Where Can I Find A Recipe For Baluchi Aloo?

[julia_smith1982]

Obviously I don't have tandoor, but maybe there's an at-home recipe somewhere that just uses a normal oven? I haven't been able to find one anywhere. It's a bit of a nightmare finding recipes for any decent Indian vegetarian dishes imho!

[EcclesCake]

I'm not familiar with the recipe apart from it's abviously a potato recipe from Baluchistan. Can you describe it?

Usually heat the oven to max temperature is the recommended way of recreating the intense heat of a tandoor.

I am surprised by your comment that you find it a nightmare finding recipes for decent vegetarian dishes given that a large part of the Indian population are vegetarian!

What sort of thing are you looking for?

[julia_smith1982]

Hi Ecclescake - I understand it to be potatoes stuffed with cottage cheese (paneer?), cashew nuts and vegetables, roasted in a tandoor. Sounds luscious to me!

I know India is full of vegetarians (and therefore excellent vegetarian food). My gripe is that, in the UK (in my experience), "Indian" vegetarian dishes tend to be meatless versions of Anglicised dishes - vegetable tikka masala, etc. After countless disappointing restaurants, I think I'd prefer to do a bit a research and try making my own.

[EcclesCake]

I'll have a look through some of my books and see if I can find something similar to your Baluchi aloo.

I appreciate what you're saying about a lot of Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi food is Anglicised in restaurants and often on TV but the internet is global and offers many good sites for authentic recipes.

[EcclesCake]

I've had a quick look through some books and I haven't found much to help. Is this a dish you've eaten in a restaurant or did you come across it elsewhere? It might be that whoever wrote the menu used a reference to Baluchistan to make it sound more authentic and exotic!!!

I did a spot of googling and came up with a range of varied recipes, you might find something similar to what you are looking from amongst this selection. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=stuffed+potato+aloo&;rlz=1C1CHFX_en-GBGB448GB448&oq=stuffed+potato+aloo&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&;sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=2&gs_ri=serp&pq=stuffed%20potato%20paneer%20baluchi&cp=24&;gs_id=1g&xhr=t&q=stuffed+potato+paneer&es_nrs=true&pf=p&tbo=d&rlz=1C1CHFX_en-GBGB448GB448&sclient=psy-ab&oq=stuffed+potato+paneer+ba&gs_l=&pbx=1&;bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=5ffe1ab5c2868a29&;biw=1366&bih=677&bs=1

[Buenchico]

You seem to be describing Bharwan Dum Aloo:
http://www.spiceupthecurry.com/bharwan-dum-aloo-kashmiri-style/

[Iluvspikey]

I watch the indian women on Youtube - doesn't matter if you can't understand them, they often put the recipes up on screen and you can pause, and then just watch how they do things.

Madhur Jaffrey's world vegetarian cooking is a wonderful book, with over 650 vegetarian recipes

[EcclesCake]

I found that recipe too Buen, I'm not sure why a tandoor is essential for it though.

Madhur Jaffrey is a fabulous cook and I am a huge fan of her cooking, certainly recommend for recipes beyond the one Julia is looking for.

[dickythecook]

Can you still get those large clay baking bricks? Late 70s or early 80s?
Would they do as a makeshift tandoor? I know the shape is wrong, but at least the food can't fall to the bottom

[julia_smith1982]

Okay, don't laugh - I was looking at regional Indian dishes on Wikipedia, and I ended up on this page: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandoori which lists 'Baluchi Aloo' as if it's a well-known dish.

You can buy tandoori style cooking pots that just sit in your oven:
Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation but I've not used one, so I don't know if they're any good.

Pampered Chef do a whole range of stoneware that claims to give the effect of a clay oven http://www.pamperedchef.co.uk/ordering/category_details.tpc?id=9&code=FH&parentId= I've seen them at a party and the quality was very good (although it seemed like too much money to spend at the time).

Those recipes do look good - I think I'll probably give them a go AND get the Madhur Jaffrey book. I've looked at loads of books on Amazon, but you can't beat a personal recommendation!

[EcclesCake]

A chicken brick (the clay pots that you can buy in Lakeland) will absorb excess moisture giving a more authentic finish to the dish. If you don't want to lash the cash then a very hot oven will in most cases serve the same purpose.

Do try Madhur Jaffrey recipes, they are fabulous and pretty authentic....she also takes account of what is readily available in the supermarket.

Happy to help further, I cook a lot of Indian food and particularly vegetarian food in general.