Aloor Dom(Potatoes in rich Gravy of Cashews and Char-Magaz)

Ingredients:
• Small round (red or yellow)potatoes – 1lbs (approx.)
• Onion paste- 1/3rd of a medium sized onion

• Garlic paste/grated fine – 2 cloves(approx.)
• Ginger paste/grated fine- 3/4th tsp.
• Green Chillies (Thai or small Indian ones) – 2 to 3
• Cashews – 1 ½ tbsp broken

• Char-Magaz- ¾ tbsp (approx.) -  as shown below

• Garam Masala – ½ tsp. (approx.)
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp. (approx.)
• Red Chilli powder – ¼ tsp
• Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp.
• Yogurt (beaten) – 1 ½ tbsp.
• Salt – to taste
• Sugar – ¼ tsp.
• Ghee – 1 tsp.
• Oil for cooking
• Milk – ¼ cup (approx.)
• Peas- ½ cup (optional)
• Coriander Leaves – ½ cup chopped (optional)

Method:

• One of the preparatory tasks for this dish is to soak the char-magaz (one can get this in any indian stores in US, it looks like tiny white melon seeds; often you'll find it mixed in "mukhwas"-indian mouth freshners) and the cashews in warm or hot milk for about 30 to 45 minutes.

• Wash and peel the Potatoes and cut them into half. As shown in the picture on the right, this could be the average size of the potatoes. If you use smaller potatoes, you might consider not cutting them into pieces. However, if you decide to keep them whole, do pierce them with a fork from two or three directions.

• Grind the cashew and the char-magaz to a smooth paste. Add a little water if you need to.

• Heat the oil.
• When the oil is hot, put in the potatoes and fry them until they are lightly charred here and there. The picture below shows the level of charring. Drain them out on a paper towel.

• Lower the temperature of the stove and if needed put a little bit more oil.
• Put in the onion paste and fry till it changes color.
• Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry a bit more - for approximately 1 minute.
• Add the tomato paste and stir until it loosens up and blends with the rest of the mixture.
• Add in the turmeric, the red chilli powder, the salt and the sugar.
• Once the paste is almost ready, add the yogurt into the paste. Sauté until the oil surfaces up on top.
• Add in the potatoes and fry along with the gravy a bit more - for approximately 3 minutes.
• Add the cashew-char-magaz paste to the potatoes and cook for a little while.
• Add a little water depending on how much gravy you want. (Generally this dish falls on the drier side.)
• Cover the wok and let it simmer until the potatoes are done.
• If you are adding peas, add them when the potatoes are at the semi-done stage.
• Once the potatoes are cooked, check the seasoning and adjust.
• Add the garam masala and the ghee followed by chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve!!!

Notes: The reason for using char-magaz is to reduce the fat content of the dish. The traditional cooks (or thakurs) used to use Char-magaz fairly widely, in order to reduce the use of cashews and to provide the item with a distinct flavor.