- recipe by Manaswita submitted on 19th March 2013
Sukto is a traditional Bengali recipe. It is also popular in Bangladesh. It is bitter-sweet in taste. It goes best with steamed rice. Traditionally this is taken at the start of the main meal. The vegetables used to prepare sukto is available throughout the year. So, you can eat this. You can add or remove vegetables as per your taste except for bitter gourd which is a must in this dish.
Ingredients
Bitter gourd (Uchche) – 1 (chopped)
Ridge gourd (Jhinge) – 1 (chopped)
Brinjal (Begun) – 1 (chopped)
Raw Banana (KanchaKola) – 1 (chopped)
String Benas – 10 (chopped_
Potato – 1 (cut into medium sized pieces)
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) - 1 medium sized (chopped)Drumstick - 3 (chopped)
Pointed Gourd (Parwal) - 3 (chopped)
Green papaya - 150 grams (chopped)
Radish - 1 (chopped)
Carrot - 1
Vadi (dried nuggets made of ground lentil) - 10-15 (optional)
Milk – 1/3 cup
Mustard oil - as needed
Salt - to taste
Ghee
For grinding
Mustard seeds - 2 tbsp (soaked in water)
Poppy Seeds - 1 tbsp (soaked in water)
Ginger - 1 tbsp of fresh grated ginger
For tempering (Phoron)
Bay Leaves (Tejpata) – 4
Wild Celery (Radhuni or Ajmund) - 1 tsp
Method
1. To make ideal sukto, cut all the vegetables in uniform size (about 1 ½ inches long).
2. Make a paste of mustard and poppy seeds. Also make a paste of ginger.
3. Heat oil in a kadai and fry the bari (vadi). Keep it aside.
4. Heat mustard oil in a pan. Fry all the vegetables till half done. Keep them aside.
5. Add the bay leaf and wild celery to the hot oil. Let it crackle.
6. Add the ginger paste and mustard-poppy paste. Stir fry for 3 minutes.
7. Add all the vegetables and fry.
8. Add the vadi(bori) and required salt. Mix them well.
9. Add water as required. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes in low heat.
10. Add Milk and ghee and cook again for 5 minutes in low heat.
11. Switch off and serve hot with steamed rice.