Winter Special: Here’s How To Make Bengal’s Comfort Dish Shukto At Home

by Shreya Ghosh
Winter Special: Here’s How To Make Bengal’s Comfort Dish Shukto At Home

Bengali cuisine is a wide range of vegetarian dishes, non-vegetarian delicacies, and also a mixture of both veg and non-veg. There is no secret that Bengali dishes are loaded with deliciousness and richness but that doesn’t mean that all authentic food is very spicy or rich in ghee and oil. One such traditional dish is Shukto, not loaded with spices and is power-packed with healthy ingredients too. Shukto is a very significant Bengali preparation and super nutritious as well.

Every Bengali’s Comfort Dish Shukto Is An Authentic Bengali Recipe!

Shukto
Picture credit- Wikimedia Commons

This Bengali veggies stew holds a very special corner in every foodie’s heart. Shukto is a perfect balance of re freshness and taste with lots of bigger vegetables used to prepare the recipe. If you love Bengali cuisine and haven’t tasted this yet, you definitely are missing something. Here’s a simple Shukto recipe for you so that you can prepare it all by yourself.

Also read: Craving Sarson Ka Saag Aur Makki Ki Roti? Here’s How To Make This Winter Special Dish At Home

How To Prepare Shukto At Home?

Ingredients:

  • 1 Kachkola (Raw banana)
  • 200 gm Drumstick cut into small pieces
  • 1 Potato (big-sized)
  • 1 Sweet Potato
  • 1/2 Brinjal
  • 10 cube pieces of Bottle Gourd
  • 1-2 Bitter Gourd
  • 4-5 Flat beans
  • 7-8 pieces of Raw Papaya
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
  • 2 tsp Ginger Paste
  • 2 tsp Mustard Seed Paste
  • 2 tsp Poppy Seed Paste
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 3-4 Bay Leaves
  • 1 tbsp Ghee
  • 50 gm Mustard Oil
  • 15 Bori (Dried lentil dumplings)
  • Salt (according to taste)
  • 1 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 Dry Red Chilli
  • 1 tsp Paanch Phoron
  • 1/2 Radhuni Powder

Also read: Winter Special: Here’s How To Make Comforting Mushroom Soup At Home

Method:

  • Take a pan, pour some mustard oil, and heat it.
  • Fry all the vegetables one by one till they are nicely golden fried and feel softer too. Make sure to fry all the bori as well.
  • After you are done with the vegetables, move to another pan to prepare the stew.
  • Add ghee to a pan and fry bay leaves, dry red chilli, and paanch phoron.
  • Meanwhile, prepare a paste of ginger paste, poppy seed paste, mustard seed paste, and radhuni powder.
  • Now add this paste to the pan and mix everything nicely.
  • Gradually keep adding salt and sugar to the mixture and fry until you get the raw smell of the spices.
  • The next step is adding coconut milk to it. You can even add grated coconut to the mixture.
  • Add lukewarm water to it and let it boil for some time.
  • Then add all the fried veggies and let it cook nicely for about 10-15 minutes. Make sure to add a lid to the pan.
  • Lastly, add all the bori to the stew and let it soften for a minute to 2 minutes.

Your shukto is ready to be served!

Here’s a special video of the Shukto recipe by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor!

Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons