Bengali Recipes

The Bengalis are great food lovers and take pride in their cuisine.  In fact so obsessed are they about food, that the man of the house goes to the market daily to buy a fresh supply vegetables and fish which is a must in their daily menu.  The medium of cooking is mustard oil which adds its own pungency.  Another very important item of Bengali cuisine is the variety of sweets or mishti as they call them.  Most of them are milk based and are prepared from chhena.
A meal, for the Bengali, is a ritual in itself.  Bengalis spend not only the great deal of time thinking about he food but also on its preparation and eating.

How to make Aloor Dum - 

This potato dish finds a pride of place in Bengali menus.

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Why is it that when you are stuck at “what should we cook today” the answer is always “make some aloo!” Potatoes are like this…extremely popular and have multipurpose usage.

And did you always think that eating a potato will make you fat?
Well, don’t – it is a surprising source of vitamin C and provides useful amounts of starch, thiamine and niacin and around a hundred grams will provide about eighty calories.
Little did you know!

Prep Time : 16-20 minutes

Cook time : 21-25 minutes

Serve : 4

Level Of Cooking : Easy

Taste : Mild

Ingredients for Aloor Dum Recipe

• Baby potatoes boiled and peeled 12-16

• Oil 2 tablespoons

• Bay leaves 2

• Onion paste ¾ cup

• Ginger-garlic paste 1 tablespoon

• Fresh tomato puree 1 cup

• Salt to taste

• Turmeric powder ¼ teaspoon

• Red chilli powder 1 teaspoon

• Cumin powder 1 teaspoon

• Castor sugar (caster sugar) a pinch

• Green peas 2 tablespoons

Method

Step 1

Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add torn bay leaves and sauté. Add onion paste and sauté till golden.

Step 2

Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté on medium heat for 30 seconds. Add tomato puree and mix.

Step 3

Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, cumin powder and castor sugar, mix and cook for 7-8 minutes or till oil separates.

Step 4

Add some water and mix. Add potatoes and mix well. Reduce heat and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Step 5

Add green peas and mix.

Step 6

Serve hot with luchi.