Fan us on Facebook . You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email
Jamai shashthi or as you can loosely translate in English is the son-in-law day. Its a day when the son-in-law is invited to the house, and is feted and fed with Bengali delicacies.
Jamai shashthi comes in the Bengali month of jaistho, and it is a social custom to formally invite and feed the son-in-law. Like most Bengali customs, this day is mostly about the food. Growing up, my granny used to make a huge meal for my mother – it mostly included four to five types of fishes from fries to curries and there was also vegetarian options and ending with chatni, papad, rasogolla and misti doi.
Days have passed and with my granny’s passing this custom have also ended. But, with my generation, jamai shashthi is still celebrated, but differently. My uncle,who lives in the US too have invited us for jamai shashthi, but not for a huge Bengali menu, but for a weekend barbecue.
Whatever it be, a twelve course Bengali meal or a weekend bbq, jamai shashthi is all about the food you serve to your son-in-law. So, here’s a my contribution to the menu, meatballs. Meatballs are very popular American food, inspired by the American meatballs here’s my Bengali take on meatballs.
For more jamai shashthi recipe please look through the all recipe section.
Bengali Style Meatballs
- Meatballs -
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 medium size potato, peeled and boiled
- ½ medium onion, chopped coarsely
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon rice flour
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 3-4 green chilies chopped
- 1 large egg
- Salt to taste
- Curry -
- 1 large potato, cut into inch size squares
- ½ onion chopped thinly
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 tomato, chopped coarsely
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 2-3 cinnamon
- 1 inch-size cardamom
- 2-3 cloves
- 3 tablespoon mustard oil
- Salt to taste
- Making the meatballs -
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Mix all ingredients of meatballs in a large bowl, it will make a sticky dough. Now with both your palms, make inch-size balls.
- Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil, and place the meatballs. Lightly spray some cooking oil over the meatballs and put it in the oven for 15-20minutes or till the meatballs start turning a little brown. Turn the meatballs half way through.
- Making the curry -
- Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Lightly sprinkle turmeric and salt to the potatoes, and toss it in the heated oil for 2-3 minutes, or till the potatoes turn a shade darker. Take out and keep aside
- Throw in the onion, garlic and fry till the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and fry till oil starts to separate. Transfer it to a wet grinder and pulse it to make a smooth paste.
- Heat the rest of the oil in another wok, throw in the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Add the onion-ginger-tomato paste, and stir.
- Put in all the spices, ginger- garlic paste and season with salt. Stir for a minute and then add the potatoes. Turn the flame to low and coat the potatoes with the spices. Let the spices turn drier and darker, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in about a cup of water and cook covered till the potatoes are done.
- Add the oven baked meatballs in the gravy and serve warm with white rice.
Hot Tips – In place of chicken you can also used ground beef or mutton. I baked the meatballs to avoid using too much oil. You can also just deep fry the meatballs. Purchase collagen casings and store them in the fridge. In place of egg in the meatballs you can also coat the meatballs with a mixture of a tablespoon corn starch and ¼ cup water.
If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader
This looks awesome! it’s going on my to-do list soon. Correct me if I missed it, but do you have a ‘pin’ button for pinterest on your site? I think you should, since your photography is so nice.
Hi Su,
Thank you for the compliment. I’m planning to put up a pinterest plugin, do come by again to check it out.