Divinity in the kitchen

Sudipa Mukhopadhyay rustles up the Nabami bhog with a pinch of love
She has been celebrating Durga Puja at home for four years now and for Sudipa Mukhopadhyay, the happiness surrounding the goddess’ advent starts right from khuti pujo.
“Barir pujor mojai alada! It was one night about four years back when Ma Durga appeared in my dream and expressed her desire to visit our house. Since then, we have been celebrating Durga Puja at home.I have learnt all the rituals from my pishima, kakima and jethima who live in my ancestral north Kolkata para. Even as a child, I loved to help out in the barir pujo and always dreamt of celebrating Puja at home,” she said.
The renowned small screen host revealed that she loved to cook the goddess’ bhog. “Earlier, we used to offer niramish bhog, but once, the rice and dal fell from my hand when I was about to start cooking kichuri. I felt that Ma was not happy having vegetarian fare and so, I spoke to one of the high priests. He said since we all ate non-vegetarian food on Nabami, maybe Ma wished to have the same. So now, the maha bhog on Nabami is an elaborate aamish (non-veg) spread.”
The menus on all four Puja days are pretty elaborate, but on Nabami the goddess is offered a special spread. “The Nabami bhog is special and includes sada bhaat, shukto, dal, panch rokom bhaja, chhanar kaliya, potoler dolma, ilish bhaja, pabda machher jhaal, golda chingrir malaikari, niramish mangsho, chutney and mishti. The niramish mangsho recipe was
my great grandfather’s and strangely, though I often cook it, the dish tastes different on Nabami. I guess it’s some kind of divine intervention,” she said, adding that the Dashami bhog always brought tears to her eyes, as it was the last meal offered to the goddess on any given year.
Sudipa also revealed that if a Durga idol is used during a film or serial shoot, it should ideally be immersed after proper puja. “We had had a Durga Puja sequence in the teleserial Sanai. After the shoot, a priest was brought in to carry out the Sashthi, Saptami, Asthami, Nabami and Dashami rituals before the idol was immersed. I also cooked bhog that included niramish mangsho,” she said with a smile.
Neem Shuktani
(Serves 3)
Ingredients:
- Chopped vegetables (green bananas, raw papaya, drumsticks, brinjal etc): 500 gm
- Mustard paste : 1½ tsp
- Poppy seed paste: 2 tbsp
- Fried Bori: 6-7 pieces
- Shukto masala powder: 2 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp
- Mustard seeds: ½ tsp
- Neem leaves: 10-12
- Mustard oil: 3 tbsp
- Ghee: 1 tbsp
- Milk: 1 cup
- Salt and sugar: To taste
Preparation:
Heat oil in a kadhai. Fry all the cut vegetables and keep it aside. Heat some more oil and add fenugreek seeds and neem leaves and stir fry on low heat. Add all the fried vegetables. Then add milk, salt and sugar. Cover with a lid, and cook on low flame for about 10-15 mins. Add mustard paste, fried bori and poppy seed paste and mix well. Add ghee and shukto masala to the gravy and your neem shuktani is ready. Serve with steamed rice.
Niramish Mangsho
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
- Mutton: 800 gm
- Ginger paste: 3 tbsp
- Cumin paste: 2 tbsp
- Coriander powder: 2 tbsp
- Red chilli (seedless) paste: 2 tsp
- Rice paste (Gobindo Bhog): 3 tbsp
- Asafoetida powder: 1/2 tsp
- Tomato paste: 1/2 cup
- Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
- Pepper powder: 1 tsp
- Bay leaf: 2
- Cumin seeds and garam masala paste: 2 tsp
- Ghee: 1/2 cup
- Salt and sugar: To taste
Preparation:
Marinate the mutton with ginger paste, red chilli paste, pepper powder, salt and turmeric powder for about two hours. Heat ghee in kadai and add bay leaf, cumin paste, asafoetida powder, tomato paste and sugar. Slowly fry in low heat. Add coriander powder to it and mix it well with other spices. Add the marinated mutton and cook it on a low-medium flame for about 15-20 mins. Add warm water to it and cover it with a lid. Let it cook on a low flame for about one hour. Remove the lid and add gobindo bhog rice paste along with cumin and garam masala paste to it and mix well. Serve with rice. You can add fried potato halves to the gravy. Serve with hot basmati rice.