BEGUN ALOO BORI DIYE PALONG SHAKER GHONTO

This was also a part of my 200th blogpost a year back or so. I was never happy with the post, felt it incomplete without the use of 'bori', that is sun dried lentil balls. I never bring bori from India as they say carrying bori while travelling far is a bad omen. A friend here who is less superstitious and prejudiced as compared to me got me a priceless packet of Bori. Did she ask anything in return? No, she knows when S  makes palong shak with bori, begun, aloo; a bowl full would go to her house, in return S waits for her salad varieties. Extremely health conscious that she is, her day starts religiously with visiting the gym. Yet she envies Priyanka's curves while I shamelessly gobbled four to five pakoras yesterday night without a bit of exercise in the past two months. The health conscious couple friends definitely find it fearful. 

By the way, I love being treated as a mother hen here by some dear ones. I still regret though for no one falling or feeling for me since my teens and hence destiny got me to live with such a tiger and non-foodie under one roof. Not for a single day he read my blog, neither do I watch CNBC with him, so no fights. My dream of having a small eatery of my own will remain a dream always. Coming to the reason of regret, I have promised to start with my walks and jogs from next Monday, though my friend says there is no toning possible without taking weights. Moreover the true heart Bengali cannot sacrifice her love for spicy and fatty food altogether. 

With the priceless gift of bori [dried lentil balls] from Ipsita, I made this Palong Shak er [spinach]  Ghonto with begun [eggplant] and aloo[potato]. The thing is that our son was fed one variety od spinach everyday, now that he is clear about what he wants, he says he does not want spinach, kebabs he may eat without knowing it's presence in it. This is a non-spicy, vegetarian dish that we usually have with rice. It also goes well with Indian breads. Let us prepare this Begun Aloo Bori diye Palong Shaker Ghonto together.

INGREDIENTS :

Spinach [palak] : 500gm
Potato : 1 medium
Eggplant [begun] : 2 small
Green Chilli : 2
Dry Red Chilli : 1
Panchphoron : 1/4tsp[an equal amount of fenugreek, fennel, cumin, ajmod / radhuni, nigella seeds mixed together]
Salt : As required
Turmeric : 1/2 tsp
Bori [sun dried lentil balls] : 7-8 [no need to break if they are small]
Oil : 3-4 tbsp

METHOD : 

Peel and cut the potatoes into small cubes. Wash. Cut the eggplants into cubes too. Rub salt and turmeric.

Chop the palak leaves finely and wash thoroughly.

Heat the oil in a wok. Fry the potatoes and egg plants separately and keep aside. Fry the dried lentil balls and keep aside. They may soak in oil, so add a spoon if required.

Temper the same oil with panchphoron and the halved dry red chilli.

Add the chopped palak, add salt and a little of turmeric. Stir and cover. A lot of water will release.

After 10 minutes uncover and add the fried potatoes and slitted green chillies. Stir and cover. 

Remove the cover after 5 minutes, the water should dry up by now. Add the fried eggplants and bori. Stir carefully, let cook for 1-2 minutes. Its done.

Have it hot and fresh with rice or chapati. We have it with steamed rice.