Aloo Poshto

My first taste of aloo poshto is when my best friend in Mumbai had invited me and a couple of more friends for lunch and her mother has cooked this for us! Needless to say, she is a Bengali, of whose help i had taken along with my pet-client, now a friend, Arpita, when making the Payesh.

I have had aloo poshto at a few Bengali restaurants but that homemade taste always lingered on my mind. Poshto is basically khas-khas (poppy seeds) made along with potatoes. Since i had a packet of khas-khas in my kitchen, i decided to give it a try (knowing that it won't taste as good as aunty had made), but to my surprise, it turned out so good that now i feel extremely 'stupid' to have not tried it before for the fear of getting it all wrong.

When my friend gave me the recipe, i did search a few other websites and blogs on the internet to know their version of the dish, and i found that there are many ways in which this is made and eaten. Some make this dry, some keep it wet... A few i saw, add kalonji (onion seeds) while some just add jeera (cumin seeds). A few fry the aloo, few steam it and some cook it along with the poshto. This version here is exactly how my friend told me (Adjust the green chillies according to taste)

Ingredients:

Potatoes (aloo) - 2 -3 medium

Khas khas - 6 tbsp

Mustard oil (you can use normal oil too) - 2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch

Green chillies - 2-3 (according to taste)

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder (optional) - 1/4tsp- 1/2 tsp

Water - as needed

Recipe:

Soak the khas khas in water overnight or at least for 6 hours. ( If you don't have time at hand, soak it in warm water for at least half an hour before cooking)

Now drain the water and put this in a mixer-grinder. Grind to a fine paste along with 1 green chilli. The paste should really be fine and smooth. If needed, add little water, or else make a paste just like that. The khas khas will tend to rise (become fluffy), don't stir it. Let it be

In a pan, add the oil, asafoetida and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the green chilli. Now add the potatoes and fry them for a while.

Cover and cook for about 3-4 minutes on low flame. Now add turmeric powder and salt (and chilli powder if adding). Mix it all well, and again cover and cook . You can also put some water inside the pan to cook the potatoes, but don't over cook it. The potatoes shouldn't become mushy.

For me, covering and stirring it in between ( so the potatoes don't stick to the pan or burn) was just fine.

Now add the poshto paste and mix well, so that the potatoes are covered with the paste.

Add salt and water (according to the consistency wanted), and cook for another 5 minutes.

Garnish with a spoonful of mustard oil.

Serve this along with roti, puris or rice.

Happy cooking :)

Bengali cuisine : Dinner at Joey's :)

Ghar ka khana : Foodies, as we are, we love to gorge on different cuisines. Being Maharashtrians, all that we have eaten of Bengali food is at specialty restaurants. So, when our Bengali friends in Delhi invited us for dinner, we jumped at the idea!!! Bengali food, cooked at home, that too with a touch of "Maa ke haath" ( Mom's food )... it all sounded a perfect Sunday evening.

Woofs from Joey : I had mentioned about "Aloo Poshto" to my friend just last month, and she had promised me then, that she will make it and invite me for dinner. So this was definately on the menu :) After a warm welcome from all of them ( we were meeting their parents for the first time, who are basically Bengalis from Bihar), and lots of licks and jumps from our sweetheart Joey-Poey ( My client from pet sitting ), we had some dhoklas as a starter.

Minimalism is not lack of something, Its simply the perfect amount of something : As the saying goes, we loved that the dishes were minimalistic...That way you get to taste it wholeheartedly and it lingers on your tongue for quite a while ! The main dishes.... Chicken ( for hubby dearest, who loves it to the core ), aloo poshto ( specially for me ), Chane ki daal, salad and Jeera Rice followed by the desert of the evening - Gur ki Kheer .

The Nolen Gur( new jaggery) or Gud, as it is called is Jaggery made from Khajoor (Dates ). It is known as Bengali's jaggery, as it is made from the sap of date palm trees found in Bengal. It tastes different than the normal jaggery, the aroma is heavenly and is slightly costlier than the original jaggery. Though a winter speciality, is found these days all year round with a special technique of preserving the jaggery in solidified form for months. 

There is also a different type of rice that is used for making the kheer. It's tiny and aromatic. Looks like this :

So, the basic way to make the kheer would be :( As told to me by aunty )

Ingredients :

Milk - 1 litre
Rice - 3/4 cup ( 2 handfull)
Nolen Gur (Jaggery) - Add according to taste
Cardamon powder - 1 tsp
Cashews/ raisins - chopped  to garnish

Recipe :

Boil Milk and rice together. Cook till the rice becomes soft and keep stirring in between.

Then add the jaggery and mix it all well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Lastly add the cardamon powder and cashewnuts.

If you find it too thick, add a little milk, or else it can be eaten thick as a pudding too.

Refrigerate if you like to have it cold. 

With our tummies full, we came home and went off to bed to have some "Mishti " ( sweet ) dreams !!! :))

The Chefs of the evening : 

Thank you for such a wonderful meal !!