Peas or Koraishutir Kochuri

Peas Puri or Koraishutir Kochuri as bongs call it is brings on fond memory of Kolkata. It reminds me of the "freezing" 60°F (15°C) winters in Kolkata. It’s during that time fresh green peas hit the local market. The kids in the house were given the chore of taking the peas out of their pods. The yield rates were around 50%, the other 50% were stuffed in the mouths with small little hands.

These days in the world of frozen goodies, the famed Koraishutir Kochuri can be made any time of the year, all that is needed is a short trip to the local store. 

Please also checkout the video recipe on my youtube channel by clicking this link or on the play button below.

Ingredients

SERVING 16 pieces

1. Frozen peas- 700gm 
2. Ginger-2 inch
3. Green Chili - 4-5
4. Bhaja Mosla - 1tbsp
5. Refined Oil - 3 tbsp
6. Salt to taste
7. All Purpose Flour– 2 cup
8. Salt- 1/2 tbsp
9. Sugar - 1 tbsp
10. White oil or ghee(clarified butter) -2 tbsp
11. Water - 1 cup ( Approximately 
12. Refined oil for deep Frying

Procedure

In a grinder add a little water, peas, ginger and green chili. Make a fine paste out of them.

Take oil in a frying pan. Add one pinch of asfoetida. Now add the paste you just made. Keep on stirring till the water completely evaporates and the pea mixture becomes dry and thick enough to make small balls out of it. Now add salt to your taste and if the peas are not sweet enough you can add little sugar to it. Let it cool and then sprinkle some dry roasted cumin powder.

Now we need to make the dough. In a wide vessel take the flour, salt and the oil or ghee for shortening. Rub the ghee into the flour with your finger tips. Now slowly add the warm water and knead it until the dough becomes soft and smooth. Cover it with a damp cloth or kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Once again knead it and make small ping pong sized ball out of it.

Take a ball you made out from the flour and keep it on your palm. Using the other palm press it and make a small disc. You can also use your rolling pin to make this disc. Make a small ball out of your pea stuffing and put it in the center of the disc.  Bring the sides together and cover the opening. Now flatten it with your palm.

Roll out by applying little oil on both the sides.

Take oil in a wok or kadai and heat it. Deep fry the kochuri till both sides puff up.

Traditionally koraishutir kochuri is had with chana dal or potato curry (aloor dum). However, this time when I made it we had some home made mango chutney from my Tamil friends, it made a killer combo.

Healthy option

If you are like me and need to take care of someone who is prone to over-eat you can take the healthier option of making Peas Paratha.

The stuffing is made exactly the same way. For the dough replace with whole wheat flour. While rolling out the dough use more dough to create larger parathas. Also the dip-fry step is omitted in the Paratha. Heat a tawa or a skillet. Place the paratha on the heated tawa and cook for half a minute. Now flip the other side and pour oil with a spoon around the edge. Cook this side and flip again. You will notice brown spots on the surfaces  when the paratha is cooked.

Fish Fry

I have been blogging for some time now. While my blogs have touched various nooks and crannies of Bengali and Indian cuisine but somehow a mainstay of Bengali food, the famed Kolkata Fish fry has been missing. I did blog the recipe awhile back and it was one of my more popular posts but somehow the post got deleted.
So here it is back on bongcook, and to make up for the deletion I actually have a video to go along with. I love short and sweet videos and in that theme this is only around 2 minutes.
The reason I call it restaurant style is because while a lot of people make it at home it doesn’t quiet get the restaurant look. In the video I tried to cover how to really make it look good as well.
Hope you enjoy the video and as always I have the recipe below as well.

Ingredients For Marination

• 250gms bhetki fillet cut approximately 2 inch by 2 inch
  
• 1 lemon
  
• 2 tbsp. onion paste
  
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
  
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
  
• 2 tsp. green chili paste
  
• 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper corn
  
• Salt to taste
  

Procedure For Marination

Mix all the ingredients above including the juice of one lemon and apply to the fish fillet so that all the sides are well covered with this spice mixture. Marinate for 3 - 4 hrs.

Ingredients For Coating & Frying

• 2 eggs
  
• Plenty of bread crumbs
  
• Enough refined oil for deep frying
  

Procedure For Coating & Frying
In a bowl beat 2 eggs with salt.
In a wide tray or plate take bread crumbs and spread it to form a layer.
With a spoon or fork take each fillet out, and dip it in the egg wash and place flat on the bread crumb layer. With your dry hands sprinkle a fistful of bread crumb on the open top layer of the fillet so that that this surface too is covered with bread crumbs.
Press gently with the palms of your hand to flatten them.
Use the blunt side of a knife and press it along the all 4 edges of the breaded fillet to give them a professional look. :)
Heat enough oil for deep frying till it smokes. Reduce the temperature and let it cool down a bit before you slid in the breaded fillet. Fry on medium high heat till both sides turn golden brown and crispy.
Remove on a paper towel and serve with salad.

Cook Friendly Chili Chicken

One of my most ardent readers is now one of my very good friend and neighbor. One day over tea we were discussing, how hard it is to make chili-chicken when you have food robbers in the house. The moment we are done with frying the chicken it starts disappearing. Finally the chili-chicken results in lot of chili and very little chicken.

Just to handle this situation I have come up with the cook friendly version where the chicken is not fully cooked after frying and that stops the robbers.

Ingredients

For Marination

• 1lb boneless chicken cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 tbsp. dark soya sauce
• 2 tbsp. chili garlic sauce
• 2 tbsp. green chili sauce
• Salt to state
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. corn meal or rice flour
• 4 tbsp.. oil

For Gravy

• 1 large onion cut into cubes
• 1 green bell pepper cut into cubes
• 2 tbsp. chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp. chopped green chilies
• 1/.2 cup chopped green onion.
• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 2 tbsp. green chili sauce
• 2 tbsp. chili garlic sauce
• 2 tbsp. dark soya sauce
• 2 tbsp. corn starch diluted in half cup water
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Marinates chicken pieces with all ingredients listed under margination without the flours and the oil. Marinate for half an hour. Sprinkle all purpose flour and corn meal over the chicken pieces and coat very gently.

Now heat oil in a wide shallow frying pan. Shallow fry the chicken pieces in one layer first on high heat for a minute and then on medium heat till the meat is ninety percent done. You will see the surface of the chicken pieces are crispy because of the application of corn meal. Remove and reserve for later use.

In the rest of the oil add chopped garlic and fry for a minute before you add onion and green chilies to it. Sauté everything together for a minute or two on high heat. Now add fried chicken pieces to it and mix well. Cook it covered on low heat for couple of minutes. This will cook chicken through and through.

Remove the lid and crank up the heat to high. Add bell pepper and toss everything well. Turn off the heat.

In another sauce pan combine vinegar, chili garlic sauce, green chili sauce, dark soya sauce with half

a cup of water. Bring it to a boil. Bring the heat to the lowest and slowly add diluted corn starch to it.

Crank up the heat while stirring it continuously till you see the sauce thickens up. Add the fried chicken mixture to it and turn off the heat.  check the seasoning and adjust. Garnish with green onion.

If you want dry chili chicken then you add all the sauce directly over the fried chicken mixture and fry everything together till the chicken pieces are well coated with the sauces. Add diluted cornstarch over it and mix on high flame till the moisture dries up. Check the seasoning and adjust. Finish it off with chopped green onion.

Prawn Cutlet

 

Yesterday I met with a bunch of friends for our monthly adda session. One of our friends had posted on Facebook, delicious photos of prawn cutlet she had made. We were after her about our missing share of the booty.

That reminded me that my post of chingrir cutlet was languishing in drafts. Time to post it.

With summer around the corner this makes for a fantastic eat on your patio paired with some nice white wine or Riesling.

Ingredients

• 2 large king prawns (each about 150gm)
• 2 tsp. chopped green chilies
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 tsp. black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 2 large egg
• 3 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 2 cups bread crumb
• Mustard oil enough for deep frying

Procedure

Devein the prawns. Remove the shell other than the tail part. Slit and open it flat. Score lengthwise on each side of the central cut. This will help to keep the prawn flat while giving them the shape of a cutlet.

In a bowl mix everything other than the last four ingredients. Apply on both sides of the prawn and marinate them in the refrigerator for about an hour.
Take out the marinated prawns.

In a bowl mix the flour with the egg and 1 tbsp. mustard oil. Season it with salt and sugar and mix well to make a lump free batter.

**Take each marinated prawn at a time and first roll it over the bed of bread crumb. Take the blunt side of a knife and press it against the side of the prawn to give them the shape of a cutlet. Repeat the same process for the other marinated prawn.

In a deep wok heat mustard oil enough for deep frying. Now take each prawn and dip into the egg batter. Shake off the extra batter from it and gently slide it into the medium hot oil. Fry on medium heat till both sides are crispy and golden brown..

Serve with your favorite ketchup and salad..

**NOTE: Normally you first dip in batter and then roll in bread-crump, in this recipe it is intentional that it is done the other way around so as to stop the prawn from curling up.

Mutton Tikia or Balls

The same recipe works for both tikia and balls based on the final shape you choose. If you have ample time, shape them as discs (tikia) and shallow fry them, if you are in a hurry and your guests arrive in the next hour, make them into balls like I have done and deep fry them. The taste and texture remains very similar.
Tikia goes very well both with a glass of scotch that you share with your guests before dinner, or with a steaming cup of coffee.

Ingredients

• 1lb. minced mutton
• 1 tbsp. raw papaya (Instead you can use 1/2tsp. meat tenderizer)
• 2 medium onions minced
• 10 large garlic cloves minced
• 5 green chilies minced
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1 tbsp. clarified butter (Ghee)
• 1 tbsp. freshly ground Bengali garam masala
• 2 tbsp. roasted gram flour (Besan)
• 1 tbsp. sugar 
• Salt to taste
• Refined oil for frying

Procedure

Wash the minced meat and drain it on a colander or strainer to drain out most of the water from it.
Now take the meat in a mixing bowl and add chopped, onion, garlic, green chilies, raw papaya paste red chili powder, garam masala powder, salt, sugar along with a tablespoon of ghee to it.
Knead the minced meat well with all the spices and keep the mixture marinated in the refrigerator for half an hour.
After thirty minutes take out the mixture and bring it back to the room temperature.
Add roasted gram flour to it and mix well. This will help in binding the tikias. Take a lemon sized meat mixture and give it a flat round cutlet shape. that is the traditional shape of tikia. I have made them round as I was in a hurry.
Heat oil in a tawa (Skillet) and fry them on medium heat till the meat meat is cooked. Drain them on a paper towel and serve hot with paratha and your favorite chutney..

Egg Parantha

I make this hearty breakfast for my daughter when she heads out to play, either in the summer sun or on snowy winter days. It is easy to make and at the same time tasty and very filling. An extra dollop of butter over it makes her extra happy.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (Atta)
• 1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)
• 5 egg
• 4 tbsp. minced onion
• 2tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp. minced ginger
• 2 tbsp. minced green chilies
• Salt to taste
• Refined oil for frying

Procedure

In a mixing bowl mix two kinds of flour. Add salt to it and mix well. Now break one egg and add to it. Sprinkle 1 tbsp. chopped cilantro. Start kneading to make a soft dough. If required you can add water little at a time. Cover the dough and keep aside for half an hour.

Divide the dough into four equal sized balls. Now take dry flour on a rolling surface and roll out each dough ball into a disc of about 10” diameter.

Heat a skillet and transfer the disc on the skillet. Keep he heat mark on low.

Beat one egg with little salt and pour it over the disc. Gently spread the egg evenly all over the disc. Increase the heat mark to medium.  Sprinkle chopped cilantro, ginger, onion and green chilies over it. Now fold the paratha a shown in the picture. Brush oil on the top surface of the paratha and flip it over. Brush oil on the other surface too.

Cook on medium heat till you see brown spots all over the surface of the paratha.

Serve with ketchup or achar.

Chicken Hariyali Kebab

We had a steady stream of guests over the holidays. Especially to cater to the palate of our local friends I chose this mild kebab, which goes really well with wine and beer. I serve this as a starter as Hariyali kebab turns out to be an excellent conversation starter.

Hariyali means green which is the color of the kebab, in this regard this is very different from the other kebabs. The green comes from the paste of cilantro, mint and fenugreek leaves that is used as marinade.

Ingredients

For 4 people. serving size 4 pieces

• 1lb. boneless chicken breast cut into 2” pieces
• 4 tbsp. thick curd
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup cilantro ( Coriander Leaves )
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 1/4 cup fenugreek leaves ( Methi )
• 1” ginger
• 5-6 fat cloves of garlic
• 3-4 green chilies
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder
• 2 tsp. chicken tandoori masala
• 3-4 tbsp. ghee ( Clarified Butter)
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Take chicken pieces and apply salt, lemon juice and red chili powder to it. Keep aside for 10-15 minutes.

In the mean time make a smooth paste of cilantro, mint, fenugreek leaves along with ginger, garlic and green chilies.

In a mixing bowl add curd and all other ground spices and mix them with the green paste. Add chicken pieces to it and mix them well with the marinade so that the chicken pieces are well coated with it. Keep it covered for at least two to three hours.

Soak the skewers in plain water for half an hour to avoid burning. Now arrange chicken pieces on the skewer and apply some clarified butter over it.

Pre heat the oven at 400F and grill them for 12-15 minutes. Turn the skewers once when they are half way through for even cooking.

Remove the kebabs from the skewers and arrange them on a serving plate. Serve with some green chutney and lemon wedge.

Ginger Cookies

When we were kids we used to get these ginger biscuits with the word BIL imprinted on it from most probably Britannia. I loved those biscuits and since we are a little away from inventing the time machine to go back and get those, I make my own. Try them out, they make wonderful accompaniment to some great Darjeeling tea to warm up your cool evenings.

Ingredients

• 2 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 150 gm. unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup honey                 
• 100 gm. dark brown cane sugar
• 100 gm. cane sugar (White)
• 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed ginger juice ( I grate around 2 inch fresh ginger root and squeeze out the juice)
• 2 tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup granulated white sugar for garnishing

NOTE: If you don’t want to add fresh ginger juice you can use 1 tbsp. ginger powder

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl melt butter and allow it to cool down a little. To it add honey, egg, lemon zest and ginger juice. Stir it well to mix them well.

In another bowl sift flour with baking soda. Add two types of sugar to it and give a nice mix.

Now slowly add this flour mixture little at a time to the liquid mixture to form a dough. Cover the dough with a cling wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for an hour.

In a medium sized bowl take half a cup of white granulated sugar and keep handy. Now make small lemon sized balls from the dough and roll it over the sugar coating them thoroughly.

Place them on a baking sheet keeping spacing about 1.5 inches apart. Flatten each of them with your palm and bake them for about 10 – 12 minutes. The cookies will be firm with a little soft centers. Take them out of the oven and cool them on a wire rack.

Alubhaja–Extra Crispy Potato Fry

It is hard to explain to someone who has never had daal with crispy potato fry, how good it is. It all sounds very simple until you really give it a try. The cut and fry has to be just perfect.

Digha a beach town close to Kolkata is a regular vacationing spot for most Bongs. We used to also go there for our Zoology field trips. None of those visits were complete without the visit to Parijat and Baluchari restaurants in Digha. They were known for their seafood and more for their crispy potato fries. They were what we used to call “plate system” where you choose the type of meal and they would ensure your plate is never empty. However, they soon imposed the upper limit on the fries as people would go on asking for it.

I had to impose a similar upper limit when I made the same fries. My daughter was unstoppable.

Ingredients

• 4 medium sized potatoes
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt 
• Ice cold water
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Peel the potato and cut it into thin round slices. Now with a sharp knife cut them into juliennes. You will have to cut the potato very thinly and evenly. Make sure to dunk them in water as soon as you cut them.

Once you are all done with cutting wash them thoroughly and dunk them in ice cold water for about 15 minutes. Drain the water and again dip the potato juliennes in another set of ice cold water for 20-30 minutes. This time add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder in it.

Drain the water and spread the potatoes on a paper under fan to make them completely dry.

Take enough oil in a deep wok and heat it till it smokes. Add a handful of potato juliennes in hot oil at a time and keep it stirring continuously with a slotted spoon for even cooking. It also prevents formation of any lumps.

Continue frying them in the hot oil. It takes about 3-4 minutes for the potatoes to become crispy. Now reduce the heat and remove them with a slotted spoon. Drain them on a paper towel.

Sprinkle salt just before serving. Alubhaja tastes best with hot rice and plain musur dal. 

Chicken Cutlet

My first choice in cutlets is braised cutlet. While growing up I used to regularly visit Ashoka Restaurant in Behala, Kolkata for their sumptuous cutlets. On Thursdays in Kolkata we have “no meat day” which weirdly boils down to restaurants not selling mutton. Chicken and fish is apparently not meat. On those days my fall back option was chicken cutlet. I present here my second choice, hope it might become someone’s first :)

Ingredients

• 1lb. minced chicken
• 1 large potato boiled and grated
• 1 large onion minced
• 2” ginger minced
• 8-10 fat cloves of garlic minced
• 2 green chilies finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp. black pepper powder
• 1 lime juice
• Salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

In a large mixing bowl take minced chicken and add chopped onion, ginger, garlic, green chilies to it. Sprinkle salt and add lime juice. Mix well and let it rest for at least an hour.

Now add cilantro and black pepper powder. You will notice that after an hour of marination the mixture has released some water. To help in the binding this is the time to add grated boiled potato to it. Mix it once again.

In a bowl take two eggs and add half teaspoon salt to it. Beat it well to make the egg wash. In a flat tray take enough quantity of bread crumbs and spread it to cover each cutlet.

Take a handful of chicken mixture and give them a shape of rectangle by pressing it gently in between your palms. Now dip each of them in the egg mixture and roll them on the breadcrumb. Arrange them on a tray and keep it refrigerated for at least half an hour.

Take out half an hour before you want to fry them. Heat enough oil in a wok. Gently slide each cutlet in medium hot oil and fry them till they turn brown and crispy. Take it out with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Serve hot with some onion rings and mustard sauce. 

Purir Goja

 

Updated with new photo

Vacation to a lot of Bongs meant visit to Puri, a beach city in the state of Orissa in India. For one of my maasi (aunts) vacation “always” meant visit to Puri. She used to go there every year for almost a decade. Even for me the first time I saw a sea was in Puri when I was 5 years old.

Once in Puri the evenings are generally spent on the beach of the Bay of Bengal. The mornings are scorching hot and hence people generally spend that in site-seeing in video-coaches (buses playing movies in a VCR). One of these must visits is the famous Jagannatha temple. People offer puja there and bring back prasad to Kolkata for their friends and families. The prasad is always the famous Puri’s Goja.

Goja is a crispy sweet. It is a kind of wheat and rice flour cracker dipped in sugar syrup. Making it is easy when you know the exact steps. Otherwise it is easy to mess up the layering process. It took me couple of attempts to get the perfect Goja.

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup all purpose flour ( maida)
2. Rice flour: 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
3. White oil (e.g. Sunflower or Cannola): 2 tbsp + oil for deep frying
4. 2 tbsp. ghee ( clarified butter)
5. 1 cup sugar
6. 1 cup water

Procedure

In a small bowl mix 2 tbsp of ghee and 2 tbsp of rice flour and keep aside for further use.

In a thick pan take water and sugar and boil on a medium heat till the sugar completely dissolves and the syrup reaches a medium thick or one string consistency. Keep the syrup warm. The consistency of the sugar syrup should be such that once they dry on the goja it should leave the goja glossy and not caked white.

Take equal portions of maida, rice flour and 2 tbsp of oil in a mixing bowl and mix them well. Knead the mixture into a stiff dough by gradually adding water to it. Keep it covered for half an hour. Knead it once more and you are all set to go.

Divide the dough into even number of portions (2,4,6,8) and roll out each portions into flat chapatti (roti) like discs. Take one chapatti and apply the rice flour and ghee mixture on one surface with the back of a spoon. Now take another rolled out chapatti and cover it. Start rolling up the joined chapattis starting  from one end to other.  Once you finish rolling up cut with a knife into equal sized portion. Take each of these portions and roll them flat by lightly pressing your rolling pin.

Here a step by step guide for you. Click on the images to see enlarged version.

		Goja Steps VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry till both sides takes a golden brown hue. This is the time when the layers in the Goja will separate out. Remove and drain out the excess oil on a paper towel and dip them into the sugar syrup. Keep them for about 3-4 mins. Take out and serve hot or cold

Lucknowi Galouti kebab

In Lucknow during the rule of the Nawabs, Galouti kebab used to be made with close to 100 secret ingredients and ground as many times to give it a paste like consistency. The idea was that even a person without teeth could eat it. However, for us mere mortals I have used a more humble list of spices.

Ingredients

For 12 Kebabs.

• 1lb. minced mutton
• 1 small onion thinly sliced
• 1/2” ginger
• 6-8 fat cloves of garlic
• 2-3 green chilies ( You can add more depending on how spicy you want)
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp. raw papaya paste
• 2” cinnamon stick
• 5-6 cloves
• 2-3 black cardamom
• 1 tsp. shah jeera ( Caraway seeds)
• 1 tsp. white pepper corn
• 1/4 tsp. crushed nutmeg
• 1 small leaf of mace
• 2 tbsp. roasted chick pea flour
• Salt
• Ghee (Clarified Butter for shallow frying)

For stuffing (Optional)

• 2-3 tbsp. chopped cashew and raisins
• 2 tbsp. thick yogurt

Procedure

In a frying pan take oil and fry onion slices till they turn golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

In a grinder grind mutton along with fried onion, ginger, garlic and green chilies. The paste would be fine and sticky.

Transfer the paste into a mixing bowl.

Dry roast cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, shah jeera, pepper corn, nutmeg and mace till you get a nice aroma. Be careful not to char them.Now make a fine powder of all these dry roasted spices.

Add these ground spice powder to the meat mixture. Add papaya paste to it and mix them well. Let this mixture rest for 5-6 hours, preferably overnight.

Take out the mixture at least an hour before you make the kebabs. Sprinkle salt and chopped cilantro and mix once again. If the mixture is too sticky to handle sprinkle roasted chick pea flour little at a time.

In a small bowl mix chopped dry fruits with 2 tbsp. of thick yogurt. Take a hand full of meat mixture and make a bowl out of it. Carefully put half a tea spoon of dry fruit mixture and cover it up. Give it a round shape and flatten it slightly by using your palm.

Take a skillet and add 1 tbsp. of ghee. Heat till the ghee starts melting. Reduce the heat to its lowest and gently place the kebabs on the skillet.

Fry one side on low heat till lightly charred. Now flip it over carefully and let the other side cook. Some times I fry them covered for 2-3 minutes to ensure that the meat is fully cooked.

Serve them with mint chutney, the kebab will melt in your mouth….

Mughlai Paratha with Spicy Potato Curry

Updated: With new pictures

Moglai Porota as we actually pronounce it brings back memories of durga pujo, college-street, secret rendezvous with boyfriend and so many other things. It’s not just a food, but rather a ritual. You cannot possibly complete pujo shopping or finish your pandal visits without stopping for one.

Each time we go for a movie, here in US, we have a common crib that we should be getting some roll or moglai porota after that. So this time I made them and then headed for the theatre. The fun of the movie was quadrupled by the thought that we had them waiting for us.

for Spicy Potato CurRy

1. 2 large potatoes cut into cubes
2. 1 small onion finely chopped
3. 1 tsp. grated ginger
4. 1 tsp. minced garlic
5. 2,3 green chilies slit lengthwise
6. 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
7. 1 tsp. coriander powder
8. 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
9. 1 tsp. red chili powder
10. 1/2 tsp. garam masala powder
11. 1tbsp. oil

Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion and green chilies to it. Fry on medium heat till the edges of the onions turn brown. Add chopped ginger, garlic to it and fry them together till the raw smell goes away. You may need to sprinkle water if the spice tend to burn.

Add potato cubes to it followed by all dry spice powder.Add salt and sugar to season. Mix everything well so that the potato cubes are coated with all spices. Sear them on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.Now add about half cup of water and cook it covered till the potato cubes are tender. By this time the water should be dried up.If not crank up the heat and make it dry.

Keep it aside for later use.

Ingredients for Paratha

For the dough

1. 4 cups all purpose flour ( Maida )
2. 4tbsp. any vegetable oil
3. 1tsp. salt
4. 1 cup warm milk

In a mixing bowl mix flour with salt and oil and rub with your finger tips till it takes the texture of bread crumbs. Add milk little at a time and knead well. If the milk is all used up and you need more you can now add warm water to it. Knead well to make a medium soft dough. Apply oil to the surface of the dough and cover it with a damp cloth. Keep it aside for half an hour. Knead once more before you use it.

For stuffing

1. 4 eggs
2. 4tbsp. minced onion, ginger, green chili
3. Salt
4. Oil for deep frying

In a bowl take egg one at a time and whisk it with a spoon of minced onion, ginger and chili.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and make smooth balls. Now roll them out into a square of 8 by 8 inch. For easy rolling you can grease the rolling pin as well.

Pour the egg mixture in the center of the rolled out paratha and spread a little with a spoon. Now gently fold the sides by overlapping each other so that the egg stuffing in the center gets covered. It will look like a rectangular parcel.

		Folding VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Heat enough oil in a deep wok or kadai and carefully slide the envelope in. Fry on medium heat till you see tiny bubbles appearing on the surface. Flip it over and allow the other side to get cooked. Occasionally press it lightly so that the egg is cooked from inside. Remove with a slotted spoon when both sides take a light brown hue.

Drain it on a paper towel.

Serve it all together as shown below.

Fish Amritsari

Fish Amritsari is a signature Punjabi dish and made from the copious supply of fresh water fish from the great rivers of Punjab. It can be made with Tilapia, Cod, Betki or Rock-fish fillets. I prefer using Rock-fish. I generally pick up Rock-fish fillets from Costco and make fish fries with the square pieces and Amritsari with the rest.

Ingredients For Marinade

• 1lb. boneless fish cut into 2 by 2 pieces (I used rock fish fillets, you can use any of your favorite fish)
• 2 lime juice
• 1 tbsp. red chili powder
• 4 tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. green chili paste
• Salt

Ingredients For Batter

• 1 cup besan or chick pea flour
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• 1 tsp. ajwain (Carom seeds)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. thick yogurt
• Oil For Frying

Note:  I love to add chat masala before serving which is optional.

Procedure

Take all the ingredients for marinade in a bowl and mix well so that all fish get a nice coating of the spices. marinate the fish for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl take all ingredients for batter other than oil. Whisk it well so that all ingredients are mixed properly. Now add this dry ingredient to the marinated fish and toss well so that the fish pieces are coated with a thick batter. Let it sit for another 15 minutes.

Heat enough oil for deep frying. Now gently slide each pieces of fish into the oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the oil. Fry till the outer coating is crispy and golden brown. Remove from hot oil with a slotted spoon and drain them on an absorbent paper.

Place the fried fished on a serving plate and sprinkle chat masala over them before you serve. 

Loita Maacher Chop

My previous post on Loita Macher Jhuri is one of my most popular posts. Over at my blog and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BongCook) people have told me that Loita mach (Bombay Duck) is one of their favorite. In addition to having Loita in the main course, it lends itself pretty well as a snack. 

Ingredients

• 1lb.loitya or Bombil
• 1 medium onion chopped finely
• 5-6 fat cloves of garlic 
• 2-3 green chilies chopped finely
• 2 medium potatoes boiled and peeled
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 egg
• 1 cup bread crumb
• Oil

Procedure

Wash and clean the fishes and rub them with salt. Arrange these fishes on a pan and cook it covered on very low heat. The fishes will release enough water. Take out the fishes. Once they are cool enough to handle, remove the central bone and head. Reserve the fleshy part of the fish for chops.
In a pan heat 2 tsp. oil and fry chopped onion, garlic and green chilies on medium heat. When onions turn translucent add fish followed by turmeric powder, chili powder, salt and sugar. Mix well and cook for few more minutes. When you see that there is no moisture left in the fish mixture turn off the heat and add chopped cilantro and garam masala powder.
Add mashed potato and mix well with the fish mixture. Allow the mixture to cool down completely.
Take lemon sized balls out of the mixture and using your palm give them a shape of chop.
Beat one egg with a pinch of salt to prepare the egg wash. Now dip each chop in egg wash and roll them over on a bed of bread crumb. Repeat this process again to ensure that the chops retain their form and don’t disintegrate. This is called double coating.
You can now store this covered in refrigerator for 1-2 days. Make sure you take out them at least half an hour before frying.
Heat oil in a wok until almost smoking and then deep fry each chop till they turn golden brown. Remove and drain them on a paper towel.
Serve with ketchup or kasundi and some salads.

Chicken Pakora

These days we have a steady influx of guest who come visiting us as we settle down in our new home. Since it is Winter and sun sets by 4:30 p.m. we are mostly indoors sipping on hot coffee and battling the cold off. The perfect accompaniment to hot Americano is desi Chicken Pakora.

Even if you are not in a cold place and prefer soda over coffee, the pakoras go great with it. In the picture above I have used Pepsi Throwback, this lesser known beverage contains real sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and tastes way better. If you are in the US or even otherwise have access to it,  go give it a try. I have also been told that Mexico doesn’t allow HFCS and hence all drinks across the border tastes better .

Ingredients For Marinade

• 1lb. chicken cut into small pieces on bone
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. green chili paste
• 2 lime squeezed into juice
• 2 tsp. vinegar
• Salt to taste

Ingredients For Batter

• 5 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 5 tbsp.corn starch
• 5 tbsp. rice flour
• 1 egg
• Salt
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Take clean chicken pieces and pat them dry. In a bowl mix chicken pieces with all ingredients for marinade and mix well. Keep them marinated in a refrigerator for 2- 3 hrs.

In another bowl combine flour, cornstarch, rice flour, salt. Whisk them well. add one egg to it and mix well so that the batter stays lump free. Pour little water at a time to make a smooth thick batter.

Heat oil for deep frying and pour a tablespoon of hot oil to the batter. Mix once again. This makes the pakoras crispier.

Take each chicken pieces, dip in the batter and gently release them one by one in the hot oil. Turn the heat to medium and fry them till you see the outer coating starts changing the color. Crank up the heat to high and fry the pakoras for few more minutes till the coating turns golden brown and becomes crispier.

Serve with your favorite ketchup and onion rings.

Chicken Manchurian (Hyderabad Style)

Old Hyderabad is littered with small bakeries that along with cakes and biscuits serve this mind blowingly spicy, yet yummy Chicken and Gobi “manchuri” (as they call it). I am sure they have nothing to do with real manchurian or the similar named region in China.

One of the places we used to visit was in Ameerpet close to Jayadurga furnishing which was one of my favorite hang outs. They were served in small plastic cups and a toothpick to pick them up. I have tried to recreate them to help combat the freezing weather here. The only difference is I have refrained from using food colors (which unfortunately is copiously used in Hyderabad).

Ingredients

• 1lb. boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tbsp. red chili powder
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• Salt
• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 3 tbsp. green chilies finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Few curry leaves
• 1 tsp. corn starch
• Oil

Procedure

In a mixing bowl mix chicken pieces with ginger garlic paste, chili powder, lemon juice and salt. Marinade the mixture for half an hour. Now sprinkle all purpose flour and rice flour on it and mix well.

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan and add chicken pieces into it. Fry till they turn crispy. Remove and drain them on a paper towel.

In a frying pan take two tbsp. oil and heat it up. Add minced garlic. fry on low heat for a minute and then add onion and bell pepper slices to it. Fry them on high heat  for a minute or two. Don’t over cook them as we want their crispy texture.

Now to this add fried chicken pieces and toss them well with fried onion and bell pepper. if required sprinkle salt now. Mix once again.

Dissolve corn starch into 2tbsp. water and sprinkle over the chicken mixture. Immediately remove the pan from heat. Add chopped green chilies, cilantro and curry leaves over it and toss them really well.

Serve them in small cups and enjoy. 

Vanilla Cookie

One of our dear friends gave us a customized “Basu families Jar of yumminess” as a present. It now occupies the central position of our drawing room. Unfortunately it sometimes disappoints the little ones as it remains empty. I thought of rectifying it for the holidays by filling them with simple Vanilla Cookies.

Ingredients

• 1and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 100gms. unsalted butter
• 100gms. powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 10 – 15 almonds and pistachio roughly chopped

Procedure

Heat oven to 375 F. In a mixing bowl the butter at room temperature and sugar. Cream it with a electric mixture. Add egg, vanilla extract and continue beating.

Fold the mixture in refined flour and mix well. Scrape the sides when required.

Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with your favorite nozzle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe out cookies on it. Sprinkle chopped almond and pistachio.

You can give them a shape of your choice by using your hand as well.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool it off. Store it in an airtight jar.