Joys from the kitchen garden - Jhinge Posto (Ridge gourd with poppy seeds)

I have a little kitchen garden in my backyard and I take a lot of pride in growing seasonal vegetables in it. The sheer joy of little plants blossoming and producing fruits and vegetables bring in a lot of joy. Over the last year I have successfully grown tomatoes,cauliflower,coriander,chillies..pics of which I have shared with you all from time to time. This season I sowed some seeds of Jhinga (ridge gourd) unsure whether it would blossom or not. It did ...despite the terrible weather conditions in Kolkata this summer. 

 Jhinga or ridge gourd also happens to be one of my favorite vegetables. There are many traditional Bengali delicacies being churned out with jhinga, the most popular being the Jhinge Posto - ridge gourd cooked with poppy seeds paste. It is also widely used in fish curries and goes extremely well with Iilish. Today I am sharing the recipe of Jhinga posto - all you need for this is diced jhinga , poppy paste and green chillies.

 Ingredients:

Jhinga /Ridge gourd - 4-5 nos - diced

Poppy seeds - 3 tbsp ( soak it in warm water for 10 mins and then grind into a smooth paste)

Paanch foron/bengali 5 spice mix - 1 tsp

Mustard oil - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Green chillies - 4-5 slit

Method:

Wash and clean the jhinga and dice them into small cubes.Keep aside. In a pan heat the mustard oil . Once the oil heats up add the panchforon and let it splutter. Add the diced jhingas.

Fry for 5 mins and add the turmeric powder , salt and sugar. Cover and let it cook for 6-7 mins. By now the water released from the jhinga would evaporate. Add the poppy seeds paste now and mix well.

 Cover and let it cook for another 5 mins. Add the green chillies and remove from heat.
Serve with plain rice.