Mocha-Chingri r Kofta

My husband bought a huge mocha (banana flower) from the local Indian store. It was way too large for our small family. After making mochar ghonto, I still had a lot left. So I chopped them up and along with shrimps made some kofta and gravy.

Mocha is very fibrous and because of that the kofta’s had a very unique texture. Give this a try, I hope you’d really enjoy this.

Ingredients For Kofta

• 2 cups mocha chopped
• 20 medium sized prawns cleaned and deveined
• 1/2 cup motor dal soaked for 3hours (Yellow split pea)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1” ginger chopped
• 2 green chilies finely minced
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin seeds ground into a powder 
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• Oil for deep frying 
• Salt

Ingredients For Curry

• 5 small potatoes cut into halves
• 1/2 medium sized onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 2 green chilies chopped
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil
• Whole garam masala
  • 1”cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 2 green cardamoms
  • 2 bay leaves

Procedure

Drain soaked dal and make a paste of it in a grinder with minimum water. Remove and keep aside.

Boil mocha with turmeric and in a pressure cooker for a whistle or two on high heat.  Let the pressure drop on its own. Now drain the excess water from boiled mocha.

Take 10 cleaned prawn in a grinder and give a quick pulse to crush them.

In a mixing bowl take dal paste, boiled mocha, crushed prawns and one by one add chopped onion, ginger, green chilies to it. Season it with roasted cumin powder, garam masala powder and salt. Mix well and make lime sized balls out of it.

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. Deep fry the balls on medium heat till they turn crispy and brown. remove and drain them on a paper towel.

Fry potato halves on medium heat till they turn yellow. Remove and keep aside.

Smear the rest of the prawns with turmeric and salt. Fry them till they turn pink. Remove and keep them handy.

Remove excess oil from the pan and temper it with bay leaves and whole garam masala. When they stop sputtering add onion and garlic paste to it. Keep frying till you see oil seeps out from the edge.

Add chopped tomato along with salt and sugar. Keep frying on low hit till tomatoes become mushy. Sprinkle turmeric and chili powder to it.

Throw in fried potatoes and mix well so they are well coated with spices. Pour a cup of water and cook covered till potatoes are almost done. Now add fried prawns and koftas to it. Let it simmer for 2 more minutes.

Sprinkle garam masala powder before you take it off from heat.

Serve with rice, pulao, chapathi or parantha.

Paneer Kadai (Cottage Cheese in Tomato Gravy)

After I have started food blogging, I have also got myself into collecting dishware. Obviously to post about Paneer and Chicken Kadai I needed some nice Kadai. So I made my friends visiting India and also those already in India to run around to get some fine copper bottomed Kadais. The Kadai in the picture here came from Jaipur, Rajasthan. I “employed” true Rajasthani couples Nisheet and Kavya to get it, they were  reimbursed with the panner in this kadai.

I have also got a bunch of other copperware from Hyderabad, they will be revealed in due time.

Ingredients

• 200 gms. paneer (Cottage cheese) cut into cubes
• 1 medium sized onion cut into cubes
• 1/2 green bell pepper (Capsicum) cut into cubes
• 5 medium tomatoes finely chopped
• 1 tomato cut into big cubes
• 1” ginger cut into julienne
• 1 tsp. Kashmiri red chili powder (Paprika)
• 1/2 tsp. kasuri methi (Dried Fenugreek leaves)
• 4 Kashmiri red chili
• 1 tsp. fennel seed
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 3 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp. peppercorn
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Procedure

Dunk the paneer cubes in salty warm water, it will make the panner soft.

In a pan dry roast whole red chilies, 1 tsp. cumin seeds, 2 tbsp. coriander seeds, fennel and peppercorn. Grind them into a coarse powder.

Heat 3 tbsp. oil in a pan and temper it with 1 red chili and whole cumin seed. Sauté till they start to crackle. Add coriander seeds to it. Fry on medium heat for a minute.

Next put in the chopped tomatoes. Fry till they turn pulpy and start releasing their juices. Now add red chili powder, sugar and salt. Sauté till oil gets separated from the spice mixture. Add ginger, tomato cubes, onion cubes and capsicum. Fry on high heat for a minute.

Drain the paneer cubes and add in. Sprinkle 1tbsp. of ground dry spice powder and kasuri methi. Mix gently. Turn off the heat and keep it covered so that paneer cubes can absorb the flavors.

Sprinkle one more spoon of ground spice powder just before you serve.

Enjoy with some naan or kulcha..

Narkel Posto Potol (Parval in Poppy Seed and Coconut paste)

Potol posto, potol-dorma and potol-dalna are the three common dishes made out of potol in a Bong household. This post covers the first with a twist of coconut.

This dish gets its special aroma from the spices that are fried first and then ground.

Ingredients

• 15 parwal (Potol or Pointed gourd)
• 1/2 tsp. methi seeds ( Fenugreek )
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. mouri (fennel seeds)
• 3 cloves
• 2 cardamoms 
• 1 red dry red chili
• 1/2” ginger chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen grated coconut
• 2 tbsp. poppy seed
• 1 tsp. Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 2-3 green chilies
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil

Procedure

Heat 1 tsp. oil in a pan and roast methi, cumin, fennel, cloves, cardamoms, red chili along with chopped ginger, grated coconut and poppy seeds. Fry all these ingredients on low heat till you find a sweet aroma. Cool and transfer the content in a blender. Dry grind this mixture and then add water to make a fine paste out of it.

Wash potol and scrape their skin, don’t peel it. Lengthwise cut them into halves and smear them with a pinch of turmeric and salt.

Heat oil in a pan and fry potol on medium heat till they turn yellow. Remove and keep aside.

If there is any oil left use that or else add some more oil. Temper the oil with green chilies and add coconut poppy seed masala paste to it.

Sprinkle turmeric and Kashmiri chili powder and fry the masala on low heat till oil oozes out from the sides.

Now add fried potol and seasonings. Mix well with masala so that each of them are nicely coated. Add half a cup of water. Cover and cook till potol is done. This is a dry dish so boil off any excess moisture left at the end of the cooking.

Serve with hot plain rice.

Chittagong Chicken

The people of Chittagong (in Bangladesh) uses a lot of chillies or atleast that’s what my grand-mom used to tell me. So don’t get shocked with the heavy use of them in this recipe. The cashews and the onions do mild them out a bit.

Chittagong chicken is generally made dry but since I was serving it with rice I made it with a bit more gravy. You can optionally cook it a bit more and dry it out.

Ingredients

• 750 gms. chicken on bone 
• 10-12 dry red chilies
• 4 tbsp. + 1tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. dry red chili powder
• 1 tbsp. garlic paste 
• 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
• 3 medium onions cut into thin slices 
• 2 tbsp. cashew nuts paste (10 whole cashews) 
• Salt to taste
• Mustard Oil for cooking

Procedure

In a wok dry roast 4 tbsp. coriander seeds along with whole dry red chilies till you get a warm smell of the spices. Transfer the content in a dry grinder jar and make a powder of these.

Wash and pat dry chicken. Marinate with half of the ground powder, garlic paste, chili powder and 2 tbsp. of mustard oil. Let it sit for 2-3 hours.

Heat 2tbsp. oil in a wok and temper it with whole coriander seeds. Let them sizzle before you add onion slices. Fry on medium heat till they turn soft and translucent.

Add marinated chicken and fry them on medium heat for few minutes. Sprinkle salt, and mix well. Cook it covered till the meat is done.

Add cashew paste and cook for another one minute and then turn off the heat. Sprinkle the rest of the roasted ground spice powder and give a nice mix. Keep it covered till you serve.

Enjoy with a plateful of white rice.

Instant Oats Idli

My daughter having grown up in South India loves to eat Idli. Unfortunately I do not make it regularly enough to keep a supply of idli-rice, grinding equipment and such. The easy alternative I have found is to make rawa idli or use oats. I have already covered making rawa idli on my blog and this post is about the later.

Oats idli is an excellent choice for people on a diet as its much lower in calories than rice.

Ingredients

• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup sooji (Semolina)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1.5 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. chaana dal (Bengal gram)
• 1 tsp. urad dal (Black gram)
• 1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 pinch hing (asafetida)
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 3 cups of plain yogurt
• 2 tsp. oil

Procedure

Dry roast oats in a pan on medium heat stirring continuously until it turns light brown. Keep aside and let it cool down. 

In the same pan dry roast rawa for a minute on low flame.

When the oats is cooler, grind in a spice grinder to make a coarse powder of it. 

In a mixing bowl take ground oats, roasted rawa, salt and baking soda. Mix really well.

Heat oil, add mustard and cumin seeds to it, when the seeds begin to splutter add chana and urad dal to it and sauté for a few seconds.

When the dals turn brownish, add hing to it and immediately turn off the heat.

Pour this (oil + dal and spice) mixture on the dry mixture of oats and semolina. Mix very well.

You can prepare this dry mixture ahead of time ( Can be refrigerated for 5 days) and prepare the idli later.

Grease idli molds.

Just before steaming add 3 cups of yogurt and chopped cilantro to it and mix. Put spoonful of this mixture into each mold and steam for 5-7 minutes.

When its cool remove each idle carefully and serve with coconut chutney of your choice.

Notes: Remember only add yogurt when you are ready to steam, else the effectiveness of baking soda will decrease and the idlis will not rise up.

Dal Makhani

Initially I tried and failed to make that perfect silky Dal Makhani at home. Each time I visited a good Indian restaurant and had one, I’d go back thinking what is it that I was missing. Then I figured the secret out with the help from a friend who worked in the hotel industry. The secret is super slow cooking. You need to slow cook the dal for hours. I generally do it now for 6 to 7 hours in the lowest heat and get fantastic melt in your mouth silky Dal Makhani.

Ingredients

• 1 cup black urad dal (black gram) washed
• 1 fistful rajma (red kidney bean) washed
• 2 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 2 large tomatoes pureed
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. kasuri methi (Dry fenugreek leaves)
• 2 tsp. butter
• 1/4 cup fresh cream
• Salt
• 2 tsp. oil
• For Tempering
  • 1 tsp. cumin seeds
  • 1” cinnamon stick
  • 2 cardamoms
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 bay leaf

Procedure

Soak rajma for 3-4 hours but not the urad dal. In a deep vessel take both dals with a pinch of salt and pour enough water to boil them. Cook them covered on the lowest heat mark for 6-7 hours. Alternatively you can pressure cook.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, bay leaf and whole garam masala. When they stop spluttering add ginger garlic paste and sauté for few minutes.

Next to go in is pureed tomato and cook it on low heat for 5-6 minutes to cook of its raw smell. Add red chili powder and coriander powder and salt. Fry the masala till oil oozes out.

Add 2 tsp. butter. Pour boiled dal to it along with cream. Sprinkle dry kasuri methi powder and stir well. Cook for another 30 minutes covered, while mixing it in between so that it doesn’t stick to bottom.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve,.

Aamshotto Sondesh

When I made aamshotto one of the trays was over soon. I kept the other tray aside to make some Sondesh out of it. In Kolkata the typical way of making it is by placing layers of aamshotto in between sondesh. I decided to give it a twist, literally.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of aamshotto or mango leather of 12”x5”
• 2 liter whole milk
• 1/4 cup vinegar diluted in water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh cream
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 green cardamom’s seed

Procedure

I have already outlined the procedure of making mango leather or aamshotto in my post here. Either use that to make one or buy ready made slabs.

Heat milk in a heavy bottom pan. When it roll to a boil reduce heat and slowly add diluted vinegar or lime juice to it. You will see that the milk solid starts curdling. When the milk solids are separated from the transparent whey, drain it on a colander lined with a cheese cloth.

Bring the corners of the cheese cloth together and squeeze out water out of it. Tie the cheese cloth from your kitchen faucet from 10 minutes.

On a flat surface knead cheena with the heel of your hand till its smooth and lump free.

Now transfer the chenna in a non stick pan. Add sugar, condensed milk,fresh cream,and cardamom seeds to it. Mix well. Keep stirring on low heat till the mixture comes together and leaves the pan. Remove it from the pan and let it cool a bit so that its tolerable when you touch with hand. This mixture (Sondesh) will be kind of sticky.

Lay the sheet of aamshotto on a flat surface and then place the sondesh mixture on it. Spread it uniformly over aamshotto with a spatulla. Press it with your palm to set properly.Now start rolling the aamshotto from one end till you reach the other side. Secure it on a chopping board and slice with a wet serrated knife. Done with your aamshotto sondesh.