Chingri diye Kolmi Shaak - Water Spinach with Prawns

Leafy greens are a big part of Bengali cuisine and you will a wide variety of recipes for an equally wide variety of greens or 'shaak' as we call them. Pui, palong, notey, kolmi, methi, sorse, ...the list is long! My visits to Kolkata always include a few trips to Gariahat market to pick up seasonal veggies. And in addition, there is a sobji-wala who comes to the house every morning laden with produce. This means there is no lack of good veggies whatever the season. Luckily for me, I also have an excellent veggie shop near my house in Kharghar where I get almost everything that is available in Kolkata, enabling me to cook quite a lot of typical Bengali dishes even though I'm not in Bengal.

Most of us tend to pick up regular spinach but not so much the other leafy greens. I certainly spent many years cooking only spinach, not being confident with the other greens. But now, after having read innumerable excellent Bengali food blogs and having really chewed the two volume Amish o Niramish Ahar by Pragyasundari Devi (my Bible for Bengali recipes) I have broadened my repertoire considerably. I learned many recipes for the various shaaks in combination with root vegetables, peas, brinjals, and of course, prawns.

I also look at recipe videos on YouTube and among my favourites are the ones showing recipes from Bangladesh. The ingredients are mostly the same as those from West Bengal but the recipes can differ quite a bit! Like this recipe I saw for kolmi shaak or water spinach cooked with prawns from Rosonar Shad  that includes onions. The Ghoti (West Bengali) recipes from my family don't include onion when cooking leafy greens even when they have non vegetarian elements like prawns. I liked the newness of this recipe and how different it is from the pui chingri I cook very often. The instructions are detailed and the recipe is quite simple. 

Chingri diye Kolmi Shaak 

kolmi shaak - 1 bunch
shelled and deveined prawns - 1/2 cup
mustard oil
1 onion
2-3 green chillies
salt
turmeric
dhaniya/coriander powder

Apply salt and turmeric to the prawns and leave to marinate while you prep the kolmi shaak.
Cut the kolmi shaak finely including the tender stalks. Wash thoroughly and leave aside in a colander to drain.
Slice the onion.
In a wok heat mustard oil and fry the prawns till they turn opaque. If you have large prawns cut into halves or smaller pieces and then fry.
Add the sliced onions and the green chillies to the prawns. You can slit the chillies for more heat or break them into pieces for less heat.
One the onions lose their rawness, add the chopped and drained kolmi shaak. Add salt keeping in mind that the prawns have already been salted. Stir well and let it cook covered for around 5 minutes. The shaak will release water and everything will get cooked in the steam.
Sprinkle a little coriander powder and mix well. Cook open, letting the excess water evaporate.
Serve with plain rice and daal.

Shonibar'er Haat - Saturday Market - at Santiniketan

One of the things I was eagerly looking forward to on my recent visit to Santiniketan was the weekly haat or market where local craftsmen and now, traders from surrounding areas and even Kolkata, set up simple stalls to sell their wares. The haat happens in Sonajhuri, in the Khoai area of Bolpur.

Santiniketan has become a hub of NGOs and local craftmen's organisations that now work together to promote the innumerable local handicrafts ranging from pottery, batik, kantha embroidery, to woodwork, dokra crafts, and much, much more. The weekly haat is now spread over three grounds, each walkable distance from the others, and is definitely worth a visit if you are in Santiniketan. Plan your visit in such a way that you're there on a Saturday evening so you can visit the haat. Carry cash. And like me, carry a big shopping bag too! While you can bargain a little the vendors are not very flexible about the prices. But don't let that stop you from buying a host of beautiful hand crafted things at the haat.

The stalls are all simple sheets of cloth or jute spread on the ground with the wares laid out. There are a few food stalls too selling tea and typical Bengali snacks and sweets like pithe, pathi shapta, etc.

Loofahs, table mats, coasters, and other knicknacks made of grass.

Jewellery! So many colours and designs. And you can see piles of kantha embroidered sarees in the next stall. The work is simply stunning and if you're into sarees then it's a good idea to shop for a few here.

Dokra seller. Made using the cire perdu or lost wax technique, dokra metalware is a traditional craft in Bengal and Orissa. While you get dokra-ware in most fancy shops in the big cities buying it from the artisan himself is something else entirely. Don't miss the adorable owls!

These are some hair-pins I bought. Aren't they pretty?

Handmade wooden combs with pretty patterns. This was love at first sight for me.

More jewellery, musical instruments, and other bits and bobs

I'm a sucker for embroidery and picked up a pile of these potlis with kantha work on them. These will be perfect as gift bags for the foodie goodies I give my friends.

One of the big highlights of the haat - the baul singers. These minstrels wander the countryside singing about life, the universe and all its ironies. We heard them sing a tongue in cheek version of a very popular song and I was highly entertained! 

The fun thing about this haat is that there are different vendors every week. Some might be back the next week too, but you can be sure you will see a hoard of other sellers and products every Saturday along with a host of new faces.

A Couple of Markets and a 50mm Lens

I love markets. I simply love the seas of produce, the little shops, the big shops, the same old things and the sudden treasures, the shop keepers, the hustle and bustle, the energy of shoppers and sellers, the mess, the crowds, the cats, the crows... everything! The one thing I miss in Kharghar is a good market. Sure, we get most things in the various supermarkets and now, online, but I yearn for a market to wander around in.

As a kid I used to go to the market practically every weekend with my parents. Khar market was where we went and I still have many memories of our weekly visits, especially the singara and jilipi from Brijwasi :)

In Pune Shivaji Market and Tulshi Baag were my favourite haunts. After getting married and moving to VT in Mumbai there was Bora Bajaar just a few minutes from our house and there was the mother lode - Crawford Market, just a short cab ride away. I have spent many happy hours wandering through these markets, discovering lanes selling everything from umbrellas to buttons, snacks to utensils, and brooms to brinjals. Those were wonderful days indeed.

Kolkata still has many big markets in spite of the Spencers and Big Bazaars that have mushroomed all over. A visit to Gariahat market has now become a must do, and this time I also had a wander around Lake Market. The markets are a great place for any photography enthusiast and I took my camera along. I'm still getting used to the 50mm lens and what better way to practice than take tons of pictures in the markets?!

So here are some photos from my sojourns into Gariahat and Lake markets.    

A giant Rohu in Gariahat Market

The same rohu cut and set up for sale. This fish was massive and the cheeky fishmonger was shouting "horin'er mangsho! horin'er mangsho!" (venison! venison!)

More regular sized rohu in the market

The fish stalls are all decorated with buntings and have shrines with fresh flowers, adding so much colour to the general ambience.

At present it's full on Hilsa season and the markets are full of this prized fish.

Fresh water prawns.. each is about 6 to 8 inches long

The massive 'ansh-bonti' that is used to cut up the bigger fish.

Hilsa and some really large prawns at the Lake Market

More prawns and Hilsa at Lake Market

There is a shop in Lake market that sells on bori. He had boris made of different daals and he also had posto bori, which I didn't even know existed! Of course I bought some :)

Gariahat market has many shops selling Puja related paraphernalia. You also get the required things for weddings and other rituals and ceremonies.

Alta, Sindur, Dhoop and Jabakusum tel

Chaand malas - used to decorate the shrine in the house.

Wooden plates known as barkosh, straw mats, chaki for rolling rotis and puris, and a bucket of belans, spoons, etc.

Small stone glasses, mini plates, and bowls, mainly used in the puja rituals. A food blogger's heaven for props!

Marathon Bloggers Project 52