All kind of potato dishes, from plain boiled small potatoes sprinkled with dhaniya to big potatoes cut in eight pieces and served with Dahi or Mexican sauces and some other irrelevancy, are sold in Indian restaurants, Dhabbas, eat-outs, as Kashmiri Dam Aloo. I have cousins who make it a point to try and enlighten their friends and the waiters about the ‘Authentic Dam Aloo’.
‘What the hell is this? You call this Kashmiri Dam Aloo. You know I am a Kashmiri. You call this Dam Aloo. What a joke! What’s this green thing in it! I tell you my friends – it is a fake. You guys should stick to Innovating on Chinese. Puff…Cashmeri Daamalooo. It’s an atrocity perpetrated on simple and gullible. You will probably go into shock if you see and taste the real thing. It’s a fiery beast. And not your beast of burden served in a plate. I protest.’
‘Bai’ja Bhai! Tu Kashmiri Pulao Kha lay!’
‘So you want to know what I think about this Pulao. This piece of…’
-0-
Tasted some fine Dumolu after what seems to be ages. There was a havan-gathering at the local community temple back in Jammu. Some of the Olus made their way to me.
-0-
That one looks excellent. But I have seen any aloos which are fried and cooked ala dum, perhaps with a mughlai gravy, be categorized as dum aloo. Just that they are not dum Olu 🙂
And a true Kashmiri Dum Olu has only oil for gravy 🙂