A For Aloor Dom

It's April every body looking forward for king of fruits and summer vacations. But we a group of food bloggers were looking forward for our Mega Blogging Marathon like every year we do. Yes every year in April and September these two months we do a Mega Marathon with specific theme. Usually we all come up with a theme and cook according to the theme,but some friends in my  group will plan sub themes also to make the marathon more interesting. 
                                                                      

                                                                           Now we are going to start our first Mega blogging Marathon for this year 2016. This April we are doing regional cooking as a main theme of Journey Through The Cuisines. Let me explain the theme there are two options you have to pick one region in India and cook the recipes from the particular cuisine for all 26 days Sunday's we take a break from blogging (not from cooking:)). You can do the same thing by choosing a country, choose a country and cook all 26 recipes from the same country cuisine, but you should stick to  one cuisine.
                                                               The second option is pick any four regions or any four counties and cook for four weeks that means four weeks four cuisines but one can not mix like two Indian regions and two countries. You can make sub themes with this main theme. But the main twist is we have to cook this recipes in alphabetical order, like we start from A to Z. This April my choice for this Journey Through The Cuisines is a Indian State. Because I want to explore more Indian cuisine. Till now what I learn about Indian cuisine is a very small drop,there is a ocean to learn any way. My choice for this theme is Bengal.
                                                                                  First let's talk a bit about this beautiful and sweet region of the country. Bengal is a state in Eastern India and Kolkata is the capital city of this state. the state was divided in 1947 partition India and now the West part of the Bengal state became a province of India and Known as a Indian state of West Bengal. The state has one of the largest river delta in the world, Ganges Delta. The south side of the state is covered by Bay of Bengal and the other sides it is bordered by the countries of  Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan and the Indian states of Odisha, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam.
                                                                                             West Bengal The land of river Ganga, the land where our National anthem was born. The land of great poets and saints and the land of a wonderful cuisine. Now coming to the cuisine of Bengal, Rice and fish are the traditional favorite food of Bengal. Vegetables and lentils are served with rice as a staple diet in Bengal and sweets occupy an important place in the diet of Bengali's and at their social ceremonies. 
                                                                          Vegetarian dishes are mostly without onion and garlic. Mustard and mustard oil is the main flavor of the cuisine. Poppy seeds, bay leaf, cumin seeds, ginger and green chillies are the widely used spices in a Bengali cuisine. In east part of the state people include a bit more other spices like Ajmoda (radhuni), coriander, garam masala, tamarind, red chilli powder and coconut in there cuisine.
                                                                     

                                                                                   Bengali Cuisine has some cooking styles depending on the choice of the ingredients. There are six different tastes which Bengali palate caters to Sweet, Sour, Salt, butter, hot and Koshay what we call shadruchulu in Telugu. Will talk more about Bengali cuisine in up coming posts during this month now let's take a look in to today's recipe..
                                                                My first recipe from Bengali cuisine is a very favorite breakfast of every bengali. Aloor Dom and Luchi. I tried this combination quite a few times and every time that was a hit. This recipe I have picked from Sandeepa's, Bong Mom's Cook book
INGREDIENTS:--
Potatoes  ---  14 small round ones (baby potatoes)
Bay leaf  ----  2
Asafoetida --- 1/4 tea sp
Oil   ---  1 tab sp
Onion paste  --  1 tab sp ( boil one small onion and grind in to a smooth paste and take one tab sp onion paste from this and you can store remaining paste in the fridge for four days)
Tomato -- Medium finely chopped
Cumin powder --  1 tea sp
Garam masala powder  --- 1/2 tea sp
Ginger paste  --  1 tea sp
Red chilli powder  ---  1/2 tea sp
Salt to taste
Yogurt  ---  2 tea sp
Ghee  --  1 tea sp
Sugar  -- 1 tea sp optional (if you don't like that little sweet taste don't add sugar, but that a very little sugar increase the taste and we liked it, so that is totally your choice.)
                                                                        

METHOD:---
1. Boil potatoes and peal the skin and set a side.
2. Heat oil in a pan add asafoetida and bay leaves then add onion paste and sugar and fry till onion turn in to pinkish.
3. Now add chopped tomato and cook till tomato is nicely mashed then add ginger paste.
4. Mix cumin powder, garam masala powder, red chilli powder with yogurt mix well and add this to onion and tomato in the pan and  remove the pan from heat and stir for a few minutes and bring bake to the heat and cook till oil separate from the masala.
5. Add ghee to the masala and give a good stir  then add boiled potatoed and fry till potatoed turn in to golden and masala should coat on potatoes.
6. Add very little water and salt to taste cook till the water evaporates and masal will nicely coat on potatoes.
There should not be any gravy in this curry, but moist dry gravy coat on potatoes
Serve hot with Luchi..:)                                                                                
Day 1


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

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