Pui Shaker Chorchori | পুঁই শাকের চচ্চড়ি
This pui shaker chorchori is a classic Bengali vegetarian dish where fresh leaves and stalks of malabar spinach are cooked with a medley of vegetables such as pumpkin, potato, and eggplant. Bengali vegetable curry dishes like this pui shak er chorchori are a part of everyday Bengali cooking that adds vital nutrients to daily family meals.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 bundle Malabar Spinach or Pui Shak Poi Saag - approx weighing half a kilo.
- 200 gms Pumpkin ripened
- 2 nos. Potato medium-sized
- 1 Eggplant medium-sized weighing approx. 250 gms
- 1 Onion large-sized
- 2 tbsp Mustard Oil
- ¼ teaspoon Panchphoron
- ½ teaspoon Salt to Taste
- ½ teaspoon Sugar
- 1 nos. Green Chili or to taste
Instructions
- Step 1: Prep the pui shaak – Pui shaak is a minimum-wastage leafy vegetable. Simply remove an inch from the bottom end while keeping the leaves and the stalks (danta). If the main stem appears too hard and thick, then you can discard it. Otherwise, peel the thin skin off the stems or danta and chop them into one-inch-long pieces. Chop the pui pata or the leaves as well. Wash everything well 2-3 times to remove any dust or sand sticking to the leaves. Drain the water completely.
- Step 2: Heat the oil – Grab a medium-sized pan or kadai and heat mustard oil over a medium flame. Once it’s hot (you’ll see it shimmer), toss in the panchphoron and a green chilli. Let them sizzle for 10-15 seconds
- Step 3: Cook the vegetables – Add the chopped onion and saute on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Then add diced eggplant (begun), pumpkin (kumro), potato (aloo), and the chopped pui shaak and danta. Add salt and give everything a good stir. Cover the pan with a lid for faster cooking. Leafy green vegetables release a lot of moisture, so this allows cooking in their juice.
- Step 4: Adjust and finish – Once the vegetables are thoroughly cooked and reduced in quantity, check for seasoning.