Aloo Dum Biryani Recipe – Baby Potato Biryani – Small Potato Biryani Recipe

• Basmati rice – 1 cup ( I used India Gate Classic)
• Water – 6 cups
• Cooking oil – Few drops (optional)
• Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
• Cloves – 2 nos
• Cardamom -1 no
• Salt – As needed

To make gravy

• Ghee + Cooking oil – 4 tbsp
• Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
• Cloves – 2 nos
• Cardamom – 1 no
• Bay leaf – 1 no
• Black stone flower – 2 pieces (Kalpasi)
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Baby potato – 12 to 15 nos
• Big onion – 1 no ( Thinly sliced)
• Green chilli – 1 to 2 no ( Slit)
• Ginger,Garlic Paste – 1 tsp
• Fresh Curd/Yogurt – 1/2 cup (Do not use too sour curd)
• Red chilli powder – 3/4 to 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
• Mint leaves – fistful
• Salt – As needed

For layering

• Potato gravy
• Cooked basmati rice
• Saffron soaked milk – 1/4 cup
• Coriander leaves – 2 – 3 tbsp ( Finely chopped)

• Wash and soak basmati rice for 15 minutes. In the mean time, wash and peel the baby potato or normal potato, cut into big slices or cubes if using big potatoes. Keep them in a bowl of water to avoid discoloration.
  
• Boil 6 cups of water in a bowl. Add the soaked basmati rice, whole garam masala and required salt for rice. Let it roll boil in high flame till its 80% cooked. While the rice is boiling, you can make the gravy part. Remove the rice to a plate using a colander and drain the excess water. Spread the rice in a plate. Add a tsp of oil and fluff with fork if needed. Set aside.
  

• Heat oil + ghee in a wide kadai. Saute the whole garam masala ( Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf and black stone flower) for a minute. Add the turmeric powder, sliced onion, green chilli. Saute for a minute. Add baby potato, ginger-garlic paste and required salt. Saute till raw smell of gg paste goes off. Take care it splutters everywhere.
  
• Cover the kadai with a lid tightly and cook for 10 minutes in very low flame.Stir it once or twice in the middle. In this 10 minutes, onions would be caramelized and potato will be cooked soft. Onion should not be burnt or charred. It will spoil the flavor of biryani. So please be careful till this step.
  
• Now add curd/yogurt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder. Mix well. Mixture will become watery.So boil for 2 to 3 minutes in medium flame till it becomes semi gravy with little moisture in it. You can cover & cook if needed. By this time, potato would have cooked soft. You can check it by breaking the potato with a spoon.
  
• Then spread the potato mixture in the kadai. If needed add 2 to 3 tbsp water to it. Layer the cooked basmati rice evenly over the potato gravy, chopped coriander leaves and sprinkle saffron soaked milk. Cover with a lid tightly and keep the flame very low. Put in DUM for 10 minutes. Make sure you don’t burn the gravy.
  
• Open the lid after putting DUM and fluff the rice gently with a fork. I had mixed the rice very well as Sendhil doesn’t like to see white rice anywhere in Dum biryani. Serve hot with raita and chips !
  
  Enjoy !

• Adjust the quantity of chillies and chilli powder as per your taste.
• Original recipe called for 3/4 cup basmati rice. But I used 1 cup. So I had increased the quantity of curd.Do not use sour curd.
• If using too sour curd, add 1/4 cup and adjust the quantity of chilli powder accordingly.