Jhinge Alu Posto (Ridge Gourd and Potatoes with Poppy Seeds)

I love being a mom! I look at my sweet Prisha’s (now two months old) face and I am filled with so much happiness. I am sure every mom feels the same way. If I can, I would spend all my time with her, but I am a human being and at the end of the day I need food and rest. So Debarshi and I have been cooking on a weekly basis. Every Thursday, we decide a menu. Then we make lists of the required ingredients and buy/ order them online on Friday. I clean and disinfect the kitchen and make sure it is ready for the major cooking. Of course, it helps that we have big dishes to store the entire week’s meals and Food Chopper and Nutri bullet to do the preparations easily and quickly. On Saturday, I start my part of the cooking while Debarshi takes care of baby Prisha. On Sunday, he cooks and vice versa. I must say, so far, this arrangement is going pretty well. The advantage of cooking in bulk and multiple dishes is, you just have to clean and dis-infect the kitchen once before and after cooking. Things like pots, pans and chopper can be re-used to cook again and then you can just dump everything in the dish washer or wash them right away (or the next day) and you are done for the entire week. If you are thinking this is too much work then also consider this, you will be saving so much time everyday, time you can use to sleep, workout, watch TV or read. Or in our case, take care of baby Prisha without worrying about food. 

So, this week Debarshi prepared Jhinge Posto. I know that have not been able to click any decent pictures but I didn’t want to forget this delicious recipe for lack of a better photo, so here it is:

Ingredients:

• Potatoes – 2-3 large, peeled, cut into medium size cubes and washed
• Jhinge (Ridge Gourd) – 5 large, peeled and cut into thick pieces
• Poppy Seeds – 2-3 tablespoons 
• Green Chilies – 2, slit in halves
• Mustard Oil – 2 tablespoons
• Kalonji (Nigella seeds) – ½ teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon
• Salt - to taste (about ½ teaspoon)

Tip:

Ridge Gourd will take some time to get peeled, plan this dish accordingly.

Directions:

• Wash the Poppy Seeds and make a paste in your Nutri Bullet (use the extractor blade). 
• Heat a wok on medium-high heat.
• Add the Mustard Oil in it.
• When the oil begins to smoke, reduce the heat to low so that it cools off a bit. This is done to remove the pungent taste and smell of the Mustard Oil.
• Add the Kalonji in it. The seeds will immediately start crackling. 
• Make sure the potatoes have drained all the water. Add them in the wok. If they make the oil jump add a little turmeric in it.
• Fry them for about 5 minutes on medium heat.
• Now add the Jhinge with the Salt and Turmeric. Fry till it is about ¾ cooked.
• Next add the Poppy Seeds paste and Green Chili in it and mix well. Make sure not to waste the paste clinging inside the grinder cup. You can add a little water in it and stir with a spoon or rubber spatula so that the paste mixes with it and then you can add it in the wok. Mix well.
• After 2-3 minutes, turn down the heat to medium low and cover the wok.
• Cook for about 10-15 minutes or till the Potatoes are well cooked. 
• Press a piece of Potato with the spatula and if it breaks Jhinge Alu Posto is ready. This dish is dry, so make sure there is no gravy in the wok. The Posto paste should coat the Jhinge and potatoes evenly.
• Serve with Urad dal and rice.

(Click the photo to watch the step-by-step video)

Love Poppy Seeds? Try these dishes as well:

• Kancha Posto (Bengali recipe: Raw Poppy Seeds Paste)
• Alu Posto (Bengali recipe: Potatoes with Poppy Seeds)
• Postor Bora (Bengali recipe: Poppy Seed Fritters)
• Mutton Rezala (Bengali recipe: Tender Meat in Cashew Poppy Seed sauce)
• My Non-Traditional Sukhto (Bengali recipe: Mixed Vegetables)