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.

 

TWEAKED BENGALI FRENCH TOAST

 IT IS AROUND 6PM, I WAS OCCUPIED WITH SOMETHING ELSE AND GOT LATE WITH THE BLOGPOST!

What made me busy? Nothing constructive as such! I trimmed a few of our indoor plants, checked on few of the outdoor ones! I have a tiny green space with no knowledge for their care. I have a wish to grow fruits & vegetables though; I appreciate those who do it! In this home, we do not agree on a point except for a few! In a small flat with a mere hedge, you hardly can grow anything! Look at the silly self, I had thrown in the seeds of few litchis after eating the flesh & then this! What to do with the saplings now? Who to give?

Few years back, my Peace Lily died of overwatering! Not that today we have learnt a lot about gardening, just a little bit. I am scared about the health of my Peace Lily!  I have some outside the main door that reached almost our neighbour's door! They are a gentle & composed family, this island's natives! We would at times meet them in the lift, have small talks. The couple have two or three college & office going boys, that I fail to count. They are too shy boys, I felt! Why was I with my greens today? I seek peace in them, when my soul is in an unrest mode! They do not flower much as we do not know about the right use of fertilisers! 

WHAT SETS MY MIND & BODY IN AN UNREST STATE?

Whenever I see something beyond my set of rules & understandings, reasonings; I tag it unnatural, wrong and everything my negativity can call it! Overthinking, I get into a sad state of mind! Also this rain throughout the year is really not my thing! Rain pushes me more into depression, always! There is depression in the sky, on my mind; all over! I do not get how come people quarrel when it smells death around, of their own! No sane being can want dishonour in death, it hurts to see silly insane beings! Wish I could be a messiah and make people understand to live life peacefully and with honour is the ultimate goal we can have! But I have known, not every word flying around has truth in it! To know exactly about an incident, we need to be there talking to the locals, concerned beings! I have decided not to lynch people in public unless they intent to hurt me or my own! These days, I consider social media one big family, we only have to browse carefully! I wish I had wheels fixed under my feet and two wings on my shoulders, I would have flown to my boy & then with him to the places of interest! I wished to pursue journalism after the graduation but my graduating scores did not allow me to! Baby wished to study Political Science & Journalism initially, was it for his love for mumma? But the daddy pushed him towards the subjects his mumma has no interest in! She walks alone lost in deep thoughts she has no connection to but that is her nature since birth! She is having cough & cold, yet she dreads the rain because walking helps release her stress! She is cool enough to pick up some lemon grass from the muddy soil in the roadside and sows in a pot, she would make tea with them, may flavour a light chicken curry too! She is listening to KennyG since the morning, actually the brother used to be more into Western Music, I do not know much about his spouse's preferences!

And there I had a big lunch today, one chicken fry was extra! Again, around 6:30 pm I had Cristine's Nescafe and two cake slices! She decided she should not have dinner today! I had the plan to make aloor porota today, just not willing to; would send Cristine to get two Mac Chicken Meal for Sir & herself! T dislikes fish burgers!

WHAT IS THIS TWEAKED BENGALI FRENCH TOAST?

Why do I call it tweaked? That is because I have spread a tongue tickling chutney / condiment on the bread slices before batter frying them! The batter is off course made of eggs, cornflour, a bit of baking soda & powder, salt, onion, green chillies! BENGALI FRENCH TOAST is how Bengalis have modified the original French Toast in their kitchen! TWEAKED BENGALI FRENCH TOAST is what extra I did spreading that mixed condiment of Kashundi+fresh mint paste+sriracha mayo on the bread slices! Our's was not an egg loving family. However we loved having homemade French Toast often. It is true about every middle class Bengali family of our times, I believe! Our mother did not add the cornflour, baking soda & powder but I have seen my friend Indranil's mother using those to make it crisp & you can see it!

We had it for our lunch yesterday, without T & today we packed his lunch box with bread omelette, his love is egg! But these days, I prefer eggs over sea fish! French Toast are to be had fresh & hot, what a loving snacks for the Bengalis! My unfriendly towards eggs brother enjoys French toast I think, his spouse is an egg lover too!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE INSTANT CHUTNEY / CONDIMENT : 

FRESH MINT : A HANDFUL

GREEN CHILLI : 1 OR 2

CHILLI MUSTARD PASTE : 2 TBSP [I USED HOMEMADE KASHUNDI]

SRIRACHA MAYO : 1 TBSP

SALT : A PINCH

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FINISHED SNACK :

THE INSTANT CHUTNEY : AS REQUIRED

BREAD SLICE : 7-8

EGG : 2-3 

CHOPPED ONION : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1 TBSP

CORN FLOUR : 2 TBSP

WATER : 1/4 SMALL TEA CUP

BAKING POWDER : 1/4 TSP

BAKING SODA : A PINCH

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4 TSP

SALT : 1/4 TSP

OIL : AS MUCH REQUIRED TO DEEP FRY

PROCEDURE :

For the instant condiment, wash a handful of mint leaves  and the green chilli, sprinkle some water and blend to a paste. Transfer to a bowl, add the chilli-mustard paste or Kashundi Sauce, Sriracha Mayo, a pinch of salt; mix well!

Get the washed, chopped onion & chillies on the kitchen top!

Beat well the eggs and add the corn flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, turmeric powder. Beat well again!

To it, add the onions & green chillies!

Cut off the sides of the bread and cut again to get a triangular shape!

On one side of each slice, spread the chutney, close tight two slices on the chutney sides, dip into the batter! 

Heat enough oil in a wok, not to the smoking point, they should fry well and crisp and not get burnt!

Turn over & fry both sides well!

Hold each piece for a while before placing it onto a tissue paper! 

We must have them fresh & hot to get the maximum of the crispiness!

BHETKI PATURI

I HAVE STARTED ENJOYING FISH FILLETS!

Otherwise I would not have accepted a Toman Fish. It seems gigantic and fearful to me. Not that all of these fillets are lovable to me! But I have learnt to remove the raw smell. Sohail Bhai of Rajdhani Stores told me that fish & meat, if rubbed with enough salt and kept for an hour, then washed thoroughly and marinated further or cooked right away, the odd smell vanishes! It is true, I do it regular! I keep telling them why they do not get the right quality of fish, they would say the best qualities go to Australia, England, United States, Japan too may be. They flatly say potential Bengali buyers are there, this is just a tiny island! I am not a potential buyer either, I refuse to buy a 75$ worth Hilsa here too and in Kolkata too! I am just unable to spend beyond a point! After some wrong buys with regards to fish, I feel like getting fillets and fry, grill, bake them after a good marination! I absolutely do not enjoy Bhetki Mach / Sea Bass, bone on! But a boneless fillet made to a batter fry or a breaded fry or a Paturi is what I would enjoy any day! In my case, the sea fish smell has to be gotten rid of!

I WAS OUT; CAME BACK & STARTED LATE!

The man is travelling on work after years! I am feeling lonelier, earlier our boy and his weird acts gave me company! When I decided to walk up to Hougang, eat at Long John Silver again today; it started raining heavily! Sometime around 1 pm, I walked in the rain though carried an umbrella! I enjoyed "walking in the rain"; literally!

Those eggplants! Wish I had a flower & vegetable garden and enough knowledge, energy to grow them decent!

This time, I had a French Fry, Fish & Chicken Batter Fries platter, did not enjoy much! The crumblies & batter seemed salty to me given I eat less of salt these days! Unnecessarily, I took upon myself a lot of calories! The amount of vigour I went with seems useless at this point!

Not really that useless was my venture! I did some shopping from two decent brands; Iora & Bossini at too good a discount! That makes me happy!

I could have come back walking but I had a blog post to write, moreover, I am aging; earlier I used to! We lived in Hougang for four years, I never stopped visiting there; Kushi's Beauty Parlour I go, the mall I roam around! We are at the present neighbourhood for almost six years, yet I enjoy going back there! I am in the midway compiling today's blogpost, teatime arrived & I forgot the guilt of having a high caloric lunch; asked Cristine for a bowl of Jhalmuri! My dinner today may not be carb free! Let me be, else I would get remorseful! Why an incident have shocked me to the core I do not know; I see the cries of smaller kids, then the irresponsible parents who create disturbed child; wish people did not show off in public a couch where someone laid down all the time & played with a cell phone. I do the same, but I cannot kill anything beyond ants; never gifted the son a toy gun except for one or two occasions or they might have been gifted by someone else! A country cannot fail their kids in this manner! There has to be love, indulgence, disciplining the kids in the right measure! Schools & teachers have to take bigger responsibilities than just teaching from the text books. It goes without saying they are to take special care of the bullied, isolated, economically weak children! And unless the teachers are paid well & their work load eased, they would not bother to do this extra bit!

WHAT IS BHETKI PATURI?

Bhetki & Sea Bass fish seem same to me but some of our friends say they are not the same. Sea Bass fillets are always prized back in Kolkata, here too! Bengalis consider it the best option for fish fries! Here they are unable to take off the skin, so I do not use them in fish fries or fingers. Paturi can be done with what we get as boneless here! Because Sea Bass is too popular here, almost a best seller; they are found too fresh! Paturi is wrapping the marinated fish piece in banana leaves, tied & cooked in minimal oil, covered, at minimal heat until on both sides the leaves get a burnt look! This feature was done back in January, the son was home for three weeks & mumma had to feed him this! BHETKI PATURI was the star item in his rice feeding ceremony, every guest including the family members loved it; the catering was done by a family friend kind of who used the best quality fish! All are there, except our son's "Smiling Buro"; we did not wish to lose our father this soon! Then, people die young too. No one knows what is tomorrow; better we eat, love, merry! As of now this non-vegetarian, fish, seafood recipe should we concentrate upon!

On that day, I cooked a prawn curry and an egg drop curry too!

INGREDIENTS :

SEA BASS / BHETKI FISH FILLET : 7-8 [USE BONELESS]

BLACK MUSTARD : 4-5 TBSP

SHREDDED COCONUT : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

GREEN CHILLI : 6-7 + 1 EACH FOR EACH FISH PIECE

ICE CUBE : 2-3

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

BANANA LEAF : SQUARED PIECES AS REQUIRED TO WRAP EACH PIECE OF FISH

THREAD TO TIE

OIL : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP + 2-3 TBSP [WE ALWAYS USE MUSTARD OIL]

PROCEDURE :

The boneless fish steaks should be washed well getting rid of the scales. We would marinate them well with turmeric & salt, as required! We would keep the bowl aside for 15-20 minutes!

I usually soak the mustard seeds in water for an hour or two; wash them taking in a strainer, add to the blender. To it I add some salt, the green chillies, 2-3 ice cubes, a little of water; then blend! This way, the paste would not turn bitter!

Once the spice paste is ready, we would add it to the fish pieces, along with the shredded coconut, oil [mustard oil works the best]! We would mix well & keep aside for 10-15 minutes.

We would wash the squared cut banana leaves, wipe dry, hold on top of the lighted gas burner for sometime! They get ready to be used! 

We are to place a fish piece in the middle, cover with the spice paste well; place a green chilli on top [optional]. We would wrap and tie each one, make sure there are no tear!

Cristine does this part with expertise!

We would add some oil to a pan, heat it! We would place the wrapped fish pieces, cover cook! In my case, each side required 15-20 minutes to be done at minimal heat!

Once one side is done, we would remove the cover, do the other side, covered again!

They are to be had fresh with plain rice! What we had alongside on that day were a lentil curry & spring onion-potato fry!