Recipe for shutki (with vegetables)

Take handful of shutki (more the better) and boil it in water several times. Next, chop onions in thin slices (not ad-hoc shape, you got to have respect for shutki) chop and/or grate two-three large cloves of garlic and a generous portion of ginger (finely chopped). Fry them all in a saucepan and when it turns brown add an appropriate amount of
salt, cayne-pepper, turmeric and start cooking the onion in it. If you like you can add cubed eggplants and/or \”danta\” stems at this stage. When the eggplants are almost done, you may even add \”kumro\” (or if it is not available, yellow squash) cut longitudinally (not cubed).

If it is too dry, add a little more oil if your spouse is not watching otherwise add a little water. As you begin to cook this, after about a minute, add your shutki in it and stir the content thoroughly in low heat. When you are about to take it out, add already fried lima beans (very large frozen beans) and green kanchalankas slightly broken and pressed into it. Mix them well and simmer it for about 30 secs and remove the content from the fire. In Europe, you could get broad beans like our \”chhim\” — this could also be added into the shutki for its \”umph\” effect.

– Saumen Sengupta