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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Gota Sheddu

Before I start about Gota Sheddu , I must mention that blogging about food is difficult , “you” are the central performing person , starting from chopping and cooking , preparing the table ,placing the ceramics or utensils ,then angling to take snaps(mind you the family is waiting patiently to be served also in the meantime) , and when you are done taking pictures , you then clean your own mess also.
Then you write about the recipe even edit it many times , edit the pictures, choose the best ones , upload to blogger and then publish your post.So sometimes when You miss out one line… ..Is it a fault? Many will think so, But I think to "err is human".

Hope readers understand this and who are already bloggers, they know it very well.
I mean upto a ceratin point not everybody can be just perfect, let perfectionist be someone Like Amir Khan and take all the applause for that also!!

Well I leave it to that only and must tell you one very interesting fact, which is the main part of this post .This is about Saraswati Puja or Basant Panchmi.




I have often eaten Gota Sheddu fondly with my maa, the day after saraswati puja, never realized that this is a part of a ritual until I got married and came to know about this ritual of Shitol Shashti meaning the shashti or 6th day that brings calmness in family.
Gota means "whole", Sheddu means "boiled" in Bengali, so that makes the dal that is cooked with whole vegetables but without any proper seasoning or onion, ginger or garlic.
The dal is Niramish(vegetarian)and usually the tempering is done with few fennel seeds (Mouri) or cumin seeds.This is how we prepare the dal.
Along with the gota sheddu , me and maa also prepared some more goodies to mark this ritual.we have prepared lao bori ,phulkopir torkari,aloo bhaja,papad bhaja,Gulab jamun,Chatni and payesh.These all dishes are literally vegetarian and that is what is more important , cooking vegetarian meal on Saraswati Puja and eating them the next day.


Gota sheddo

Recipe requirements
1 cup of black urad dal/karai dal
1 tsp of turmeric powder(holod goron)
1 tsp of red pepper powder(lal lonka goron) optional and if you are adding green chilly then its not needed ...
1 tsp of cumin powder(jeere goron)
Vegetables at least five types, that can be any vegetables(and this is what is important while preparing Gota Sheddu )
Whole peas with pods (motorshuti) 10-12
Whole small/baby potatoes 10
Whole sheem 10
Whole green chilly(kancha lonka) 5-6
Whole small brinjal(begun) 5-6

Method
Pressure cook the urad dal.
Now in a deep bottom pan add in the vegetables with the cooked dal.
Add water enough, completely submerge the vegetables in water.
Now cover and cook, let it simmer there till the vegetables are well cooked.
Alternately you can cook the dal and the vegetables together in a pressure cooker.Just one whistle at high and then let it simmer at low for 5-8 mints.Open when the pressure subside.

Temper the cooked dal.

Heat up few tsp of mustard oil,
Add in some cumin seeds(jeere) and fennel seeds(mouri)
Let it splutter and then temper the dal with it. Cook for few minutes till the flavor gets incorporated.

Important
One thing which should be kept in mind is that the combination of vegetables should be odd that is Bejor or 5 vegetables.May be sometimes 7 vegetables depending upon the vegetables you get in your place.

Gota Sheddo is a Niramish Preparation so strictly no use of ginger , garlic and onion.Sometimes I have been told that some families , donot add any turmeric powder even.


Usually Gota sheddu is eaten the next day after Saraswati Puja.
This is also eaten with the cooled and cooked rice that is prepared the day before, usually in nights.

This is a ritual observed by married Bengali ladies and is known here as Shitol Shashti.

My Ma-in-Law  usually prepares five types of food on Saraswati Puja (that includes a dal, fry or bhaja, subzi or torkari , payesh and chatni and the food is mainly vegetarian or Niramish) and the next day we observe this ritual of Shitol Shashti.

Then on my parents’ side, Gota sheddu is made on Saraswati puja and the next day it’s eaten with cool and cooked rice prepared the night before.
The basic funda is to eat the food that is made before also called as bashi Khabar in Bengali.

I really don’t know the exact origin of this fast or ritual, but it’s said that this is observed for the goodness of children and spouse!!!


Updated to include this picture



Made Gota sheddo with the vegetables that we get here in foreign land-
5  Mushroom, about 5-7 Beans, 5-7 Runner Beans, 5-7 Baby Potatoes, 5-7 Baby carrots,5 Green Chilly and 5-7 Mangetouts/snow peas.Combination of 7 vegetables as we need to cook bejor numbers of vegetables.




Ok friends , keep cooking delicious food and enjoy with your loved ones.

20 comments:

  1. Ekdom thik Jaya ... food blogging je ki jhanjhaater kaaj ekhon bujhchi. :-)
    Gota sheddho amar o favourite ... kotodin khaini. Btw niramish veg na?

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  2. I think if you make a mistake it is not a fault at all.
    We are doing this for fun, so if there is a fault why worry.
    I write a post and publish it and then when i read it after a day or two, i am like wow did i write that, such bad spelling etc, it doesn't bother me at all , if i have time i correct it that is all.

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  3. I hope that the first paragraph of your post did not imply that someone had the nerve to admonish you about missing out one line?! Some people are absolutely rude. Ignore such people my friend.

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  4. Sharmila,
    yeah, you are right there!

    Happy,
    Thanks for understanding and this is just for my hobby and fun too nothing more!

    Cynthia,
    Thank you for understanding!
    well I have started ignoring such people :)

    thank you all for coming by
    hugs and smiles

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  5. I have forgotten to include "salt" sometimes and some ask me "where is the salt and how much salt, you have to tell us" etc. I am thinking, 'somebody have to tell you to add salt in a savory dish and how much too otherwise you won't add salt in your dish?' ;P

    Ignore these people. I think some enjoy being rude, must have a very boring life, poor things! :)

    Lovely dish, enjoy.

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  6. Gota seddho amar bhalo lagena, amar dida korto, oi din ta ke "Arandhan" ba "Sheetal Soshti" bolto
    I guess it was to give a day off from cooking to the women folk in the old times

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh we all make those typos all the time and I'm sure all the blogger understand that......good topic.
    Great platter.

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  8. Hey Jaya, we all know that bloggers are not gizmos or robots and have a real life that will always have priority, so it does not matter if we do make mistakes. I make them too and alter it if I have the time to read the post again and notice it. Someone had once written to me too about a mistake I had made but I am quite happy to have an editor:). Probably the person did not mean any harm. I hope it doesn't bother you any more!

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  9. As you mention other bloggers realize how much effort goes into blogging so if someone makes a big deal about a missed line or anything else ignoring it best...thanks for all the information on bengali cuisine and preparations...the gota sheddu looks lovely !

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  10. Very very glad to see you back and I do understand the jhonjhaat even though I dont food blog...and that is why I say hats off to you guys for doing this!! :-)
    As for anybody daring to find faults with your work, let them create their own flawless work according to their standards, and let you work according to yours...which according to me is absolutely SUPERB!! :-)

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  11. Asha,
    thats exactly I was refereing to, saying things which is more or less understood anyways....:))
    But I am cool and think they just sometimes add up the spice in a normal posting hehe...

    Sandeepa,
    belive me cooking all those goodies , we(me and maa) both needed that day off ;)).....
    gota sheddu bhalo lage na ,keno go??

    n33ma,
    yeah, typo mistake is alright and I have understood I can't be perfect all the time....

    H,
    Thats true may be may be ,that person is doing his/her job and he/she finds it to be corrected, that shows he/she has gone thro the post throughly and even bothered to drop me a line to correct it ...I have taken things positively now and it really doesn't bother me now much :))......

    Usha,
    thanks, and yeah food bloggers are real hard working bloggers and thats why I have told itself that all the things which look so easy and simple here require a lot ,lot of hard work and patience.

    Joyeeta,
    thank you dear for coming here...
    amaar mone hoye kicho lokera jinish golo ke sudho-sudho bishiye daye , mane ekto bhalo bhabhe bola jete pare kinto tader tone ba lekhar dhoron ta e very disturbing hoye jaye ..janina keno???

    thanks re for understanding that it needs a lot of hard work..

    I am glad for all of you voiced your opinion regarding it and coming here....
    hugs and smiles

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  12. Janina, maybe amar ja memory te ache, thanda thanda khete hoto ar thada alu seddho ba dal seddho amar bhalo lagena, oi theke moner modhye dhuke geche, ar kokhono try o korini :)
    Tumi ki ekhon bak to Kol na ki ekhono Ma yer bari ?

    Sandeepa

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anon/S
    ami bak to kol , aar ki kori ma aar shashuri maa ke dekhe try korlaam aar janina amaar meye korbe or kore khabe ki naa...kicho porompara emon chole ashe, bojhte parcho to ki bolchi :))...
    hugs and smiles

    ReplyDelete
  14. jaya Onek din gota khaini... ma jokhon chilo niyom kore prottek bochor oi dine gota kore... shob barite dito & we used to have too. ebar baba ekla deshe bollo gota kore kheyechey:-( Iwish I made some for myself too.

    don't worry about who says what..ppl should mind their own business.

    ReplyDelete
  15. i've never done sheetal shasti, but my phisi used to do it. Can't believe I am saying that I miss gota sheddu

    ReplyDelete
  16. Soma,
    Oh! thats so touchy! yeah, I can understand that ...aamra O para te jader iche hoto agey thekhe bole rakhto make , Maa diye ashto gota sheddu porer din...
    thanks for coming here!

    Mandira,
    May be in coming time ,you will try doing Shitol Shashti :).
    hugs and smiles

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  17. Such lovely dishes and you need not worry abt anything else!...

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  18. Jaya

    That gota shedhho made me very nostalgic. only when these festivals and rituals are followd we fel close to home and of course baper bari with a big B. having lived in Singapore for 12 years I also try to follow these rituals as religiously as ever but janina amar meye korbe kina karan hob kichu te ajkal shuni generation gap ma.Anyway kudos to you for the good job of food blogging.
    Dont even listen or read the comments made by such rude people who probably never cook at home or cannot differentiate a hari from a dekchi. Believe me I hve seen such people here and now I just dont bother about them. Ignore them . After all to err is always human nahole to amra shobai bhogoban hoye jetam. jak aro reciper ashai thaklam.

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  19. Dear Tanusri,
    warm welcome here..
    thanks for your encouraging word dear..hain tumi theek bolcho amaar meye O shitol shashti infact kono shashti korbe ki na janina ..tobe it really feels so good to read your words here ..it gives me whole lot of encouragement to do my job here ....This really makes my day bright!!
    Singapore ekta temple ache na,tumraa ki okhane pojo koro..Durga Pujo hoye ki okhane?
    thanks for coming by..

    ReplyDelete
  20. amar o khub sundar lage khete gota r petta parishkar hai.....

    ReplyDelete

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