Ode to greens

Lady fingers and pumpkin curry with mustard and poppy seeds
Ingredients:
1 slice of pumpkin 
250g okra 
1 tbsp poppy seed paste
4 tbsp mustard seed paste 
1 tbsp ginger paste 
1 tbsp black cumin paste 
2 pieces bay leaves
2 green chilli
2 pieces tturmeric 
Salt to taste
1 tbsp sugar 
Mustard oil (half a cup)

Method:
Chop up the slice of pumpkin into thick julienne cuts. Cut the pieces of okra halfway and split each into two parts. Lightly fry these pieces in oil on a pan. Once done, strain off the excess oil and take them out.

Toss in the bay leaves and black cumin paste into a pan of pre-heated hot oil and begin roasting them, adding the remaining spices one-by-one, while doing so. Once the spices have opened up and released, empty your bowl of chopped up pumpkin and lady fingers into the pan and stir.

After a while, add in the poppy and the mustard seed pastes and continue cooking. Split the chillies and add them in, along with salt to taste. Cover with a lid and let the vegetables boil down.

Remove the lid, take the pan off the heat and add in a spoon of sugar. Serve hot, with khichuri (preparation of rice and lentils) on the side.

POTATO AND CAULIFLOWER CURRY WITH YOGHURT
Ingredients:
4 potatoes 
2 pieces (small) cauliflower 
Half a cup yoghurt (sour) 
Half a cup coconut milk 
1 tbsp ginger paste 
1½ tbsp cumin paste 
2 bay leaves
A pinch of turmeric 
Salt to taste
1 tbsp sugar 
1 tsp clarified butter 
Cardamom as required
Cinnamon as required
Oil as required

Method:
Dice up the potatoes and cauliflowers into moderately large pieces. Lightly fry these pieces in oil on a pan. Once done, strain off the excess oil and take them out. Toss in the bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom into a pan of pre-heated hot oil and begin roasting them, adding the remaining spices one-by-one, while doing so. Once the spices have opened up and released, empty your bowl of chopped up potatoes and cauliflower into the pan and stir. Add salt, to taste.

Spread the yoghurt across the contents of the pan, stir to distribute it evenly and then cover with a lid. After some time, remove the lid and pour in the coconut milk. Add in a small amount of water afterwards, and cover the pan with a lid once more.

Once the vegetables are boiled and done, take the pan off the heat. Add in a spoon of sugar and ghee. Serve hot, with luchis (deep-fried flatbreads) on the side.

Photo: Shahrear Kabir Heemel
Food: Shaibal Saha, Crafts and fashion designer
Food styling: Aparna Paul
Special thanks to Renuka Saha for helping us out with the photoshoot and compiling the menu