The most popular and authentic appetizer for Bengalis is Shukto.
It is a light, tasty stew made with a variety of vegetables, especially potatoes, sweet potatoes, bitter gourd, green banana, drumsticks, raw papaya, eggplant, and beans.
Shukto has been associated with ‘traditional’ occasions and festivals and is in high demand in any Bengali restaurant.
ADVERTISEMENT
This Bengali dish made with mixed vegetables is very popular, especially in the summer season, and eating this is very good for health.
‘Shukto’ is not the name of a single food, as is commonly believed that Shukto is like a whole vegetable similar to Dalna or Ghanto.
It is done in a variety of ways, such as bottle gourd Shukto, cucumber Shukto, or vegetable Shukto.
While having Bengali cuisine, Sukto is eaten at the beginning, sometimes after spinach or fries and before dal.
So let’s see how to make Sukto, a special Bengali food, easily at home.

Shukto Recipe (Bengali Style)
Equipment
- 1 Kadhai
- 1 Induction Cooktop
- 1 Mixer Grinder
Ingredients
- 160 g drumsticks
- 120 g sweet potato
- 100 g beans
- 100 g eggplant/brinjal
- 50 g bitter gourd
- 100 g potatoes
- 150 g green banana kaanch kola
- 150 g raw papaya
- 10 pcs green chillies
- Water
- 60 g vegetable oil
- 4 pcs bay leaves
- 0.5 tsp panch phoran
- 35 g ginger paste
- 25 g mustard paste
- 15 g coconut grated
- 100 g of milk
- 0.25 tsp flour
- 20 g garam Masala
- 20 g sugar
- 0.5 tsp Radhuni fine powder
- 10 g ghee
Instructions
Cut the vegetables
- First cut the potatoes and sweet potatoes into 2 cm wide pieces according to the length.
- Cut raw bananas, papayas and eggplants into pieces 6 cm long and 6 cm wide.
- Trim the edges of the beans, remove the strands and cut them in half.
- Cut the bitter gourd into 4 cm long pieces.
- Also, peel the drumsticks and cut them into almost equal pieces.
Boil and fry the vegetables
- Before cooking, boil the vegetables (papaya, beans, sweet potatoes and potatoes and drumsticks.
- Rest of the vegetables needs to be fried.
- So, in a boiling pot, add 5 grams of salt and 600 grams of water and let the vegetables boil first.
- Close the lid of the pot and cook the vegetables on low heat for 15 minutes.
- Stir the vegetables occasionally to boil well.
- When done, strain the water immediately so that the vegetables are not overcooked.
- Save the boiled water for later use.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
- Fry the dal Boris till they turn golden.
- When it is fried, keep it aside.
- Similarly, fry the bitter gourd, kaanch kola and eggplant one by one, until everything is golden brown.
- Once fried, remove all the vegetables from the oil and set it aside.
Add mustard and mustard paste
- Now add bay leaves and panch phoran in the same oil and fry those well.
- When the aroma comes out, add ginger paste and fry the ginger paste on low flame for one minute.
- Then add mustard paste (mustard paste) and keep stirring.
- If your pan is becoming dry, add a little bit of water (you can use previously stored water used for boiling vegetables). Stir well until the oil separates.
Cooking vegetables
- Add the boiled potatoes, and cook on low heat for 3 minutes.
- Add the rest of the boiled vegetables, including the fried green banana and boris.
- Add salt and sugar accordingly.
- Mix everything well.
- Add the grated coconut and stir everything lightly.
- Now add the preserved water from the boiled vegetables.
- Add brinjal and bitter gourd.
- Gently mix all the vegetables and keep stirring lightly so that the vegetables do not break.
Add milk and cook Shukto
- Make a fine mixture of milk and flour and pour it into a pan.
- Let everything cook well over low heat until all the vegetables are fully cooked (about 3 to 5 minutes).
- To finish, grind Radhuni ( a type of spice) into a powder using a mortar pestle and sprinkle on the Shukto.
- Finally, add the ghee,
- Serve it hot .
ADVERTISEMENT
These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals as well as delicious to eat during summers.
This recipe is mostly popular with rice. You can easily make this vegetarian food and enjoy the dish.
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the links provided in the recipe are affiliate links. This means when you buy anything using those links, you help support this website at no extra cost.
Find more Recipes
- 6 Delicious Sandwich Recipes to Make for Breakfast or Snack
- Chicken Chowmin Recipe | How to make Chicken Chow at home
- Ilish Macher Tel Jhol Recipe | How to make Hilsa Light Gravy easily
- Butter Garlic Naan Recipe | Soft Butter Naan (without tandoor)
- Taler Bora Recipe | How to make Sugar Palm Fritters at home
- Muri Ghonto Recipe | How to make Bengali Style Muri Ghonto