Luchi & Aloor Dom (লুচি ও আলুর দম)
Pillowy deep-fried maida bread paired with a fragrant Bengali baby-potato curry — the iconic Sunday-morning Calcutta breakfast.
Cuisine: Bengali (West Bengal) · Style: Hearty · Protein: Veggies · Total time: · Difficulty: medium · Servings: 4 · Spice: 2/5
Ingredients
- 2 cups maida (all-purpose flour)
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Warm water to knead
- 500g baby potatoes, peeled
- 1 tsp panch phoron
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tomatoes, pureed
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp ghee for finishing
- Salt to taste
- Oil for deep-frying
Steps
- Knead maida with salt, ghee, and warm water into a smooth, slightly stiff dough. Rest 20 minutes.
- Boil baby potatoes until just tender, peel, and prick all over with a fork.
- Heat ghee in a kadai and shallow-fry the potatoes until lightly golden. Set aside.
- Temper panch phoron and bay leaves in the same ghee until fragrant.
- Add ginger paste, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and Kashmiri chilli powder. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Pour in tomato puree and cook until oil separates. Add potatoes, sugar, and a splash of water.
- Simmer covered for 10 minutes until the gravy clings to the potatoes.
- Meanwhile, divide the dough into small balls, roll into 4-inch discs, and fry one at a time in hot oil until they puff up. Flip once and drain.
- Finish the curry with a teaspoon of fresh ghee. Serve hot with the luchis.