By Aloo Potol er Dalna recipe is a traditional niramish (without onion and garlic) Bengali dish prepared with potol/ parwal/ pointed gourd & potatoes. This tomato based potol aloo dalna is beautifully flavoured with Bengali garam masala and ghee. Makes a perfect weeknight meal as it can be whipped up with in 30 minutes.
SO after a week full of rich Mughlai dishes, we are back to our basic dalna and jhol.
This time I was lucky enough to get my hands oh these young potol/ parwal/ pointed gourd from my local Indian grocery shops. If it is available I never miss a chance to pick up a kg of this yummy vegetable. It is one of my favourite vegetables.
What are the ingredients used in this potol dalna?
- Potol
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Ginger
- Chillies
- Hing
- Cumin seeds
- Whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves)
- Chilli powder
- Turmeric powder
- Cumin powder
- Bengali garam masala powder
- Ghee
- Mustard oil
Here are few potol/ parwal recipes that you can try.
Doodh Potol (Parwal in Milk Gravy)
Bengali Aloo Potol er Dalna
Aloo Potol er Dalna | Niramish aloo potol dalna | Bengali potol recipe
Equipment
- large thick bottomed pan
Ingredients
- 12-15 Potol/ parwal/ pointed gourd washed
- 2 large Potatoes washed, peeled and cut into large cubes
- 2 large Tomatoes grated or paste
- 1 inch Ginger, grated
- 2-3 green chillies slit
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp Hing/Asafoetida
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 inch Cinnamon sticks
- 5-6 cloves
- 4-5 Green Cardamom
- 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 3/4 tsp Cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder (Bengali garam masala for authentic flavour)
- 2 tsp Ghee
- 3/4-1 tsp Sugar/sweetener
- 4 tbsp Mustard oil/ veg oil/ sunflower oil
- 1-2 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Wash and peel the potol/ parwal this way. Since the potol was small in size, I kept the potol full. You can cut it into half if the parwal/ potol you are using are big in size.
- Heat 2 tbsp of mustard oil in a large pan/kadhai on high heat until it’s smoking hot. Then reduce the heat to medium. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large pan on medium heat. When hot fry the parwal until it’s soft and golden brown. Drain and keep aside.
- In that same oil add fry the potatoes until golden. Drain and keep aside.
- Add the rest of the oil in the same pan or kadhai then temper it with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf and fry for few seconds.
- Then add hing and cumin seeds.
- When the seeds splatter add the grated tomatoes and ginger and sauté on medium heat until you see oil on the sides.
- Next add turmeric, chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and 2 tbsp of water and sauté.
- Sauté for 2-3 minutes on medium heat or until you see oil seeping through the masala.
- Then add the fried potatoes in and mix it well with the masala. Add 1/2 cup water and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Next toss in the fried potol/parwal along with 1 1/2 cups of water and green chillies. cover and cook until the potol and potatoes are cooked through.
- Lastly add sugar, garam masala and ghee and mix it well. further cook for a minutes. Take it off the heat.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with rice or roti.
I hope you enjoy this Bengali Aloo Potol er Dalna recipe as much as we do!
I would love to see your creations. If you have tried this recipe, just click a picture and don’t forget to tag me @gastronomicbong or #gastronomicbong on Instagram or on Facebook.
Bon Appetit!!!
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What do you think?