Posto- A soul food of Bengal, India

 Posto means 'alright', 'sorted', 'settled' in Italian.

And hence this meaning for Posto is quite relatable to the enormous emotions of Bengali's in India. 

Posto (bengali) is the seeds of the poppy plant. This plant is often used to extract opium (prepared from juice of Poppy seeds, used illicitly as a narcotic and occasionally in medicine as an analgesic (e.g. Morphine). In Hindi, the seeds are called khuskhus.

This small seed makes the Bengali delicacies look wonderful and settled individuals heart to see it specially in lunch plates.

Posto bata with mustard oil & green chilly

Poppy Seed paste

Being a Bengali my mother often give us with plain rice in an uncooked paste form in a mixture containing some green chilly paste, salt and mustard oil and it is called as Posto -Bata. The posto-bora or the shallow fried poppy paste pakoras made by preparing a thick batter by mixing poppy seed paste into gram flour, are also delightful in its own might.

Other than this it is specially used to thicken the gravy and enlighten the taste of cuisines and can be used with any vegetables or good fleshes like, Aloo (potato) Posto, Pyaaj (Onion) Posto, Begun (eggplant) Posto, Pepe (papaya) Posto, Ilish (hilsa fish) Posto, Chingri (prawn) Posto and the list goes on and on and on.

Kadamphul

These poppy seeds also find use in making sweets called the kheerkadam that resembles a kadamphool (Neolamarckia cadamba or the burflower / laran / Leichhardt Pine) poppy seeds appearing as the protruding petals of the spherical shaped flower.

 It is widely used in many countries, especially in Central Europe and South Asia, where it is legally grown and sold in shops. India is also one of the few countries that legally grow opium poppy and the only country which legally produces opium gum (contains several indispensable alkaloids such as morphine, codeine and thebaine).

Opium cultivation is permitted in the notified tracts in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Yes!  you read it right, West Bengal is still working on legalizing the poppy cultivation although it has been seen that few districts of Bengal like Bankura, Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and Birbhum also have the problem of illegal poppy cultivation which gives silent sources of  income and source of daily fooding. As, a staple food of Bengal, the govt. is working towards its legalization which will bring towards the better future of West Bengal.

But, this Poppy or Posto is the soul of any Bengali Platter and it is available in any market throughout the country, India. The cost could be starting from Rs. 800- Rs. 1000/kg.

Buy it- Paste it- Make it, you will definitely find peace having it.