By Rajlakshmi
December 13, 2025
The Bengali-style vegetable stew, popularly known as shukto, is perfect for using up all your seasonal veggies. It is power-packed with nutrition and fragrant spices. Shukto is a wonderful combination of veggies, coconut, milk, and aromatic spices. It is usually served with steamed rice before digging into the main course.
100 grams of shojne data or drumsticks 100 grams of sheem or flat beans 120 grams of sweet potato, chopped into wedges 100 grams of chopped brinjal 100 grams of potato, cut into wedges 50 grams of sliced bitter gourd 150 grams of deseeded and chopped unripe papaya 150 grams of chopped unripe bananas 2 teaspoons of ginger paste 25 grams of shorshe bata, finely ground mustard and water paste
2 tablespoons of grated coconut 10 pieces of sun-dried lentil dumplings or bori 4 bay leaves ½ teaspoon of panch phoron ¼ teaspoon of all-purpose-flour ½ cup of milk Salt to taste Sugar to taste ½ teaspoon of finely crushed radhuni 2 tablespoons of ghee
In a small bowl, mix all-purpose flour with milk to form a paste. Set aside. In a large skillet, add the vegetables, salt and water.
Parboil the drumsticks, papaya, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and flat beans on low heat for 15 minutes. Keep stirring.
Strain the excess water. Keep aside the vegetables and vegetable stock. In another pot, heat the oil. Add sun-dried lentil dumplings. Fry until golden-brown.
In the remaining oil, add bay leaves, panch phoron, and ginger paste. Mix and fry on low heat for 1 minute. Add in the shorshe bata and sauté well.
Add the potatoes first. Cover and cook for 3 minutes on low heat. Add in other boiled and fried vegetables in the pot. Add a pinch of salt, sugar and mix well.
Add grated coconut and keep mixing. Pour in vegetable stock, followed by bitter gourd and brinjal. Mix. Add milk and all-purpose-flour mixture to the stew.
Let it simmer on low heat for 5 minutes or until all the veggies are fully cooked. Add the radhuni powder at last. Stir well.
Add ghee on top. Turn off the flame. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot with rice.