Shukto

Deliberately bitter, and a version without bitter vegetables uses fenugreek to keep it.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (whole milk).

Ingredients

• 1 bitter gourd, sliced thin
• 200 g radish, in batons
• 200 g sweet potato, in batons
• 200 g green banana, in batons
• 150 g aubergine, in batons
• 100 g flat beans
• 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
• 2 teaspoons panch phoron
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 2 tablespoons mustard seeds
• a 4 cm piece of ginger, grated
• 300 ml whole milk
• 3 tablespoons mustard oil
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method

1. IT IS DELIBERATELY BITTER, AND A VERSION WITHOUT BITTER VEGETABLES USES FENUGREEK TO KEEP IT. That sentence from its article is the clearest statement of intent in the harvest: SOME OF THE VARIANTS EVEN EXCLUDE THE BITTER VEGETABLES AND ARE PREPARED WITH FENUGREEK SEEDS INSTEAD, TO PRESERVE THE BITTERNESS. The bitterness is not a by-product of the vegetables -- the vegetables are a way of getting the bitterness, and if they go, something else has to supply it.
2. AND IT IS EATEN FIRST, WHICH IS WHY. Its article records the practice of STARTING A MEAL BY CONSUMING BITTERS, CONSIDERED TO HAVE A MEDICINAL VALUE, and credits THE AUTHORS OF AYURVEDA with promoting it. It adds that shukto WAS CONSUMED AS A COOLING AGENT in the hot and humid climates of undivided Bengal. A dish served at the start of a banquet thali.
3. FRY THE BITTER GOURD FIRST, SEPARATELY, AND SET IT ASIDE. Thin slices in mustard oil until the edges are brown. Cooked in with everything else it makes the whole pot aggressive rather than bitter.
4. THE OTHER VEGETABLES GO IN BY HARDNESS. Radish and green banana first, then sweet potato, then aubergine and beans. Cut them all to the same batons so they look like one dish.
5. FENUGREEK IS THE TEMPERING AND IT IS EASY TO RUIN. Two teaspoons in hot mustard oil for ten seconds -- no more. Fenugreek held past the point where it darkens goes acrid, and acrid is not bitter.
6. THE PASTE IS POPPY AND MUSTARD SEED, GROUND WITH WATER. Both soaked, then ground to a thick cream with the ginger. This is what gives the dish its body; there is no onion, no garlic and no tomato in it.
7. THE MILK GOES IN LAST AND MUST NOT BOIL. Its article names DUDH SHUKTO, prepared with milk TO ALLEVIATE THE BITTER TASTE OF THE DISH. Three hundred millilitres stirred in off a rolling heat, warmed through for five minutes.
8. A TEASPOON OF SUGAR, AND SERVE IT AT THE START OF THE MEAL WITH RICE. Its article notes fish versions exist and that those TYPICALLY USE TURMERIC, WHICH IS USUALLY ABSENT IN THE VEGETARIAN VARIANTS -- so there is no turmeric here, and the dish is pale on purpose.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes