BENGALI SHUKTO RECIPE

Shukto is a quintessential Bengali recipe cooked with lots of vegetables. It is slightly bitter sweet in taste as the primary ingredient is bitter gourd. Shukto can be cooked in several ways and here I am sharing a simple recipe with lots of vegetables. Hope you like the recipe and try it at your own kitchen.

INGREDIENTS OF SHUKTO:

This is a vegetarian dish cooked with mustard paste and milk and it is slightly bitter to sweet in taste.

Vegetables used are:

• Bitter Gourd- 5 pieces
• Potato-2 pieces
• Raw Papaya- 1 Small
• Raw Banana- 2 pieces
• Drumsticks- 4 pieces
• Sweet Potato- 1 piece
• Brinjal-1 whole
• Ginger- Grated, 2 teaspoon

Spices used:

• Methi or fenugreek seeds- 1 teaspoon
• Panchforan seeds- 1 teaspoon
• Dry red chilli- 1 whole
• Mustard Paste- 3 teaspoon
• Bori or dried lentil fritters: Optional
• Salt- to taste
• Sugar- 3 teaspoon

Oil:

• Mustard Oil -3 teaspoon
• Ghee- 2 teaspoon

PROCESS OF COOKING :

• The first process of cooking shukto is the most tedious one, at least for me and that is chopping.
• Chop the bitter gourd, potato , raw papaya, raw banana, brinjal , drumsticks and sweet potato in 1 inch sized pieces. The pieces should be more or less even in size so that all the vegetables get cooked evenly.
• Take a wok or kadhai.
• Add mustard oil and wait for the oil to heat up. You can also add a little bit of ghee along with oil if you want.
• You need to add the methi or fenugreek seeds and one dry red chilli in the hot oil and wait for the seeds to release its aroma in the oil.

FRYING PROCESS:

• You will add the bitter gourd first.  Fry the bitter gourd until its brown and crisp.
• In the second step, you need to add the potatoes and fry them along with the bitter gourd.
• In a separate pan, dry roast the panchforan and make sure not to burn it or else your shukto will not have that nice aroma. Panchforan is a Bengali spice which consists of five spices like cumin seeds or jeera, fennel seeds or saunf or mouri, nigella seeds or kalo jeera, wild celery seeds or radhuni seeds and methi seeds. It is highly aromatic and lends a distinct flavour to Bengali dishes.
• Now , grind the roasted panchforan in a mortar and pestle and keep it aside for future use.
• Check whether the potatoes have slightly fried or not or else you will not get the taste of fried potatoes..
• Add the remaining vegetables and fry in on a high flame for about 3 minutes.
• Add the grated ginger along with the vegetables.
• After frying on a high flame , reduce the flame and cover the wok or kadhai and let the vegetables cook in steam.
• Please do not forget to check in between as this will take about 10 to 15 minutes time.
• After 15 minutes, open the lid and check whether the vegetables are cooked or not.

GRAVY MAKING:

• At this stage,  you need to add 2 cups of water and mustard paste and cook for further 5 minutes.
• When the gravy turns a bit thick, add a cup of warm milk and boil the shukto for about 2 minutes and then close the flame.
• Lastly, add the grinded panchforan and ghee.
• If you want, then fry the bori or dried lentil fritters and add in the gravy. I have not done it.

PROCESS OF SERVING:

Serve the shukto in lunch with a steaming hot bowl of rice. It tastes the best with rice only and Bengalis prefer to have it at the beginning of the meal . It is very tasty and healthy dish. Please cook it at your home and let me know whether you like my recipe or not.