Posto diye Lau shaak or Bottle gourd leaves cooked with poppy seeds paste

Among the very few vegetarian food that I would eat when young,  was the shaak or green leafy vegetables . 
We used to have different kinds of shaak everyday on our lunch plate. Among the other compulsory things on the plate like a little Ucche or anything bitter, some Bhaate / boiled and mashed, a piece of lemon, etc. there would be a small pile a leafy vegetable everyday. 
And no, we could not skip it and move on to the rest of the sides like chenchra or chorchori or the main jhols of fish or meat. 
We had to wade through the bitter and the leafy things first. 

The kind of shaak would be varied too. 
One day it would be the Notey and the Kolmi on the other. Sometimes we would get the Gima, a favourite of mine with its slightly bitter taste. 
Then there would be the Shushni shaak, Paat shaak, Palong  and Methi in winters, and lots more. 
Staying away from home in a place where we do not see more than 3 or 4 varieties, I have started to even forget the names. 

The leaves of creepers would be used too. Kumro pata / pumpkin leaves, Lau pata / bottle gourd leaves, Ucche pata / bitter gourd leaves .... and so on. 
The bigger leaves like the former two would be used to paturis / wraps and also for making mixed veg dishes or chorchoris. 
The smaller ones would be used for a stir fry or to make Boras / deep fried dumplings. 

My favourite, however, is the way Ma cooked the Lau pata .... with posto or poppy seeds. And I loved it best when she added some jackfruit seeds too. 
Quick to cook, she would often cook it last, just before we sat down for lunch. 
When she brought the bowl of the steaming hot dish to the table,  I would take a deep breath of that sweet aroma of posto. 
And would take helpings after helpings, ignoring any meat or fish on the table that day. 
I loved to chew on the sweet, soft dnaata slowly, savouring the juicy bits of joints with a happiness that no meat or bone would be able to give. 

I got some Lau pata a few days back and soaked some posto immediately, having this dish in mind. 
And so made it for lunch. 

Need : 

Lau pata / Bottle gourd leaves 

Potatoes - cut into small cubes 

Chopped onion
Grated Ginger
Green chillies, broken 

Bori - I used my home made ones 

Poppy seeds paste 

Paanch phoron / Bengali five spice (a mix of fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, celery seeds. mustard seeds ) 

Oil  ( I use ghee ) 

How to : 

Soak poppy seeds and make a paste with very little water. 

Soak the leaves in salt water and wash well. 
Chop roughly and keep aside. 

Heat oil / ghee in a kadahi. 
Lightly fry the boris and keep aside. 

Heat oil / ghee. 

Add the paanch phoron .

Add the green chillies and the sliced onion. 

Fry and add the potatoes. Stir fry till half done. 

Now add the chopped leaves and cover. 

It will release water. After it has wilted, give a mix and add the boris, a little salt and the poppy seed paste. 

Mix well and cook till water is absorbed and everything is done. 

It will not be completely dry. 

Serve steaming hot. 
Here is a look of my lunch plate. 

Can you guess the fry on the side? 
More on it later. 

Till then, take care and stay safe. 
Do mask up and stay away from crowded places. 

 

Lau Khosha Shorshe Narkel diye / Bottle Gourd peels cooked with Mustard paste and Coconut

Hello hello !!
How are you doing?
I am back with a recipe that I have been longing to post.
And nudge my blog awake.

Hope all of you are dealing with the recent pandemic Covid 19 with patience.
And hope that all of you are taking care of yourselves and others too.

I have been posting my daily healthy and light meals on Instagram regularly.
But did not have the mojo to post something here since I do not feel like writing much these days.
The last two years have been a whirlwind for us, with the graph going south all the while.
And hence did not see any reason to be morbid here too.

But when I posted one of my meal plates on insta a few days ago, when I had cooked the simple Lau Khosha / bottle gourd peels with Posto / poppy seeds, I got a lot of dms asking me for the recipe.
And that is when it struck me that I should have it on my blog too.

So decided to make a post today, since I had the chopped peels in the fridge.
But could not find any posto paste in the freezer.
Instead saw some cubes of mustard paste and some grated coconut.

And it struck me ... I can cook a shorshe jhaal with them.
Did a quick search on the internet and did not find any recipe that cooks Lau khosha with Shorshe.
All I saw was the very common Lau khosha bhaja. Or bata / paste.

And quickly set off to cook some.
And quickly make a post.
😊

Need :

Bottle gourd / Lau peels - cut into strips
Potato - cut into strips
Onion - sliced
Kalo jeere / Nigella seeds
Green chillies
Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder
Mustard paste
Freshly grated coconut
Salt
Sugar
Mustard oil

How to :

Heat oil and add the kalo jeere and onions.
Stir and add the potatoes and the peels.

Add turmeric, red chilli powder and salt.
Cover and cook till done.

Add the mustard paste and the grated coconut.
Mix well and cover for some more time.

Add the sugar, stir well.

Serve hot with rice.

That's all.
I'll try to keep posting here as frequently as possible.

Or else you can join me, enjoy my new recipes and keep in touch on Instagram. 
And on my blog's page on Facebook. 
I am more active there right now.

Do take care and stay home.