Recent Posts
- Caramelised Banana-Peanut Butter Ice Cream (Vegan)
- A no-machine Coffee Ice Cream and Ice Cream Basics
- Life’s about to get dangerous.
- Trashy Tuesdays
- Quinoa and Roasted Pepper Salad
- The proof is in the licking … and H2Ope for Haiti.
- Frozen Yumminess
- 100% Whole Wheat No-Knead Sandwich Loaf
- Workplace Harassment
- Chana Masala / Chole (Chickpea Curry)
-
Admin
Feb
2
Mustard Trilogy 1: Shorshe Dharosh
February 2, 2010 |
Bottom left: Shorshe Dharosh (Mustardy Okra)
In Bengali, shorshe = mustard, dharosh = okra/lady finger.
In Europe, mustard is used mainly as a condiment. In the Indian home, it is consumed almost with every meal, in one of five forms:
1. The whole popped seed for seasoning at least 75% of the Indian vegetable and lentil dishes we make
2. As a powder (see Lemon and Lime Pickles)
3. Mustard oil, either raw and strong as a finishing touch, or heated and mellower (see Haak - Kashmiri-style Greens, Jahni Alu Posta)
4. As a pungent paste, especially in Eastern India, quite like this Homemade Dijon-style Mustard
5. Mustard Greens are popular in Northern and Eastern India (see Chokha - Pesto, Bihari-style)
Before being corrupted by fellow foodies, we stuck to #1. Now, whenever I cook greens and even South Indian dishes, I find myself reaching for the mustard oil. Increasingly, I also find myself using mustard paste in recipes, as the Bengalis do. Though we consume so much mustard, we often take it for granted. I would like to highlight this wonderful ingredient as part of a trilogy to highlight the various forms in which it is featured in South Asian cuisines.
Macro shot of a Brown Mustard Seed
Part of the cabbage family, mustard seeds come from related, but different plants: black mustard (Brassica nigra), brown Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), yellow mustard (Brassica hirta) and white mustard (Sinapis alba).
Madhur Jaffrey best describes the ‘Jekyll and Hyde characteristics’ of mustard oil and mustard seeds that the cuisine of north-eastern India brings out so well.
If whole mustard seeds are thrown into hot oil and allowed to pop, they turn nuttily sweet; if they are ground to a paste as many Bengali recipes require, they develop a delicious, nose-tingling pungency. Mustard oil is sharp when used raw; it turns docile and sweet if it is heated. Many Bengali dishes require mustard seeds to do triple duty-as an oil, as a popped, nutty seed, and as a fiery seed paste as well.
This Bengali recipe features okra in a hot, sweet, tangy gloriously mustardy, non-slimy package.
SHORSHE DHAROSH (Mustardy Okra)
Two things:
- Please use mustard oil if you can. Life is too short to consume flavourless vegetable oils.
- Use tender okra/lady finger that is no more than two-inches long.
In California, at the Indian stores, people would test okra for freshness by snapping off the tips and leave the tubful of broken okra for the next sucker. This happened at each of the five desi stores near my home. They don’t do that at the Indian store where I live now. If you see people snapping the tails off fresh okra and it makes smoke come out of your ears, buy it at the Chinese store or get frozen whole okra. Thaw it, pat it dry and cut off the caps.
The mustard-poppy paste
You can use black/brown (more pungent), or yellow (less pungent) mustard seeds for this, or a combo. I used yellow.
Soak 2 tbsps black or yellow mustard seeds (shorshe) with 1 tbsp white poppy seeds (posto) in hot water for 30 minutes.
Drain and add
2 fresh green Thai or serrano chillies
1 dried red chilli
Pound to form a paste.
The okra
You need 1 pound okra. Trim off the caps and do not cut the okra unless it is longer than 2 inches. Then cut it into 2-inch bits. Slit them without cutting them through if you wish. They will cook faster. Not slitting them makes them less slimy.
Heat 2 tbsps mustard oil in a pan and fry the okra (do not stir it too much, just shake the pan) on high heat until blistered (about 8 minutes).
Add the
mustard-poppy seed-chilli paste
1/4 tsp turmeric,
salt to taste
and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add
3/4 cup of water,
a tsp of jaggery or sugar
3/4 tsp dried mango powder or a tiny bit of tamarind pulp
**If you’re not vegan you can replace the mango powder/tamarind with yogurt, as Sandeepa does.
Partly cover and cook on medium until fork tender (check after 5 minutes) and the sauce has thickened to coat the okra. Serve with rice or rotis.
Next, mustardy goodness, South Indian style.
- bee
Mustard Trilogy 2: Vellarikka Pachadi
Mustard Trilogy 3: Nepali Cucumber Salad
Bengal, Chillies/Peppers, India, mustard, mustard-oil, Okra/Ladyfinger, poppy seeds, vegan recipes, vegetarian recipes
I love how the okra has retained its bright green color. And such a simple recipe!
This looks interesting! Am gonna try it soon. You do slit the okras, right? Or its whole?
My husband is Bihari, and am enjoying the wonderful mustard oil recipes he makes!
And I so agree about folks breaking off the tips of okra! I remember asking one guy if he was going to pay the store owner for all the goods he was damaging. He just smiled at me, and continued. Well, at least I tried!
slitting is optional.
Bee,shouldn’t mustard oil be heated to the smoking point,cooled & then heated again for cooking with it?Have seen my Bong friends do it.
i don’t ‘cos i don’t need to reduce the pungency.
http://www.indiacurry.com/spice/mustardoilcooking.htm
snapping off the ends is not only a cali-indian store trait…its most common in india too - I mean thats why the very same indians do it here too
I havent cooked much with mustard oil yet. Also the dijon type pastes is too strong/pungent for my taste..but have to get the oil though!
People do that snapping the tip thing here all the time….and I absolutely hate it.
A nice, simple recipe……I haven’t used mustard for anything except tadka and pickles so far.
I recently tastes this kind of paste cooked with brinjals from my bengali colleague during a potluck at work. I loved it and scribbled the recipe too. I shall try with lady fingers which is my most favorite vegetable. I too snap the tips for checking the tenderness but make sure I buy all that I snap (even few turned to be older)
I love okra in all forms!
Snapping okra ends to check if it is fresh is so typical!
I once got okra (without snapping ends) and a lot of it was not fresh, money down the drain:(
I make do with frozen these days.
That macro shot of the seed is shockingly huge. I am so glad i don’t take my face in a macro shot it will like a giant elephant
I like okra when it is deepfried, when i was back home we ate them in different ways even if it was not my fav vegg.
Only had things made with mustard oil when we were in calcutta.
Thanks for sharing this tempting recipe Jai and Bee :).
O i am just loving this:-) I use mustard oil raw on my mashed potatoes too (the Bengali Aloo Bhaate).. and hot rice. Can’t live without it. ..yes life’s too short!
I always thought Canola Oil was the best so I had switched to this since 2 yrs…didnt know Mustard Oil had this many benefits. is Mustard Oil better of the two? or does each have its own take?
canola is genetically modified (and flavourless). i like idhayam sesame oil or mustard oil. for baking (and even stovetop cooking) i like organic extra-virgin coconut oil.
mustard oil has a very strong flavour and i love to cook greens or lentils with it, or drizzle it raw on some things (like extra virgin olive oil). for milder flavour in some dishes i use idhayam sesame oil. i use sesame oil for deep frying. for a less expensive alternative, use peanut oil ‘cos it has a high smoking point.
hmm…a bit confused. Sesame oil is said to produce “Vata” per Ayurvedic beliefs. Any thoughts? I thought Canola oil is heart healthy and highly recommended, albeit flavorless which makes it good for deep frying without smell. I use olive oil for pasta dishes/salads etc but it has a low heating point making it useless for tadka, frying etc. I do like grape seed oil for tadka etc as it doesn’t have strong odor and has high heating point. Lastly, where do you buy organic coconut oil please?
all health food stores have organic coconut oil, as do walmart and regular grocery stores. look in the aisle where they keep “natural” products. or you can get it easily online.
i don’t know much about vata, but i love the flavour of sesame oil and i don’t use genetically modified products like canola oil. i highly recommend cold-pressed grapeseed oil.
Thanks. I dread GMO foods and I quit using corn oil for that reason but naively, I started using Canola…thanks for enlightening me!!
Thank you for that information. You always think what can 2 spoons of oil (any type)in a food really do? On reading such posts I know what exactly I need to make changes to.
oh and Okra with mustard looks awesome. is that 3rd bowl Bonda soup? I have that on my to-do list for so long.
rasa vadai
http://jugalbandi.info/2008/10/rasa-vadai/
that post also talks about cooking oils.
Thanks for the mustard love
I am not used to Sesame Oil and cannot use Mustard Oil for everything. I was doing 50-50 between Canola and Olive Oil. But now am looking for an alternative to Canola. Any ideas on Light Olive Oil for frying etc. ?
grapeseed oil, preferably cold pressed. it’s very neutral in flavour and can take very high smoking points. or peanut oil.
[...] Mustard Trilogy 1: Shorshe Dharosh [...]
Never tasted mustard oil. Peanut and Sesame were quite common back home , as a child. Your blog post has reminded me of so many goodies made with peanut oil…
Actually,in bay area,Cal,we can find Okra in most of the grocery shops now, not just in Indian stores.
For the okra snapping, why blame Cal-Indians Bee? I think it is an universal habit followed by all Indians to check the freshness
LOVE mustard. I always add a ton to my south indian recipes.
[...] Mustard Trilogy 1: Shorshe Dharosh [...]
I’m enjoying the mustard trilogy, thanks!
Hi Jai & Bee,
Sorshe dharosh is one of my favorite curry, as I love dharosh…you can try this with flat beans(Sim in Bengali), too, but only with mustard seed paste, taste great with hot rice..If you r really enjoying mustard & bengali recipes , You can try this( just a suggestion) Sorshe begun(brinjal) recipe I posted few months back(http://indranid.blogspot.com/2009/11/sorshe-begun-baby-brinjals-in-mustard.html)….your sorshe dharosh looks so beautiful..your pics r the best
flat beans or broad beans it’s called