LAU PATAYE MASOOR DAL PATURI: Recipe with Step-by-Step Pictures

I have always been fascinated by those mischievous and fledgling bottle-gourd vine that Maa planted in the garden and how it always furrowed longitudinally to the roof. Maa and thamma, no matter how much they tried to tame those adventurous tendrils, the vines always found ways to play truant and spread its arms scouting for the brave new world (read old roof). I used to see them struggle, while my tiny toddler fingers punctiliously pulled and de-coiled those long-forked tendrils. Flash-forward to 2023, I am in my thirties and married and guess what, my Maa-in-love has the same hobby, taming bottle-gourd vines. She spends hours in the garden so that the luscious leaves and vines stay on the frame that’s meant for them. Last week, Maa gave me this huge task of taming the rebellious vines before the roof turned into an oasis of verdant green and a world of leaves and tendrils. I did my job, but my petuk Bangali soul couldn’t leave the garden without foraging a sheaf of leaves from the vines.

Lau Pata diye Dal Paturi, it is an age old, traditional Bengali recipe. While Paturi is known to the world as a traditional Bengali dish where the main ingredient (mostly some fish) is wrapped and steamed or roasted in banana leaves, but today we will go with these bottle-gourd leaves instead.

So lets get into the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

• Masoor dal paste
• Bottle-gourd leaves
• Finely chopped onions (Optional)
• Chopped Garlic (Optional)
• Chopped Ginger
• Chopped green chilies
• Turmeric
• Salt as per taste
• Mustard Oil

You can skip the onion and garlic if you want it to be a vegetarian dish. I prefer it with onions.

RECIPE:

Soak masoor dal for about an hour and then grind to a paste. You can keep the texture as per your preference, but for this particular recipe, a smoother texture ensures a perfect wrap.

Soak the bottle-gourd leaves in luke-warm water for about 15 minutes, take them out shake off the excess water.

Add rest of the ingredients to the masoor dal paste. Mix well.

Now comes the most interesting part, adding the paste and wrapping it. Take a leaf and place it on a flat surface.  Add a spoonful of the dal paste on the center of the leaf, take a corner of the leaf and place it over the paste. Add some more dal paste over that folded part. Now do that on all the corners till you get a nice firm shape. (Follow the picture)

Heat up some mustard oil in a pan and place the parcels gently in it. Be careful not to disturb the folds. Turn down the flame and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes. Turn them over and cook for another 3-5 minutes. You can insert a toothpick to make sure it’s done.

Serve hot.

Enjoy your lau-pata diye daal paturi hot with piping hot rice.
Note: Dal tends to loose the moisture and juice when it becomes cold. It is best to have it fresh from the pan, so if possible, prepare it just before the meal.