Kumro Bati Chorchori - Simple Stir-Fried Pumpkin/Butternut Squash

Kumro Bati Chorchori

Kumro (pumpkin) Bati (dish/one-dish) Chorchori (stir-fried vegetable) is a delectable Bengali preparation with pumpkin or butternut squash. In North America, the latter is far more readily available and makes a good substitute for pumpkin.

Types of Pumpkin

A cross-section of each type of pumpkin makes it recognizable in the supermarket. Butternut squash is a hard winter vegetable which I generally avoid because it is so difficult to peel and chop. 

Chopped Butternut Squash

Imagine my surprise and delight when I came across this 3 lb. bag of chopped butternut squash at our membership supermarket. It takes away all the intimidation presented by this hard vegetable and makes it more of a staple in my kitchen.

Frozen Cubes 

After heating and tempering the oil, these frozen cubes of butternut squash were taken straight from the freezer into the frying pan. Once they thawed, they cooked in a jiffy with minimal spices.

Stir-Fried Butternut Squash

The dish was ready in less than 20 minutes! Makes a colourful and lovely side dish, served with hot, steamed Basmati rice or any Indian bread.

Fish with Sweet Potatoes in Red Curry Sauce

This Thai-inspired fish curry uses a red curry paste along with coconut milk for its sauce. I've used only one Tbsp. of the curry paste, but it should be used according to taste. Use more if you wish the sauce to be more spicy. Any variety of fish fillets that are in season and available could be used in this dish. 

Lentils with Sweet Potatoes & Toasted Coconut

Mum used to make this at home when company was expected. It was part of a feast (nimonthonno ranna in Bengali). Fresh coconuts are readily available in India and Mum would break the coconut shell, slice the meat into strips and slice it into flat disks that would be fried in oil to a nutty brown.  They would then be cooked along with the lentils.

Since fresh coconuts are not as easily available in Michigan, a staple in my refrigerator is unsweetened, grated coconut. I use a dry skillet to toast a quarter cup of grated coconut to a golden brown colour with the help of 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar. The toasted coconut is used as a garnish and stirred into the lentils just prior to serving.

Ingredients:

1 cup channa dal (any lentils will do)
1 medium sweet potato or 1/4 pumpkin, peeled and cut in bite-size pieces
¼ cup grated unsweetened coconut, toasted to a golden brown
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. shah jeera or cumin seeds
1 tsp. garam masala powder
2 tsp. ginger paste
Salt to taste
1 tsp. ghee or melted butter
2–3 green chilies, left whole

Directions:

1. Wash and soak sweet potatoes in water to prevent discolouring.
2. Wash lentils until water runs clear and soak in hot water for half an hour.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds & garam masala.
4. When cumin seeds start to sizzle, add tomato and ginger pastes along with sweet potatoes and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add lentils, cover and simmer for about half an hour until lentils are tender.
6. Adjust salt to taste, garnish with ghee, toasted coconut and whole green chilies.

7. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed rice or tortillas.

I shared this recipe on 

Spinach, Sweet Potatoes & Peas with Coconut

Palang Shaag, Misti Alu, Karaishuti Ar Narkol 

Ingredients : 

2 lbs. frozen chopped spinach

1 sweet potato or 1/4 pumpkin, peeled & cubed
½ lb. frozen peas
1 large onion, sliced finely

1 jalapeno pepper, halved lengthwise & sliced widthwise

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. Shah jeera or cumin seeds

¼ cup grated unsweetened coconut
1 tsp. roasted cumin powder
salt to taste

1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded & sliced

1 tsp. ghee

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet on medium-high heat, toast grated coconut, remove and reserve for later use.
2. Heat oil in same skillet and sputter jeera.
3. Add and stir-fry sliced jalapenos, onions & cumin powder until onions turn opaque.
4. Stir in sweet potatoes & salt to taste, cover and simmer until sweet potatoes are half done.
5. Add frozen spinach & peas, add more salt, cover and steam until spinach & peas thaw.
6. Stir well and cook over medium heat until spinach is cooked and liquid evaporates.
7. Adjust salt, sprinkle with toasted coconut & garnish with sliced peppers and ghee.

Serve with rice or chapatis.

I shared this recipe on

Pui Shaak er Ghonto - Indian Spinach with Vegetables

When Mum came to visit for a fortnight about three years ago, we  made a point of shopping at the Indian and Oriental grocery stores every other day, coming home and then cooking up a storm.  She recited and I wrote down all the recipes we prepared in a notebook.  This is a recipe from that notebook.  

And here is a picture of the vegetables before prepping.  The tomatoes were not used in this recipe; they are there for presentation only, for color contrast. :)

Ingredients:

Big bunch of pui shaak, chopped (aka Malabar/Indian spinach at Vietnamese stores)
1 russet potato, cubed
1/4 pumpkin, peeled and cubed
1 Oriental eggplant, cubed
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
2 whole dried red chillies
1/2 tsp. panch phoron (cumin,fenugreek,nigella,black mustard & fennel seeds)
2 tsp. ginger paste
1 tsp. roasted panch phoron, ground
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ghee

Directions:

1. In 1 Tbsp. oil, fry eggplant cubes over medium-high heat until golden.
2. Remove eggplant and set aside.
3. In same saucepan, add remaining oil and sputter panch phoron seeds, chillies and bay leaves.
4. Add potatoes, pumpkin and ginger paste and stir well.
5. Cover and cook until vegetables are almost done.
6. Add pui shaak, cover and cook until spinach is wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated.
7. Return reserved eggplant to saucepan and cook for a couple of minutes.
8. Sprinkle roasted panch phoron and sugar over top, and stir.
9. Garnish with ghee, stir and remove from heat.
10. Serve with hot, cooked Basmati rice.

I shared this recipe on

Lentils with Sweet Potatoes

Urad Dal with Sweet Potatoes

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup kalai dal (urad dal)*

1 sweet potato or 1/4 pumpkin, peeled, diced and soaked in water

6-8 plum tomatoes, cut in half

2 Tbsp. extra light olive oil

½ tsp. shah jeera or cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise

2 tsp. ginger paste

Salt to taste

1 tsp. ghee or melted butter

2–3 green chilies, left whole

Directions:

1. Wash lentils until water runs clear.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and star anise.
3. When cumin starts to sizzle, add sweet potatoes and tomatoes and stir.
4. Add lentils and ginger paste and cook until lentils are tender.
5. Blend with an immersion blender and adjust salt to taste.
6. Garnish with ghee and whole green chilies.
7. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with steamed rice or tortillas.

* The urad dal may be replaced with channa or toor dal.