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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

Tandoori Chicken Stuffed Potato Bun

 

This year winter is very different here in Pacific Northwest. It’s super cold and barely getting above freezing for weeks at a time, rainfall has been less than 50% of normal. The dry freeze is not being kind to my tropical being. However, nothing can be done against the weather, other than off course making something warm, yummy and feast on it. I made something “hatke”, a fusion of Indian tandoori chicken and western potato bun. Hope you like it my dear readers.

Ingredients For Stuffing

• 2 cups boneless chicken cut into tiny pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp. chicken tandoori masala
• 1 tsp. gram masala powder
• 1 tsp. finely chopped cilantro
• salt
• Oil
   

Ingredients For Bun

• 1 pkg. active yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 cup boiled and mashed potato
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg for brushing 

Procedure

In a pan heat 2-3 tbsp. oil. Add chopped onion and fry it turns golden brown.

Add chicken pieces along with ginger garlic paste and salt. Sauté till the raw smell goes away.

Sprinkle chicken tandoori masala powder and garam masala powder and keep stirring on low heat till oil separates out. By this time chicken will be cooked. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and remove fro heat.

In a cup dissolve yeast in warm water and stir well.(The water should be around 40 C. Its better to use a food thermometer. If you don’t have try to feel it. You should be able to comfortably dip your finger in it till 10 count.) Keep them aside for five minutes.

In another mixing bowl mix milk with honey, butter and salt. Pour yeast water to it and stir well. Add flour and mashed potato to it. Mix well with a spatula till it forms a dough. Knead ten minutes. Apply oil over the entire surface and cover it with a kitchen towel. Let it rest for an hour in a warm place till it doubles its volume. I keep it inside my oven with the oven light on.

After one hour when the dough rises up punch it gently and divide it into equal 10 – 12 portions.

Make round ball with each of the portions. Flatten each ball and stuff it with 2tbsp. of chicken mixture. Cover the stuffing and again give it a round shape. Repeat this process with the rest of the balls.

Preheat oven at 375F.

Arrange the stuffed balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Beat the egg and brush the top surface of each bun with this egg wash. This will give the buns a rich golden color. sprinkle some chopped cilantro on it.

Bake it for 12 – 15 minutes or until they get a nice golden color. Take them out of the oven and brush them with butter to give a nice glossy look.

Tandoori Chicken Stuffed Potato bun is ready to be served.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Kashmiri Stuffed Dum Aloo

When we were in school most wedding banquets started serving what they called Kashmiri Stuffed Dum Aloo. They varied considerably in taste and I am sure that the Kashmiris have never heard about this dish being passed in their name. Nevertheless it tasted pretty good. Suddenly my husband started having a craving for this and I got multiple requests to make it. I do not really remember how it exactly tasted so many years ago, so I created a recipe that I believe should pass as a “authentic” Kashmiri Dum Aloo :)

Ingredients for Stuffing

• 6 medium potatoes
• 2 cups keema (Minced meat)
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. oil
• Salt to taste

Procedure For Stuffing

Peel the potatoes and cut them into halves. Now scoop out the flesh from each halves with the back of the spoon. Reserve the potato fleshes for later use.The potatoes will now look like cups. Dunk these potato cups in salted water for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes drain the water and smear the potato cups with turmeric and salt. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the potato cups on medium heat till they turn golden yellow (about 3-4 minutes). Remove and drain them on a paper towel. Let them cool completely.

Heat 2 tsp. oil and fry chopped onion and garlic till they turn soft Now add minced meat followed by dry spice powders (Turmeric + Chili). Sauté for few minutes and then add scooped out potato fleshes to it. Season with salt and sugar. Mix well and cook it covered till meat is done and there is no excess moisture left. Let it cool.

Stuff each potato cups with keema mixture and keep them ready till you make the gravy.

Ingredients For Gravy

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
• 2 tsp. plain yogurt
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. dry ginger powder
• 2 tsp. fennel powder
• 1 tsp. powder of 2 green cardamoms + 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 4-5 tbsp. oil
• For Tempering
  • 1 tsp. asafetida (Hing)
  • 2 black cardamom
  • 2 green cardamom
  • 3 cloves
  • 1” cinnamon stick
  • 5-6 black peppercorn

Procedure For Gravy

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with all the ingredients listed under tempering. Don’t forget to bruise them a little before you add them to oil. Sauté for a while and then add chopped onion to it. Fry till they turn translucent.

Add red chili powder and fry for a minute till the oil turns red. Now throw the tomatoes in and fry till they turn mushy. Add turmeric powder, fennel and dry ginger powder. Mix everything well on very low temperature.

Add yogurt and give the spices a nice mix. Pour about half a cup of water and season with salt and sugar. Stir well and then bring it to a boil.

Add stuffed potatoes to it keeping the open side up. Cook it covered on low heat for another minute and then turn the heat off. Sprinkle cumin and cardamom powder on top of it and serve.

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.

Aloo Pakoda

We have an old neighbor who is also originally from my original countries neighboring country. Go figure :).

She is 82 and an amazing cook. Like every amazing cook, she is picky about what she eats. When I was chit-chatting with her, she told me that she likes to eat pakora. When I asked her of the exact kind she likes, she gave me this mini-recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes
• 1.5 cup besan (Chickpea flour)
• 1/2tsp. baking powder
• 1/2tsp. red chili powder
• 1/2tsp. turmeric powder
• Salt
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Peel potatoes and cut them into thin round slices. Dunk the slices into a bowlful of cold water. This will help retain the color of the potato.

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add water little at a time and make a medium thick batter. Make sure the batter doesn’t have any lumps.

Heat oil in a wok. Take each potato slice out of the water, dip it in batter and gently slide in medium hot oil. Fry till it turns crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Sprinkle black salt all over and serve.

Aloo Phulkopi-r Chorchori (Dry Potato-Cauliflower Curry)

I just posted about making Bengali Triangular Paratha. The most common accompaniment to these parathas were aloo-phulkopir chorcori, especially in the winter when fresh cauliflowers were easily available in the market. Generally a breakfast of paratha’s and chorchori was followed by some nolen gurer sondesh.

This is super simple to make, fresh cauliflowers and green-chilies dominate the flavor. In today’s world it’s hard to fresh cauliflowers (or for that matter anything). We hunt our local farmer’s market to get our share.

Ingredients

• 3 – 4 medium sized potatoes cut into small cubes
• 2 cups small florets of cauliflower
• 3 – 4 green chilies
• 1tsp. nigella seed (Kalonji)
• 1tsp. turmeric powder
• 3 – 4tbsp. mustard oil
• 1tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with green chilies and nigella seeds. Let them sizzle before you add cauliflower florets to it. Sauté for a minute or two till you smell the fragrance of cauliflower. Add potato cubes. Sprinkle salt, sugar and turmeric powder.

Mix everything well and cook on medium heat for 2- 3 minutes. Add half cup water and cook it covered on low heat till the vegetables are done. You may crank up the heat now to dry the excess moisture.

Serve with triangular paratha and nolen gurer sondesh.

Bengali Aloo Phulkopir Singara (Samosa)

In my last trip to Kolkata, I reached Delhi airport in the wee hours of the morning. As we were departing out of the international arrival I overheard another fellow Bengali talking loudly over the phone. He was instructing his parents at 4:00 in the morning to ask their driver to buy Singara from “Bhola’s shop” while coming to pick him up from the Kolkata airport. I could really understand his craving for Singara. This is something we miss dearly on weekend breakfasts and when friends come over for some pure Bengali “adda”. We get Samosa’s here but they differ considerably in their filling with the traditional Bengali Singara.

Last week we were heading out to our friends home to meet their new-born and to spend the evening there. I decided to make some traditional Bengali Singara with cauliflower and potato filling. Thousands of miles away from home the “adda” got a special authentic touch.

TIPS

Singara is not that hard to make, however, there are some common pitfalls. You need to ensure that you have the right “moyen” which is the amount of oil in your dough. This will decide how crisp your singara will be. Too much oil results in brittleness. The local stores use dalda and other stuff to make over-crispy samosas, so that they can sell it through out the whole day. It’s not healthy and we will refrain from that.

Similarly the temperature of the oil in which you fry is also very important. It should be low so that the shell gets evenly cooked and it remains crisp for a longer time.

Also note that re-heating the Singara in Micro-wave makes them go soggy. Make them fresh or re-heat in conventional oven.

Ingredients for the Filling

1. 5 medium sized potatoes boiled and peeled
2. 1 cup cauliflower florets
3. 1/2 cup green peas
4. 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
5. 1”ginger grated
6. 2 green chilies finely chopped
7. 1/2tsp. turmeric powder
8. 1/2tsp. dry red chili powder
9. 1tsp. whole cumin seeds (jeera)
10. 2 – 3 tsp. bhaja masala (dry roast whole cumin, coriander seeds along with dry red chili and grind them into a powder)
11. 1tsp. sugar
12. Salt
13. 1tbsp. vegetable oil

Procedure For the Filling

Bring a pan of water to a boil and add cauliflower florets and peas to it. Cook them covered for 2 – 3 minutes and then drain the water. Break all the vegetables ( Potatoes + Cauliflower) in uneven shapes with a spoon.

Heat 1tbsp. oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Let it sputter and then add roasted peanuts and green chilies to it. Fry for a while and then add cauliflower and peas. Keep them frying before you add boiled potatoes to it. After potato add grated ginger, turmeric powder and chili powder. Keep frying till everything mixes well. Since all the vegetables are cooked be gentle while frying so that they don’t become mushy.

Season with salt and sugar and fry till there is no traces of moisture. Now add bhaja masla and mix again once more before you turn the heat off.

Ingredients For Shell

1. 3 cups all purpose flour (maida)
2. 4tbsp. clarified butter (ghee)
3. 1tsp. salt
4. 1tsp. sugar
5. Enough oil for deep frying

Procedure

In a mixing bowl take flour, salt and sugar and mix them well. Add 4 tbsp. of ghee and rub it with flour using your finger tips. Knead the flour into a tight dough by adding some water. Let it rest for at-least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into lime sized balls.

Apply oil on a wooden board or kitchen counter and start rolling each portion of dough in oblong shape with the rolling pin.

Cut the rolled out dough into halves.

Brush water on both sides along the straight edge and then fold the edges to make a cone. Fill 3/4th of it with the potato  stuffing.

Now smear the open edge with water and make a fold just opposite to the join of the cone. This is important to do otherwise the shape will not be retained after frying. Seal the ends by pressing gently with your finger tips.

Take enough oil in a wok and put it on low heat. Add samosas to the oil. Essentially the oil should not be hot. This will make the samosa uniformly crispy which will last longer.

Fry them on low heat for 6-7 minutes and then on high heat for another 2- 3 minutes. Remove when they turn golden

Make sure the temperature of the oil is low enough before you add the next batch of samosa.

Serve hot with masala chai.

If you want to make them ahead of time make sure you reheat them in a oven and not in a microwave.

Hinger Kochuri with Kumro Aloor Torkari

Once Halloween comes up in US, everyone finds excuse to put some form of pumpkin in anything they eat or drink. While some like pumpkin pie makes sense, others like pumpkin latte seems weird to say the least.

I had to get pumpkin for the little devil at home, so I decided to make something Indian out of it. Since my husband worked really hard at carving it up, I decided to treat him with his absolute favorite Hinger Kochuri (asafetida stuffed poori) and pumpkin potato curry.

He was so happy to have it, that he dug out the photo he took many years ago of his favorite dingy kochuri shack in Behala. He insists that the guy is pure genius and an artist (see English Vinglish)

Kumro AlooR Torkari

Ingredients

1. 3 large potatoes cut into medium cubes along with their skin
2. 100gms pumpkin peeled and cut into cubes
3. 1tsp. turmeric powder
4. 1tsp. chili powder
5. 1tsp. asafetida powder or hing
6. 2-3 dry red chilies broken
7. 1tsp. paanch phoron
8. salt
9. 2 tsp. oil

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with paanch phoron, hing and dry red chilies. Wait till you get a pungent smell. Now add pumpkin and potato cubes to it. Add turmeric and chili powder and fry them for a minute. Season with salt and mix well.

Now add one and half cups of water to it and cook it covered on medium heat till potatoes are done and pumpkin cubes are very mushy and melts. There should be no solid pieces of pumpkin, they should’ve all turned into a gooey paste.

Remove from heat and transfer to a serving bowl.

Kochuri

Ingredients For Stuffing

1. 1 cup white urad dal soaked overnight
2. 1 tsp.ginger paste
3. 2-3 green chilies
4. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
5. 1/2tsp. kalonji  (nigella seeds)
6. 1+2 tbsp. hing (asafetida)
7. !/2tsp. sugar
8. Salt
9. 1 tsp. oil

Procedure To Make The Stuffing

In a grinder grind urad dal along with green chilies into a paste.

Heat oil in a frying pan and temper it with a spoon of hing and kalonji.

Now add the paste of dal to it. Sprinkle turmeric powder, salt and sugar over it and mix well. Fry the dal mixture on medium heat till you see the paste is coming together.

Turn off the heat and let it cool.

Once it cools down, add the rest of the asafetida and ginger paste to it. To retain the flavor of hing in hinger kochuri, we add asafetida at the end. Knead it well.

Ingredients for dough

1. 2 ups maida (All purpose flour)
2. 1tsp. salt
3. 1/2 tsp. sugar
4. 1/2 – 3/4th cup of water
5. 2 cups oil for deep frying

Procedure To make Dough

In a mixing bowl take all the dry ingredients (1 through 3) and mix well.

Add 2tbsp. of oil to it and mix with the flour mixture using your fingertips till it takes a crumb texture.

Knead it by adding water little at a time till you get a soft smooth dough. Keep it covered with a damp cloth for 30 minutes.

Knead once more and then make ping pong size balls out of the dough.

Approximately you will get around 20 balls.

Procedure of making kochuri

Take each balls you made from the dough and press it between your palm to flatten it. Now put a spoonful of stuffing at the centre of the flattened dough and round the dough again by gathering the sides together.

Roll them into discs as you would make pooris.

Take enough oil in a wok and heat it up before you slide the kochuris in. Give both sides a minute before flipping them.

They might not always fluff up like a puri as they have stuffing in it.

Your kochuris are ready.

Chital Maacher Muithya

Chital maacher muithya is made because though Chital fish’s belly is tasty and oily and can be used in curries, the back is too bony to be eaten otherwise. So folks scrape out this back flesh and make fish balls out of them, which is called the Muithya. With time this has gained popularity as an exotic dish in family special occasions.

From the treasure trove of the local Bangladeshi store’s refrigerator I found a pack of frozen minced chital maach. This makes making muithya half as easy.

Ingredients For muithya

1. 1 lb. flesh of chital  fish
2. 1 medium sized boiled potato
3. 1 tbsp. grated ginger
4. 1 tbsp. grated garlic
5. 1 tsp. chopped green chilies
6. 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil for deep frying

Procedure to make muithya

In a mixing bowl mix all the ingredients above other than oil and make lemon sized balls out of it. Take enough water in a deep kadai or sauce pan and bring it to a rolling boil.  Once it start boiling reduce the heat and gently slide the fish balls into it. Soon you will see the balls are loosing its raw color. You can now crank up the heat and allow the fish-balls to cook for 2 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel.

In a wok heat oil for deep frying and fry the fish balls in batches till they turn golden brown. Remove from oil and your muithya is ready to go in the gravy.

Ingredients for Gravy

1. 2 medium sized potatoes cut into quarters
2. 1 large onion cut into thin slices
3. 1 tsp. ginger paste
4. 1 tsp. garlic paste
5. 2 heaped tbsp. tomato paste
6. 1 tsp. sugar
7. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
8. 1 tbsp. chili powder
9. 2-3 Bay leaves
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil
12. 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala

Making The Gravy

Heat oil in a pan and temper with bay leaves. Add onion slices to it and fry on low heat till the sides of the onion take a caramelized brown color. Remove bay leaves from it and make a paste of the fried onions.

If you have oil left in your pan you can use the same or else add little more. To get a gorgeous red color add sugar to the oil. Throw the potato cubes to it and fry till they take a golden hue. Now add ginger, garlic and fried onion paste along with turmeric and chili powder. Fry on low temperature till the raw smell reduces. Add tomato paste to it and fry everything together till the oil gets separated from the masala.

Season with salt and give a nice mix. Add about a cup of water to it and reduce the heat. Cook it covered till the potato cubes are done. Remove the cover and taste the salt and sugar balance.

Now gently add the fish balls and mix them with the gravy. This gravy will have a thick consistency, so adjust accordingly.

Cook everything together on low heat for five minutes. Sprinkle Bengali garam masala powder and keep it covered till you serve.

Enjoy with a full plate of white rice.

Dimer Devil

Dimer devil or deviled egg is boiled egg coated by spicy minced meat. I have no idea what it’s association with devil is, but I can promise you’ll think more about heaven than hell when you have it.

This is commonly sold in road side shacks in Kolkata and also in college cafeterias. My boyfriend used to get it for me from his college’s café when he came to pick me up after classes. I still remember those days of munching on the devils while going back home in the Kolkata metro rail.

Ingredients

1. 6 hard boiled eggs cut into halves lengthwise 
2. 250 gm minced meat (keema). This is optional. 
3. 2 medium sized potatoes boiled
4. 1 medium onion finely chopped
5. 1 inch ginger finely minced + 1/2 tsp. ginger paste 
6. 1 tbsp. grated garlic + 1/2 tsp. garlic paste 
7. 2-3 green chilies finely chopped
8. 1 tsp. raisins 
9. 1/2 tsp. bengali garam masala powder
10. 1/2 tsp. bhaja masala (dry roast and coarsely grind whole cumin, coriander and dry red chilly)
11. 1tsp. sugar
12. Salt to taste
13. 3-4 tbsp. maida (AP flour)
14. 3-4 tbsp. cornstarch
15. Enough bread crumb
16. Oil for deep frying

NOTE: I make this with and without minced meat, based on whom I’m making this for. I have a bunch of vegetarian friends who have taken up eating eggs but nothing beyond that. For them you need to substitute the meat with equal amount of boiled mashed potato. Everything else remains the same.

Procedure

Step 1: Stuffing

In a mixing bowl mix minced meat with ginger garlic paste, salt and sugar. Cook it on a medium heat till all moisture dries up. Let it cool.

Heat 2 tsp. oil in a frying pan and sauté chopped onion, ginger and garlic on low heat for about 2 minutes. The taste will go bad if you fry it on a high heat for long.

In a separate mixing bowl mash boiled potatoes with fried masala, green chilies, garam masala powder and bhaja masala with your hand. Mix cooked meat with it and taste the seasoning. Add salt and sugar to taste. Your stuffing is ready to be used.

Step 2

Take each half of the eggs and place one raisins in  the center of the yolk. Press down with your finger tip to secure it in place.

Now take a part of the meat mixture on your palm and flatten it with the other hand. Put the halved egg in the center of it. Place the yolk side down. Cover it up with the meat mixture by closing your fist.

Using both your palms smoothen the surface and try to give it a natural oval  shape of an egg.

Step 3

In a bowl mix maida and corn starch uniformly. Gradually add water to make a thin batter. Take enough bread crumb on a plate.

Dip each of the deviled egg in the batter and  roll them on the bread crumb. Repeat the process. Dust off any extra bread crumb. You can refrigerate them and fry just before serving.

Heat enough oil for deep frying in a wok or kadai. Gently slide the deviled eggs one or two at a time in the hot oil and fry till all sides turn brown. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Sprinkle black salt over it and serve with some onion slices.