I DO NOT KNOW WHY EATING SOMETHING AFTER A BRISK WALK BECAME A RITUAL FOR ME!
I do this even if a lunch platter is waiting for me at home. Like today, I am out of home since the morning 10 am. I had to do some shopping, tomorrow too I would go to the Indian Market! Once done, it was 12 pm, I called Cristine at the traffic junction, handed over the trolley to her and went for a walk without my bag pack, water bottle, wet wipe tissues and my headphone. Yet I covered a good distance!
If you look at my step length and pace, it is not even a brisk walk, thereafter having French Toast with Tea was not a good thing, also it was not my lunch! On my walk, I tore some lemon leaves and the branch of a flowering plant from the roadside, not from anyone's property! This mental state of mine may seem alarming to others, it is love for food! Food transpires happiness within me since I got to my senses! Now that I fear for the son's safety all the time and that T is busy in his job; and that I am not in the habit of partying with friends; roaming around the island and eating this and that is my favourite pastime! This exercise helps me stay off the boredom and tension! You are also silly and stupid if you expect the bread winner to ignore work and sing lullaby for you! Back home, within two hours, I had a late lunch with the sour fish curry, lentils and bitter gourd-mixed vegetables, boiled brown rice-red quinoa mix!
Yet, I do not mind going public with my self or selfies, whatever! Yesterday's Pink tee & last Monday's Blue one were from Bossini bought last Friday, they are too thick & I felt sick yesterday as I walk in the day time! Cristine liked them and took! I must wear what gives me comfort! Light cotton wear gets me the ultimate comfort!
And today, I crossed passed the Ramakrishnan Mission after few months. Its near my home, just that I was not taking that route for long! I can take that route everyday, but whats the point? I would not go inside the temple wearing sports wear while sweating, without a shower! Modernity is good, but I am old school enough to get off when years back I saw someone coordinated a tank top with a sari while visiting a temple, in Kolkata. I felt the spouse and the veterans present could have requested not to! It is not about right or wrong always, it is about the culture we grew up in, respecting it! T never interferes in my life but does not like it if I wear anything too high above my knee or way below my shoulders! It was a good day until now and things would keep me busy until Sunday which is good for me. A friendly family is leaving the island for the time being, to treat them, I would not mind a working Sunday!
WHAT IS THIS MACH ER PUR BHORA POTOL!
Potol is Pointed Gourd. Stuffed Pointed Gourd, a Bengali delicacy that was not done often in our home. Even when it was done, what was commonly used for the stuffing was either smaller prawns or coconut and chilli-mustard paste. Although, my brother has seafood allergy, prawn has always remained a star ingredient in our mother's kitchen, also the grandmother's. In fact, the entire family branch perhaps used smaller prawns in various vegetable dishes. I say this from my memory of travels to the relatives' homes. The paternal grandparents, uncles, aunts stayed far off; yet the family recipes are same; indigenous ingredients came from Assam, even from Tripura to our home in DumDum, then to Barrackpore until few years back! About this MACH ER PUR BHORA POTOL, i.e. boneless fish stuffed pointed gourd; I heard from a co-blogger who blogs at Delicious Addiction, few years back, she told me that her family does the stuffing with Bengal Carp! For my fish chop, kofta, stuffing; I absolutely do not take the hardship to debone a rui / katla! I use the fish fillets readily available. Cooking this non-vegetarian, Bengali recipe was an impromptu decision taken on 2nd October, 2021! I was cooking MACH PATURI; fish wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on stovetop! I was to update an older blogpost! What to do with the extra cuts from the shaped fish pieces and the excess of the chilli-mustard-coconut paste? I had some extra pointed gourds after doing a delivery and made this. I totally forgot to click the stepwise pictures! Oh God! Help me get engaged with what I like, I was never a light hearted person, I get myself involved in the happenings around, over think, get heavy hearted! I feel sick specially when we as a society fail someone who needed some guidance to get back in track! We cannot badmouth anyone until one becomes murderous, does wrong! Until then, it is our fault if we have pushed someone to the edge!
Cristine is wearing a gold ring similar to mine, only that she bought it with her own earning! My brother's wife too does a lot with her own earning, and knows much of outdoor works, from banking to the medical!
INGREDIENTS :
POINTED GOURD : 5-6
BONELESS FISH FILLET : 250GM
POTATO : 1 STANDARD SIZED
CHOPPED ONION : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP
MINCED GARLIC : 1 TSP
MINCED GINGER : 1/2 TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
SUGAR : 1/2 TSP [OPTIONAL]
LEMON JUICE : 2 TBSP
NIGELLA SEED : 2-3 PINCH
BLACK MUSTARD SEED : 1 TBSP
SHREDDED COCONUT : 2 TBSP
GREEN CHILLI : 3-4
OIL : 5-6 TBSP
PROCEDURE :
I had cut the Sutchi / Basa / Dory fish fillets squared shaped for another recipe. I used the edges for this recipe!
We would peel the potato, wash & boil in water! We would boil the fish too separately!
We would soak the mustard seeds in water for an hour, drain & prepare a paste along with the green chillies, shredded coconut, a bit of salt and ice-cubes; the last two do not allow the paste get bitter!
We would scrap the flesh and seeds with the back of a spoon or with the tip of a knife making a hole at one end. We would wash them again!
We are to prepare a paste of the flesh & seeds of the vegetable!
We would marinate the pointed gourd with salt and turmeric for some 15-16 minutes!
Then we are to heat the oil in a wok and fry the pointed gourds well! We have to take them out of the wok!
We would temper the remaining oil with the nigella seeds, add the minced garlic, ginger and onion; fry until brown!
We would add the seeds and flesh paste, the boiled, mashed potato and fish; mustard-chilli-coconut paste, salt if required, a little of sugar, stir cook at low heat for 8-10 minutes.
We are to add the lemon juice , stir cook for a minute and take down!
Once the filling cooled; Cristine stuffed the pointed gourds with the filling!
I prefer having it with rice without the added gravy. It would go pretty well with roti-prata! I cooked Kali Dal and Bandhakopir Ghonto also on that day!
It looks different, also its ingredients look diferent too. But we cook stuffed gourd and eggplant (in Turkish: Karniyarik) alot in summer times.
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