Monday, April 27, 2009

Doi Potol and something to share...

Bengali’s love potol, English name for which is Pointed gourd. Since the potol aloo combination is a common sight in most of the Bengali households, I guess Bengali’s favourite side dish is aloo potoler tarkari ;)(potato and pointed gourd stir fry) Being a non-Bengali I wasn’t knowing about the existence of this adorable vegetable, I was familiarized with this member of the gourd family by S.
Last evening I picked up a packet of fresh Potol and wanted to make something different from the usual. Upon googling I came across this fantastic webpage created by Sutupa Ray, All Bengali’s and non-Bengali would love this :) coz it’s an ocean of Bengali recipes and much more. A big hug and even bigger Thanks to Sutapa for this wonderful one stop web page. Here’s the link check it out.

http://sutapa.com/

I got the recipe for Doi Potol from one of the sited blogs at Sutapa’s page. I have made very negligible changes in the original recipe. The original recipe calls for ground ginger, I used ginger garlic paste and the powders and spices a wee..bit more than the actual measures.
Next the peeling method, it calls for fully peeled Potols with a slit on either edge. Instead I peeled each potol half inch apart and then slit the edges. I came across this peeling tip at Indranis blog Appayan, to get a clear picture here’s the link
http://indranid.blogspot.com/2009/04/aloo-potoler-tarkaripotato-parwal-curry.html
Thanks for the tip Indrani I was dying to try it out :)
Now for the recipe:

Ingredients: 250 Gms Potol/ Pointed gourd
¾ cup curd, whisked
½ tsp red chilli powder (I used Kashmiri mirch powder)
½ tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin leaves
Salt and sugar to taste
Pinch of asafoetida
2 tbsp ghee (I skipped this one)
4 tbsp oil

Dry Grinding:
4 green cardamoms
4 sticks of cinnamon
*Grind these two ingredients to a fine powder and set it aside

Method:
Wash and clean the potol
Peel it and make ½” slit at both ends (do not cut them into halves).
Rinse them in running water and drain.
Heat 2and ½ tbsp oil in a Kadhai and fry the potol one by one and set it aside. (DO NOT USE THE SAME OIL) discard the used oil; wipe the Kadhai with a kitchen towel/tissue.
Heat 1 and 1/2 tbsp oil in the Kadhai add 1 tbsp ghee (I gave it a miss) bay leaf, asafoetida, cumin seeds sauté for a minute.
Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, salt, chilli powder. Fry the spices.
Keeping the flame low add curd,potol, sugar and sprinkle some water cook uncovered for 5-6 minutes stirring occasionally.
Taste and adjust the salt and sugar accordingly.
Add ghee(I gave it a miss) and ground dry garam masala, mix so that the masala coats the vegetable evenly.
Cook till done.
Serve hot with rice or roti.

P.S: This dish comes very close to Doi Mach (fish in yogurt gravy) in taste, so I loved every bite and morsel of it :)

44 comments:

Chitra said...

looks nice,new to me:)

Parita said...

This is new to me..thanks for sharing, curry looks delicious :)

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

This dish is new to me, Nice name and the final product has come out lovely... Its so tempting and mouthwatering...

lubnakarim06 said...

Something new to me.....Looks spicy and yum.

Saritha said...

Not much aware of bengali cusine.Will get to know more abt from u:)
Looks great.........

ARUNA said...

looks nice....new to me too!

Pooja said...

This is new to me..looks delicious :)

FH said...

I had bought a frozen pack of Potol for cooking RCI Odiya. Love it and dish looks tastes so yum! :)

Ann said...

Wow.. this looks yummy and thanks for sharing!

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Looking good..COlor is tempting and new to me

Manju said...

you sure have put in a lot of effort into this, girl!! going to different sites and getting all info..great job..the sabzi looks very delicious!! i havent tried this veggie so far, lemme see if i get it here :)

Ashwini said...

This is something new..Looks so yummy.

Priya Sriram said...

Suparna, completely new dish to me and looks awesome, am sure it would have been tasted awesome too! :)

Vrinda said...

Thanx for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.Liked ur blog too...gravy looks so yummy.

Cham said...

Never heard but tasty and delectable!

Priya Suresh said...

Very new to me...looks delicious..

indhu said...

have never tried this vegetable... looks yummy :)

- Indhu (www.thayirsaadham.com)

suvi said...

this looks YUMMY...this is completely new to me, but i love the sound of this one :)

Malar Gandhi said...

Looks spicy and rich to me...new kind of recipe...interesting!

Suparna said...

Thanks all for visiting and leaving ur comments. kwwp visiting :)

saffronapron.blogspot.com said...

That really looks like a non veg dish. Reminds me of my grand mom's mutton gravy.

Gita Jaishankar said...

Hi Suparna, thank you very much for stopping by my blog... you have a lovely blog with a nice collection of recipes...loved reading your posts :)

Soma said...

Oh boy! u are all into bong cuisine tempting me ha! i get very upset that we do not get potol here & the frozen ones are not worth buying. it must have been over 10 years since i had some!! can u believe that? Can i come over?
Soma(www.ecurry.com)

Pria@HC said...

This vegetable is new to me dear.. they look like mini cucumbers... Gravy looks rich and tasty...

Vibaas said...

still cant figure out what this potol is :-) Recipe sound yum though! :)

chef and her kitchen said...

completely new to me...hmmm..

Indrani said...

HI Suparna,
thanks for the link of my blog
Doi potol looks absolutely yummoooo...this vegetable is very dear to me and thank god we get fresh ones in Singapore..I'll post soon another yummy dish with potol just for u..

Suparna said...

Smitha, geetha thanks for ur visit :)keep coming.
TC

Le@HC I had mistaken this one for ivy gourd :p when I first got to see the vegetable.

Soma :) :) :)yup have taken a plunge into bong cuisine ...lol
God! hard to believe a bongi ;) not had potol for 10 complete years ...tha's something now :)
hmm...would be a pleasure to have u over dearie!
TC

Savi-Ruchi said...

hearing about this vegetable for the first time, the final picture looks soo tempting Suparna

Ammu said...

This is new to me. Very interesting & lovely color.

gtyuk said...

as a non-bengali, I don't know what it is neither, but your preparartion looks delicious! will try to find them in the indian shops :)

Suparna said...

Hi Sushma, Vinolia,Ammu thanks for the visit :) will post the details of this vegetable in my next post or so :)
Keep visiting.
TC

Anonymous said...

Wow...this looks delicious! Thanks for putting up the link :)

Purva Desai said...

New dish for me....thanks for sharing

Vikis Kitchen said...

Immediately I googled to see the image of pointed gourd. I have never bought that vegetable (as I thought it was Tindora / Kovaikai / Ivy gourd ) and now I feel its a shame to neglect the newer vegetables. Good that u released the dish. Thanks to the net, we are getting lovely recipes from all places. Your potol curry looks yummy.
A must to try recipe.

Suparna said...

HC,
Thanks for comments on most of my posts :)

purva,
Thanks for the visit dear :)

Vikki,
Thanks so much for catching up on the previous post :) that was so sweet of u! Hmmm...that was quick to goggle and find out abt potol :)
I am dedicating a part of my next post to this wonderful veggie :)
Do let me know if u happen to get this one!
Keep coming.
TC

Mangala Bhat said...

new recipe to me thank u

Deepa Hari said...

Looks yum and new to me Suparna...Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

im no expert.. but potol looks like parwal to me...

thanks for sharing this new recipe... its nothing like the parwal we make at home!

Suparna said...

Mangala, Deepa, Mandira thanks for the visit and comments gurls :)
Potol has stirred up a lot of curiosity ...LOL shall post in detail after coming back from my vacation :)
TC

Varsha Vipins said...

Hi Suparna..have heard abt Doi mach..but this veggie is really new to me..looks spicy n yum..Love bengali dishes..they are so flavorful rite..:)..
Thanks for sharing the tip..:)

Jaya M said...

Suparna,
thanks for visiting me ,hope that we will continue seeing each other more :))..
doi potol looks so delicious ..tumi ki Bengali ..
hugs and smiles

Petuk said...

I also prepare Doi potol but i dont put ginger garlic paste...will try it..Bengalis love this ,some of my non bengali friends also liked it..potol could be prepared in many way like-potoler dolma,potoler paturi,stuffed potol and potol prepared with coconut paste.

Thanks for sharing

Lipsy said...

Wow this looks so tempting:-)
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