Bengali Labra Recipe

As I am a Bengali I am familiyer about labra. Specially labra meaning mixed vegetable curry. Here you can use any kind of vegetable you like, there is no restriction or recommendation. My mother also cooks labra in the home. My all brothers and sisters love labra and I am a fan of labra. Labra is a traditional food recipe in Bangladesh and West Bengal. It is most popular in the vegetarian community. But if you think it is only popular to vegetarian people not in the nonveg eater community you are totally wrong. Labra is simultaneously popular in the vegetarian community and nonveg community. My mother is my idol to cook the best quality labra. I learned from my mother how to cook Bengali labra and the best quality of labra. Some cook labra without any types of legume but my mother like to add red lentils to labra to make it tastier and delicious. It is not traditional to add lentils to labra but my mother does add lentils it is her own recipe. I told you at the beginning that there is no restriction to use different vegetables. So, you can easily use any kind of vegetables you want. Any seasonal vegetable could be the ingredients of your tasty labra. 

Here I used some vegetables which I got near me. So, let`s start cooking the labra.

Bengali Labra Recipe

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Cuisine: Bengali

Ingredients for Labra recipe

• 200 grams Brinjal
• 200 grams Potol
• 100 grams Radish
• 100 grams Potato
• Some Spinach
• 1 cup red Lentil
• 3-4 green Chilies
• 1 cup chopped Onion
• 2 big size cloves minced Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Ginger paste 
• 1 teaspoon Fennel seeds paste
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
• 1 tablespoon red Chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seed powder
• 2 bay leaf
• Salt (as per taste)
• Ghee (as per need)
• 1 teaspoon whole Cumin
• 2 whole red Chili
• 1 tablespoon Panch Phoron of Bengali Five Spice (for tampering)
• Mustard oil (as per need for tampering)
• Ground dry roasted Garam masala powder

Method

Step 1:
First, wash all the vegetables with clean water and peel them if need, then cut them into cube size and also rinse the red lentil, and drain the excess water.

Step 2:
Then set a cooking corai/big pan on the stovetop and hit up, then add ghee to the pan and melt it. Add 1/2 cup of chopped onion, and minced garlic, and fry until onion is brown.

Step 3:

When the onion is brown then add ginger paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, fennel seed paste, cumin seed powder, and salt, and cook until perfectly roasted all spices.

Step 4:
If the spices look perfectly done then add all the vegetables, spinach and red lentils you prepared before. And stir for about 8-10 minutes.

Step 5:
At this stage add adequate water then cover and cook until all the vegetables and lentils are soft/boiled. If vegetables and lintel are soft take off the pan from the stove and keed aside.

Step 6:
Set another pan on the stove and pour mustard oil into the pan. When oil is hot add the rest chopped onion, whole cumin seeds, fennel seeds, panch phoron/Bengali five spices, and red chilis and fry until onion is red.

Step 7:
If spices are ready to temper pour all the vege from the first pan. Add green chilis, and roasted garam masala powder on top then cover and seam for about 10 minutes. After it switch off the stove and keeps it for a few minutes.

Serving:

Serve it hot with white rice, khichuri, flatbread, paratha, etc.