Bengali labra recipe – Bengali mixed vegetable curry for kojagori lakshmi puja

Bengali labra recipe with step-by-step pictures and video. Labra is a delicious, onion and garlic-free dry mixed vegetable curry prepared at the Bengali house mainly for puja purposes. At my home, I mainly prepare this sabji for Kojagori Lokkhi(Laxmi) Pujo and serve it with bhoger khichuri. Cooked in less oil and with a few spices (Bengali five spices important among them), used to get the exact taste that belongs to the exotic kitchen of Bengal.

What is Bengali Labra ?

Labra is a slightly sweet, creamy and mushy Bengali style mixed veg curry prepared for Bengali puja occasion. An old yet healthy dish, prepared by Bengali grandmothers to prevent health issues from seasonal changes. As this is a pure veg curry (like jain or sattvic cuisine), which means onion and garlic have never been used in it. That is why Bengali people specially prepare it for puja. Mainly serves in Durga puja and Lokkhi pujor khichuri bhog.

Sweet pumpkin, sweet potatoes, brinjals, and coconut are must-used vegetables in this dish. However, people from different regions use different varieties of sabji as per their tradition. Like, some people use spinach in it, and some say spinach should not be used in traditional labra tarkari. Some people also use raw bananas and banana stems. However, I make it with the vegetables that suit me best. For me only taste matters. Whatever vegetables can be used but that authentic taste must be intact.

As I belong to a ghoti family by birth, so since my childhood I’ve been seeing chchanchra as a common preparation in the lunch menu of Bengali Ghoti Bari’r marriage. And chorchori is one more preparation comes from ghoti barir rannaghar. Whereas “labra” came from Bengali Bangal Bari’r menu, basically an exotic paanchmishali torkari. Though Ghoti and Bangal both have their version of making ghonto.

But don’t ask me why these recipes are named labra, chchanchra, chorchori, ghonto etc. I can explain in my way but that may not be correct. So better to leave that discussion and focus on today’s Bengali puja special labra recipe.

My mom never cooked labra at home, so I never tasted this curry before. I fell in love with labda, when I first had this torkari in Masimoni’s house(in my childhood). That was the speciality of their lokkhi pujo’r bhoger khichuri prasad. After that, every year my sister and I never missed going Masimoni’s house at lokkhi puja time to relish their puja special khichuri labra combo.

As my husband and I both love labra, so after getting married, I started making it on my own. However, at the beginning, I was not satisfied with its taste as I felt something was missing and could not get the similar taste which I had in Masimoni’s house. Later after trying a lot and adding several ingredients, finally I got success and almost reached that unforgettable taste. So decided to share it on my website.

Here I have used ground dry roasted spices and a few little tricks which make it scrumptious. To know all the secrets about it, stay with me till the end.

Try this recipe at home, and please let me know how it worked and feel free if you have any questions about the recipe; just leave me a comment in the comment section below.

You may try this dish with my bhoger khichuri recipe too.

Bengali labra recipe – Bengali mixed vegetable curry for kojagori lakshmi puja

Prep time: 40 mins

Cooking time: 55 mins

Total time: 1 hrs 35 mins

Servings: 7-8 people

Course: Main course

Cuisine: Bengali Vegetarian recipe

Author: Moumita Paul

Ingredients

Vegetables for this recipe (cut into cubes)

• A Medium Size Bundle of Spinach/Palong Shaak
• 100 g Pumpkin/ Kumro
• 200 g Brinjal/ Begun
• 200 g Cabbage/ Bandhakopi
• 100 g Radish/ Mulo
• 75 g Sweet Potato/ Misti Aloo
• 75 g Ridge Gourd/ Jhinge
• 100 g Potato/ Aloo
• 50 g Tomato
• 1/2 cup(8 tbsp) Grated Coconut/ Narkel Kora
• A handful of Chopped Coriander Leaves / Dhonepata
• 2 Green Chilies/ Kancha Lonka

Spices for labra

• 1 tbsp Ginger paste/ Ada Bata
• 1 pc Green Chili Paste/ Kancha Lonka Bata
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder/ Holud Guro
• 1 tsp Cumin Powder/ Jeere Guro
• 1 tsp Coriander Powder/ Dhone Guro
• 1/4 tsp Red Chili Powder/ Lal Lonka Guro
• Ground dry roasted spices/ Bhaja Moshla

Other ingredients

• 3 tbsp Water
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• Salt(as per taste)
• Ghee or Clarified Butter

Dry making dry roasted spices/ Bhaja moshla

• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tsp Coriander Seeds
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1 Whole Red Chili

Dry roast the spices then ground them to make a powder form of it.

For Tempering in Oil

• 1 tsp Panch Phoron or Bengali Five Spice
• 3 tbsp Mustard oil
• 2 Whole Dry Red Chilies
• 1/8 tsp Hing or Asafoetida

How to make puja special bengali labra recipe at home with step by step pictures

• First, rinse all the vegetables with water and then peel off (which have skin to peel off), and cut into cubes.
• Then make 1 tsp ginger and 1 green chili paste with a mortar and pestle.

• Now, take a bowl, and add ginger-green chilli paste, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, and 1/4 tsp red chilli powder to it.

• Then add 3 tbsp water to the bowl to mix all the spices together and make a smooth paste out of it.

• Now, take a wide pan and place it on medium flame, add 3 tsp mustard oil and let it get hot.
• Add 2 dry whole red chilies and 1 tsp panch phoron or bengali five spice to it. let the spices crackle first.

• Then add 1/8 tsp hing or asafoetida to the oil. Stir it well.

• Then first add pumpkin(≈100g) to the pan and stir it nicely after 2 mins add potatoes(≈100g) to the pan. Mix it well.

• After 2 more mins add brinjal(≈200g) to the pan and mix it well. After 3-4 mins add sweet potatoes(≈75 g) and radish(≈ 100 g) to it. Mix it nicely.

• After 2-3 mins add cabbage(≈200 g) to the pan and mix it with other vegetables.

• Then add ridge gourd(≈75 g) and saute it for 4-5 mins then add tomato(≈ 50 g) to it. Mix it very well.

• After a few minutes add spinach(a medium-size bundle of spinach/palak) to the pan and mix it thoroughly with all veggies.

• Now cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 1 min in low flame(slow down the flame).

• After 10 mins remove the lid and add the masala paste(prepared earlier) to the pan.

• Then add 1+1/2 tsp salt and 2 tbsp sugar to the pan and mix it with the vegetables nicely. Stir it well.

• After 2 mins add a handful of chopped coriander leaves to the pan and mix it with the vegetables.
• Cover the pan with the lid and cook it for some time.
• Let the masalas be infused in the vegetables. Stir the vegetables occasionally.

• When the vegetables are almost cooked then add grated coconut(≈1/2 cup or 7-8 tbsp full) to it and mix it nicely.
• Once again cover the pan with the lid till the vegetables are cooked properly.

• When the vegetables are perfectly cooked then add slit 1 green chili to it.
• Now dry roast the spices(1 tsp Cumin Seeds, 1 tsp Coriander Seeds, 1 tsp Fennel Seeds, 1 Whole Red Chili) and ground them to mix them well with the veggies.
• let the spice get infused in the curry.

• After about 2-3 minutes, once the gravy is dry, add 1 tsp ghee to it. Stir it well. Switch off the heat. Cover the pan with the lid.

• Bengali labra is ready, serve it with khichuri or rice and dal.

Summary

Recipe Name

Bengali labra recipe

Author Name

Moumita Paul

Published On

2019-02-20

Preparation Time

40M

Cook Time

55M

Total Time

1H35M

Average Rating

4 Based on 5 Review(s)