Phulkopi–Chhanar Dalna
A festive, decadent version of Bengali cauliflower and cottage cheese dalna in a ginger–cumin sauce.
- Cooking time40 mins
Calories386kcal
Phulkopi'r dalna was one of the first ten recipes that we launched Bong Eats with back in 2016. Why a new phulkopi'r dalna recipe then? Because this is a special version of cauliflower dalna that my grandmother used to cook once a year on the day of Lokkhi pujo.
Since the weather used to cool down a little after Durga pujo, it was made with the first phulkopi of the season. How was it different from the regular phulkopi'r dalna?
First, it often included cubes of freshly made chhana, which we loved. This being Lokkhi pujo—really the biggest festival of the year in our East Bengali home—thamma would go all out with the ghee and the oil. She practically deep-fried the cauliflower, potatoes and the chhana separately before cooking them together with the spices—and finishing with lots of ghee and freshly ground paste of cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.
Thamma's bhuna khichuri and labra, the recipes of which we have already shared on Bong Eats, used to hog much of the limelight, but this phulkopi'r dalna still managed to make its mark, this being the first cauliflower after the barrage of various gourds that we had to eat all summer.
With this recipe we have managed to standardise and document every dish that thamma used to make on the day of Lokkhi pujo. When you cook this recipe think of our grandmothers who carried these recipes with them through many displacements and losses, and who fed us these foods that tie us to the places they came from, across time and space.
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Ingredients
- 700 g cauliflower (large florets)
- 400 g potatoes (4-cm cubes)
- 300 g chhana (paneer/cottage cheese; 3-cm cubes)
- 80 g tomatoes (chopped)
- 4 green chillies (slit)
- 160 g mustard oil
- 3 dried red chillies
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cardamom
- 2 cinnamon
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 10 g cumin powder
- 2 g coriander powder
- 4 g turmeric
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 20 g ginger paste
- 12 g salt
- 12 g sugar
- ½ tsp maida (all-purpose flour)
- 475 ml hot water
- 1 tbsp ghee
- ½ tsp Bengali gorom moshla
Method
- Cut the cauliflower in large florets, the potatoes in 4-cm cubes, and the chhana in 3-cm cubes. Also chop tomatoes and slit the green chillies.
- Prepare a spice slurry by mixing together cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric and red chilli powder with some water. Keep it handy.
- Heat 60 g mustard oil in a kadai and wait for it to smoke gently and change colour to a pale yellow.
- To it, add ½ tsp turmeric, fry for a few seconds, and add the cauliflower.
- Fry on medium heat until it turns golden, stirring frequently. Season with 3 g salt when browned. Set aside.
- Add 100 g more mustard oil to the pan, and when hot, add in the potatoes.
- Fry them until brown, about 5 mins. Season with 4 g salt. Set aside.
- In the same oil, now fry the chhana pieces for not more than 3–4 mins in total. Don't overfry or they will turn rubbery. Season them with 2 g salt. Set aside.
- Now temper the oil with the dried red chillies, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, and cumin seeds.
- Once the oil is fragrant, add the spice slurry and braise it for a couple of minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and continue cooking until they soften.
- Add the ginger paste and fry for another couple of minutes, before adding the fried cauliflower. Also add the remaining (3 g) salt and all of the sugar (12 g).
- Braise the cauliflower with the spices and seasoning on low heat, covered, for about 12 mins to allow them to soften.
- Add the potatoes, slit green chillies and the maida. Stir everything together.
- Add hot water for the sauce. Also add the pieces of chhana.
- Simmer everything together until the cauliflower is cooked through, about 10–12 mins.
- Finish with ghee and Bengali gorom moshla. Cover and let it stand for 2 mins before serving.
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