Chingri Maacher Pulao (Prawn Pulao)

We are still in Durga pujo mode here in Seattle. Pujo is over, but the ever going Bijoya parties are not yet over. I sometimes feel that they continue to next years pujo

This year I was telling my husband the story of my mom making prawn pulao every year for Mahalaya because on most of the pujo days she’d be fasting and hence wouldn’t be able to make something nice for us. The petuk guy jumped at the opportunity and established that this is a custom apparently we are also starting. I was coaxed into agreeing to this and I made some prawn pulao and egg rezala.

Here goes the pulao recipe.

Ingredients

• 250gms gobindo bhog rice or kali jeera rice (1 cup)
• 500 gms. medium sized prawn deveined and cleaned
• 1 tbsp. grated ginger
• 5 - 6 green chilies slit lengthwise
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. refined oil
• 3 tbsp.
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder

Procedure

Wash rice and soak it in water for thirty minutes.. Now drain the water and spread it on a wide tray. Let it dry. It will take about 3-4 hours.

Sprinkle salt, sugar , grated ginger and half of the garam masala on the rice and mix it with a gentle hand.

Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker till it melts, then fry prawns till their surfaces turn pink.. Do not fry them for more than thirty seconds. Remove the prawns from the oil.

Now add the spice mixed rice to the hot oil and fry on low heat for about five minutes. You will see the grains turn opaque. This is the time you add a cup of coconut milk and a cup of plain room temperature water to it. Stir well and add the fried prawns and green chilies to it.

Cover the pressure cooker and crank up the heat to the highest heat mark. Ensure the pressure builds up inside and the steam is not escaping through the sides of the lid. Wait till one whistle comes up.

Turn off the heat and wait till the pressure release on its own.

Open the lid and sprinkle rest of the garam masala powder. Immediately spread the pulao in a wide serving plate.

Enjoy this with Egg rezala or korma of your choice..

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. 

Shepherd’s Pie

A few weeks back we visited a very popular local irish pub and I was about to order the Shepherd's pie when I noticed that it has beef. That is definitely not an authentic Shepherd's pie. A Shepherd's pie is supposed to have lamb, just like fisherman's pie has fish and cowboy's pie has beef. This prompted me to make some of my own pie.

Ingredients For Meat Mixture

• 2 lb. ground lamb
• 1 onion diced
• 2 fat cloves of garlic
• 2 medium carrots diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1cup chicken stock
• Freshly ground pepper
• Salt to taste

Ingredients For Mashed Potato

• 2 lb. golden potatoes cut into quarters
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 egg yolk beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper powder
• Salt to taste

Procedure Of making Meat Mixture
Preheat oven at 250F. In an oven proof baking dish take butter along with onion, garlic, minced meat. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Mix well. Add half a cup of chicken tock to it and stir.
Put the dish in the middle rack of the oven and cook for an hour. Carefully take the baking dish out. Add vegetables. Mix flour with rest of the chicken stock and pour over the meat mixture. Give everything a nice mix. Now cook it again for another hour. At the end of the cooking it will look like a thick meaty gravy.
By this mean time make the mashed potato. Boil potatoes in adequate water till tender. Drain it. Mash the potato with a little butter. Season it with salt and pepper. Sprinkle chopped parsley and mash till potatoes are smooth.
In a bowl whisk together egg yolk and milk and stir it into the mashed potato mixture. Top the meat mixture with mashed potato and spread it evenly to cover. You can pipe the mixture too, to give it a fancy look.
Bake it in a pre heat oven at 350F for 25-30 minutes.
Serve warm.

Pish pash

Living in the Pacific Northwest I am used to rain. Unlike others I never grow tired of it. After a spell of hectic summer schedule I loved when rain decided to return to our evergreen state. The parched trees and my mind welcomed it. I decided to just soak it in and be a bit lazy. But I also wanted to provide something warm for everyone’s plate. Pish pash works wonders in these scenarios. It’s an Anglo-Indian one pot meal, where rice is cooked with Indian whole spices, meat, veggies and potatoes. It is primarily flavored with Ginger.

As the name suggests it’s a medley and you can play with what you decide to put in it, chicken works equally well as mutton or goat meat.

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain rice washed and drained
• 500 gm. medium sized mutton pieces on bone
• 1 onion cut into medium sized chunks
• 2 medium sized potato cut into quarters
• 2 cm. square of ginger cut into thin square slices
• 1/2 cup green peas (I used frozen)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp. refined oil
• For tempering
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1” cinnamon stick
  • 2 green cardamom pods
  • 2 cloves
• For garnishing
  • 1 medium sized onion thinly sliced
  • 8-10 cloves garlic cut into round slices
  • 5-6 dry red chilies

Procedure

Heat oil and add onion chunks and potato pieces to it. Sauté on medium heat for two to three minutes and then remove them and keep aside.

To the same oil add ingredients listed under tempering. When the spices starts sizzling add mutton pieces to it and sear the for a minute or two. Add salt and 4 cups of water. Pressure cook till the meat is tender. When the pressure releases on its own remove the lid.

Add washed and drain rice to it along with the sautéed onion and potato. Season with salt. Add enough water so that there is 5 fingers of water left above the rice mixture level. Mix well and cook it covered on medium heat till the rice is cooked and mushy.

By this time heat butter in a pan and fry the red chilies and garlic slices till they turn crispy. Remove them on a paper towel. Use the remaining butter to crisp fry the onion slices.

Take a ladle full of pish pash and top it up with the crispy fried red chilies, onion and garlic. Best enjoyed on a lazy rainy night. 

Chelo Kebab

Updated: With new pictures

In our visit to Kolkata we never miss out on our pilgrimage to Peter Cat on Park Street and have their famous “Original Chelo Kebab”. Peter Cat on their menu refers to this as “the protected regional product of West Bengal”. However, I have successfully conned the border security and customs and got this across the oceans.

Chelow kebab is the national dish of Iran, which is generally served with saffron basmati rice and accompanied with a grilled tomato. In olden days  putting a raw egg yolk on top of the rice was very common which is no longer in practice. So obviously Peter Cat’s claim is a bit dubious :)

The simplicity of the Chelo Kebab is it’s main lure. Peter Cat serves the kebabs on a simple bed of butter rice instead of the saffron rice.

Chicken Kebab

Get the recipe at http://www.bongcook.com/2012/08/chicken-reshmi-kebab.html 

Ingredients for lamb Kebab

1. 200gms minced meat
2. 1 medium onion roughly chopped
3. 1tsp. chopped ginger
4. 1tsp. chopped garlic
5. 2 cloves
6. 2 green cardamoms
7. 1/2” cinnamon stick  
8. 1tsp.black pepper corns
9. 1 egg white
10. 1tsp. chopped cilantro
11. 2 slices of white sandwich bread
12. Salt
13. Oil or butter
14. Skewers

Procedure To make lamb Kebab

In a grinder or food processor take all above ingredients except last two and process them for a few minutes till all the ingredients are well combined and take a look of dough. Transfer them to a bowl.

If you are using bamboo skewers don’t forget to soak it in water for at least 30 minutes, before you start shaping the kebabs. Keep a bowl full of cold water handy to keep your palms wet. Take a ball of the meat mixture in your wet hand and gently wrap it around a skewer. Lightly squeeze it into a long shape. Then pinch the meat into sections using your fingers like scissors.

Brush the kebabs with butter or oil and grill each of them for a few minutes turning frequently. All surfaces of the kebabs should take  dark brown color by the time you finish them cooking.

Ingredients for parsley rice

1. 2 cups cooked white basmati rice
2. 2tsp. butter
3. 1/4th cup chopped parsley
4. 1tsp. pepper powder
5. Salt to taste

Procedure

Melt better in a  non stick pan on medium heat. Add cooked rice to it. Season with salt and pepper powder. Now fry them well till each grain of rice is coated with butter. Add chopped parsley to it and mix them once again before you finish.

Other Ingredients

1. 4 medium tomatoes
2. 4 eggs

Preparation

Tomato – Once you have finished grilling your kebabs, Place the whole or halved tomatoes on the grilling plate. Drizzle few drops of oil and grill them for 10 minutes.

Eggs- Melt butter in a non stick pan and fry the eggs ( Sunny side up ) one by one.

Plating Up

Each serving plate gets a generous serving of rice, a skewer of lamb kebab, chicken kebab and a grilled tomato.The rice is then topped with a fried sunny side up egg. One extra cube of butter on top of the rice will make it sinfully tasty.

Shahi Murgh Musallam

This is a food fit for the kings. A murgh or chicken is stuffed with fragrant Basmati rice, eggs, spices and cooked in a rich gravy. Generally served in elaborate banquets for the royals.

This originated in Pakistan and found it’s way into Bangladeshi (then East Pakistan) cuisine. I have heard that my grandma used to make this. I did not have the good fortune of having it from her. I learned this recipe from my Aunt (thanks to Vonage :)). Even though the recipe sounded intimidating and complex, it turned out pretty simple to make.

Murgh musallam is best made with small chickens. In the US it is kind of hard to come by and hence I use Cornish Game Hen. I get it from my local Whole Foods store.

NOTE: This needs 12 hour marination

Special Equipment

Wide pan that can accommodate the Whole chicken.

Ingredients For Chicken and Stuffing

• 1 whole gutted chicken weighing about 600gms. Without feather and skin
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 4 tbsp. plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 lime
• 1 cup Basmati rice washed and soaked for 30 minutes
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 1 hard boiled egg shelled
• 1 pinch saffron strands soaked in warm milk
• 1 tsp. ghee (clarified butter)

Procedure To stuff the Chicken

Wash the chicken and pat it really dry.

Now with a sharp knife make deep incisions over thigh, drumsticks and breast part. Make some gashes on the joints as well. These incisions will help to cook the chicken
evenly and faster.

Marinate the chicken with yogurt, lime juice, turmeric powder, chili powder and salt. Make sure that you put the marinade from the inside of the stomach as well. Keep it marinated in refrigerator over night.

Next day take out chicken at least half an hour before you start cooking. Mean while cook the rice till it is 90% done. Remove half cup of rice from the pan and cook rest of the rice till it is fully cooked.

Transfer the 90% cooked rice in a mixing bowl and one by one add salt, ghee, saffron infused milk and garam masala powder to it. Mix it gently with the rice so that the rice grains don’t break. Keep it aside.

Now take the marinated chicken and stuff one egg along with the spice smeared rice inside its belly.

With a needle and thread carefully sew the opening.

Heat about 10-12 tbsp. of oil in a flat pan and fry the whole stuffed chicken on medium heat till all sides turn golden brown. It takes about 10-15 minutes. Remove the chicken on a paper towel.

With the rest of the rice make saffron rice to serve with Murg Musallam.

Ingredients For Gravy

• 2 medium onions boiled and made into a fine paste
• 5 baby potatoes peeled
• 4 black cardamom 
• 2 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 4 tbsp. plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp. poppy seed paste
• 2 tbsp. cashew paste
• 2 tbsp. rose water
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 4 tbsp. ghee ( Clarified Butter )
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Heat ghee in a wide pan till it melts. Add black cardamom and wait till it stops spluttering. Add potatoes and fry till they are golden yellow.

Add boiled onion paste along with ginger garlic paste and fry on low heat till oil starts oozing out from the sides.

Sprinkle red chili powder, turmeric powder and garam masala. Stir in well. Now turn off the heat and let the spice mixture cool down a bit. Pour yogurt and mix well with rest of the spices before you turn on the heat again. Add cashew, poppy seed paste, salt and rose water and give a nice mix.

Now gently add the fried chicken to it and apply the spice mixture all over it with a spoon. Cook it covered on medium heat for 10 minutes before you flip the chicken over. Cook the other side for another 10minutes. By this time both chicken and potatoes will be nicely cooked.

Gently cut the stitches and remove the thread.

Pour the gravy on a serving plate and carefully place the stuffed chicken over it. Line up the potatoes and serve with saffron rice.