Kashmiri Dum Aloo for Indian Cooking Challenge

The Indian Cooking Challenge set for us this month by Srivalli is Dum Aloo. I have tried several versions of this dish before, but haven't ever cooked it using the dum method of cooking which involves sealing the cooking pot tightly with flour paste and letting the curry cook in its own steam. The recipe sounded easy enough and I had all the ingredients on hand. I completed this challenge within days of Valli posting it.

What I think of the dish:
The dish looked fantastic. As far as the taste goes, while it was not bad, it doesn't have me singing praises of it either. I felt that the taste of fennel in it was overpowering despite using less than the amount suggested. In fact, I had to scrub my kadai several times to get rid of the smell. There was a bitterness in the dish that lingered in the mouth even after I finished eating.
A change that I made from the original recipe is removing the skin of the potatoes. Somehow, I just didn't find it appealing to leave the skin on.
Overall, I prefer the other versions of this dish that I've tried before and will stick to those from now on. I do like the idea of dum cooking, though, and might do that more often.