HALENCHA DIYE SHUKTO

I was thinking of sharing a healthy dish sooner, I got determined to share it today after the news of a brother like friend's husband getting admitted to the hospital came in. By Saturday afternoon, I decided to blog on this healthy curry with raw papaya, raw banana and water cress. I remember, this curry was quite common at our home, specially when anyone in the family suffered from stomach ailments. This definitely has healing properties. I was craving for this curry for a long time but did not know that water cress so popular throughout the island is our "halencha." It is only about two months that I came to know that water cress is our very own ingredient for a healthy curry from a blogger friend. In all of the Kolkata wet markets, water cress is sold, I do not know why I could not recognise it after stepping into the island. I even had water cress in meat soups several times in food courts, yet could not. There are so many small details of a Bengali kitchen that got buried in the rubbles of memory, they are coming up in fragments these days, will if your visiting mother is here. Its another one and half week and then comes a Kolkata tour, thereafter every one will be back to the grind. I do not do anything for my mother, my brother does. It is for him that she does not have to live alone at this stage of life..... he sacrificed by not buying a flat in and around Kolkata and shift leaving the mother alone in Barrackpore. Financially, I may be a little abler than him but he does more, may be because I do not earn so I cannot call myself abler but just a dependent. My husband is nice, helpful but Indian families cannot accept the son-in-law as a son, neither they ask for any help from the son-in-law if not urgently required. Recently, certain incidents around is causing irritation in me, I am too upset. I am not in the habit of poking my flat nose everywhere, all my grievances finds place in this small space. I watch people taking advantage, I can see one who does the duty has to shoulder more of it with each passing day, while the abler of the two does not.... financially or otherwise. I am really getting pissed of it these days, unable to keep in place my "good girl" image anymore. Given this, there is no better day than today to share the recipe of this coolant, vegetarian curry, the non spicy HALENCHA DIYE SHUKTO. I may not remain as good as in the eyes of some anymore, I had to poke into some family matters, may be in vain but I still did because I do not see a fair deal in a business that is going on. Although my brother had this curry sitting with me, it is not his favourite or my men's.... they just eat it. Does that prove anything? I will always support my brother or my men when situation demands, I have always protected my brother from unnecessary burdens, would want a hassle free life for him though he has a number of flaws in him, my brother is meek after all .....   he should take responsibilities does not mean that all is his concern and the rest manage to skip it tactfully..... look at me how selfish I am. I again believe it firmer.... "jor jar, muluk tar".... one who can shout, abuse, rule over the meek and weak, the world belongs to them.

I am not really in a good mood since yesterday afternoon, neither can be a part of cat fights. So better I try to concentrate on the blog. That too I cannot do in peace, the mother has so much to talk about. I scold her at times but it aches inside. While I see other elderly women being at rest, my mother-in-law is in total rest for more than 20 years now, my mother is still struggling with two part-time helps. She is underweight, increased a bit here... about three kilograms. I do not blame the brother, he did his bit of staying true to his mother.... the daughter-in-law does bear her medical expenses but gets everything ready on the table. I never ever had this liberty to do what I wish to from the second day of marriage, abusing my parents was an everyday affair done guilt free, going to visit my parents required a permission. I am however disliking "both the extremes" I see in my family. Again, the "meeks" are always at the receiving end, wrongly high tempered beings rule. I will still maintain a moderately formal relation within and outside the family because my nature does not allow me to be  otherwise. Anyway, let me take the pleasure of sharing a healthy, authentic family recipe with raw banana, raw papaya and watercress HALENCHA DIYE SHUKTO that uses almost no spices.

INGREDIENTS :

WATER CRESS : A BUNCH
RAW BANANA : 1STANDARD SIZED
RAW PAPAYA : 1/2OF A MEDIUM SIZED
AJMOD / RADHUNI : 1/4TSP [WIKI says radhuni is dried fruit of Trachyspermum Roxburghianum, a flowering plant; smells like parsley, tastes like celery. Honestly, until I had a blog, I did not require to know what radhuni is called outside my family; some called it wild celery seed, I took it, now WIKI says it is this]
BAY LEAF : 1
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
MILK : 2TBSP [SKIP IN CASE YOU ARE EXPERIENCING STOMACH UPSET]
OIL : 1TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Peel off the skin and inner layer of the raw papaya, cut into smaller cubes.

Peel off the skin of the raw banana, cut into smaller cubes.

Chop roughly the watercress discarding the root.

Wash all the vegetables separately. Apply very little salt and turmeric in each one of them.

Heat 1tbsp oil in a wok, temper with  radhuni and a bay leaf.

Add the marinated papaya first, stir and cover cook at the lowest heat for 4-5 minutes.

Open cover and add the raw banana, give a stir and cover cook at the lowest heat for 6-7 minutes. Check whether they get burnt or not.

Add the chopped and marinated water cress. Fold in all well, add 2 medium cups of water and cover cook at the lowest heat for 7-8 minutes.

Open cover, add the milk and adjust the salt. At this stage, you can add a little of salt and 2-3 lime leaves if you wish to. Cook at low for another minute or two.

We are done, enjoy with steamed rice.