The Good, the Bad and the Bengali English; Now Translate Potol

A couple of days ago, when we were singing paeans about Tagore, updating our status messages on Facebook about the literary achievements of the genius called Rabindranath, somewhere in a dark corner of another world, some Bengali was heard saying (to his host) - the phood was yammy! (Literally translated as – I do not know the difference between the sounds “u:” and “ɑ:”. Why? Because my mammy did not make me laarrn.)

There is something endearing about us Bongs and our pronunciation of English words. I admit, we are no Jhumpa Lahiris out there to impress the English-speaking world, hence we have all the right to roll our eyes and say - Bhee the peepull, with as much pride as our Big Sista in Calcutta does.

It does not take long for a non-Bengali to discover that we Bongs mix up our “w” and “v”. In vain is most certainly In wain, and a woman is always a voman. Try saying that ALOUD. But to do that, you will need the soul and the soft, mellifluous voice of a Bengali. That would mean you will have to take a huge riks (read risk; pronounce riks!). While we are on the topic of enunciation, its not entirely unusual for the phish-eating Bengali to mix the “f” and “ph” sounds. The accent gets thicker when he is drinking.

I have never known a Bengali who writes grammatically incorrect English. In my circle of Grammar Nazi friends, we poke fun at each other for our community’s inability to pronounce certain words. That’s how perfect we are. At least in our heads. And I am not even venturing on to talking about the bushy-faced Bengali still hanging on to his embroidered jean pant and bush shaart.

Perhaps another day.

But my favourite mention will be from the recent movie Bhooter Bhobishyot, where the front desk lady at the real estate developer’s office is heard saying (to someone) on the phone, Hard diks crash hoye gæche. Kichchu shave hochche na.

I squealed with glee. Little things make me happy.

That is exactly the reason I turned these mundane-looking potols into a dish fit for royalty. The Shorshe-Narkel-Potol. That’s Parwal in Mustard and Coconut for you.

 

Ingredients for Shorshe-Narkel-Potol are:

10-12 potol/parwal washed
1 heaped tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds/khus-khus/posto
Half cup grated coconut (I use the freshly frozen kind)
5-6 green chillies
2-3 bay leaves
4-5 tablespoons mustard oil
Sugar
Salt

Begin by randomly (but gently) running a blunt knife on the potol. Just to scrape off lengthwise bit off the skin from places. DO NOT peel the skin off. Cut both sides of the ends. You can keep the potol whole for the recipe or cut them in halves if they are larger.

Grind together the mustard seeds, poppy and green chillies. Start by dry grinding the seeds first, once a coarse powder, add the green chillies and a little water to do a coarse wet paste.

For the coconut, do a coarse wet grind and keep.

Heat mustard oil in a thick pan and add the bay and potols. Sauté on high for 4-5 minutes. You can cover and cook till the potols get lightly coloured at the edges.

Add the mustard-poppy-green chilli paste to the potol and mix well till the vegetables get coated with the paste. Reduce the heat and cover again.

After about 4-5 minutes, add the coconut paste. Give it a good mix, cover and cook for about five more minutes.

The moisture from the wet ground ingredients will help soften the potols. Make sure you keep scraping the spices from the bottom of the pan, else they may burn.

Once the potol has cooked, add the sugar and salt. Cook uncovered till the extra moisture evaporates and the spices and the coconut cling on to the potol.

Do one last taste test and season with more salt and sugar if necessary. You can throw in a couple of broken green chillies to add some more heat or leave the dish as it is. I did not add any turmeric to my dish. Just because I wanted the natural colors of all the ingredients to show. You can, if you want to.

An accent-deaf Bengali would eat this Shorshe-Narkel-Potol with mushurir dal and rice. And maybe a rui maach bhaja on the side.

Bong Makes Madrasi Chutney

There is very little that stands between a Bong and food. If she can’t get it in phoren land, she will make sure her kitchen doles it out.

So I brought Madras home. The idlis are take out from Anjappar. But the coconut chutney is mine. Actually the recipe is what my Mum had learnt from a Madrasi aunty living in Patna. For us Bongs, anyone living down South is a Madrasi. That’s how myopic we are. And what do we know about their cuisine? Well, it starts and ends with idli-dosa. And somewhere in between – this chutney!

Ingredients for Madrasi Coconut Chutney are:

Grated fresh coconut, 1 cup (I used from a bag of frozen coconut available at Patel shops)
Handful of green chillies
Fat piece of ginger
2-3 tablespoons sattu (don’t faint! You can use roasted chana)
Few sprigs of fresh coriander
Salt

Put all the above ingredients in a grinder and wet grind till coarse. Add little water to get a chutney-like consistency.

For the tempering:

1 teaspoon chana dal
1 teaspoon urad dal
1-2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
5-6 whole dry red chillies
Few curry leaves (I freeze fresh ones, they last for months)
1-2 tablespoons canola oil

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter. Next add the lentils, dry red chillies and curry leaves, in no particular order.

Cook them on low heat for a minute, don’t let them turn brown.

Add the tempering to the chutney. Serve the chutney with vadas, idlis or dosas. Its even good with some aloo bonda. Go try!

Its an Owlsome Collection

Over the last couple of years of Blogging, I have come to know some very talented people. Some of whom are quite high on my admiration-meter too.

Unfortunately, I have not met most in person. But hope lives on. Someday soon.

Here are some photographs from girls I have come to know through the world of Blogging and Facebook, and was able to peep in their homes through pictures! That’s how the virtual world works these days I guess.

This is a post about owls in home decor! The owl is the vāhana or the mount of Goddess Lakshmi, the symbol of good luck in Hindu culture. Lets see how some of my girl friends around the world have used the pæncha (Bengali for “owl”) in their homes.

So what do you think? Isn't all this so creative and inspirational? Maybe its time to get that little family owl out of the trunk and show it off to the world.

My Desi Connection…

So I Made Quesadilla…With a Desi Touch

Little bit of your own adaptation to “foreign” recipes goes a long way. Here is what I did to a Mexican staple. I added my recipe of mince meat and did what everybody else does, serve the Quesadilla with some sour cream, guacamole and fresh salsa.

I cooked the filling for the Quesadilla with some chopped onions, cumin seeds, black pepper powder and ginger-garlic-green chilli paste.

The filling between the tortillas was this cooked mince meat, some sliced green bell pepper, green onions, and fresh coriander. And of course, the grated cheddar.

I used a heavy kettle to keep on top of the Quesadilla to get the cheese sticking perfectly between the tortillas. And I did not use any oil either. The mince meat had enough fat/oil to start oozing out into the pan and coat and toast the tortillas.

That’s my maiden attempt at making a Quesadilla. And I must admit that I have this deep and undying urge to break into a salsa because it was so good.

This Friday so far is turning out to be good and healthy! Its another story that the two and a half of us are taking a break from some Spring cleaning – while the baby and the husband nap, I do a quick blog post.

Happy Friday!