Bangladesh - Saak-er Ghanto

This week I started researching food in Bangladesh and I was excited to see that I already knew quite a lot about it. It was really a no brainer to choose to do a curry, I couldn't resist pairing it with naan bread even though in Bangladesh they traditionally have roti or paratha. The curry I chose is vegetarian and I was very curious about it because it doesn't use the traditional powdered spices but rather the seeds.

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Serves 6 as a main or 12 as a side

Ingredients - the vegetables listed are what I used but you can use anything you want really, spinach is the one thing you should really keep.

• 1 onion diced

• 1 aubergine

• 1/2 a butternut squash

• 1 potato diced

• 1 mooli diced (you could also use normal radishes)

• 250g baby spinach

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 1 tsp nigella seeds

• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds

• 1 inch grated ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder

• 3 small dried red chillies

• salt, to taste

• 2tablespoons of oil

Method

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the oil.

2. Put the onion and all the spices including the chillies into the pot and sauté until the onion soft.

3. Add the potato and the radish and stir for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the aubergine and the butternut squash. Turn the heat down to medium-low.

5. Add about 1/4 cup of water to the pot to prevent any sticking, the vegetables will start to release some water of their own. Add the spinach and salt, and stir.

6. Cover the pot and cook until all the vegetables are cooked - the curry is meant to be a dry curry, not a saucy one.

7. Serve with rice or flat bread.