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 !!

Bori diye Palong shaak bhaja / Stir fried Spinach with lentil dumplings

And Bappa is gone.
As I sit and type this post, I can see the Visharjan processions slowly moving down the road, one by one.
The air reverberates with the rhythmic beats of the drums, all over. Somewhere the Aarti is being played, signalling the start of Bappa's journey. The roads are covered with pink and red gulal.
People dressed up in traditional attires ... men in white kurtas and ladies in sarees ... accompany the vehicle carrying Lord Ganesh, dancing along.
I watch, quietly bidding Bappa adieu.
Ten days gone in a flash.

This year, the rain gods have played spoilsport. So Ganeshotsav was a slightly subdued affair.
I had a guest at home; so hardly noticed the festive days going by.
Going down to the aarti inside our society complex was by itself a task this time.

Today there is a little calm in the house.
Guest gone. Routine back.
Rains back, after a respite of two wee days.

These days I am on a mission of cleaning up all pending photographs and making posts of them.
Some of them are as old as two years back.
Or more.
I want to be done with them before I forget the actual recipe.
Thank god my recipes do not have much ingredients or complex processes ... so far I have been in stream all along.

These photographs of the Palong shaak with Bori have been in my folder for too long.
After selecting the few photos, they sat in my drafts again ... I think for around a month or so.
Hence I'll finish with these first.
I'm short of time today. So it will be a short write and an even shorter recipe.

Growing up I got to eat a good variety of leafy vegetables or shaaks.
But the only leafy vegetables that we get here are the palak or spinach, the methi or fenugreek leaves, some Amaranth and the dill.
That's all I guess.
So, after using the palak in gravies, dals and chorchoris, I sometimes make a bhaja or a stir fry out of it.
Some chopped onions for sweetness, as the palak is slightly salty on its own, some chopped garlic for flavour and some fried and crushed Boris thrown in, it turns into the perfect shaak bhaja to go on the side of with a little gorom bhaat or steamed rice.

Need :

Palong shaak / Palak / Spinach -  (washed well and chopped) 1 coffee mug ful
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Garlic - 3 big sized cloves, chopped
Haldi / Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp 
Whole red chilles - 1, broken
Boris - 6 to 8 pieces
Mustard oil or any cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch

How to :

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a kadahi or pan.
Let in the Bori s and stir fry on low heat till they turn brown.
Remove and keep aside.

Add 1 tbsp of oil to the same kadahi.
Add the whole red chillies and the onion.
Fry till onion turns translucent and the raw smell is gone.
Now add the chopped garlic and fry well.

Add the chopped palak, haldi, salt and sugar.
Stir well and cover.
Cook for around 5 minutes.
Remove cover and give a good stir.
Cook uncovered till all moisture disappears.
Crush the fried bori s lightly by hand and add to the palak.
Give a good stir.
Remove from heat.
Simple, wholesome shaak bhaja is ready.

 

Serve hot.
Goes great with steamed rice and some dal.
You can eat it with rotis too.

Enjoy!

Laal Shaak Bhaja / Stir fried Amaranth Leaves

I am posting this humble stir fried shaak or leafy vegetable for two reasons.

One ... I have been getting a lot of visits from people searching for recipes with the Laal shaak / Red Spinach. So decided to post it after all.
Two ... I don't have any other recipe or snap ready in my drafts. :-p

Traditionally, a Bengali full meal ... usually a lunch ... has to have a shaak or leafy vegetable on the side, that is eaten with the rice served. It can be a plain stir fry or can be made into a Chorchori / Charchari by cooking a mix of other vegetables with it.

I have not tried this shaak as a Chorchori yet ... but I do often fry some Bori / Vadi / Mungaudi in a little oil, crush them and add them to this fry.
Tastes great!



This stir fry of the Lal Shaak / Red Spinach / Amaranth leaves is a favourite at home. Made very simply, it is just the garlic that gives a flavour that goes so well with the distinct flavour of these leaves.

If you don't like garlic, you can try this with a tempering of kalaunji / nigella seeds and dry red chillies or fresh green chillies.

Need :

Laal Shaak / Red Spinach / Amaranth leaves - 1 bunch, cleaned and chopped
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp ( I use Mustard oil )
Whole dry red chillies - 2
Garlic cloves - 5, crushed
Salt - to taste

How to :

Heat oil in a wok / kadahi.

Add the whole red chillies ( break them first or they might burst ) and the crushed garlic.

Fry a little and then add the chopped leaves.

Stir well.

Add salt, cover and cook. Remember to stir once in a while so that it does not burn.

When it is done and all water had dried up, remove cover and give a final stir.



Serve hot. Goes best on the side with hot rice and dal.

TC all !! :-)

Aloo Methi

This dish is a simple one ... made with fresh fenugreek leaves, it is very favourful. I had got some good methi in this season of rains ... which is rare. So made it. And it made its way into my new post. Kept a little aside for methi paratha.

Need :
Fresh fenugreek / methi leaves , picked, washed and roughly chopped,
Potatoes / aloo (boiled and roughly cut),
whole jeera / cumin seeds,
a pinch of hing / asafoetida,
haldi / turmeric powder
red chilli powder,
salt to taste,
1 tbsp cooking oil.

How to : Heat oil.
Add jeera and hing.
Add the aloo and toss for some time.
Now add the methi leaves.
Add haldi, red chilli powder and salt. Cover and cook.
Remove cover after some time and cook till all water dries up.
Serve hot. Goes great on the side with rotis and dal.