Somebody has grown plenty of vegetables. Is it not great? Then what is is the meaning of “What to eat”? Of course that person will eat what he has grown. If I have grown plenty of lettuce, tomato & chillies then I will eat enough lettuce leaves, tomatoes and chillies every day. But do I really enjoy eating plenty of those vegetables every day?
So friends, what do you eat if you have grown plenty of lettuce leaves, tomatoes and chillies? Actually, chilli will not be a problem because you can store it for future use by sun-drying ripe chillies. But you can not store lettuce leaves and tomatoes.
Now it is almost the middle of the March and within 2 weeks temperature will be so high here in Kolkata. So my lettuce plants will not survive more than 2 weeks until unless I am using a green shade net. But I am not ready to spend on green shade net, rather I will grow those summer vegetables which will tolerate high temperature.
So I have to consume more than a dozen of lettuce plants within 2 weeks. Normally, I eat lettuce leaves by using it in salad, pakoda or sandwiches. But I can not consume that much by using those in pakoda or sandwiches.
So I started making aloo kabuli ( a popular Bengali snack) where I can add tomatoes, chillies & lettuce leaves. Normally, lettuce leaves are not added to aloo kabuli. But you can easily add lettuce leaves to this and it will more delicious & healthy. The best part it that you do not need to cook it if you have already boiled potatoes.
I started preparing a good amount of aloo kabuli for dinner. This way I have already consumed 4 lettuce head.
Bengali aloo kabuli (recipe) with fresh lettuce leaves
- 1 cup chickpeas, soaked in water for overnight
- 1 large potato, boiled
- 2 medium size onions, cut into small pieces
- 3 tomatoes, cut into small pieces
- 2 cucumber, chopped
- 2 lettuce heads
- 3 green chillies, chopped
- 1 lemon
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, optional
- 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder, optional
- Soak chickpeas in a bowl for overnight and drain residual water
- Now take finely chopped lettuce leaves, onions, tomatoes & cucumbers in a large plate of bowl
- Then cut boiled potatoes into small pieces and add it to that bowl/plate
- Add soaked chickpeas & chopped fresh green chillies too
- Now add lemon juice, salt and spices (red chilli powder & roasted cumin powder, optional) and toss to mix all
- serve it
This is a wonderful salad and very popular in West Bengal as well as Bangladesh. If you are making any other easy homemade delicious dishes with lettuce leaves then you can share it here by leaving a comment below.
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