Shukto

This is a very common vegetarian dish and you will get many recipes on-line. There can be a wide variety of shukto depending on the household. But fundamentally it is a bitter dish based on mustard paste. You can add almost any green vegetable and potatoes on top of that, and it will still be shukto. Here is one of my versions.

Ingredients:

1. Bitter gourd: 1
2. Brinjal: 1/2 (large)
3. Potato: 1 (medium)
4. Raw banana: 1

These  are the most common vegetables for shukto. You can use drum-sticks or any other bitter vegetable instead of bitter gourd. You can add almost any green vegetable: ridge gourd, patol (pointed gourd), etc. go well with shukto. On the spice side you need:

1. Mustard paste: 1 tsp
2. Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
3. Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp
4. Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
5. Green chili: 2
6. Ginger paste: 1/2 tsp
7. Bay leaves: 2
8. Paanch phoron: 1 tsp
9. Poppy seed paste: 1 tsp (optional)
10. Salt: according to taste.

Procedure:

1. Chop all the vegetables into similar shape and size. I prefer 2" long, 1/2" thick pieces.
2. Heat oil in a wok.
3. Add paanch phoron and bay leaves.
4. As the seeds start popping, add green chili and ginger paste. Keep mixing for a minute.
5. Add the mustard paste (and poppy seed paste).
6. Add the vegetables in sequence of their cooking time (bitter gourd, pointed gourd take the longest to cook, potatoes, brinjal and raw banana are intermediate, ridge gourd gets done fastest).  If you want it perfect, a better way is to fry the vegetables separately: heat oil in a wok. First semi-fry the pointed gourd and bitter gourd - they use up most oil; then the potatoes, the brinjal and the raw banana. You don't really need to fry the ridge gourd.
7. Add enough water so that all the vegetables are submerged. Cover and bring it to simmer.
8. Add the powdered spices and cook until done.

Mixed veg with pumpkin, beans and brinjal

This was an impromptu preparation. I decided to cook for myself after a really long time. Went to nearby vegetable shop and picked up whatever looked good. I wanted to cook pumpkin as I had not had it in a long time.

After starting out in the kitchen I realized I had:
A large chunk of pumpkin
Two raw bananas
A few small brinjals
A handful of yardlong beans (বরবটি)
A few onions
Potatoes

No turmeric powder (which is essential in any Bengali cooking) - discovered midway into cooking.
No ginger or garlic.
No whole coriander seeds, only powdered version.

Since I would be the only one to suffer, I went on bravely to make a vegetable dish out of all that I had.
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients (for two servings):

Pumpkin: 200 g
Yard-long beans: 5-6
Brinjal: 1 small
Raw banana: 1/2
Green chili: 3
Onion: 1 medium

Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder: 2 tbsp
Coriander powder: 2 tbsp
Bayleaves: 2
Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Black cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
[ All the seeds are essentially components of paanch phoron, but I did not have supply of paanch phoron, in stead I add the seeds directly. This gives some flexibility also: while paanch phoron has all five seeds in equal amount, I reduce the fenugreek seeds as it tastes bitter. ]
Cooking oil: 4 tbsp

Procedure:

Preparing the vegetables:

Chop the pumpkin into small cuboids (1 cm x 1 cm x 0.5 cm - this happens when you slice the pumpkin with 0.5 cm thickness along one face and chop these slices into 1 cm squares in the next stage)
Chop the beans into 2 cm long pieces.
Chop the brinjal it 2 cm cubes
Remove the peel of the banana with a knife and then chop it into cuboids (1 cm x 1 cm x 3 cm)
Chop the onion into long thin ( 2 mm) slices.
Slit the green chilies

Cooking:

1. Heat oil in a round bottomed pan (kadai).
2. Add the whole seeds and the bay leaves.
3. When the seeds cease sputtering, add the green chilies and onion.
4. After some time the onion pieces will become transparent and then get dark (not exactly golden brown due to colour from black cumin). Now add the vegetables.
5. Add  the red chili powder, 1 tbsp each of cumin powder and coriander powder. Stir and mix well and then cook it with cover for 5 minutes (without adding water - water will come out of the vegetables).
6. Open the lid and check that the vegetables look soggy and faded in colour. If they are sticking to the bottom of the pan, add some more oil and scrape them off. Add 2 cups of water and cook with lid on for 15 minutes.
7. Open the lid and check that everything is cooked (pumpkin and raw banana are the tougher ones, so make sure you they are cooked to your taste). Add the rest of the cumin and coriander powder and mix. It should be semi dry with a small amount of gravy at bottom. Boil off any excess water with the lid open.

Hilsa curry with eggplant ( বেগুন দিয়ে ইলিশ ঝোল )

 Ingredients:

Hilsa - 500 g (buy ~650 g - which should become ~500 g after cleaning)

Eggplant - 200 g (1 medium)
Potatoes - 2 medium (optional)

Green chili - 3 (slit longitudinally)

Nigella seeds - 1 teaspoonful

Turmeric powder - 1.5 teaspoonful

Red chili powder - 1 teaspoonful (or less if you want it less spicy)

Salt - according to taste

Hilsa is considered the King of Fishes in terms of taste. It takes minimal effort to cook but maximum effort to eat. Its flesh is very soft, has a lot of oil and a special strong smell which is considered so delicious that whatever way it is cooked, it tastes great. Actually, the only strong spice that goes with Hilsa is mustard, anything else will kill the special flavour of the fish itself. It is also one of the few fishes that do not always need to be fried before cooking.
But one must be very careful when eating Hilsa. It is said that every kilogram of Hilsa has 10,000 bones. The bones (especially in flesh around the spine) are vey small, so you can start chewing the fish and separate the bones in your mouth by feeling them and moving them between your teeth  slowly with your tongue. The bones in the belly meat are bigger and are better separated with fingers.

Procedure:

1. Marinate the fish with 1/2 teaspoonful of salt, 1/2 teaspoonful of turmeric, 1 teaspoonful of red chili powder for 15 minutes.
2. Chop the eggplant into ~3" long, ~1.5" wide and ~1" thick pieces. If it is a big one, first cut it crosswise into 3" long parts. Then take each part and have it lengthwise. Then make parallel 1" thick cuts lengthwise.
3. If adding potatoes, chop them into long thick pieces [ 1 crosswise cut, three parallel lengthwise cuts ( ||| ) and another two lengthwise cuts perpendicular to these three (=)] or about the same size as the eggplant.
4. Marinate the eggplant pieces with 1/2 teaspoonful of tureric powder and 1/2 teaspoonful of salt and 1 tablespoonful of oil. It tends to  absorb the oil fast. So mix these quickly (or add more oil) and evenly to give the eggplant pieces an even quote of the spices.
5. Lightly stir fry the eggplant pieces.
6. If using potatoes, lightly stir fry them too.
7. In whatever oil is left over (1 tablespoonful should be enough), add the nigella seeds as phoron. Within 10-20 seconds, add the slit green chilis. 
8. Add water after ~20-30 seconds. 
9. If you are using potatoes add them now and let cook until they are almost cooked. Then add the eggplant pieces and the marinated fish. Otherwise, add the eggplant pieces and the fish right away.
10. Cook until the fish is done (another 10 minutes in medium/low flame with cover) .
11. You may garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Begun Basanti (বেগুন বাসন্তী, बेगुन बासंती ) - egg-plant curry with curd and mustard paste

I used this recipe with slight variation: http://saffronstreaks.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/begun-basanti-eggplants-in-mustard-sauce-bengali-style/

There are many variations of this recipe and also different recipes with the same name in the Internet.

The following modification were made from the above mentioned page:

Ingredients: 

Instead of yellow mustard, I used black mustard. This has much stronger flavour, so I added only 2/3 tablespoonful (still the mustard flavour hit you at every bite).

Procedure:

Instead of mixing the mustard with the curd, I first fried the mustard and ginger paste in oil tempered with a 1 teaspoonful of nigella seeds.

Then added the beaten curd mixed with chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt.

Brought the mixture to boil.

In another pan, put a layer of golden-fried onions, then a layer of semi-fried eggplant, then another layer of onions and another layer of eggplant.

Poured the boiling mixture of curd and spices on top.

Covered it and cooked for 5 minutes.

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Bengali version:
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বেগুন বাসন্তী

বেগুন বাসন্তী যে ঠিক কি আমার জানা নেই। ইণ্টারনেটে বেগুন রান্নার রেসিপি খুঁজতে খুঁজতে বেগুন বাসন্তী নামে একাধিক খাবারের সন্ধান পেলাম যাদের মধ্যে বেগুন প্রধান উপকরণ হওয়া ছাড়া আর কোনো মিল নেই।

সব দেখে শুনে এই রেসিপি-টি মনে হল সহজ এবং সুস্বাদু হবে। তাই একেই একটু এদিক ওদিক করে চমত্কার একটা  ডিশ্ হয়ে গেল।

উপকরণ:
বেগুন - ১ টি বড়
পেঁয়াজ - ২ টি বড়
সাদা সর্ষে - ৪-৫ টেবিল চামচ (আমি কালো সর্ষে ২-৩ টেবিল চামচ ব্যবহার করেছিলাম)
কালো জিরা - ১ চা চামচ
দই - ১/২ কাপ
কাঁচালংকা - ৩-৪ টি
আদা বাটা - ১ চা চামচ
হলুদ গুঁড়ো - ১/৪ চা চামচ
জিরা গুঁড়ো - ১ চা চামচ
ধনে গুঁড়ো - ১/২ চা চামচ
লংকা গুঁড়ো - ১ চা চামচ (বা স্বাদ মত)
গরম জল - ১/২ কাপ
লবণ এবং চিনি - স্বাদমত
সর্ষের তেল - ভাজা ও রান্নার জন্যে দরকার মত
ধনে পাতা কুচি - শেষে সাজানোর জন্যে

পদ্ধতি:
১। সর্ষে ১-২ ঘণ্টা জলে ভিজিয়ে রেখে ২-টি কাঁচালংকা সহ মিহি করে বাটুন
২। বেগুনটিকে লম্বালম্বি মোটা ফালি করে কাটুন (প্রথমে দৈর্ঘ্য বরাবর আড়াআড়ি দুবার কেটে চারটি সমান ভাগ করুন, তারপর প্রতিটি ভাগকে লম্বা লম্বা ফালি করুন - যেমন বেগুনী-তে দেওয়া হয়, তবে অনেক পুরু হবে)। বেগুন-এ সামান্য লবণ, হলুদ গুঁড়ো ও সর্ষের তেল দিয়ে মাখিয়ে রাখুন।
৩। দই এর সাথে লংকা গুঁড়ো, জিরা গুঁড়ো, ধনে গুঁড়ো, চিনি এবং লবণ দিয়ে ভালো করে ফেটিয়ে রাখুন।
৪। বেগুনের টুকরো গুলি হাল্কা করে ভেজে রাখুন।
৫। পেঁয়াজগুলিকে সরু লম্বা কুচি করে সোনালি করে ভেজে রাখুন।
৬। গরম তেলে কালো জিরা ফোড়ন দিয়ে তাতে সর্ষে বাটা আর আদা বাটা দিযে নাড়তে থাকুন। খানিকটা ভাজা হলে ফেটানো দই ঢেলে দিয়ে ভালো করে মেশান।
৭। দই ফুটতে ফুটতে আর একটি গভীর কড়ায় বা প্রেসার কুকারে এক পরত ভাজা পেঁয়াজ ছড়িয়ে তার উপর এক পরত আধভাজা বেগুন, তার উপরে আবার এক পরত পেঁয়াজ ভাজা, এরকম করে স্তরে স্তরে সাজিয়ে অল্প আঁচে দিন।
৮। ফুটন্ত দৈ-এর মিশ্রণ এই বেগুন ও পেঁয়াজ-এর উপর ঢেলে দিয়ে ঢাকা দিয়ে দিন। বেশি ঘন হয়ে গেলে গরম জল মিশিয়ে দিন।
৯। ৫ মিনিট ফোটার পর বেগুনগুলি সিদ্ধ হয়ে যাবে। তখন নামিয়ে উপরে ধনেপাতাকুচি ছড়িয়ে পরিবেশন করুন।