Begun Alu Diye Palong Saak (Spinach cook with aubergine and potatoes): Recipe from the Jaminder's of Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh
I have known this family for
years. In fact I have been part of them since I started to walk. My father
after teaching in Kolkata got tired and took up a teaching position in one of
the universities in Dhaka. To be honest
it was my thakuma (paternal grandmother), who wanted to go back to Bangladesh
and her only option was to blackmail my father emotionally.
And that’s how I came to know
savar er( savar which is a name of a place) dadu( grandfather) and didon( grandmother). Elder son of the family was my father’s
student and he offered that we stay in their home as they have plenty of room .They
would able to offer my father one section of the ‘jaminder Bari (House of the
Jaminder)’. They were very respectful
towards my father. However, it was my mother who became the apple of their eyes
and remains so till date. She is always their ‘Boro Bou ma’ (eldest daughter in
law). And me…. the special one always! Their ‘buri’ and remain so very proudly.
I have learnt to speak there; I
have learnt to believe that entire Savar bazaar would give me any sweets that I
wanted and that dadu is a horse and only didon can feed me. This is the house
where I still have Lychee tree, which was a gift from dadu on my birthday. They
sell fruits from all other tree but mine. After all these years, it still is
mine.
My father, who almost scared the
hell out of every one including all his students, was scared of didon. I used
to hate eating. My mother who I guess gave up on me by then would wait until my
father came back from department. Then he would close the doors and feed me
forcefully. I used to store food on one side of the mouth for hours and he
would go on screaming ‘potla bhang’. And I would not.
I would wait for didon to rescue
me. Every day she would come screaming at my father. I would by then have the
glee of winning war against my father. Then didon and dadu together would feed
me for hours at night, one trying to be a horse, the other trying different
foods and what not. Didon smelled of milk as she used to spend so much time in
kitchen boiling milk (they had cows at home). I would be tired from eating or
trying to eat and sleep on didon’s lap.
I guess, my first cooking was in their
kitchen. They had this huge mug made ‘Chula’. On one of them a karahi of milk
would remain.. boiling. I being the most spontaneous child of the house went to
cook the milk and in the process cooked my feet. Burnt and marked. For months I
stayed on didon’s lap, for months my father did not have permission to feed me
and for months I blackmailed my father to take me to Savar bazaar every evening to
buy rosogolla and misti doi which I would not mostly eat. I look at it with so
much loving memories now. I was such a
pampered child and remain so for all these people.
I have not been to the house
since 1994 when most people of the house left for India after Babri Masjid
incident in India and its repercussion on Hindu’s of Bangladesh. Dadu Dida remained
along with Ratan sadhu ( my uncle.. he had bread so I called him sadhu). Half
of people are in UK now, the family still fights over property that has been
taken over by Muslims as Hindu and enemy property ( I am sure same happened in India.. so do not take it as religion
bias.. I am just telling an experience, which is part of me)
A aunty -the daughter of the
family stays in UK and I keep visiting her very often. Last week when I went to
stay over the weekend, she cooked me this spinach recipe asI am very fond of
and it reminds me of my childhood. This is very much Dhakaiya Hindu cuisine
which is very close to Ghoti cuisine of West Bengal.
Ingredients
½
kg Palong Saak or Spinach, washed and cut thinly
¼
-of an aubergine, small diced
2-small
potatoes, clean and small diced
2-clove
garlic, smashed
2-green
chili, cut into fat slices
½-teaspoon
turmeric
½-teaspoon
cumin powder
4-tablespoon
oil
Salt
to taste
Method:
1. Heat oil
in a pan
2. Add potatoes
and aubergine.
3. Add salt
and little bit of turmeric and fry properly until golden
4. Keep them
aside
5. Give little
more oil and heat
6. Fry the
garlic until golden, then add green chili slices and fry
7. Then add
the spinach
8. Add turmeric,
salt and cumin and cook until water comes out
9. Add the
fried potatoes and aubergine
10. Cook until
dry and fried
11. Serve as
first course with white rice and a deep fried red chili
Hope you like the
recipe. Why don’t you cook and send your recipe and snap to me which I can
upload as guest post. Also have look at my Facebook pagePet Pujo and Adda and click ‘like’ . Follow me at Pet Pujo and Adda
About the Author
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