Chal Potol | Pointed Gourd cooked with Aromatic Gobindobhog Rice
Chal Potol is a classic Bengali dish cooked with pointed gourd combined with aromatic gobindobhog rice. It is a vegetarian delight.
Servings: 5 People
Calories: 281kcal
Cost: Rs 150
Ingredients
- 100 g Gobindobhog Rice
- 8 Pointed Gourd/ Potol/ Parwal
- 2 Tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Ginger Paste
- 20 g Cashew Nuts / Kaju
- 20 g Raisins/ Kishmis
- 4 tablespoon Mustard Oil
- 2 teaspoon Ghee
Spices needed to marinate Pointed Gourd
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
Tempering
- 1 teaspoon Asafoetida / Hing
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seed
- 2 Cinnamon Stick / Daruchini
- 4 Green Cardamom
- 2 Dry Red Chilli
- 2 Bay Leaves
Spices needed to cook perfect Chal Potol
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 2 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Bengali Garam Masala
Instructions
Prep Work
- Wash the gobindobhog rice 3-4 times under running water and soak the rice for 15 minutes.
- After that, wash the Pointed gourd and then remove the stem and a small part from the upper side using a knife. Check the video to understand this part.
- Cut each pointed gourd into 4 long strips.
- Now chop Tomatoes roughly.
Marination
- Marinate pointed gourd slices with 1 Tsp. each of Salt and Turmeric Powder.
- Keep those marinated for 10 minutes at least if not more.
Cooking Chaal Potol
- Heat 4 Tbsp. Mustard Oil and fry Cashew Nuts and Raisin one by one.
- It will take 2 minutes altogether in medium flame and strain from the pan.
- In the remaining oil fry the pointed gourd strips in 3 batches.
- It will take 4-5 minutes on low flame to fry each batch.
- Once done strain the potol bhaja / fried pointed gourd and start with the next batch.
- Once done, add 1 Tsp. Ghee to the remaining Oil.
- Once the Ghee is melted add 1 Tsp. Asafoetida aka Hing.
- Now add the whole spices - 1 Tsp. Cumin Seed, 2 Cinnamon Sticks / Daruchini, 4 Green Cardamom, 2 Dry Red Chilli, and also 2 Bay Leaves.
- Mix the spices and cook for a minute.
- Now add chopped Tomatoes.
- Mix and cook on a medium flame for 1 minute and stir continuously and let the tomatoes melt.
- Now add 1 Tbsp. Ginger paste and cook till the raw aroma of ginger goes away.
- Cook till the oil leaves the edges of the mixture on medium flame.
- Now add the spice powders one by one - 1 Tsp. Salt, 1 Tsp. Turmeric Powder, 1 Tsp. Red Chilli Powder and 1 Tsp. Cumin Powder.
- Mix the spices with the mixture.
- Now add 2 Tsp. Sugar and mix.
- Now, add the soaked gobindobhog rice after discarding the water.
- Stir continuously for at least 2 minutes.
- The rice will be translucent, and there will be no moisture in the pan.
- Add 150ml of water and mix.
- Bring it to a boil on a high flame.
- Now add fried parwal / potol bhaja and mix.
- Reduce the flame to medium and cover, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add 75ml water and mix.
- After that add another 75ml water and mix again.
- Cover and cook on low flame for 5 minutes.
- Open the lid and give a thorough mix.
- The rice will be well cooked yet in shape by this time.
- Pointed gourds will also be in shape yet cooked.
- Now add 1 Tsp. Bengali Garam Masala and 1 Tsp. Ghee.
- After mixing add half of the fried Cashew Nuts and fried Raisin and then switch the flame off.
- While serving, top the chal potol with remaining fried cashew nuts and raisins.
Video
Notes
- I do not fry and strain Cashew nuts and raisins separately. Instead, I first fry cashew nuts for 1 minute and then after adding raisins fry those all together for another minute and then strain.
- You can completely skip the sugar or reduce it to 1 Tsp. or less.
- Be careful with the amount of water you are using. If possible use the measurement I have shared. This is tried and tested.
- You can add Cashew nuts and raising before adding the Garam Masala as well in case you do not wish them to be crunchy.
Nutrition
Serving: 100g | Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 34.3g | Protein: 3.4g | Fat: 15.7g | Saturated Fat: 2.9g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 963mg | Fiber: 3.8g | Sugar: 8.4g
