Pui Chingri -- Pohi Saag with Shrimp

“On the subject of spinach: divide into little piles. Rearrange again into new piles. After five of six maneuvers, sit back and say you are full.”
Delia Ephron from How To Eat Like A Child

There was a phase last year when I was unable to cook. We outsourced to a local bengali caterer and between him and D managed to feed the family okay. This guy however was pretty monotonous with his menu, he had some 4-5 items which he would repeat over the weeks and after a month you would think that alu-posto, dhokar dalna and charchari were all there is to a bengali menu.

To satisfy my cravings for authentic vegetarian bangla food a friend came to the rescue and would send over a little of whatever she cooked each week. Now she is a damn good cook and has a vast repertoire of Bengali recipes, she also likes to cook and eat well and prepares a full 6 course meal for dinner almost every day. No doubt that food from her kitchen was much awaited while the caterer's supplies languished in the refrigerator.

She used to make this Pui Chingri (Pohi Greens with Shrimp) which I fell in love with. I am sure my Ma would make it the same way but I was a typical kid regarding food choices and so though my Ma would force greens down my throat I don't have fond memories of them. Now with age I am not scared of my greens any more and even the slimy Pui has joined my list of favorites.

I have also learned greens don't make you stronger, it takes much more to grow into a person of character and strength, the 5 serving of vegetables merely sustains you in that journey.

"There was a Young Lady of Greenwich,
Whose garments were border'd with Spinach;
But a large spotty Calf,
bit her shawl quite in half,
Which alarmed that Young Lady of Greenwich."
Edward Lear, English artist, writer

Pui Shaak or Pohi Saag has the scientific name of basella alba and some other fancy names like Climbing Spinach, Malabar Spinach etc. Basella alba is a fast-growing, soft-stemmed vine, reaching 10 m in length. Its thick, semi-succulent, heart-shaped leaves have a mild flavour and mucilaginous texture.

Typical of leaf vegetables, it is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is low in calories by volume, and high in protein per calorie. The succulent mucilage is a particularly rich source of soluble fiber, thought to remove mucus and toxins from the body. The plant is also a rich source of chlorophyll. You can apparently grow this plant from the stems/stalks and with tips from Soma I have planted some of those stalks in my backyard

This dish goes to WHB # 185 hosted by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook

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Pui Chingri/Pohi Greens with Shrimp

This is a very simple and approximate recipe and serves about 3-4 people

Prep: Devein and clean shrimp if fresh. If frozen defrost shrimp and remove the tail. Toss about 8-10 shrimp with a little turmeric and salt and keep aside for 15-20 minutes

Wash and clean the pohi greens(I had about 1lb) and chop in small pieces. Chop the stems too.

Start Cooking

Heat Mustard Oil(or any white oil) in a Kadhai

Fry the shrimp till they are a light golden yellow. Don't fry them too much, they get tough. Remove shrimp and keep aside

Fry 1 small potato chopped in slices till it is light golden in color. Remove and keep aside

Temper/chaunce the oil with 1/2 tsp of Paanch Phoron and 4 slit green chili. If you cannot stand the heat of green chili ignore

Once you get the beautiful flavor of paanch phoron add the greens along with the stems

Saute and let it cook

You can cover and cook to make it cook faster, but frequently remove the cover and give a good stir. The greens will release a lot of water which you want to dry up. Slimy pohi doesn't taste good.

When the greens is almost done add the potatoes, salt and 1/4-1/2 tsp of Red Chili Powder. Mix well and cook till potatoes are done

Add the shrimp and mix well with the greens

Serve with hot rice

Ilish Begun er Jhol | Hilsa & Eggplant in a light gravy

Ilish Begun er Jhol | Hilsa & Eggplant in a light gravy

This is a delicious stew kind of fish curry made with lightly fried pieces of flavorful Hilsa (Ilish), chunks of tender eggplant and infused with flavors of Kalo Jeere(Kalonji/Nigella Seeds), Green Chilies and Mustard oil. The simple spices used for tempering are very common across the length and breadth of Bengali cuisine and depending on the dish being cooked, these spices enhance the flavor in a unique way. This delicious jhol, light stew, has no other spice except nigella seeds, green chilies, turmeric and depends solely on the fish for its taste and flavor.

Jump To Recipe

Till the age of sixteen I didn't know that Ilish(Hilsa) could taste so good in a simple light jhol (a soupy gravy) like this. My Ma never made this particular preparation of Ilish, it was always ilish bhaja(fried Hilsa), ilish bhaape (steamed Hilsa) or shorshe ilish ( Hilsa in mustard sauce) at our home during monsoon, the Ilish season back home.

Years ago it was the day of Saraswati Pujo. In our home(as in most Ghoti bengali homes) this was not only a vegetarian day but a day on which you ate Khichuri, bhaja, chaatni & such. I was a teenager who didn't like her khichuri and that too one served even without a omlette. The day didn't hold much of a prospect for me until my friend called and invited me over to their home for Lunch. I wasn't too enthusiastic about the food thinking it would be the same fare but the lure of her latest Sidney Sheldon was there and so I went.

Come lunch time, the table was laid out and we sat. There were hardly 2-3 covered serving bowls on the dining table and I felt forlorn, till her Mom started serving. There was no Khichuri but plain white rice, dal, alu bhaja(potato fries) and a ilish er jhol( Hilsa in a light curry)

"How can you eat fish on Saraswati Pujo ?", I was aghast

"But Bangals have a tradition of eating Ilish on Saraswati Pujo, we absolutely must and if it is Jora Ilish(a hilsa pair) all the better", said the friend's Mom. Wow, Bangals (Bengalis originally from East Bengal who later migrated to India or West Bengal. East Bengal is now part of Bangladesh) are such intelligent people, must marry one of that species, I thought.

And then I saw Ilish with all that begun (eggplant), a Ilish Begun er jhol (Hilsa in a light gravy with eggplant) they told me. I was skeptical, Ilish being one fish that is not cooked with vegetables in our home and then I took my first mouthful. The simplicity of the curry bursting with flavor of soft brinjal, the taste of the Hilsa and the mustard oil was too much for me. It was absolutely delicious, it shifted Ilish's position from a special fish you would respect to a homely fish you could love.

I have been in love with this dish ever since. My in-laws being Bangal make this exactly the same way and now when I get Ilish I make this before venturing into ilish bhapa(steamed hilsa), shorshe ilish(mustard hilsa) and others. This is served with white rice for a homely meal and has no trappings to make it famous except the fresh light taste.

Weekly Menu -- Week of May 17th

Ok so I finally baked a cake succesfully. My baking attempts have always been a flop show even with the simplest of the cakes. So I always stick with a Betty Crocker mix or a Bisquik and try to end the story there.

I guess I am not good at sticking to instructions and my mind wanders off just where the recipe says sift flour and baking soda together. Improvising where baking is concerned is a strict no-no and I have learned it the hard way.

This time I was determined to make it work though and I chose a simple recipe from Sunita. Something that did not ask for any new fangled ingredients hitherto unknown to me, something that could be achieved with what I had at home and something that did not ask me to beat eggs and such for 5 whole minutes.

So Pear-Walnut Cake it was made with atta.

But trust to me goof up even with the simplest of all recipes. After following all her instructions I preheated the oven to 180, did you read it right,1 - 8- 0. Isn't that way too less, I told myself, maybe I should increase the temp. But then I had decided to stick, blindly stick with the recipe so with all my doubts I heated the oven to 180. And then I followed what the recipe said exactly. When the timer went "Ping" all excited I took out the bake tray to see nothing had turned "golden brown" and the batter was the same gooyey mess it was half an hour earlier.

And then my brain which had hit the dead end, 'coz it was 12:00 at night by then did a jolt and it struck me that Sunita was in the UK and so her recipe said 180 C, see the C, not F but C in capitals. I was in goddamn North America where they didn't believe in C (Celsius) and had F (Fahrenheit) !!! So after all the math conversions we finally raised the oven temp to 350 F and the cake turned golden brown and delicious after a glorious 17 minutes.

This week I tried to go carb-less on some days of the week and it was easier as we did a lot of grilling outside. This was the menu

Potato Capsicum Curry -- This was based on this dish, not exactly but kind of

Pepper Mushroom -- All time favorite from Cham and my recipe

Uchche Begun -- Bitter Gourd with brinjals. Shall post soon

Cabbage Fry -- This was M Didi (baby A's nanny) contribution. I finally asked her to cook one or two dishes for me each week.

Masoor Dal & Toor Dal with Dill -- Regular masoor dal. The toor dal with dill was a new flavor. Haven't tried dill too much and this was the first time had it in a dal. Reminded me of one of the paying guest Aunty in B'lore, this was the unknown taste I always found in her dals.

Grilled Chicken

Baked Tilapia

Grilled brocolli, carrots and long green peppers