I will write about two dishes tonight, with similar cooking methods and ingredients, both of which are easy to make, and very popular as everyday lunches with us.
Kopi Posto :
This is a very simple everyday recipe for Bengali lunches, so one tends to take it pretty much for granted till one moves out of Bengal :(, when one begins to miss it like crazy and get all nostaligic about the poppy seed :(
I found two ways of cooking it, one with nigella seeds ( kalo jeere) and a second, more common method with cumin seeds
This can be made with potato, ridge gourd or cauliflower. I DISLIKE peeling potatoes, am scared of the look the of the whole ridge gourd, so that only leaves cauliflower out :).. which also happens to be my favourite vegetable:)
Ingredients:
Main: Cauliflower, poppy seeds( posto)
The phoron : either jeere (cumin) or nigella seeds ( kalo jeere), bay leaf(optional)
Green chilli (optional)
Salt, cumin powder, sugar.
a pinch of mustard powder (optional)
The traditional way to cook is to fry the vegetable , as in lightly saute it , and for dry things, keep doing it , till it cooks, however I find that a bit tiresome, so I boil the cauliflower. Boil it is a nice big saucepan till the water turns green, the cauliflower should become soft but not mushy ( unless you specifically want them crunchy). Just throw the cauliflower into a saucepan of water, wait till the water boils, lower the heat to a simmer (lowest point) and leave it for 20 mins,. unless a pressure cooker is used.Throw away the water once the cauliflower is cooked. ( you can even boil the vegetable, and leave it in the fridge and make the dish at a later date)
In the ,meantime, put two -thre tablespoons of poppy seed, per cauliflower used in the mixie with some water (enough to soak the seed, but not enough to sink them) , a bit of salt, as well as a pinch of mustard powder ( mustard is optional and not really canconical, just a personal peference). Let it rotate fr a couple of minutes.
Once you are ready to cook the dish:
take a little bit of oil or ghee( if using ghee use a tiny amount) and put in the bay leaf and the cumin or nigella seeds, whichever you prefer,as well as green chilli, if used, when the oil starts bubbling( heat to be lowered before seeds are put in) . Once the seeds stop crackling, put in the boiled vegetable, fold in the posto mix, some salt, sugar and cumin powder. stir till the cauliflowers are nice coated, leave it to roast for about 5-6 minutes, stir it a bit more for fun, turn off the heat.
To sum up:
1) boil the vegetables and keep it aside
2)Make the posto mix
3) Roast the spices, put in the vegetablesa and posto, stir, mix and done
Cooking time:
The time you need to boil the cauliflower, depends on quantity and wheterh you are using a pressure cooker or not. If not using a pressure cooker, I recommend a nice deep saucepan over any other utensil.
Actual-presence-in kitchen-time:(apart from cutting)
well.. about five minutes to put the cauliflowers in and bring water to boil, at the outside, if one is really slow..another two after it has boiled..there is relaly no need to watch over it while boiling.. one can do other things
Once you are cooking the dish.. maybe two to three minutes for the spices to roast, then another five six minutes to finish the dish....
Really not more than ten minutes at a stretch, if you are using the boiling method, if frying then maybe longer
The image is much mixed up with rice.. I forgot all about the blog till I started eating the Posto Chocchori
Kopi Posto :
This is a very simple everyday recipe for Bengali lunches, so one tends to take it pretty much for granted till one moves out of Bengal :(, when one begins to miss it like crazy and get all nostaligic about the poppy seed :(
I found two ways of cooking it, one with nigella seeds ( kalo jeere) and a second, more common method with cumin seeds
This can be made with potato, ridge gourd or cauliflower. I DISLIKE peeling potatoes, am scared of the look the of the whole ridge gourd, so that only leaves cauliflower out :).. which also happens to be my favourite vegetable:)
Ingredients:
Main: Cauliflower, poppy seeds( posto)
The phoron : either jeere (cumin) or nigella seeds ( kalo jeere), bay leaf(optional)
Green chilli (optional)
Salt, cumin powder, sugar.
a pinch of mustard powder (optional)
The traditional way to cook is to fry the vegetable , as in lightly saute it , and for dry things, keep doing it , till it cooks, however I find that a bit tiresome, so I boil the cauliflower. Boil it is a nice big saucepan till the water turns green, the cauliflower should become soft but not mushy ( unless you specifically want them crunchy). Just throw the cauliflower into a saucepan of water, wait till the water boils, lower the heat to a simmer (lowest point) and leave it for 20 mins,. unless a pressure cooker is used.Throw away the water once the cauliflower is cooked. ( you can even boil the vegetable, and leave it in the fridge and make the dish at a later date)
In the ,meantime, put two -thre tablespoons of poppy seed, per cauliflower used in the mixie with some water (enough to soak the seed, but not enough to sink them) , a bit of salt, as well as a pinch of mustard powder ( mustard is optional and not really canconical, just a personal peference). Let it rotate fr a couple of minutes.
Once you are ready to cook the dish:
take a little bit of oil or ghee( if using ghee use a tiny amount) and put in the bay leaf and the cumin or nigella seeds, whichever you prefer,as well as green chilli, if used, when the oil starts bubbling( heat to be lowered before seeds are put in) . Once the seeds stop crackling, put in the boiled vegetable, fold in the posto mix, some salt, sugar and cumin powder. stir till the cauliflowers are nice coated, leave it to roast for about 5-6 minutes, stir it a bit more for fun, turn off the heat.
To sum up:
1) boil the vegetables and keep it aside
2)Make the posto mix
3) Roast the spices, put in the vegetablesa and posto, stir, mix and done
Cooking time:
The time you need to boil the cauliflower, depends on quantity and wheterh you are using a pressure cooker or not. If not using a pressure cooker, I recommend a nice deep saucepan over any other utensil.
Actual-presence-in kitchen-time:(apart from cutting)
well.. about five minutes to put the cauliflowers in and bring water to boil, at the outside, if one is really slow..another two after it has boiled..there is relaly no need to watch over it while boiling.. one can do other things
Once you are cooking the dish.. maybe two to three minutes for the spices to roast, then another five six minutes to finish the dish....
Really not more than ten minutes at a stretch, if you are using the boiling method, if frying then maybe longer
The image is much mixed up with rice.. I forgot all about the blog till I started eating the Posto Chocchori
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