Green lentils with mixed vegetables

This was an improvisation to use up the vegetables in my fridge. Turned out to be quite nice (I ate it at three consecutive meals and still not sick of it).

Ingredients:

Green lentils - 1/2 cup
Kale greens (or any leafy vegetable with slightly tough leaves, Kale is similar to mustard greens and belongs to the same genus Brassica. I feel the texture of Amaranth or "note` shak" is also suitable)
 - 200 g (chopped)
Tomato (medium) - 2 (chopped)
Carrots (chopped) - 2 cup
Onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 1 - 2 cloves (finely chopped)
Green chili - 1 (chopped)
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - according to taste

Procedure:

1. Boil the lentils in 2 cups of water for 10-15 minutes (should be half cooked, not completely soft).
2. Heat oil in a pan and first add the cumin seeds and let it pop for ~20-30 seconds.
3. Add the garlic, onion and green chili and fry until the onion starts to get brown.
4. Add the carrot and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the kale and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Add tomatoes and cook until they start to melt.
7. Add the boiled lentil (with water) and mix salt and coriander powder, cook for 5 minutes.
8. Let it stand for 5 minutes and serve with rice.

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.

The minimal Bengali meal: alu-bhate-bhat (boiled rice with mashed potatoes)

This is what one makes when lacking time/energy to cook a proper meal.

Ingredients:

1. rice: according to your appetite. The amount depends on the kind of rice and how old it is. Remember that freshly husked rice does not increase in volume as much as old rice when boiled. Also, parboiled rice is not as filling as unboiled rice (after cooking).
2. potatoes: 1-2 medium
3. salt: according to taste
4. oil: 1-2 tsp (any of mustard oil/sunflower oil/ghee/butter, I have not tried any other oil - but whatever edible oil/fat you like can be used)
5. chili - 1-2 green or dried red (optional)
6. onion - 1 small (optional)

Procedure:

1. Wash the rice and the potatoes in water.
2.  Slice the potatoes into 2-4 pieces. This determines how fast they are cooked. If using a pressure cooker, you may not need to slice them at all.
3. Boil the rice and the potatoes together. Determining the amount of water is tricky. My rough standard is: for pressure cooker, the water level should remain 1" higher than the rice level (without the potatoes). If cooking in a pot, it depends on how much opening there is for vapour to go out and at what temperature you are cooking it. It may be safer to put excess water and drain it out at the end of cooking (but you lose a lot of nutritional elements with that). You may keep some of the excess water and have a semi-liquid version [called "phyan bhaat" (rice with starch)].
4. Take the potatoes out of the rice. If the potatoes are fresh from the farms, they tend to have thin skin which is edible. Otherwise peel them using your fingers.
5. Mash the potatoes with salt (1/2 tsp or according to taste), oil, green chili and chopped raw onions. If you are using dried red chili, roast them first and then mash them. You can vary the taste by mixing the oil, chili, onion first and mashing them together before mixing the potatoes. Roll the whole thing into a ball.
6. For each mouthful, top the rice with a little bit of the mashed potatoes and eat. 
7. Additional taste enhancers: You may want to sprinkle some extra salt on the rice for better taste. You can bite off bits of raw onion and/or green chili with each mouthful. You can squeeze a teaspoonful of lemon juice on the rice. You can add extra lump of butter or  some ghee to the rice.

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.

Stir-fried mushroom with chili-garlic-ginger

This was an impromptu by SK. I only helped with stirring!

Ingredients: 
Mushrooms - 200 g
Green chili - 5
Garlic - 10-15 cloves
Onion - 1 big
Ginger - 1" stick
Salt - according to taste
Soy sauce - 1/2 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Chop the mushrooms into quarters by slicing it twice along the length (through the stock and head) in perpendicular directions.
2. Chop the ginger into thick shreds (~1 mm thick). Chop the garlic cloves coarsely. Chop the green chilies into thick rings (0.5-1 cm wide). Chop the onions into long thick slices.
3. Heat the butter in a pan. Add the onions and fry until golden. Add the mushrooms. Add the soy sauce. Stir slowly.
4. As water starts coming out of the mushrooms, add the chopped chili, garlic and ginger. Add salt. Stir slowly and mix. Depending on the amount of water, you may want to cook it on high flame.
5. Take it off the flame when the mushrooms become soft. Don't cook too much lest the mushrooms become soggy. They should rather be slightly undercooked so as to maintain the crispiness. The point of adding the chopped chili, garlic and ginger late is to keep them also slightly undercooked and fresh.

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Bengali version
==========================

উপকরণ:
 

মাশরুম - ২০০ গ্রাম

কাঁচা লংকা - ৫ টি
রসুন - ১০ - ১৫ কোয়া
আদা - ১ ইঞ্চ লম্বা টুকরো
পেঁয়াজ - ১ টি বড়
সয়া সস - ১/২ কাপ
মাখন/রান্নার তেল - ২  টেবিল চামচ
লবন - স্বাদমত
 


 পদ্ধতি:

1.  মাশরুম গুলি-কে লম্বা-লম্বি চার টুকরো করে কাটুন.
2. আদা সরুসরু করে কুচি করুন. পেঁয়াজকেও লম্বা টুকরো করে কাটুন. রসুনকোয়াগুলিও অল্প কুচিয়ে নিন. কাঁচা লংকাগুলি চাকা চাকা করে কুচি করুন.
3. একটি চ্যাপ্টা পাত্রে বা কড়াই-তে তেল বা মাখন গরম করুন. গরম হয়ে গেলে পেঁয়াজ কুচি ছেড়ে দিয়ে হালকা করে ভাজুন. এর পর মাশরুম ছেড়ে দিন. ওপরে সয়া সস ছড়িয়ে দিন. ধীরে ধীরে নেড়ে মিশিয়ে দিন.
4. মাশরুম থেকে জল বেরোতে শুরু করলে বাকি মশলা ঢেলে দিন. হালকা করে নেড়েচেড়ে মিশিয়ে দিন. খুব বেশি জল বেরোলে বেশি তাপে রান্না করুন.
5. মাশরুম মোটামুটি নরম হয়ে এলে নামিয়ে নিন. মাশরুম যেন বেশি সেদ্ধ না হয় - তাতে কুড়মুড়ে ভাব-টা নষ্ট হয়ে যাবে. লংকা, রসুন আর আদাকুচি দেরিতে দেবার কারণ-ও একটু কাঁচা ভাব বজায় রাখা. এটি খেতে স্যালাড আর চচ্চড়ি-র মাঝামাঝি হবে. বেশি করে লংকা, আদা আর রসুন দেওয়ায় বেশ ঝাল ঝাল হবে.

Tomato chutney (টমাটো চাটনি, )

Chutney is something between a pickle and a desert. It is normally eaten after the main dish but before the desert. On an ordinary day, most Bengalees finish their meal licking a few spoonfuls of chutney (chutney literally means something to be licked and belongs to "chushya (चुष्य)" class of food). It is commonly sweet and sour and usually based on some sour vegetable. Tomato chutney is the most popular form of it. The base is tomato and sugar. The flavour is created by cumin, nigella, fenugreek, fennel and mustard seed, dry red chili and bay leaves.

The character of chutney can vary from  almost completely sour to tangy to completely sweet (by increasing the proportion of sugar).


Ingredients:

Tomato - 250 g (chopped into 8 pieces each)

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Paanch phoron - 1 tbsp

Dried red chili - 2

Bay leaves - 2

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Dried mango pulp (mango bar/ আমসত্ত্ব , आम पापड) - 50 g (optional) chopped into 1/2" cubes

Dried dates - 5-10 pieces (optional) with seeds removed and split into 2 - 4

Procedure:

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan.
2. Add red chilies, bay leaves and paanchphoron. 
3. After 20 seconds add the tomatoes.
4. Sauté the tomatoes until the skin starts coming off.
5. Add the dates and the dried mango pulp and sauté' for 1/2 a minute.
6. Add the sugar, keep mixing until it starts melting and dissolving into the juice of the tomato. (If you prefer the taste of caramelized sugar, then add the sugar before the tomatoes and let it melt and add the tomatoes as the sugar starts to caramelize).
7. Add two cups of water and the salt. If you want it to be tangy, add a little extra salt and squeeze some lemon juice into the dish at the end. If you want it to be completely sweet, skip the salt.
8. Bring it to boil, and keep it in low flame until the tomatoes are cooked. You may need to scrape anything sticking to the bottom once in a while. 
9. You may grind some dry roasted cumin and sprinkle it on top before serving. Garnishing with some chopped coriander leaves will also add flavour. 

NOTE: You can add many other fruits into chutney: grapes, chopped apple,  pomegranate, chopped pineapple go well with chutney. You need to add the pineapple early (while saute-ing ), whereas  the others are better added towards the end to keep them fresh.

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Bengali version:
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টমেটো চাটনী
উপকরণ:
টমেটো - ২৫০ গ্রাম
চিনি - ১/২ কাপ বা স্বাদমত
পাঁচফোড়ন - ১ টেবিল চামচ
শুকনো লংকা - ২ টি
তেজপাতা - ২ টি
লবণ - ১/৪ চা চামচ বা স্বাদমত
আমসত্ত্ব - ৫০ গ্রাম (সম্ভব হলে)
শুকনো খেজুর - ৫-১০ টি
কিশমিশ্ - ১০-২০ টি

পদ্ধতি:
১। টমেটো গুলি ৮ টুকরো করে কাটুন।
২। খেজুরগুলি বীজ বাদ দিয়ে জলে ধুয়ে রাখুন।
৩। আমসত্ত্ব ১/২" পুরু ও ১" চৌকো টুকরো করে কেটে রাখুন।
৩। কড়ায় তেল গরম করে তাতে শুকনো লংকা, পাঁচফোড়ন ও তেজপাতা ফোড়ন দিন।
৪। ফোড়ন বাদামী হয়ে এলে (১৫-২০ সেকেণ্ড পরে) টমেটো কুচি দিয়ে দিন। টমেটো গলে গেলে চিনি দিন এবং চিনি গলে যাওয়া পর্যন্ত খুন্তি দিয়ে নাড়াতে থাকুন।  (আগে চিনি-ও দিতে পারেন, এক্ষেত্রে চিনি গলে গিয়ে বাদামী হতে শুরু করলে টমেটো দিন। অনেকে caramelized চিনির স্বাদ পছন্দ করেন)।
৫। এবার খেজুর, কিশমিশ্, আমসত্ত্ব দিয়ে খুন্তি দিয়ে মিশিয়ে দিন। মিনিট খানিক নাড়াচাড়া করুন।
৬। দু কাপ জল দিয়ে লবণ দিয়ে দিন।
৭। টমেটো সিদ্ধ না হওয়া পর্যন্ত কম আঁচে ফোটান।
৮। পরিবেশন করার আগে ১/৪ চা চামচ জিরা ভেজে গুঁড়ো করে ছড়িয়ে দিন। ধনেপাতা কুচিও ছড়িয়ে দিতে পারেন।

পুনশ্চ:চাটনীতে অনেক ফল-ই দেওয়া যায়। আঙ্গুর, বেদানা, আপেলকুচি, আনারসের কুচি জল ফুটে ওঠার পরে দিতে পারেন।

Ridge gourd with poppy seeds (ঝিঙে পোস্ত)

This is one of the simplest yet tastiest vegetarian bengali dishes. It is best eaten with rice and moong daal.

Ingredients:

Poppy seeds (Hindi: khas khas, Bengali: posto) - 2 tbsp

Onion (optional) - 1 medium (chopped into long thin slices)

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Bay leaves - 2-3

Green chili - 3

Ridge gourd - 500 g

Potato - 200 g

Cooking oil - 4 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Soak the poppy seeds in water for 1/2-1 hour and grind into a fine paste.Adding a pinch of salt helps in grinding. You may also want to grind a green chili along with it for enhanced taste.
2. Peel the the potatoes and chop them into into 0.5" cubes. 
3. Peel the ridge gourds (you may leave some skin) and chop them into 1"-2" long and 1/2"-3/4" thick pieces.
4. Heat 2 tablespoonfuls of oil in a pan and fry the potatoes till golden brown and keep aside.
5. Heat 2 tablespoonfuls of oil (use the oil left over from frying the potatoes, add more if needed), and add the bay leaves followed by green chilies and onions. Fry until the onions turn golden.
6. Add the poppy seed paste and keep stirring in medium heat for a minute.
7. Add the potatoes and the ridge gourd and add the turmeric powder. Mix until the poppy seed paste is evenly distributed. 
8. Add two cups of water and and salt to taste (1 tsp should be enough).
9. Cover and cook in low flame until the potatoes and the ridge gourds are done.

Lentil soup with golden gram ( মুগ ডাল, मुंग दाल)

Ingredients (for serving 4 people):

Moog daal (Golden gram) - 100 g(note - daal refers to the broken and husked lentils)

Paanch phoron - 2 tbsp

Bay leaves - 3

Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Onion (optional) - 1 medium (chopped into long thin slices)

Green chili - 2 (slit into two)

Dried red chili - 2

Ghee or oil - 4 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Dry roast the daal until a strong fragrance comes out. You have to keep stirring and mixing to roast it evenly. Stop as soon as you start noticing some of the lentils getting brown (once you get the idea of the smell, stop a little earlier - just before it starts getting brown). This is the specialbengali/east indian step in the process and gives it a unique flavour, rest of India cooks it without frying.
2. Boil the daal in a pressure cooker (possibly with 5 cups of water). You can boil it in regular pot as well. But it takes a long time to get done. And if the water is hard, then it may actually get tough with boiling. So pressure cooking is your best option. Cook up to  two or three whistles depending on whether you like it a little grainy or totally mashed.
3. In a wok (usually a kadai) heat up the ghee or oil. Add the dried red chilies, bay leaves and paanch phoron and let it splutter for 20 seconds. Then add the green chilies and the onion.
4. Once the onion becomes soft and transparent or golden brown (depending on your taste), pour the boiled daal. Add turmeric powder and salt to taste.
5. Add more water if it is too thick. Bring it to boil and then take it off the stove.
6. Dry roast the cumin seeds (often done by holding it in a metal ladle over a low flame) to a dark brown colour. Then grind it into a coarse powder and sprinkle it over the daal. Adding dollop of butter or ghee at the end will enhance the flavour.
7. You may garnish this with chopped coriander leaves and serve. Daal is a the most popular side dish in most of India. In the east, where the rice is cooked plain (with water only, no salt or spices), it is mixed with rice in the plate to create a background taste and eaten with another side dish (usually a vegetable dish or fried fish) as the foreground.

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।

Kumro-r chhakkaa (Dry pumpkin curry)

Ingredients:
Pumpkin - 300 g
Sprouted gram - 50 g
Dried red chili -  2
Tejpatta - 2
Paanch phoron - 2 teaspoonfuls
Green chili - 1 (chopped)
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoonful
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoonful
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoonful
Onion - 2  medium (chopped into long thin slices)
Sugar - 1 pinch
Oil - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

1. Wash the red gourd, remove seeds and peel it. Cut it into 1" cubes.
2. Mix 1/2 teaspoonful salt and 1/2 teaspoonful turmeric powder with the pumpkin pieces.
3. Chop the onions into thin long slices.
4. Chop the green chilies.
5. Heat the oil in a pan.
6. Add the paanch phoron, red chilies and tejpatta.
7. After the spices get brown (20-30 seconds), add the green chili and the onion.
8. When the onion becomes soft, add the sprouted grams. Cook for 5 minutes at medium heat.
9. Add the pumpkin. Sprinkle the turmeric, coriander and cumin powder and a pinch of sugar. Stir and mix well.
10. Cover and cook under low heat for ~15 minutes (until the pumpkin pieces are well done). If the pumpkin is too dry, it may tend to get stuck at the bottom of the pan. Dash a little water to avoid this.

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.