CHITRITA BANERJI takes us through the intricacies of a traditional Bengali food preparation. Edited excerpt:
A typical Bengali lunch menu in the long hot days of the summer could have a bitter shukto or neembegun to start with, then a vegetable dish containing at least one of the specially cooling vegetables, followed by the machher jhol and perhaps a chutney or sour ambal to finish with. The dal will figure either after the shukto or before the chutney, depending again on individual eating habits.
The three cooling vegetables, patol, jhinge and lau, all belong to the gourd family and are indigenous to Bengal, having a pre-Aryan history. Marrow or courgette could be used as substitutes for them in the West, though the final product will fall far short of the real thing. The lau, or white gourd, is now becoming available in many Chinese vegetable shops. Its versatility is most apparent in its combination with evaporated milk, ghee and sugar to make a dessert, a speciality of East Bengal. But my own favourites are lau-chingri, with shrimp, and lau-ghanto, with coconut, green peas (or brown chick-peas) and crushed boris. The former is a Bengali classic. In one of many stories about Gopal Bhar, court jester to Maharaja Krishnachandra of Nabadwip, he slips some shrimp into his tight-fisted widowed aunt’s dish of lau and, threatening to tell the neighbours that she has been breaking the widows’ code of vegetarianism, manages to extract some money from her.
In lau-chingri the gourd’s thick green peel is not used, but is preserved to be chopped and fried later as a side dish. For four people to have their fill, we take 750 g (W2 lbs) of young, tender lau. Chop it (or any substitute like marrow) into fine narrow pieces about 2.5 cm (1 in) long, throwing out all the seeds. Steam it lightly with a touch of salt and 2 tablespoons of water. If you keep it covered over a low flame, the vegetable will release its own moisture and become very soft. (If it is a very young lau, then it does not even need to be steamed.) Set aside the steamed lau after draining off any excess moisture and add small chingri, shrimp, to this-say, about 250 g (K lb).
The shrimp, peeled and deveined, is dusted with salt and turmeric and fried lightly in oil. Two 2.5 cm (1 in) pieces of cinnamon, three cloves and four cardamoms are ground for garom mashla. You also need two teaspoons each of freshly ground cumin and coriander, one teaspoon each of chilli and turmeric powder, three to four green chillies, salt and sugar to taste and two to three teaspoons of ghee.
The lau, being watery, requires very little oil, so I heat about 2VT. tablespoons in a large karai, throw in two bay leaves and add the steamed lau. After stirring this around for a couple of minutes, I add the shrimp and all the ground spices except the garom mashla. The whole thing is then stirred and stirred until all the spices are blended and release their fragrance. Sometimes I sprinkle a little water over the lau as I go along, if I notice any tendency for it to stick to the pot. Then I add salt, sugar and green chillies and keep it covered over a low heat for three to four minutes. The sugar should be perceptible, so it is best to start with three teaspoons and then to add more if needed. Finally, I uncover the karai, stir in the ghee mixed with a pinch of flour and the garom mashla, and remove the lau from the stove.
Excerpted from Bengali Cooking:
Seasons & Festivals written by Chitrita Banerji; Aleph, Rs 299