Food, Cooking, Kitchen, Taste, Blah, Blah, Blah… For some people these words are no more than chore to keep oneself going. For majority, day in day out it is just a small world or small thing in the hundreds of important things that need to be taken care of. But, as I take conscious effort to make myself accustom to this small world, I find every aspect so intriguing that one lifetime won’t be enough for me to touch upon the boundless facets, waiting for their turn to be unfurled.
Also, although I am still at my nascent stage of exploring, but when I compare my present state of consciousness with respect to food compared to few years back, I find myself astonished how I have ignored the nuances that are actually capable to make or break a dish. One such nuance which mostly we tend to miss and even don’t realise is ‘balance of taste’. And yes, taste comprises multiple senses like touch, smell, look, taste (tongue) and even sound. And each sense contributes to particular parameter that determines how tasty the dish is. For example, a simple cookie will lose its right to be called tasty, if any one parameter from any of these yardsticks – taste, texture, aroma, consistency or look, fail.
But, even if we just take only one aspect of taste which is confined to our tongue, balance of taste still remains the important criteria. As per Ayurveda, there are six basic tastes that make up our diet – Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Pungent and Astringent. It is believed that these six tastes not only serve the purpose of providing different flavors in our food, but they also help unlock the nutritional value of various foods and also enhance the digestion process, as each taste is designated with particular dietary function. Hence, more taste one food has, more beneficial is for our body and mind. Thus, understanding how to combine and balance tastes is an important cooking concept and allows you to create flavorful dishes every time you cook.
Probably this is the reason that traditionally lot of popular dishes across the world are not a representative of any one taste but a combination of tastes. If you dig deeper, traditionally salt was not used only to make the food salty but to balance the sweetness and reduce the bitterness of food. Similarly, lots of savoury dishes are incomplete without the hint of sweet. And often sour curd is used to balance spice and sweetness of a dish.
My today’s recipe post ‘Doi Potol Or Pointed Gourd In Curd Sauce’ also reflects the same concept of balance of taste. This traditional summer delicacy from Bengal is a representative of balancing and combining different tastes. Just like any other traditional Bengali dish, the vegetables are nicely pampered with spices and at the same time are balanced with curd, coconut powder and ghee that will completely carry away the discomfort associated with spices and leave a pleasant experience. Hence, with the combination of savoury, sweet and sour taste the dish ‘Doi Potol Or Pointed Gourd In Curd Sauce’ is a true ambassador of balance when it comes to taste.
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Recipe: Doi Potol Or Pointed Gourd In Curd Sauce
Preparation Time: Around 24 minutes Cooking Time: Around 1 hour 21 minutes Equipment Used: Knife, peeler, chopping board, bowls, wok, turner, grater, crusher or mortar pestle Yield: Serves 5-6 small bowls or katoris
Ingredients:
- 500 gm pointed gourd or around 12 pointed gourds
- 3 potatoes
- Ginger 1 inch X 0.75 inch
- Cinnamon sticks 6-7 pieces (1cm X 1.5 cm)
- 6 tablespoon mustard oil
- 1 red chilli (broken into half)
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ teaspoon pepper corn
- 1 tablespoon dry coconut powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 teaspoon salt
- 1 and ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon jeera powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1-2 green chillies
- 1 and ½ cup curd (whisked)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon ghee or clarified butter
Method:
- Clean, peel and cut the pointed gourds, each into 4 pieces lengthwise
- Cut the potatoes into wedges similar to the size of pointed gourds after cleaning and peeling them
- Heat a wok
- Heat mustard oil as soon as the wok turns hot
- Temper the oil with red chilli, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, pepper corn and dried coconut powder
- Add the vegetables into the wok followed by turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon sugar, jeera powder and garam masala powder
- Stir and mix the ingredients. Cover the wok and let the vegetables cook on low flame for 4-5 minutes
- In the meantime, peel and crush the ginger piece and add to the ingredients in the wok
- Slit and add green chilli
- Whisk and add curd to the vegetables
- Mix and cover the pan again and cook till the liquid from vegetables and curd evaporate and fat separates
- Add quarter to 1 cup water as liquid evaporates from the wok
- Cook till you get the desired consistency of gravy
- Taste and adjust salt and sugar. I have added another 2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar
- Remove the wok from heat and add ghee
Cut the pointed gourds lengthwise.
Cut the potatoes into wedges similar to the size of pointed gourds.
Heat mustard oil in a wok.
Temper the oil with red chilli, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, pepper corn and dried coconut powder.
Add the vegetables into the wok followed by turmeric powder, salt, sugar, jeera powder and garam masala powder.
Cover the wok and let the vegetables cook on low flame.
Add crushed ginger.
Slit and add green chill.
Whisk and add curd to the vegetables.
Cook till the liquid from vegetables and curd evaporate and fat separates.
Add quarter to 1 cup water.
Cook till you get the desired consistency of gravy.
Taste and adjust salt and sugar.
Remove the wok from heat and add ghee.
Tips:
- While peeling pointed gourd, scrape off only the outermost skin. The inner green layer should remain
- Keep everything ready (eg. ginger, spices, etc.) before putting the wok on fire. This will ensure hassle free cooking
- Add more green chillies if you want the dish to be more fiery
- Although the preference of consistency depends on person to person. But this dish is best enjoyed in thick gravy
