BENGALI KHARKOL PATA RECIPES
SATISFACTION IS STARTING TO LOVE YOUR FAMILY'S RUSTIC RECIPES AT A RIPE AGE!
I started to love having the rustic family recipes at a ripe age may be because I relocated abroad. Post marriage when I learnt to cook, I cooked particularly Bengali Food. The son grew up having "shaak to patla macher jhol". The home cooked foreign dishes he ate were fish and chicken stew. In those days, I did not cook fancy stuffs except for chilli chicken and makhani matar paneer. To have party food, we frequented the Kolkata restaurants. Even after relocating here, we would eat out. Gradually, I started cooking from different cuisines, the man not a foodie prefer home cooked food, the only compliment he gives me. Once grown up, the son did not want to go out with us often, he preferred ordering food with his pocket money. Once he left home, I thought the two of us would go out for food ventures every weekend but the man is actually married to the television set and classy bottles, I am secondary. Whatever the situation is, I thoroughly enjoy cooking, it is never a compulsion.
MY EATING ORDER CHANGED THIS MORNING!
For the last four years, I do intermittent fasting, Monday to Friday. My blood sugar level got controlled but my hanging belly, fat arms and thighs continue to thrive. I cannot control portion after an eighteen hours of fasting, neither can workout in beast mode. I am getting heavily bloated. Today, I took a break and let myself be. I had my morning tea with a slice of bread spread with ghee with a sprinkle of brown sugar.
I detest drinking tea or coffee without anything on the side. Here is my lunch bowl, "samo rice khichuri".
I need to eat easily digestible food. Whenever there is a special prayer at home, I consume an excess of sugary, deep fried stuffs, specifically post Janmashtami. I want to have dinner together with the man, hence eat around 10 pm, that isn't right. While taking a heavenly bite at the ghee toast, I noticed my Hibiscus plants fetched five flowers today.
I used to enjoy my tea and coffee sessions, I hardly prepare my favourites nimki, malpoa now-a-days. In the midst of such heart burn, the watermelon popsicle gets me some pleasure.
WHAT IS BENGALI KHARKOL PATA RECIPES?
These recipes I cooked and clicked back in 2021-22, blogging about them got delayed. I thought let me share three recipes in a single blogpost. Bringing together all of the pictures was necessary, they lay scattered. Later we can again share them separately. Kharkol Pata is the leaf of a specific variety of yam / Taro, some call it Arum leaves. Seriously, we did not require to know it's English name all this while. I / We love it's Bharta, hence I planted them on my tiny hedge, they grow anywhere. Recently I uprooted them because they spread to other pots. May be later I would plant them again. Three recipes with Kharkol Pata has been compiled under the title BENGALI KHARKOL PATA RECIPES. One recipe is vegan and gluten-free, a bharta made of Nigella Seeds & Arum leaves, one is done with prawns and Arum leaves, the other is done with dried Bombay Duck fish and Arum leaves. The first of the three recipes is vegan, all of them are gluten-free.
KHARKOL PATA O KALOJEEREY BHORTA
INGREDIENTS :
ARUM LEAF / KHARKOL PATA : A BUNCH
NIGELLA SEED / KALO JEERE : 1 TSP
ONION : 2
GREEN CHILLI : 2-3
GARLIC CLOVE : 3-4
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4 TSP
BAYLEAF : 1
DRY RED CHILLI : 1
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 1 TBSP
PROCEDURE :
Do not pick the plants from the roots, just cut halfway from the stems. The plants regrow. The leaves with stems are sold in the Bengali markets.
Wash the leaves thoroughly and dry roast them for 3-4 minutes. We would wash and strain the nigella seeds too.
We would peel and wash the onions, garlic, also the green chillies. We would blend together everything else except the oil, salt, turmeric powder, bayleaf and the dry red chilli.
We would heat the oil in a wok, temper with a pinch or two of nigella seeds, bayleaf and dry red chilli.
We would add the green paste, turmeric powder, salt, stir-cook for 4-5 minutes at low heat.
Enjoy it with peeping hot steamed rice.
KHARKOL PATA O LOTEY SHUTKIR BHORTA
ARUM LEAF : A BUNCH
DRIED BOMBAY DUCK FISH : 2-3
SLICED ONION : 3-4 TBSP
GARLIC PASTE : 1 TBSP
GREEN CHILLI : 4-5
DRY RED CHILLI : 1
BAYLEAF : 1
NIGELLA SEED : 2 PINCHES
DRY RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP
OIL : 2-3 TBSP
PROCEDURE :
We would chop off the arum leaves midway from the stem leaving the roots, wash them thoroughly and roast taken in a wok for 3-4 minutes.
We would discard the heads and tails of the dried fish, cut into small pieces.
We would wash the fish pieces several times and soak in hot water for sometime, then drain the water.
We would heat the oil in a wok, temper it with the nigella seeds, dry red chilli and the bay leaf.
We would add the garlic paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
We would prepare a paste with the yam leaves and green chillies, add to the wok, stir cook for a minute or two.
Thereafter, we would add the dried fish pieces, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder. We would stir and cover it, let cook at low heat.
After 6-7 minutes, we would remove the cover and stir cook it at low heat until it semi-dries.
Enjoy it with hot steamed rice.
KHARKOL PATA O CHINGRIR BHORTA
INGREDIENTS :
ARUM LEAF : A BUNCH
SMALL PRAWN : 8-10
SLICED ONION : 2-3 TBSP
GARLIC PASTE : 1 TBSP
GREEN CHILLI : 4-5
NIGELLA SEED : A PINCH OR TWO
BAYLEAF : 1
DRY RED CHILLI : 1
TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP
TAMARIND JUICE : 2 TBSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 3 TBSP
PROCEDURE :
Clean, de-vein, de-shell totally the prawns. Wash them and marinate with salt and turmeric.
Discard the root end of the Arum leaves, wash them and roast taken in a wok.
If you do not dry roast but paste directly, also not growing them at home; you have to use tamarind juice to remain safe, yam is known to cause us itching.
Paste together the chopped leaves, green chillies.
Heat the oil in a wok, temper with the bayleaf, dry red chilli, nigella seeds.
Add sliced onion, garlic paste, salt, turmeric; stir cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the prawns discarding the marinade. Stir cook at low heat for 3-4 minutes, add the green paste and stir cook for 5-6 minutes.
Add the tamarind juice, adjust the salt if required, stir cook for 2 minutes. We are done.
I can have plateful of rice with each of these pastes / bhartas. Even my not much of a Bengali men would eat these, Cristine too, only says "such hot". Remember, you are to eat a little of the paste at a time with double the amount of rice.
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