Bhetki Macher Kalia Jhol and story of Jamai Shoshthi

Bhetki Macher Jhol

Tomorrow, today Friday is Jamai Shoshthi.  My Ma had called last week and then again yesterday night, lamenting the fact that she will not be there to feed her jamai--son-in-law-- a rich sumptuous meal on the day. Staying far away, she is robbed of this pleasure most years.

If I am honest, neither the jamai nor me miss it all that much. Going on a cooking frenzy, on a hot humid summer day of Jaishtha to feed the son-in-law delicacies ranging from kathal to ilish and golda chingri to lyangra aam and then having to eat it all dressed in bong fineries aka kurta pajama is not our idea of fun. We would rather have aloo-posto and musur dal on such sweltering hot days.And I will not even go into the modern woman's pet peeve about why a special day for son-in-law but not daughter-in-law.

Though the day has gained popularity as the day that the Ma-in-law cooks, feeds and pampers the son-in-law, I wanted to find a deeper meaning to the day. How did it all start ? Surely feeding the son-law good food could have been shelved to a cooler day in winter. And why ? What was the really important idea behind all this ? It is nice knowing about traditions even when you don't observe them to the fullest.

I didn't have much idea and so asked around and got fascinating tales about the day from where else but the blog's FaceBook page. Surprising thing is when I started the ball rolling, instead of my Ma it was Baba who recalled the shoshthi tales from his own childhood.So what I am going to tell you now is a panorama of how the day is celebrated across many Bengali homes. The traditions vary, the methods change, the celebrations are adapted to suit the changing time but running deep through all of them is the same theme -- celebration of life, of children.

It all began with Maa Shoshthi, one of the many goddesses in the Hindu Mythology whose chief job was that of an "guradian angel", looking after children's health and wellness. I have talked about her in this post on Gota Sheddho which is celebrated on Sheetol Shoshthi. Now Maa Shoshthi is also the goddess of fertility, a gynecologist and pediatrician rolled into one. This special role ensures that she is invoked and prayed to several times of the year, each occasion being given a different name and thus having a significance particular to that season. So there is Sheetol Shoshthi in Spring, Aranya Shoshthi or Jamai Shoshthi in summer, Neel Shoshthi in autumn and maybe some more.

Fruits of summer like Jamun

On the sixth day of Shukla Paksha(waxing phase of the moon) in the month of Jaishtha is celebrated the fabled Jamai Shoshthi and the lesser known Aranya Shoshthi or Shontan Shoshthi.This usually falls around mid June every year.

The Aranya Shosthi or as some call it ShontanShoshthi was done by the mothers and grandmothers solely for the well being of their children. As per my Baba's description, this is how his grandmother would celebrate the day (in his own words):
"One mid size branch with leaves from a jackfruit tree, would be dug in a raised platform(bedi) in the backyard(uthon).2/6/12 little typical type figurines(putul) made of rice flour(chaler guro) & coloured yellow with turmeric would be placed on the platform along with all types of seasonal fruits like mangoes, lychee, jamun, jackfruit. There would also be hand fans for each child (Haat pakha made of palm leaves) dotted with turmeric and a bunch of Durba grass tied on the handle of fan with yellow thread; and a piece of new garment for each child.
After that my grandmother would read the broto kotha, with all mothers & children present there. After the prayers, the mothers would use the fan  to sprinkle drops of water on each child(pakha diye joler chite), tie a yellow thread on their wrist and give them fruits and new clothes. At some other houses on this day instead of Jack fruit branch, banana tree would be use for Sashthi pujo."

The king of the season Mangoes

Baba thinks that since the son-in-law is also regarded as one's offspring via marriage, he is an important part of the day and is fed well.

However I think this explanation is more apt about how Jamai Shoshthi came into being. In those days and even now, soon after marriage, the bride is under family pressure to bear an offspring preferably male. Since Maa Shoshthi is also an IVF specialist, the girls' parents felt that sending her a prayer might ensure a child and thus a happy married life for their darling girl. Since the son-in-law was  held as a respected figure in those days(unlike the ones today who call their Ma-in-law Kakima and eat chinese on jamai shoshthi) and a prime contributor to the equation , a meal for him could only mean dishes cooked from best offerings of the season.

Ingredients for the Macher Jhol

With all that asking around in FB that I did, Shakuntala, who is a reader and now a friend, shared memories of her shoshthi along with more ritualistic nuances as observed in her home. She very kindly allowed me to post account of her day here:
"On the day of shoshthi her Ma, Aunt and Didu shower and collect some chul-dhowa jol(water droplets from washed hair) in bowls, and make little cloth purses of durba( grass with three tips), karamcha and rice grain. They then get busy in the kitchen, making mowa, kheer and narkel naru.  Her Mami then makes a Ma Shoshthi idol with moyda/chaler guro paste, and paint eyes and nose and mouth and hair and a red bindi. The kids(Shakuntala and her siblings) make a dozen of her chhanapona idols, and giggle on their ungodlike appearance. They also make the cat-idol -- Ma Shoshthi's pet, complete with a curled tail and stiff whiskers.They then sit Ma Shoshthi down on a piri, puts her children and her cat around her, and stick a kathaler daal as a background, to make things sylvan. 

Pilsuj-prodeep, shonkho-conch shell, ghonta--the brass bell and other paraphernalia are brought down from Thakurghor; sandal paste is made, flowers overflow from the big copper pushpo patro, and wisps of dhup-smoke carry that special pujo-fragrance to every part of the house.
Shaukuntala says, the pujo is the least time-consuming action of this day and instead time is spent on prepping cotton thread dipped in turmeric, picking durba, arranging noibidyo and making the piece de resistance - bana. What is a bana? Take a kathalpata(jackfruit leaf), trim its top and bottom end, put a little bit of everything on it (aam lichu kalojam doi kheer mishti kauner chal) and voila! you have a bana! They come in two versions - with kathal, and without kathal. And you have to eat the whole thing at one go. No, not the leaf, but the contents of the leaf. The taste? Hamin ast!

After they arrange the stacks of bana, light more dhup, make a lot of noise with kashorghonta and shonkho, they sit down in a semi circle, and Mami starts to recite pNachali. After the littany, Didu fans her children with her special haatpakha, and sprinkles water on their heads with the koromcha-dhaan putli (which has a long tuft of  durba for this express purpose) then we present our collective heads to be fanned and sprinkled with water as well.

Ma, Mami, Didu chant "katlo katlo mashir sari, tobu boli shaat shaat, katlo katlo pishir naak tobu boli shaat shaat " thus letting us know that today is the day of permissiveness, today we can do no sin. Of course, being good kids, we never put that to test."

Isn't her recounting of the day beautiful ? To read more about her description of the day visit her blog

 

Back to the day, I did not cook anything special. This recipe of Bhetki Macher Jhol is from another day. I have repeated the same recipe with salmon many times. Also with local fish like trout or bass. Rui is a good choice too.With salmon, I don't fry the fillet but add them to the cooked masala and poach them in the gravy.

But I did do a short Shoshthi Pujo where I offered 5 fruits on a hand fan, fanned sprinkles of water and tied yellow thread on the girls' wrist and gave them new clothes.Only I did not have a hand fan, so I pretended that the Japanese wall decor fan was one.  Also could not find the spool of thread and so put turmeric-yogurt dots on the daughters' forehead. Then BS got  a yellow thread from her jewellery making kit which we used to tie on the wrist. You see, I love rituals when I can totally twist them to my liking and pretend that I am upholding the Bengali cultural heritage. At least that way, I get to hear interesting stories.

Bhetki Maacher Jhol

Prep

Bhetki Maach -- 4 steak pieces
You can use any other fish like rui, katla etc. Today I even did the same gravy with salmon
Rub the cleaned pieces of fish with turmeric, salt and then keep aside for 20 minutes. Shallow fry in oil. Mustard oil preferred but vegetable oil will do.
I got a fryer recently and deep fried the fish but shallow frying works fine.

Make the onion paste and ginger-garlic paste
Onion -- 1 medium grind to paste, about 3 heaped tbsp of paste used
Ginger-Garlic paste -- approx. 1 tbsp of paste, made with 4 fat clove of garlic and 1" ginger

Chop the potatoes if using
Potatoes -- 2 small ones, chopped in halves or quarters

Puree 1 medium ripe and juicy tomato to make about 1/2 cup of pureed tomato

Start Cooking

Heat Mustard Oil to smoking.

Fry the potatoes with sprinkle of turmeric till golden brown. Remove and keep aside. You can aslo skip the potatoes if you so wish.

Temper the same Oil with
1" thin stick of cinnamon
2 TejPata
2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
4 clove 
Alternately you could skip the whole garam masala and temper with 2 tej pata and 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Note: Usually the whole garam masala phoron is used for a Kaalia and the cumin seeds-tejpata phoron is used for a jhol.

Next add about 1/2 tsp sugar followed by the onion paste. Fry the onion paste for 3-4 minutes

Now add the ginger-garlic paste and continue frying till raw smell of onion is gone. Sprinkle water in between if you see the masala sticking.

Next goes in the pureed tomato. Sprinkle some salt, a little turmeric powder and fry the tomato.


Throw in 4-5 slit green chillies if you want the heat.

Make a thick paste of
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder
in a tsp of water.
Add to the frying pan and fry till you see oil separating from the masala.

Now add the fried potatoes, mix with the spices and then add a cup of warm water. 
Add salt to taste. Cover and let the gravy simmer and then come to a boil.

Once the potatoes are cooked, taste the gravy and make adjustments. Sprinkle a pinch of garam masala if you wish but depends on how rich you want it to be.

Slowly add fried fish to the gravy and simmer for few more minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Bharela Baingan -- Eggplants stuffed with Peanut masala

This bharela baingan or stuffed eggplant is our Gujarati Auntie's recipe.

The Aunty who is the current babysitter but babies not being babies anymore who also helps me a little with housework. She makes some of her vegetarian Gujarati dishes and we are sold. Kadhi has always featured in my comfort food list, right there with alu posto-musurir dal and Thai red curry and now there is Lobia jostling for space with Cholar Dal and begun shorshe with a Gujju style stuffed eggplant.

So Aunty is going on leave and all the husband-man has to say is
"Did you learn to make the stuffed eggplant from her?"
"What about the bhindi kadhi ?"

While all I can think of is "folding the laundry", a chore which is not my idea of entertainment and which I had successfully palmed off to her while she watched "Ghar ghar ki Kahani" or something similar called "Punarvivaha".

It will be a while that Auntie will be gone and I might not really need to hire her or any babysitter by the time she comes back. I would have loved to hire a "laundry folder" though.

Several years back when I arrived in this country(the US of A) we lived in an apartment which did not have an in-apartment laundry. Those days most apartments had a laundry in the basement to be shared by say several residents. In our case it was 4(or maybe 8) -- each block had 4 apartments and there was one laundry in the basement for the 4 of us.The laundry had two pairs of washer and dryer, each coin operated.

I had come from a land of ample sunshine, clothes lines, house helps and colorful washing machines that were just catching up.  My parents did not have a washing machine then. We, the newly married, had bought one for our Bangalore home and only because it was part of a deal which included a TV and refrigerator. That all of those three worked given the deal price now seems amazing to me.

We kept the washing machine and the dryer unit in the verandah. On the washing days, the house help would drag it to the bathroom, fit the pipe to the faucet and wash the clothes there. The clothes were then set out to dry on clotheslines which spanned the length of the verandah. The dryer did a shoddy job and was never used. I think we used it as a soiled clothes hamper. The next day, it was the "same Amma" who folded the dried clothes now crisp and crackling like  microwaved Papad and kept aside the set  to send to the istiri wallah for ironing.

Compared to that, doing laundry in a dungeon type basement, in humongous washing machines which worked only when 4 quarters were placed correctly in their slot was very exciting. I don't know about you but even until a few years back, the act of pushing a coin through a slot was mighty exciting to me. The only part I was finicky about was using the same machine to wash my floral shirt which neighbor in Apt# 11 2D had used for his Tommy underpants.The first few washes, I spent 4 extra quarters and 30 minutes to run a light rinse in an empty washing machine. Only after the machine was cleansed did I do my laundry. That habit did not last long though. Arranging for several quarters on weekends became increasingly difficult.

Back then even the part about folding the laundry did not seem too bad. I was in love with Bounce Fabric softeners and smelling "mountain breeze", whatever it was, in the folds of warm cottons from the dryer gave me a lot of pleasure.

Gradually however I started losing interest in washing machines and their slotti-ness. I also became lax with folding clothes. The husband-man who shared the job also seemed to lose interest in folding. When we moved to our own home with our very own laundry room, after BS was born, I found renewed interest in the washing part and ran multiple loads -- children, white, non-white, children white, children colored. It was a joy to walk few steps on the same floor and run a wash.

The folding however loomed large as the monster to be avoided. The futility of the act -- of folding something which has to be unfolded to be used -- stared me in the face. I started using the spare bedroom as a dumping ground for dried clothes.I found that putting clothes out of the dryer and immediately onto hangers saves ironing as well as folding. I found that watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" while folding tiny onesies reduced the pain a little.

I found all loopholes to avoid folding or to make it bearable.

So after LS was born and I was hiring babysitters, I sneakily put in the "laundry folding" as a requirement. However M Didi who was with us until last year was as averse to folding as me and often had  her excuses to not do so. I would grudgingly trudge along, folding a t-shirt and trying to find a sock pair, roping in BS for whom it was more exciting.

It all changed and I was finally totally free of "folding" when K Auntie started her job. She gladly folded the clothes while I cooked dinner. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

My days of happiness are now numbered though and I have to go back to my dull job soon. I might just dump the dried clothes in the spare bedroom again. If you are visiting me, please call a week ahead.Yes, I need all that time to fold.

But at least I have learned to make the Gujarati style Bharela Baingan -- eggplant stuffed with spicy peanut and besan. I love regional Indian cuisine and I am so glad that I learned this gem. It is really good. Also way simpler than it sounds. If you know me, you would know, I don't cook complex meals and I don't like folding clothes. So if I am doing a stuffed eggplant, it must be easy.

I totally freaked the poor lady out by taking pictures of eggplants in every step of their life but this recipe is worth all that and more.

Before going onto the recipe, let me just tell you that the book, "Bong Mom's Cookbook" is getting great reviews and if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know that. The book is now available on Amazon at a great price and also on Flipkart. More on the book page

Bharela Baingan -- peanut masala stuffed Eggplant

At the very beginning go to the nearest grocery store and get the small round eggplants. Buy 10 small round eggplants

Wash them well and dry them

Next trim the stem of the eggplants and slit them crosswise at the bottom. The slits should not separate the eggplant and it should be joined at the base

Next, take 1/2 cup of peanuts, the ones without skin, dry roast them for about 4 mins at medium heat. Cool and then powder coarsely in your spice grinder.

Make a paste of
4 hot green chillies
1" ginger
3 fat clove of garlic

Now in a wide mouthed bowl put
3/4 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour
the peanut powder
2 tbsp Coriander powder/Dhaniya powder
3/4 tbsp Kashmiri Mirch
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
salt
the ginger-garlic-chilli paste you made
2 tbsp oil

Mix well with your fingers till you get a moist crumbly stuffing mix. Taste to see if anything is missing and adjust accordingly.

Again using your fingers stuff each eggplant with this spiced-gram flour stuffing mix. Press them down so that they reach all the way to the bottom. There should be some stuffing left

Arrange all the stuffed eggplants on a microwave safe plate. Sprinkle with the stuffing that is left. Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil. Cover with a perforated MW cover or a cling wrap with perforation. Put in the microwave and cook for about 8 mins. At the end of this the eggplants will look soft and kind of settled down. They are almost cooked by now.

Next heat some more oil in a frying pan, say about 1tbsp. Temper the oil with 1/4th tsp of cumin seeds. When the spices pop, gently put in all the part-cooked eggplants and their stuffing. Toss gently and then cover. Cook till done

Serve with chapati for best effect.

Aloo Phulkopir Dalna with Chingri -- and food tales of Bengali women

Phulkopir Dalna

Aloo Phulkopir Dalna | Potato Cauliflower Curry

This Potato Cauliflower curry is a typical Bengali dish which can be made both as a vegetarian phulkopir dalna and a non-vegetarian version. Addition of shrimp or prawns in any Bengali curry changes it to a non-veg avatar, a fact adored by the fish loving Bengalis. Both the niramish phulkopir dalna and the one with prawns is shared here.

While I was writing my book, there was a section on the superlative vegetarian cooking of the Bengali ladies of my grandmother's generation, especially the vegetarian cooking of Bengali widows in those times. Due to practical reasons, that you only encounter when you are writing a book, I finally left out a portion of that section which recounted tales about my grandmother's sister. But I always have my blog to tell those stories, and this recipe of  Chingri diye Aloo Phulkopir Dalna though my Mother's and not entirely vegetarian, is the fitting place to write it.

And yes, the book has many more stories to keep you entertained.
So please check this book page for reviews, book related giveaway etc.and order your own copy.

Most of you have heard about the strict taboos placed on the eating habits of Bengali Hindu Widows until the mid 20th century. They were prohibited from eating non-vegetarian food like fish, meat, eggs, certain lentils like masoor and vegetables like onion and garlic. These were regarded as tamasik food, food that could induce passion and thus were a strict non-no for Bengali widows.The rules of course were set by a patriarchal society where men who had lost their wives were free to gallivant around with kept women, eat anything they wanted and drink to drown their sorrow. The females alas had no such choices.

By the time it was the 1970's, society had opened up but the rules laid down long back still ran deep. A fall out of these strict rules was the excellent culinary skills achieved by most Bengali widows of that time, in their vegetarian cooking.Within their limitation, they created magic.

Aloo Phulkopir Dalna

Amongst the family and relatives I knew, no one really enforced such strict rules, at least not openly but some of the women themselves embraced the taboos of their own volition. One of them was my father's grandmother. We called her "Baro Ma". I had known her for only that one year, that our life intersected and to me she was the stern lady in the sepia toned framed picture that hung above the dresser in my grandparent's room. To my father and uncle however she was the doting grandmother, one whom they loved more than their own mother. She was also the greatest cook and till this date my father tries to conjure up the taste of her paayesh and mohonbhog in his own memory.

"Baro Ma" had lost her husband when she was in her mid or late sixties. She was a woman of strong determination and steely grit and if I believe stories told by my Baba, there was no society who could force her to do anything. It is only natural that in the stories retold by my father, I see "Baro Ma", not as a deprived woman, but one of immense self-control who ate only one full meal a day and that too a meal that was strictly vegetarian. It could have been that it was easier for her to give up the non-vegetarian food she was used to eating because she was already at an age when lust and passion for food was not foremost on her mind.

Now, though she ate only once a day, her meals were very elaborate. That she loved to cook and was an expert at it, only helped. Baba says, her meals would always follow six courses starting with bitter neem leaves when they were in season or some fritters/bora made with the bitter leaves of polta pata or some dish made with uchhe. This would always be followed by some shaak or greens. Palong, Paat, Note, Pui, the variety was endless. Protein would come in the form of dals. Lentils would not only be simmered into Dals but also ground and spiced to make different boras which were fried and added to many dish. This would be followed with other vegetable preparations depending on season. The meal would always end with a milk based dessert, usually a bowl of milk which had simmered for long on the low flames of the coal unoon and had a thick layer of fat or shor on its surface. Vegetarianism only made her hone her culinary skills and with the aid of fresh vegetables, dollops of ghee, variety of spices and creamy whole milk from their own cows, she conjured meals so good that my father and uncle preferred sharing her meal than their own fish or meat options.

While I have only heard about her meals, the next story is about my father's aunt who lost her husband, when I was around 9-10 years old. N Dida, was also in her sixties, a cheerful soul who lived by herself in a house with a sprawling verandah, not very far from our own home. After the passing away of her husband, she too was sucked into folds of vegetarianism with a strong force. Again, no one had asked her to do so, she lived by herself and there was no one to judge what  she did in the confines of her own home either.I was a budding feminist and I thought it was extremely unfair that N Dida had to give up fish and meat. When she came to visit us, I would insist that she eat the Britannia cake that everyone knew had eggs in it. She never agreed.Now, that I think of it, while no one asked her to give up meat and fish, none of the elders insisted that she eat them either.

The times that we visited her though, the food was so good that I never missed our non-veg options. Soft pillow like chanar dalna soaked in a sweetish gravy, dhoka--the squares of spiced lentils in a reddish looking curry, aloo posto, daal er bora, it was an endless feast. She loved my Mother's cooking and Ma always took great pains to serve elaborate vegetarian meals when N dida came to visit.

Though many Bengalis think that a meal without fish or meat is hardly a meal to live life by and many non-Bengalis cannot imagine a Bengali eating anything other than sweet and fish, the truth is there exists a whole array of rich and flavorful Bengali vegetarian dishes and many of them owe their existence to these enterprising women of the early 20th century who were forced to give up their largely fish diet.

Also there are many Bengali vegetarian dishes that can transcend the fine line from veg to non-veg  simply by adding a few shrimp or prawns. It was this trick that the Bengali jester "Gopal BhaNr" applied to extort money from his widowed Pishi. There is a very old story about how the aunt being a widow was not allowed to touch non-veg and had cooked a niramish lau ghonto for Gopal. Gopal did a mean trick of adding some fried shrimp to the dish while eating and declaring that it was the best "Lau-Chingri" -- bottlegourd with shrimp he had eaten. The aunt afraid at what the society would say if they heard of this had agreed to give Gopal money to keep his mouth shut. Now that I try to retell the story, which celebrated Gopa BhaNr's cunning and which we lapped up as kids, I realize how mean it was. Goes to show how conditioned we are to set rules.

Today's Alu Phulkopir Dalna -- potato and cauliflower curry, is a similar dish where addition of some succulent prawns transfers it from a vegetarian delight to a non-vegetarian dream of Chingri Aloo Phulkopi'r Dalna. You take your pick.
The nuances of the dalna is explained in the Alu Potol er Dalna here. I make this potato cauliflower dish along similar lines. Some families add onion to this dish but my Mother, a sparse user of onion did not and I too abide by that.

Chingri Aloo Phulkopir Dalna -- Potato-Cauliflower curry with prawns

Prep

If you are going to add prawns there are two options.
If using the headless ones, cleaning is easy. Remove the shell, keeping tail intact. Devein shrimp. Rinse.
For the head-on shrimp carefully remove the whiskers and sharp points on the head along with the eyes. Do not remove the entire head though because it adds to the taste of the gravy. Carefully devein and remove the shell from the body keeping the tail intact. Rinse thoroughly.
Now toss the cleaned prawns with turmeric powder and salt.

Chop 1 medium sized cauliflower in medium sized florets. Soak in warm water with salt for 10 minutes.

Start Cooking

Heat Oil in a wok and fry the cauliflower florets with 1/4 tsp of turmeric till they are golden with brown spots. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Heat some more Oil in the same wok.

Fry the prawns till they turn pink. Remove and keep aside.The oil flavored with the head-on prawns adds a beautiful taste to the dish

Temper the same Oil with
1&1/2" thin stick of cinnamon
1 small Bay Leaf
1 big black cardamom and 3 small green cardamom
4 clove
few cumin seeds

When the spices sizzle add 2-3 peeled whole tomatoes from a can or 1 big juicy tomato pureed or finely chopped. Fry the tomato for couple of minutes till the raw smell is gone. If you are not the smelling type, check to see if the oil is separating from the masala.If you don't like bits and pieces of tomato in the gravy, I suggest puree and then add it.

Add 1 heaped tsp of Ginger paste/minced Ginger, couple of slit green chillies and continue frying till tomato is cooked and mushed up

Add 2 medium sized potato, peeled and quartered. Add 1/4 tsp of Turmeric and saute the potatoes till they take on a gold hue.

Next throw in 1/3 cup of fresh or frozen peas. Keep sauteing/frying for the next 3-4 minutes. When using shrimp no need to add peas.

Time for the masala.
Mix the following spices in water and add the paste
1/2 tsp of fresh ground Coriander Powder +
1/2 tsp of  Roasted Cumin Powder  +
1/2 tsp of Red Chili Powder
Note: I roast coriander/cumin seeds and grind them to a fine powder. I also use Deggi Mirch so use Red Chili Powder according to taste.

Add a little of the tomato juice or a little water and fry the spices + potatoes + peas for 2 more minutes

Add the fried cauliflower florets and gently mix everything together

Add 2 cups of water. Add salt to taste. Cover and cook till potatoes are done. Cauliflower should be done by now. Remove the cover and reduce the gravy to your desired thickness

Adjust for seasoning and add about 1/2 tsp of sugar.

If you are using prawns, add the fried prawns to the gravy at this point and simmer for 3-4minutes at medium heat.

Finish with a little ghee and 1/4th tsp garam masala powder. Serve with rice or chapati

Niramish Aloo Phulkopir Dalna -- Bengali Potato-Cauliflower curry 

This is the Traditional vegetarian Phulkopir Dalna

Prep


Chop 1 medium sized cauliflower in medium sized florets. Soak in warm water with salt for 10 minutes. Drain the water and make sure florets are dry before frying in oild

Chop 2 large-ish potatoes in eighths (each potato in half and then each half in quarters)

Grate 1 big red juicy tomato. Or just put in a mixer and puree. You can also used 1/2 of canned tomatoes to make a puree, this gives better color.

Start Cooking

Heat Oil in a wok and fry the cauliflower florets with
1/4 tsp of turmeric
1/4 tsp of Red Chili Powder
Sprinkle of Garam masala powder
till they are golden with brown spots. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Heat some more Oil in the same wok.

Temper the same Oil with
1&1/2" thin stick of cinnamon
1 small Bay Leaf
4 small green cardamom
4 clove

When the spices sizzle add the grated or pureed tomato. Fry the tomato for couple of minutes till the raw smell is gone. If you are not the smelling type, check to see if the oil is separating from the masala.

Add 1 heaped tbsp of grated ginger, couple of slit green chillies and continue frying till tomato is cooked and mushed up

Add the potatoes. Add 1/4 tsp of Turmeric and saute the potatoes till they take on a gold hue.

Next throw in 1/3 cup of fresh or frozen peas. Keep sauteing/frying for the next 3-4 minutes.

Time for the masala.
Mix the following spices in water and add the paste
1/2 tsp of fresh ground Coriander Powder +
1/2 tsp of Roasted Cumin Powder +
1/2 tsp of Red Chili Powder

Note: I roast coriander/cumin seeds and grind them to a fine powder. I also use Deggi Mirch so use Red Chili Powder according to taste.
Note: Instead of water you can mix the dry spice powders with 1 tbsp yogurt and make a paste too

Add a little of the tomato juice or a little water and fry the spices + potatoes + peas for 2 more minutes

Add 2 cups of water. Add salt to taste. Let the gravy come to a simmer.

Add the fried cauliflower florets and gently mix everything together

Cover and cook till potatoes are done. Cauliflower should be done by now. Remove the cover and reduce the gravy to your desired thickness

Adjust for seasoning and add about 1/2 tsp of sugar.

Finish with a little ghee and 1/4th tsp garam masala powder. Serve with rice or chapati