Zucchini Posto - Zucchini stir-fry with Poppy seed paste

The first time I made Zucchini Posto, I polished off a sacrilegious amount of steamed white rice - a staple of any good Bengali's meal. Now, I have been touted for not being a 'good' Bengali many a times because of my food choices. I am no fan of the quintessential Bengali mishti - rosogolla nor am I a big fan of fish. Steamed white rice or saada bhaat which is a staple of a typical Bengali meal, ranked very low on my food radar. But I will shamelessly polish off platefuls of rice, that I am not very fond of, in the company of poppy seeds and mustard. You see, I am a sucker for anything made with posto baata (poppy seeds paste) or sorshe baata (mustard seed paste).

And sometimes, I get intense cravings for Bhaat, Daal, Jhinge Posto, Sorshe Maachh (Rice, Lentil, Ridge Gourd with Poppy Seeds, Fish in Mustard Sauce. Sometimes for Laal Shaak Bhaaja and Piyajkoli'r torkaari. I will share those recipes soon.

So when Femina Bangla approached me for a write-up on how I recreate the tastes of dishes that I have grown up eating, I, at last, documented the recipe for the zucchini posto that I make so often! You can scroll down to read the recipe in English.

Zucchini Posto:

3 Cups of zucchini, cut (about 3 to 4 medium sized zucchini)

½ teaspoon of Kalo Jeera (Nigella Seeds/Kalonji)

3 tablespoons of poppy seed paste

½ tsp of turmeric

1 to 2 slit green chilies

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon of mustard oil

Heat the mustard oil in a kadai and temper it with Kalo Jeera/Kalonji and the slit green chilies and once it starts spluttering, add the chopped zucchini. Sprinkle the turmeric powder and salt and let it cook till the zucchini starts leaving water.

While the zucchini cooks down, I dry grind my posto (poppy seeds) in my coffee grinder and mix it with a couple of teaspoons of water to make a smooth paste.

Once the zucchini softens, add the Poppy seed paste and toss to coat. Cook it for few minutes till the raw smell goes away. Check for seasoning. And you are done!

Serve hot with rice.