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Radhaballabhi and Aloor Dum

Radhaballavi and Aloor dum

Two Bengali classics. Radhaballavi, the addictive dal-stuffed puri. And aloor dum, a delicious potato curry perfumed with ginger, cumin and coriander.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Bengali
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

For Radhaballabhi
  • 1 cup urad dal (you can use bengal gram or chana dal as well), soaked overnight
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 2 - 3 green chillies
  • 1/4 tsp asafoetida
  • 1 tsp shahi jeera
  • 2 tsps ginger paste
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • vegetable oil for deep frying
  • Salt and sugar to taste
For Aloor Dom
  • 400 g potatoes cut into big cubes
  • 2 tsps cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp hing or asafetida
  • 2 - 3 whole dry red chillies
  • 2 tsps ginger paste
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsps coriander powder
  • 1 tbsp mustard oil
  • sugar to taste
  • salt to taste

Method
 

For Radhaballavi
  1. Wash and clean urad dal, make a coarse paste of the urad dal and green chillies with very little water.
  2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in fry pan, temper with asafoetida and shah jeera and let them sizzle for a while. Add the ginger paste, saute for a while. Now add the ground dal paste, turmeric powder, salt and sugar.
  3. Keep stirring over medium heat, taking utmost care that the dal paste does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
  4. Once the dal takes on a light golden colour and becomes almost dry, allow it to cool. Keep aside.
  5. Knead the flour with a little salt, 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and a little water to form a soft dough. Keep the dough covered for half an hour or so with a moist cloth.
  6. Make small balls of the dough, flatten each one in the palm of your hand to form a cup, fill with a spoonful of the dal stuffing and reshape into a ball. Again flatten each dough ball filled with the dal stuffing and roll out into a circle, taking care that the the stuffing does not break through the dough.
  7. Heat oil in a kadai. Fry the radhaballavis till golden brown. Serve hot with aloor dom.
For Aloor dum
  1. Boil the potatoes till almost cooked and shallow fry. Keep aside.
  2. Heat the remaining oil, throw hing, cumin seeds and broken red chillies, once they start spluttering, add the ginger paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt, little sugar and cook over a moderate flame till oil starts to release from the masala.
  3. Add the fried potatoes, cook over a low flame for 10 odd minutes.
  4. Add 1/2 a cup of warm water, adjust seasonings and cook till the gravy thickens, a further 7-10 minutes. Serve hot with Radhaballavi.