The Curious Case of Eating Choddo Shaak (Fourteen Types of Leafy Greens) & Kali Puja in Bengal!

Bengal is considered to be the land of a majority of pious Hindus, worshipping the Goddess of Strength aka Kali Mata since ancient ages. And we follow some rituals during these days of Kali Puja and Diwali Celebration. 

The Day before Kali Puja is considered as Bhut Chaturdashi, an evening when the Spirits of our forefathers visit the living world once again and we light up Diyas in their remembrance. 

A part of the ritual is eating a very rare and exclusive mix of Fourteen types of Leafy Greens on this day! And that we call the 'Choddo Shaak'.

Choddo Shaak, a traditional recipe with Fourteen types of Leafy Greens

As per one of the ancient manuscripts, 'Charaka Samhita', people should eat more of the edible greens and herbs to protect themselves from the several fatal diseases of the pre-winter season, the month of 'Kartik' when the doors leading to the house of the God of Death, Yam Dev remains open. In simple words, people should consume more herbs to retain our strength and ward off the dangers of death.

The 'choddo shaak/saag' is generally fried in mustard oil and served during lunch. And the fourteen varieties are as follows - Palong Shaak(spinach), Laal Shaak(red Amaranth), Kolmi Shaak (water spinach), Sorshe Shaak (mustard greens), Mulo Shaak (radish green), Pui Shaak (basella/ Malabar spinach), Methi Shaak( fenugreek greens), Paat Shaak(young jute greens), Ol Kopi Shaak (turnips greens), Chola Shaak(chickpeas greens), Hincha Shaak( a type of bitter leaves), Lau Shaak (bottle gourd green), Kumro Shaak (pumpkin green), Kochur Shaak (taro greens). Sometimes you find few sprigs of Thankuni or Brahmi (Centella) leafs also in the mix. 

So when Dad brought this from the Bazar today, my Grandma started sorting it out and take out the bad leaves. 

The Bundle of Assorted Leafy Greens

The recipe is simple stir-frying them in mustard oil with salt and Panch Phoron (a mix of five whole spices, fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard and fennel seeds), dried red chilli and some poppy seeds to keep the goodness of the greens intact. She made it in hardly ten minutes.

Then she made a rangoli (alpona) to worship the Dish, Choddo Shaak where all the fourteen leafy greens were marked with auspicious Chandan & Sindoor paste along with some more dots and curves representing several other symbols of wellness and prosperity in a household. 

An Alpona (Rangoli) to worship the traditional recipe

Served as a starter with a spoon full of Ghee along with Bhaat (Rice) and we enjoyed eating something so traditional and ritualistic with the exciting history of this delicacy!

Choddo Shaak (Fourteen types of Herbicides)