Pathar Mete Charchari - Liver Dish in Bengali Style
We frequently crave hot, rich food on cold winter nights when the temperature hovers around 10 degrees Celsius. Mete Charchari, or Bengali-style liver curry, is also a convenient dish for hectic weekdays when you do not want to spend too much time preparing a meal or rely on fast food. Once you try it, you may find yourself making 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.
Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: 3 servings
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 powder
- 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.