Water Lily stem and Shrimp curry

The recipe today is very simple but with a spectacular flavour that with every morsel will remind you of monsoon. Just a few pantry staples and a handful of shrimps that are easily available in this season. That is the merit of regional cooking, celebrating the seasonal flavours while retaining all it's goodness.

Fritters made of skunk vine (Paederia Foetida Linn) and light fish curry with the leaf paste

Uff dida ki baje gandho ei patatar, dur karo dur karo. (Oh Grandma what are these leaves? smell so bad. throw them away.),  I curled my nose and looked away in disdain.

Dida who was sitting on the floor and chopping a small bunch of the smelly leaves looked up and smiled. Tomar jonyoi ranna hochhe Didibhai. Khelei dekhbe atodiner jwor pet kharap kamon thik hoe jay. (It is being cooked for you dear, a great herb for your stomach ailments).

That made my heart skip a bit. After weeklong suffering of diarrhea and surviving on a meager diet of Barley water and thin arrowroot biscuit I was finally allowed to have a proper lunch today. I was waiting for the meal since morning and was dreaming of some fish curry with steaming hot rice or at least a meal of dal, alubhate, and machbhaja (Rice, mashed potato, and fried fish).

But not this. I shook my head in denial, tears welled up in my eyes and I ran away from that kitchen. 

Isn’t it confusing that in monsoon when the plants start to sprout almost everywhere making the Earth look lush and green, is also the time when we are told to refrain from eating any sort of leafy greens? India's Monsoon eating philosophy is ingrained in the age-old practice of Ayurveda and backed up by many practices, folklores, and rituals. Which probably were developed to collectively fight deadly disease outbreaks that once were very common during the rainy seasons.

Niramish dimer dalna, Egg prepared with cottage cheese and chana dal A Bengali delicacy

Jamai Shoshti falls on the sixth day of the bright fortnight on the Bengali month of Jaisthya. In this case, Shasti does not only refer to the sixth day, Rather it also mentions the Hindu folk goddess Maa Shasti- The deity of reproduction, saviour, and bestower of children. She is worshipped by every mother wishing to ensure the protection of their children and every woman waiting to conceive. The goddess is embodied as a motherly figure riding a cat and nursing up to eight babies. Though every month of the year has a devoted day to pray to maa Shoshti, the month Jaisthyo is marked only for the son-in-laws.

Now The Bengali word Jamai is associated with many other notions, like jamai ador, Jamai thakano proshno (Question to befool the son in law) and even a proverb