Monday 18 March 2024

VEGETARIAN LADOO CAKE


IT MAY NOT BE MY INNOVATION BUT I AM LOVING IT!

I am talking about the cake I am going to blog about today. I have seen "bonde paratha" doing the rounds in the social media, I have seen state of the art ladoo cake in the internet, I cannot be that decorative, neither can eat that amount of sweet. My initial plan was to get an oats cake to the blog today, but looking at the dates of various occasions around, it felt let me share something more of relevant to the Dol Purnima / Holi celebrations. Of course, this suits on an Iftar table. The oats cake can come for the Easter. The actual fact is that I have got a box of ladoo last week and only I had to eat them. Cristine is not fond of desi sweets, the man would not eat anything extra than the bread, noodle, pasta & rice meals the entire Ramzan month, he would have the breakfast and leave for the office without his lunch box, he would eat the dinner thereafter. There is no room for sweets after his limited intake of whisky or beer each night. Sweets & Fruits are only packed with his lunch box at this home. He had been travelling since yesterday morning. Cristine went for her off day yesterday. Tell me what to do all day? I too found the sweets too high in sugar, I cannot eat much of the store bought sweets, I can do them better. This idea to use the ladoos in a cake, popped up all of a sudden. I thought I need not have to add sugar either. It feels bad to eat something without sharing it with the son & the man. Also, the senior of the men would be travelling often now onwards, thats what he says. I cannot live without all my pleasures. Food gets me the necessary high.

AS PART OF OF MY PLEASURE TRIP, BELOW ARE WHAT I DID!

What I eat in a day is pretty alarming, they are all high in starch food. Within the limitations of my inability to eat clean, I try to adapt to certain healthy habits. I try to fry the potatoes in the air frier or in the grill mode using few drops of oil. May be I do not eat this amount of potatoes on a regular basis.





My lunch was broccoli-onion-pasta with a cheese slice atop yesterday. Even when I would have lonely meals, I would arrange it well. Because I am not a good pasta maker or pasta is not among my topmost favourite food, I had to eat a bit of oats+homemade yogurt+palm sugar post the meal. I even love too much a bowl of muesli, do not allow myself; the muesli mix would be high in sugar. At night, I preferred a vegetarian meal. How I love a "dal-aloo bhaja" meal. These days, I love my choice of vegetarian dishes too. I was also watching a series on Hoichoi, Cristine came home pretty late. And today is another day. I miss the early morning & evening time chitchat with the man. About the son, I had to let go for his good but his parents have be together at one place. The kids too are at peace when they see their parents are not fighting much.  And now let us see what I had for my first meal today. It was a blunder. I had soaked some small pearls of Tapioca to prepare "sabodana khichuri", the pearls melted almost. I prepared a paste of it, ginger, green chilli, salt, refined flour; added some fruit salt & water, made those dosa crepes. You can see some were rightly done, some weren't.


The measurements of the ingredients in a dosa batter is important, I want my dosa to be crispy & thin. I cooked that "aloo-peyaz-roshun bhaja" in the air frier using few drops of oil.

WHAT IS THIS VEGETARIAN LADOO CAKE?

As told in the beginning, I was finding the store bought ladoo sweet having too much of sugar, I use way less of sugar in my homemade sweets. After using the ladoos in this easy bake VEGETARIAN LADOO CAKE, I felt I made good use of what was seeming to me too sweet. What brings satisfaction to me is that I used few ingredients that are always present in our kitchen, even the flavouring agent is a natural cinnamon powder. I think I did not do anything, the cake got baked by itself. I do not think you need to add any extra amount of sugar in the cake batter, I did not. If you want you may add the sugar but remember, the ladoos or bonde whatever you are using are good enough substitute for the sugar.

Few other easy recipes from the Blog are these : STOVETOP COCONUT CAKEBANANA FRITTERMICROWAVE CHOCOLATE KIWI CAKE


INGREDIENTS :

REFINED FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG
LADOO SWEET : 5-6 [ALTERNATIVELY BENGALI BONDE 250 -300 GM]
BOILED MILK AT ROOM TEMPERATURE : 1/2 COFFEE MUG
PLAIN YOGURT : 5-6 TBSP
BAKING POWDER : 1/2 TSP
BAKING SODA : 1/4 TSP
CINNAMON POWDER : 1 TSP
OIL : 4-5 TBSP
I DID NOT USE SUGAR OR HONEY, YOU MAY.

PROCEDURE :


We will take together the refined flour, baking soda, baking powder & the cinnamon powder, mix well.

We will break the ladoo sweets pressing gently, if using bonde sweet then this step is not required.

In a blender, we with take together the milk, yogurt, oil and blend until incorporated well.

We will add it to the flour mix and beat well for 5-6 minutes.

We will add the maximum of the sweet balls to the batter leaving a little. We will give a stir and not beat.

We will grease a cake tin with few drops of oil and pour the batter into it. We will tap the cake tin on the kitchen counter to level the batter. 

We will add the rest of the sweet balls on the top layer of the batter, tap again.

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven, I did place the low height wired stool inside, preheated at 160*C.

Thereafter, I did place the cake tin atop the wired stool and baked at 160*C for 20-21 minutes.

Temperatures vary in different machines, the time taken may be less or more in your's.

Enjoy a slice with your choice of beverage.









 

Monday 11 March 2024

PRESSURE COOKER MATTA RICE KHICHURI


 I HAVE FALLEN FOR THIS MATTA RICE VARIANT!

Few years back I got home this Matta rice grains that is cultivated in Kerala, loved it's taste. Most importantly, this rice grains being short length, round shaped & hard textured, we would feel fuller consuming less amount of it. Thereafter, I stopped getting it thinking I would eat only a cup of cooked rice every night, why to cook another variety separately for me? But in the past few months, some kind of   dissatisfaction was working inside me having the Basmati rice. I never enjoy my "dal & macher jhol" with Basmati rice. The man of this house wants only Basmati rice on his rice plate. The Barrackpore side of the family too eats Basmati. Earlier, in our younger days, Basmati rice was exclusive, was bought in our kind of middle class homes only for the fried rice, later for cooking biryani. Pulao always is done with the small grain, fragrant Gobindo Bhog variety of rice. In our home, some variants came from Assam too. After relocating to this island, I got to know about the brown, black, red rice varieties and many more of them. I wished to try getting each variety in turns but the man wouldn't eat. What is wrong in pampering the sole earning member in the family, given they do not ask for a lot? Pampering your children comes naturally & jointly in the parents. Arch feminists seem cruel to me, beating around the bush without getting to the core of the issue. I remember, the son did enjoy having fried rice made with the brown or red unpolished rice variants, Cristine too does. I used to cook a red or brown rice when the man travelled to the Malaysia. I stopped getting home different rice grain varieties after the son left home. What's the point crowding the small kitchen with edible stuffs unnecessarily? Also, we need to soak the Matta rice variant in water for few hours before slow cooking it. Keeping aside all the hesitations, I got it home few days back only for myself.

OF ALL THE GOPAL BHAR'S WIT & JOKES, I TOTALLY BELIEVE IN ONE OF HIS SAYING!

For the unversed, Gopal Bhar was one of the navaratnas at Raja Krishnachandra's court, the king of Krishnanagar, Nadia in the 18th century. I was born there, visited the palace every year, my early childhood memories are from that place only. Although, I was not given to read the booklets of Gopal Bhar's jokes, we grew up listening to them by default. One of his such story talks about the importance of the morning toilet rituals, that he told clearance of the bowel in the mornings is the most pleasant feeling for us. As a young girl of sixteen, with colours of romanticism shrouding my mind, the phrase might have irritated me. In our younger days, at sixteen; we day dreamed, blushed, smiled, lip synced our favourite numbers; toilet rituals were not in our thoughts. In the sunset of our lives, it is the most important thing, also there is a repent in my kinds of not studying well at the right time. And today, after few weeks my stored stomach waste got cleared too well. A feel good vive makes me happy & shining bright. This is the right kind of mood for me to go out somewhere but on Mondays, I wish to write a blogpost. The reason for this good bowel movement can be this matta rice mixed with Japanese greens, butternut squash, lentils. Of course greens help a constipated stomach and helps your mood get "furfurey". We indeed enjoyed both our lunch & dinner yesterday.



I am thoroughly enjoying my early morning walks these days. Also you get to see this just at the backside of your home. Nostalgia can be both good & bad for you. We have to control our thought process not to allow nostalgia affect us much. We cannot stop it visiting us at this age when we are almost done with our responsibilities. I do enjoy my present without much of an effort. I feel bad for those in suffering, a  little of guilt works inside knowing I hardly have any contribution getting here in a paradise of peace & security. But my intent is pretty clear, this island must give me a bit of earning to get me work for the needy.


My days are longer now but I do not get bored. Only tension is about the son staying far off. I wished to enrol to some online tuition platforms, do not know how to; they ask to deposit money, submit one teaching video. I do not like the complications involved. Cooking continues, even if is for the self.


It is that time of the year when the man would not carry his lunch box but have a breakfast and go. The problem is when to serve him a sweet, fruits, Bel er Shorbot then? He ate the leftover Khichuri today with a double egg omelette, would have dinner next.

WHAT IS PRESSURE COOKER MATTA RICE KHICHURI?

These days I want to evolve new recipes from the old thinking of these staying alone youngsters. They tend to eat out a lot. I am not against having outside food but that should not be a daily affair. For the past 3 & 1/2 years, mumma kept on warning the son about the consequences later in life, who listens to me? No one would believe that we do not exactly know what our son's diet is like. He eats cheese, bread, pasta, cornflakes, milk majorly, that we have seen. I am an Indian, I believe in the power of the "atta-bajra ruti" or a less spicy vegan, gluten-free rice, lentils, vegetables hotchpotch like this PRESSURE COOKER MATTA RICE KHICHURI over macaroni & cornflakes. My slogan is simple; eat fresh corns instead of cornflakes. To make this one pot vegetarian meal more nutritious and a symbol of integration, I have added butternut squash, Japanese Greens that look like pak choy, potato to the red Matta rice from Kerala. We had a fulfilling meal yesterday. You know our son grew up on such meals.



INGREDIENTS :

RED MATTA RICE : 1/2 COFFEE MUG
SPLIT SKINLESS MOONG BEAN : 1/2 COFFEE MUG
POTATO : 1 BIG
BUTTERNUT SQUASH : 200-250 GM[YOU CAN USE PUMPKIN]
JAPANESE GREENS]
TOMATO : 1 BIG
GREEN CHILLI : 3-4
DRY RED CHILLI : 1-2
CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP
BAYLEAF : 1
CUMIN POWDER : 2 TSP
CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP
GINGER PASTE : 1 TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
SUGAR : 1 TBSP [OPTIONAL] [I USE BROWN SUGAR]
OIL : 2 TBSP
A garnish of butter or ghee atop the finished dish takes it to another level.

PROCEDURE :


I am telling you this matta rice is good for relief from constipation, same are the Chinese & Japanese greens. But if you have a weaker stomach like mine, do not eat too much of greens. 

Wash and soak the rice in enough water for 2-3 hours. Wash & soak the lentils in enough water for an hour. Thereafter, take them together in a colander and let the water drain off. We need not dry them as in a pulao.

Cut the ends of the greens, wash well. Peel, cut, wash & cube the potatoes and butter nut squash. Wash & cut the tomatoes; wash & slit the green chillies.


Marinate the vegetables with some turmeric powder & salt just 10-15 minutes before adding them to the pressure cooker.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker, temper with the halved dry red chillies, cumin seeds, bayleaf. Give a stir.

Add the strained, semi-dry rice & lentils, keep stirring at low heat for 7-8 minutes. 

Add the marinated vegetables, give a stir. Add the rest of the turmeric powder, salt, cumin+coriander powders, stir well and close tight the lid of the cooker.

Reduce the heat of the east stove to the minimal, wait until one whistle. Switch off the gas stove, let the lid open by itself. Add the sugar to the hatch-potch, stir. I have used brown sugar.

Serve hot with a choice of side. We must add ghee or butter to the khichuri before starting to eat.






Monday 4 March 2024

MY STYLE KHUSHKA RICE


 WHY DO I FEEL SLEEPY AT THIS HOUR OF THE DAY?

I am struggling to stay awake, my entire being is looking for my soft pillow. It's been few weeks I go for my walks sometime between 5:30 am-6:30 am in the morning. I come back sometime around 7:45 am, I am not the kind who would remain absent from home at the time of the bread winner's departure for the office. Like today he took porota in his lunch box, I would do that. Sandwiches & Pasta Cristine would, I am poor at those. Post 10am, I would go for a swim, come back, take a shower, wake up my God Family pretty late, bathe & feed them. Thereafter, I feel sleepy but do not allow myself to lie down. I may cook something to update the blog, write a blogpost. Around 3:30pm, I perform puja for the second time, prepare my first meal of the day, have and sit to watch something. Cristine usually would do the night time prayer and put them to sleep. I have to start reading regular, everyday, like I used to do when young. What is not happening is exploring the island on foot in the day time. I do not feel like eating out regular like before, may be I have eaten everything that fits within my 10$ daily budget. But at least three days a week I have to pack my bag and get out of my home; a visit to the several parks, monastery, nearby islands is due. One cannot finish visiting the malls here in a lifetime, not eager to. I got pretty lethargic, need to pick myself up and set out. In between, I make several calls & text messages to the son but in vein.

YESTERDAY NIGHT I MADE A DISASTER!

Since last Saturday, I was planning to prepare broccoli flatbreads. Then what happened inside my head, I blanched, pureed the broccoli and tried some vegan & gluten-free dosa crepes for dinner yesterday. Not that they were turning out to be bad, I added too much of salt. We have less of salt these days. I had to have homemade yogurt with beaten rice sprinkling some brown sugar to satiate the irritated self.



I requested the man to have them, cooking rice or roti would have taken some time and he obliged without a noise. This is the beauty of my son and the man, they would not complain or trouble me. The son would keep the plate back on the kitchen counter and order food online. Mumma rewinds all his actions and misses him madly. He lives too far to travel regular. Our lunch yesterday was great with my preferred chicken-potato curry, red lentils curry, my favourite Aar Fish head with vegetables.


What I understood is that Dosa get best from a naturally fermented batter, those instant batters are not for a learner dosa maker like me. I am fond of Rawa dosa though they say it is done from an instantly made batter. We were watching the series Sunflower, season-2 on Zee5 yesterday, it's a thriller. Somehow, I missed watching the season-1. I am thinking of wrapping up the blogpost soon and watching it. We have watched the documentary about Sheena Bora's mystery too, so pathetic. I had a fulfilling first meal with "porota-aloor dom-achar". I love this low priced cake slices; butter, vanilla, marble varieties only when I am not willing to bake a cake.



I have a demon's appetite. Again at night I would have a rice meal.

WHAT IS MY STYLE KHUSHKA RICE?

There was a time I used to love Khushka Rice more than a meat biryani. But in Kolkata, the Biryani hunts would give you Khushka from the meat biryani handi itself if you ask for. I did not have an issue  about it because I eat non-vegetarian food. Khushka is the Biryani Rice. I used to buy it to have with homemade meat curries; chicken or mutton. It had been a wish since then to cook Khushka Rice / Biryani Rice at home. I wanted to know how it would taste without the meat juice getting added to the rice. I felt the vegetarians should also get a taste of the Khushka Rice. This I planned back in the mid "noughties", learnt this word today. The vegetarian, gluten-free MY STYLE KHUSHKA RICE was cooked yesterday. I had it with the leftover mutton & raw papaya kofta from last week.


It is too difficult to cook a vegan version of the Khuska Rice / Biryani Rice, it would not get anywhere near to the flavour or taste of the Kolkata or Awadhi Biryani we are used to as natives of Kolkata. We have to use onion, garlic, milk, yogurt in the making of it.Whilst researching about it, I saw this rice is popular in Southern India, I am sure the taste & flavour would be different from that of Kolkata. The spices used varies. I did not check with any of the South Indian Bloggers' recipes because I wished to be nearer to Kolkata about it's taste, texture, flavour. Although I am fond of Southern Indian Rice varieties, I do not get why they over boil their rice, we cannot eat that way. We want our cooked rice "jhorjhore". Let's do it. I believe had I have used mawa / khoya / semi-solidified milk in it, we could have gotten more authentic a Kolkata Biryani like taste. To save some time, I used the microwave in the last step.

Few other similar recipes from my Blog are as follows; CHICKEN BIRYANIMICROWAVE MUTTON BIRYANIGHOROA BANGALI POLAO



INGREDIENTS :

LONG GRAINED RICE : 1 COFFEE MUG [ENOUGH FOR 3 HEADS, I USED BASMATI RICE]
PLAIN YOGURT : 1 SMALL TEA CUP
ONION PASTE : 1 SMALL TEA CUP
GARLIC PASTE : 4 TBSP
GINGER PASTE : 2 TBSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP
RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP
CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP
CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP
KOLKATABIRYANI MASALA : 1 TBSP [TRY MY HOMEMADE - SHUGANDHI MOSHOLA MIX]
BAY LEAF : 3-4
CINNAMON STICK : 1 FAT & 2 INCH LENGTH
BLACK CARDAMOM : 1
GREEN CARDAMOM : 3-4
STAR ANISE : 1-2
MACE : 3-4
CLOVE : 4-5
ROSE WATER : 3-4 TSP
MILK : 1 MEDIUM TEA CUP
OIL : 4 TBSP
GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

PROCEDURE :


Let us cook the rice at first. Wash the rice grains well and keep aside for 15 minutes.

Take enough water in a deep bottomed vessel and put for boil. Once the water starts boiling; add the salt, the cardamom varieties, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, mace, star anise. 

Gently add the rice grains discarding the soaked water. Once the rice is 60% done, drain the water.

In one cup, mix together the milk and the rose water. In another cup, mix together the onion+ginger+garlic pastes+the turmeric powder+some salt. In the third cup, beat together the plain yogurt, cumin+coriander+red chilli powder+the Kolkata style shahi biryani masala.

Heat the oil & half of the ghee together in a wok. Add the spice pastes mix and stir fry at low heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the beaten yogurt+spice powders mix and stir fry for 4-5 minutes adding 1/2 small tea cup of water. Take down.


I was in a hurry, I cooked the last lap in the microwave oven and saved about 40 minutes. But I suggest, you slow cook on the stove top. For that, heat a tawa / fry pan, grease a deep bottomed vessel with enough ghee. Add the rice & curry in layers as seen. Add the milk+rose water from the top, cover with a heavy lid. Place the vessel on the frying pan, slow cook at minimal heat for 40-45 minutes.

I have greased a microwave proof bowl with the rest of the ghee. I added half of the cooked rice. I added half of the cooked spice paste, some milk+rose water mix. I purposefully did not add any ghee.

I again added the rest of the cooked rice, then the rest of the cooked spice paste. Actually, push the spice mix down a bit. Add the rest of the milk+rose water.

Place the bowl inside the microwave oven, cover with a microwave proof lid that has a small hole. Cook at low temperature for 10-12 minutes, we should be done.

Remember, every machine has a different temperature setting, the cooking time may vary a bit.

Enjoy it hot & fresh with your choice of sides. The sides can be meat, fish, veg kofta curries, even croquettes or fritters.







Monday 26 February 2024

BENGALI SOUR JUJUBE SWEET SPICY PICKLE



FINALLY, TODAY I HAVE DECIDED TO GET THIS FAMILY PICKLE RECIPE TO THE BLOG!

Actually, the Sour Jujube / Ber / Tok Kul season is going off for a year. If I do not get it to the blog now, I have to wait for another year. I am finding it difficult to keep track of the clicked pictures, I am a forgetful self. Since my childhood, I had seen the mother to prepare jam, jelly, achar / pickle at home. And those pickles were sweet with a hint of sour. Jaggery was the sweetening agent, which means they were Bengali style pickle. Way later in life, may be sometime in 2007, I learnt about the Aam Chunda pickle which is not a Bengali Recipe but is sweet. My new neighbouring aunty then, who lived in Mumbai for 42 years before retiring in Kolkata, told me. Until then, I did not know much about the food of the other Indian states except for idli, dosa, naan, tandoori roti, butter chicken, mutton rogan josh, kulcha. The aunty, Kakima travelled many places with her man, Kaku. I have learnt about many things from her. She has three daughters all of whom stay in the United States. Not for a single day she or Kaku have complained about her daughters not staying with or near them, she does not even after her husband's demise. At some point, the kids would empty the nest, we would feel lonely, it's obvious. We need not complain unless we are severely neglected, that they do not call us or visit us at intervals. I believe firmly our weird boy would call us regular after he settles down with a job. You cannot blame him, the man puts his phone to the silence mode, does not pick up when his parents call. No, I am not saying this happily, he is a dutiful son to an extent only few other sons & daughters can match but he wouldn't talk. This I consider "ek litre dudh e ektu khani chona". I plead why being such dutiful he has to behave like this, he would keep seeping Whisky, Beer with his eyes fixed on the television screen. But he gets upset when his son does not take the call.

HELLO, I MADE A LOVELY CHICKEN SOUP LAST NIGHT!

Yesterday night, I cooked a light chicken soup, had it with toasted bread & cheese. I dislike cheese slices but this Amul's cheese slices do I find tasty, cannot have regular. We definitely do love clear chicken soups, the man and his mother & sister; also our mother & Bidisha. Our son definitely did enjoy Oriental soups outside of home when he stayed with us. I wish he has it often now. My brother hates perhaps, the father & the father-in-law too may be. The mother says Bidisha makes good soups, though not regular. But we cannot have clear vegetable soups, in that case, I have to make it spicy & thick. 


I am against buying readymade soup packets, the parents anyway were against much of outside food. I ask the mother to have soups & chapati at night. For dinner, she cannot have non-vegetarian food, neither one or two vegetarian side dishes, fries she would not eat much. I or the brother or Bidisha dislike it that she would have only dal-rice-salad for dinner and a little of rice with milk. The maternal grandmother had rice with milk to end her lunches and out mother eats it regular too. She cooks this and that vegetables & a non-vegetarian curry; 3-4-5 dishes each day, cannot eat at night. I do not believe only dal protein helps. I prefer having a meal with at least three items. We are paratha lovers in the entire family. My father & brother are not fond of roti, their choice of breads had been luchi & porota everyday. Us in this family, the son, man, I and Cristine love roti too! The entire pandemic period we had mostly roti. Today is a paratha day and the son is not around. 


I got to be a good paratha maker, today it was a purely wholewheat made. These days, instead of a spoon, I use a brush, that way you consume lesser amount of oil. My first meals are pretty big. I do not even try to eat less.



WHAT IS A BENGALI SOUR JUJUBE SWEET SPICY PICKLE?

Before I share this family condiment recipe with Ber / Tok Kul / Boroi, let me tell you this morning I made a fresh batch of Dates-Tamarind Chutney after few years. Like the last time, I followed Tarla Dalal's recipe of it ditto, only added one thing more, that is Dry Mango Powder. Although, we are more of Sanjeev Kapoor fans, when it comes to the Dates-Tamarind Chutney, I prefer Tarla Dalal's recipe. I do not do it regular as it requires a lot of jaggery. Then, some days I wish to make Bhelpuri or Chaats at home, in that case, this chutney is a must. 


When it comes to this vegan, gluten-free pickle, a condiment with the Indian Sub-Continent's sour variety of Jujube, BENGALI SOUR JUJUBE SWEET SPICY PICKLE; I blindly follow the mother's recipe. The father required a little of spicy sweet pickle / jhal mishti achar with his rice meals. The few varieties the mother prepared were the sweet & spicy pickles with mango, elephant apple, sour jujube and two partly sour varieties with sugar, salt, raw mango in one case & with sugar, salt, sour jujube. She would prepare in large quantities to be used throughout the year. I never had a sour tooth, neither a sweet tooth. Bengali girls grew up in those days loving raw fruits with salt & red chilli mix, spicy sour pickle. I had no fascination for these, the only sour thing I loved was the sour fish curry. I developed fondness for chaats, spicy & sour pickles when I was carrying our monkey, started loving sweets after being diagnosed with diabetes. I remember the pickle vendors standing in front of the Kolkata schools & colleges, our parents never did let us eat from there. Whilst in college, I did not even wish to buy a pickle from a vendor, I was conditioned not to. But I tasted from the friends who used to buy in one or two occasions. What makes Bengali Pickles distinct in taste & flavour are the ground mixed spice varieties.

Few other condiment recipes to try from my blog are these; PINEAPPLE JAM WITH CHILLI FLAKESPEPPERY MANGO JAMAAM SHORSHE KANCHALANKAR CHUTNEYCHALTAR ACHAR.


INGREDIENTS :

TOK KUL / SOUR JUJUBE / BER / BOROI : 250-300 GM
JAGGERY : 100GM
SUGAR : 2-3 TBSP
SALT : 1/2 TSP
BENGALI PANCHPHORON / FIVE SPICES : 2 TBSP [an equal amount of fenugreek, fennel, cumin, ajmod / radhuni, nigella seeds mixed together]
DRY RED CHILLI : 5-6
WATER : AS REQUIRED

PROCEDURE :


My family prepares sour jujube sweet & spicy pickle with the ripened, brown fruits. I bought those green coloured as available, washed, kept on a tray open under the sun & the fan. In few days, they turned brown.

Once ready, I smashed them a bit and marinated with salt for about 10-12 minutes.

I took the jaggery and 1 medium tea cup of water in a wok and put it for boil. As it came to a boil, I simmered it for 5-6 minutes, stirring continuously.

Thereafter, I added the smashed & salt marinated ripened sour jujubes & the sugar. I gave a stir, reduced the heat to the minimal and let it simmer.

After some 7-8 minutes of simmering, I continuously kept stirring until sticky and semi-dry.

I transferred it to a bowl, let it cool. I kept it under the Sun in the day time & under the fan at the night time for the next one week.

Thereafter, I dry roasted all the spices and ground to a coarse powder. I added it to the pickle and folded in well.

We will give the pickle sun bath for another couple of days, then transfer to a sterilised bottle. Bengali Homes do not refrigerate their pickles, I do. 



Monday 19 February 2024

BENGALI ONION STALK POTATO FISH STIR FRY


 THE ONION STALK SEASON IS ALMOST GONE; THE JUJUBE SEASON IS STILL THERE!

I say this in the context of India! Anyway, this island does not sell sour jujube which is special among the Bengalis and some Indians, Bangladeshis; how Pakistan eats it I do not know. Why the internet does not speak about a specific tiny variety grown in the desert regions of Rajasthan, I do not get. I and the mother ate too much of it on our tour of Rajasthan in 1996 and got stomach upset then and there. The brother as a child almost met with death and a jujube seed has a major role in it, that real life story I would talk about when I blog about the pickle next! I have mentioned about it in one blogpost I think. If the onion stalk season is going off for a year, let me blog about this non-veg stir fry recipe today. Anyway, we get it only in the Bangladeshi shops in this island. In West Bengal too, it is going to be off the market, young pointed gourds would appear now. My love with regards to shopping for the raw materials / bazaar-haat comes from the mother's side. I do not know why she does not let the brother to shop post the pandemic, he does it pretty well. Under my tutelage, Cristine has learnt a lot about Bengali Food. She shaped those Bori / sun-dried lentil balls.


My readers believe it or not, I thoroughly enjoy roaming in the wet markets. Just that the fish markets here with a lot of sea-fish varieties do not make me happy. 

IN THE PAST TWO DAYS, I WASN'T COOKING AT ALL!

I have no place in the refrigerator to stock food. Even I am having kind of a guilt feeding my family stale food beyond five days. We usually finish off the Saturday cooking by the next Thursday or Friday. No cooking over the weekend means more of boredom for me. How long can you watch a movie & series? We do that but I enjoy cooking in between. The man wants to relax at home. And seriously we do not want to go for small tours around. At this time, we  would prefer to visit the son every alternate year, I absolutely do not expect the man to be a superman. Growing up in a middle class Bengali household, my expectations are in control. I do not even feel like buying a Hilsa for 50$ or a Clinique product. Given that the son is wanting to study more, getting us good grades; we cannot have much of complaints in life. Mumma never demanded him to score the highest in his class, I only ask him not to settle for less than what is in his capability. She keeps pleading not to buy the ready to eat food packets, they are carcinogenic. Mumma cooks flatbreads and thinks of him who loves breads a lot.


I made those easy parathas last night. I took no hassle to make them round or triangular, just made an elongated shape. A mixture of Refined Flour+Whole Wheat Flour dough gives the best tasted parathas. Yesterday for lunch, I air fried the potato slices.


Trust me, they were crisp & yum. I just have to buy a good, single function potato slicer. Mumma would work on the cooking menu on her next visit to the son, she would cook kofta curry, paneer curry, Bengali curries with chicken, prawn, fish steaks, eggs, cauliflower; stir fry cabbage; not too rustic Bengali Food. I wouldn't be there to prove what level of a Bengali I am but be there to feed the son some home cooked food; roam around. The man is an excellent tour guide, companion on the road. I lack his energy level.

WHAT IS THIS ONION STALK POTATO CATFISH STIR FRY?

Onion Stalks & Potato Stir Fry is a common winter dish among the Bengalis. Our mother would add cauliflowers, carrot & green peas to it and serve either with roti or on our rice plate. This was the scenario every year all throughout the winter. I much loved this fry with dal, rice & fish curry or with ruti-porota. I had been such an ardent fish lover that I would not skip my share of the fish even when having Bengali curd-rice or milk-rice for dinners during the summers. I used to have "macher jhol" even with chapati on certain nights. Today, I do not get my choice of fish, yet I am not willing to go back to Kolkata sooner. I enjoy my roti-prata plates, chirer polao, Bengali style noodle, idli-dosa, many more alternatives are there. I just cannot have high protein, weight loss diets; like two boiled eggs, chicken roast, salad meals are not for me. I am not a right wing supporter but enjoy the satwik meals these days, cannot turn a full vegetarian. My first meal today was this.


Did I ever imagine one day I would enjoy roti with bitter gourd fries? I really did love. I was trying to prepare rumali roti today but failed. I had two giant rotis. I insist I make "nolen gurer sandesh" taste like in a Bengali sweet shop, with more of purity. Anyway, I cannot remember if the grandmother or mother ever used Tyangra Fish / Small Cat Fish in a stir fried onion stalk dish. Even if they had, they were not regularly doing it. I came across this dish in the different Bengali Food Groups and in some Bengali Bloggers' spaces. I did them my way. Though any day I would prefer a vegetarian version with Onion Stalks, we also liked this non-vegetarian, gluten-free Bengali dish BENGALI ONION STALK POTATO FISH STIR FRY. Any day, I would love more the version done with deep fried tiny "kechki mach" / Indian River Sprat Fish! I prefer to cook curries with a Tyangra fish, I rarely get them fresh here.



INGREDIENTS :

ONION STALK : 250-300 GM
POTATO : 1 BIG
TANGRA MACH / SMALL CAT FISH : 100-150 GM [USE ANY SMALL FISH]
GREEN CHILLI : 3-4
NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEERE / KALONJI : 1/4 TSP
BAY LEAF : 1
DRY RED CHILLI : 2
TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
SUGAR : 1/2 TSP
OIL : 3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

If possible ask your fish vendor to clean the fishes. It is a fresh water fish with no scales. Cristine cuts them for me.

After cleaning, wash the fishes thoroughly under the running water. Drain any excess water, marinate with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, salt.

Chopping the spring onion stalks is supremely easy. Just discard the two ends and chop them, about 1/2 inch in length. Wash, marinate with a little of turmeric powder & salt.

Peel, wash & cube the potato. Marinate with salt & turmeric. Wash & slit the green chillies.

In a wok, heat the oil and deep fry the fishes, take out.

Temper the remaining oil with the nigella seeds, bay leaf & the halved dry red chillies. Give a stir and add the potatoes. Fry them brown and add the onion stalks. Fold in well and let cook at low heat covered for 5 minutes.

Remove the cover, add the sugar, give a stir. Add the fried fishes, stir cook for 3-4 minutes, take down.

Serve hot with steamed rice & lentil curry. I cooked dried Bombay Duck fish bharta & Eggplant fries too on that day.