Kumro Saag-er Chorchori/Curried Red Pumpkin Greens – Bengali Dish

It is not every day that kumro saag is available in the market. If the vegetable vendor is asked to get some, he will try and get it for his regular customer. He may take some days to get the saag for this is not commonly sold in the market.

There are some who hate green leafy vegetables. For them this saag specially may mean something very absurd. “Kumro/pumpkin, is ok, but the saag, really strange. God knows how it tastes after being cooked or is it simple waste of time,” that’s what Mrs N was telling her friend when she heard about this recipe. This reminds me of the film Chupke Chupke, where a Botanist is referred to as ‘Ghaas phus ka doctor’.

There’s absolutely nothing to mind when the saying goes, “Aap ruchi khana, par ruchi pehenna”.

This saag was plentily available in our house. The cowshed in the backyard of our house had a thatched roof. So Maa sowed the pumpkin seeds and let the creeper climb and spread all across the hay thatch. When the flowers came, some were fried into tasty Kumro phul bhaja. The pumpkins were let to grow to the size that could then be cut off and cooked. Pumpkins don’t rot and can be remain for days, so it can be cut into long strips as per requirement and used in the kitchen. Of course friends and relatives also got a share of it.

Drumsticks Cooked in Roasted Mung Dal

It is not always we can find drumsticks in the market. And there in our house how the drumsticks would be dangling from the branches and when they grew in size, were broken down from the branches with long bamboo sticks and then cooked...fresh from the garden. The branches are so fragile they broke when at times the monkeys came in groups and were busy in their tandav. They jumped from branch to branch...the father monkey, the mother monkey, the children, the aunts, the uncles...hey they came, the monkey lot,  devastating most of the trees and fruits in the backyard garden. They ate the vegetables and fruits and also wasted some...maybe not their taste-worthy.

When spring came the leaves of this tree, was cooked with dal. It has a bitter taste and it was believed to be a good preventive for chicken pox. Whatever it was cooked, most of us siblings, never let Thakur (our cook) serve this. If Baba was present there was no way to make a fuss. The flowers were made into Boras...equally bitter but Ma said it was healthy.

With years of experience in my kitchen, I am happy to cook drumsticks in roasted mung dal. This dal and drumstick combination was something I tried out and it was tasty indeed. Here it is:

1 cup moong dal, dry roast till it takes a pinkish tinge. Once it cools down, wash and place the dal in the pressure cooker with 2 ½ cups of water. Add ½ tsp haldi and cook till the cooker gives out 4 whistles.

Take 4-5 drumsticks. Size them to 2 inch in length. Wash and keep them. Put to boil the drumsticks in a pan with 1½ cup water and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook till the sticks are cooked. If there is water remaining don’t drain it out.

Pour 1½ tsp mustard oil in a wok. You can use any cooking oil. Once the oil is hot add 2 tsp panch phoron and tip in 3 green chillies broken into half. Once the seeds start crackling in the hot oil pour the cooked dal into the wok. As it starts boiling add the drumsticks along with the remaining water. Add salt and sugar. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Pour some desi ghee on top.

Serve with hot rice and even tastes good with hot rotis straight from the tawa.