In Gujarati, shaak refers to vegetables and their preparations, so essentially it means you are dealing with a Gujarati sabzi recipe and not exactly a leafy green called ‘shaak’. One of the many shaak recipes is the famed guvar dhokli nu shaak, named after the cluster beans (guvar phali) and the spiced wheat-and-gram-flour dumplings (dhoklis). The dish is comforting, light and nutritious enough to be enjoyed with rotis or rice for lunch or dinner. It is a one-pot dish that starts with the typical Gujarati tempering of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida (hing), curry leaves, and chilli. Then add the cluster beans, spices, and water, and simmer the handmade dhoklis into a wholesome curry. The dish features the typical Gujarati flavours of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy, all from the combination of spices, lemon juice and jaggery used in it. Guvar dhokli nu shaak is also a nutritionally dense meal. Cluster beans are an excellent source of fibre, iron, and plant protein, while wheat-besan dhoklis contain slow-digesting carbohydrates and some protein. The tangy-sweet finish from jaggery and lemon keeps blood sugar from crashing. Whether you are cooking it for a quick weekday lunch or as part of a festive thali, learning how to make this comforting dish is a rewarding experience that keeps the regional cooking alive.

This World Milk Day, indulge in the local sweet of rosogolla made with jaggery or gur. Anything jaggery-based is a winter favourite in Bengal. The usual mishti or sweets that use sugar syrup are swapped with jaggery syrup or nolen gur, which is harvested from date palm trees. Some are sold as liquid, and some are cooked and cooked into a thick block of jaggery. So, the usual sugary rosogolla turns into an earthy, caramelly delight that is perfect to produce an amber-hued, soft and spongy rosogolla. World Milk Day, celebrated on 1st June every year, brings to the fore the importance of milk and how it supports livelihoods around the world. So, here’s honouring the gurer rosogolla recipe because it uses channa to make the spongy and soft rosogolla balls soaked in a sweet syrup. Approximately 1 litre of full-fat milk is required to make just 12 rosogollas, and the entire process of boiling, curdling, draining, and kneading the channa is a direct tribute to milk's extraordinary range. Nolen gur, also known as patali gur, is the soul of this recipe. You can find date palm jaggery in speciality stores that sell Bengali products, and of course in West Bengal. For those outside West Bengal, aside from local grocery stores, you can try online e-commerce stores that supply date palm jaggery, sold both as a solid block and in syrup form. A small block goes a long way and is absolutely worth seeking out, and this gurer rosogolla recipe won’t taste the same with cane jaggery or white sugar alone.

Rasgulle ki sabzi recipe might sound like something completely bizarre that is borderline blasphemy. You might be imagining the syrup-soaked ragullas, which is not the case for this recipe. This recipe features the rasgullas before they reach the sweet stage. The recipe for making the rasulla balls from milk remains the same, with the milk splitting and producing chenna that is drained and turned into spongy balls, which are then cooked into a curry. In this sabzi recipe, soft homemade paneer rasgullas are first lightly pan-fried in butter, and then simmered in a velvety cashew-poppy seed and tomato gravy layered with whole and ground spices. A lot of ingredients go into the gravy and also a lot of effort in making the rasgullas, so consider making this recipe for your weekend dinner or lunch and surprise someone today. If time is short, you can buy chenna from the store, not ragullas, as those are sold as a mithai, not the savoury version you need for this sanzi recipe. The gravy for this rasgulle ki sabzi draws inspiration from the typical Mughlai-style North Indian cooking with an onion and tomato base enriched with a khuskhus-cashew paste, ginger-garlic, and a generous finishing of kasuri methi and cream. Serve with hot roti, paratha, kulcha, or naan for a complete meal.