Chaṛachaṛi ()/ Chorchori () is a unique char-flavored mixed vegetable dish of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, found primarily in Odia and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

cuisine of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Origin

Chorchori is often cooked with leftover vegetables at the end of the week. The story behind the dish is that in Bengali households, traditionally men would go grocery shopping once a week. At the end of the week, the household would be left with bits of all the vegetables bought earlier in the week.

Preparation

To cook chorchori, a ''

chaunk Tempering is a cooking technique used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in which whole spices (and sometimes also other ingredients such as dried chillies, minced ginger root or sugar) are cooked briefly in oil or ghee to lib ...

'' is prepared by frying spices such as

black mustard ''Rhamphospermum nigrum'' (syns. ''Brassica nigra'' and ''Sinapis nigra''), black mustard, is an annual plant native to cooler regions of North Africa, temperate regions of Europe, and parts of Asia. It is cultivated for its dark-brown-to-black se ...

seeds and minced

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

root in oil or

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

. Often,

panch phoron Panch phoron (Pānch phoron (), Panch phoran ( Bhojpuri:𑂣𑂁𑂒 𑂤𑂷𑂩𑂢), pānch phodan or pāncha phutaṇa (), is a whole spice blend, originating from eastern part of India, used as a prominent ingredient in the cuisines of ...

is used. Then, chopped vegetables are added and stir-fried briefly. Water, salt, and more spices are added, and the vegetables are allowed to simmer. Once all the liquid has been absorbed and cooked off, the vegetables begin to fry in the oil or ghee left in the bottom of the pot. As the vegetables begin to char, a sizzling sound is heard, and the pot is removed from the heat. After a few minutes, the thin charred crust is stirred gently into the dish. Typical vegetables used for ''chadachadi'' include potatoes,

eggplant Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

, French beans, and

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...

References

* Yamuna Devi (1987). ''The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking: Lord Krishna's Cuisine''. Illustrations by David Baird. New York, New York: Bala Books.

External links

Charchari recipe
(about 1/3 of the way down the page) Odia cuisine Bengali cuisine Bangladeshi cuisine {{Bangladesh-cuisine-stub

Origin

Preparation

See also

References

External links