BENGALI NIRAMISH ALOOR DOM

So today marks the last day of the month long BLOGATHON I have been doing here on my blog. A month of blogging draws to a close. I had somehow fallen into a rut and after re-branding my blog,initiated this myself. If you haven't checked out the rest of the month's posts, go over and take a look. I have been writing one post a day for every day of this month. So 31 days,31 posts. Since I began the Blogathon,with some Memphis style Ribs cooked by the Man(my husband Debashish), it made sense that I end the Blogathon, with something from his kitchen. Today he not only cooked it, but also took pictures of it,when i told him that i wanted his entree to feature as the ending post of the month long blogathon. That's what I call a true creative partnership.

Regular posts will continue on the blog every Sunday and Thursday. Thank you everyone for all the support and appreciation.

I am not much of a fan of Aloor Dom I must say before I go any further. But my Brother Riddhiman got me hooked to it, with a very special recipe of his. He is a crazy good chef which not many people are aware of . Now that we stay continents apart from each other, I don't get to enjoy much of his cooking. Though I will be re-creating his signature Aloor Dom recipe some time for sure. maybe even photograph him cooking step by step on our next trip to India.

Whenever the Man mentioned Aloor Dom, I would make excuses and not have that on our menu. Till one day, he decided to go ahead and cook it before telling me so. When I finally saw what was for dinner, I did have my inhibitions. But when I took the first bite, I knew why I had fallen in love with the Man. He knew me well, he knew my inhibitions even better. And he addressed them in his signature style. It was so good that I was going for second and even third helpings. I guess its the right recipe which matters. And teh right person to cook it. I clearly cannot cook a great Aloor Dom, but the Men in my Life( My Brother and My Husband) make a mean Aloor Dom with their own signature recipes.

While Aloor Dom(curried potatoes) can be Amish(cooked with onion and garlic) or Niramish(cooked without onion or garlic), I prefer the Niramish variety. Its just heaven on a plate with some fluffy Luchi(deep fried Bengali flat bread). the Man cooks it with his own concoction of freshly ground and toasted whole spices.Dry roasting whole spices releases their essential oils and packs a potent punch when it hits the oil. He dry roasts the spices and lets them cool and then dry grinds them in a blender. We don't have a fancy spice grinder, so we just use the normal Magic Bullet. He uses a combination of both fresh tomatoes and tomato paste to make the gravy. Its a beautiful blend of sweet and tart and goes very well with the space combination. Now that's a tip I learnt today. I am surely going to be using it in some other things I cook.

Its one of those quintessential Bengali entrees which can either be Hit or Miss. It all depends on the right proportions of the ingredients and how you cook it. So go ahead and give it a try. You will be surely praising the Man after you dig in. That's a guarantee.

BENGALI NIRAMISH ALOOR DOM:

Ingredients:
Small potatoes: 1/2 lb
Fresh Tomatoes: 2 small
Tomato paste: 1 tbsp
Salt: to taste
Dry Red Chilies: 2(depending on your heat preference)
Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Mustard Oil : 3 to 4 tbsp
Green Cardamom: 2 to 3
Cloves: 2 to 3
Cinnamon: 1/2 inch stick
Hing: A pinch
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Procedure:
Wash and Peel the potatoes and keep them aside. In a large non stick frying pan, add mustad oil, and let the whole garam masala(clove,caradamom and cinnamon) crackle.