Aalu Posto and childhood memories

Tonight auntiji, my cook walked in late and I realized that I wait for her more eagerly than I have ever waited for any of my boyfriends or the husband. Upon that she declared that she is running a fever and I did not have the heart to ask her to go through any elaborate ritual of cooking. After declaring my rush of generosity to auntiji and asking her to make some rice and bottle gourd curry, it dawned upon me that I had a standing request from my mother-in-law to prepare ‘Aalu Posto’ (potatoes cooked in poppy seed paste) for her friend whom she was going to see the next morning. So the task fell upon me and I accepted it with the air of self-importance that delicate dishes like this should be left to able hands like mine ;-), after all the delicate allure of tender cooked potatoes wrapped in mildly flavoured poppy seed paste can be matched by very few dishes!!!

Aalu posto is mostly eaten in summers in Bengali households as poppy seeds are said to have cooling effect on the body. Summers being hot and humid, this mildly spiced dish is ideal for a vegetarian meal accompanied by Kalai daal (skinned Urad daal) and steamed rice. Though I admit that I can eat aalu posto any time of the year, with or without any other accompaniment.

My mother makes great aalu posto and it was mostly cooked on Sundays or other holidays as it was considered a special treat by all of us. On the days that she used to cook it, as children my sister and I used to wait for small portions of it that my mother used to give us as before-lunch snacks. We used to eat the smallest morsels possible at a time in an effort to make it last as long as possible. Though, the milder but humid Guwahati summers have long been replaced by longer, and harsher Delhi summers, and mother, the cook has been replaced by daughter, the cook; the protagonist in the story – the aalu posto still retains all its charm, glamour and glory.

What all are required:
5-6 medium sized Potato (peeled and cut lengthwise),
4 tbsp Poppy seeds (khus khus),
2 tbsp Mustard oil,
½ tsp Onion seeds (kalonji/kalo jeere),
a pinch each of turmeric and red chilli powder,
1 tsp ginger paste,
Salt to taste,
½ tsp Sugar,
2 Green chilli (slit),
1 tsp Pure ghee (optional)

How to do it:

Soak poppy seeds in one-cup warm water for fifteen to twenty minutes. Drain and grind to a smooth paste.

Heat mustard oil in a pan till it just reaches medium heat. Add onion seeds and slit green chills, stir-fry briefly.

Add potato pieces, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt and cook on medium heat for five minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the ginger paste, stir, cover the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add poppy seeds paste. Stir and add half a cup of water. Cover and cook on low heat till the potatoes are almost done. Remove the lid, sugar Continue to cook for a minute more or till potatoes are completely cooked. Stir in pure ghee and serve hot.

Trivia: Poppy seeds, popularly known as khus-khus in some countries of Asian continent, are obtained from Poppy flowers. Apart from being good at adding flavor to a number of food items like breads, rolls, cookies, cakes and sauces, poppy seeds are also store houses for opium, which is considered as a useful ingredient for preparing various herbal medicines as well as narcotic drugs. According to the Ayurveda, poppy seeds have a cooling effect on the body, and protect from heart diseases, asthma, cough, insomnia, diarrhea, abdominal pains, swelling and joint pains.

A friend and the crab curry

I have received complains that I am showing differential treatment towards vegetarians. I take the blame but at the same time I cannot help but feel happy that there are people who are reading my posts and sending me feedback on it. Since, friend had taken the pain to complain, I decided to reciprocate by mitigating their complain. The problem in this case was two - I would have to use old photographs and decide on whether I cook up a story to go with the photographs or do I just post a recipe!!! So, I decided to proceed on a blank slate and see what it leads to...

I had taken these photographs some time back while cooking crabs in a coconut based sauce. This is a sweet-pungent sauce that lends itself ideal to any kind of seafood. I was cooking for a friend who is a seafood enthusiast and enjoys Bengali food, so the combination was ideal for him. I also had a selfish motive; since Abhijit doesn’t eat crabs, anybody who likes crab is a good occasion for me to give in to my indulgence.

A morning tour of the fish market had yielded two fresh medium-sized crabs (about a kilo), which I first put into the freezer for about 30 minutes (the cold puts the crabs into a comatose stage), then put into a pot of boiling salted water for about 30 minutes and then cleans the crab after cooling. The fun part of cooking crab in my house is that though Abhijit does not eat crabs, he finds the ritual of cleaning and cooking crabs very interesting. So much so that this time around he completely forgot to click photographs while the crab was being cleaned!!!

While I was making a paste of about 2 tbsp of mustard, 2 tbsp freshly grated coconut, 2 green chili and ½ tsp of salt, my illustrious friend calls up to inform me that he just might not be able to make it for lunch. My first instinct was to throw live crabs, claws crackling, at his face…but telecommunications hasn’t made such advances…so I settled for a discussion instead. Thankfully the crabs and I triumphed. With renewed vigor, I heated about a tbsp of mustard oil in the wok; added 2 each of green cardamom and cloves, 1 inch piece of cinnamon, one bay leaf and 1 finely sliced large onion, sautéed till translucent and then added the crab pieces, ½ tsp of turmeric powder and red chili powder and cooked it for about 5 minutes.

Abhijit by this time had lost all interest in the crab and retreated back into watching television. So, in the loneliness of the kitchen I added the mustard and coconut paste that I had prepared to the crab, about ½ a cup of water, 1 large coarsely chopped tomato and simmered the sauce for about 5-8 minutes. Once the sauce is thick and the tomatoes pulpy, I poured in about ¾ cup of thick coconut milk (the tetra-pack variety) and a sprinkling of garam masala powder and salt to taste. Simmer for about 2-3 minutes and the crab is ready. The coconut milk lends sweetness to the sauce and the mustard it’s pungency.

As a footnote I must tell you that the crab curry was very well appreciated by my friend but life is strange and the friend could never come back for any more lunches or dinners to my house…now don’t let that stop you from cooking, eating and serving this delicacy because the crab held good…just that my friend didn’t!

Raw Banana Peels...eeeks?? no yummy!!!

Well, I am back…now I really don’t think that anybody’s been waiting eagerly for me but what’s the harm in massaging my own ego. I have realized that I must be on the way to earn the title of the laziest blogger in the world…just scroll down and look at the dates of my last post. Let me try to put a stop-cork on that probable dubious distinction. To make up for the loss of the days I have decided to post one of the most unusual recipe up my sleeve – ‘Kachkolar Khosar Ghonto’; translated into English it reads – dry curry made from raw banana peels…eeeeks!!!! No, correctly made it is ‘delicious’.

When I made it tonight for dinner, it wasn’t inspiration. It was that my cook walked in before time, which meant I hadn’t thought about the dinner menu. So, it was “lets’ cook from whatever is available in the refrigerator”. A raid of the crisper yielded four raw bananas. I told my dear auntiji to wash, chop and boil these with a little turmeric powder as the first step towards turning these into koftas. As auntie was thoroughly amused with the idea of koftas made from raw bananas, it dawned on me that she had never heard of any such thing. Wonderful! First an impromptu menu and then my cook is clueless about the recipes on it. Nevertheless auntie and I decided to fight it out – in solidarity!

Going back to the raw bananas, these were boiled and peeled and from here on the bananas and the peels parted ways…destiny… and both started separate journeys to the dinner plate. At this point auntie and I decided to opt for division of labour, so the koftas were auntie’s responsibility (albeit under my instructions) and the banana peels mine.

Now the most difficult part to be negotiated is to chop the banana peels and two medium potatoes really finely, all the while dishing out instructions to auntie about the koftas. Then I put everything else needed for the recipe together on a plate – ½ tsp of whole cumin, a small bay leaf, one dry red chili, a green chili, about 2 tbsp of grated coconut, a mixture of 1 tsp of cumin powder, ½ tsp of turmeric, red chili and garam masala powder each. For the benefit of all those who think that I am always this methodical while cooking; let me make an honest confession that it was for the photograph. Next, dump all the spice powders, a tbsp of sugar and salt to taste into the heap of the chopped banana peels and mash it – this, trust me can be very therapeutic – just think of all the people whom you would like to mash to a pulp and voila!!!

At this point my mother-in-law walked in and shared a little chit-chat with auntie about the strange things that I churn up in the kitchen. The tone was refreshingly appreciative though, so all of you who are trying to make a connection between the therapeutic bit and the mother-in-law – cool your heels – this post will have no family melodrama. On this note back to the banana peels. I heated a tbsp of mustard oil in a pan; added the cumin seeds, the whole chilies and the bay leaf, waited until the cumin seeds crackled and added the potatoes, a pinch of turmeric powder and a little sprinkle of salt, a good stir, covered the pan and resumed my instructions about the koftas. Just as the koftas were being patted into bite-size patties, my potatoes were sweating into being nicely cooked. So I added the mashed and spiced banana peels, folded everything together and covered the pan to give the peels and the potatoes few moments of togetherness to bond into a team. Few minutes and I uncovered the pan to reveal a very well bonded, aromatic and well cooked team of the two. Auntie, who was very skeptical till this point, sniffed the air and smiled her appreciation. I added and mixed the grated coconut to the pan and off it went from the fire into the serving bowl enroute the dinner table.

Did the family like it? Well, the mother-in-law said that it was worth finishing a plate-full of rice with. Now coming from mother-in-laws one knows how hard-earned and rare such adulations are! Do not let your expectations swell, didn’t I say that this is no place for family melodramas – not yet, not now – shhh…