer (or have in the house), green chili, sugar and cover and cook at very low heat for about 5 minutes. You would need to taste the curry at this point to make sure the balance of tanginess, chili and sugar is right. Otherwise you might have to make some adjustments (this is the way I usually finish up the dish).

Serve it piping hot with Luchi, arata or Roti and Enjoy!!!!