TANGRA MACH ALOO EGGPLANT CURRY

 FOR LONG I DID NOT BLOG ABOUT A HOMELY BENGALI RECIPE!

I am craving to trust me, just not happening. These days, I do not have rice meals outside of home. I prefer having rice with family Bengali dishes. I have a couple of recipes to share from the family kitchen. What stops me may be the brother and his nephew's, our son's apathy towards rustic, homely food, be it Bengali or otherwise. The man would eat what appeals his tastebuds, he has no interest in food. My two sisters, the father-in-law, brother-in-law would eat normal Bengali Food. One of the two sisters, my brother's wife cooks well Dalia Khichuri, Chana Curry, I like. The mother-in-law is interested in big fleshy fish, hates vegetables, has no interest in the huge repertoire of rustic Bengali vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. If you want to have them, visit my mother's, the late maternal grandmother's, the father's side of the family living in various parts of Assam & Nadia district of West Bengal. My side of the family would get you unique recipes with "kharkol Pata, Shapla, Shaluk, Ol er Data, a variety of greens"!

I FEEL IRRITATED WHEN BENGALI FOOD IS IDENTIFIED WITH BIRYANI, MAHI POLAO, CHINGRIR MALAIKARI THESE DAYS!

It is such a dishonour to our granny's kitchen, the huge treasure trove of recipes they got from the other side of Bengal. I do not believe the original residents of West Bengal ate big prawns, bhetki fish, luchi, mohon bhog regular, that potato was the only vegetable they ate. My family doesn't consider potato a vegetable, its used as an enhancer in curries, in mixed vegetable dishes. What got pathetic with me is the unavailability of my kind of fresh sweet water fish in this island. I used to be a fish lover, I want supply of smaller varieties of sweet water fish, fresh, live. I have no interest in sea fish varieties. What to do? I would make fritters instead of fish curries with my rice plate.

I love fries & fritters / bhajabhuji / snacks with my tea / coffee or rice and dal.

WHAT IS TANGRA FISH ALOO EGGPLANT CURRY?

I rarely get this small fish variety fresh in this island's wet markets. When I see, I buy though it is difficult to cut the friskers with scissors, knives. The Bengali shops stock frozen fish packets, I do not buy except few varieties. On days I get my choice of sweet water / fresh water fish in the market, I would buy, clean, cut them, cook a choice of fish curry like this TANGRA MACH ALOO EGGPLANT CURRY. This non-vegetarian, gluten-free fish curry with rice would I enjoy having. 

Few other regular Bengali Recipes from the blog are FULKOPIR DATA PATA DIYE BHETKI, CABBAGE FRITTERS / BADHAKOPIR BORA, CHOLA NARKOL DIYE KOCHU SHAAKER GHONTO, MISHTI CHIREY BHAJA

INGREDIENTS : 

TANGRA MACH [SMALL FRESH WATER CAT FISH VARIETY] : 300-400 GM

POTATO : 1

EGGPLANT [SMALL] : 2

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 2

NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY / KALONJI : 1/4 TSP

BAYLEAF : 1

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Ask your vendor to clean the stomach of each fish, cut the friskers, tail end. This fish does not have scales. Wash them few times. Marinate with salt, turmeric.

Cut the potato, eggplants, lengthwise, thin. We need not peel the skin of the potato. Wash them, marinate with salt and turmeric.

Prepare a spice paste mixing together the remaining turmeric powder + red chilli powder + cumin powder + coriander powder + required amount of salt + 1 tbsp water.

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the potatoes, eggplants, Tangra fish, each variety  in batches, take out.

Temper the remaining oil with the bayleaf and nigella seeds. Give a stir, add the spice paste. Stir cook at low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 coffee mug of water.

Bring the gravy to boil, add the fried potatoes and fried fish, also the washed & slitted green chillies. 

Simmer at low heat for 5-6 minutes, covered. 2-3 minutes before taking down, add the fried eggplants. Stir, take down!

Enjoy with steamed hot rice. We also had tomato-red lentils, mutton curry, cabbage-potato sabzi Bengali style on that day.

BENGALI KHARKOL PATA RECIPES

SATISFACTION IS STARTING TO LOVE YOUR FAMILY'S RUSTIC RECIPES AT A RIPE AGE!

I started to love having the rustic family recipes at a ripe age may be because I relocated abroad. Post marriage when I learnt to cook, I cooked particularly Bengali Food. The son grew up having "shaak to patla macher jhol". The home cooked foreign dishes he ate were fish and chicken stew. In those days, I did not cook fancy stuffs except for chilli chicken and makhani matar paneer. To have party food, we frequented the Kolkata restaurants. Even after relocating here, we would eat out. Gradually, I started cooking from different cuisines, the man not a foodie prefer home cooked food, the only compliment he gives me. Once grown up, the son did not want to go out with us often, he preferred ordering food with his pocket money. Once he left home, I thought the two of us would go out for food ventures every weekend but the man is actually married to the television set and classy bottles, I am secondary. Whatever the situation is, I thoroughly enjoy cooking, it is never a compulsion. 

MY EATING ORDER CHANGED THIS MORNING!

For the last four years, I do intermittent fasting, Monday to Friday. My blood sugar level got controlled but my hanging belly, fat arms and thighs continue to thrive. I cannot control portion after an eighteen hours of fasting, neither can workout in beast mode. I am getting heavily bloated. Today, I took a break and let myself be. I had my morning tea with a slice of bread spread with ghee with a sprinkle of brown sugar.

I detest drinking tea or coffee without anything on the side. Here is my lunch bowl, "samo rice khichuri". 

I need to eat easily digestible food. Whenever there is a special prayer at home, I consume an excess of sugary, deep fried stuffs, specifically post Janmashtami. I want to have dinner together with the man, hence eat around 10 pm, that isn't right. While taking a heavenly bite at the ghee toast, I noticed my Hibiscus plants fetched five flowers today.

I used to enjoy my tea and coffee sessions, I hardly prepare my favourites nimki, malpoa now-a-days. In the midst of such heart burn, the watermelon popsicle gets me some pleasure.

WHAT IS BENGALI KHARKOL PATA RECIPES?

These recipes I cooked and clicked back in 2021-22, blogging about them got delayed. I thought let me share three recipes in a single blogpost. Bringing together all of the pictures was necessary, they lay scattered. Later we can again share them separately. Kharkol Pata is the leaf of a specific variety of yam / Taro, some call it Arum leaves. Seriously, we did not require to know it's English name all this while. I / We love it's Bharta, hence I planted them on my tiny hedge, they grow anywhere. Recently I uprooted them because they spread to other pots. May be later I would plant them again. Three recipes with Kharkol Pata has been compiled under the title BENGALI KHARKOL PATA RECIPES. One recipe is vegan and gluten-free, a bharta made of Nigella Seeds & Arum leaves, one is done with prawns and Arum leaves, the other is done with dried Bombay Duck fish and Arum leaves. The first of the three recipes is vegan, all of them are gluten-free.

Another Kharkol / Ghatkol Pata recipe from the Blog is this; KHARKOL PATA BATA

KHARKOL  PATA O KALOJEEREY BHORTA 

INGREDIENTS :

ARUM LEAF / KHARKOL PATA : A BUNCH

NIGELLA SEED / KALO JEERE : 1 TSP

ONION : 2 

GREEN CHILLI : 2-3

GARLIC CLOVE : 3-4

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4 TSP

BAYLEAF : 1

DRY RED CHILLI : 1

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Do not pick the plants from the roots, just cut halfway from the stems. The plants regrow. The leaves with stems are sold in the Bengali markets. 

Wash the leaves thoroughly and dry roast them for 3-4 minutes. We would wash and strain the nigella seeds too. 

We would peel and wash the onions, garlic, also the green chillies. We would blend together everything else except the oil, salt, turmeric powder, bayleaf and the dry red chilli.

We would heat the oil in a wok, temper with a pinch or two of nigella seeds, bayleaf and dry red chilli. 

We would add the green paste, turmeric powder, salt, stir-cook for 4-5 minutes at low heat. 

Enjoy it with peeping hot steamed rice.

KHARKOL PATA O LOTEY SHUTKIR BHORTA

INGREDIENTS :

ARUM LEAF : A BUNCH

DRIED BOMBAY DUCK FISH : 2-3

SLICED ONION : 3-4 TBSP

 GARLIC PASTE : 1 TBSP

GREEN CHILLI : 4-5

DRY RED CHILLI : 1

BAYLEAF : 1

NIGELLA SEED : 2 PINCHES

DRY RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

OIL : 2-3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We would chop off the arum leaves midway from the stem leaving the roots, wash them thoroughly and roast taken in a wok for 3-4 minutes.

We would discard the heads and tails of the dried fish, cut into small pieces.

We would wash the fish pieces several times and soak in hot water for sometime, then drain the water.

We would heat the oil in a wok, temper it with the nigella seeds, dry red chilli and the bay leaf. 

We would add the garlic paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.

We would prepare a paste with the yam leaves and green chillies, add to the wok, stir cook for a minute or two.

Thereafter, we would add the dried fish pieces, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder. We would stir and cover it, let cook at low heat. 

After 6-7 minutes, we would remove the cover and stir cook it at low heat until it semi-dries.

Enjoy it with hot steamed rice.

KHARKOL PATA O CHINGRIR BHORTA

INGREDIENTS :

ARUM LEAF : A BUNCH

SMALL PRAWN : 8-10

SLICED ONION : 2-3 TBSP

GARLIC PASTE : 1 TBSP

GREEN CHILLI : 4-5

NIGELLA SEED : A PINCH OR TWO

BAYLEAF : 1

DRY RED CHILLI : 1

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

TAMARIND JUICE : 2 TBSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Clean, de-vein, de-shell totally the prawns. Wash them and marinate with salt and turmeric.

Discard the root end of the Arum leaves, wash them and roast taken in a wok. 

If you do not dry roast but paste directly, also not growing them at home; you have to use tamarind juice to remain safe, yam is known to cause us itching.

Paste together the chopped leaves, green chillies. 

Heat the oil in a wok, temper with the bayleaf, dry red chilli, nigella seeds.

Add sliced onion, garlic paste, salt, turmeric; stir cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the prawns discarding the marinade. Stir cook at low heat for 3-4 minutes, add the green paste and stir cook for 5-6 minutes.

Add the tamarind juice, adjust the salt if required, stir cook for 2 minutes. We are done.

 

I can have plateful of rice with each of these pastes / bhartas. Even my not much of a Bengali men would eat these, Cristine too, only says "such hot". Remember, you are to eat a little of the paste at a time with double the amount of rice.

 

REGULAR BENGALI RECIPES

SOME DAYS I HAVE TO RISE ABOVE MY MENTAL BLOCK AND DECIDE TO BLOG ABOUT THE RUSTIC VEGETARIAN DISHES!

I do have a mental block with regards to the recipe that would go to the blog, it has to be something the son and the man would want to have. This however deviates me from the primary motive of blogging about the Family Bengali Recipes or just Bengali Recipes. There is another reason why I do not want to call myself a Bengali Food Blogger; I became friends with people from different parts of the world; I do not wish to confine myself to my community, I am against grouping. The men are not typical Bengali, they are cosmopolitan, be it food or their way of life. Coming to that mental block, you see I am using "Poppins" font today, those who know us would understand this. My question is are the duo at this home equally bothered about me?

YESTERDAY, I SUCCESSFULLY MADE SATTU PARATHA!

After two failed attempts at Bread Gulab Jamun  and a  Microwave made Mutton Rice, that success was a necessity for a sound sleep. I know only few things to do, that too if I do not do well how would I survive?

We did enjoy the mutton rice but the mutton and the rice seemed hard to me. Cristine ate it sometime back and says, "ma'am it tasted such good, why did you delete the stepwise pictures?" I just wish to use a better quality of mutton on bone! When you do not get a satisfactory result after a lot of effort, you feel exhausted, yet I went ahead with the spiced roasted gram flour stuffed flatbreads. After few attempts, last night I got them right. I loved my meal, the man too I believe. He is diplomatic, he loves both biryani kind of meals and handmade breads. He would not comment if both are not made equally good. Our mother never made sattu stuffed paratha, the grandma never knew about it. We ate sattu / chatu with puffed rice, banana, sugar. In the recent years, I have embraced dosa, different stuffed paratha kind of stuffs.

WHAT ARE THESE BENGALI RECIPES ACTUALLY; SHOJNE DATAR TORKARI, MAAN KOCHU BATA, KOLMI SHAAK BHAJA, SHOJNE DATAR JHOL?

The above mentioned are the homely Bengali regular vegetarian dishes, they are vegan and gluten-free too. Today, I wished to blog about a couple of the vegetarian recipes I grew up having. I never did want them in my life, I was force fed. Only in the recent years I have started enjoying the vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free recipes that I have seen being cooked in the family, at friends' or at the relatives' homes. I do enjoy recipes from other cuisines. Let us cook the Family recipes all of which REGULAR BENGALI RECIPES like the SHOJNE DATAR TORKARI, MAAN KOCHU BATA, KOLMI SHAAK BHAJA, SHOJNE DATAR JHOL. The other Bengali Homes would have more or less the same recipes for these.

SHOJNE DATAR TORKARI

INGREDIENTS :

DRUMSTICK : 2-3

PUMPKIN : 1/2 OF A SMALL SIZED

POTATO : 1

DRY RED CHILLI : 2

GREEN CHILLI : 1

NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY : 1/4 TSP

BAYLEAF : 1

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1/2 TSP

OIL : 2 TSP

PROCEDURE :

This vegan, gluten-free, Bengali regular vegetables dish can use a variety of vegetables. I have used only the pumpkin, potato and drumsticks. I think I was running out of the eggplants on the day I cooked it.

Thinly take out the skin of the drumsticks discarding the two ends of each of the sticks. Cut them lengthwise and wash.

Wash the potato well, we need not peel it! Cut it into 8 pieces.

Peel off the pumpkin and cube as much as required, like 8-9 pieces.

Wash all of the vegetables again, drain the water.

Marinate the vegetables with some salt and turmeric. Keep aside for 4-5 minutes.

Heat the oil in a wok, temper with the bayleaf, halved dry red chillies and the nigella seeds. 

Add the marinated vegetables along with the marinade. Give a stir and cover cook at the minimal heat.

Every 3-4 minutes, remove the cover and give a stir. 

Once the vegetables are almost cooked, remove the cover, add the washed and slitted green chilli and the sugar. Stir and let cook at minimal heat for another 2-3 minutes. We should be done.

                                         MAAN KOCHU BATA

                          

INGREDIENTS :

MAAN KOCHU / TARO ROOT : 150-200 GM

SHREDDED COCONUT : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

BLACK MUSTARD SEED : 1 TBSP

GREEN CHILLI : 4-5 [CHOOSE YOURS']

SALT : AS REQUIRED

MUSTARD OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE : 

This is no cook Taro Root paste, vegan & gluten-free. Here is how every Bengali Home would do it. The veteran Family women or every Bengali women in those days would do it in a "shil-nora", a specific variety of a mortar & pestle, that was good enough exercise for their arms and they did not require dumbbells. Till date I could not use a "boti" and "shil-nora", I use knife for cutting and my blender for doing the pastes.

We have to peel off the taro root, wear gloves for the purpose, cut it into smaller pieces and wash well.

We would wash and soak the mustard seeds in water for an hour. Take it in the blender with some salt and the washed green chillies. If you are doing it in a blender, you do need the soaked water, about 1/2 small tea cup.

We would blend them to a fine paste, add the shredded coconut, again blend to a paste.

Thereafter, we would add the small cubed taro root,  blend it to a paste. If we are doing it in a blender, you would get this watery texture, if done in a "shil-nora", they take the taro root paste in a piece of clean, white cloth and squeeze the water. After that, they paste together the mustard seeds+chillies+the shredded coconut and add to the taro root paste.

We pasted everything in the blender, right? We will take it in a bowl, adjust the salt and garnish with the mustard oil. You may add a little of sugar while pasting.

                            KOLMI SHAAK BHAJA  

INGREDIENTS :

KOLMI SHAAK / KANGKONG : 300-400 GM

GREEN CHILLI : 2

GARLIC CLOVE : 3-4

DRY RED CHILLI : 1-2

BAY LEAF : 1

NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY : 1/4 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

Oil : 2 tbsp

PROCEDURE :

This is the Bengali stir fried water spinach / kangkong, vegan and gluten-free recipe. Back home, it would grow anywhere, my family always got it from the market. 

The yesteryear ladies finely chopped the spinach in a "boti", that was no less than an artwork. Our mother till date does not allow anyone to cut the vegetables, she does not like. Our Cristine does a decent job with the knife. 

We are to discard the root end of the spinach stalks, then chop as finely as possible. We would take the chopped Spinach in a colander and wash thoroughly. Let the water drain away.

We would heat the oil in a wok and temper it with the crushed garlic, bayleaf, nigella seeds and the halved dry red chillies. We will give it a stir.

We will add the washed spinach to the wok, turmeric and some salt, then cover.

Once the spinach starts releasing water and a lot of it, we would stir it and cook uncovered at low heat for 5-6 minutes. We would add the washed and slitted green chillies and give a stir. We would cook it until all of the water dries up. We can adjust the salt if required towards the end.

Our mother always boiled and discarded the water of the spinach and then added it to the tempering and cooked further until dry. I do not cook it that way.

                                    SHOJNE DATAR JHOL

             

INGREDIENTS :

DRUMSTICK : 2-3

POTATO : 1 BIG SIZED

EGGPLANT : 1 MEDIUM SIZED

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY : 1/4 TSP

GREEN CHILLI : 2+1

RED CHILLI : 1

BAY LEAF : 1

MUSTARD SEED : 1 TSP

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

This is another vegan and gluten-free recipe. Thinly take off the skin of the drumsticks discarding the two ends, cut them finger length.

Keep the potato skin on, cut into 8 pieces. Also cube the eggplants. 

Wash them thoroughly and marinate with the salt & turmeric. Keep aside for 3-4 minutes.

Wash and soak the mustard seeds in water for an hour. Blend together with 3 green chillies and the salt. Get a smooth paste of them.

Heat the oil in a wok and temper it with the nigella seeds, bayleaf and the halved dry red chillies.

Add the marinated vegetables except the eggplants along with the marinade. Give a stir and cover cook at minimal heat for 5-6 minutes.

Once the drumsticks and the potato pieces are 60% done, add the eggplants and cook for 3-4 minutes, covered.

Remove the cover, add the mustard paste, take a cup of water in the same bowl and add to the wok. Add one or two washed and slitted green chillies. Give a stir, adjust the salt if required.

Cook at low heat for 3-4 minutes. We should be done.

If you love vegetarian recipes, you would enjoy these low spiced, easy made, healthy Bengali vegan & gluten-free recipes.