A Bengali Sunday without Echorer Torkari feels incomplete. Young jackfruit, potatoes and the warm crackle of panch phoron — simple, deeply comforting and unmistakably Bengali.
Ingredients
400 gm raw jackfruit, cut into medium pieces
2 potatoes, cut into cubes
1 tsp panch phoron
2 bay leaves
2 green chillies, slit
1 tsp ginger paste
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp sugar
3 tbsp mustard oil
Salt to taste
Method
Parboil jackfruit in salted water for 10 mins. Drain.
Heat mustard oil until smoking. Lower heat.
Add panch phoron and bay leaves. Let them splutter.
Add potatoes and fry until lightly golden.
Add jackfruit, ginger paste, turmeric and chilli powder. Mix well.
Add ½ cup water, salt and sugar. Cover and cook on low heat for 15 mins.
Serve hot with steamed rice.
Panch phoron Ingredients
1tbsp cumin seeds
1tbsp brown mustard seeds
1tbsp fennel seeds
1tbsp nigella seeds/ black cumin or kalonji
1 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
Combine the seeds in a small bowl. Store in an airtight container.
Depending on what kind of dish you make with these seeds, they can either be fried briefly in oil or dry roasted to coax out their rich flavors.Makes about 1/4 cup of panch phoron.