KUMRO KHOSHAR BHARTA

I HAVE NOT BLOGGED ABOUT A BENGALI RECIPE FOR LONG!

There is no specific reason or may be there is; I wish to catch up with the people as far as those in Siberia may be! I am not a versatile cook yet I try to be at par! Just that I do not believe in getting stuck within Bengal; that I am stringently against those who cannot look beyond their own state because I think these people having such mindset has a retarded growth rate! Our deceased father was not fond of Bollywood & popular Hindi Music is true but never stopped us from loving Bollywood! He loved eating out chicken & mutton kebab & curries with naan bread & tandoori roti but not the homely Bengali chicken! If eating in a restaurant, the food of northern & central India was a must for him, if ordered at home, he ate one or two pieces of Pizza as a snack! You cannot just tag him a typical Bengali in a closet, I would beg to deny! In his younger days, he watched a lot of Hollywood movies, listened to western music[a particular genre] & took interest in International Sports until his death! I do not know what stopped the YMCA member to upgrade his living standard! Actually, in a household, you are to dream together to take life further upwardly; if the maximum of one's body & soul is stuck in the family one is born in; things get confusing in the present home! It would be wrong of me to say however that we strayed or experienced neglect & suffered from lovelessness! In fact, we were overly protected, we never learnt to be independent! Anyway, I settled on my mind how I want my family to be run! All said and done, for the past few years, I have developed an immense love for the most rustic family kind of Bengali Food! Did I ever imagine I would enjoy bitter gourd, even neem leaves in this lifetime?

I WAS RUNNING LATE TODAY!

Running late to the office? Nah, do not make me feel ashamed further asking this, I already feel a kind of guilt! But honestly, I had the best eighteen years spent with our son; until when he decided to flee from Mumma's lap! I wished to know if he equally enjoyed or felt asphyxiated; given mumma is way bit nagging! Mumma looks back, recounts and strongly feels she could have organised things in a better manner for him, looked after his studies better! Then, it is also true it is impossible to make the son & T listen to anyone; they would only listen to themselves! Mumma got worried looking at his thinner self in her recent visit; I doubt if he eats in time! My lunch time too fluctuates! Today, I was correcting few pictures existing in the blog, I may not be able to correct them all in this lifetime it seems! This is the case with aimless, disorganised people like me! I went for a swim around 3:50 pm & had my lunch at 4:40 pm! I swam for less time today!

I am too fond of cabbage preparations; be it with rice & dal or with ruti-porota! Again I have asked Cristine to prepare some spicy semolina appe to go with my tea or coffee! I think I am more fond of tea! In the son's present city of stay, I saw only coffee shops! Is tea only an Asian & British thing? I do not conclude my statements, I research & read less! 

WHAT IS THIS KUMRO KHOSHAR BHARTA?

Although people of East Bengal origin make "bharta" dishes with almost all vegetables, my family ate more of vegetable boils; bharta / spiced mishmash happened too! This  particular bharta with the pumpkin skin KUMRO KHOSHAR BHARTA is not a family recipe, I picked up the recipe from someone else's space in Facebook! I clicked the pictures of this vegan, gluten-free vegetable paste recipe back in 2020, today I decided to blog about it! Give me any bharta or veg boil & mash, I would love it with some steamed rice or even chapati! It requires few ingredients to prepare, is rustic & suits me given I hardly get my choice of fish varieties here! Also, Cristine made semolina appe tastes good!

INGREDIENTS : 

PUMPKIN SKIN : A BOWLFUL

GARLIC CLOVE : 2

GREEN CHILLI : 2

SLICED ONION : 1 MEDIUM TEA CUP

DRY RED CHILLI : 2

BAYLEAF : 1

NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY : 1/4 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4 TSP

OIL : 3-4 TBSP [I USE MUSTARD OIL]

PROCEDURE :

We would wash & cut small the peels of the ripened pumpkin! We would wash the green chillies & the garlic clove! We would blend all the three together adding a little of water if only required!

We would temper the oil with the nigella seeds, halved dry red chillies & a bayleaf! We would give a stir & add the peeled, sliced & washed onion to the wok!

Once the sliced onions turn brown, we would add the pumpkin skin paste to it!

We would continuously stir cook it at low to minimal heat adding the turmeric & salt!

I forgot to click the last step! In about 8-10 minutes of stir cooking at low to minimal heat, it would dry up, come out off the wok surface, which means it is ready to be eaten with plain steamed rice or chapati!