Wednesday 10 June 2009

Chorchori / Mixed vegetables cooked the Bengali way


Ok ... this is a hurried post. And am posting this very common traditional Bengali dish in the absence of anything better ... haven't really got the time to click my dishes these days. They go straight from the kitchen to the waiting plates and get devoured.

Chorchori or charchari is a great way to use up leftover vegetables from the fridge ( at least I do so). But it tastes great with fresh vegetables though .... no two ways about it. Once upon a time I would not touch a chorchori if it did not have fish. But now I have come to love the flavours of different vegetables fused together.

I sometimes use Boris / bodi / vadi in it ... and even though I love chorchori made of the Pui / Pohi saag ... have to use the Palak / Spinach as I do not get Pui here. Many people use a little ginger paste in it ... I do not.

Check out Sandeepa's blog for some great writeup on the Charchari.


Need : Palak / Spinach leaves ( I use the stems too ) cleaned and chopped,
chopped onion [ optional ] , diced vegetables like the potato, pumpkin, brinjal, any kind of string beans, sweet potato, potol / parwal ... basically any vegetable you have will do,
paanch phoron, dry red chillies, haldi / turmeric powder, a little cooking oil ( I prefer mustard oil ) and salt to taste.

How to : Heat a little cooking oil in a karahi / wok. Add the paanch phoron and the chillies.

Then add the vegetables and stir well.

Add the haldi / turmeric powder and salt ... remember .... palak is salty ... so add the salt accordingly.

Cover and cook till the vegetables are done. The vegetables will release a lot of water ... so no need to add any.

Remove cover. If using fried boris / bodi / vadi , add them now. Simmer till all water dries up.


I like my chorchori slightly sweetish ... so sometimes add a pinch of sugar too. But if the pumpkin is very fresh and good , it does impart some sweetness that makes the use of sugar unnecessary.

Goes great with hot rice and dal .... makes a simple plateful. :-)

I might get a little irregular with my posting .... but will try to blog hop and check out all your lovelies being dished out.

Take care all !

33 comments:

  1. Hey Sharmila, thats a healthy looking dish...and your quick ckicks are also refreshing.

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  2. New to me, never cooked up anything other than rasgulla and rasmalai in bengali cuisine..must a try for me :)

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  3. this is bookmarked .. i love dishes like this, full of vegetables

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  4. Love the combo of veggies....looks aromatic and yum...

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  5. this is very useful. was running out of ideas with the doc asking me to have more vegetarian stuff. Might show the pics to my maid so that she gets an idea of how it looks.

    I am a Bangal but like a sweetish touch to food

    Have you tried a Gujarati dish called oondhiyoo. Would be right up your street if you like sweetish vegetable mish mashes.

    Don't be too irregular please...Kalyan

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  6. looks delicious feel like tryin this,..;-)

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  7. I love chencheda (that what we call it in Oriya)... Yeah though it tastes awesome with Fish...
    Your clicks are fab... Just awesome...

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  8. Thanks Preeti, Parita, Deesha, KF, Priyanka ! :-)

    In that case Kalyan you can try out the veggie stews that I have posted ... you can add chicken to them if you want to.
    My gujarati friends make undhiyo for me. And thanks. :-)

    I love chencheda / chenchra too HCOF .. and have posted it too. And thanks! :-)

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  9. This looks so yumm and i love the green and yellow in the dish. Beautiful.

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  10. Yum, this sounds awesome Sharmila. I've never made a chorchori before, although I have heard about it a lot. Like the idea of lots of mixed veggies in a single dish. Thanks for the recipe.

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  11. Hi garame mone hochche anek bangali ranna korcho.eta amar favourite dish er moddhe akta. barite lau kumro'r gach lagiechi shudhu chachari khabo bole. besides mango pancake baniechilam. darun hoechilo. even parents liked them a lot.

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  12. hi sharmila,
    lovely snaps!! chorchori looks damn attractive and tempting :) I love mixed veggie dishes. actually perfectedmaking this one quite recently :) the additon of boris is intersting. Thanks for the lovely post... the more I read bong recipes from foodie friends the more I hone my skills in dishing out Bongi dishes ;)
    Enjoy!
    TC
    P.S:Hope u r doing good and back to ur happy self. wish to c ur posts more often :)

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  13. Unlike other kids, I have been a lover of shaag & chorchori all my life.. these are my comfort food & love of my life:-)... my kids love it too.. & i am so happy.

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  14. Sharmila, darun lagche tomar charchari ta dekhte...lovely fresh snap..

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  15. Thanks Sandeepa, HC, Vaishali, Vani, Sayantani, Vanamala, Suparna, Soma ! :-)

    Sayantani ... thanks for trying and liking the mango pancake. Barite lau kumror gaach lagate paro ... tumi khub lucky! :-)

    Suparna ... yes the veg version tastes very good with boris too.
    And I did not realise that I came across as unhappy ... it is just that I get overwhelmed too easily. Am fine ... and much thanks for the concern. Hugs. :-)

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  16. eitaa toh summer special...:)
    aamar chhotobelaay khete jodio bhalo lagto naa kintu ekhon eirokom chochhodi aamar favorite.
    chhobita o daruun hoyechhe :)

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  17. amar bari te pui shaaker gachh achhe......chorchori ta khub healthy ami jaani kintu never got to taste a good one so never developed a taste for it......same with shukto...
    i always like to see all your bengali dishes...i am not a bengali but have been in Cal ....

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  18. Thanks Indrani, Joyeeta, Sangeeta! :-)

    Sangeeta .. true, plain veggie food er taste bhalobashte ektu oshubidhe hoye. Tomar barite pui shaaker gaach! Lucky you! :-)

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  19. sure, will look up the stews. I guess they should be edible if you have put them up :0

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  20. What a lovely medley of veggies.

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  21. I tried to buy palk in a couple of shops today to make this recips. It wasn't available. Is this off season?

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  22. Thanks Bharti! :-)

    Kalyan ... I don't think so.

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  23. Hi, we made this at home. I loved it. Took it on two consecutive days to work. Added a bit of sugar cooked it till it was squishy like a labra. So didn't look as lovely as your snaps.

    Asked my maid to make it again today. Its such a relief as I'd grown out of tendla, cabbage and potol. I am not a vegetarian person you see.

    Imagine adding a nice rui'er mudo to it.

    Kalyan

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  24. Glad you liked it Kalyan. I too add sugar but not when the pumpkin is very fresh ... that imparts a lot of sweetness. And love it squishy too .. all the flavours mix well. Rui'r mudo sounds delicious .. but I get to make it only when am lucky enough to get fish. :-)

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  25. I guess I am not a very good Bangal...plus fried eelish in olive oil last night!

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  26. I liked your chorchori dish but instead of 'bori' I used 'macher matha'. Please leave some more dishes which is simple. Thank you.
    Love,
    Shikha

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  27. Your chorchori dish was very tasty. But instead of 'bori' I used 'macher matha'. Please send more simple and tasty dishes receipe.
    Thank you.
    Love
    Shikha

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  28. Miss eating Chorchori....loved it at your space:)

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  29. I like the brevity of your description. Many people ramble on. . Cooked this a few times , we love it . Use okra, too. Can't get bori round my way but got a jar full in Brick Lane - Punjabi variety.

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    Replies
    1. You can make bori at home. Do look up my posts on how to make bori at home ... in the oven too.

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