Bangladesh Vegie Dishes

Saak-er Ghanto

Ingredients

• 1 cup of eggplant, diced
• 1 cup of pumpkin, diced
• 1/2 cup of Potato, diced
• 1/2 cup of radish, diced
• 3 cups of spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of Panchforan
• 1/2 teaspoon of ginger paste
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon of mustard paste or powder
• 1 red chilly, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
• salt, to taste
• 2tablespoons of oil
• 8-10 pieces of Bori,deepfried, optional

Directions

Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add the red chilly and panchforan .
When the seeds turn brown, add potato and radish. Stirfry for 2 minutes.
Add pumpkin and eggplants and stirfry for a further 2 minutes.
Add the chopped spinach and stirfry the whole mixture for 2-3 minutes.
Add turmeric powder, half cup of water, salt, sugar and mustard paste/powder.
Cook , covered, on medium to low heat until the potato and radish are done.
Mix the deep fried Boris. Serve in room temperature. Note # You can omit or substitute any vegetable that you like. Sweet potatoes, beans etc. also go well.
# Spinach can be substituted with other leafy vegetables- but the amount should be adjusted.
#The dish should be dry- so adjust the amount of water accordingly.

Fulkopir BaatiJhaal

Ingredients

• 1 cup of potato, diced
• 1 cup of cauliflower flowerets, almost similar size as potatoes
• 2 teaspoon of freshly ground mustard paste
• 1 medium size tomato, quartered
• 1 green chilly
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• salt, to taste

Directions

Mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan, and add a cup of water.
Cook covered, on low heat, until the vegetables are done.
Serve in room temperature.
Note:
#This dish should have some gravy- add some more water if needed.

Bengali Spinach

Ingredients

(for a serving size of 4-5)

• 2 packets frozen spinach, thawed
• 1" cube of ginger, finely diced
• Shukhno lonka (dry red chilli) - 3
• Dash of Hing (Asafoetida)
• Potatoes - about 4 medium-large ones
• Kasoori Methi (Dried fenugreek leaves)
• Mouri/Saunf (Fennel seeds)
• Salt to taste

Directions

Cut the potatoes into small pieces, and then either lightly boil them or microwave them for about 8 min. Heat oil, preferably in a wok or kAdAi. To the hot oil, add ginger, hing, and fennel seeds. Add the spinach, and fry on a high flame. After about 5 min of frying, add salt, the dried chillies, and the potatoes. Mix evenly, and add the kasoori methi - then fry for a few minutes. At this point, you might add a little water if you so desire.

Serve hot and enjoy !!

Shukto

Ingredients

• kaachkola(plantain ) 1
• mulo(radish/daikon) 1 cup
• aloo(potato) 1 medium
• begun(eggplant) 1 medium
• uchche(bittergourd) 1 (slice thinly)
• shorshe(mustard seeds) 1-1/2 tbsp.
• methi(fenugreek seeds) 1/2 tsp.
• posto(poppy seeds) 2 tbsp.
• salt to taste 1 tbsp.

Directions

Soak 1 tbsp. of each mustard seeds and poppy seeds in warm water. Cut plantain, radish, potato and eggplant lengthwise (about 2" long). Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a wok. Fry the eggplant pieces, set aside. Fry the bittergourd slices, and set aside. In the remaining oil, roast 1/2 tsp. each of fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add to it the plantain, radish(mulo), and potato and stir fry in medium heat.

As you stir the vegetables, blend the soaked mustard seeds and poppy seeds and about 1" long fresh ginger root, all in a blender into a smooth paste. After stir frying vegetables for about 5 to 7 minutes, add the blended mixture to the vegetables and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Add salt. Also, add the fried bittergourd slices and eggplant pieces. Add now to the "shukto" about 1/2 cup of hot water and cover wok for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally and check if the vegetables are cooked or not. When vegetables are all cooked, pour on top about 1 tsp. of either butter or ghee. Serve with rice.