The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of food is Bengali cuisine...of course it’s the cuisine which is most dear to my heart because I grew up with it. The Bengali's love for food is legendary. The variety of fish and vegetables are so diverse that anything can be combined with everything and a new dish can be created. Bengalis make ambrosial dishes out of the oftentimes rejected peels, stalks and leaves of vegetables. Ghonto, chorchori, chechki, labra, paturi, bhapa, jhal, jhol, kosha, bhate, chhyanchra, dalna, dolma,kalia, pora, shukto are some of the predominant cooking styles from this cuisine. Every dish gets its unique signature flavor and taste depending on the cooking method.
The eating method is as elaborate as the cooking method. Quoting Wiki "The Bengalis are very particular about the way and the order in which the food should be served. Each dish is to be eaten separately with a little rice so that the individual flavors can be enjoyed. The first item served may be a little ghee which is poured over a small portion of rice and eaten with a pinch of salt. Then come the bitter preparation, shukto, followed by lentils or dals, together with roasted or fried vegetables (bhaja or bharta). Next come the vegetable dishes, the lightly spiced vegetables, chenchki, chokka, followed by the most heavily spiced dalna, ghonto and those cooked with fish. Finally the chicken or mutton, if this being served at all. Chaatni comes to clear the palate together with crisp savory wafers, papor. Dessert is usually sweet yogurt (mishti doi). The meal is finally concluded with the handing out of betel leaf (paan), which is considered to be an aid to digestion and an astringent."
By now you would have a fair enough idea about how religious the Bengalis are about their food. Today I would like to write about a very humble and comforting recipe from Bengal.
I have been food blogging for over a year now. I had a G+ page which I never tried to explore. I used to remain within the frontiers of my blog until recently when one fine day I decided to understand the enigmatic G+. As I started browsing I became aware of "communities" and started adding them. The more time I started spending I became aware of the huge treasure trove of recipes being posted all around the world. One fine day I was invited by Sharanya to attend her ongoing event "Let's celebrate Halloween" that's how I gradually started interacting with her. A very sweet person whose cakes and pastries are equally sugary, delectable, mouth-watering, ravishing and I could go on and on. As much as I try to keep myself away from all this calorie filled yummies I still love to savor the delicacies with my eyes on Sharanya's blog. Her blog is very warm and inviting...it almost makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop. It's a very proud moment for me to be doing a guest post for a cordon bleu like her.
There are many restaurants claiming to serve "authentic Bengali" cuisine, but be sure the real essence of Bengali food can be only savored at a Bengalis home. Maybe as they say, hotel cooked food lacks the warmth and love of a home cooked meal. Among all the amazing dishes that are there the one that I am going to write about is just a simpleton in front of the other more famous counterparts. But still this inconspicuous homely dish has a lot of filigrees of memory associated with it and interspersed with the quintessential flavour of Bengali cuisine – warm and near to heart.
Two things are very commonly used in this cuisine – Mustard and Poppy seed. Mustard in the form of oil, paste, powder or as a whole spice and poppy mainly as a paste. Jinge Posto is one such dish which most of the bengalis are crazy about. The basic Posto preparation is made out of potatoes in a creamy poppy paste base. Variations include using onion, Ridge gourd, pointed gourd (potol/parwal), ladyfinger (bhindi), cauliflower(Fulkopi), yard long bean (borboti) etc along with aloo. Each version has a characteristic taste. My favourite is Jhinge Posto - soft jhinge and mushy potato in a clingy creamy poppy seed paste with a sharp flavor of Kalonji and some slitted green chillies building up the heat. Very personal and comforting.
Check out the recipe here. I am adding it here too.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves:4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients:
- Ridge Gourd(Jhinge) - 4 long
- Potato - 3 medium
- Poppy Seed - 50 gm
- Kalonji (Nigella Seeds) - 1 tsp
- Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
- Green Chilli - 3
- Refined oil
- Salt to taste
- Sugar to taste
Method:
1. Soak Poppy seeds in a cup of lukewarm water for 20 minutes. The poppy seed will soak up the water. Grind to a fine paste.The longer you soak the seeds the finer will be the paste.
2. Peel the skin of the ridge gourd alternatively. Cut it lengthwise and then chop into half moon sized quarter inch pieces.
3. Peel the skin and dice the potatoes into cubes matching the size of the ridge gourd quarters.
4. Heat oil in a wok and fry the potato cubes till the edges start to brown. Add the ridge gourd and turmeric and a pinch of salt. Toss for a few minutes till the ridge gourd start to wilt.
Lower the heat, cover and cook till both potatoes and ridge gourd are cooked. Both will get cooked in the water of the ridge gourd. If it starts to stick sprinkle a little water. Take them out of the oil with a slitted spoon and keep aside.
5. In the same oil throw in the poppy seed paste. Saute for a few minutes on low flame stirring continuously till the water is dried up and the raw smell is gone. (Poppy paste will become bit crisp). Take care not to burn it as poppy seeds tend to stick to the pan. Take it out of the oil in a bowl.
6. Heat the remaining oil and toss in the Kalonji. When the spice is fragrant add the fried potatoes and ridge gourd. Fold in with the Kalonji. Add the sugar and salt at this stage. ( Ideally the dish is made slightly sweeter)
Note: If you want to add onion in the dish, add it along with Kalonji and saute it for a while. Add a little water to make the onions soft faster. Once onion is done add the potato and ridge gourd.
7. When the salt-sugar-heat level is adjusted add the fried poppy seed paste and mix well. Saute for a couple of minutes and cut of the heat.
Serve warm with steamed rice and Kolai Daal(Split Urad Daal).
PS: I am humbled by all the kind words that Sharanya had mentioned about me in her post. Thank you Sharanya once again for giving me this opportunity to write the first guest post for you.
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