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.

Kaanch kalaa-r koptaa (Raw-banana balls cooked in spicy gravy)

Ingredients:
For  banana balls:
Raw banana - 3
Red chili powder - 1/4 teaspoonful
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoonful
Coriander seeds - 1/2 teaspoonful
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoonful
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 1/2" stick
Green cardamom - 2 pods
Asafoetida - 1 dash (optional)

For gravy:
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoonful
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoonful
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoonful
Green chili - 3
Onion - 2 medium (chopped to thin slices/ grated coarsely)
Ginger paste - 3/4 teaspoonful
Garlic paste (optional) - 1/2 teaspoonful (or 3 pods smashed)
Tejpatta - 2
Oil - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

1. First boil the raw bananas in water. After they are cooked, remove the peels.
2. Dry roast the mustard, cumin and coriander seeds. Powder them along with the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. These are the spices that go into making the banana balls and are not fixed. Experiment with other spices like ajwain, fenugreek, fennel and nigella seeds. I have tried fennel and nigella seeds and they go fine.
3. Mix this powder, red chili powder, salt to taste (1/2 teaspoonful should be enough) and a dash of asafoetida with the peeled banana and mash it. If it is too watery, you may add a couple of tablespoons of flour. Mix it all as evenly as you can.
4. Make small balls out of the mashed banana (about 3 cm in diameter). 
5. Heat two tablespoonfuls of oil in a pan and fry the banana balls to golden brown. You may need to do a few batches of frying. Add more oil as required.
6. In the same oil add the green chillies and tejpatta. After 10-15 seconds add the ginger paste and the garlic paste. After another 20-30 seconds add the onion and fry it till golden brown.
7. Add a cup of water and bring to boil.
8. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Add salt to taste. Mix it well.
9. Once the gravy starts boiling again, place the banana-balls into it so that they are just dipped in the gravy and are separated from one another.
10. Cook for another 5-7 minutes. The gravy should become quite thick.
11. You may garnish it with chopped coriander leaves before serving. If you want to make it stand out as a special dish, spread additional powdered garam masala on top just before serving.