Plan or Surprise! Sometimes I wonder, which one between these two actually puts a direction to our life. They say planning is the key to lead a successful life. From the day one, our elders set the path for us that we are supposed to follow. And as we grow, we start taking reins in our hand (or atleast that’s what we think), and we expect everything in our lives to go as per the plan we have chalked out for us.
And ofcourse, why should not we plan. Planning helps us to focus and complete the task at hand. Without planning, our life will go out of control. Planning gives us something to look forward to. Having a plan provides us a clarity for the next step, the absence of which will leave us completely bewildered. As I say, we plan hence we move.
Yet you can hardly claim any day in your life that has gone exactly as per your plan. Pleasant or unpleasant, surprises in our life are the order of the day. And Thank God, we have surprises, otherwise how boring life would have been. Just imagine how dreadful it will be, when we will exactly know how days are going to unfold, even before we experience it. In fact, all our little pleasures and joys will vanish once we won’t encounter surprises.
But that does not mean we should stop planning. As a matter of fact, I am a staunch believer in ‘planning’. My life will reach a standstill and cannot move an inch without planning. I plan my grocery a week in advance. My work is planned, my weekly meals are planned and even the clothes I wear everyday are planned. However, at the same time I embrace the daily little surprises with pleasure. I believe so far almost all the biggest happiness in my life has happened through surprises. These little surprises make my days interesting, fun and to an extent magical.
The same phenomenon of planning followed by surprise happened to me when I initially planned this recipe post. My original idea was to cook Pumpkin along with Amaranthus leaves and stalks, as the pink leaves of Amaranthus will make the dish look really good. But I changed my plan at the last moment, when suddenly my little kitchen garden was covered with Malabar Spinach. And that led me to cook the popular Bengali semi dry mishmash dish, i.e. ‘Mishti Kumro Diye Pui Shaak Ar Pui Data’ or ‘Pumpkin cooked with Basale Leaves & Stalks’. This ‘Mishti Kumro Diye Pui Shaak Ar Pui Data’ is slow cooked, light and mushy, enhanced with the fragrance of Paanch Phoron. Subtle in taste, gentle to digest and very much appropriate for monsoon and summer, this dish in no way will let you down either in taste or in health.
Here is the step-by-step recipe for Mishti Kumro Diye Pui Shaak Ar Pui Data.
Recipe: Mishti Kumro Diye Pui Shaak Ar Pui Data
Preparation Time: Around 20 minutes Cooking Time: Around 1 hour Equipment Used: 3 bowls, 2 knives, chopping board, wok and spatula Yield: 5-6 servings
Ingredients:
- Around 300gms fresh basale leaves or malabar spinach with stalks (its home grown and that’s why I could not weigh it properly)
- Half of a full-grown pumpkin
- 4 tablespoon mustard oil
- 1 red chilli broken into half
- 1 bay leaf
- Around ½ teaspoon paanch phoron
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 slit green chilli
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Method:
- Separate the Basale leaves from the stalk and keep them soaked in water
- Cut the stalks to around 2.5cm to 3cm length and keep them aside in a separate bowl (soaked in water)
- Peel and cut the pumpkin into rough cubes of around 5cm X 5cm
- Heat a wok
- Add mustard oil into the wok once the wok is hot and heat the oil till slight smoke appears
- Temper the oil with red chilli, bay leaf and paanch phoron
- Add the pumpkin pieces into the wok, followed by 1 teaspoon salt and turmeric powder
- Now, put the leaves and the stalks in the wok
- Slit 1 green chilli into the wok
- Cover the wok and let the vegetables cook on sim
- Uncover the wok after 30 minutes and add 1 cup water
- Taste and adjust salt and sugar
- Cook till water evaporates and pumpkin pieces almost turn to paste
Separate the Basale leaves from stalk and keep them soaked in water
Cut the stalks and keep them aside in a separate bowl.
Peel and cut the pumpkin into rough cubes.
Heat mustard oil in a wok.
Temper the oil with red chilli, bay leaf and paanch phoron.
Add the pumpkin pieces into the wok, followed by 1 teaspoon salt and turmeric powder.
Put the leaves and the stalks in the wok.
Slit 1 green chilli into the wok.
Let the vegetables cook on sim.
Uncover the wok after 30 minutes and add water.
Adjust salt and sugar.
Cook till water evaporates and pumpkin almost turns to paste.
Tips:
- If the leaves and stalks are purchased from outside, it is advisable to soak them in water atleast two hours before cooking, to get rid of all the sand particles and dust
- Don’t add extra water, if the stalks and pumpkin pieces are completely tender and can be pressed with finger
- For this dish add sugar towards the eCook till water evaporates and pumpkin pieces almost turn to pastend after determining the sweetness of the pumpkin
- Because of the volume that the leaves take up in the beginning, it might so happen that you won’t be able to stir the vegetables after adding them into the pan. In that case stir the vegetables after few minutes, as leaves start contracting due to heat
- You may add salt and sugar just before removing the wok from fire. But for this dish it is recommended to adjust salt and sugar little before the cooking is completed, so that the taste spreads through stalks and leaves
