Moong Lau (bottle gourd with fried lentils)

When it comes to veggies, like any other person I too try to choose the ones which seem apparently fresh. Frankly, I'm not an expert and 'am not able to judge them by just trying to feel the weight or smelling them. In this context, I do remember my dad doing these weird exercises when as a youngster accompanied him to the local market. I not only felt embarrassed but also as I grew older I realized the amount of time we could have saved in those trips. I could have used that time to make a better judgment in choosing the lipstick or nail polish color.

 

Anyway, now a days I try to make my wise choice by not buying the ones which look or feel weird. Bottle gourd or Lau is one of those veggies which apparently look fresh but could surprise you when kept in the refrigerator before cooking it. It is because it loses its moisture easily and is no longer eligible for being cooked. As soon as I realized this, I always make it the very next day I buy it. Originally, this recipe had never been my or the big boy's favorite. Hence, I decided to make some changes to it. These simple touches actually strengthened the flavor of this very old recipe and to my surprise, the big boy even started liking it!

 

 

Ingredients:

• Lau (bottle gourd) – 1 medium, grated or chopped fine
• Moong daal – ½ cup 
• Fenugreek seeds – ½ tsp 
• Cumin seeds – ½ tsp 
• Bay leaves(dried) – 2-3 
• Green chillies (whole) – 2 to 3 
• Turmeric – ½ tsp 
• Garam Masala – ½ tsp 
• Ghee – 1 tsp 
• Oil for cooking 
• Salt as per taste 
• Sugar - ½ tbsp

 Method: 

• Heat ½ tablespoon of oil in a pan. 
• Add the moong dal in it and fry till they start to brown a little. 
• Remove them from oil and keep aside. 
• Now add about another ½ tablespoon of oil in the same pan and heat it up. 
• Add the bay leaves, cumin and fenugreek seeds and wait till they splutter. 
• Add the lau to it and stir to mix it well with the oil and the whole seeds. 
• Now add the turmeric, salt and sugar. 
• Cook the lau covered for about 5 minutes. 
• When the lau is half done, add the fried moong daal to it. 
• Cover and cook till almost done. 
• Open the cover and let the excess water evaporate. 
• Check the seasoning and adjust now if needed. 
• Add the garam masala and ghee. 
• Garnish with cilantro(optional) and serve with rice!

Notes:

Originally, the recipe does not call for garam masala. You may skip this if you want it mild.

Daal Palak (Spinach in a spicy lentil stew)

Ingredients:

• Toor Daal – 1 cup
• Spinach – 1 cup chopped fine
• Onions – 1 medium chopped fine
• Garlic – 2 pods chopped fine
• Ginger – ½ ” grated fresh
• Tomato - ½ chopped
• Turmeric – 1 tsp divided.
• Red Chilli powder - ½ tsp
• Mustard seeds - ¼ tsp
• Fenugreek (Methi) seeds - ¼ tsp
• Dried whole red chilli – 1
• Salt to taste
• Garam Masala - ½ tsp
• Oil for cooking
• Ghee – 1 tsp

 Method: 

•  Pressure cook the daal with ½ teaspoon of turmeric and little salt until it is cooked thoroughly. Keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add the methi and mustard seeds along with the dried whole red chilli.
• When the above starts to splutter, add the onions to it. Fry for a minute.
• Now add in the garlic, ginger and tomato.
• Stir fry till the water in the tomatoes evaporate.
• Now add the chopped spinach along with the rest of the turmeric and the red chilli powder.
• Cook the spinach until it is almost fried and no more water is left in it.
• Now add the cooked daal to it.
• Give the above mix a good stir until the ingredients are well combined.
• Continue simmering the above till the desired consistency.
• Heat ghee in a separate pan or ladle.
• When heated through, add the garam masala to it.
• As soon as it starts to sizzle, pour the ghee mixture over the simmering daal.
• Give the daal a good stir.
• Turn the heat off and the daal is ready to be served.
• Enjoy! 

 Notes:

• This daal is a good source of greens and protein. Really good for kids.
• You may use any kind of spinach version. For convenience I do use the frozen chopped ones. They are equally good and saves time.
• Make sure the daal is cooked till completely mashed. This preparation is a little on the thicker side.
• You may serve this with chapatti or rice. I personally like this with chapatti.

Chicken Reshmi Kabab (Silken Chicken Kabobs)

I started feeling guilty the past weeks due to not being able to post at all. In spite of the fact that my good friend ABM kept on pushing me for this recipe, I still could not make in time. I really felt bad because I promised her and could not keep it. The excuse has been the good old saga of a working mom who is in dire need of extra hours in her 24 hour schedule. However, as I started to pull my keyboard and typed in a few words, the guilt seemed to slowly melt away. This is to you ABM : -)

Ingredients:

• Chicken boneless- 1 lb (approx.)
• Garlic paste – 1tbsp
• Ginger paste – 1tbsp
• Yoghurt – ½ cup
• Almonds – ¼ cup
• Heavy whipping cream (table cream) – ½ cup
• Green Chillies- 5-6 finely chopped
• Cilantro – ½ cup chopped
• Mint – ¼ cup chopped
• All purpose flour (maida) – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Ghee(clarified butter) as needed

Method:

• Cut the chicken into 1 ½” pieces
• Blanch the almonds in warm water for about 30 minutes. Grind them into fine paste.
• Blend the yoghurt, salt, ginger, garlic, cilantro, mint and the whipping cream.
• Add the almond paste and green chillies to the above mixture. Check for seasoning.
• Marinade the chicken in the aforesaid mixture for at least 3 hrs.
• Soak the skewers for at least 20 minutes in water.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
• When ready, add the all purpose flour and some ghee to the marinated chicken and mix well.
• Prepare your baking sheet with foil and some non-stick spray.
• Now add the chicken pieces into the skewer one by one. One single skewer could hold from anywhere between 7 to 10 pieces of chicken, depending upon the size
• Bake the skewered chicken for 20 minutes, turn them around and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Apply ghee intermittently.
• Now turn the oven to broil position.
• Carefully broil the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side. This will give that charcoal burn to the chicken.
• Baste a final round of ghee and serve with any chutney or sauce of your liking.

Notes:

• If you want you can even perform this on the traditional charcoal or gas grill. This is great for barbecue too!
• For a little twist, you may add white pepper powder to the marinade. That gives an extra zing to it.

Kheer-Narkel Malpoa (Dumplings with coconut and milk solids in syrup)

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour(maida) – 1 cup
• Semolina (sooji) – ¼ cup
• Khoya (milk solids)– ¼ cup grated
• Coconut – ¼ cup grated
• Milk – ½ cup (warm)
• Sugar – ½ cup (for the malpoa-s)
• Sugar – more for the syrup
• Ghee for frying the malpoa-s
• Cardamom pods – 5 or 6
• Fennel seeds – ½ tbsp.

Method:

• Mix the flour and the semolina along with warm milk.
• Blend in the khoya, coconut and the fennel seeds.
• Add the sugar.
• Make sure that the above mixture is smooth in texture and no lumps are left behind. The consistency should be medium. Add more milk or water if needed. Keep aside.
• In a deep vessel, heat water and sugar in a proportion of 2:1 (water:sugar).
• Crush the cardamom pods and add them to the syrup.
• Bring the syrup to a rolling boil and after 2 minutes turn the heat down to the lowest setting.
• Heat the ghee in another pan.
• Take 1 to 2 tablespoon of the mixture and pour into the hot oil. Again the size of the malpoa is to one’s discretion. I like mine around 3 or 4 inches in diameter.
• Once one side is cooked, turn them over to the other side.
• Once they are dark brown on both sides, take them out from the ghee and drain them in the paper towel.
• When still hot dip the drained malpoa-s in the sugar syrup.
• Keep them there for a minute or two.
• Take them out into a shallow tray.
• Repeat the above process for the entire mixture. Pour the remaining syrup just to cover the malpoa-s.
• Keep the malpoa-s for a period of 3 to 4 hours before serving.
• Enjoy!!

Notes:

• Traditionally another simple and more popular version of this is by using ripe bananas instead of khoya or coconut. Using khoya makes it richer in taste.
• You could also use plain canola or vegetable oil as a substitute for ghee.

Ilish Dim-er Chorchori (Hilsa egg spicy stir fry)

A few months back, when I was in an Indian (Bangladeshi) store, I picked up some packaged Hilsa Eggs. These have been my all-time favorite since my childhood. Not only that, the demand for this is very steep in my home. I might sound unbelievable, but I’d actually have to trick my 2 year old to get a bite of it.


Generally, I’d keep it simple, and following my maa’s footsteps, I’d fry them with a little turmeric and salt to go with masoor daal. However, this time I wanted to make something out of it so that I could survive for two days at least.

Ingredients:

• Hilsa egg – 1 pkt (250gms)
• Onions – 1 medium chopped coarse
• Garlic – 3 cloves sliced
• Green Onions – 1 ½ bunch chopped coarse
• Red chilli flakes – ½ tbsp
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder – ½ tsp
• Garam Masala – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Sugar – 1tsp
• Oil
• Ghee (clarified butter) – 1 tsp

Method:

• Thaw the hilsa egg pack completely.
• Heat oil in a pan
• When enough heated, add the hilsa eggs to it.
• Add turmeric and salt to it.

• As you fry the hilsa eggs, try to break it down with the spatula to medium chunks. It is ok to have some crumbles too.
• Keep the above fried eggs aside.
• Now heat some more oil and add the chopped onions.
• When the onions turn transparent, add the garlic to it. Sauté the mixture for 1 minute.
• Now add the seasonings like red pepper flakes, black pepper, turmeric, salt and sugar.
• Keep the above stirring and add the fried hilsa eggs.
• Stir well to evenly coat the masala.
• Add the chopped green onions at this point followed by garam masala and a little bit of ghee.
• Turn off the stove and let the green onions wilt a little.
• Serve it over white rice.

Notes:

• This will be an oily dish with very least amount of water. I have not used any water in the above recipe. The moisture comes from the two kinds of onions.
• You could even use Grass-carp (rui/rohu) eggs also for this dish.
• The heat level of this dish is a little on the higher side.

Baingan Bharta (Mashed eggplants spiced mildly)

Sometimes after a long day or on a Sunday night especially after a busy weekend, what I really want for myself is a simple dinner, with least amount of fuss. The idea of warm soft chapatti (Indian bread) along with some simple less spicy curry, followed by a cup of hot tea seems to be just right for the occasion. Baingan bharta is one of those preparations which are less spicy yet quite comforting to the nerve. I remember last time when I had the aforesaid combination, the smoothness of the eggplants wrapped in softness of the bread just made me feel in bliss.

Ingredients:

• Eggplant – 2 medium
• Onions – 1 cup julienned
• Garlic – 2 cloves, sliced fine
• Ginger (fresh) – ½ ” root, grated
• Green Chillies – 1
• Tomatoes (fresh) - ½ medium
• Asafetida (Hing) – 1 ½ tsp
• Mustard Seeds – 1tsp
• Fenugreek (Methi) Seeds – 1 tsp
• Cilantro – ½ cup chopped
• Oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash the eggplants well and cut them into half lengthwise. Baste them with 2 to 3 tablespoon of oil.
• Pre-heat oven to 350F.
• Prepare a baking sheet by covering it up with aluminum foil.
• Place the eggplants on the tray and bake them for about 30 minutes. Check them for their doneness. If needed bake for a little bit more. Baste them with oil if you think it is getting a little drier.
• Once the egg plants are done keep them aside to cool.
• As the eggplants are getting cooled, prepare the onions, garlic and ginger.
• Chop the tomato into small cubes.
• Chop the green chillies fine
• Now heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is heated, add the mustard seeds and the fenugreek seeds.
• As soon as they start spluttering, add the onions and stir fry.
• After a couple of minutes, add the ginger and garlic too. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

• Now add 1 tsp. of the hing into the mixture.
• Give the above a quick stir. Add the chopped tomato and green chillies.
• Let the tomato cook, till the oil surfaces up.
• In the meantime, peel-off the outermost skin of the eggplants, and mash them well.
• Add this mashed eggplant into the pan.
• Stir all of the above ingredients to mix very well. Continue to cook on higher heat with occasional stirring until the entire water evaporates.
• Add the rest of the hing (½ tsp) along with the cilantro.
• Give all of it a quick stir.
• Serve with plain chappati with a dash of butter.

Red Curry with Chicken (Thai Style)

A few weeks back, I was in a Thai restaurant with my Mom, trying to expose her to Thai cuisine. We had ordered “green curry with tofu”. My mom was curious about various other dishes and I was trying to explain the contents of those to the best of my knowledge. One of them was the “red curry”.

Last week, I was not in a mood to make anything typically Indian, and since we had this discussion earlier about the Thai curry dishes, I thought of making this dish, which incidentally I had not made for a long time.

Ingredients:

• Chicken (boneless) – 1 to 2 oz.
• Mixed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, sugar-snap peas, baby carrots, bell peppers etc.) – 2 cups(approx.) cut into medium pieces
• Onions – ½ medium
• Garlic – 1 clove
• Ginger – ¼ inch
• Red Curry Paste – 3 tsp
• Coconut Milk – ½ can
• Fresh Basil leaves – 5 to 6 count
• Fresh Lemon – ½ a lemon
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• Black Pepper- ½ tsp
• Sugar – ½ tbsp

Method:

• Mix the Red Curry Paste along with the coconut milk. Keep it aside.
• Slice the chicken into ½ inch long strips. Coat them with salt and pepper.
• Slice the onions, garlic and ginger.
• Heat a little oil in a wok.
• Stir fry the chicken strips until they are browned a little. Take them out and keep aside
• Add the onions followed by the garlic. Stir fry them for a minute and then add the fresh ginger to it.
• Add the vegetables to it and fry for about 2 minutes
• Add the chicken pieces and give it a quick stir.
• Add the red curry paste mixture and about ½ cup of water for the gravy.
• Let the vegetables cook in the gravy till done. Make sure that the veggies are not overcooked.
• Squeeze ½ tsp of fresh lemon juice and add a little lemon zest to the gravy.
• Tear the basil leaves and stir it in. Turn off the heat.
• Serve this with white or brown rice, preferably with jasmine rice.

Notes:

• Red curry paste is a blend of garlic, ginger (galangal), cumin, coriander, red chilli powder and lemon grass. You may make it from scratch too. I’ll have that recipe posted in the near future. I am quite sure that once you use that, you’ll never go back to the store bought one. However, I used the store bought one to save some time.

• Red Curry is the hottest among the three kinds (i.e. green, yellow and red). Hence one has to be careful with the amount of the paste. You can adjust the level according to your heat tolerance capacity.

Tadka Daal with Egg (Green lentil curry with egg)

One of my favorite lentil curries to eat with naan or chapatti is the green moong daal. As many Indians are aware, this dish is a Punjab (Northern India)specialty and is available widely in the dhabas (roadside eat-outs) along the highways. I still remember as a kid, how I wished our driver stopped our car near one of those, to get some water or for something else and I could get the chance of coaxing my dad to get a plate of this absolutely delicious curry. Over the years, I developed the cooking style for this dish in different ways and this version to some extent let me connect to that roadside experience.

Ingredients:

For the Daal(Curry):

• Green Moong (whole) – 1 cup
• Rajma (kidney beans) – 1/3rd cup
• Onions – 3/4th medium Julienned
• Garlic – 3 cloves sliced finely
• Ginger – ½” piece grated
• Tomato (fresh) – ½ medium chopped fine.
• Turmeric – ½ tsp
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder(optional) – ½ tsp
• Green chillies(Thai or Indian) – 1 to 2 chillies chopped fine.
• Kasoori Methi(Dried fenugreek leaves) – 1 tbsp
• Cilantro – 1/3rd cup chopped
• Garam Masala – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Ghee(optional) – ½ tsp
• Oil for cooking

For the Egg:

• Eggs – 2
• Onion and Garlic paste – ½ tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash and soak both the green moong and rajma overnight
• Boil the daal mentioned above with salt until they are done.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter.
• Add the onions and fry till they change color.
• Add the garlic and ginger to it and stir fry them. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
• After a couple of minutes or so, add the tomato and fry well.
• Add the turmeric, red chilli powder , green chillies and cook until oil starts surfacing up.
• Add the daal at this point and mix well. During this process take a ladle or spoon and mash the daal here and there. This would give a texture to the curry.
• Now add the kasoori methi to it and simmer while you prepare the eggs separately.
• To prepare the eggs, whisk the two eggs along with the onion-garlic paste in a bowl.
• Take a small pan and heat a little oil in it.

• Add the egg mixture and stir briskly to scramble very fine.
• Once the eggs are semi-crispy, add it to the simmering daal.
• Add hot water to the daal if it looks too thick.
• Now add the garam masala and ghee. Adjust the salt if needed.
• Garnish it with cilantro and serve with hot Indian breads like chapatti or naan.

Notes:

• If you are a vegetarian or in a mood for it, you can skip the entire process of adding the egg to the daal.
• Also, in earlier days I used to drop the whisked eggs directly to the simmering daal. This is slightly tricky but works fine. In this case the eggs should be seasoned with salt and pepper only. The method is to stir the daal fast as you slowly pour in the whisked eggs. This will automatically form broken strings of eggs in the daal. However, over the years I found out that scrambling separately has a little more advantage in terms of flavor. Also, one could taste the eggs a little more then what I call the “egg-drop” method.

Aam Kheer (Fresh mangoes in sweetened milk)

The summer months always bring a lot of different colors with it. Though we are constantly finding our ways to beat the heat, we actually enjoy this fight. This is because the rewards are simply awesome. We get a chance to revisit the wardrobe and make a list of swimming gears and summer clothes that we need to buy. We get to plan on the summer vacation when the school is out. However, to top the list of the goodies that come with summer, there are the summer fruits. One of the most popular summer fruits is mango. Back in India there used to be varieties of this fruit like himsagar, lengra, golapkhus and more. Here, in the United States, my favorite is the Kent.

One other thing that is almost symbolized by a mango is the “Jamai Shashti”, an auspicious day for the son-in-law to be blessed by the mom-in-law. Traditionally, the mom-in-law is supposed to be on a fast and then cook an awesome lunch or dinner for the son-in law. This would also include a huge platter of all summer fruits, dominated by mangoes.

This year my mom got this chance for the first time and was hyperactive on it. She even wanted me to chant something sixty times, during shower with a mango in my hand. Obviously I sneaked my way out of it, phew! She of course put her best effort by fasting and cooking, the result of which was awesome. Thanks Maa!!

Ingredients:

• Whole Milk – 2 cups
• Evaporated Milk – 1 can (12oz.)
• Condensed Milk – ½ can (8 oz.)
• Sugar – 3/4 cup (approx.)
• Saffron threads (kesar) – a pinch
• Cardamom seeds (pounded) – ½ tsp (optional)
• Mangoes (fresh) - 1 medium

Method:

• Heat the whole milk in a pan. Bring it to a rolling boil and then turn the heat down to medium. Keep on stirring so that the milk dies not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Add the evaporated milk to it. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring from time to time.
• Add the condensed milk and continue till the mixture is reduced to almost ¾th of the original volume.
• Add sugar and adjust the sweetness of it. Wait till the sugar melts completely.
• Add the saffron threads and cardamom seeds to it and turn off the heat.
• Cool the prepared mixture completely.
• In the meantime cut ½ of the mango into tiny bite sized pieces. Keep them aside.
• When the prepared milk has completely cooled down, stir in the mango pieces to it.
• Refrigerate the above for about 5 – 6 hours. This will help the mango flavor to get infused into the kheer.

• Serve chilled, garnished with sliced mango pieces.

Notes:
• Try to use sweeter mangoes so that the milk does not get affected by the acidity.
• You can use canned mangoes, too.
• Make sure that the kheer is not even a bit warm. It should be at the room temperature or even cooler before you add the mangoes.

Enchorer Shammi Kabab (Green Jackfruit Kabobs)

I have been thinking about making something different out of green jackfruit than the usual curry. I remember, last time when I was in India, we had this nice lunch at “Oh! Calcutta” and one of the things that I ordered was “mochar shammi kabab”. That dish, in a way, was my inspiration to make enchorer shammi kabab.

Now if you want, you can even have a taste of this. That is, without actually making it yourself. Did you say “how?”

Please visit the “Char-Murti” food stall at the Anandamela 2010 by Bay area Prabashi on 26th June, 2010 and this is one of the items in the menu. So please come by and have a taste of this along with other typical Kolkata street food like egg-rolls, chicken rolls and Bengali traditional sweets like pathishapta, kanchagolla and more…For more information, please visit:
http://prabasi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=95&Itemid=62

Ingredients:

• Enchor (Green Jackfruit) – 1 can (280 gram)
• Potatoes – 1 large or 2 medium
• Onion paste – 1 medium onion
• Garlic paste – 1 ½ tsp
• Ginger paste – 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Garam masala powder – 1 ½ tsp
• Chaat masala – 2 tsp
• Ajwain powder – 1 tsp
• Raisins – ¼ cup
• Chana daal – ¼ cup
• Bread crumb – 1/3 cup
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying the kababs

Method:
• Soak the chana daal overnight.
• Boil the jackfruit along with the potatoes till they are done.
• Mash them with the help of a masher or any other tool.
• Drain the chana daal and grind it to a fine paste with least possible amount of water.
• Heat a little oil (about a tablespoon) in a deep vessel and add the onion, ginger and garlic to it.
• Fry till water evaporates.
• Add the mashed jackfruit and potatoes to it. Mix it really well.
• Add the rest of the spices and raisins and continue to stir.
• Add the chana daal paste and continue mixing till it starts forming a dough-like shape.
• Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down a little.
• While the mixture is still a little warm, add the bread crumbs and knead well.

• Make little round balls from the mixture and flatten them a little to shape like kababs.
• Deep fry the kababs in another vessel and serve it with the sauce or ketchup of your choice. I’d love mine with green chilli sauce or coriander chutney.

Notes:
In case of canned green jackfruit, if the can says “in Brine,” the green jackfruit tends to have a sour taste. In order to remove that sour bias, wash the green jackfruit pieces thoroughly and then soak them in a light sugar-water mixture for 6 – 8 hours.

Paneer Paratha (Indian bread with spicy cottage cheese stuffing)

The team building …
I would perhaps never forget the day when, for the first time, this dream became a reality in my kitchen. It was our marriage anniversary, and the big boy and I were driving home from work. As we finished planning the evening, a very dear friend called us to wish. It was a pleasant surprise for me because I did not expect anyone to call us for this occasion. After the initial wishes and thanks, he put forward the usual question, “What are your plans for dinner?” All excited about the plan, I said “We are going to make paneer paratha at home.” I could tell from the momentary silence that he was really surprised, but being a person of good judgment, he appreciated our effort.

I had no idea about the amount of work involved. But since it was a team effort (one of those rare occasions), it wasn’t too sweaty. The evening was rewarded with a creation worthwhile.

Ingredients:
• Whole wheat flour (for chappati) – 1 ½ cups; more for rolling out the parathas
• All-purpose flour – 1 cup
• Paneer – ½ lb
• Cumin powder- ½ tsp.
• Chat Masala or Amchur powder – ¼ tsp.
• Cilantro chopped fine
• Red chilli powder- ½ tsp or as per you taste
• Garam Masala- 1 tsp.
• Asafetida (Hing) – 1/8 tsp.
• Oil – 1 tbsp for kneading and additional amount as required for frying the Parathas
• Hot Water for kneading – 1 cup
• Salt to taste

Method:
• Sift the whole wheat flour and all purpose flour along with salt.
• Add the 1 tbsp of oil into the mixture and rub it well.
• Slowly add the hot water and knead the mixture till soft but not sticky.
• Divide the dough into smaller rounds, keep aside.
• Grate the paneer fine with any kind of food processor or grater.
• Add the cumin powder, red chilli powder, chat masala, garam masala, asafetida, salt and cilantro.
• Mix the above mixture well.

• Take each of the dough balls and create a little dent in it such that it looks like a little bowl.
• Take 1 tsp of the paneer mixture and place it into the dent created.
• Pinch the edges to seal the mixture inside.
• Roll the dough ball lightly between palms.
• Sprinkle flour on the wooden board and roll out the prepared dough balls into the shape of a tortilla. Add enough flour such that the parathas do not stick to the wooden board or the rolling pin.
• Do not press too hard, else the stuffing could come out.
• Heat the frying pan and dry roast the parathas for about 5 to 10 sec on each side.
• Heat a little oil in a pan (about 1 tbsp.) and shallow fry the parathas. Make sure they are blistered and charred a little on each side.
• Serve with plain yogurt and achaar (spicy condiment). Enjoy!!

Notes:
One should try to grate the paneer as fine as possible. This would enable you to put in a little extra stuffing. Also, the dry roasting of the parathas enables to get a crispy texture when shallow fried in oil.

Butter Chicken (Chicken pieces in a smooth and spicy gravy)

Over the last couple of weeks, I received several requests for chicken recipe. The recipe I am going to describe today is that of one of my favorite party dishes. This is also one of those preparations with which I started making chicken dishes. With several slight modifications made to the recipe over the years, the present form is quite different from my first venture on it.


I have used game hen for this recipe because the meat is softer than usual Tyson or Foster Brand chicken. One can also use boneless chicken for this.

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 1 ½ lbs. (1 game hen approx.) cut into medium pieces
• Onion – ½ medium onion
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Ginger - ½” piece
• Green Chillies (Thai/Indian) - 2 to 3
• Tomato Paste - 1 ½ tbsp
• Yogurt - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric - ½ tsp
• Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
• Heavy whipping cream - 2-3 tbsp
• Kasoori Methi (Dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Coriander Leaves – ¼th cup chopped
• Butter for cooking – ½ stick (approx.)
• Oil – a little

Marinade:

• Yogurt - ½ cup
• Tandoori Masala – 2 tbsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala - ½ tsp.
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Garlic Paste – 1tsp
• Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
• Oil or ghee – 1tbsp

Method:

• Mix the marinade ingredients along with the cut chicken pieces and keep aside for a minimum of 2 hours.
• Pre-heat the oven at 350 F.

• After the chicken pieces have been marinated well, line them in a foil wrapped bake ware and bake them in the oven for about 30 minutes. Brush the pieces from time to time with ghee/oil so that the chicken does not become dry.
• Turn off the oven and keep aside the baked chicken pieces.
• In the meantime make a fine paste of Onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies.
• Heat ¾ of the butter in a wok. Be careful not to burn it. To prevent burning, heat the butter with a little oil.
• Fry the above mentioned onion paste until the paste changes color.
• Add tomato paste and cook till the paste has blended well with rest of the mixture.
• Add the turmeric, red chilli powder, and sauté briefly.
• Whisk the yogurt a little and add it to the wok.
• Fry the mixture now until the oil starts surfacing up.
• Add the kasoori methi and give it a quick stir.
• Now add the chicken pieces and coat them with the spice in the wok. Excessive stirring might make the chicken fall apart. Therefore, stir carefully.
• Slowly add the whipping cream and stir gently.
• Add a little water and check the consistency of the gravy. It should be neither too thick nor too thin.
• Once the gravy starts to boil, turn off the stove.

• Heat the remaining ¼ butter in another smaller vessel. Once hot, add the garam masala to it.
• Once this mixture starts to sizzle, pour it over the chicken in the wok and stir it gently.
• Sprinkle the coriander leaves and serve it with hot rice.

Notes:

• I used tandoori masala by Shan. You may use any variety. Sometimes tandoori masala do not have the orange color in it. In that case you can add the color separately. You’ll need just a pinch of that.
• The last part of the recipe calls for the heated butter and garam masala from the top. This is popularly known as “chhnok” in north India or “phoron” in Bengali. The main difference is that phoron is performed at the beginning before anything is put in the oil and chhnok is done at the very end. The two processes have slightly little different results though.

Paneer Posto (Indian cottage cheese in poppy seed paste)

This week, I thought of sharing something simple that can be prepared quickly. On top of that, I was not in a mood to deal with onions or garlic or even ginger. This lead me to prepare something with poppy seed paste or what is popularly known as posto in Bengali. Originally, I got this recipe from my very good friend and my idol in cooking, Boishali, one of the best cooks I have ever known. I do not know whether over the years I have lost any step of the recipe, but I have tried my best to do justice to it.

Ingredients:

• Paneer (Indian cottage cheese)- ½ lb
• Posto (Poppy Seeds)- 4 tbsp
• Green Chillies- 3-4 small

• Bell Pepper- ½ red, ½ green, de-seeded and cut into medium cubes (The adjacent picture shows an example.)
• Yogurt- 4 tbsp.
• Panchforon (blend of 5 seeds, called panchpuran in Indian stores) – 1 tsp
• Oil
• Ghee – ½ tsp
• Salt to taste
• Sugar- 1 ½ tsp

Method

• Cut the paneer block into small bite size pieces and keep aside.
• Soak the posto (poppy seeds) in hot water for 2 hrs in advance.
• Grind the soaked poppy seeds and green chillies to a paste.
• Heat oil in a vessel.
• Add the panchforon and wait till it splutters.
• Add the bell peppers and stir fry briefly.
• Add the posto paste and fry for about 2 minutes.
• Add the yogurt, salt and sugar. Stir till the water evaporates. The gravy now will be semi-dry.
• Now add the paneer pieces and mix well
• Turn off the heat and add in the ghee.
• Serve with hot rice like Basmati.

Notes:

• Panchforon is a mix of kalo-jeera/kalaunji (Onion seeds), methi (fenugreek seeds), yellow mustard seeds, jeera (cumin seeds) and mauri/sauf (fennel seeds).
• Posto or poppy seeds might be a litte scary for non-indians but this is an all-time favourite among all Bengalis. No, it is not addicting except that the flavor is just very unique and tasty.

Fish Fry (Indian-Bengali style)

When I started this blog a couple of weeks back, I had received a request for this recipe. That was really helpful since it drove me to standardize my measurements. “Fish fry” in Kolkata, India is a typical appetizer item for most weddings and other such occasions. Although globalization has infused some western culture into the common man’s food-habit, fish-fry still seems to hold its position as one of the favorite dishes among the Bengalis from Kolkata.

Ingredients:


• Fish fillet- ¾ lb (approx.) of Tilapia/Catfish
• Onion- ½ of a medium
• Garlic- 2-3 cloves
• Ginger Paste- 1tsp
• Green Chillies (Thai or Indian )- 4-5 small
• Bread Crumbs- as needed
• Eggs- 5 large
• Cilantro - 1 bunch
• Lemon Juice- ½ cup
• Salt to taste
• Ajwain (Carom seed) powder – ½ tsp
• Amchur (Dried Mango) Powder- 1tsp

Method:

• Make a fine paste of onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies and cilantro. Keep aside

• Take the fish fillet and cut them thinner by running the knife (preferably the deboning knife) horizontally. You can accomplish this by holding down the thickest part of the fillet and gently running the knife through. You will get 2 thin layers approximately.
• Now cut each of the thin layers into 2”x 3” rectangles. You may not get perfect rectangles due to the original shape of the fillet, but this is to give you an approximate idea of the size.
• Mix the lemon juice, ajwain powder and salt into the cilantro mixture and marinade the fish pieces in them for about 1 ½ hours.
• Whisk the eggs along with some salt and keep aside.
• Divide the bread crumbs into two areas and keep them separately. Now it is time to prepare the cutlets.
• Step 1- Dip the marinated fillet into the 1st bread crumb plate and just pat the fillet with the crumbs to lock in the flavor of the marinade.

• Step 2- Dip the above fillet into the egg wash.
• Step 3- Roll the above fillet into the 2nd bread crumb plate and make sure that the fillet is fully coated with it. Try to make the shape as rectangular as possible.
• Repeat the 3 steps mentioned above for all the pieces.
• Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the breaded fish fillets.
• Serve them hot with tomato ketchup, hot sauce of any kind or ideally with kasundi (a typical Bengali condiment which you could find only in Bangladeshi stores in US). Additionally, one can also have a side of julienned cucumber and onions.

• This is an excellent starter and also a great accompaniment for tea.

Notes:

• Kasundi is what one can describe as a pickled mustard paste. Widely available in local food market in Kolkata, India
• The accompanying salad could be made of julienned onions, cucumber and beetroot all mixed in a dressing of lemon juice, kasundi and salt. In that case you might choose not to serve the kasundi separately.
• You can prepare these fillets ahead of time if you are preparing for a party and just fry them when guests start arriving.
• Ajwain or carom seeds are excellent for digestion and hence it is ideally used for appetizers traditionally.

Kadai Gosht

Mutton off the wok!!!...
For a while, I have been thinking of doing something with mutton that I had never done before. Though a few ideas were floating in my mind, nothing solidified until a few days back.

I still remember, back in India, there was a little fast-food joint near our house. They used to sell a mutton-roll which was absolutely beyond this world:). The tender yet crispy meat wrapped in soft bread, the sauce, the crunchy onions – all of these together used to create such an effect on the cerebrum that taste used to be the only sense left in the body. This “zzzing…” was not an effect of just chilli peppers, instead it was the effect of some unknown combination of spices. The last bite always used to be filled with the sadness of the end of this heavenly journey. In an attempt to reproduce that “zzzing…”, I have combined certain spices, the result of which is what I have to share with you today. It is what I call “Kadai Gosht “, that is, boneless goat meat cooked with bell peppers and onions with a combination of various spices. As the name suggests, this would be cooked in a kadai or wok with very little or no water. As mentioned, this would be a drier dish where the predominant gravy-maker would be oil and spices.

Kadai Gosht/Mutton (Goat meat with bell peppers in a dry and spicy gravy)

Ingredients
• Boneless goat meat (mutton) – 1 ½ lb
• Onions- 1 ¼ cup Julienned
• Bell-peppers - green, yellow & red (2:1:1); 2 cups julienned
• Garlic- 2-3 cloves finely chopped
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Ginger - ½ ” piece, finely chopped
• Shajeera (popularly known as kala jeera in the Indian stores) - ½ tsp
• Cumin powder - ½ tsp
• Coriander seeds - ½ tsp dry roasted and pounded coarsely
• Kasoori Methi – 1 tbsp (one could get this in Indian stores-it looks like dried leaves, green in color)
• Mace powder - ¼ tsp
• Cardamom seeds (ground) – ¼ tsp
• Cloves (ground) - ¼ tsp
• Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
• Red chilli flakes – ½ tsp
• Black pepper (ground) - ½ tsp
• Tomato paste - 1 tbsp
• Yogurt – ½ cup
• Turmeric – ¼ tsp
• Garam Masala - 1 pinch
• Salt to taste
• Ghee (clarified butter) - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves – ½ cup finely chopped

Method:

• Marinade the boneless pieces in a mixture of yogurt and garlic paste. Keep aside for 2 hrs.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker and fry the marinated meat.
• Once it gets charred a little here and there, add a little salt (about ½ tsp) and enough water to cover the meat and cook through.
• Heat oil in a pan or wok. Add the shajeera in it.
• When the shajeera starts to splutter, add the onions to it and fry for 1 min.
• Add the chopped garlic followed by chopped ginger.
• Let them fry along with the onions. Make sure that the garlic does not get burnt.
• Add the tomato paste and cook till it disintegrates.
• Add in the turmeric, red chilli powder, red chilli flakes, salt and sauté briefly
• Add in the meat pieces and stir fry till they are evenly coated with the spices (about 2 min).
• Now, add the cumin powder, coriander seeds, cardamom powder, cloves powder and mace powder and mix.

• Add the bell peppers to the above mixture and fry until the point where the bell peppers are cooked but have not lost the crunch. It could take about 5 minutes.
• Now add the kasoori methi, garam masala and give it a quick stir.
• Turn off the heat and add the ghee and the coriander leaves.
• Now take it off the wok and serve with white rice or chappati or paratha or even Naan.

Notes:

1. I had used goat meat from Costco which was easy to de-bone. You may use any other variety. Also, I have heard many complaints regarding the Costco meat being too tough. Fortunately, I never had that problem yet. I guess I was just lucky. The pieces could be cut into ½” cubes. You may also use any other red meat for this dish.
2. I have mentioned about pressure cooking the meat. You may cook it by any other means. Also, in the beginning, a lot of water would surface up in the pressure cooker. Let it evaporate to enable the charring procedure of the meat.
3. Chappati, paratha and Naan are all Indian style breads. This could be served with any other bread as well.
4. Garam Masala is a combination of Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves. You may get this powder very commonly in Indian stores.

Introduction (Why and How?)

Around the beginning of this year, some of my friends suggested that I should start writing a blog on cooking. Not that it was not on my mind, but with a 24x7 job i.e. being a mom of a 2 yr. old and with a full-time job, not to mention also managing the BIG boy of the house; I could hardly get a minute to think about a possible theme for my blog. So by stealing 5 minutes a day for the last 3 months, I finally came up with the following. I can write only about my own culinary ventures. I like traditional food as much as I like to get experimental with recipes. Consequently, you can expect this blog to be a habitat of well-known recipes of well-known dishes, somewhat different recipes of well-known dishes and intuitive recipes of unconventional dishes. Without further ado, let me tell you about the very first venture of my life.

The B'day Bash!!

The B’day Bash…

The first time I picked up the khunti (spatula) was 8 years ago, when I arrived at this country after the holy knot with the BIG boy. It was the day before his B’day and as a new wife, I was thinking hard about how to impress him. All of a sudden, came the Eureka moment! How about Fried-rice and Aloor-dom (potatoes in rich gravy)? Nervous, trying to remember how maa made it, I slowly started with the potatoes; and by the time I could feel the sweat on my eyelids, I realized, there they were…white basmati rice with the aroma of ghee and sautéed veggies in a plastic bowl (a typical student serveware) and small round potatoes cut in half with reddish oil and dark gravy just clinging onto it….

Over the years, I experimented with these simple recipes to make them a little special; and here I’m taking the opportunity to share that with you.

Fried Rice w/Govindabhog

Aloor Dom(Potatoes in rich Gravy of Cashews and Char-Magaz)