Jhinga (or, jhingey) is a type of spongy gourd that is best eaten in summer, which, let’s face it, is most of the year if your habitat is the plains of Bengal. Jhinge’s best quality is that it soaks up flavours, and becomes succulent and juicy.

This recipe was named "jhinge’r roshogolla" by Barsha’s grandfather for three reasons. Aside from the tongue-in-cheek humour, the name alludes to how both the ridge gourd and the lentil fritters swell and soak up the sauce just as a roshogolla soaks up syrup. Even the visual of the jhinge and the fritters simmering in the pale stew has a resemblance to how roshogolla look when they are being vigorously boiled in a milky white syrup. Lastly, this recipe has no chillies, or anything remotely hot—in fact it is quite mild, creamy and sweet. This too is a reason why her grandfather chose to call it jhinge’r roshogolla.

Call it what you will but there is no denying that this recipe is delicious, especially on a hot day. It is supposed to be served as the first course and at room temperature (not hot) just like shukto. In fact, this is very much in the spirit of a shukto—the absence of chillies, the milky light texture, the mild bitterness of the fenugreek seeds, the ginger, the lentil fritters—all clues points to this being a shukto. Or at least, no one would bat an eye if you called this jhinge’r shukto instead of jhinge’r roshogolla, but where is the fun in that?