Kasundi die paat shaak/ Jute leaves with mustard sauce

There are different leafy vegetables in Bengali cuisine. Be it quintessential laal shaak(red amaranth), pui saak(Malabar spinach), palong shaak(spinach) or the leaves which have been gradually included in the cuisine eg. shiuli paata(Parijat leaves), kharkol pata(Typhonium trilobatum scientific name. Didn’t find a common english name), paat shak or jute leaf. All of these leaves have great medicinal values and we are lucky enough to be blessed by mother Nature with such huge range of leafy vegetables.

This recipe of paat shaak(jute leaf) is from my sasuri maa’s(mother-in law) kitchen. One day, surprisingly when my husband discovered paat shhak in the farmer’s markets of Israel, he told me how his mother cooks it and serves it with kasundi. So, the next time I spoke to my mother-in law, she explained me the preparation.

I keep the cloves of garlic whole since my husband loves eating them and keeps looking for them when I serve him paat shaak.

Coming to paat shaak, it has a slimy fluid inside it. So, if the shaak is washed quiet ahead of cooking, the fluid from inside the branches starts oozing out and it becomes very slimy. It should be washed and cleaned just before cooking.

Kasundi die paat shaak

Course: Main Course                          

Cuisine: Bengali (Indian)

Preparation time: 15 minutes              

Cook time: 20 minutes 

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 300g paat shhak/ jute leaf removed from stalk and cleaned
• 4-5 whole cloves of garlic
• 2-3 dry red chilies
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• Kasundi for serving

Directions

1. Take the oil in a kadai and temper the oil with the cloves of garlic and dry red chilies.
2. As the oil turns aromatic, add all the paat shaak to the kadai.
3. Now, add salt and turmeric powder to the kadai and continue cooking on medium flame.
4. Paat shaak like any other leafy vegetable releases lot of water and hence no water will be required while cooking.
5. keep tossing everything in the kadai at intervals to avoid scorching at the bottom.
6. Once, all the leaves are cooked through and there is no water in the kadai, turn off the flame.
7. Serve the pat shak with kasundi.

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