Shukto

Ingredients

• 150g uchche (bitter gourd), sliced 5mm
• 2 shojne data (drumsticks), in 6cm lengths
• 150g kanchkola (green banana), in 3cm batons
• 200g potato, in thick batons
• 150g mulo (white radish), in batons
• 150g begun (aubergine), in thick fingers
• 20g bori (sun-dried lentil dumplings)
• 60ml mustard oil
• 1 tbsp ghee ⇄
• 1 tsp panch phoron
• 0.5 tsp radhuni, ground
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 tsp white poppy seeds ground to a paste with 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 200ml whole milk
• 1 tsp sugar and 1.5 tsp salt
• 400ml water

The skills inside

Tempering a custardReducing a sauceKnife cuts: dice, julienne, bias

The words inside

Panch PhoronGreen Lentil

Allergen screen

Found: dairy · mustard

Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.

Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.

Method

1. Fry the bori in the mustard oil until they puff and go biscuit-gold, then lift them out. Fry the uchche slices by themselves until the edges crisp and darken, and set them aside on their own plate.
2. Fry the remaining vegetables in batches until the cut edges take colour but the centres are still raw, then lift them out.
3. Temper the panch phoron and bay leaves in the same oil over a low flame, and judge the pan by the methi: pull it the second the fenugreek darkens one shade, because ten seconds later the whole tempering is acrid.
4. Return every vegetable except the gourd, add the ginger, the poppy and mustard paste, salt, sugar and water, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until a drumstick gives up its pulp to a fingernail. 15 min
5. Drop the flame, stir the milk in below a simmer and cook 3 minutes until the gravy turns opaque white and just coats a spoon. 3 min
6. Fold the fried gourd and bori back in, finish with the ghee and ground radhuni, and rest 5 minutes so the bori soften without going to mush. 5 min