Name: Shukto (Mixed vegetable curry with plantain & bitter melon)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Bangladeshi
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons raw white rice, coarsely made into paste by blitzing it in a blender with a little water; 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds; 1 eggplant (aubergine); 1 teaspoon fresh Ginger paste; 2 tablespoons mustard paste (see tip); 5–6 green beans; 2 marunga (drumsticks), or 1 white cucumber; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; 100 g (3½ oz) pumpkin (winter squash), peeled; 2 potatoes, peeled; 4 small or 2 large plantains, peeled and chopped into 1 cm (½ inch) discs; 80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ cup) mustard oil; 1 ridged gourd; 2 medium-sized bitter melons

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
40 min

Appears in

Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

About

I am treading cautiously and respectfully around this dish, which is revered by Bangladeshi people. It is beautiful, and shows how countries renowned for their fish and meat dishes can have stunning vegetarian dishes too.

Plantain and bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd, really are a great pair, complementing each other both texturally and in flavour. Bitter melon is now being made into tablets and sold in the West as a medicinal food, while we in the subcontinent have known of