A Bengali favourite that uses Kosha to keep the dish alive.
And what is Kosha you ask? If it were upto me I'd eat all my dishes Kosha'd. But that would just be brutal for my colon. When you cook using the Kosha technique, you allow the tomatoes, onions and meat to release their own juices instead of using water to humify the dish. There is very little water used to keep the spices from burning and the onions from drying out but even that is eventually reduced towards the end. Kosha translates to 'to slow roast' in Bengali, if you have heard of Bhuna then know that they mean same thing; the term cropped up in erstwhile Bengal. The people of West Bengal adopted Kosha and the people of Bangladesh adopted Bhuna. You could use any vegetable or protein, although the popular choices are Mutton, Chicken and the humble Potato. If you are cooking with chicken or mutton, then you can skip adding water and add half a cup of yoghurt instead.
I really don't need to sell you on this, it has all the great things that scream: great nap after. So go forth and cook.
Kosha Aloo Dum
Serves 4
For the potatoes:
4 medium sized potatoes
½ tsp turmeric powder
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Mustard oil for frying (to your liking)
For Kosha Aloo Dum:
4-6 overnight soaked dried red chillies
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
3-4 green cardamom pods
3-4 cloves
3 medium sized onions, sliced lengthwise
1 ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste
50 ml warm water
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
3 medium tomatoes, super finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
2 green chillies, slit lengthwise
For preparing the potatoes:
1. Cut the potatoes into quarters and boil them with a pinch of salt until they are soft on the inside. A good measure would be to ensure that the skin is still retained once they are done boiling.
2. Once they have cooled, peel the skin and marinate in turmeric, lime juice and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil along with a pinch salt.
3. Let them rest for 10 minutes before pan frying them.
4. When the potatoes begin to develop dark brown specks, remove them from the pan and transfer into a plate lined with a kitchen tissue.
To make Kosha Aloo Dum:
1. In a deep cooking vessel, on low heat, temper dried red chillies, bay leaves, cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods and cloves in the same oil used for frying the potatoes.
2. Add onions. Let them sweat, and then add ginger garlic paste. At no point, should the onions burn, so keep stirring the pot to keep them from sticking to the bottom. Sauté for a good 3-4 minutes. At this point the mix would have turned brown.
3. Add the fried potatoes. Mix. Let the onions coat the potatoes well. Add 50 ml of warm water. Stir. Cover the pot and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.
4. In the meantime, make a fine paste by putting together 3-4 tablespoons of water, red chilli powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and turmeric powder.
5. Pour the spice paste over the mix, add tomatoes, garam masala and salt, and then give it a nice stir.
Add green chillies. Cover the lid and let it cook for another 3 minutes.
6. After the 3 minute mark, keep stirring until the onions have clung on to the potatoes and the rawness of the masala is subdued by the sweetness from the onions. If you do find the raw taste to persist, add 50 ml of water and gently sauté until the water has evaporated.
7. Serve with basmati rice or some hot hot luchi.
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