CHALKUMROR PUR BHAJA [BATTER FRIED STUFFED WINTER MELON]

Cristine is back to her second home; an extremely good news to be shared with all! This time however I have decided not to sit all day in my favourite corner, become more of couched potato! Yesterday, I wore a jumper at a couple friend's place, looked kind of over grown frog unable to hop! Only a saree is able to hide my defects but I feel lethargic to wear it.... Cristine says I have lost may be one or two kilos, I do not see it... the weight machine lies dormant under our bed! My knees are ready now to go for walk...

India visit means putting on more of weight.... I cannot sacrifice "nolen gurer sandesh"..... and this time I am planning to visit Manjilat's to taste Begum Manjilat's authentic food.... that she is the great great grand daughter of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is what attracting me towards her... else there is Shiraj, Aminia, Arsalan within 50-200 metres from our home there... Before I go to India, start cleaning up my Kolkata home, I had to settle my present home first.... That is our Cristine and I told her how exactly my green corner should be cleaned! I had earthworms kissing my feet while cleaning hedge last week... God! I am still alive!

It is a beautiful, sunny morning here but you never know when it will start raining! On my walks, I almost get into people's home to have a glimpse of their garden. The husband did water the tiny green corner in Cristine's absence, neither did he spare me saying that I am inviting dengue to this home. I have something to say in this regards before I share the recipe of this stuffed, batter fried Bengali fritter CHALKUMROR PUR BHAJA [BATTER FRIED STUFFED WINTER MELON].... Why in Kolkata has dengue become a terror in recent years?.... Without getting political, I would say not to blame the government alone, we should maintain personal hygiene ourselves.... this is what our mother has taught us in bygone years.... to keep our own corners squeaky clean.... Kolkata is getting dirtier.... India in fact, we do not value the need of cleanliness.... I feel sorry to say the locality with Indian majority in this island is messy.... I justify the local government's action of evaluating and restricting  who they give a permanent residency status... 

I laugh, smile, crack jokes but I am actually in a tight situation ..... I did not allow husband to apply for PR when we came in as I didn't want son to go for two years of rigorous military training after his 12th.... now that he wishes to flee from my lap too early..... I shout at husband each day.... why do you want to send him to a land where school going kids possess guns.... I have a mental illness everyone knows around, so all sorts of negative, weird thoughts concerning our boy is taking a toll on my health. I cook to de stress.... I cook often what our boy loves ... who knows what he gets to eat when he is away from home! It was beyond my imagination that he will eat CHALKUMROR PUR BHAJA [BATTER FRIED STUFFED WINTER MELON]!

This dish with ash gourd / winter melon, coconut-mustard-chilli paste, thick batter of rice-flour, gram-flour is from my side of family, it cooks a variety of rustic recipes..... Our mother's routine was like this..... getting up at 5am in morning... cooking a minimal "charaponar jhol aar shak" for the two office goers... the maternal grandfather, our father. Bhai was taken to school at 7am by father. Around 11am she took me to school and got my brother back... in between continued with her cooking, doing household chores with a part time help.... including a "muriwala" who used to come from Joynagar with urea free muri / puffed rice because the office goes had to have "muri-chirey narkol" in evening! In the afternoon, I had to come alone from school to the home stationed in a notorious neighbourhood! The mother did arrange a school bus for me, I used to puke everyday, so preferred walking... at times with friends .... 

In a middle class home with two kids ... it was a luxury to take a rickshaw everyday.... The mother's afternoons were busy taking brother to swimming, cricket, painting classes. He got medals in sports, now piling up unnecessary fat everywhere in his 5'6" frame.... too unhappy I am! Anyway, I saw the tired mother teaching brother, simultaneously doing CHALKUMROR PUR BHAJA [BATTER FRIED STUFFED WINTER MELON] or its likes for dinner.... before retiring to bed around 10:30pm.... 

I am nowhere near mother but picked up certain family recipes, habits from her! I will soon share a winter dal recipe, having which my father-in-law did say that his mother used to do it when he was young. No, he did not take this liberty often, no one wants to die an unnatural death, haha. The few years we stayed together, I served variety of breakfasts from idli, upma to noodles to luchi-porota! When separated for second time, they mostly had bread-butter-jam, eggs for breakfast! Now, there is a cook, we are relieved! I missed calling them yesterday.... have to today! 

The husband smokes a lot... it worries but no hiding the fact. He loves his beer and wine, more when in company, I love vodka & gin, more plateful of dal, rice and CHALKUMROR PUR BHAJA [BATTERFRIED STUFFED WINTER MELON] ... that my men would love this fritter was beyond my imagination! They had it besides their favourite meat curry! "Narkol-Muri" do I love having often!

Let us come to easy recipe now.... it is hassle free but requires patience... it takes time to cook it. Besides a dal, you can try my FULKOPI ALOOR DALNA too with it! For me, I only need an onion & green chilli for this kinds!

INGREDIENTS :

ASH GOURD / WINTER MELON / CHALKUMRO : 1STANDARD SIZE [YOUNG PREFERRED]
SHREDDED COCONUT : 4TBSP
BLACK MUSTARD SEED : 2-3TBSP
GREEN CHILLI : 4-5
RICE FLOUR : 5-6TBSP
GRAM FLOUR : 2-3TBSP
RED CHILLI POWDER : 1TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4tsp + 1/2TSP
SUGAR : 1/2TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
ICE CUBE : 2-3
OIL : 2-3TBSP

PROCEDURE :

It is recommended to use younger winter melon for this recipe! We will cook slow in way less oil.

Peel off skin of ash gourd, discard both ends. Cut in roundel of 3-4 inch of thickness.

Wash thoroughly, apply turmeric & salt or only salt. Rub well, keep aside for 1 to 1&1/2 hours covered. It softens them.

Soak black mustard seeds for 1/2 an hour after washing them taken in strainer.

Grind to paste adding salt, green chillies, 2-3 ice-cubes.

Transfer to bowl, add shredded coconut, 1/4tsp turmeric powder. Mix well.

Discard marinade from winter melon roundels. Take one piece. Top it with stuffing of black mustard-chilli-coconut paste. Place another roundel atop it.

For batter, take rice flour, gram flour together. Add water little by little to prepare a paste like batter. Add sugar, salt, 1/2tsp turmeric, red chilli powder. Mix well.

Keep aside for 5-6 minutes before we start coating & frying stuffed winter melon pieces.

Heat oil in pan, not to smoking point. Coat winter melon pieces well but it should not be thickly coated. The gourd pieces have to cook well in slow heat.

Place them gently in heated oil. Slow cook at minimal heat, do not hurry, the stuffing may spill. Do not worry either if they spill a bit!

Cover cook for about 20-25 minutes for one side to be done. Turn over carefully using 2 spoons. Cover cook for another 20 minutes until done.

Trust me you get soft ash gourd pieces with a yum stuffing, crisp outer coverage! Have it with rice or just like that!