Pui shaak diye Ilish macher mudo / Hilsa head cooked with Malabar spinach

 It is that time of the year. Again.
When the sun is out finally after the rains have withdrawn for good.
When the mornings start with a slight nip in the air and then the afternoons turn fiercely hot.
When the smell of festive times is all over in the air.
When you know Ganeshotsav and then Durga puja is just around the corner.
When you remember the smell of sun soaked clothes and mattresses that have spent the day outside , back home, while the house is cleaned inside out in preparation for Durga puja.
When you remember the smell of Thamma's achars / pickles as the numerous jars and bottles are sunned too.
When you can feel the excitement of buying and planning designs with your cousins for new clothes.
When you step out into the kitchen verandah one late afternoon to see Thamma sitting quietly in front of the khirki duar / backdoor , looking out into the pond and drying her long hair in the breeze coming from across the deep, dark waters of the pond.
And your heart suddenly feels heavy with that surge of love for her.

It is that time of the year when I long to take the next flight home. And be in the midst of the busy family, quietly soaking in everything.
It is that time of the year when I miss Bapi's excited calls asking when was I coming.
It is that time of the year when nostalgia takes over and the weather turns fabulous and the evenings turn maddeningly beautiful with the bright yet soft sun and a heavy 'mon kemon kora' breeze passing by once in a while.

I try to focus on the house that I call my home now instead.
Loads of decluttering and cleaning to do.
Lots of things to be given away.
Now that the sun is back, loads of things need sunning.
I am like a plant .... I can't survive without the sun. Every single thing in my house needs to be sunned.
So lots of things to do now.
And to top it all, there is some travel coming up next week.
So it is all about hurrying right now. 

 Meanwhile, the past couple of weeks have been real hectic.
One of the days I cooked Khichuri in bulk for the street children that I often feed ... in memory of Bapi on his death anniversary.
I love going out and handing these hot packages of food to the little hands that come up to my car window. A few do not ... they are so small.
I love to hear their little screams of delight on finding some sweet. Or when I hand out ice creams.
Bapi loved ice cream.
And while I have not been able to eat a single ice cream ever since he left us, I do regularly distribute them to the little children on the streets.
Fills my heart with a some satisfaction and a lot of joy.

On another side, I have been cooking Ilish at home a little too regularly.
Given that I got two good fishes this time, I have had my fill.
And since I had a good growth of the Pui that I had planted some years ago, I decided to use them with one of the Ilish heads to make this chanchra. Or chorchori.
Or whatever you would like to call it.
There are a lot of ways that I cook Ilish head in. But my favourite is the tauk.
And this ... with the Pui shaak / Malabar spinach.


Need :

Ilish / Hilsa fish head - marinated with salt and turmeric
Chopped vegetables - I used pumpkin, ridge gourd, potato
Pui shaak / Malabar spinach - leaf and stem chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chopped onion
Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder
Panch phoron / Bengali five spice powder
Dry Red chillies
Salt
Mustard oil

How to :

Heat the mustard oil in a kadahi and fry the fish head.
Break into pieces and keep aside.

In the same oil add paanch phoron + red chillies + sliced onions.
Fry and then add ginger garlic paste.
Fry well and add haldi mirchi powder.

Now add the vegetables , salt , cover and cook till the veggies are half done.

Now add the washed and cut pui shaak and the fish head.

Cover and cook ...stirring once in a while.

Sprinkle a little red chilli powder, mix well and keep covered for a while before serving.


 I used ginger garlic paste for the first time with Ilish.
And I must say I loved the combination.
With the Rohu head, it is a different taste.
And with the ilish, it is again different.

I did not add the usual pinch of sugar and loved the change in the taste.

 Pair it with some hot rice and enjoy!!

Aam shorshe bori diye Pui shaaker data

When I asked on my facebook page yesterday as to what recipe would my readers like to see on the blog next, most answered "Niramish".
Or vegetarian.
I was a little surprised ... but happy.
Especially when Jhimly said "... your niramish are lip smacking."
Bengali cuisine has lots of vegetarian dishes, but making a vegetarian dish tasty is a little challenging.
And especially since I use very little masalas, I am very glad that people like my vegetarian recipes too.

The last week was a little nerve wracking for me.
B was away on work and I had much plans on how I will be using this free time ... making a long list of pending works, some stitching to catch up on, some non vegetarian recipes to be cooked and photographed, catch a few movies, have long baths, read, sleep,
load the dish washer exactly as I wanted to ... with nobody to correct me or rearrange it  .....  and so on.
Basically, to relax, do nothing and watch the days go by in slo mo.

But easier said than done. Given it is the worrier me.
Staying with a person, who works from home and is around you 24 / 7 has its own implications.
In ways one cannot even start to imagine.
One day into being alone and I got into the lazy mode. While that was my intention all along, not cooking at all or not making the bed or not doing the laundry and definitely not eating was never a part of my plans.
One more day and I got into the anxiety mode.
Double locked the doors and the balcony and stayed up like an owl the whole night.
On any other night, I would have happily settled down with a book.
Or let Jagjit Singh take over.
But not this time.

Even the littlest of sounds made me anxious.
I kept the lights as well as the tv running all through the nights.
And never slept a wink.
I even tried to calm myself down with some Phuchka for dinner a couple of nights.
Did not work much, I must say.
As for the rest of the days and nights ... I might as well not say anything at all.

But I did cook some dishes that I had in mind for long, to make posts.
Since I did not have to take care of a vegetarian meal too, I rustled them up,
clicked and then ate them as my lunch or brunch ... when I had thoughtful friends who had
come over to give me company.

But since my readers wanted niramish or vegetarian,  I am posting this vegetarian Bengali recipe first.

I have used the leaves and the stems of the Pui that I had planted last year.
With summer making its approach, this dish has a touch of raw mangoes too.
A few boris thrown in and it makes for a perfect accompaniment to your vegetarian summer lunch.

Need :

Pui / Malabar spinach leaves and stems - washed and chopped , around 250 gms
Raw mango pieces - depending on the level of tartness you like 
Bori / dried lentil dumplings - 6 to 7 pieces
Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp, soaked for around 3 hours ( I use a mix of black and yellow seeds )
Green chillies - 3
Nigella seeds / Kalo jeere / Kalaunji - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Mustard oil - 1 tbsp
Potato - 1 medium, sliced
Onion - 1 medium, sliced
Salt - to taste

How to :

In a mixer, make a paste of the raw mango + mustard seeds + 2 green chillies.
Odiyas would add garlic, which I sometimes do too. But not this time.
You can try if you want to, though.

 Heat a heavy kadahi / wok.

Add the mustard oil and heat it well.

Add the boris and fry on low heat till golden brown.
Remove and keep aside.

In the same oil, add the kalo jeere + broken green chilli.

Next, add the onions and fry on low heat for a minute.

Then add the potatoes and the turmeric powder and cover and cook till the potatoes are almost done.

Remove cover and add the chopped  pui leaves + stems.

Give a good mix cover and cook for around 5 minutes.

When the leaves are cooked, add the mustard paste + salt + the fried bori.

Cover and cook till everything comes together  and is done.

Remove cover and raise heat till all water dries up.
Remember to keep stirring.

Remove from heat and keep it covered for a minute.

 Serve hot with rice.
This pairs very well with Tauker dal, bhaat and Ucche bhaja on the side to make that perfectly light, summer lunch.
On non vegetarian days, you can add the Maacher bhorta or makha on the side too.

Enjoy!!

Pui Chingri / Prawns cooked with the Malabar Spinach

The sun is blazing hot these days. The birds are already draining the water bath by the time our breakfast is over.
I have to fill it at least thrice a day these days.
It breaks my heart to see the poor birds flying around, looking for water.
Many try to drink from the dirty puddles on the roads but those too are not easily seen these days, given the dry weather and the heat.
I feel a kind of relief every time I see a bird drinking clean water from the bath on my balcony.
It is a sturdy and flat terracotta vessel and just deep enough for the bigger birds like the crows to dip their beaks in.

I keep the water level low in the mornings so that the little birds like the bulbuls, sparrows and the sun birds find it easy to bathe. They come very early in the mornings.
The crows, swallows, pigeons and the parrots come later.
I try to get a peek now and then .... I love to see them splashing around in the water.
And love the look of contentment on their faces.

There is a beautiful photograph of a freshly bathed swallow who sat in the sun for a while .... and dozed, that I had clicked once.
It is on the blog too but I do not remember in which post it is in ... hence cannot give the link just now.

Given that my balcony faces west, it becomes very difficult to care for the plants too.
I get busy with setting up contraptions to cover them from the direct sun.
Watering them twice a day is a must.
I do not have a green thumb at all .... most of my plants die sooner or later. Much of which I can attribute to our frequent trips too.
No matter what precautions I take .... from half filling the bath tub and placing the pots in it to lining every little indoor pot with damp newspapers to keeping them under very light running water .... I have done it all.
Right now my only surviving plants are the few palms that I had carried back all the way from Bangalore, a curry leaf plant, which I keep an eye on like a mother hen and my very precious Pui plant .... which I had planted from the stems of the big bunch that I had got from Bangalore last year.

That Pui plant has been doing well, touch wood, so far. I have already cooked a few times with its leaves and stems. I just hope it survives this harsh summer that nature is promising us.

This time, when I made this Pui Chingri from its leaves, I decided to make a post.

I do not use too much of spices in this chorchori.
Rather, I let the flavour and the sweetness of the prawns to mingle with the freshness of the Pui leaves.
And they speak for themselves.
If you are making this in winter, do add vegetables of your choice.
I did not add any ... just threw in some sweet potatoes for that extra sweetness and some baby Brinjals / Eggplants for some moistness.



Need :


Fresh water prawns - 250 gms , marinated with salt + turmeric powder
Sweet potatoes - 1 medium, diced
Brinjals / Aubergine - diced
Pui leaves and stems - washed and cut roughly
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Paanch phoron / Bengali five spice mix - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 
Whole dry red chillies - 2, broken
Bay leaf - 1
Mustard oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste ( this will a little sweetish dish )

How to :


Heat the oil in a heavy kadahi / wok / open pan.

Add the prawns and fry lightly and remove.

In the same oil add the paanch phoron and the dry red chillies.

Add the potatoes and cook on low heat, covered,  till done.

Remove cover and add the grated ginger, stir a little and add the pui and the brinjals.

Give a stir and add the prawns too.

Now add turmeric powder + red chilli powder + salt + sugar.

Mix well till everything come together.

Cover and cook on low heat till the leaves are well cooked.

Remove cover and stir well.

Cook without cover, mixing now and then till all water dries up.

Serve hot with dal and rice.
Enjoy!!


And oh! .... This summer, if you have an empty space anywhere in your house ... even a window sill will work ... please do keep out some clean water for our feathered friends.
Be kind.

God bless !!

Pui shaak diye muri ghonto or Malabar spinach cooked with fish head

At one time, I had no idea of life's real deal.
I used to write a lot on pain but had no idea what real pain was.
Strangely, now that I have seen what life's real tough game is all about, what losing a loved one in the real sense is, I have nothing to write.

All words seem to have disappeared into thin air.
Just like fair weather friends.
All expressions void.
There is no way I can put forth anything ... just so that I can lighten my heart a little.
This is my blog, my space. I know I should.
But I can't.

Life. That is.

I had made this muri ghonto with some of the Pui or Malabar spinach that I had got from Bangalore, a few months back.
Since I had got two big bunches, I have been happily cooking up Pui dishes for a while.
After the bhaja, the jhaal, the bora,  and the posto pui, I still had enough to make a chanchra (post coming up soon ) and this muri ghonto.

I had a fresh Rohu head and with a generous amount of pui thrown in, it made a good ghonto.
I have added garlic this time and the ghonto turned out to have the exact flavours of any Odiya chencheda or ghanto. The flavours that are so familiar to me; which I have grown up enjoying so much.
Reminded me of our Oriya cook back home.

No more digressing to memories.
On to the recipe instead.

Need :

Head of Rohu fish - 1, fried with salt and turmeric and broken
Pui or Malabar spinach - 3 cupfuls, chopped, including some baby stalks
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Dry red chillies - 2, broken
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp

How to :

Heat the oil in a kadahi.
Add the jeera + broken dry chillies.


Add the ginger + garlic paste and fry well.

Add the fish head and fry some more.

Add  the pui. Mix well.

Add salt + sugar. Cover and cook till the leaves are well cooked.


Remove cover and cook till all water has dried up.
Take care to stir from time to time.


Add red chilli powder and give a good mix again.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!!

And oh! signing off with a look of the throw that I had promised all of you on my page on fb.

Pui shaak bhaja and some thoughts on how to freeze food when planning ahead

After my last post on prepping and cooking food ahead to save time, here is my post on how to use the freezer and how to store Indian food in the freezer, as requested by Kuntala.

I have jotted down everything that I do and everything that helps me go through the days with my injured hand and shoulder that have a tendency to act up at times.
A little planning ahead helps me sail through such days.

**  When using the freezer compartment to store food, do remember to set it at a good temperature.
Also do take into account if there are frequent power cuts in your area. Do not freeze things for a long time if you have frequent and long power cuts.
Your food should freeze well to be able to stay well till you are ready to use it.
 
**  Buy a good number of ice trays. I buy the ones with a cover so that it is easy to sit one above the other. Also the smell does not spread all through the freezer compartment.

** Make lemonade and freeze.
Just add chilled water when you are back home and you have a wonderful glass ready! Just sit back and rest  awhile with this on a hot day.

**  Wet ground masalas like grated ginger ( plain ginger when ground into a paste will turn bitter very fast ), garlic paste, mustard paste, tomato paste, posto paste stay very well when frozen.

** Cook a batch of gravy maslala (fry onion paste + ginger paste + garlic paste + turmeric + red chilli powder) in bulk and freeze.
Use a couple of cubes for your fish or chicken or mutton curries.
Or even a vegetarian dish like the Aloo dum too.
Quick cooking.

** If you have the inclination, you can buy green peas when in season, peel, blanch them and freeze too.

** Fry fish and store in different containers.
I have tried freezing them raw ... but have noticed a change in taste. So always fry them first.
Divide fish , chicken or mutton into batches ... different pieces for different kinds of dishes.

** Label the containers so that you need not open every one of them every time.
I use a marker to write.
This way you are planning a menu ahead and will help you save a lot of time.

** Boil dals with salt and turmeric and freeze in batches ... depending on the amount you will be needing.

** If you have a big quantity of grated coconut, then freeze it.
Use the frozen coconut in curries, dals, etc. where it will cook well.
If you want to use grated coconut fresh, then just refrigerate it in a tightly closed container.

** You can make rotis and parathas and freeze too. I personally have not tried doing this but have seen many of my friends do so.

** If you have shelves in your freezer, use them to store different kinds of flours.
I store maida, jowar flour, bajra flour, rice flour, besan etc.
Since these are not used daily, once a packet is open, chances of them getting spoiled increase.
The dry air in the freezer is perfect for the flours ... and no fear of them getting moisture or fungus and of course are safe from insects like ants, etc.

**  Freeze paneer or freshly made chenna. You can make parathas or bhurji out of it.

** I also freeze left over gravies from mutton or chicken curries. Use them later in dals or just boil eggs and add to them and you have a quick dish ready.

** You can freeze boiled noodles or macaroni too. Just remember to give them a good rub of oil so they don't stick together.
Thaw well before using.

** Curries and gravies freeze very well. Chana, chola, rajma, chicken, egg ... everything.

** You can freeze cooked rice too.
Just remember to thaw it well and steam it instead of using the microwave oven.
Fill a big pan with water, put the cooked and frozen rice in a sieve container ... not plastic ... and sit it on the pan. Cover it. When the water starts to boil, let it sit on low heat till the rice is heated well.

Remember -

 **Always freeze in batches.
** Never refreeze food after thawing. Do not store it in the fridge too.
Use it up.

Hope this will be of help.
I will try to update this post as much as possible.

Do check out my post on how to prep and store vegetables and tips on kitchen time management.

Today's recipe is a simple stir fry made with the Pui shaak or the Malabar spinach. This is from the batch that I had picked up at Bangalore.
The shaak was so darned fresh that I made a stir fry out of it the first day. I used the tender leaves from the top of the stems and did not chop them up too.
Used some of the stems or daata too ... only the tender ones.


Need :

Pui shaak - cleaned and roughly chopped, 3 cups
Onion - 1, sliced
Nigella seeds / Kalo jeere - 1 tsp
Dry red chillies - 2, broken
Tumeric powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tsp ( I use mustard oil )

How to :

Heat oil.

Add the nigella seeds + red chillies.

Add the sliced onions and fry till they turn translucent.

Now add the ginger and fry a little ... not too much.

Add the pui and the haldi and stir well.

Add salt and sugar.

Cover and cook till done.

Sprinkle the red chilli powder and give a good mix.

Remove from heat.

Serve hot with rice.

Enjoy!!

Pui shaak er daatar jhal or Stems of the Malabar spinach cooked in mustard gravy

B has gone to office today and I am able to sit down with my second cuppa this mid morning.
I usually don't get to sit down and neither do I have a second cuppa on any mid mornings.
And B's presence in the house has nothing to do with it.
But there is indeed a good feel of snatching some free time , sitting down and take a deep breath. The very thought that I won't have to worry about completing cooking a full lunch ... read dal, roti, sabzi, etc. or cooking any lunch at all, relaxes me far more than a spa or a holiday would.
In case you are wondering, I do very well with a salad or some jhaal muri or just rice and a fish curry.

Hence I get to plan my day my way.
I contemplate on what to get my hands on ... my knitting, my crochet, or some left over sewing ... yes, I do have my fingers in different pies at the same time.
Or maybe I should cook ahead for some days and store.
Cooking ahead means a double bonus ... ready made meals in the fridge and also getting to click photos of them at leisure ... to make blog posts.
No pressure of hurrying.

However, blaming B for this will not be fair. He works from home.
So our home is our office too. I have to keep in mind his calls / meetings timings.
Most plans of our daily life revolve around his office times.
And working with people all around the world does not make it any easy.
Mornings are for the people in the far east ... their mornings start much earlier than ours.
Evenings that move on to late nights are for the people in the west ... whose mornings start when our evenings set in.
So keeping meal timings and plans is not easy.
Neither is it easy to plan our social life ... meeting friends or relatives, going out to relax, etc. ... all need to be planned.
And god help us if a crit sit arises.

Saturdays are spent on chores ... groceries, bills and other stuff.
Once upon a time we used to entertain a lot ... now I have cut that down completely to only a very few, closest of friends.
Sundays, we are so spent that we do not feel like going out anymore. The day is spent by cleaning and setting up the house for the next week.
And given Pune's traffic these days, we prefer to sit in our little balcony, taking turns to sit in our one little cane swing, and look out into the surrounding green patch and enjoy the lovely cold breeze.
At the most, we might go out for dinner.
And then Monday starts all too soon.
And the mad rush through the days start all over again.

Recently, I am in a mad rush to 'save for the rainy days'; literally.
I try to cook and click as much photographs as I can, in good natural light, to see me through the  coming dark, gloomy monsoon days.
What fun it would be to see bright photographs on my blog when it is actually dark and damp all around.
And I am in a hurry to complete the throw that I am crocheting right now ... will be ready just in time for the monsoon cold. Fingers crossed.
( I will update a photo here soon. )

Today's recipe is using the stems of all that beautiful Pui shaak that I had picked up in Bangalore.
A dear reader and a regular commenter and morale booster Ash had asked me how to use the stems or the data of the Pui or the Malabar spinach.
I had quickly made this one day to go with my lunch. But had completely forgotten to make a post.
So here goes the recipe.

You can make this with the stems of other leafy vegetables too. The Laal shaak  ( Amaranth leaves )er dnaata, Lau ( Bottle gourd ) er daata or even the good old Palong or Spinach will work well too.


Need :

Stems and some leaves of the Pui or Malabar spinach ( should be very fresh )
Mustard paste - 2 tbsp ( can use the Aam kasundi too ... 4 tbsp in that case )
Nigella seeds / Kalo jeere / Kalonji - ½ tsp
Fresh green chillies - 2, broken
Lemon - half ( don't use if using aam kasundi )
Salt - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp ( I use mustard oil )

How to :

Clean, wash and chop the pui leaves and stems.

Heat mustard oil in a kadahi.

Add the kalo jeere / kalonji and the green chillies.

Now add the Pui stems and leaves.

Stir and toss well.

Cover and cook for a while.
It will release a lot of water and cook by itself.

Remove cover, give a stir and add salt + mustard paste.

Cover and cook for some more time.

Remove cover, switch off the heat and squeeze the lemon juice all over it.

Serve hot.

As with any preparation with the mustard paste, this goes best with plain, hot rice.

Enjoy!!

Pui pata diye Posto Bora / Malabar spinach leaves stuffed with poppy seeds paste

 Ok ... I was so chuffed with that break that I was sure I would be cooking a lot and doing a hundred posts in just a few days.
 Well ... in reality, while I was indeed doing a hundred things a day, making a post was definitely not one of them.
Initially, it was the heat that kept me off the kitchen premises. We survived on salads and snacks and juices and some more salads. No full meals at all.
That gave me a lot of time to catch up on my sewing projects.
As well as the knittings. (Photos coming up soon. )
Yes, I knit wool even in summer.

And then the temperature suddenly fell and Pune was back to being its old self again ... read 23 degrees.
Evenings are very pleasant these days with a beautiful cool breeze that turns a little cold too as the night advances and the temperature reads 17 degrees.
So I am back in the kitchen .... cooking all summery meals of the tauks, a lot of ambols, aamer chaatni and a lot of posto too.

Also, I had that beautiful lot of fresh Malabar spinach or our very favourite Pui shaak that I had to finish. I did not want it to wilt and go to waste as it does stay well in the fridge for long.
So quickly cooked a few good dishes with it ( posts coming up soon ).

I had asked for ideas on my page in fb and Christina Roy had given the idea of stuffing it with a fish and the batter frying it.
I did not have fish at hand.
So decided to use posto instead. And since posto or poppy seeds have a binding quality, I did not use a batter ... which would mean deep frying. Not for this hot weather.
So kept it light and pan fried the leaves.
Since they were fresh, they retained their sweetness and made a good combination with the posto.
Loved every bite.

This is a very easy recipe and does not need a lot of prep too. And gets done in a moment.
I have given step by step photographs for the recipe here.
Do try to make it just before you sit for your meal if you like it hot off the pan.

Now, on to the recipe.

Need :

Fresh Pui leaves - slightly big in size
Posto or Poppy seeds - 4 to 5 tbsp
Onion - 1, chopped
Fresh green chillies - 2, chopped
Salt - to taste
Mustard oil - 2 tbsp

How to make it :

Soak the posto for at least 3 hours. Grind into a paste using very little water.
You can check out the post here . 

Pick, wash and lay out to dry the pui leaves like so. Both sides should dry well and have no water on them.

 Mix the posto onions and the green chillies with the posto and salt well.

 Lay the leaves flat and spoon a little of the posto mixture on them. 

 Cover them with another leaf and give a gentle press to hold together.

 Heat mustard oil in a flat pan.
Lay the leaves carefully and gently press them with a finger, to set them.

 When the posto starts to hold, carefully turn them over.

 Remove and place on a paper napkin to blot out any excess oil. 

Serve hot on the side with rice and dal.

Makes for a great Bengali summer lunch when served with steaming hot rice and the tauker dal.

You can check out my Posto diye Pui shaak too.

Enjoy!!

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.

Some Other Posto Recipes

Posto Bora

Aloo Posto

Pyaaj Posto Bhaja

Dankheer