As you read this post, I’m probably trying to conquer “The Last Frontier”. I don’t carry my laptop when I’m travelling, so this recipe of my mother’s Dim Posto is scheduled for you from a week ahead. You see, I am taking my Thursday blogging deadline very, very seriously!
Those of you who know me personally would also know that I’ve never really gravitated much towards Bangali food. But a few years back I realised that a little knowledge of your own cuisine, and a mighty rich one too, can go a long way. After all, you can’t always fall back on your mother for the simplest of dal-bhaat and shukto. Not just that, there are so many Bangali delicacies which I love and adore but always have to request Maa to make them. I started cooking when I was 12 with the sole purpose of not having to depend on anybody to cook me the food I loved. And two decades later I adopted the same motto while learning my favourite Bengali dishes so that Maa doesn’t get troubled everytime I wanted to have Bhetki Maachher Paturior Chitol Maachher Muithya. (You can find the results of that effort in my Eat Like a Bong series).
Dim Posto is a trademark dish my Mother cooks for me, and I cook for everybody who visits me. Even though Ma and I have similar palates when it comes to European cuisine and everything chocolate, our preference of Bangali food is markedly different. She has a very low heat tolerance and likes her food a bit on the sweeter side, whereas I like my food hot and spicy and bursting with flavour. This dim posto, true to her style of cooking, is a bit sweet. But when I make it I blend a few green chillies with the poppy seed paste to perfectly balance the sweetness. Neither my mom nor I have cooked yolks of eggs, so we scoop out the yolks (and keep them aside for my dad, who adores them) and fill the depression of halved eggs with the rich and creamy posto gravy. I can have this dish any given day. I really mean it. Wherever I am, this dish reminds me of home. And that, trust me, is a very, very comforting feeling.
Dim Posto (Eggs in a Poppy Seed Gravy)
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Ingredients
- Eggs, boiled and halved: 6
- Tomato, chopped roughly: 2
- Poppy seed: 100 gm, soaked in just enough water overnight and then drained
- Onion paste: 4 tbsp
- Green Chillies: 3-4
- Garam Masala powder: 1 tsp
- Mustard oil: 2 tbsp + for drizzling
- Salt, to taste
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Coriander leaves, chopped: For garnish
METHOD
1. In a small blender, blend the soaked poppy seeds, green chillies and a little bit of salt into a fine paste. Use water in tiny amounts if required. Set aside.
2. In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the onion paste and sugar. Saute for 2 minutes till it turns golden in colour.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and continue to cook till the tomatoes lose their shape and become pulpy.
3. Now add the poppy seed paste and stir for a minute. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil cook on medium heat till the gravy becomes creamy, roughly 5-6 minutes.
4. Add the garam masala and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Check for seasoning.
5. Layer the halved eggs on a serving plate/bowl and sprinkle a little salt on them . Now ladle the poppy seed gravy on the eggs so that all the egg slices are covered. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and drizzle a little bit of mustard oil. Serve with steamed rice or pulao.
