Bengali

Jukti phool er shukto

10:05 PM


Jukti phool or Sneeze wort flower is a comparatively new ingredient in my kitchen. I first discovered it in my local vegetable market 3 years back. To be honest I was fascinated with how pretty these green flowers were but the vegetable vendor warned me about it's bitterness. Following his suggestion I cooked a simple stir fry of it with Potatoes and simple seasoning at that time and loved every morsel of it mixed with steamed rice. The flower though look delicate has quite a bite to it and holds their shpe well even after cooking.

Cut to today's time, just last week I found them again and the seller told me to make Shukto with it. Which is a classic example of using any bitter vegetable in a Bengali household. Shukto, the iconic bitter gourd curry is a perfect example of balance. It's salty, sweet, bitter, pungent and slightly spicy yet mellow at the same time. It is eaten as the first course in a proper Bengali sit down lunch.

Bengali

Sorshe fuler bawra (Mustard flower fritters)

7:40 PM


I had no idea that mustard flowers were edible. Saw this first while strolling at the newly opened Patuli floating market in Kolkata. This was just when it all started in end of January. The seller told me you can make fritters out of them or just make a stir fry with potatoes and mustard greens. I could not buy it at that time mainly because fritters and deep fries never allure me but then even my organic vegetable home delivery person told me about it and I decided to give it a go.

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