Friday, March 6, 2020

Olkopir Dalna - Bengali Style Kolrabi and Peas


Olkopi or Gaanth Gobi is one of Kurush's favourite vegetables. I saw some lovely olkopi at the veggie shop today so I bought some. I've cooked it the Parsi way with coconut milk many times so I went to look at the first volume of Aamish O Niraamish Ahaar (in Bengali) by Pragyasundori Debi - my go to book for Bengali recipes. Volume One has the vegetarian recipes and I was quite sure I'd find something for the olkopi. There were quite a few recipes and I picked the recipe for dalna because I had all the ingredients at hand. 

Dalnas will have a reasonable amount of gravy so they can be paired with rice or rutis. You can serve the dalna as part of a larger multi-course meal or you can have it for dinner paired with rutis. 

Olkopi'r Dalna 

1 olkopi - peeled and cubed
1/2 cup green peas
2-3 green chilies
salt
sugar
turmeric
chili powder
dhania powder
4 cloves
3-4 green cardamom
1 inch cassia bark
2 tbsp curd 
ghee
1/2 tsp whole jeera
1 pinch hing 

Boil the cubed olkopi till cooked through, drain and keep aside. 

In a vessel heat one cup of water and to it add chilli/dhania/turmeric powders. Bring to a boil.

Add the boiled olkopi and a handful or more of fresh green peas to this. Also add 2-3 green chillies, broken into pieces.

Now chuck in 2-3 green cardamom, 4 cloves, and a inch of cassia/dalchini. 

Whisk 2 tbsp dahi and add to the pot. You can add a little more for a slightly thicker gravy.

Add salt and a tsp of sugar. Cook on simmer till the gravy is reduced and the peas are cooked.

In a tadka pan heat desi ghee. Add tadka of hing and whole jeera and once it sizzles add to the veggies. Keep the heat on low as the jeera can burn quickly and that will ruin the entire dish. Mix well, let it sit covered for a couple of minutes.

Serve hot with ruti/chapatis or rice.

No comments: