Panch Mishali Shukto - 5-Vegetable Stew

Panch Mishali Shukto

Shukto

Shukto (shook-tho) is a classic Bengali dish and is the traditional beginning or starter to both festive and ordinary meals at the Bengali table. It's a melange of colourful vegetables (purple eggplants, orange carrots, white radish, white potatoes and green bitter melons) and textures (crunchy bitter melons, carrots and radish and soft melt-in-the-mouth potatoes). If available, do add shojne data/drumsticks and kanch kola/green bananas. 

Bitter melon is the main ingredient in shukto, revered for its bitter flavour and so good for balancing blood sugar levels. Because Hubby abhors bitter melon, I've made shukto sans bitter melon for him, hence the two pictures above.

Using very little oil and hardly any spices, this dish gets it zesty flavour from ginger and black mustard paste or shorshe bata that is blended with salt and a green chili. The eggplant pieces are fried first and set aside, the crunchy vegetables and potatoes are then stir-fried in ginger paste, eggplant returned to the skillet and then all of it simmered in mustard sauce.

This side dish which is both vegetarian and vegan, is best eaten with freshly steamed Basmati rice.


Ingredients

1 Japanese eggplant, cut lengthwise in half and then in bite-sized pieces
1 daikon radish, cut lengthwise in half and then in bite-sized pieces
1 sweet potato or carrot, cut lengthwise in half and then in bite-sized pieces
3 small Indian bitter melons/ucche, cut lengthwise twice and then chopped
4 small potatoes, each cut in 8 pieces

2 Tbsp. mustard or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. radhuni/wild celery seeds (or use panch phoron if radhuni is not available)
1 Tbsp. ginger paste
salt to taste
2 Tbsp. black mustard seeds
1 green chili
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Grind mustard seeds in a blender to a fine powder, then blend with 1/2 cup water, green chili and 1/2 tsp. salt to a smooth paste, and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a skillet, fry eggplants until golden brown and set aside.
3. In the same oil, sputter radhuni and stir-fry potatoes, carrots, bitter melons and radish along with ginger paste for 10 minutes until cooked. 
4. Return eggplants to skillet, stir, add 1/2 cup simmering water, followed by mustard paste and simmer over medium-low heat for 3 minutes.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed Basmati rice.