Hello Foodies and lovers of culinary arts

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I am a lawyer by profession, though my first and most consistent love has been to cook and to feed people. I love when people eat...its like part of me resides with them through my food. Cooking is not just cooking for me...its an art, its my meditation. Cooking is the way I relax myself.

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

POTATO POSTO

A classic Bengali Comfort food. A semi dry poppy seed and  potato curry. Of course the traditional version of the curry is time consuming and the recipe below reduces the cooking time to half. After a hectic day this comfort food is the best thing that one can think of. "Posto" in Bengali means Poppy seeds and the name reflects the fact that the base of the dish will be the humble poppy seeds. East and West Bengal have their own respective versions. However, my version is more of East Bengal than the West. My recipe is a healthier version since instead of frying the potato I have  pressure cooked it and used only 2 tsp of oil including the garnish.

GOES WELL WITH: Steamed Rice, Yellow lentil soup / Dal.

WHAT TO  DRINK: Any Wine or Bombay Sapphire any other soft drink of your choice.

TIME TAKEN: 15-20 mins.

INGREDIENTS:
1.  250 gms Potato
2.  2.5 tbsp Poppy seeds
3.  1 tsp Oil
4.  1/2 tsp Turmeric
5.  1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
6.  1 Green Chilli
7.  Salt to taste
8.  1/2 tsp Sugar
9.  1 tsp Mustard Oil

 POINTERS
1.  Whenever you are dealing with potatoes, always try to cut them uniformly and keep them in water, else the vegetable will become brown.
2.  Soak the poppy seeds in warm water this will make the seeds soft fast and easy to work with.
3.  If you want to cook West Bengal version of the  Dish, then go light on the chillies and heavy on the sugar. West Bengal vegetarian cuisine is comparatively more sweeter on palate than the East Bengal cuisine.

METHOD

1.  Cut the potatoes in 1 inch cube and keep them in water.
2.  In a pressure cooker put water and add a pinch of salt to bring down the boiling point and add to it the   potatoes and lid it and cook it till the potatoes are done.
3.  Soak the poppy seeds in warm water for around 10 minutes and then make a fine paste.  keep aside.
4.  In a cup add the turmeric and chilli powder and add 1/2 a cup of water, let the spices soak in it.
4.  In a wok  heat a tea spoon of oil and once the oil is hot enough add the turmeric-chilli powder- water paste in it. let the  water dry and  paste fry in the oil until the mixture leaves oil from the side.
5.  Add the green chillies (straight split from the centre) to the wok.
6.  Add the boiled potatoes along with some water from the pressure cooker along with salt and bring the curry to a boil.
7.  Once the curry starts boiling add the poppy seed paste and let the curry boil for next 2 minutes.
8.  When the curry will start to thicken up add the mustard oil and immediately  turn off the heat.
9.  Enjoy it hot or cold. It tastes great all the time!!


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