Hello buddies,
Happy August. August is kind of Sunday of the summer. Hence we can enjoy many vegetables during this time. Rather many vegetables are available in the stores. This week I got a serendipitous joy when I found squash leaves in the grocery store. Initially thought it was lau pata (bottle gourd leaves) by appearance. But after the video chat with my mom and mom-in-law, they certified it as pumpkin leaves (kumro pata). With that confusion and conclusion, this recipe of my mom allured me instantly. This dish was my go to meal when I stayed alone in California. This recipe is so simple and one pot curry with the healthy vegetables and shrimps that it will make a good enough side with rice. Trust me, I could eat the whole plate of rice with this single curry. In Bengali, the recipe is known as Kumro Sakh-Chingri Chorchori. Chorchori is a medley of different vegetables with or without fish. Let's start the cooking.
Recipe yields 8 servings
Ingredients
( Note: pumpkin/squash leaves can be found in Hmart or in Indian store during summer season in USA. You can also use other vegetables like eggplant, radishes, or sweet potato. Don’t throw the soft stems of the squash/ pumpkin leaves. Cut the soft stems into finger size pieces.
panch foron is a Bengali spice blend of five ingredients- fennel seed (mouri), black mustard seed (kalo Sorshe), fenugreek seeds (methi), wild celery seeds (radhuni) , nigella seeds (kalo jire). In this spice blend equal proportions of the ingredients are used.)
Method
1. Clean the shrimp and marinate with the salt and 1 tsp turmeric powder.
2. Clean and cut the vegetables and keep them ready.
3. In a small frying pan heat 1 tsp of oil and add the boris. Fry the boris till they reach golden brown color. And keep the fried boris aside.
4. In a large pan add 2 tbsp of oil and heat it. When the oil is hot, start frying the marinated shrimps. When the shrimp changes the color to red, take them out in a separate plate. Don’t overcook the shrimps.
5. In the same pan add 1 tsp of oil with the remaining oil. When the oil is hot add the panch foron, moong dal and dried red chilies. When the panch foron splatters and make some pop up noise, add the vegetables except the leaves. Fry the vegetables by stirring time to time.
6. When the veggies are soft add the leave. Add the mustard and poppy seed paste, salt, sugar and green chilies. Cover it with the lid. Turn the heat to medium. After 5 mins remove the lid, the leaves should be soft by then. Stir it for a minute so that all the veggies and leaves are covered with the paste uniformly. Add 1/3 cup of water and give it a good stir.
7. Check the taste and adjust the salt and sugar accordingly. Now add the fried shrimps and give it a good stir. Cover with the lid again. Let it cook for 5 more minutes.
8. Crush the boris into shards. Uncover the lid and add the shards of bori into the mixture. Give it a final good stir. And remove the pan from the heat.
Serve this with steaming white Basmati rice in the lunch. It is a comfort healthy food with lots of vegetables. You also get the flavor of the shrimps, which is nice. Try it till the squash/ pumpkin leaves are available in the stores. And if you have the squash plant then you should definitely make this and send me a photo of your creativity.
Thanks,
Moumita
Happy August. August is kind of Sunday of the summer. Hence we can enjoy many vegetables during this time. Rather many vegetables are available in the stores. This week I got a serendipitous joy when I found squash leaves in the grocery store. Initially thought it was lau pata (bottle gourd leaves) by appearance. But after the video chat with my mom and mom-in-law, they certified it as pumpkin leaves (kumro pata). With that confusion and conclusion, this recipe of my mom allured me instantly. This dish was my go to meal when I stayed alone in California. This recipe is so simple and one pot curry with the healthy vegetables and shrimps that it will make a good enough side with rice. Trust me, I could eat the whole plate of rice with this single curry. In Bengali, the recipe is known as Kumro Sakh-Chingri Chorchori. Chorchori is a medley of different vegetables with or without fish. Let's start the cooking.
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| kumro sakh chingri chorchori |
Recipe yields 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound of squash leaves (cut into small pieces)
- 1 pound of head on clean shrimp (head on shrimp will give better taste)
- 1 tsp panch foron
- 1 tbsp moong dal(yellow lentil)
- 1 dried red chili
- 1 medium potato (cut into medium cubes)
- 1/3 of medium butternut squash/ pumpkin (cut into small pieces without skins)
- 2 medium zucchini (cut into medium size cubes)
- 1/2 bori (dried lentil dumplings)
- 1 tbsp mustard paste
- 1 tbsp poppy seed paste
- 1.5 tsp turmeric powder
- 2-3 green chilies (with slits in between )
- 2 tbsp of mustard oil + 2 tsp Mustard oil
- Salt according to your taste
- Sugar according to your taste
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| veggie |
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| Fried head on shrimps |
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| Squash leaves |
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| Fried bori shards |
( Note: pumpkin/squash leaves can be found in Hmart or in Indian store during summer season in USA. You can also use other vegetables like eggplant, radishes, or sweet potato. Don’t throw the soft stems of the squash/ pumpkin leaves. Cut the soft stems into finger size pieces.
panch foron is a Bengali spice blend of five ingredients- fennel seed (mouri), black mustard seed (kalo Sorshe), fenugreek seeds (methi), wild celery seeds (radhuni) , nigella seeds (kalo jire). In this spice blend equal proportions of the ingredients are used.)
Method
1. Clean the shrimp and marinate with the salt and 1 tsp turmeric powder.
2. Clean and cut the vegetables and keep them ready.
3. In a small frying pan heat 1 tsp of oil and add the boris. Fry the boris till they reach golden brown color. And keep the fried boris aside.
4. In a large pan add 2 tbsp of oil and heat it. When the oil is hot, start frying the marinated shrimps. When the shrimp changes the color to red, take them out in a separate plate. Don’t overcook the shrimps.
5. In the same pan add 1 tsp of oil with the remaining oil. When the oil is hot add the panch foron, moong dal and dried red chilies. When the panch foron splatters and make some pop up noise, add the vegetables except the leaves. Fry the vegetables by stirring time to time.
6. When the veggies are soft add the leave. Add the mustard and poppy seed paste, salt, sugar and green chilies. Cover it with the lid. Turn the heat to medium. After 5 mins remove the lid, the leaves should be soft by then. Stir it for a minute so that all the veggies and leaves are covered with the paste uniformly. Add 1/3 cup of water and give it a good stir.
7. Check the taste and adjust the salt and sugar accordingly. Now add the fried shrimps and give it a good stir. Cover with the lid again. Let it cook for 5 more minutes.
8. Crush the boris into shards. Uncover the lid and add the shards of bori into the mixture. Give it a final good stir. And remove the pan from the heat.
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| Frying the veggies with foron |
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| Mustard poppy paste added |
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| Slow cooking with covered lid |
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| Kumro Sakh Chingri Chorchori is served |
Serve this with steaming white Basmati rice in the lunch. It is a comfort healthy food with lots of vegetables. You also get the flavor of the shrimps, which is nice. Try it till the squash/ pumpkin leaves are available in the stores. And if you have the squash plant then you should definitely make this and send me a photo of your creativity.
Thanks,
Moumita
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