Labra – Bengali vegetable stew
This dish represents that kind of comfort food that you want to have on a rainy day like this one. Simply warming and comforting!
Labra is a Bengali dish served in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. It contains a lot of vegetables and it is perfect for vegetarians. I have added sweet potato, cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini and pumpkin in mine. There might be variations though: some people add tomatoes or potatoes as well or even spinach. Just use the vegetables that you like the most. All of these are coated in fresh coconut and a lot of spices, then transformed into a delicious curry. Definitely one of my favorite veg dishes!
- 0.5 Pcs eggplant
- 0.5 Pcs zucchini
- 0.5 Pcs sweet potato
- 0.5 Pcs cauliflower florets
- 0.5 Pcs coconut (processed into a paste in the blender)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp nigella seeds
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 pinch hing (asafoetida)
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 pinch turmeric
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 0.5 tsp salt
Start by heating some coconut oil into a pan and then add the cumin seeds, nigella seeds, the hing, the mustard seeds and the dry red chilli and fry them for 30 seconds. Allow to splutter.
Add the sweet potato and some water and cook it for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, add all the other remaining veggies (eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower), the spice paste and the blended coconut.
Mix everything well and make sure the veggies are coated with the spice paste and coconut.
Cook everything for 5 minutes with the lid on. After 5 minutes, you can add some water and then cook it for further 5-10 minutes.
Serve with naan or any type of flatbread.