KamalKitchen

Achari Dum Alu (Potatoes steamed in a sauce of pickling spices)

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Achari Dum Alu

‘Achar’ is the Hindi word for pickle, ‘Dum‘ means steam. Achari Dum Alu is just a simple vegetable dish of potatoes steam cooked in a spicy gravy using pickling spices. The pickling spices here are not your salt and vinegar kind, but Indian pickling spices.

Dum Alu was a favorite growing up, since it traditionally uses tiny baby potatoes which are simmered in a spicy and tangy sauce. What child doesn’t love potatoes, and this was yet another way to eat the spud. Nowadays, I use any kind of potato available even in a medium size, just cut it in half or quarters, depending on how big it is.

As the tators slowly cook in sauce, they absorb all the spices. I use a ready made spice mix made by Shan called Achar Gosht mix – check shanfoods.com. This is readily available in any Indian or Asian grocery store for around a dollar.

This mix can be directly used in any stir fry or simple vegetable saute. For Achari Dum Alu, I made a masala paste with onions, ginger, garlic, chillies, cilantro etc.(read ahead) and added the Achari spice mix instead of garam masala to give it a different twist.
Yogurt or tamarind can be used alternately as a sour component and so can amchur or dry mango powder. The use of tamarind or mango will allow this dish to be vegan. Cilantro may or may not be used as a part of the ground paste, depending on your taste. This is excellent served with hot steamed rice or rotis.
I served this with rice crepes, or ‘Tandulachi DhirDi‘ which is a traditional Maharashtrian recipe, mostly from the coastal parts. It is a simple batter consisting of rice flour, salt, pinch of sugar and water, and then used to make a thin crepe. A piece of the crepe is broken off and dipped in the sauce, where it absorbs all the delicious gravy and then takes off for your mouth 🙂
The Achari Dum Alu recipe is as follows –
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