Chaal Bandhakopi

Cabbage cooked with perfumed rice, effusing aroma of spices and ghee and with occasional bite of raisins and peas-Chaal Bandhakopi, is a conventional Bengali preparation. This is a sattvik recipe and can be prepared during pujas or vegetarian days at home.

Adding chaal or rice to a vegetable, I believe was a way of increasing the bulk of the dish in earlier days by the cook of the house. They used to employ ingredients commonly available then in all Bengali pantries to bring out a dish which would satisfy not only their family’s taste buds but also would be enough for their huge families. In turn they have created dishes which are now embedded in Bengali cuisine.

Murighonto is another such preparation in which fish head is cooked with rice.

Step by step instructions to prepare chaal Bandhakopi

Wash the rice properly few times and let it air dry on a kitchen towel.

Make a paste of the ground ginger, turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder and salt along with ¼ cup of water.

In a pan/pot take one tablespoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of ghee and heat it. Add in the rice to the pot and saute the rice till the rice changes it color. Remove the rice from the pot and keep aside on a plate.

To the pot, add one tablespoon of oil. Temper the hot oil with bay leaves, cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon.

As the aroma of the spices fills the kitchen, add the chopped tomatoes to the pot along with the paste of spices that you had prepared earlier.

Continue cooking till you see oil leaving the sides of the pan.

Now, add the shredded cabbage to the pot and mix everything together. Cover the pot and cook.

Gradually, the cabbage starts releasing water. Continue cooking on high to medium flame with stirring at intervals. This prevents sticking of the cabbage to the bottom of the pan.

Once, when the cabbage is half done, add the fried rice to the pot and mix properly.

Add about a cup of water and continue cooking. As the rice is almost half done, add the green peas and the raisins to the pot, cover the pot with the lid and continue cooking till the rice is completely done and all the water has evaporated.

Add sugar, garam masala and 2 tablespoons of ghee to the pot. Mix carefully and turn off the flame.

Let it rest for 15 minutes and serve.

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