Monday 12 July 2010

Posto diye Pui / Malabar spinach with Poppy seeds

Do not steal
I was pleasantly surprised to see a big bunch of Pui / Poi / the Malabar spinach at my favourite Bengali store here last weekend.
Though the stems were already very thick and the leaves were a little too big for my taste, I picked up the whole bunch nonetheless ... dreaming of a thousand ... ok ... around five to six different dishes that I'll enjoy these in.

The Pui shaak is common in Bengali meals or dishes ... usually prepared with fish or vegetables or both.
But for people like me who stay away from home and do not have an easy or no access to this leafy vegetable ... it is a delicacy. A very precious delicacy.

Unfortunately am still off fish ... ( I do have every intention of getting
Ilish at least once this season ) ... so made two dishes out of my loot.
One ... the very common and much loved Chorchori.
And the other ... this.


Do not steal

I remember my Ma made a dish with Posto paste and other vegetables ... that used to have pumpkin / kumdo leaves and jackfruit / kathal seeds in it.

So tried to recreate it.

I had some Posto paste after making a few Posto Boras... so used it with the leaves and very chewable stems of the Pui.

I do not get kathal seeds here.
Also I did not use too many vegetables in this as I used them with the Chorchori.

Kept it simple ... just threw in some Turai / ridge gourd to give the dish some body. Of course, you can use potatoes in it too ... I did not.
I had never tasted this combi of posto and pui before ...
must say that I
loved this experiment of mine.


Do not steal

Need :

Posto / Poppy seeds paste - soak the posto seeds for an hour and grind in a mixer
Chopped onion
Pui / Malabar spinach leaves and stems - cleaned and cut into smallish pieces
Chopped Turai / Ridge gourd
Broken green chillies
Oil to cook
Salt to taste
A little sugar ( optional)
A little water to cook

How to :

Heat a little oil in a wok / kadahi.

Add the chopped onions and fry till they turn pink.

Add the turai pieces and the pui leaves and the stem pieces and give a good stir for a while.

Add the green chillies and the posto paste and mix well.

Add some water, salt, sugar and cover.

Cook till the vegetables are well done. Make sure the stems are well cooked. Add water if necessary in between.

Remove cover, dry up any extra water.

Serve hot.


Do not steal

This dish will be slightly sweetish and soft textured ...
... not too watery, not too dry.

Goes great on the side with steamed rice and dal.

An update on Mr.Shalik's family ....
baby number two ... much more beautiful in its downy feathers than its sibling ... left nest,
spent two days fluttering about in my balcony and on the third
day is down on terra firma ...
amongst the plants in the garden.

The parents are with it all the while ... and all is well with them.

And my balcony is empty.




28 comments:

  1. Pui shaak was one of the few greens that I liked as a kid. Never had it with posto as we were from a Bangal family. Sounds very interesting and I am sure that I would like it

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  2. Malabar spinach with poppy seeds. Got to try it once I am able to harvest some leaves.

    Glad to hear the Shaliks are doing well.

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  3. The creaminess of poppy make this a very tasty spinach dish :D

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  4. eita khub notun recipe amar kache Sharmila. ei season e pui khete ki bhalo lage na? amar bagane gato barer gach er bij theke apni anek chara hoeche. aji tader sushrusha korlam :-). dekhi ei bar pui anle tomar ei rcipe ta try korbo.

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  5. Sharmila

    Pui diye posto kokhono khaini. Posto thakle definitely bhalo hobe :)
    Ebare ami ekhane pui paini, tai ar lagano hoini

    good to know about the shalik

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  6. I luv anything with Posto :) Just feel like eating out of the pict.

    Cheers!
    Satrupa
    http://satrupa-foodforthought.blogspot.com

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  7. Looks real nice and am yet to try this out...nice one dear

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  8. Pui with poppy seeds look really nice..I remember mom used to make pui pakoras back home , they were my fav...:-) nice clicks!
    http://usmasala.blogspot.com

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  9. Notey posto hi jataam, Sharmila..Puin diye posto bhalo hobe khete :) eyi khane puin paba jaye na , r hole O bhishon expensive more than non-veg..good to hear about birds.
    hugs and smiles

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  10. Kalyan .. it was an experiment ... and a very successful one I must say. :-)

    Indo ... give it a try once. :-)

    Yasmeen .. right. :-)

    Sayantani .. .eta amar kacheo o notun .. . emni try kore fellam. Kore dekho ekbaar ... bhalo lagte pare. :-)

    Sandeepa ... amio kokhono khaini. Besh bhaloi laglo ... kore dekho ekbaar. :-)

    Thanks Satrupa, Priti! :-)

    Aipi ... pui pakoras sound interesting. :-)

    Jaya ... kumro ba lau pata diye barite banano hoto ... pui pelam bole try korlam. :-)

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  11. Never have had it with Posto. But I am sure I will love it since I like pui and posto both. Plus tumi baniye cho, tahole toh double bhalo.

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  12. eta e bochor banatei hobe. I never et it right, may be becoz the posto never gets ground right here in the blender in such small amount. I will still give it a try. jihbhe jol oboshta.

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  13. ami Swagata. amar kono blog nei, tai etodin Anonymous hoyei tomar blog-e comment kortam. tumi naam jiggesh korle tai amar khub bhalo laglo :)
    posto diye pui dekhte besh bhaloi hoyeche

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  14. Pui shaak ar posto combination onek khechi(whenever we used to visit our hometown kolkata). Amar mashi khoob bhalo banato. Ja bolecho....ei dish ta garom bhat diye khete ashadhoron lage. Simple yet confort food.
    Shalik der bepare update shune bhalo laglo.

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  15. Pree ... taratari baniye felo. :-)

    Soma ... I have the same prob .. so usually grind a lot ( around one katori ful ) and use it in different ways ... or freeze it. :-)

    Hi Swagata! Khub shundor naam tomar.
    Tumi comment er last line e o naam ta dite paro. :-)

    Deepa ... tai na ki? Ami bhablam besh ekta notun dish korlam! ;-)

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  16. sigh..there you go again teasing me with posto:)

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  17. I love anything with posto..like it with kalayer daal...and the lunch should end with tomator chatni (with lots of khejur) in it!

    eiy dish banatey amar ekta hi problem...aami shaag chini naa :(

    PS: yur blog actually helps me survive wonderfully..tastes like my mom's preparations.

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  18. Sharmila,
    Posto jinish'ta prochondo priyo amar...r shei posto diye erokom darun ekta dish baniyechhoo dekhe jibhe jol eshe gelo!Ami jekhane thaki sekhane Pui shaak pawa jay kina sheta khuje dekhini kokhono...but tomar ei Posto-Pui dekhe ebar khujte ichhe korchhe:)
    Lovely photos!!

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  19. never eaten posto-pui combo. sounds delish. Nishchoi banabo if I find pui in the Bangaladeshi store over the weekend. Bah. SO good to see novel recipes, when I'm going thjrough a complete 'cooking block' phase. All i make is mushur dal and bandhakopi. :D

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  20. Give me a chance dear I ... would love to make every single posto dish for you. :-)

    Thanks Lonsome Duck! :-)
    Google images is a big help jodi shaak chinte chao.

    Khuje felo WWW .. am sure peye jabe. Ami o ekhane khub ekta pai na ... just got lucky. :-)

    KG .. ami pui crave kore kore emon obostha holo je ekhon gaach lagiyechi. :-)

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  21. this is new for me looksso yum,..

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  22. Hi Sharmila, you always have some delicious surprise in store for me. I don't quite recognize Malabar Spinach by name, but this sounds like a recipe that would work with any green?
    Love, love the poppy seed paste-- I use poppy seeds only in miniscule quantities in my cooking, so a recipe where they take centerstage is very welcome. I will be sure to try this one.

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  23. Sharmila,
    Ami another posto fan...eta darun idea, pui shak posto diye..try korbo sometime..dekhte lobhoniyo hoyeche..am back frm vacation

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  24. Good to know all is well with your bird family.

    I had potato posto at a friend's house last year and I still have not recovered from the delicious taste. However, I haven't been able to recreate what she made. Never thought it could be made with M Spinach and ridge gourd too. :)

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  25. I have neve rhad a dish like this looks really yummy.

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  26. Bookmarked! I am in love with Bengali dishes and have tried few but never I can recreate the ones which i have tasted earlier at my friends place, i guess its difference in hands :)

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  27. Priyanka ... thanks. :-)

    Vaishali .. I guess so. You can try it with regular spinach or chard or even beet greens ... but as Malabar spinach has a very mild taste, it goes well with the subtly sweet poppy seeds paste. :-)

    Indrani ... welcome back. :-)

    Jaya .. if you liekd aloo posto, you will like this too. Give it a try .. not too many ingredients. :-)

    Happy ... thanks. :-)

    Parita ... that is partly true. Am sure if you try them a couple of times, you will get them perfect too. :-)

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  28. Hi sharmila di ami apnar site follow kori for bengali ranna jeo toh ami South Indian married to bong . Apnar site khub upkari hoe.

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