Snow Peas Green Mix/ Matar shak er Chachchori

My in laws are vegetarian. And Bengali vegetarian means foods without onion and garlic. In this family even musoor daal is considered as a non vegetarian (Amish) item. Being a strict Bengali vegetarian their staple food in a daily platter is Chachchori. So after marriage, I learned to cook Chachchori to serve my hubby the platter he is grown up with. My mom used to cook it, too. But my mom-in-law is expert in applying different varieties of forons (tampering the oil with different spices) to her archaic. Thus she makes simple dishes exotic with her mastery on tampering with spices (dry seeds on the oil or foron). 

My hubby has spent his childhood in North Bengal. They had abundant supply of local greens. One of them was snow peas green (Matar shak). I have never tasted this shak ever in my life until last weekend. I have purchased it from the Korean Grocery store nearby our house. My hubby was so much exited to see this green, it came instantly to our shopping cart without any second thought. I loved watching him mesmerizing his childhood memories associated with this simple green.

 I have cooked it as per my mom-in-law's instruction.

Ingredients:

1. Snow peas Green/ Matar Shak: 1 bunch
2. White Badi (Urhat dal/ white lentils dumplings)
3. Panch Foron (panchpuran - mixture of five whole spices)
4. Egg plant big : 1/2
5. Potato: 3
6. 1 table spoon mustard seeds soaked in water and then grinded with 1 green chilli
7. Mustard  oil: 3 tablespoons
8. Green chilli: 3
9. Salt as per taste
10. Turmeric powder: 1 teaspoon
11. Sugar as per taste

Steps:

 1. Chop  potato and egg plant in the same shape and size. I have cut them thin long pieces. This is a traditional way of chopping vegetables for Chachchori. If you want you can add flat beans or Shim to this charchchori, that adds extra flavor to it. But I did not have any, so could not add it though. 

2. Finely chop the snow peas green or matar shak. You need to wash the green rigorously before you chop them.

3. Now heat mustard oil in a kadhai/pan. I took a big one so that all vegetables fit it inside.

4. Fry  the Badi/Vadis and take them off the kadhai when they turn brown from all sides.

5. Add green chilli and Panch Foron.

6. Add potatoes. Fry them nicely until they get coated with oil from all sides. 

7. Add the egg plants. Stir them.

8. Add salt and turmeric powder. Mix it thoroughly with the fried vegetables in the kadhai and cover the kadhai.

9. After 5 minutes add the snow peas green or matar shak in the kadhai gradually. There might be space crunch at this moment in the kadhai. Add shak in little batches in the kadhai instead of adding whole bunch at a time and mix it thoroughly. When it reduces in size, add the next batch, and so on.

10. Now cover the kadhai. The shak will leave lot of water and all the vegetables will be cooked in that water only. Add sugar as per taste. When the vegetables are soft and mushy, add the ground mustard seeds paste and the fried badis.

11. Mix them well, cover and let it simmer for 4/5 minutes.

12. The chachchori is ready to serve. Serve it hot with white rice.

Enjoy