DHONEPATAR BORA O CHUTNEY

What was I doing last two days? I did lot of silly things that lazy, stay-at-homes do!  It was Vesak Day holiday here day before yesterday. In this home there wasn't any, son had his economics examination, his father had to catch a flight! In spite of knowing that I have a condition that doctors do not call normal, he could not wait for few more days for son's examinations to be over. 

This tall, dark, underweight guy who happens to be my husband did not even say that he would be travelling this week. I would not have stranded in rain with an overflown stroller .... the son stays happy if served salmon, prawn, chicken; mumma can manage with "muri-chirey-doi-aam-lichu-kathal".... My favourite summer fruits are in abundance here now.... Litchi too is coming from East Asia.... I am happy... they all have high sugar content, I am not bothered at all. 

This middle aged guy dropped us at school gate day before yesterday, went off... came back yesterday around midnight, now again would be heading to Amritsar... to come back in weekend! There wouldn't be any"saptaher bazaar" this week... I am unhappy! I wished to sit with him, have "Ilish Polao".... Instead, I chatted for long with Piali over some tea, paper dosa! This girl has her own set of friends but we get along well! I tell people not to depend on me, I cannot give much.... I am a lone wanderer... I am unable to be in crowd for long! It felt good watching people in holiday mood ... going out, getting clicked, posting them too! 

What was S doing? She wants to drape her summer cool cotton saris, seek Cristine's mercy for clicks but that needs right mood and time! Cristine is there with my silly ventures. See, this year we again planted some pumpkin seeds.... last year in the greed of having some "kochi pata"... the plant never saw flowers, this woman is craving for some "kumro phool er bora".... I see some in the western world blog about minced chicken stuffed zucchini flowers! We love batter fried pumpkin flowers, let me keep my fingers crossed! Tell me what we do not fry? If we get "dhonepata"..... coriander leaves in abundance.... I have to prepare DHONEPATAR BORA O CHUTNEY! 

If you cook simple, quick stuffs, you have enough time to do more silly things.... like eating jackfruit and mango and then go down to sow the seeds at the condominium backyard! I did not even seek permission from management office, do not even know they would grow or not. Even if they grow, the gardener may throw them not knowing what they are! I repotted that indoor plant, got pot at a cheap price.... you know how I love black, white; anything that soothes my eyes! What do I get from all these? Nothing else but simple pleasures! 

How much husband scolds that I am breeding mosquitoes and spoiling the owner's hedge, I give a deaf ear... I feed him meat, fish dishes following my gardener friends' recipes! Our mother regrets her son-in-law never took interest in her garden! 

Let me tell you how happy I am to have six dhonepatar bora, good amount of chutney with rice, toor-mango daal, kasundi, achar.... "zindegi choti hi sahi... dil kush rehna chahiye"...... Many of you might remember that movie, the song... "choti si hai baat, koi nehi janey".... we never know what is next! If you remember the song, you would know reason why "Tina and Rinki" could not make it in Bollywood.... their mother set high standards! At the moment I am craving for the black & white Dhakai Muslin sari the diva is wearing in the particular song, haha! The Kaash, Gardish, Rudali, Lekin, Dil Chahta Hai diva may not eat DHONEPATAR BORA O CHUTNEY in her home, they do not have liberty to but I am humming her numbers, eating Bengali Vegetarian Snack and Chutney with rice....

That's what I was doing yesterday! I ain't playing match game with Rujuta Diwekar.... I planted them in morning when I got to see Rujuta's share of "folonto kathal gaach"... the fruit bearing jackfruit tree. Her post took me back in time .... the grandfather had two big trees that bore juicy variety we don't get here. I was helping my cousin to open her sari page too.... though she needs better people as guide! I wish to introduce my long time college friend Atoshi Shyam to my readers.... she has opened her Facebook page... Artesance.... too good at painting, she is a class danseuse too! During our college days, she also made to the front pages of Statesman.... one of loved and leading students of Tanushree Shankar! She got married at young age, shifted to Delhi, had a dance institute there and now a resident of Bangalore... she is taking contracts of painting walls... are you there Bangalore? What I do'nt like in this mother of two girls?.... Her profile picture. She still is in touch with Tanushree Shankar... I love that celebrity dancer's dance form and yes, her elegance.... and her "saaarreees"....

This recipe of DHONEPATAR BORA O CHUTNEY is actually our family recipe that may not match with other families. The mother used to do them on Thursdays during winter.... In those days, only in winter did Kolkata markets saw coriander leaves... ahh... what flavour! These two dishes are easy to do.... though we have it the way you see in the picture.... the coriander pakoras / dhonepatar bora would go well as a pure vegetarian snack with tea / coffee! The chutney is supposed to have a teaspoon of mustard oil added to it, I skipped so my readers can have with poori / paratha, If you have a tastebud like mine you would love. In fact... I would prepare some instant, semolina idli to have with the chutney for lunch.... 

I wished to represent our mother in today's share... she loved / still loves following the academically sound kids' stories, I discovered that I do same... I am following the ICSE & CBSE results worldwide! If a girl or boy with physical difficulty secures high marks in boards, I would fry some DHONEPATAR BORA O CHUTNEY, sit with them and eat together....Anyway, this is first time I asked husband to get us some Amritsar special food stuff... he did not give me any time to ask anyone from that region... I do not wish kulcha, we can make it if not that good! For coriander chutney... Bengalis do try it adding a teaspoon of mustard oil, our mother adds nigella seeds too. A couple of Indian / South Asian communities have handmade breads with their version of coriander chutney,  the western world too can try!

Yesterday, I prepared Kolkata Style Egg Roll for son's lunch. I updated the blog post too!

INGREDIENTS : [For Coriander Pakora]

Fresh Coriander Leaves : 8-10 sprigs or a small colander full 
Chopped Green Chillies : 2-3
Rice Flour : 1small tea cup
Corn Flour : 2 tbsp

Gram Flour : 1/2 small tea cup
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Sugar : 1/3tsp
Salt : As Required
Oil to deep fry

INGREDIENTS : [For Coriander Chutney]

Fresh Coriander Leaves : A cup full
Green Chilli : 2
Nigella Seed : 1/2tsp
Salt : As Required
Mustard Oil : 1tsp [optional, I skipped]

PROCEDURE :

You might get surprised at the idea of adding nigella seeds in the chutney.... In our family it is done this way. In fact, our mother used to dry grind nigella seeds... she and me ate it with some ghee, green chilli and salt.... love it... the brother never fancied, he loves fries but, his girl loves more.

Anyway, discard root ends, any spoilt leaf of coriander! Wash taking on strainer!

Take ingredients for Coriander Chutney in blender. Blend adding little water at intervals for 2-3 minutes until it becomes smooth paste! 

Transfer to bowl. Enjoy having with steamed rice, handmade bread, as condiment!

Let us do dhonepatar bora / fresh coriander pakora / fresh coriander batter fries!

Discard root ends, spoilt leaves of fresh coriander. Wash under running water.

Mince together coriander leaves, green chillies.

Add rice+corn+gram flours, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, sugar, salt to washed & chopped coriander leaves, green chillies. Keep aside for 5 minutes.

Heat oil in pan. Add small portions to oil, flatten with fingers. Turn over once one side is done.They should be crisp without getting burnt.

Keep on to tissue papers before serving.

In our family, it's eaten with rice, dal, husband has it with beer; an yum vegan, gluten-free vegetarian snack, appetiser.