ECHOR ER BHARTA

IT IS 6:45PM LOCAL TIME; I HAVE NOT YET WRITTEN A LINE!

I was truly busy all day! In the morning, I went out to shop for the raw materials, but locally! Tomorrow, in the day time I would be cooking, evening I would go out for a chitchat! What I see is, the need for raw produce have lessened! Not that the son ate like a monster; my men in fact are not the kinds who want elaborate meals, they are meat or fish  with pilaf or bread kinds of! It is I who requires "kochur bharta to shojne datar chocchori" besides her meat & fish! I can have a vegetarian meal on this day given I get to cook with my choice of vegetables; I am not fond of beetroot, carrot, bell peppers, zucchini made veggies! I am a rustic Bengali in this matter! I am not really the one who wants to go to an eatery or restaurant for a Bengali meal! I have mental blocks if I am not having boneless fish outside, did they wash the blood well or cleaned the scales properly? How I rebelled when the parents requested me not to eat non-vegetarian meals whilst on travel! T too prefers dry, simple meals while on travel! We are seriously considering Airbnb stays given I cannot have burgers, this & that on each meal! I did enjoy cooking on our last visit, the son staying nearby was a motivation enough! But safety & security can be an issue with Airbnb, it would not be as good as the standard hotels! I wish to travel every three months but T is not that keen at this time, he has responsibilities & he is not fond of short tours! I just look forward to gateways even if for few days!

BACK HOME I DID SOME FRUITFUL JOB!

I updated some older blogposts, may not be always with new clicks but editing the old ones! That takes a lot of time! I ate my first meal post 5:30 pm, okay, I had a low sugar cookie around 4pm, was feeling hungry! Stale kunefe does not taste good, it is to be eaten fresh! Cristine made those sabudana fritters in an appe pan! The drink is "bel-doi er shorbot"!

Yes, it is wrong to have this amount of carb & starch but how can I rob myself of all the happiness? I try to bind myself within the limit of two meals! I could have got better results if I could finish off with the dinner by 7pm but I do not wish to eat before T! I have no idea about the son's schedule, what I saw is he follows no schedule! Mumma is yearning to go this summer; given he is refusing to come over! We would have if we could stay with him; else there is no point! We will pay a huge rent is one thing; we cannot spend as much time with the son even after the expenses is our main concern! The son is at far, I do not have the liberty to keep eating all day; it becomes a challenge at times; that too in a nation that is synonymous with food! A big food fair is going on in our neighbourhood mall!

I think it's of Japanese & Korean food; because I would not eat, I did not see minutely! Not that I always feel like eating these days; T prefers home cooked food! The son who would smile whenever mumma got him food & drinks might have limited his food intake, this thought hurts me! I wish to treat whoever known kids stay here without their parents! It feels a bit good to be able to update few older blogposts, editing the text, pictures; I should have done some homework before starting to blog! 2024 would mark ten years of my blogging; I may not have reached heights of fame nor my blog has got to be an exclusive one but it fills my heart with joy! Through my blog, I get to communicate with many people; virtual connections work good for introverts! The good part is that my family recipes are getting  stored at one place; also the various recipes I have learnt!

WHAT IS THIS ECHOR ER BHARTA?

Echor is raw jackfruit in Bengali; a family favourite vegetable we eat all through the summer & then comes it's ripe form! Many Bengalis may not prefer it's ripe avatar but a spicy treat with raw jackfruit is favourite with even a vegetable hater! It is a good alternative to meat & is called "gach patha", vegetarian meat among us! I cook spicy  to even light curries with tomato using young jackfruits! These days, they are sold skin off in the markets! In our childhood, how tough it was for our mothers to cut the hard cover of it, then dressing it! I believe its totally worth the effort! This vegan, gluten-free recipe I cooked using raw jackfruit & potato with a good dosage of onion & spice powders; can be a delightful side dish; I named it ECHOR ER BHARTA! It is just a little aberration from the regular curry, using normal Bengali kitchen ingredients!

INGREDIENTS :

RAW JACKFRUIT : 300-400 GM

POTATO : 1 LARGE

SLICED ONION : A SMALL BOWLFUL

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 3-4

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

DRY MANGO POWDER : 1/2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

BAY LEAF : 1

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

DRY RED CHILLI : 1 OR 2 HALVED

PROCEDURE :

We get cut raw jackfruit these days is true; yet there is much of dressing to do! We would cube them, throw off the yellow coverage of the seeds, the hard mid section! We would do it rubbing oil in both of our palms! The raw fruit releases a sticky gum like thing!

We would wash it well; also peel & cut half the potatoes! We would take both the washed vegetables in a pressure cooker; add half of the turmeric, some salt & enough water! We would close tight the lid & pressure cook at minimal heat unto 2-3 whistles & switch off the gas stove!

Once cool, we would open the lid, strain the water! We would use a masher or use our right hand palm to mash the boiled vegetables but not totally!

We would heat the oil in a wok & temper with the cumin seeds, dry red chillies, slitted green chillies, bay leaf! We would give a stir & add the washed sliced onion!

We would stir fry the onions until brown & add the mashed vegetables! We would add the cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, the rest of the turmeric powder! We would fold in well & keep stirring!

After 5-6 minutes of stir cooking at low heat, we would add the dry mango powder, adjust the salt! We would fold in well & stir for another 2-3 minutes!

We should be done! It goes well with both piping hot steamed rice & hot chapatis or paratha!