Pasta Salad with Shrimp and Vegetables

This super easy one pot meal is perfect for days when you don’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen. This particular recipe involves very little cooking and is my default take away lunch for a day picnic and potlucks when I can’t think of anything extraordinary creative.

Ingredients

1. 8oz. penne pasta
2. 2 medium red onion thinly sliced
3. 2medium carrot diced
4. 1/2 cup button mushroom thickly sliced
5. 1 medium broccoli cut into small florets
6. 1/2lb. shrimp meat
7. 2tbsp. finely chopped garlic
8. 1tsp. roughly chopped parsley (You can use basil or oregano instead)
9. Black pepper powder to taste
10. Salt
11. 1tbsp. butter
12. 2tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Procedure

Cook the pasta as per package directions. Don’t overcook because you want your pasta to hold their shape. Once cooked drain water and rinse in cold water to immediately stop the cooking process. Transfer the pasta into a big mixing bowl.

Melt butter in a pan and add chopped garlic to it. Allow it to become light brown before you add all chopped vegetables and shrimp to it. Sauté the vegetables on high heat for about 2 minutes.Remove and bring them to the room temperature.

Add sautéed vegetables and shrimp to the mixing bowl. Add all the seasoning ( Salt, pepper powder ) and olive oil. Toss well with a spatula to coat evenly.

Your one pot meal is ready to be served.

Kucho Nimki

Once Durga pujo is over the custom is to visit friends, family and neighbors to wish each other on Bijoya Dashomi. We touch our elders feet, bless the younger ones and embrace our peers with heartfelt good wishes. Visitors are offered various savory snacks, one of the most common being home made kucho Nimki. These are salty diamond shaped snacks.

Ingredients for dough

1. 2 cups of regular flour ( Maida )
2. 2tsp. oil
3. 1tsp. salt
4. 1/2tsp. sugar
5. 1 tsp. kalonji (Nigella seeds)
6. 1/2 cup of water approximately

For Frying

1. 2 cups of white oil or any refined oil

Procedure

In a mixing bowl take all ingredients other than the water. Now mix everything well using your finger tips till the mixture looks like bread crumbs.

Add water little at a time and knead the dough. Knead till you get a stiff and smooth dough.It will take around 5-6 minutes of kneading to get the desired one.

Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

Before you start rolling knead the dough once more. Dust the working surface which you are using to roll the dough into circles. Divide the dough into 5-6 equal portions and roll them out really thin one by one.

Now using sharp knife cut each circle into small diamonds.

In a wok or kadai heat oil for deep frying and fry the diamonds in batches. Fry on medium high heat till the sides turn brown.

Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. Store in an airtight container once it cools down.

You are now all set to receive guests for Bijoya Dashomi. 

Subho Bijoya with Narkel Naru

Durga pujo is over and this is the time to wish each other on Bijoya Dashomi. After bidding farewell to Ma Durga with sweet and sindoor (vermilion), we touch our elders feet, bless the younger ones and embrace our peers with heartfelt good wishes. It is a time for family reunion, to renew bonding with friends and relatives. This is not just a celebration of the triumph of good over evil but also a wish that Ma Durga will bring fulfillment and prosperity in the upcoming year. And then we do what Bongs are famous for. We eat, which can not be completed without nakel naru and nimki.

Narkel Narus are of two kinds. The gure’r naru is the one made with sugar cane jaggery and deep brown in color.The other one chinir naru is made with sugar, this is the one I cover in this post. The availability of frozen grated coconut and condensed milk saved me from the painstaking process of grating coconut and reducing the whole milk to its 1/4th volume.

Ingredients

1. 1lb. grated coconut (I used frozen)
2. 300 ml. sweetened condensed milk
3. 1 cup whole milk
4. 2tbsp. crushed roasted peanuts

Procedure

In a thick bottom pan take the grated coconut and stir around for about 5-6 minutes. Add whole milk and condensed milk to it and mix well. Keep on stirring on low heat.

The mixture will soon become thicker and you can see bubbles coming up on the sides. Keep mixing while scrapping off the bottom frequently. I prefer to use a nonstick pan for this process.

It takes 10-15 minutes for the mixture to get cooked.

Turn the heat off and add crushed peanuts to it. Mix once again.

Allow the mixture to cool down.  Naru becomes harder when it is cooled. So start making them when the mixture is still warm.

Grease your palms with little ghee and make ping-pong sized balls using your palm.

Keep them on a plate. Once they are completely cooled transfer them in an airtight container. Remember theses narus contain milk and hence their shelf life is less.

Mango Kheer

The count down is over now and Durga Puja is onto us. The usual cues of blue skies and fluffy white clouds are missing and so is the sound of dhaak from the local pandal. Instead we have the stinging cold air and thousand shades of gray covering the Seattle sky.

The childhood memories of gathering shiuli flowers before puja, the endless hours of deciding which new clothes to wear on which day, the smell of new clothes and shoes, the time spent with friends and family at the puja pandal all seemed so unreal as we drove towards Rama Krishna Math near Seattle to attend our local puja.

However, as we arrived at Tapovan (the temple) everything suddenly seemed like the same. Women were shivering but still flaunting their saris, everyone was in their best attires. There was a huge queue in front to get into the pandal to offer pushpanjali. My daughter confusedly asked, “is this the airport that we need to take off our shoes?”.

The queue infront of the food stalls were even longer. Even though it was a pot-luck, most people including me had got the same Khichuri and Labra. Some had got some nice sweets as well. I kind of felt bad about not doing the same. I had made some Aam (mango) kheer couple of days back and realized it would’ve gone really well. Maybe that’s what I’ll get next time.

Sharadiya Subhecha to all my readers.

Ingredients

1. 1 lit full cream milk
2. 1 can sweetened condensed milk
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1 cup mango pulp (I used canned one, you can make your fresh mango pulp as well )
5. Few cubes of fresh mango

Procedure

Take milk in a heavy bottom pan and bring it to a boil. Keep on thickening the milk till it reduces to half of its initial volume. While doing so stir it continuously to avoid scalding at the bottom of the pan. Also control the temperature so that the milk does not froth over.

Remove the pan from heat an bring it to room temperature.

Now add condensed milk to it and stir.Taste it. If you think the sweet level is less adjust by adding sugar to it. If you are planning to add canned mango pulp, add less sugar. Refrigerate and chill.

When it is cooled add the mango pulp and swirl. Pour in dessert bowl and garnish with the cubes of mango.

Egg Curry

Last week my daughter carried back some exquisite virus from the local sickness exchange center (also known as school). One by one all of us got knocked down like dominos.

So when I went down, my husband made some egg curry from the crude recipe I blurted out. I was told that the results were pretty good. I cannot really comment as I couldn’t taste or smell anything. However, Shreya our resident expert who is 3 year old and unforgiving in her opinions said that she really liked it.

Since I didn’t really have good egg recipes in my blog, I asked him to take photos all the way. I guess he did a decent job of it, what do you think?

Ingredients

1. 6 hard boiled eggs
2. 8 baby potatoes peeled
3. 1 large onion finely chopped
4. 1 tsp. ginger paste
5. 1tbsp. garlic paste
6. 1 large tomato roughly chopped
7. 1tsp. turmeric powder
8. 1tbsp. kashmiri red chili powder (You can use paprika powder as well)
9. 1 tsp. sugar
10. Salt to taste
11. 1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
12. For tempering
    1. 2 bay leaves
    2. Whole garam masala ( Pound it in a mortar and pestle)
       1. 1” cinnamon
       2. 2 green cardamoms
       3. 2 cloves

Procedure

Heat mustard oil in a pan and add boiled eggs. Fry the eggs on high heat. Wait till one side is fried properly before you turn them over. Remove with a slotted spoon when both sides turn brown.

To the oil add bay leaves and bruised whole garam masala. Sauté for a second before you add chopped onion to it. Fry the onions till they are light brown. Now add baby potatoes followed by ginger garlic paste. Fry everything together till you see oil separates out from the gravy.

Add chopped tomato, turmeric and chili powder. Mix well and cook it covered for 4-5 minutes. By this time tomatoes will become mushy. Add salt and sugar to it.

Drop the fried eggs and give a nice mix. Add water depending on the gravy you want and cook it covered till potatoes are tender.

Turn off the heat and add garam masala powder.

Chicken Tikka Wrap

I had made chicken tikka the day before we were flying to Boston to meet up with some friends. Flight food is bad everywhere but the food served on the US flights are pathetic. Travelling to the East coast from the West is upwards of 7 hours of flying and so I decided to make some quick take away food. I wrapped the chicken tikka I made, in tortillas. They turned out to be a great option and I think I’ll be able to pack it for my daughter’s school lunch as well.

Ingredients

1. 4, 10” flour tortillas
2. 2tbsp. grated cheese (I used cheddar)
3. 4 skewers of chicken tikka
4. 4 leaves of iceberg lettuce
5. 4tbsp. thick curd or plain Greek yogurt
6. 4tbsp. green chutney (You can use mayonnaise or ranch dressing instead)
7. Salt

Procedure

In a bowl stir together yogurt and green chutney. Season with salt.
Place tortillas on a flat counter and start building up the layers. Spread yogurt mix just enough to cover the surface.Top with lettuce, one skewer of chicken tikka. Don’t forget to take out the skewer from the chicken. Drizzle a spoon of yogurt mixture over it.

Carefully fold one side over and roll it up tightly. Place the wrap on a plate with the seam side underneath and cut into halves.
Your lunch box is all set to go!

Bengali Style Malpua

Bengali sweets are the best in India. If you have any doubt take it up with our Rasgolla, Chamcham and Sandesh. Even though Malpua is a generic Indian sweet which every region prepares differently, the Bengali version stands apart with a distinct taste of fennel and its crispiness. In the Northern parts of India Malpua is made out of khoya and maida whereas in Bengali household suji or semolina is used instead.

Couple of days back one of my cousins called up to get the recipe. I made the crispy malpuas which are immediately taken out after a quick dip in sugar syrup. You may also soak them for awhile and make a more soft and soggy version.

Ingredients For Batter

1. 1/2 cup maida or all purpose flour

2. 1/2 cup suji or semolina

3. 1tsp. sugar

4. 1tbsp. fennel seeds crushed

5. 300ml. evaporated milk (If you are using whole milk, take 500ml of the milk and thicken the milk to 300ml. by boiling) 

Ingredients for sugar syrup

1. 1 cup water
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 2-3 whole green cardamoms

Ingredients for frying

1. Oil for deep frying

Procedure

In a mixing bowl take all the ingredients listed under “Ingredients For Batter” and mix it well so that there are no lumps inside it. If you feel this is too thick add little milk.

Allow it to rest for 1-2 hrs.

In a saucepan take sugar, water and  cardamom pods and  boil them together till you get  a syrup of one thread consistency (thin consistency).

In a frying pan heat sufficient oil for deep frying.

Pour a ladleful of batter in the oil to form a small pancake of 2” – 2.5” diameter.

Fry on medium heat. Cook one side then flip it over.

When both sides turn brown remove them with a slotted spoon and immediately immerse in sugar syrup. Leave it for maximum 30seconds.

Remove and serve hot.