As a child I have always been a picky -choosy eater, and was averse to having vegetables. As a result I would make faces on the days Ma cooked vegetarian dishes. For me it was either a 'Chicken meal', a 'fish meal' or an 'Egg meal', anything else and I would immediately sulk and frown, but there was an exception to this general rule, and there were two items which I liked and would finish off my meal in a jiffy, despite the items being vegetarian - one of them being paneer and the other one being Aloo posto.
Baba loves to eat anything under the sun which is prepared with posto (poppy seeds) - be it "Postor bora" (posto fritters), "Jhinge Posto" (ribbed gourd with poppy seeds), "Aloo Posto", Chicken with posto paste, fish with posto paste, or simply "kancha posto" (raw poppy seeds paste)!!!! But for me the affinity towards posto was, is and always for Aloo posto. It is a simple, pure and yet delicious and lip smacking dish. You have to taste it once and then fall in love with its simplicity!!!I can finish a plateful of rice (although I am a bong but I can live without rice for years together!!!) with just Aloo posto, in which case I do not need any accompaniment to go with rice. Hence without much ado I bring forth to you the recipe of one of my favorite dishes - a simple, easy, ready-in-a-jiffy recipe:
INGREDIENTS
Potatoes (aloo) 4-5 medium sized
(cut into 1 inch sized cubes)
Poppy Seeds 4 tbsps (soaked in water)
Green Chillies 2-3 (slit from the middle)
Mustard Oil 2 tbsp
Panch foron# 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
1. Soak the poppy seeds in 1 cup warm water for about half an hour and then grind it to a smooth paste. The paste should have a creamy, smooth texture and not grainy.
2. In a kadai put mustard oil and when it is hot put panch foron.
3. Once the seeds splutter, add green chillies.
4. Now add potatoes and stir fry for sometime.
4. Add 1tsp sugar (optional).
5. Put salt to taste and turmeric powder.
6. Now add 1 cup water and cover the kadai with a lid. Let it simmer in low flame till the potatoes become tender. (the potatoes should not be too tender otherwise they will get mashed once the posto is added).
7. Add the poppy seed paste and saute for some more minutes till the creamy poppy seeds paste coats the potatoes.
And Voila!! your Aloo posto is ready!! Serve it with hot steamed rice and Biuli (Urad) Dal or Masoor or Moong Dal. Usually bongs prefer Biuli (Urad) dal with this but masoor dal and moong dal also goes well with it. For me it is just rice and aloo posto ;)
(*some bongs prefer not to add turmeric powder and so its upto you)
(# Panch foron meaning five spices consists of fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, black mustard seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds. You can make your own panch foron in case you do not get it in the shops. It is readily available in Bengal and is used for tempering. In case you cannot make your Panch foron, you can replace the same with kalonji seeds or kalo jeera)
Baba loves to eat anything under the sun which is prepared with posto (poppy seeds) - be it "Postor bora" (posto fritters), "Jhinge Posto" (ribbed gourd with poppy seeds), "Aloo Posto", Chicken with posto paste, fish with posto paste, or simply "kancha posto" (raw poppy seeds paste)!!!! But for me the affinity towards posto was, is and always for Aloo posto. It is a simple, pure and yet delicious and lip smacking dish. You have to taste it once and then fall in love with its simplicity!!!I can finish a plateful of rice (although I am a bong but I can live without rice for years together!!!) with just Aloo posto, in which case I do not need any accompaniment to go with rice. Hence without much ado I bring forth to you the recipe of one of my favorite dishes - a simple, easy, ready-in-a-jiffy recipe:
INGREDIENTS
Potatoes (aloo) 4-5 medium sized
(cut into 1 inch sized cubes)
Poppy Seeds 4 tbsps (soaked in water)
Green Chillies 2-3 (slit from the middle)
Mustard Oil 2 tbsp
Panch foron# 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
1. Soak the poppy seeds in 1 cup warm water for about half an hour and then grind it to a smooth paste. The paste should have a creamy, smooth texture and not grainy.
2. In a kadai put mustard oil and when it is hot put panch foron.
3. Once the seeds splutter, add green chillies.
4. Now add potatoes and stir fry for sometime.
4. Add 1tsp sugar (optional).
5. Put salt to taste and turmeric powder.
6. Now add 1 cup water and cover the kadai with a lid. Let it simmer in low flame till the potatoes become tender. (the potatoes should not be too tender otherwise they will get mashed once the posto is added).
7. Add the poppy seed paste and saute for some more minutes till the creamy poppy seeds paste coats the potatoes.
And Voila!! your Aloo posto is ready!! Serve it with hot steamed rice and Biuli (Urad) Dal or Masoor or Moong Dal. Usually bongs prefer Biuli (Urad) dal with this but masoor dal and moong dal also goes well with it. For me it is just rice and aloo posto ;)
(*some bongs prefer not to add turmeric powder and so its upto you)
(# Panch foron meaning five spices consists of fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, black mustard seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds. You can make your own panch foron in case you do not get it in the shops. It is readily available in Bengal and is used for tempering. In case you cannot make your Panch foron, you can replace the same with kalonji seeds or kalo jeera)
Fantastic Bubli. Very yummy. My wife - ie your Mashi adds a dash of Sarso tel just before serving.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mesho! I have made a mental note about adding the sarso tel before serving, and would do so next time and revert to you. I have also had posto where they add a tsp Ghee before serving. That too tastes heavenly!!
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