BENGALI PUMPKIN LEAVES MOONG DAL
SINCE LAST NIGHT THE HEART IS WANTING TO BLOG ABOUT A RUSTIC BENGALI RECIPE!
That may be because I did not have dal / lentil curry at any of the two meals yesterday! Having lentils at meals is that important to me! As I always say the son grew up on lentil curries! Mixing the rice with Bengali style light lentil curries was the easiest way to feed him! There was a time when he took 2-3 hours to finish each meal, I say this without any exaggeration! Before & after his birth, his father took long leave & we had whole timers as caregivers to look after the son! I did not know how to feed the son until he was 2 1/2 years old! The father and the young caregivers would feed him with a spoon, this mumma would massage him with oil, give him a shower, cook & mix his rice with the necessary sides & ask them to feed him! Actually, I stopped giving him Cerelac once he was 1 1/2 years old! I used to cook rice-lentils-vegetables hotch-potch for him in the day time, at night he ate rice-milk-banana! We were novice parents living in a 550 sq.ft. flat! The father still knew a lot because young children at the neighbourhood would often visit their home! Before marriage, I was busy in my own world, the mother never asked for help or teach me the basics of homemaking! Once the man went back to work & I could not adjust with the young caregivers, I took up the baton, first learnt to do everything required for the son by the time he was 2 1/2 years old! Without the help of both sides of my family, my part-time help Saraswati & her younger son Pratik, cleaner Dilip, I could not have made it! Nights after nights, the son did not sleep when he caught cold, he would cry all night & would not let me administer nosal drops! At times, I wanted some time for myself, would ask Pratik to come & play with him; the son would not let me go anywhere! Today, he does not require Mumma's help in any matter, I do not require this much of leisure!
OVER TWO DECADES PASSED OFF QUICK!
Feeling old has something to do with looking back constantly! During the Kolkata visits, on my way & back to Dakhsineshwar, I feel like dropping down at the old neighbourhood, meet the few known people, walk the lanes where the son took the little steps, would ride his maternal uncle's bike in that area & I feared to hell! If the son did not learn any sports, it is because of me! I carry a mental sickness with me, I was extra protective with my child, I did not let him be adventurous, I do not want him to be that ever! He has other better things to do in life! Be it in Shimla or Turkey or Europe, I did not let him / them to take part in risky sports! There are museums, nature, mementoes to savour on a tour, the local food to top! If he or his father allow me, I would take several rounds of interview of the girl before officially getting her home! If I am gifting my child to her, she has to take care of my mental illness, she cannot take him to adventurous trips! In this messy state of mind; food & music keep me happy! Today, I have decided to go out for walk in the afternoon, ate excess of food in the past two days! It is better to write the blogpost, take shower, do the afternoon prayer, go out & eat, walk, come back & finish off with the blogpost, share! I am planning to visit the newly opened Malaysian-Indian Muslim stall for a dosa or an utthapam! Yesterday, we watched a Bengali series, had a fish curry & rice meal for lunch, homely jhalmuri is what we would have with our weekend tea / coffee! At night, I made those gola ruti / savoury Bengali pancakes!
WHAT IS THIS BENGALI PUMPKIN LEAVES MOONG DAL?
Lentil Curry is a staple for South Asian Homes, I can safely say this! I had always been a dal / lentil curry lover! Since my childhood, I would have dal-rice in the last lap of a meal even if there had hilsa fish or mutton in the menu! Until date, I do the same, my rice meals seem incomplete without a dal! Although I like other states of India's dal varieties, I love most the rustic Bengali lentil curries! The few varieties of Lentils a Bengali Home would stock are Masoor, Moong, Chana, Matar, Urad! After coming to this island, I was spellbound having discovered way more variety of lentils & beans at the Mustafa Centre! I feel like buying all at one go but doing that they get spoiled because we eat a lot of fish-meat-eggs, paneer & vegetables as well! At this stage in life, with the unavailability of the fresh water fish, I want more of lentils & fritters in my life! This particular dish, BENGALI PUMPKIN LEAVES MOONG DAL is a vegan & gluten-free curry with roasted split & skinless yellow moong bean! I used to grow pumpkin plants in the hedge for the leaves, to make fish wraps, dal, batter fries with the flowers! The curry was done back in 2019-2020! The plant was growing good until I tore off some leaves to prepare another family recipe "kechki mach er bora"! Thereafter, the growth retarded, the tiny space is also not congenial for such plants! I uprooted the plant & used the good leaves for this vegetarian lentil curry!
INGREDIENTS :
SKINLESS & SPLIT MOONG BEAN LENTIL : 1 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE
FRESH PUMPKIN LEAVES : 7-8
GREEN CHILLI : 2-3 [SLITTED]
CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP
BAY LEAF : 1
DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3 [HALVED]
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
SUGAR : 1 TSP
GINGER PASTE : 1 TSP
OIL : 2 TBSP
PROCEDURE :
It is too important to dress & wash thoroughly the leaves before using them in our cooking! That I did!
We are to take the fresh, green leaves & discard the dry, yellow ones! We would thinly take out the fibres from the stems & cut them lengthwise, standard sized!
We would roughly chop the selected leaves! They usually are big, in my tiny green space, they were not getting enough sunlight, hence were small!
We would wash them under running water quite a few times & keep aside!
I took the lentils in a cooker & roasted until golden brown, washed well!
I added 2-3 coffee mugs of water, a little of turmeric powder and salt! I gave a stir, closed tight the lid & cooked unto one whistle at the minimal heat!
Better is to boil the lentils on the stovetop, you get a tastier curry!
Once the pressure cooker opened, I heated the oil in a wok & tempered it with the cumin seeds, dry red chillies, bay leaf!
I added the washed pumpkin leaves, gave a stir & added the boiled moong bean lentils!
I had set the heat at medium to high & let it come to boil! As it kept boiling, I added the slitted green chillies & the ginger paste, let boil for 3-4 minutes!
I added the sugar & let it boil for a minute or so! Bengali Dals / lentil curries are humble, easy to make! Though dal protein is heavy on your stomach, the way we make it, that is too light curries, it does no harm!
For us, dal comes alongside fish-meat-egg & paneer or vegetables, it is never the main item for a meal!
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