Potol er dalna , pointed gourd curry

 Some years ago , the cook fell in love and went away for the weekend.  She dint turn up again for the next 7 months. For those months Ma would come back from work and then hurriedly cook dinner, each time cursing the cook. Kabai would order lots of takeout and I perfected the art of making a sandwich. Potol er dalna was the first meal I cooked independently, following ma's instructions to a T . It has been mostly a hit except for the one time Shri Shri came to visit . A slight calculation error led my potol er dalna on the path to potol payesh . The divine intervened and the affair of the heart ran its course, the cook came back soon after.

Ingredients : 

Potol : 6-8 or more depending on the mouths to feed

Potatoes: about 2 big ones cut to match the potol halves in size. 

Jeera (cumin): whole and powdered

Turmeric: A heaped tea spoon 

Red chili powder: Totally depends on how hot you can handle this stuff. 

Bay leaf: 1 

Vegetable Oil: As little as your non stick will allow

Cut potol into horizontal halves. This is just a convention I really dont think it makes any difference to the taste. Add a pinch of salt and turmeric to the potol , mix well and set aside. There is actually only one simple hack to a good potol er dalna. fry the potol , really well . It should be a little brown in colour. If you have reached the charcoal shade, bin it and start again from the beginning. After the potol , fry the potatoes till they are lightly golden and set them both aside . 

Now to the good part. When the oil is nice and hot put in the lone bay leaf and a tea spoon of whole jeera. Wait till the jeera changes colour and starts popping out of the pan then quickly add a whole spoon full of powdered jeera  , the rest of the turmeric and powdered chili. This concoction tends to burn quickly so some rapid khunti action is required here. Time for the potol and alu to head back to the pan now. Keep stirring so that the gravy mixes well with the vegetables. Add salt to taste and with reverence to my one ghoti ancestor, a pinch of sugar . Add warm water and simmer. You can thicken or tighten the gravy as per your preference but I prefer the thick dalna to the jhol. Wait till the potato and the potol is cooked through , both should be soft. Add a tea spoon of ghee, of course optional, and serve.