SOYA SAUCE CABBAGE RICE WITH PANEER TOSSED IN GINGER-GARLIC CHILLI SAUCE

The fat, old lady is getting old by all means..... another day .... evening... another run and one more 'shomoy niye dhyarano'..... messing with time..... but someone deep inside said .... 'lyad priyo Bangali je ektukhan dourechey moshai, onek korey feleche .... shonibar dupurey amra murgir / pathar jhol ba shorshe ilish diye bhaat kheye bhaat ghum ditey bhalobashi'..... how do I translate 'lyad'.... ok let us call it 'leisure'..... that a leisure loving Bengali goes for a run on a Saturday instead of having chicken / mutton or hilsa curry and taking their much loved afternoon nap .... is a pretty good job done... walking, hiking, running, exercise are not usually our cuppa, if someone is doing it.... they deserve applaud. I remember how my football player father was too worried about his lazy daughter with excess fat.... what he did not do to get me rid of that excess fat? He got me a yoga teacher.... went out with me early mornings with my brother's cycle. Every effort of him went haywire because his daughter loved to eat. He sweated, got tired.... the daughter did not learn cycling. On our sports day, all the friends participated in one event or the other, I used to sit and watch after doing the mandatory march past thingy. 

My thin framed little brother had been very good in sports... I do not know why he his keen about putting on unnecessary weight these days .... He was good in sprints, learnt to ride cycle all by himself..... I vividly remember the bike maniac went out in the road with our eldest maternal uncle's scooter at age thirteen.... it was a small township... perhaps so there was no police case.... he played good cricket and now see .... I cannot scold that hard also because he is someone's husband now. The sports loving football player father told me he walked each day early morning from his hostel at College Street to Maidan, played there and then came back in a tram to attend class. He used to say... see mamoni look at your mother... she always will stay slim as she works hard..... yet the mother had to say your father does not care about me... how do you know?... That uncle does household work, praises wife to others .... Now that he is no more there.... she says she does not feel like cooking for lunch... she wants to do it in the evening when my brother and his wife come back home. What is love? I never try to define it.... beyond my capacity....  just as confusing as a row full of different sauces in the super markets of the island.

Then there is the senior at home.... "Bossy I wish to go for a run with you.... S you know I do not utter a single word without been paid... you go mad woman... see you later.... Ok fine.... you will get an all vegetarian meal today". Then there is my sincere, sister like running partner of yesterday Noopur Somani who hails from Rajasthan, staying in this island for over a decade now..... she told straight on my face... "I will not wait for you after the race... let us take some pictures at the start point". It was perhaps an Arthur Lee or David Tan who clicked us, a Radha Ramakrishnan or Noorani Huda who finished with me.... I cannot invite strangers to get clicked with me.... hence my picture post may not reflect exactly why I go for the races .... last year I saw a pregnant European woman running with us.... I simply love the harmony we get to see there. This island has taught me a couple of things I will treasure for life. 

There is a son too who says... tui last hoyechish motu mumma.... you finished last fat mumma! He loves paneer.... the lazy, old mumma tries such combo dishes on the weekday nights. She has a mother too who says .... bas eei radhli?.... Only this much you cooked today? How much the daughter says mani..... my men love food this way, more if it is vegetarian .... she will not be convinced.... But my readers know me well by now.... I do not speak for other families.... neither do I listen to anyone how to run my own.... I do it my style. When there is too much of meat or fish eating at home, I take a break and prepare a vegetarian meal as this.... a fried rice kind of thing .... some sweet and sour cauliflower or potato or some crispy fried paneer tossed in a tangy, yummy, flavourful ginger-garlic chilli sauce. The fried rice is too simplistic with the crunch of cabbage .... flavoured with celery stalks.... we use wild celery seeds that is radhuni in our cooking... so I love it's smell. 

Do not expect me to prepare an Oriental sauce at home and then use it in a recipe.... I like this Sinsin Brand products for this purpose, love even more the strong flavour of garlic. Come let us prepare this Soya Sauce Cabbage Rice and Paneer Tossed In Ginger-Garlic Chilli Sauce and serve with some salad alongside.

INGREDIENTS :[for the Soya Sauce Cabbage Rice]

Rice : 1coffee mug
Celery Stalk : 1-2 chopped
Cabbage : 1coffee mug shredded
Garlic : 1tsp minced
Soya Sauce : 4tbsp
Sesame Oil : 1tbsp
Salt : As Required
Black Sesame seed : 3-4 pinches
Oil : 2tbsp

INGREDIENTS : [for the Paneer Tossed in Ginger-Garlic Chilli Sauce]

Paneer : 200gm
Onion : 1big cubed
Green Chilli : 4slitted
Garlic : 1tsp minced
Ginger : 1/2tsp minced
Ginger-Garlic Chilli Sauce : 2-3tbsp [I use the Sinsin Brand]
Soya Sauce : 1tbsp
Salt : As Required
Lemon Juice : 2tbsp
Corn Flour : 2-3tbsp
Refined Flour : 1tbsp
Black Pepper Powder : 1/2tsp
Oil : 50ml to fry, rest can be used later

METHOD :

Let us prepare the rice first, before that we will marinate the paneer with lemon juice for half an hour and then dip it into the cornflour batter for sometime.

We will wash the rice and prepare it in enough water till 60% done. Discard the water totally.

We will chop the cabbage and celery stalks, wash thoroughly.

Heat the oil in a pan and temper with black sesame seeds and minced garlic.

As we get the nice aroma of the garlic and they get little of burnt, we will add the chopped cabbage and celery stalk, add the soya sauce and little salt, increase the heat and stir fry at low heat for a minute.

We will add the rice and fold in well gently. Add the sesame oil and little salt if only required. Stir fry at high heat for a minute or so. We are done with the Soya Sauce Cabbage Fried Rice.

Coming to the crispy fried paneer tossed in ginger-garlic chilli sauce, I like this Sinsin Brand products.

We will heat oil in a wok and crisp fry the coated paneer pieces in batches.

We would transfer them on to a plate.

We would take a clean pan and heat 2tbsp oil, add the minced garlic and ginger and saute until we get a nice aroma and they turn golden brown.

We will add the cubed onion and saute at high heat until they turn translucent and pink. We will add the slitted green chilli and the soya sauce, stir and add the crispy fried battered paneer.

Now we will add the ginger-garlic chilli sauce and fold in well.  We will stir cook carefully at high heat for 2-3 minutes. We are done.

We will serve the yummy, combo meal of Soya Sauce Cabbage Rice and Paneer tossed in Ginger-Garlic Chilli Sauce with an Oriental touch with some salad alongside.