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.

Phulkopir Dalna (Cauliflower and Potato Curry)

Updated: With video

If you are a Bengali you have literally grown up eating Phulkopir Dalna. This is one of the most common and fundamental bong dish. At the beginning of Winter when fresh cauliflowers arrive at the local markets in Kolkata dalna becomes the staple curry at the bong household for the next few months. Even though cauliflower is used in a variety of recipes this simple dalna uses limited spices and help the true flavor of cauliflower to come through.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w4jnrttSY4&t=4s

Ingredients

Serves four

• 1 cauliflower cut into medium sized florets
• 2 medium sized potatoes cut into quarters
• 1 large tomato chopped (optional)
• 1” fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. whole cumin powder
• 1 tsp. whole coriander powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. Bengali Garam masala powder
• 1 tbsp. ghee (Clarified Butter)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• For Tempering
  • 2 bay leaves (Tejpatta)
  • 2 green chilies slit lengthwise
  • 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
  • Whole Garam Masala ( 1” cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamom)

Procedure

Heat 4 tbsp. oil in a pan and add cauliflower florets to it. Fry till the florets are well coated with oil and get a light brown hue (8-10 mins). Remove from oil and keep aside.

Add 2 tbsp. of oil and temper it with bay leaves, whole garam masala, whole cumin seeds and green chilies.

Wait till they stop sizzling. Add potato cubes and fry on medium heat for 2-3 mins.

Now add ginger paste. Make a paste of all dry spice powder by adding little water and add to the pan. Sauté on slow fire till the raw smell of ginger goes away. Optionally add chopped tomatoes. Fry well till the oil is separated.

Add salt and sugar and give it a nice mix. Add fried cauliflower florets and give it a nice mix. Add one cup of water to it and cook it covered on low heat till potatoes are done.

Add a spoonful of ghee and sprinkle little garam masala powder to it. Serve with hot rice or chapatis.

 

Chapor Ghonto

This is part 2 of our pujo spread post. Prompted by our friends going to a pujo spread buffet at a local Indian restaurant, I decided to make a pujo spread of our own.

In this post I bring to you chapor ghonto. This is a medley with bitter gourd being predominantly featured along with other seasonal vegetables. This recipe is a variant from my boro-pishi (dad's oldest sister), where she skipped the other veggies and used only potatoes along with a generous helping of ghee.

Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow split pea or motor daal washed and soaked overnight
• 1 large potato cut into medium sized cubes
• 2 bitter gourd or karela cut into thin half moon slices
• 1 tsp. paanch phoron
• 1 tsp. dry roasted paanch phoron powder
• 1 tsp. ginger paste
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. ghee or clarified butter
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Procedure

Step 1

Drain excess water from the soaked dal and grind it coarse with salt. Gently beat the batter for a minute. 

Heat a griddle or tawa and grease it with oil. Now place the batter on the hot griddle and spread it flat over the tawa with a flat bottom spatula. Let it cooked on the medium heat for a minute or two. Now crank up the heat to high and let it sit there for another minute.

Noe with your spatula try to turn it. you will see it will break unevenly.  These uneven pieces of the lentil cake is called chapor. Flip those uneven pieces on the tawa and apply oil with a spoon from the sides. Let this side sit for two minutes on medium heat and one minute on high heat. 

Remove those chapors from the tawa and keep aside.

Now add oil in a wok and fry the slices of bitter gourd on medium heat till they are crispy. Set aside.

Add two tsp. oil in a wok and temper it with paanch phoron. Wait till they stop spluttering. Add potato cubes to it and fry them on medium heat for a while. Add turmeric powder and ginger paste and mix well. you might need to sprinkle water to it to avoid the spices from burning. 

Season with salt and sugar and add little water to it. Cook it covered till the potato is almost cooked and ninety percent of the water is evaporated. This is the time you add the lentil pieces and the fried bitter gourd to it. Mix well. The chapor will absorb the excess water.

Finish it off with a dollop of ghee and dry roasted paanch phoron powder.

Serve with hot rice and enjoy.

Not Pumpkin Flower Fritters

Every year during this time everyone in USA gets crazy about pumpkin for all the wrong reasons (ahem ghosts). They drink pumpkin lattes and pumpkin beers, decorate their home with hideously large pumpkins.
Last year I started looking out for pumpkins flowers and vines. My queries were met with strange looks. A farm owner in Ballard even offered me to get tones of the vines because essentially it is waste for them. However, I rarely found the flowers.
This year, I decided to grow my own, but not pumpkins, but rather zucchini, a cousin of the pumpkin which is easier to grow. The flowers are almost identical and I can vouch they taste exactly the same.
Using zucchini flowers this is how I made my kumro phul er bora or pumpkin flower fritters.

Ingredients

• 10 zucchini flower
• 1 tbsp. kalonji / nigella seeds
• 1tsp. turmeric powder
• 5 tbsp. Besan / Bengal gram flour
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Wash the flowers carefully in running water. Now cut the stem short and make a vertical cut through the flower to take out the stamen and the pistil.

In a mixing bowl mix gram flour, rice flour, nigella seeds, turmeric powder, salt and baking soda very well.

By adding water little at a time make a thick batter.

Heat enough refined oil for deep frying in a pan. Coat each zucchini flower with the batter and gently slide it in the hot oil. Fry on medium heat till crispy and golden brown.

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Serve with hot rice and your favorite daal.

Kumro Potoler Chokka

The very first year we were in US, my daughter went on a school trip to a farm for Halloween. She proudly brought home a pumpkin which she had picked up. She was tiny and the pumpkin tinier, not suitable for carving. I chopped it up and made some Kumro-r Chokka, she still reminds me of this sad incident every Halloween. This year being no exception.

While stealing pumpkins from little one is not recommended, the recipe totally is.

Ingredients

• 250 gm pumpkin peeled and cut into medium sized cubes
• 250 gm potol (Pointed Gourd) peeled and cut into halves
• 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into medium sized cubes
• 1/2 cup soaked  whole red Bengal gram
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 1 large tomato cut into quarters
• 1 tbsp. cashew powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tsp. cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp. hing (asafetida)
• 2 dry whole red chilies
• 1 tsp. paanch phoron
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil
• 1 tsp. powder of dry roasted cumin and coriander seeds of equal quantity

Procedure

Heat mustard oil in a wok and one by one fry pumpkin, potol and potato pieces for about two to three minutes and remove them for later use.

If required add more mustard oil to the wok and temper it with dry whole red chilies, paanch phoron and hing. When they stop sputtering add tomatoes to it. Lower the heat and add fried potato cubes. Sauté everything together on medium heat.. You can add turmeric, chili, cumin powder at this point and keep frying. If required add water little at a time to prevent burning of the spices.

Add grated coconut, soaked red Bengal gram and keep sautéing. Pour half a cup of water and let it simmer on medium heat for about five minutes.

When the potatoes are half way through add potol and pumpkin pieces to it along with grated ginger. Add the seasonings and mix well. You may want to add some more water to it. Cook it covered on medium heat till all vegetables are tender but yet retaining their shapes.

This will be a dry gravy. so adjust the quantity of liquid accordingly. Add cashew powder and let cook it for about a minute.

Turn off the heat and sprinkle dry roasted cumin and coriander powder to it. Garnish with some more grated coconut.

Enjoy with luchi or parota.

Bhuni Khichuri from Bhaskar da, Simkie di

After a long hiatus I am back to food blogging. This post is brought to you by a bad bout of cold. The last time I had a cold was when I visited, ahem, a very cold place.

It was January of 2017, when few of us visited the cold sleepy town or rather village of Roslyn, up in the Cascade mountains. Like any true Bong outing, it was less about where we went, but more about what we ate.

Since I was down with a cold, I mostly stayed indoors helping others cook. One of our friend BhaskarDa made this amazing Khichuri based on his better half SimkiDi’s  recipe.

The great thing about this Khichuri is it’s simplicity and rustic taste.

Ingredients

• 1 cup gobindobhog rice ( Jeera rice)
• 1 cup yellow moong dal
• 2 tbsp. cumin seeds
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2-3 dry red chilies
• 1” raw ginger grated
• 1 cup medium sized cauliflower florets
• 1 cub medium sized cubed potato
• 4 tbsp. oil
• 2 tsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Wash rice and drain the water and keep aside.

In a frying pan take moong dal and dry roast it on medium flame till you get a nutty aroma and dal starts taking a nice brown hue.

Remove from the heat and wash it. Now soak the dal in water.

In a heavy bottomed pan heat two tbsp. oil and temper it with one tbsp. cumin seeds, bay leaves and dry red chilies. When you get a nice aroma add washed and drained rice to it and fry them on very low heat for about five minutes.

Once you start getting the flavor of the fried rice add soaked dal along with its water to it. Give them a hearty stir. Add salt and cook it covered. you need to check the water level time to time and need to replenish if required.

In the mean time smear the cauliflower florets and potato cubes with little salt and start heating the rest of the oil in a frying pan..

Once the oil is hot enough  fry the cauliflower florets and the potato cubes on medium heat. Remove them from oil and keep aside.

When the rice and dal mixture is three fourth cooked add the fried cauliflower florets and potato to it.  Check the seasoning and the water level and adjust accordingly. This is the time you add grated ginger and sugar. Mix once more and cook it covered.

When the khichuri is done, turn off the heat. In a small frying pan heat ghee till it melts and temper it with the rest of the cumin seeds. When they stop sputtering, pour it over the khichuri and immediately cover the pot. Keep it covered till you serve.

Zarda Pulao

When I first posted this picture to facebook a few asked me why have I used Zarda (chewable tobacco) in a recipe. I hope someone doesn’t get that idea again, here Zarda means yellow color and the name comes from the bright yellow pulao (pillaf).
This is a dry fruit pulao and not overtly sweet as some other sources might indicate. IT is very easy to make and goes very well with mughlai meat dishes like chicken roast in the picture.

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain  basmati rice
• 10-12 cashew nuts
• 10-12 sliced almonds
• 10-12 golden raisins
• 1/4 cup crispy fried onions (beresta)
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder / few drops of yellow food color
• 4 tbsp. refined oil
• 2 tbsp. ghee
• 1/4 cup of mawa / 1/2 cup of whole milk
• 1 tbsp. Bengali Garam masala powder
• 2 tbsp. rose water
• 1 silver warq optional for garnishing
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Whole Garam Masala
  • 2' cinnamon stick
  • 5-6 cloves
  • 5-6 green cardamom
  • 2 bay leaves

Procedure

Wash rice and soak it in enough water for about thirty minutes. In a big sauce pan take enough water to cook the rice and add salt and turmeric powder to it. If you are using yellow food color this is the time you add few drops to the water instead of the turmeric powder. I prefer to use turmeric powder.
When the water starts boiling add the soaked rice to it and cook till the rice is just done. Now drain the water completely. Spread the cooked rice on a flat tray and allow it to cool.
By the mean time heat one teaspoon full of ghee in a pan and fry cashew, almond and raisin on low heat till they turn golden brown. Drain it on an absorbent paper and reserve.
Now in a non stick pan heat four tablespoon of oil on medium heat. Temper it with whole garam masala. When the oil becomes fragrant add rice along with salt, sugar and three fourth of the fried nuts. Mix well gently so the rice grains remain intact. Now lower the heat and add either mawa or full cream milk to it. Along with it also sprinkle rose water and Bengali garam masala powder. Mix gently, and cook it covered on very low heat for three to four minutes. Turn off the heat and add the rest of the ghee. Transfer it to a serving dish and garnish with the rest of the fried nuts, crispy fried onions and silver warq.
Serve it with Dhakai chicken roast..

Masala Filling for Dosa

 

I just posted my recipe for easy Dosa. This is the recipe for the filling if you want to make ‘em stuffed. It goes well with Poori as well.

Ingredients

• 4 medium sized potatoes
• 1 large onion cut into medium sized thick chunks
• 1 tbsp. minced gingers
• 1/4 cup green peas fresh or frozen 
• 4 green chilies chopped finely
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder 
• 1/4 tsp. black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. urad dal (black gram)
• 1 tsp. chana dal (Bengal gram)
• 10- 12 curry leaves
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (Coriander leaves)
• 1 tbsp. ghee (Clarified butter) 
• 2 tbsp. white oil
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Cut potatoes in halves and cook them in a pressure cooker till one whistle comes. Let them cool down enough to handle and then peel off the skin. With your hands break boiled potatoes coarsely into medium pieces.

Heat oil in a pan and add whole mustard seeds. When the seeds start spluttering add urad dal and chana dal to it. Keep stirring them on medium heat till they take a golden brown hue.

Next to go in are onion, chopped ginger, peas, curry leaves, chopped green chilies and turmeric. Sauté till onion starts to loose its raw color.

Add potatoes and salt. If required add 1/4 cup of water to it. Mix well and cook till the moisture is completely gone.

Sprinkle chopped cilantro and drizzle a spoon full of ghee. Give a nice mix and keep it covered till you serve to retain all the flavors. 

Dosa in Bong Kitchen

 

We love Dosa, but since it is not our staple food, we do not have the gadgets to make it easily. Unlike a South Indian household we do not have a wet-grinder. Having lived in the South of India for a long time and later with South Indian neighbors in another corner of the world, I picked up this easy recipe which anyone can use to dole out Dosas.

Ingredients

• 4 cups rice flour
• 1 cup urad dal
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds (Methi)
• 1 tsp. flattened rice (Poha) optional
• 1 tsp. salt
• Oil

Procedure

Wash urad dal thoroughly and soak it for 4-6 hrs. along with the fenugreek seeds.

Soak rice flour in a cup of water.

After the dal is soaked drain the water and in a regular grinder grind it into a smooth paste. Grind till the paste is soft and foamy. You may need to add water.

After the dal is completely ground, gradually add the rice flour mixture to it and grind them together.

Transfer the batter into a large bowl. Add salt and mix it.

Add enough water to the batter so that it is thick but when you scoop it with your hand it falls through your fingers.

Cover the bowl with a lid. Make it sure that the bowl is not airtight.

Keep the batter in a warm place for about 8-10 hrs. to ferment. For those living in a cold area keep the batter bowl inside your oven with the oven light on. The light will provide the temperature of fermentation. The ideal temperature for fermentation is around 95F or 34C.

Once the batter is fermented it will double in volume and should be frothy. If the batter is too thick add little water to make it pouring consistency.

Heat a round non stick skillet. Drizzle few drops of water. The water should sizzle and evaporate. Brush the pan with little oil and now put a ladle full of batter. Swirl the back of your ladle in concentric circles to evenly spread out the batter.

Once the batter is spread out drizzle few drops of refined oil around the edges.

Cook dosa on medium high heat till the bottom appears light brown. To make crispy dosa turn them over and let the other side take a light brown hue.

After you are done cooking each dosa make sure to cool down the skillet by sprinkling water to it. If the skillet is too hot you won’t be able to spread the batter.

Fold and serve either with aloo masala, chutney and sambar or enjoy plain with chutney and sambar. 

Khichuri Kancha Maslar

Winter is coming up and so is the season for khichuri for those sleepy rainy Sunday lunches. This khichuri is from my dida and is not the typical bong niramish version (for that you have plain Khichuri). This has the flavor or raw spices and is made without any oil. However, you can indulge yourself with a large dollop of ghee on top of it.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 3/4 cup musur dal ( Red Lentil)
• 2 medium potatoes cut into halves
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1” ginger knob grated
• 2 fat cloves of garlic grated
• 1 medium sized onion cut into quarters
• 4-5 green chilies
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Wash rice and dal thoroughly.  Take a big pan and put rice and dal  along with salt, sugar and turmeric powder. Mix well and pour enough water, about six cups. Throw the potato halves into it. Cover it up and let it come to a boil on high heat. Once it starts boiling remove the lid and one by one add bay leaf, onion, grated ginger, garlic and green chilies, cauliflower florets and green peas. Keep boiling on medium heat till rice , dal and potatoes are cooked and look a bit mushy. You might need to add water to get the desired consistency.
Serve it with a big spoon full of ghee.

Aloo, Cholar Torkari

This is a common curry served at road side shacks in and around Kolkata along with Puri and Kachuri. Most of us grew up gobbling this down along with the famous Luchi. I made some of this recently to go with Dahl Puri.

Ingredients

• 8-10 medium size potatoes, halved and cut into quarters
• 1/2 cup chick peas soaked overnight and boiled
• 1 tbsp. paanchphoron (five whole spices mixed together in equal quantities – celery seeds, fennel seeds, cumin, Nigella seeds and fenugreek seeds)
• 5-6 whole dry red chilies
• 1 tsp. hing (Asafetida)
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2-3 tbsp. mustard oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 and 1/2 cup of water
   

Procedure

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Temper it with whole dry red chilies, hing and five spice mixture. Let them splutter for a while.

Add the quartered potatoes and the boiled chick peas. Fry on low heat for a minute. 

Add turmeric powder, chili powder and coriander powder to it and cook on medium heat for another minute.

Add water, salt and sugar. Give a nice mix and pressure cook it till one whistle comes.

It goes excellent with puri, kachori. I served it with Dahl parantha.

Dahl Puri

One of our friends kept raving about some Dahl Puri which he had at a small restaurant in Seattle. He was so impressed that I had to also try it out. After a few attempts we finally got to Pam’s Kitchen at the University District one evening. I was surprised to know how a large percentage of Caribbean population is of Indian origin and our food has taken a different twist in their kitchen. I loved the Dahl Puri which they served along with a medley of Goat curry and Potato-bean curry. Even though they call it Puri it is more closer to Indian Parantha than the traditional Puri.

This is my recreation of the same, but obviously with a bong twist.

Ingredients

For the filling

• 2 cups yellow split peas
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. ground roasted cumin
• 2 green chilies
• Salt to taste

For the dough

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. instant yeast 
• 1 cup water

Procedure

Wash split peas and boil them in a sauce pan with about six cups of water and a pinch of turmeric powder. Once it comes to a rolling boil reduce the heat and cook for about thirty minutes.

Drain them on a strainer and let it cool down.

Take all the ingredients of the filling in a food processor. Grind them into a smooth mixture. There should not be any whole piece of grain left in the mixture.

In a mixing bowl take flour, yeast, salt and baking powder. Add water little at a time and start kneading. You might need to add little more water than a cup. keep kneading until you make a firm dough.

Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for thirty minutes.

Divide the dough into six portion and make smaller balls out of them.flatten out each dough ball in your hand to form a six inch circle and dust one side of it with dry flour. Fill this up with 3 tbsp. of filling and then using your finger close the open end and seal.

On a flour dusted surface roll out each stuffed dough ball into a disc of 12 inch diameter.

Heat a skillet (Tawa) on medium high heat. Brush the surface with oil. Place the rolled out disc on hot tawa and let this side cook for thirty seconds. Flip it over. Once the puri is done it well swell up like a ball. Remove from tawa.

Serve hot.

Kumro Saag diye Motor Dal

We are regular visitors to the local Farmer’s market. We love the fresh organic produce as well as the artisan food. In one of those visits I was flabbergasted to find Kumro saag (Pumpkin twigs) and pumpkin flower being sold in a corner. I bought a bagful (literally!!) and made some delectable Saag with Yellow split peas using my grandmoms recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup motor dal (Yellow split peas)
• 2 cups chopped pumpkin twigs along with their leaves (Cut into 1” pieces)
• 1 tsp. kalojeera (Kalonji)
• 2 dry red chilies
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. oil
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Wash dal thoroughly and cook in a pressure cooker with 2 cups water, turmeric powder and salt till one whistle comes.

In a pan heat 2tbsp. oil and temper it with kalojeera and dry red chili. When the spices stop sputtering add pumpkin twigs to it. Sprinkle one pinch salt and sauté for a minute. Cook it covered for about 3-4 minutes. By this time the leaves will start wilting.

Remove the lid and add boiled dal to it. Add sugar and mix. Check the seasoning and adjust accordingly. Let it simmer for about another 5 minutes on medium heat. This dal will have a medium consistency.

Serve with plain rice. 

Bhendi Posto (Okra in Poppy Seed Paste)

My daughters favorite veggy is Bhendi or Ladies finger. If she were to choose she chooses Bhendi over mutton, which is pretty weird

So as you can guess we buy tons of Bhendi and make it in different ways. The most common being Bhendi fry with Daal, the next being Bhendi Posto (Okra with Poppy seeds).

Ingredients

• 1lb. okra small sized
• 2 tbsp. poppy seed
• 1 dry red chili
• 1 tsp. kalonji (Kalojeera)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Procedure

In a grinder make a smooth paste of poppy seed and dry red chili with little water.

Wash okra and pat them dry. Now snip off both ends.

Heat  4-5 tbsp. oil in a pan and temper it with kalonji seeds. When it stops sputtering add okra and sauté them on high heat for a minute. Sprinkle salt and sugar and cook it covered for 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid and do rest of the cooking uncovered. When it is almost done add poppy seed paste and mix with okra gently so that they don’t break.At the end each okra should be coated by poppy seed paste. Add 1 tsp. mustard oil at the end to get an extra zing.

Aam Dal (Lentil with Raw Green Mango)

We are just back from Mexico. The weather there constantly reminded me of sultry Kolkata. The temperature hovered around 35 Celsius and the humidity at 99%. Even though I was having my fill of Taco’s and Tequila’s what I craved was Mango Daal and Alubhaja, the staple summer lunch of Bong’s.

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentil
• 1 small raw mango peeled and cut into big chunks
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. black mustard seeds
• 2-3 dry red chilies
• 1 tbsp. mustard oil
• salt to taste

Procedure

Wash lentils till water runs clear and transparent. Add chunks of mango, turmeric powder and a pinch of salt to it. Boil lentil with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker till 1whistle comes. Turn off the heat and wait till the pressure settles down.

Open the lid and gently stir the mixture once.

Heat mustard oil in a small pan till it starts smoking. Now reduce the heat and temper it with mustard seeds and whole dry red chilies. Once they stop spluttering add the tempered oil into the lentil mixture. Season it with salt and sugar and once again turn on the heat. Let it simmer for a minute or two and then turn the heat off.

Serve with hot rice and alubhaja.

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. 

Tandoori Stuffed Gobi

My mashi (aunt) loves cauliflower and so my cousin Puja went out and bought some with the intention of making Tandoori Gobi for mashi’s birthday. Puja was not that successful in finding a recipe online which she could successfully execute. She requested me to make some and post here.

I mixed mashed paneer (cottage cheese) with tandoori spices. Then stuffed the cauliflower with it and also smeared it on top. Finally baked it in an oven.

Ingredients

For Stuffing

• 1 medium sized cauliflower
• 250 gms. of grated paneer (Cottage cheese)
• 4 tbsp. plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. chopped ginger
• 1 tbsp. raisin paste
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 2 tbsp. chicken tandoori masala
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp. butter
• Salt

For Infusion

• 2” cinnamon stick
• 5 cloves black cardamoms
• 3 bay leaves
• Salt

Procedure

Take a deep wide vessel and pour enough water to cover the cauliflower. Add all spices along with salt to the water and bring it to a boil. Keep boiling on medium heat for about 20 minutes till the water is fragrant.

Place the cauliflower in the water and boil on high heat for 10 minutes. Do not cover the pan while boiling. By this time the cauliflower would be 80% done. Gently remove cauliflower from the water with a slotted spoon and allow it to cool so that you can handle it comfortably.

In a mixing bowl take mashed paneer and one by one add yogurt, butter, lemon juice, chili powder, tandoori masala, chopped ginger, raisin paste, honey and salt. Whisk it thoroughly to make a paste.

When the cauliflower is ready to handle, over turn it and stuff the paneer mixture through the gap between the florets. Use your finger to reach almost every corner of it.

When the bottom portion is done, gently slather the stuffing on top of the cauliflower.

Allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven at 350 F. Place the stuffed cauliflower on a baking dish and drizzle one spoon butter over it. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. After 10 minutes drizzle another one spoon of butter over it.

Remove the baking dish carefully and sprinkle chopped coriander before serving.

Note: If you have a microwave with convection,  bake it for 15 – 20 minutes at 180C. For microwave with grill you can cook it at micro-grill combination mode for 10-15 minutes, but you need to brush oil at every 5 minutes.

Tadka Dal Dhaba Style

[Updated post]

There are a ton of dhabas (Punjabi roadside shacks) in and around Kolkata. The most common food a bong orders there is “tadka-roti”. So it’s common for Bongs to ask for the same when they travel to North India expecting to be provided with the even better local version. However, all they get back is empty stares. Tadka is actually the n ame of tempering and not that of the dish, it’s rather “daal, tadka marke”.

Tadka is available in 3 types plain, egg and mutton tadka. Mostly served in earthen pots with phulka or tandoori roti.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup moong dal or whole green gram
2. 3-4 tbsp of chaana dal (Bengal gram)
3. 2 tomatoes coarsely chopped
4. 1 large onion finely chopped
5. 2 tbsp grated ginger
6. 1 tbsp grated garlic
7. 1 tbsp kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves
8. 1 tbsp. coriander powder
9. 1 tsp. cumin powder
10. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
11. 1 tsp. chili powder
12. 5, 6 green chilies finely chopped
13. Chopped coriander greens
14. Ghee / clarified butter
15. Salt
16. Sugar
17. Oil
18. 1 tbsp of Bengali garam masala (http://www.bongcook.com/2011/11/bengali-garam-masala-powder.html)

Direction

Wash moong dal and chaana dal thoroughly. Remember there is more pesticide than daal in the bag that you opened

In a pressure cooker cook both the dals with a pinch of turmeric and salt along with 3 cups of water. In case you don’t have a pressure cooker handy, soak the daals overnight and cook in a closed lid pan for 30 mins. Open the lid after the pressure releases.

In a frying pan heat oil and add chopped onion. Fry it on medium heat till the onions become light brown. Add grated garlic and ginger to it. Fry till raw smell goes away.

Add chopped tomato to it. Fry it along with turmeric powder, chili powder, cumin powder and coriander powder on low heat till it becomes mushy and the oil starts oozing out from the spices.

At this point add boiled dal. Season with salt and sugar. Let it come to a boil. When the dal starts boiling add kasuri methi and green chilies. Turn off the heat and cover the pan. It will help the dal to get the flavor of the chilies without making it hot.

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander greens.

Before serving heat ghee in a small pan and temper it with the garam masala. Pour it over the dal and give it a nice mix. Serve with hot phulkas ar tandoori rotis. 

This as you have guessed is the plain-tadka. To make egg-tadka scramble eggs and mix it in. For mutton tadka, cook minced meat along with the daal.

RaniDi-r Rosun Aloor Dum

In our school, it was a very common to see that a bunch of folks remained hungry with a box full of alur dum or ghugni at the end of the lunch hour. No, they didn’t pack those for their lunch. It was bought from Rani-Di. Rani-Di was distinctly different from her fellow colleagues. The crisp cotton sari, the curly long hair, the big red dot just in the middle of her forehead and a smile which was really a rare sight in our school made her stand out in the crowd, she was our Rani-Di.

Each day she used bring aloor dum, aloo kabli, ghugni and tetul or kuler acchar. Sometimes we had to wait in queue for the whole 30 minutes of our lunch time and didn’t even get time to eat it.

I used to urge my mom to make the same Aloo-r Dum. Based on my descriptions she tried multiple times but it never tasted the same. One day I asked Rani-Di and she told me to ask my mom to use garlic instead of ginger. Hence came the name.

Ingredients

• 250 gms. baby potatoes
• 6-7 fat cloves of garlic
• 1 large tomato
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tbsp. thick tamarind pulp
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil
• 2-3 green chilies finely chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
• 1 tsp. black salt
• 1 tbsp. bhaaja masala ( Dry roast and coarsely grind 1 tsp. cumin, 1tsp. coriander and 2 dry red chilies)

Procedure

Peel baby potatoes and boil them in salt water for 2-3 minutes. Drain water and smear potatoes with a pinch of turmeric.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry potatoes till they turn golden yellow. Drain on a paper towel and keep aside.

Peel the skin of tomato and make a paste of it with garlic cloves.

Heat 3 tbsp. oil in a pan and add tomato garlic paste to it. Sauté on low heat till the raw smell goes off. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric and chili powder to it. Fry on low heat till you see oil seeps from the edge.

Add fried potato along with tamarind pulp and fry them along with the spices. Season with salt and sugar. Add 1/4 cup of water to it. Mix well and let it simmer on low heat till potatoes are done. Keep an eye so that you don’t over cook them.

If required turn the heat on high and let the excess moisture dry out. This is a dry dish and at the end the potatoes will be just coated with the spice mixture.

Turn off the heat and garnish with chopped cilantro and green chilies. Sprinkle generous amount of bhaaja masala, little black salt and add a dash of tamarind juice just before serving.

Potol Pur (Stuffed Parwal)

Potol was never my favorite. I never really understand why anyone would want to eat it, obviously other then the time when you stuff it with shrimps. Which brings us to Potol Pur. This is basically just the shell of potol stuffed with shrimp and other equally tasty stuff. I just love this and can just finish my entire meal with this.

My Dida (grandma) used to make this and later my mom picked it up. My mom did not throw away the potol seeds and mixed it with the shrimps. I think it was an elaborate scheme to make me have potol :)

Ingredients

For Stuffing

• 5 potol (Parwal or Pointed Gourd)
• 1/2 cup tiny shrimp (If you are using larger shrimps cut into bit sized pieces)
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. freshly grated coconut paste
• 1 green chili finely chopped
• 1 tsp. mustard paste 
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder  
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp. mustard oil

For Batter

• 1/2 cup besan (Chick pea flour)
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red chili powder
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Scrape the skin of the parwals and wash them. Pat them dry. Now cut the parwals lengthwise into halves.

With a spoon scoop out the flesh from them. Don’t discard them, keep them reserved.In a bowl take shrimps and mix them with chopped onion, coconut, mustard paste, chopped green chilies, turmeric and chili powder, salt, sugar and mustard oil.

Now stuff each parwal halves with the filling.

In a mixing bowl mix besan, rice flour, salt, turmeric powder and chili powder. Add water little at a time to make a thick and smooth batter.

Heat oil in a deep wok and take out 1 tbsp. of hot oil from it to add in the batter you made.

Carefully dip each stuffed parwal in the batter and slide into the hot oil. Fry it on medium heat till the coating turns golden and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain it on a paper towel.

Serve with steaming hot rice with a spoonful of ghee.