Well, it took me about seven months to decide whether to blog about this combo recipe of LOTI SHUTKI O PALONG ER DAL or not. I thought lets make it a combo recipe share... the spinach dal / dal palak / palong er dal & taro stolon & dried Bombay Duck / loti shutki! Which one would get more likes? Let us be honest! I do not take time to distance myself from any kind of falsehood... it makes me feel sick.... I am a fool I know; if people act in a way giving me the feel that I am a total nut, they definitely are wrong! One need to be genuine in whatever they do. In the recent past few such behaviours have hurt me way too much ..... It hurts to see people going down too low in my eyes! I cannot retaliate and I being not in the habit of catching people red handed does not mean you hold the same place in my heart forever.... I love and respect genuinely nice people, else I would not have been living with a hot furnace kind of a person for over 20 years now.
Be yourself, unnecessary lies are unwelcome to me because I will never entertain it. I am that kind of a person who will not lie unless required.... I am soft but have the guts to say on your face .... yes... I did not respond to your this or that for this reason or there may not be any reason at all. I am not accommodative, hence my circle is shrinking.... To the people around me.... remember I do not seek any explanation from you for your actions... you need not lie to keep your image in place... Though I am not a person with deep insight .... I can sense and catch your lies... even if I do not wish to... I get distanced automatically never to be the same again... thats me! I have the elements of nature with me which never makes me feel lonely!
There is a heavy downpour at the moment. I wish to finish off with the post as soon as possible and be with them. Actually our Cristine takes more care of my micro mini garden. Mumma is busy with her blog and living certain dreams with her son! The son got a bit serious it seems.... This home is in a confused state now.... the son wants to do a double major in political science and journalism in a good university of that bahargaon.... the father wants him to study finance and mumma wants him to study English at Oxbridge or in a similar level university!
There is more to it... the father at this home is terrorising me saying "S our son will be a journo and go to cover wars.... he will not have any permanent country of residence ... this... that!" I break down and say... if you wish me to die... make it clear ... do not slow poison... please!So, you see it is necessary to celebrate "my" tastebud as much as I can before I die .... say with this LOTI SHUTKI O PALONG ER DAL because the men at this home may not help me to live longer neither my tongue will. The diabetic self is continuously having "malpoa to kolar bora" since Sunday! My tagline... "I love food!"..... I will not go into the details of the difference between a stolon and a stem... I myself is confused. We call it Kochur Loti .... only today I felt that a translation is required!
The above is called Kochur loti / Taro stolon! For the spinach lentil curry / dal palak .... I did not follow the authentic Punjabi recipe but did it my own way.... so you can call it Palonger Dal in a Bengali Kitchen. A stepwise picture had to be there at least for the loti shutki but I did not click any... so sorry for that my readers!
My Strawberry Halwa recipe got updated with new pictures.... do click the below heading / link for recipe!
STRAWBERRY HALWA
INGREDIENTS : [for the Loti Shutki]
Kochur Loti / Taro Stolon : 400-500gm
Dried Bombay Duck / Loitta Shutki : 6-8
Sliced Onion : 2medium cup [of two big onions... de skin, cut two ends, wash, slice]
Crushed Garlic : 4-5tbsp [12-15 of garlic cloves... de skin, wash, crush]
Nigella Seed / Kalonji / Kalojeerey : 1/4tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 2tbsp [adjust yours]
Slitted Green Chilli : 6-7 [choose yours]
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As Required
Oil : 50ml or 7-8tbsp [We use mustard oil and generously for this]
INGREDIENTS : [for the Palong Er Dal]
Split Moong Bean : 1 medium cup
Spinach : A bunch.... may be weighing 250gm
Sliced Onion : 1medium cup [of 2 medium sized]
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp +1/2tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Cumin Powder : 1tsp
Coriander Powder : 1tsp
Garam Masala Powder : 1tsp
Asafoetida : 2pinch
Cumin Seed : 1/4tsp
Dry Red Chilli : 2halved
Slitted Green Chilli : 2
Bayleaf : 1
Lemon Juice : 2tbsp
Oil : 2tbsp
PROCEDURE :
Let us cook the LOTI SHUTKI / DRIED BOMBAY DUCK WITH TARO STOLON at first!
We will discard the head and tail of the dried Bombay Duck fish / Bombil at first. Then we will cut them into smaller pieces, wash & soak in hot water!
Discard the two ends of the taro stolon. Cut each in finger length and carefully take out thinly the fibre [ash charanor ingriji money porchey na].... do it wearing gloves... a must!
Wash thoroughly under running water, wearing the gloves! Add some water & salt, put for boil!
Boil for 7-8 minutes & take down, discard the water & wash again!
Heat the oil in a wok and temper with the nigella seeds and add the washed onion slices! Fry them golden brown & add the garlic paste.
Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and the slitted green chillies. Fold in well.
Add the dried bombil pieces discarding the water. Break them roughly with the tip of your ladle... they are soft already.
Cover cook at low heat for 12-15 minutes. We need to uncover and stir every 3-4 minutes. If required, we can add a small cup of water too. Once the fish is cooked 80-90%, add the taro stolons discarding the marinade. Gently fold in and cover.
Let cook and we will check until the stems turn soft and little mashy.
Seek apology from your neighbours before sitting with your rice plate. The smell is heavenly for us who love dried fish.... not for those who cannot tolerate.
For the PALONG ER DAL / SPINACH LENTIL CURRY, we will roughly chop the spinach / palong shaak / palak discarding the root end, wash them under running water taking in a colander
We would soak them in hot water for 15 minutes and drain.
We would ry roast the moong dal for 5 minutes. Pressure cook at lowest heat up to 1 or 2 whistles adding water, salt as required and 1/2tsp turmeric powder.
Once cool, we would remove the cover.
We would heat the oil in a wok and temper with asafoetida, cumin seeds, dry red chillies & add the sliced onion and fry till brown.
We would add the blanched spinach. Fold in well. Stir for 2 minutes and add all the powdered spices except the garam masala powder. Stir for a minute.
We would add the dal now and cover cook at medium to low heat for 5 minutes. We would open the cover and add the garam masala powder, lemon juice and slitted green chillies. Adjust the salt. Let us boil for 2 minutes. We are done.
The Palong er Dal is to be enjoyed with either plain rice, cumin rice or chapati / paratha!
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