Tetor Dal (Bitter Gourd cooked with Moong Dal)

Tetor Dal or Bitter gourd cooked with moong dal is a light lentil stew and it is a quintessential Bengali dish. Very popular during summer seasons. Bitter gourd is known to cleanse your palate and this stew is super ideal to detox your tummy. A very light lentil stew to enjoy your summer meals.

Ingredients:

1. Moong Dal (yellow lentil) - half cup
2. Bitter gourds - 1 big size or 2 medium 
3. Green chillies - 2 or as per taste
4. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp 
5. Salt as per taste
6. Dry red chillies - 2
7. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. Nigella seeds (kalonji) - 1/2 tsp
9. Ginger paste or grated - 1/2 tsp
10. Coriander leaves 
11. Mustard oil

Process:

1. Wash and cut the bitter gourds into thin circles. Sprinkle with salt and turmeric powder, mix well and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. It will help to soften the bitter gourd.

2. Wash dal few a times and cook with salt. 

3. In a heavy bottom pan add mustard oil and heat enough until you see smoke coming out. Add the bitter gourds, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes and remove them. Now in the same pan, add little more oil, dry red chillies, cumin seeds and nigella seeds and give a stir as it will start to sizzle soon. 

4. Add the boiled dal and turmeric powder. Adjust salt and water as per consistency. Add  green chillies, grated ginger and stir it around. Simmer for 5 minutes, add half tsp of ghee (optional) and chopped coriander leaves to garnish with. Serve hot with steamed rice.

P.S. The recipe video is there on my Instagram and Youtube pages. Do check it out @romisrecipe

SUKTO - Bong Delicacy

Sukto / shukto is a popular vegetable medley prepared in a Bengali household. It consists an array of vegetables and "badi" or "bori" cooked with Bengali spices. In Bengali cuisine Sukto is a mild, sometimes bitter, milky curry that is eaten after shaak (greens) and before dal (lentils). This recipe I have learnt from my Mom and one of my Mother-in-laws favorite one  - so this is dedicated to both my mothers on MOTHER's Day. 

Using high quality ghee in your recipes takes it to another level and is also good for health. I have used @akshayakalpa organic cow ghee . Their organic ghee is free from antibiotics, growth hormones, and preservatives to ensure the highest quality. The ghee tastes just like homemade ghee. Do check out their page for organic products.

Ingredients:

Raw Banana / Plantain

Carrot

Bitter Gourd

Potatoes

Drumstick

Raw Papaya

Eggplant / Brinjal 

Bori

Green Chili

Bayleaf / Tejpata

Panch Phoron

Dry red chilli

Radhuni / wild celery 

Posto & Mustard paste,

Ginger

Salt

Turmeric powder

Milk

Ghee from @akshayakalpa to cook

Process:

Dry roast Radhuni / wild celery and make a fine powder. Keep aside.
 Wash and cut all the vegetables.

Soak Mustard seeds and posto in water for 10 minutes and make a smooth paste.

In a frying pan, add ghee and fry bori till lightly brown, keep aside. In the same pan fry brinjal and bitter gourd separately and keep aside.

Add little more ghee in the pan and add panch phoron, red dry chilli and green chillies, saute for few seconds and add all the raw vegetables 

Add turmeric powder and salt as per taste, mix well. Cover and cook till the veggies are half done. Now add the fried veggies and bori along with posto paste, ginger paste and radhuni powder. Mix well and add milk. Cook till all the veggies are tender and combined well with the spices. 

Add a spoonful of ghee and remove from flame. 

Serve hot with steamed rice. 

P.S. The recipe reel is up on my Instagram page. Check it out @romisrecipe

Chalkumror Pur / Stuffed Ash Gourd Fries

There is a story behind this lost recipe. Some Bengalis (Bangal) makes this pur or stuffed bora using sorshe (mustard seeds) and some others (Ghoti) loves posto (poppy seeds) a lot and they use posto bata as the stuffing. This Chalkumro pur recipe was one of the favourite in our house. My Dida (Grandma) used to make this, then my Maa and now me. The twist here is I have used Sorse, posto and coconut as stuffing to make this awesome bora. This is an age-old authentic dish which you must cook if you love to try old bong recipes. This tastes excellent with steamed rice. A childhood favourite of mine, Maa used to cook this whenever Chalkumro / Ash gourd is in season. After ages I got this super vegetable in the market and cant stop myself trying my hands on this.

Ingredients

1. Chalkumro / Ash gourd - half
2. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp or as required depending on the pieces
3. Posto (poppy seeds) - 2 tsp
4. Coconut - 1/3 cup (grated)
5. Sugar - a pinch
6. Salt as per taste
7. Rice flour - 1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - a pinch
9. Green chilli
10. Mustard oil for frying

Process

1. Cut Ash gourd into thick slices. Then slit every slice from the middle. Wash well. Sprinkle little sugar and salt into these slices and keep aside for sometime. 

2. For making the stuffing, add mustard seeds, poppy seeds, grated coconut, green chilli and make a good paste. This paste should be thick in consistency.

3. Make a batter of rice flour with water. Add a pinch of turmeric powder into this and consistency should be medium thick.

4. Now fill the silted gap of Ash gourd slices with the paste. Seal the edge of the filling lightly with the batter of rice flour. Just dip your finger in the batter and lightly spread over the seal. 

5. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Dip the slices into the batter and then deep fry until golden brown in color, on medium flame. Try frying 2-3 pieces at a time. Once all are done, serve immediately as a side dish with steamed rice and Dal.