Chalkumro, known as white gourd is a tropical vegetable that grows abundantly on the thatched roofs in Bengal. It has a thin green skin covering soft succulent flesh and white seeds inside. My first introduction to this seemingly unassuming vegetable had happened in a otherwise awkward situation. The celebration of the cult of the Mother Goddess requires animal sacrifice. In some families, however, a harmless animal is replaced by more benign entities, like white gourd and sugarcane.
In front of the deity this benign vegetable is sanctified and sacrificed symbolically. So there I go, my first introduction to chalkumro was during the 'Durga Puja's balidaan' ceremony at my ancestral house when i was five-six years old.
Having tasted the curry though, I had mixed feelings. As a kid I do not remember my tongue tingling with the taste of chalkumro and frankly, thought it to be a rather bland replacement for a goat. The kid had also found arrays of amusements and had forgotten all about humble chalkumro.
Living overseas for more than a decade makes me homesick every now and then, I yearn to touch my roots and what better way than rediscovering the food trails of Bengal! I started revisiting traditional bengali recipes and voila, here comes a real gem.
Boris are sun-dried lentil cakes made from urad dal (white lentil) paste. Conventionally prepared by women folk in villages, boris added generously to bengali curries (dry ones as in with pnui shaak chorchori, or watery runny ones as in jhol) not only impart a characteristic flavour but also provide for a source of protein in a predominantly vegetarian diet. The boris I have used here have been specially prepared by my husband's paternal grandmother from Bankura.
Pnach Phoron is a aggregation of five types of seeds: cumin, mustard, fenugreek, aniseed and nigella.
Narkol Bori diye Chalkumro (White gourd with coconut and bori)
Chalkumro (white gourd) - 1- large, cubed
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Desiccated Coconut - 5-6 tbsp (can go upto 8 tbsp for die-hard coconut fanatics like myself!)
Pnach Phoron - 2-3 tbsp, dry roasted and ground to a powder
Bori - 1 cup
Mustard oil -5 tbsp
Ghee -2 tbsp
Salt and CaneSugar - to taste
Whole red chili -1-2
Nigella seeds - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 pinch
Procedure:
1. Heat Mustard oil, fry boris and keep them aside.
2. Add more mustard oil, temper oil with whole red chillies and nigella seeds (kalo jira).
3. Add ginger paste and fry for 3-4 mins.
4. Add the chalkumro cubes, fry gently, add salt, 1/2 pinch of turmeric and sugar, cover with a lid and cook for 10 mins till the gourd softens. Since addition of salt would lead to water release from the gourd, at some point this would get very watery. Open the lid to let the excess water dry off.
5. Add fried boris, desiccated coconut and mix well. Turn the heat off.
6. Add ghee and the ground pnach phoron powder.
7. Serve with white rice.