Aloo Posto (Potatoes cooked in rich poppy seed paste)

Poppy seeds or khaskhas, most popularly known as POSTO in Bengal is one of the favourite ingredients in many Bengali dishes. You would rarely find a Bengali who is unaware of this ingredient and most importantly there may be no such Bong who doesn't like Aloo Posto.

Aloo (Potato) + Posto (Poppy seed paste) = Soul food of every bong on this earth

So how do we achieve the equation above? Please find the steps below.

Ingredients

2 – 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

6 heaped tbsp of Poppy Seed (Posto/Khaskhas) paste

Slit Green chillies

Salt to taste

Sugar (optional)

Mustard Oil

Method

• In order to make a paste, you can first grind it to a powder. Then add some water and grind again. You can also add few green/red chillies while grinding as per your spice quotient. Remember that it should be a thick paste and not watery.
• Heat mustard oil in a wok. Add the chopped Potatoes. Stir well on high flame.
• Now add salt and a pinch of sugar. Stir well on high flame for 2 minutes. Remember that the potatoes need to be mixed with oil properly without getting a brownish tinch.
• Now add water and slit green chillies and cover cook till the potatoes are cooked. The water should be just enough to boil the potatoes and should not be added in excess.
• Once the potatoes are cooked, add the Poppy seed paste and stir well.
• Increase the flame and keep stirring till the water gets dried up. Keep in mind that the potatoes should not get mashed up in the process.
• Add 1 tbsp of Mustard oil just before removing from flame and stir a little.
• Serve your Aloo Posto garnished with slit green chillies.

Enjoy your meal with a simple Masoor Dal and Steamed Rice.

Machher Kalia (Fish Kalia)

Fish Kalia is one of the most popular Bengali dishes and I bet that every bong house-hold is well acquainted with this dish. Rohu or Rui is the most commonly used fish for preparing this dish.

Ingredients

Cleaned Fish pieces

Mustard oil

1 Bay leaf

1 large onion

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

1 medium tomato

Turmeric powder

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Red chili powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp Garam masala powder

Sprigs of fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 tbsp of ghee (optional)

Method

• Wash the fish thoroughly and pat dry. Sprinkle some Turmeric powder, salt, 1/3 cup of mustard oil and mix well to ensure that each of the fish pieces is coated well with the turmeric, salt and oil.

• Pan fry the fish pieces and drain the excess oil. Keep aside.

• Grind the onion, garlic, ginger, tomato and green chilies (optional) to a thick paste.
• Heat mustard oil in a Kadhai and add the bay leaf followed by the Onion paste.
• Stir well on high flame. Once the onion paste is cooked, start adding the spices (Turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, 1 ½ tsp each). Sprinkle some sugar as well.
• Cook on high flame till the oil starts separating from the ingredients.
• Now add Water and bring it to boil. Adjust the quantity as per the amount of gravy desired.
• Finally add the fried fish pieces to the gravy and simmer for 5 minutes.
• In the end, sprinkle a teaspoon of Garam masala powder and some ghee (optional).

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve with steaming hot rice.

Posto Chingri Paturi (Leaf Baked Prawns in Coconut and Poppy seed paste)

Posto or the Poppy seeds are widely used in Bengali cuisine due to the rich taste that it imparts to the dish and is used both as whole and as a paste in different recipes. Aloo Posto, Piyanj Posto, Jhinge posto, Potol Posto are some of the commonly cooked dishes where vegetables like Potatoes, Onions, Ridge Gourd and Pointed Gourd are cooked in a thick poppy seed paste. In addition, it is also used in different preparations of fish (Paturi, Bhapa) and chicken or mutton (Rezala, Chaanp etc.).

Today I would like to share this very simple recipe of cooking prawns in a Poppy seed paste.

Ingredients

Prawns, of course (I used 500 gms of medium sized prawns/Bagda Chingri)

1 small bowl of grated coconut

1 small bowl of poppy seed paste (You can also mix a small portion of white Sesame seeds while making this paste)

2-3 Green chilies slit

2-3 Pumpkin leaves (Kumro Pata)

A generous amount of mustard oil

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder (optional)

½ a teaspoon of sugar

Method

1. Clean the prawns (de-vein and remove the black thread from its head) and wash thoroughly. Keep them aside to drain out excess water.
2. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together (Grated coconut, poppy seed paste, slit green chilies, Salt, sugar and a generous amount of mustard oil.
3. Now add the clean prawns and mix it well with all the ingredients inside the bowl.
4. Clean the Pumpkin leaves with water and pat dry.
5. Flatten a pumpkin leaf, smear it with mustard oil. Now, keep a portion of the Prawn and poppy paste mixture on it. Fold the leaf and tie it up with the help of a cotton thread. Repeat the procedure for the other leaves.
6. Spread some mustard oil on a large Non-stick tawa. Place each of the folded pumpkin leaves on it. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes. Repeat the process by changing the side of the leaves.

Your  baked prawns are ready to be served with steaming hot rice.

Dhonepata bata diye Maach (Fish cooked in fresh coriander paste)

Coriander leaves are used extensively for garnishing dishes due to their unique flavor. However, apart from garnishing, Coriander leaves can also be used in chutneys and for preparation of various sauces. For example, Coconut Chutney tastes great when the coconut is ground to a thick paste along with coriander leaves. One can add them while making Salsa, various curries and even use them as a spread for sandwiches.

I never knew that even Fish can be prepared with this wonder LEAF until my Mom-in-Law told me about this recipe. Everyone in the house just loved the freshness it brought to our meal and so I am here to share this recipe with you all.

Ingredients

Fish of course (Try getting a Fresh water fish like Rohu or Katla)

A bunch of fresh coriander leaves

2-3 green chilies (depending upon your spice quotient)

1 ½ inch Ginger

1 pinch of Black cumin (Kala Jeera)

Salt (As per taste)

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

Sugar (1/2 a teaspoon)

1 teaspoon Cumin powder

Oil (Preferably Mustard however you can use any cooking oil of your choice)

Method

1. Wash the fish pieces thoroughly and smear them with a teaspoon of salt and turmeric powder.
2. For the Coriander Paste: Remove roots and long stems from the bunch of coriander leaves, and grind them along with ginger and green chilies to make a fine paste.
3. Heat oil in a Kadhai. Now fry the fish pieces one by one till they take a light golden colour. Remove them and keep aside.
4. To the hot oil, add a pinch of Kala Jeera (Black Cumin). Once they start spluttering, add the coriander paste. Add rest of the ingredients (Salt to taste, sugar, and cumin powder) and cook on a high flame till the oil starts separating out from the masala. Now add water (adjust the quantity according to the amount of gravy that you need).
5. Bring it to boil, and then simmer it on a medium flame for 5 minutes.
6. Now add the fish pieces and simmer them with the gravy for a couple of minutes. 

Remove from flame and serve hot with plain rice.

Prawn Malaikari (Chingri Macher Malaikari)

Fish and Bengalis… these are two inseparable words. I don’t think there is any other community in the world that loves fish as much as the Bengalis do. Talking about fish, Prawns or Chingri as called in the local language is considered to be a delicacy in Bengali cuisine. Chingri (Prawns) has found its way to a lot of exotic dishes like the Chingri Malaikari, Daab Chingri (Prawns steamed in tender coconut), Lau Chingri (Prawns with bottle gourd), Bhapa Chingri (Steamed prawns), and Chingri macher jhol (A simple Prawn curry). Apart from the above, prawns are used to make a variety of pakodas, stuffed pointed gourd and other appetizers as well. Under this label (Prawns) I would not only post some of the most famous and commonly made Prawn recipes but would also try to explore other cuisines as well. I would dedicate my first post under this label to Chingri Macher Malaikari (Prawn Malaikari) which is one of the most famous and an all time favorite dishes among Bengalis. For this recipe, I usually prefer large prawns with their heads on rather than the smaller ones. While cleaning the prawns make sure that you devein them properly as retaining the black thread inside its body may give rise to gastric issues. This recipe tastes great with Puris and even better with hot steaming rice.

   

Ingredients

Prawns 500 Gms

1 medium onion paste

Ginger Garlic paste

1 small tomato pureed

Turmeric powder

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Red chili powder

1 or 2 bay leaves

1 cup Coconut milk

Salt and sugar to taste

Mustard oil

Method 

• Sprinkle turmeric powder and salt on the prawns and smear it properly on them.

 

• Heat mustard oil and fry the prawns till they turn into a bright orange colour. You can also insert a toothpick inside the prawns so that they do not bend when subjected to heat.

 

• Remove the prawns from flame and pour some more mustard oil to the pan. Add a bay leaf once the oil is hot and then add onion paste, ginger-garlic paste, pureed tomato and 1-2 slit green chilies. 

 

• Cook it on high flame for 2 to 3 minutes or till the onion and the tomato paste is cooked.
• Now add salt and rest of spices one by one and mix them well. Cook this masala on high heat for 2 minutes while stirring continuously. You know it is cooked once the oil starts separating from rest of the masala
• Now add the coconut milk and some water. Simultaneously add the fried prawns and stir it well.
• Cover cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle some Garam Masala Powder and remove from flame.

 

Serve hot with steamed rice and savor it.