Thursday, July 19, 2012

Potol Posto -- stuff dreams are made of

PotolPosto1

Potol. Posto. Potol Posto. Period.

Oh no wait...first I need to tell you this conversation I had with Little Sis. Okay ? Okay. Period.

So it is one of those days and I am tired and I tell LS: "If I knew magic I could come home from work in a second and wouldn't have to drive so long".

LS: " Well, for that you need to ask someone who knows that kind of magic".

Me: " Well, how do I know someone like that?"

LS appears to ignore this and then after a minute says : "Or you could Dream. Dreams come true, you know?"

Me, excited at this optimistic, positive child of mine: "Really? So what do you dream of ?"

LS: "Well that I am a famous singer". Whaa...at, really???? " And that I am eating chocolate cake" That is better. "And I am watching Food Network". Really kiddo...this...this is your dream... of watching stupid Chopped on FN.

But I don't say all that. Instead I say: "Ahhh that sounds great. So tonight I am going to dream then".

At this LS goes into deep thought and then after a minute says : "Well, actually dreams don't even come true. They say all that in the TV. Anyway nothing that they say on TV is true. On TV, Franklin the turtle talks. Do turtles ever talk in real life ? No.They are all puppets on TV and dreams will never come true"

I give up. Let us eat the Potol Posto instead. Don't ask me why I added Onion, you might as well skip it.And if you don't get Potol, don't even dream of it. Will not help. Period.


PotolPosto2

Scrape the skin off Potol/Pointed gourd/Parwal and peel strips in alternate. I had about 10 small potol .Chop each potol in 4 along the length. Chopping in two should have been fine but these potol were not very fresh so I did 4.

Toss them with salt and turmeric powder and keep aside for 10 mins.
Meanwhile dry grind 1/4 cup of posto aka poppy seeds and mix with little water to make a thick-ish wet paste.

Heat a tbsp musard oil. Fry the potol till they develop brown spots. Need not get all crinkly. Remove and keep aside

If there is not enough oil in the kadhai/frying pan, add about 1 tsp more.

When the oil is hot temper the oil with 1/2 tsp of Kalo Jeera/Kalonji and 4-5 hot green chili slit through.

Once the spices pop add half on an onion chopped in thin slices and fry the onion till it is soft and light brown.

To the pan add the fried patol and toss it with the spices and onion. Next add the poppy seed paste and with sprinkle of water fry for next 3-4 minutes till raw smell of posto is gone.

Now add a little more water, a little less than 1/4 cup, add salt, sugar to taste and cover and let the patol cook till done. Remove cover and serve with rice.

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52 comments:

  1. A beautiful recipe.New to me.Posto looks so yummy.

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  2. has such a pretty name :) and what a sweet conversation! :)

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    Replies
    1. really ? Pretty ? Potol/Parwal was a veggie I hated as a child

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  3. Potol posto amar favourite ei gorome. Amio tomar precess e banai. Tomarta dekhei jibe jol ese jachhe.

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    1. Chandrani, peyNaj ki dao ? Amader barite emnitey deyna.

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  4. I love, love, love posto. And so against all odds just this Sunday I had made jhinge posto. ohh...love!
    And then I revived my food blog. And I wrote about jhinge posto. Reading your post, I want to make potol posto.
    My punjabi inlaws will get an overdose of posto coming up!

    (TastyIdianKhana.wordpress.com

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    1. Ha, ha...do they like it though :) Make a Posto bora to impress them if needed ;-)

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  5. Priyanka Saha DeyJuly 20, 2012 2:13 AM

    :):) I need to ask "why you added onion?""
    After all , u made us realise that i hate chooping it and can go any length to avoid doing it... :)..
    Anyway, I finished all my 'potol' with ur 'Doi Potol' receipe. Need to wait till my next visit to Kolkata.. :'(

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    Replies
    1. Arre na, na onion diyo na. Kundru Posto ache amar blog e, oitao kintu bhalo hoy. Search kore dekhte paro

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    2. Just get a mandolin for sliced onions..they are a handy tool...for this recipe and others. It looks like : http://www.target.com/p/zyliss-smart-guard-slicer-2-green/-/A-13541950?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=Google_PLA_df&LNM=%7C13541950&CPNG=kitchen&ci_sku=13541950&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=

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  6. Just keep the potol whole and make a few slits...but yes the potol in this case has to be fresh.A slight variation..grind posto mustard and coconut in 3:2:1 ratio or increase coconut to your liking.Finishing touch ..a drizzle of mustard oil.

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    1. Hyaan, Ektu buro potol chilo tao 4 bhaag e korlam abar. Oita onekta paturir moton na ?

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  7. LOL at your little philosopher. Sigh- nothing they say on TV is true. Thank goodness for the Internet. Everything on the Internet is perfectly true!!! ;)

    Love the way you Bongs use poppy seeds- so tasty!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah it is a staple in most homes. Actually in a particular area of bengal where the weather is very dry, poppy seeds were farmed extensively in earlier days and thus was a staple. I guess also works as a coolant.

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  8. Potol is my favorite childhood vegetable. I used to eat it any shape and form - bhaja, posto, jhol, jhal, paturi anything. Ekhanay potol pawa jaaye na....sigh! Not found in any of the Indian stored. So I can only dream of it !

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    1. We do get it around this time and when I asked the Patel bhai where they source it from , guess what they dais ? California!

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  10. Patel er potol kine anaar arekta bahana pawa gelo :)
    Aacha ei potol-er skin ta ke alternate bhabe scrape koraar funda ta ektu clear kore debe please. Ekhankaar potol gulo to bhaloi hoe, ami emnite khosha shudhdhu ranna kori but oenk recipe tei ei scrape koraar byaparta thake.
    Aar bati-er pechone oita ki boi?

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    Replies
    1. Shudhu skin ta ghoshe niye korleo hoy, amar mone hoy eita te moshla ta ektu beshi dhoke tai alternate scraping. Kochi potol hole the ghosha is good enough

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  11. Thank you for the recipe. You have provided great isnights. I am going to try it in the next couple of weeks.

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  12. What a realist Little S is! I've never come across this dish.

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  13. gee tht's one dreamy conversation ; good prepearation

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  14. Chhobi and baati gulo khub shundor. Next time potol aanle eita banabo. Amader bari te diced potol diye kore.

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  15. Beautiful Pics Sandeepadi! Posto had been our daily diet before my marriage... after marriage I've introduced Posto to my in-laws' home. Now we stay in Dubai and Posto is banned there. So it indeed is a dream now:(

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    Replies
    1. Uh-Oh, posto less life must be difficult

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  16. ah! look who is growing so fast -" LS" !..dream or no dream i would love to eat potol any day now - total convert from my growing up days..I just love these conversation Sandeepa between you and your so adorable daughters..meye ra thakle ghore jom-jomhaat thakhe ..hugs and smiles to you and more to your lil ones..

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    1. Hyaan thik i bolcho, sarakhon chencha-michi, ei jhogra, ei bhaab ar ekhon chuti cholche ta boro o to baritey aro dujone cholche :-D

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  17. I am seeing here the unique preparation

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  18. As much as I hate potol, this recipe looks yummy. We may have to givie it a try!

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    Replies
    1. yeah, happens, too much of potol does that to you

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  19. Your LS is growing up fast... here Lil A had his first toy request from his traveling dad. Potol posto darun idea... amu banachi next time I have guests.

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  20. @Sandeepa: telepathy...tumi potol posto likhle aar ami potol posto khachi. Period.
    ;-)
    am in kolkata...hence enjoying the potol and the ilish...the two things in abundance in summer.
    cheers,
    d

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    Replies
    1. Ar ki noon er chite dile hochilo na Dayeeta ;-) Kolkata gele ilish, potol er cheyeo ami chai fuchka ar roll:)

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  21. I tried your Alu Potol Dalna recipe last year and really liked it. Happy to have this new Potol recipe to try (especially as I have some posto left over from when I tried Alu Posto, and wasn't sure what else can be done with it)

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    1. yeah go ahead, the posto can be used with a lot of things do, just fried with lots of onions tastes awesome too

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  22. Bong Mom - I like the Posto in any dish. I tasted Aloo Posto at a Bong restaurant in Bangalore and was mighty pleased. This dish gives me the courage to try Potol in a different way.

    By the way, the serving bowls are cute! :)

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    Replies
    1. Depends on whether you like Potol or not. Those brass bowls are my grandma's :)

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    2. I thought so. They have the heirloom look.
      I like Potol and in a Konkani kitchen it never goes beyond deep fries chips in rice-red chilli dip. :) I will try this recipe soon...

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    3. There is something called alu-potol er dalna in my blog, http://www.bongcookbook.com/2011/06/alu-potol-er-dalna.html

      I think you are going to like it, you can also add your own touch and some konkan masalas will taste awesome in that gravy

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  23. LOVED this post. Awesome. Now I am off to investigate what potol is! And posto!

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    Replies
    1. Posto == Poppy Seeds

      Potol == a kind of vegetable, of the gourd family

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  24. Dhur, you're terrible! You're really torturing me with the stuff you've been blogging about lately. I could give up a year's worth of chicken for potol! I look for it every time I enter an Asian store. My mom-in-law used to make this AMAZING dudh-potol - which I'd blog about it if I could find the damn things! :)

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  25. Hi Bong Mom,

    I have been only cooking 3 things for Potol for a long time - Potol Aalu, Doi Potol and Potol Posto. Is there any other Potol recipes that you know of ?

    Kausum

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  26. Wow, nice post,there are many person searching about that now they will find enough resources by your post.Thank you for sharing to us.Please one more post about that..free online dating

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  27. Thanks for such a great recipe all simplified... its a great recipe and the dish turned out to be awesome!

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  28. thanks for simplifying the recipe so much...the dish turned out to be awesome!! My husband thanks you for it too!!

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