Dheki Shaag – Fiddleheads Cooked with a Bengali Seasoning
Here we are with this momentous update of a post merging and meshing a few aspects of my life – I had first heard of Fiddle head Ferns from my friend Shapna, who helped with the Bengali recipes for Fiddleheads in the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles. Yes, believe it or not BouDaga Shag is a true blue Bengali vegetable called Dhenki or Bou (bride) Green or fern. I first picked these up from the Briarcliff Manor Farmer’s Market.
As for meshing an merging current life issues, I shall save that for a later day, a more decent hour!
Fiddle heads to me are a this very local specialty and one that is a harbinger of spring. They grow in the forests spontaneously, in fact, like most things found in the wild they need a little care while cooking. They are said to contain a mildly toxic substance which if not cooked properly can cause a bad stomach for some people. Fear not, they withstand a relatively long cooking period with grace and so all that is needed is a little bit of boiling prior to cooking.
I had made a couple of pasta dishes, my favorite being this one. When I had posted this on my facebook page, I was surprised to learn from one of the comments that said,
“Hi Rinku, Thanks for the recipe now I know one more way of cooking fiddleheads. Fiddlleheads also called dheki saag is a staple in the hill regions of Northeast India, often paired with panta bhaat(fermented rice). My husband who is from …Chittagong introduced me to it(sans panta bhaat) when we were living in Montreal. Every spring we foraged for it in the Laurentian Mountains with our children when we went sugar shacking. You can cook this exquisite vegetable with kalo jeera, shukno lonka phorun in a bit of desi ghee and lightly fry the boiled greens and serve with hot rice, simple and nourishing.”
Actually, I have since learned from, Chitrita Banerjee’s Life and Food in Bengal, that it is also called boudoga shaag, essentially bride’s edge green, named because of its bowed head which is the hallmark of a new Bengali bride.
A simple Bengali rendition of fiddlehead ferns or dheki shaag.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fiddlehead ferns (about ½ a pound), trimmed
- 3 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoon mustard oil
- ½ teaspoon nigella seeds
- 2 medium russet or Idaho potatoes (peeled and diced)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1-2 green chilies
- 1 dried red chili
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 11/2 teaspoons ghee
Instructions
- Place the fiddlehead ferns and the water with about 1 teaspoon salt on the fire. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Place in a colander to drain.
- Heat the mustard oil on medium high heat for about 1 minute and add in the nigella seeds and wait for them to sizzle. The oil should be hot enough to begin this right away.
- Add in the potatoes with the turmeric and chili powder and continue cooking the potatoes for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are golden and crisp. They need to be stirred frequently through this process.
- Once the potatoes are crisp and a nice golden brown color add in the remaining salt, green chilies and red chili with the ginger paste and saute for another minute.
- Add in the drained fiddle heads with the ghee and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Serve with a nice serving of steamed white rice and a simple dish of lentils like this
This surprised me, but then again as said here, Bengali cuisine is indeed an organic cuisine in that it seems to have uses for almost all of natures edibles. So I essentially listened to her directive and came up with a very interesting dish. As with some of my evening creations, I did not like the darker shades of the photographs, so I had hesitated about posting. Last evening, I was cleaning out my pictures, it has been a process to organize my pictures as it always tends to be after any trip and just when in my son’s words I feel “all caught up” it is time for the next.
NBMaggie
I will save this recipe until next spring when fresh fiddleheads become available at the local Metro Supermarket store. I grew up on the shores of the Saint John River in New Brunswick, Canada, where gathering fiddleheads was a rite of spring as soon as the river’s waters had receded after the winter snow melt. After multiple rinses, the greens were either steamed or boiled, served with melted butter and (if you were really blessed) a Saint John River salmon steak. Oh, the memories! What I love about your recipe is the addition of the spices. Too bad spring is a long ways off…but I will make this dish then.
rinkub@aol.com
Hi Maggie, Please do try the recipe and send me a picture! I would love to see how it works out.