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Stuffed Pointed gourd - traditional Bengali Potoler Dolma

‘Dolma’ is a Turkish word meaning ‘stuffed’ relating to Ottoman cuisine. It is generally made with a filling of meat, seafood, rice, and fruits or combining them together stuffed inside a vegetable or leaf. Historically stuffed vegetable dishes have been part of Middle Eastern cuisine for centuries. But it is unknown how and when this cuisine entered the Bengali kitchen. If we look back at our culinary history, we find its mention in Bengali kitchens much before the independence of India in 1947. ‘Dolma’ in Bengali kitchen is mostly done with the pointed gourd or ‘Potol’ as it is known in Bengali. The ‘Potol’ is scooped out of its inner seeds and contents, keeping the outer layer intact. A filling cooked with prawns or minced meat or fish is stuffed inside. Then it’s cooked into a gravy, which is called in Bengali as ‘Potoler Dolma’. Presented today is the ‘Potoler Dolma’ prepared traditionally in Bengali kitchens. Ingredients: Pointed Gourd ‘Potol’ large ones – 400 g washed an
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Mutton Curry - cooked in pressure cooker




This is the most common form of Mutton or Goat meat cooked in a Bengali household. Mutton Curry is a favourite dish with Bengalis on a Sunday lunch for decades followed by an afternoon siesta. The following recipe is an original version of the cuisine. 

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

1 kg mutton or goat meat

10 g salt

5 g turmeric

80 g yoghurt

20 g mustard oil

 

For the curry:

250 g onions (sliced)

350 g potatoes (halved)

15 g garlic (ground to a paste)

30 g ginger paste

40 g tomato (chopped)

25 g mustard oil

4 dried red chillies

4 bay leaves

4 green cardamoms

1 black cardamom

1 cinnamon

5 g coriander powder

5 g red chilli powder

3 g Kashmiri red chilli powder

12 g salt

10 g sugar

350 ml hot water

10 green chillies

1 whole head of garlic (unbroken and unpeeled) 


Ingredients:

Marinate the mutton with salt, turmeric, yoghurt and mustard oil. Set aside.

Thinly slice the onions, peel and halve the potatoes, and roughly chop the tomatoes.

Heat mustard oil in a pan. Temper with dried red chillies, bay leaves, green cardamom, black cardamom, and cinnamon.

Add onions and sweat on low heat, covered, for about 30 mins until they turn brown. For this curry we don't want to fry the onions, just mildly sweat them throughout, until they are soft and mushy.

Add garlic paste and cook for 15 mins. Add ginger paste and cook another 15 mins on low heat.

Now add the tomatoes and salt. Once the tomatoes have softened a bit, add the powdered spices: coriander powder, red chilli powder and Kashmiri red chilli.

Continue sautéing until the raw smell of the spices goes away (about 15 mins).

Add the marinated mutton. Turn the heat to medium. Add a whole head of garlic and halved potatoes.

Braise for about 20 mins until the mutton pieces are browned.

Transfer everything to a pressure cooker. Add 350 ml hot water and whole green chillies.

Cook on the pressure until the mutton is tender. (For our model of the pressure cooker, the one without a whistle, it takes 15 mins after full pressure is reached).

Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to release on its own.

Enjoy with steaming hot rice or Luchi.

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