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Diwali is just round the corner, and we are counting on the days for the D-day. To me Diwali means a lot of crackers, the smell of burnt fireworks around, new clothes and above all a family get together along with a very heavy dinner. I am sure you all have almost the same feeling about this day. Diwali is more of a North Indian festival, celebrated in most parts of the Northern and Western states of the country. Sourthern parts of the country also celebrate this day to mark the empowering of Lord Krishna over the demon Narakasura. Here in Bengal, Diwali is differently termed and Kali Puja is held during this time of the year. Some people also celebrate this day by worshipping Lakshmi and Ganesh. Durga Puja has gone passed a few weeks back, and Kali Puja marks the end of Hindu festivities for the year.
Goddess Kali is another incarnation of the goddess Durga. According to Hindu mythology, she is the goddess of war. Kali is associated with corpses and war. The most primitive mention of the goddess dates back to the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas. She is called as Goddess Ratri (night in Bengali), and the Veda regards Ratri as the supreme force in the universe. The goddess is considered to have been born from the brow of Devi Durga during one of the wars with the demons. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved in the killing spree that she got carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment, and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common image of Kali shows her in her mêlée mood, standing with one foot on Shiva’s chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out.
The darkness of the new moon night brings about a different spell to the worshipping of the goddess. Kali Puja is generally held at night and continues till dawn. Above all these worship, to me the home coming of all the family members and enjoying themselves together is what matters most. It is the time of celebration. I had been busy all weekend making diyas to gift to my friends and relatives. Here are some of the samples, more of diya making in the following posts.
Today I prepared this alu dum and thought it would just be right choice to put up in our blog for the upcoming festivals. I used baby potatoes for this, you are unable to get those, don’t worry use the large sized potatoes cut into quarters.
Preparation time: 1hr 10min Cooking time: 20min Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Baby Potato (Choto alu): ½ kg Small grain rice (Gonbindhobhog Chal): 2 tablespoon, soaked for an hour Cumin powder (Jeera guro): 1 ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds (Gota jeera): 1 teaspoon Bay leaf (Tej pata): 1 /2 Sugar (Chini): 1 teaspoon Red chili powder (Lanka guro): 1 teaspoon Clarified butter (Ghee): 1 tablespoon Sunflower or vegetable oil (Sada tel): 3 tablespoon Cinnamon (Daar chini): 1 one inch size Cardamom (Elaichi): 2-3 Cloves (Labango): 2-3 Ginger paste (Ada bata): 1 teaspoonGaram masala: ½ teaspoon
Preparation:
- Peel off the potatoes and half boil them
- Grind the soaked rice to a rough paste
- Heat oil in a wok and fry the boiled potatoes till the upper layer changes color
- Take the potatoes out of flame and keep aside
- In the left out oil put in the whole cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, bay leaf, sugar and sauté
- Put in the potatoes and mix well with the whole spices
- In a small bowl assemble cumin powder, chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger paste and add 3-4 tablespoons of water to make a runny paste, add this to the potatoes along with the grinded rice and stir well to mix the spices well with the potatoes
- Sprinkle salt and add 11/2 -2 cups of water and cook covered for 8-10 mins, or till the potatoes are cooked entirely
- Pour the clarified butter and garam masala and take out of flame
- Serve hot with paratha or roti
Further Reading – Baby Potato Curry, Bong Mom’s Dum Alu
Hot Tips – Dum aloo goes best with luchi in a fine Sunday morning.
Sending the recipe To Priya’s event Diwali 2009 Contest and Diwali Dhamaka hosted by Purva in her blog.
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Hi,
Have chanced upon your blog countless times while hunting down Bangali recipes. Blogs like yours make expat living that much better. Thank you for this recipe.
Had a quick question. I don’t have gobindabhog chal at my disposal. And none of Indian/Asian grocery stores here in Athens, GA have it on their shelves either. Can you suggest an alternative? Or can one simply do away with the rice? How will that affect the amount of the other ingredients?
Looking forward to an answer and trying this awesomeness out.
Thanks,
Arnab
Arnab,
You can try kalajeera rice or if you just dont get it then use basmati
darun recipe,
Well, this is my first go to to your weblog! We’re a gaggle of volunteers and beginning a new initiative in a community in the identical niche. Your weblog supplied us precious data to work on. You’ve executed a marvellous job!
Hi Carey,
Thanks so much for the comment. Wish you all the luck on your new venture.
hi,
can you tell me how much ginger paste? i don’t see it in the ingredients.
Thanks!
Come to my blog and get your prize!
Thank you so much 🙂
Wishing U and Ur Family Happy Diwali
they look really tempting……thank you for the lovely entry for the event
Purva,
I hope you had a great Diwali. Thanks a lot for accepting the post.
Sudeshna tomader sakolke Depabolir anek shubhechcha. ei recipe ta besh notun. amar didao chal die alur dom banaten tabe seta gota chal bheje diten, paste noy. dekhte khub sundor hoeche.
Sayantani,
Tomakeo janai Deepavalir anek suvecha. Amar ma gota chal diye patol er tarkari banai. Alur dum sab samai peyaj diye khete khete ektu bhablam natun kichu kori, tai chal bete :).
Sudeshna,
diyas pics are so beautiful…
and chal goron diye ami O khohno banae ni ..eyita dile ki gravy ta ekto thick hoye mane makha-makha hoye…
wish you and your family a very happy deepawali..
hugs and smiles
.-= jaya´s last blog ..Honey Cake and Happy Deepawali =-.
Alur dum ta darun dekhte hoyechhe.. we were just talking the other day that we’ve not made it in a while!
Tahole r deri na kore baniye felo :). Wish you and your family a very happy diwali
Happy diwali
i too posted one aloo dum(kashmiri) alst week
urs looks yummy
Prajush,
Thanks for dropping by. Just clicked on your link to check the recipe :), thanks for letting us know
Chaal guro kokhono diyni alu dom e, khub bhalo lagche dekhte
.-= Bong Mom´s last blog ..Quick Fix Ghugni — Phankibaji Ghugni =-.
Thank you, eta ekbar try korlam, bhaloi holo result ta. Narkel diyeo ekdin korechilam, parle seta niye likhbo kichu paur.
Ba besh bhaloi…. Eta pore amar ebar alur dum khete icche korche….. Banabo ei weekend e 😉
Rwitu thank you so much for dropping by. It means a lot to see my friends appreciating my work :).
Hi: Your diya pictures are lovely.
But your dum aloo recipe is confusing: in the Preparation you talk about adding cinnamon, cloves, etc. but those are not mentioned in the ingredients? Please clarify or edit?
Thanks and Happy Diwali 2009
S
BTW: Diwali is very much celebrated in South India (perhaps with the exception of Kerala where Onam is more important). But in Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu it’s a big event (e.g. see pictures of the former Mysore Maharaja’s palace all lit up for Deepavali)
Sorry, just missed those out. I have updated the post, please do have a look at it and let me know if you have any queries.
PS: I was not sure about the South Indian celebration of Diwali, googled it and got to know a lot, Thanks