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Potoler Dorma Recipe (Bengali Style)

Madhushree Dutta
Recipe to make tasty Potoler Dorma easily at home. Simple ingredients, instructions, and equipment to prepare delicious Bengali-style Potol Dolma.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Bengali, Indian
Servings 4 servings

Equipment

  • 1 Induction Cooktop or Gas Stove
  • 1 Kadhai

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Pointed Gourd 7-8 Potols
  • Salt
  • 20 g mustard oil

For Stuffing

  • 100 g Bengal gram
  • 6 g coconut
  • 25 g mustard oil
  • 10 g raisins
  • 8 g peanuts
  • ¼ tsp whole cumin
  • ¼ tsp asafoetida hing
  • 6 g ginger paste
  • 15 g coconut grated
  • 4 g salt
  • 14 g sugar

For Gravy

  • 25 g mustard oil
  • 2 pcs dried red chillies
  • 2 pcs bay leaves
  • 2 pcs cardamom
  • 1 pcs cinnamon
  • 2 pcs cloves
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 4-5 potatoes
  • 10 g cumin powder
  • 3 g coriander powder
  • 2 g turmeric powder
  • 2 g red chilli powder
  • 2 g Kashmiri red chilli powder
  • 15 g almonds soaked
  • 5 g cashew nuts soaked
  • 25 g yogurt
  • 200 ml hot water
  • ½ tsp shahi garam masala powder
  • 1 tbsp ghee

Instructions
 

Preparation

  • First, soak the bengal gram pulses for 2 hours. Scrape the gritty outer layer of the gourd using a spoon or knife.
  • Cut off the edges about 2 cm from the tip of the potol.
  • Keep these edges carefully, as it will be used later.
  • Using the handle of a spoon, take out the inner flesh and seeds inside the potol.
  • Season the Potol (pointed gourd) well with 4 grams of salt.

Fry the Potol

  • Heat mustard oil in a pan.
  • Fry potol on high flame, until it turns golden brown.
  • Then put the fried potols aside.
  • Fry the chopped parts of the potol and when it turns golden, and set it aside.

Grind the Gram Dal

  • Put the soaked gram dal in the grinder.
  • To keep the coarse texture, you have to grind it for a span of a few seconds.

Fry the coconuts and Bengal gram

  • Now heat some mustard oil in a pan.
  • Fry the finely sliced coconuts till it turns golden. Set it aside.
  • Then add the peanuts. Fry until it's golden. Set it aside.
  • Now add whole cumin seeds and asafoetida in the same oil.
  • Wait until these ingredients splutter and release a strong aroma.
  • Add ginger paste and raw Bengal gram paste. Fry on medium heat for 20 -30 seconds.
  • Add the grated coconut. Fry until it turns golden.

Prepare the stuffing

  • Stir everything together and mix well.
  • Add salt and sugar accordingly.
  • Then add chopped raisins, fried coconut and peanuts.
  • Then add gram dal paste.
  • Stir well to remove the raw odor.
  • Continue scraping through the bottom of the pan with a fork until the mixture dries up.
  • Spread the gram flour mixture on a plate to cool.

Fill the stuffing

  • Now, fill the stuffing of the potol with this prepared gram flour mixture in ample quantities.
  • When the stuffing is done, cover the Potol with a small fried piece of Potol cap(chopped off Potol edges) with a wooden toothpick.

Prepare the Gravy

  • Soak almonds and walnuts in warm water for 15 minutes. Drain and grind into a smooth paste.
  • Peel 2-3 potatoes, and cut each of them into 4 pieces.
  • Heat the mustard oil in a pan.
  • Add potatoes, cover them, and fry for 5 minutes on medium heat. Stir occasionally. Season it with turmeric and salt. When golden, set it aside.
  • In the same oil, add whole dry red chillies, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and whole cumin and allow it to splutter.
  • In a small bowl, prepare the spice paste.
  • To make the spice paste, take cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red Chilli powder, and Kashmiri red chili powder (ingredients to be taken according to the quantities given)
  • Stir these with hot water.
  • Put all these spices in a pan on a high flame.
  • Stir in all the spices, add a little water if the spices dry up.
  • Now Add ginger paste.
  • Stir everything well until the added masala gives a smooth texture.
  • After the oil is released add salt and sugar to taste.
  • Now add the curd, cashew nuts, and almond paste.
  • Stir everything well.
  • Once the spices are well cooked and the raw odor is gone, add a little hot water to make the gravy.

Prepare Potoler Dorma

  • After the gravy starts to boil, add stuffed patal and potatoes.
  • Cover and cook over low heat until potatoes and potols are cooked thoroughly.
  • After 15-20 minutes, add ghee and Shahi garam masala to make it more flavourful.
  • Delicious Potol Dorma is prepared!