Pathar Mete Chorchori - Liver Dish in Bengali Style
We frequently lean toward some hot, oily food on bitter winter nights when the temperature hovers around 10 degrees Celsius. Mete Chorchori, or liver curry, is a useful dish for hectic weekdays when you do not want to spend much time preparing a meal or buying fast food. After one attempt, you may find yourself returning to the kitchen for it again.
The status of charchari as a staple of Bengali folk culture will never change. For those who have eaten it or cooked it, the dish often brings back memories of earlier times along with a distinct taste sensation. The only way to understand this fully is to ask a Bengali.
Charchari is a type of byanjan, a Bengali food item cooked down in very little broth.
"মীনী চড়চড়ি কুমড়াবড়ি |" (কৰিকঙ্কণ )
Teto, Bata, Chinchki, Vaja, Pora, Pur, Chachhari, Ghant, Siddha, Dal, Jhal, Jhol, Tok, Rasa, Kantha, Paturi, Malaikari, Jhati, Paitha, Dhoka, Shashari, Kalia, Dolma, Bagar, Samasa, etc. are among the traditional foods of Bengal that are prepared in various ways. Even 40 years ago, the smell of such cooking filled the entire neighbourhood. If a house cooked well, another house received a bowl. Bengalis appreciate sharing just as much as they like eating.
There are numerous varieties of charchari.
Bitter - Uchche Charchari, Sajane Danta Charchari
Vegetables - Pumpkin vegetable charchari
Vegetarian - Bati Charchari
Non-vegetarian - Fishbone Charchari
Porters, labourers, and low-income farmer groups in Bengal often preferred eating laal shutki chorchori with coarse brown rice. It was brought from home in a bowl wrapped in cloth and was sometimes hung from a tree until mealtime.
Ingredients
- Chicken or mutton liver: 300 g
- Tomato: 1 large
- Onion: 2 large, sliced
- Fresh ginger and garlic paste: 1 tablespoon
- Powder spices, 1 tsp each: turmeric, red chilli, coriander seeds, black pepper, toasted nutmeg 1
- Whole spices: bay leaves 2, cinnamon sticks 1/2 inch two, green cardamoms 3, cloves 4, dried whole red chili 2, whole peppercorn 1 tsp
- Boiled potatoes, sliced: 1/2 cup
- Vinegar: 2 tsp
- Minced spring onion leaves and green chili: for garnishing
- Sugar: 2 tsp
- Salt: to taste
- Cooking oil: 1 cup
Directions
- Boil the liver pieces in one cup water with one bay leaf, 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste, a little turmeric powder, and whole peppercorn until cooked well. Keep aside.
- Blanch the tomatoes first in hot water and then in cold water. Peel and make a paste.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add the whole spices, then sugar, onion slices, and potatoes. Fry until golden in color. Add ginger-garlic paste and tomato paste and fry well until the oil begins to ooze out.
- Add the boiled liver without adding the boiled stock at this stage. Add the spice powders and vinegar, stir in the oil, and add salt.
- Now add the boiled liver stock and let it cook on a simmer.
- After a few minutes, when the oil rises to the top, turn off the flame.
- Add spring onion and chili and serve with hot bread, naan, or paratha.
- In this recipe, Bengali people also like to add different winter vegetables for variation, such as peas, carrots, beetroot, turnip, and brinjal.
