Today’s lunch was initiated with a bowl full of cold Gota Seddo drizzled with mustard oil and kancha Lonka by the side. The first spoon took me back to that specific day of the year in the winter at my home in Kharagpur, West Bengal. 

12 মাসে 13। পার্বণ or Baro mashe tero parbon means there are thirteen festivals in twelve months. 

“Baby potatoes, Seam, Sweet potato, Matar, Palak, Baby Eggplants”, was a quick phordo aka list that I sent to my hubby on Valentine’s Day morning. 

It was 14th February 2024.

An impressive convergence of celebrations! Valentine’s Day is universally celebrated as a day of love and affection, while Saraswati Puja is a Hindu festival, especially Bengalis, dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom, and learning.

I soaked some green moong before it got too late while hubby went to fetch the ingredients. 

The day after Saraswati pooja is Shitol Shohsti. On this day, mothers observe a fast for the well-being of their children. I have seen Maa and my mamis doing this ritual since I was a kid. The Shil Nora (stone hand grinder) is provided rest and worshipped on the day as spices are not grounded or used. So, the whole boiled cooking procedure is practised a day prior. The vow is broken by eating whole-boiled food. Six whole vegetables along with a wholegrain are used to cook Gota Seddo. The cooking is always done the previous evening, that is on the Saraswati Pooja evening. It is consumed the next day. It’s consumed cold. Shitol means cold and Shosti means the Sixth day. Nothing hot or freshly prepared is consumed by the moms on this particular day. 

Tradition recites that eating “Gota” originally started as a Ghoti custom in West Bengal but it is not restricted to only Ghotis. We, as kids, sometimes had Gota with Pantha bhaath (fermented stale rice) the next day too. The word Gota means whole. Seddo means boiled.  

A little raw mustard oil is drizzled over the gota before eating it to enhance its otherwise bland taste.

 I started washing the veggies as the water boiled in a large kadhai on the gas. Traditionally, the cooking was done on Unoon or Chulhas. I threw the baby potatoes and sweet potatoes into the boiling water. None of the veggies is cut, everything goes whole. I ruminated about the diverse rituals we have been performing since childhood. 

The wait used to be long. The simmering took hours. 

I added a portion of salt next as the other moulds of vegetables rested patiently to be added to the boiling chowder. With the stacks intact, the baby eggplants went next. The peas and the flat beans or Seam were added with their shells on. Here, in Ahmedabad, I don,t get the Shis Palong or Palak with the steam, so I used the normal palak. 

Using a pressure cooker for gota seddo is the most stupid thing to do.

 This time I used whole mung dal but you can also use whole black urad dal . Gota was never a happy dish growing up in Bengal, but somehow I have grown more and more attached to it over the years while living in Gujarat. The most important thing to remember with this dish is that it needs to be fairly dry so add only enough water to cook the dal without it acquiring a soup-like consistency.

 Here goes the recipe…Gota Sheddho has diffrent varieties in every house of Bengal(West Bengal), prepared without spices and with little spices. 

Ingredients I used:

Baby potatoes: 5-6

Red potatoes: 4-5

Baby eggplants: 6

Spinach: 100gms

Flat beans: 7-8

Peas: 7-8

Green Moong soaked: 100gms

Mustard oil: 150 gms

Ginger: 25gms

Green chillies: 5-6

Salt- to taste

Sugar-to taste

Water 1.5 lbs

Cooking Method:

Wash all the vegetables but do not peel or cut.

Add 1.5 lbs of water to a deep bottom vessel.

Now add veggies one by one. 

Add the potatoes and sweet potatoes first as the water starts boiling.

After 15 mins add the green moong

After 10 more mins add the flat beans, peas and eggplants.

After 10 more mins finally add the spinach and grated ginger

Add the salt and sugar and cook on medium heat for another 25 minutes.

Check if all the veggies are cooked and turned soft.

Add mustard oil and cook for another 5 minutes.

Turn it off and let it cool.

Consume cold the next day. Do not refrigerate. Drizzle some pungent mustard oil and have with green chillies.