Kumro Bhaaté or Mashed Pumpkin Bengali Style – and I ask what the heck is Halloween?

I didn’t grow up celebrating Halloween in India. Nor Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day or Father’s Day for that matter. Not that I belong to the black and white generation. Just like I can’t recall the pre-digital days, now I can’t recall those days when pumpkin was remembered for the simple vegetable that it always was, not a medium for creating strange artwork in the name of art – pumpkin carving. I am definitely learning something new from the Z-Sisters every day, aren’t I?

The bottom line is, we didn’t associate pumpkins with Halloween when we were kids. Quite naturally, pumpkins teared apart and carved into scary faces, is something that I am yet to reconcile with. Though I studied in a well known English medium school in Kolkata, the concept of Halloween was alien to us, as was Valentine’s Day. The only non-food association that I could come up with a pumpkin was that it could probably be transformed into a fairytale carriage, thanks to the copious amounts of books that we read since our childhood, starting from Russian folk tales to Grimm brothers – which moulded us much later in life, into the pseudo intellectuals that we as Bongs (the colloquial term for Bengalis), were always expected to be!

Big Z carves a pumpkin for halloween | Lil Z out with friends for ‘Trick or Treating’

Beautiful Pumpkins or Kumro bring to my memory lovely Kumror Chechki that accompanied perfectly puffed up fluffy Luchis {recipe here in my blog} on our Sunday breakfasts. If you ask what is Chechki, then the answer would be no short of a thesis. The style of preparation and the cooking categorise a Bengali vegetable dish into whether it would be called a Chechki or a Chokka or a Labda or otherwise. As if there isn’t enough complications in a Bengali’s life, a simple vegetable dish comes with thousand names! Rita, a reader asked me about these differences over a Labda picture (the Bengali ratatouille) that I had posted on my Facebook Page and I was contemplating whether I should delete my account just to avoid answering her. I did answer her, which she exclaimed was an ‘amazing explanation’, giving me the courage to copy down an extract of it… ‘Rita, this is a huge subject of discussion – Chorchori, Chyachra, Labda, Chechki and Paanch-meshalir torkari, Ghyaat and Ghyonto! The differences lie in the cooking styles. Chorchori has got all mixed vegetables, cut in long strips (sometimes peel on), may or may not have fish bones and fish head, stir fried slightly with Paanch Phoron (the Bengali 5 spices); Chyachra is mainly with fish head, fish bones, fish oil and all the assortment of vegetables; Labda is when all the assorted vegetables are a bit overcooked – big leafy vegetables like Pui Shaak and Cabbage covers them all; Chechki is when the pieces of vegetables are left a bit chunky but overcooked; Ghonto would be the same but the vegetables are finely chopped and cooked in jhol, Ghyaat is exactly that ‘ghyaat‘ or punched!!! While there are fine boundaries lying between all of these, our Ma-Mashis knew exactly how to cut the vegetables for each of the dish and if you ask them for any explanation, there exists none!’

Shorsher tel or Mustard Oil? A few things that cannot be substituted in most Bengali cooking is the use of mustard oil, specially in a Bengali fish dish {recipe of a traditional Bengali Mustard fish from the blog}. Without this, a Bengali fish is absolutely incomplete. The gravy that gathers once cooked in mustard oil is, then Bong certified! More so in a Bengali vegetarian dish, the aroma of the Panch Phoron or the Bengali 5 spices is complemented by the use of mustard oil. Getting the right mustard oil can be sometimes tricky on foreign shores. The Asian supermarkets as well as regular supermarkets in Dubai do stock different types of mustard oil. Do look out for the term ‘Kachi Ghani‘ where the term refers to cold press extraction process of Mustard Oil, so that it may retain more oxidants and vitamins and needless to say, more pungency.

In Bengali, mashed steamed vegetables are called Bhaaté. The term literally means ‘in rice’ and must have originated because very often these vegetables were traditionally steamed in the same pan in which the rice has been cooked. Mashing these steamed vegetables – assorted vegetables or any particular vegetable along with a dash of Mustard Oil or Ghee (Indian clarified butter), the Bhaaté creates a delicious and a healthy accompaniment to plain white Rice and Daal (lentils). Bhaaté or Mashed Vegetables of Aloo/Potatoes, Kumro/Pumpkin, Ucche/Bitter Gourd etc are very popular. Add to the Mash a bit of chopped green chillis or onions, may be some fresh coriander leaves, a little dash of Mustard Oil and a bigger dash of Kasundi, a pungent mustard sauce used as a dipping (specially for another Bong favourite – Fish Fry)  and a quasi side-dish is ready {here’s a recipe for another honourable Bhaaté from the blog – the Mashed Potato Bengali Style/ Aloo Bhaaté which have already floored my German friends}.

Bhaaté is also called Makhaa (literal meaning – squashed or mixed) but I prefer to address by the former as the latter meaning connotes a lot of mess. Bhaatés make me absolutely nostalgic. I have got the strongest holiday memories of Bhaatés. When we would return from vacations and holidays and my Mum would be too tired to stir up anything in the kitchen, she would just steam a whole lot of vegetables and put the Daal/lentils (usually Masoor or Moong Daal) in a soft white cloth and tie it up and cook them all along with the Rice. Occasionally, she would put eggs into the crowd as well for boiling. And our lunch would be plain Rice, Daal, vegetables and the boiled eggs – all mashed up with a pinch of salt and dollops of butter or a generous spoonful of Ghee! The simplest recipe and the simplest meal – but absolutely divine.

Pumpkins not only remind me of mashed Pumpkins but also the lovely batter fried Pumpkin fritters or Kumri that are perfect accompaniments of the lentil and rice dish, Khichuri, that a Bengali craves for, specially during the rains. See the picture below? All the pumpkin discussion started from one Halloween special Brunch that we attended recently. I have to admit here that although I may cry foul for not understanding what Halloween is, I do let myself loose on any occasion that calls for celebration. I must say here that I have adapted to the changing times with great elan and celebrate Halloween or Valentine’s Day in the same manner that I would celebrate Christmas and get excited as much as I would while preparing an elaborate Bengali spread for Bijoya Dashami.

Unblogging it all… Ishita

Try some of my Bengali recipes:
Shorshe Baata Maach or Bengali style Mustard Salmon
Kolkata Mutton Biryani
Moong Daaler Payesh or Yellow Lentil Pudding

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Disclaimer: We were hosted for brunch at The Address Marina which costs Dhs 220/person including soft beverages; children six years and under enjoy complimentary meals and half the price for seven to 12 years. This month the Generation Creation brunch at Mazina organised sushi making while next month it’s going to be ginger bread making. This isn’t a sponsored post, nor are there any affiliated links for any of the brands that may have been mentioned in this blogpost. The subject, story, opinions and views stated here are my own and all images are from my personal album. While you enjoy reading my posts with lot of visuals, please do not use any material from these posts.