Aloo Potol er bhaja / Stir fried potatoes and pointed gourd

 I have often noticed on social media that every time the Bhaja is mentioned, it attracts a lot of shocked 'whoah!'s or a very predictable reaction to the 'oil' used to make it.
At first, I used to wonder why.
I mean, what has the bhaja to do with a lot of oil, quite did not make sense to me then.
And then I slowly realised that most of the people who reacted this way are non Bengalis and the actual meaning of the 'Bhaja' is lost in translation.

It made me think of what Devdutt Pattanaik had said in one of his programs on the tv ... how the intricate details of our culture and ancient writings could not be explained or named by the English with their limited words .... hence they categorised everything under one word - 'mythology'.
The same way, non Bengalis have no idea of the word 'Chanka' and categorise eveything under the name 'fry' ... the straight literal translation of the bhaja.

Except for the brinjal / Begun / aubergine, every other vegetable that is called a bhaja or fry is stir fried.
And that is possible with a very limited amount of oil too.
And nowadays, it can be almost oil free too ... thanks to non stick cookware.
I, however, do not use non stick cookware at all and stick to the good iron kadahis ... which are excellent to stir fry in, with very little oil, once they are seasoned well.

The brinjal / Begun is deep fried because it has a tendency to soak up oil. So when deep fried, it can be drained well and does not hold back the oil.
Similarly, the Luchi, every Bengali's favourite, is deep fried, while the Porota is not.
So we say "Luchi chanka hocche " and "Porota bhaja hocche".

And every Bengali will have at least two or three vegetables bhaja on their plate for lunch or dinner. Or for the jolkhabar / breakfast or along with in-between meals too.
And no, they are not soaked with oil and neither are they unhealthy too.

So go ahead and enjoy that bhaja. They are a great way to get some veggies into you.
Are quick to make and the lightest of way to enjoy vegetables.

I have the Aloo Potol bhaja for you today.
I have got some very good Potol / Parwal / Pointed gourd this summer.
While I am usually happy with the Potol bhaja / Potolo pithau bhaja  (this one is my favourite ) along with some dal and rice, I did make some Chenchki, aloo diye bhaja and also a Potoler Rosa / curry with gravy.
And yes, the Potol posto too.
I did not make the Potoler chop this time but if you want to try it, the recipe is here.
Also it has the recipe of the Aam Kasundi that I had made for the very first time.

I had clicked these snaps so thought of making a quick post on this.
And also share a good news - just saw this morning that Kitchen-e-Kichu Khonn has been listed among the top 100 food blogs on the planet by Feedspot.
And I get a badge too , to display on the blog! 😊
You can check it out on the right column.

So could not wait to hurry over and thank all of you for your love and encouragement and comments and interactions ... all of which give me that push to keep blogging and posting.
Makes all the efforts of cooking, clicking, cleaning up, making the time to sit down and write to you here .... very very worthwhile.
I am so glad to be able to share this blog and little parts of my life with you !!


Now, to make the simple Aloo Potol er bhaja.

Need :


Aloo / Potatoes - 2 medium sized, cut into medium thick slices
Potol / Parwal / Pointed gourd - 5 medium sized, cut into slices
Onion - 1 big, cut into thick slices
Mustard oil / any oil - 1 tbsp
Haldi / Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp or less
Salt - to taste


How to :

Heat a kadahi well.

Add the oil and spread it all over.

Add the onions and stir fry on low heat till they turn pink.

Now add the potatoes, the pointed gourd , haldi powder, red chilli powder and salt.


Cover and cook till the vegetables are done.
Do remember to check and stir them once in a while.

Remove cover and fry them in the open till the potatoes turn slightly brown.

Remove and serve hot.

This bhaja goes very well on the side with dal and rice or when paired with rotis or parathas.

Enjoy!!

Potol Posto / Pointed gourd cooked with Poppy seeds paste

Nothing much is happening in life right now.
Cooking is light and less and all that I have been doing is drowning in cooling drinks.
The Watermelon juice ( yes, I love it now ) has a permanent place in my fridge these days, as is the chaas or the lightly spiced buttermilk.
I am downing glasses of these and more .... that is when I am not drinking gallons of water.
Pune does not get any rains in summers ... other than a couple of very short and very rare showers ... and we are looking forward to the monsoons.
I have not made any boris or used the sun in any way this time ... not even a jar of pickle.
Been too caught up with some sewing.
And my travels have taken up the larger part of summer this year.

But, since the last few days, the sun has suddenly turned softer. There is a lightness in the air. The mornings are fresh and much cooler than what they were just a week back.
We are back to our routine of early morning tea on our balcony.
The birds still come for their drink of water and later in the day, their bath.
But the sun is not as burning any more.
I hope I am not speaking a little too soon, since we still have the rest of May and the whole of June. But I am enjoying Pune getting back to its cool self.

I have cooked with summer vegetables very rarely too, this time.
Something or the other has been coming up and regular green grocery shopping has been taking a backseat.
I did get some good Potol / Parwal / Pointed gourd twice in the last three weeks. And did cook them in all my regular ways ... mostly the bhaja.
I love potol bhaja with hot rotis or on the side of dal and rice.
But this time, I did make a couple more different recipes ... which I will be posting soon.

This Potol posto was made last year. I had clicked these photos in a hurry ... and was not too happy with them .... so kept postponing making a post the whole of last year.
Came across them when looking for some old photos and decided they are not so bad, after all. I mean, anything to not go through the rigmarole of cooking, arranging and clicking a photograph ... not to mention my shoulder acting up later.

So here is the way I made Potol posto. Try it before the summer runs out.
And the Potol disappears from the markets.

Need :

Potol / Pointed gourd - 250 gms, cut into medium thin slices
Posto / Poppy seeds paste - 5 tbsp
Onion - 1 big, cut into slices
Kalo jeere / Nigella seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard oil - 1 tbsp
Haldi powder - a pinch
Green chillies - 2 , slit
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste

How to :

Heat the oil in a kadai / wok.

Let in the onions + green chillies.

Sprinkle the kalo jeere on them.

Fry well on low heat till the onions turn pink.

Raise heat, add the potol slices and fry well.

Lower heat, add the haldi + salt.

Cover and cook till the potol is half done.

Remove cover, add the posto paste with a little water, the sugar, the green chillies and mix well.

Cover and cook till everything is done and dried up.
Do remember to stir it once in a while.

Serve hot with rice.

Here are a few other recipes with the Potol.

Gotta rush today.
Enjoy!!!

Bhaja Muger Dal & Crispy Fried Parwal

The Bhaja Muger dal ( Dry roasted and cooked mung / moong lentils ) has been a request from an old reader of my blog ... Vaishnavi ... from a considerable long time back. I know I have been very late in posting this ... but then ... well ... here it is ... a very flavourful yet very simple dal that tastes awesome with plain steamed rice.

This dal tastes very different from what raw moong dal tastes when cooked. Try the tempering used here with raw moong dal once ... which is also wonderful in taste and flavour ... and you will know.
Just one mouthful of this dal with rice takes you to heaven ... and back ... for another mouthful.

I recommend cooking this in ghee. If cooking in oil, top it with a spoonful of ghee after it is done.

Bhaja Muger Dal

Need :

1 cup Moong / Mung dal
2 Green chillies - chopped
1 inch Ginger - chopped very finely
1/2 tsp Jeera / Cumin seeds
A little Haldi / Turmeric powder
1 tsp Ghee / Clarified butter or 1 tsp Mustard oil
2 Tej pata / Bay leaves
Salt to taste
Water to cook ( around 3 cups )

How to :

Take a thick bottomed pan .. preferably cast iron kadahi / wok ... or a non stick utensil would do too ... but it has to be a heavy one.

Tip in the cupful of mung dal into it and put it on low flame.

Keep stirring continiously ... the dal will slowly get roasted and turn golden in colour and let out an aroma. Do not leave the place even for a moment .. it burns real quick.

As soon as the dal turns golden ... turn off heat and remove pan ... keep stirring for some more time till the pan / kadahi cools.

Wash the dal and keep aside.

Take a pressure cooker. Put in the dal, water, salt and haldi. Close and cook till 2 whistles on low heat.

Or you can soak the dal for around an hour and then run it in the MW oven at 60% for 10 minutes.

Heat ghee ( or mustard oil ) in another pan or kadahi.

Add the jeera. When it starts to splutter ( do not burn it ), add the tej patta and the ginger.

Stir a little and add the green chillies.

Add the dal and stir well.

Adjust salt and water to get desired consistency.

Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer for around 5 minutes.

Serve very hot with steamed rice.

Preferably with some vegetable fry on the side.

I had some Parwal / Potol / Pointed gourd ... so here's my crispy fried Parwal or muchmuche Potol bhaja.

Crispy Fried Parwal / Pointed Gourd

It is Parwal / Padwal / Potol / Pointed Gourd season.
Bengalis make a whole variety of dishes with this vegetable.
But I love it crispy fried ... like this. Crispy yet retaining the sweetness of the vegetable.

This way of coating with rice flour and frying the vegetables is more common in Odisha ... which is very different from the usual Bengali way of frying vegetables.

While I am used to this way due to our Oriya cook, DH fell in love with this kind of fries on our trip to Chilika ... and later many other places in Orissa that we have visited.
For a vegetarian, this is like manna from heaven ... if you are not into those heavy paneer masala, etc. types of food.

The crispiness comes from the rice flour. So this is known as Pithau bhaja in Odiya.
And since it is shallow fried, no too much of oil into you ... as opposed to the usual Bengali way of bhajas / fries that are most of the time deep fried.

You can fry other vegetables like the Karela / Bitter gourd, Potatoes, Onions, Cauliflower, etc. this way too.
And this is a great hit with kids too .. an easy way to get some veggies into them.

This is quick to make and tastes best when eaten hot. So prepare everything and fry just before serving a meal.

So here is the Potola pithau bhaja for you.

Need :

Parwal / Pointed gourd - peeled and cut into very thin slices
Rice flour - a few spoonfuls to to coat the slices well
Chopped green chillies ( optional )
Salt to taste
Oil to shallow fry

How to :

Toss everything except the oil together in a bowl.

Take a flat bottomed heavy or non stick pan and heat some oil ... spreading the oil all over properly.

Put in the sliced and coated parwal and spread them so that they do not stick to form a lump.

Fry till golden brown.

Serve hot

Here's another look of this simple yet very tasty and flavourful lunch.

Have a great weekend all!!

Do check out Sandeepa's and Mandira's versions of the Bhaja muger dal.

Potol ar Pakoda Torkari / Pointed Gourd and Fried Lentil Dumplings Curry

There were some long forgotten Potol / Parwal / Pointed gourd lying in the refrigerator ( see the crinkly edges ... that long forgotten .... ).

Set about to make the usual Alu Potol curry .... familiar to any Bengali. Saw some soaked black chana in the fridge. And some left over Besan batter from some pakoras made a couple of days back.

Made some more small sized pakoras ... threw in everything together .... and as usual, without too much masalas this turned out to be a very good dish.

I had clicked the snaps as soon as I made it ... so you can see the thin jhol / gravy. Don't worry ... it gets soaked up by the pakodas.
And I like that slightly mushy dryish torkari even better.

And yes, when I let it sit ..... the parwal got rid of the crinkles too and got all plumped up. :-)



Need : Potol / Parwal .... skin scraped lightly, ends cut off and each cut into two widthwise, potatoes [optional] cut into the same size as the parwal,

soaked kala chana / black chick peas [ optional] , sliced onion,
chopped tomatoes ( I did not have any ... so did not use ) ,

haldi / turmeric powder, Paanch Phoron, dry red chillies, cooking oil,
water, salt and sugar to taste.

The Besan batter had red chilli powder, ajwain, salt and water.

How to : Heat enough oil and fry small sized pakoras / dumplings from the besan paste. Keep aside.

Heat a little oil in a different kadhai / wok. Add the paanch phoron and the whole chilles.
When they start to splutter, add the sliced onion and fry well.

Add the potatoes and parwal and stir for some time on high heat. Add the kala chana.
Then add haldi powder, salt, sugar and water. Cover and cook till the vegetables are done.

Remove cover and add the fried pakoras and the tomatoes. Cover and simmer for some more time.
If you want to, you can add a pinch of garam masala and a spoonful of ghee just before serving. Goes great with hot rotis / parathas.

And don't judge me by the shape of those pakoras ... I am yet to master the art of dropping a perfectly round blob of any paste or batter. :-)

Potoler Chop (Stuffed Parwal)

 (Updated photograph)

( Cooked Soy granules can also be used as stuffing. Non-vegetarians can make with chicken/mutton kheema ).

The first time I read the recipe for homemade Kasundi on Delhibelle's post I tried it out ... I admit with apprehension.
I mean who makes kasundi at home?
I have never seen any elderly woman relative to make even once. Rather everybody has been very vague about the recipe ... how difficult it is and how you have to follow certain guidelines, etc. etc.

When I made this recipe of the instant version I was floored. It was perfect .. and was polished off in minutes. So could not post it for lack of a snap ... read evidence ;p.

Now I have made it again. I made just one mistake ... I used the bigger sized mustard seeds ... the taste was good anyway ... just a little extra tangy.

And I added 1/2 teaspoonful of sugar ... which was ok. The recipe is with its rightful owner here.

The stuffed parwals tasted too good with it. Thanks Rashmi. :-)

I have made this Kasundi many times hence. Never made a different post on it though.



 Potoler Chop

Need :

A few big sized fresh parwals / pointed gourd

Boiled potatoes,

Haldi / Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder

A pinch of garam masala

Salt to taste

Besan / Gram flour

Water - enough to make a batter

Oil for deep frying.

How to :

The stuffing :

Mash the boiled potatoes with salt, red chilli powder and garam masala.

( Alternatively this can be cooked with ginger garlic paste ... but that takes a lot of time. I kept it simple).
Yiu can add chopped peanuts and coconut to the stuffing too.

The chop :

Wash and peel the parwals.

Make a cut in them and scoop the seeds out carefully.

Stuff them with the potato stuffing and then cut the ends off (this way they don't break).

The batter :

Prepare the batter by mixing besan, a pinch of haldi powder, red chilli powder and salt and water.
 It should not be too watery ... keep it slightly thickish.


How to :

Heat enough oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai (make sure of this becoz the parwals need to be cooked too).

Dip the stuffed parwals in the batter and coat them evenly.

Deep fry them on low heat till golden brown.

Serve hot with kasundi, ketchup or chutney.
These are perfect as a side with the Khichuri or just as snacks with a hot cup of tea.
Enjoy!!