Where to start from and how to? Well I wished to go authentic Bengali today with ingredients known to majority of the people. In fact most of the time I wish to go Bengali, I am thinking of asking my friend Bianca what if I wish you and others with a baked roshogolla on Xmas?... If you can prepare those "complex cakes".... why not a rassgulla.... which is no less complex to me but I still manage.... No sweet shops in the island can get near to the Kolkata roshogolla"s taste... better to do them at home....how much they ditch me at times. Coming to that particular point why I at times stay away from promoting Bengali Cuisine.... ahh... some people keep on sending pictures of "macher alpona"... fish designs or of "patali gur"... date palm jaggery on whatsapp whenever I blog about some other cuisine ..... that disturbs me .....
I am not the kind of a person who can be forced to do anything .... free willed people perform the best when they are left to be at themselves. No one can stop me from going Bengali today.... why? Yesterday night, I came across a mind blowing post of four little girls ..... staying 50 km away from Kolkata .... going to Bengali medium school taking part in an English Drama competition held in New Delhi and grabs the 6th position in finals!.... And wow... they were contesting with the prestigious city schools of the country! Their English teacher Sayantan .... happened to be a student of our friend Dr. Nishi Pulugurtha at the degree level.... his proud ma'am will definitely share it on her stream. Only kids of low-income groups go to such government schools these days ..... no, people who scream when I share a picture wearing a frock or share a baked recipe do not send their kids to such schools but to the city convents. They go to the Park Street restaurants to have a Turkey dinner on Xmas but cannot stand a Xmas tree as the background of my profile picture..... but I am that untamed horse who is not bothered by all these and live by her own set of rules.... courtesy, the ferociously independent thinker I am married to. Also, the son became one untamed horse!
Anyway, many of you I know do a lot of work and contribute to the cause of the needy and do not sit idle at home like me and give big talks. Even this lady tries to do her bit sitting at home. The miser self too waste money buying clothes and utensils which later I do not wish to use. I do not stuff my wardrobe and cupboard with them but give it to our Cristine, she stores them in a packing box and courier to her home. We can do our little bit sitting at home too.... I follow a couple of NGOs working towards such causes, but I do not send money to their funds because I know some organisations do not make proper use of their funds.... Before I contribute, I must know about that NGO.... I do not wish to waste my husband's hard earned money. One NGO I follow is "I-India-Giving Street Children a Future" based in Jaipur, Rajasthan. If you see any kind of child abuse around, you can call their toll-free number 1098, valid within India. Below is the box ready to be despatched and Cristine's ma'am has not filled it with her torn underwear. Charity indeed begins at home.... so many are waiting for your worn clothes... may you?
The air is getting heavy friends and readers! Before I dive into the heirloom, humble Bengali recipe from my side of the family DHONEPATA BATA DIYE MULO SHEEM ALOO CHINGRI, I must narrate a hilarious incident that occured day before yesterday. I mentioned about one or two notorious guys who disturbed my peace of mind years back so much so that the mother had to guard me in and out of the neighbourhood for a couple of years. One rascal followed me to the school gate or on the way back home. Our daddy was miser in some areas and never thought of renting another house until he built his own dream home some 25 km away from Kolkata and declared he wants to spend his retired life peacefully amidst the greens.... Off course all the responsibilities of his home and garden had to be borne solely by our mother while he was busy with his club and its charitable activities. Their's was a story of a fun loving, friendly, extremely warmhearted husband and a cold, too very hardworking, family oriented wife.... even my "parabyarani" mashimoni says "your mother had been a total bore always, you know".... haha. After my marriage this was taken, bhai, I are standing at the back, the father, mother & Jenny are sitting on the sofa! The man was sailing then & our son was not born!
Many of such things are shrouding my mind and makes me firm on sharing a recipe of my side of the family today. Both my mother and grandmother says that DHONEPATA BATA DIYE MULO SHEEM ALOO CHINGRI is a recipe from Comilla... now in Bangladesh.... it is what they have known from the family itself.... better informed people can always disagree. I loved anything with fresh coriander paste during winters at age 6 and now too.... specially fresh water fish curries. DHONEPATA BATA DIYE MULO SHEEM ALOO CHINGRI is a winter regular dish in our family done with even smaller shrimps, fresh coriander paste, green chilli paste, broad beans, radish and potato with skin on.... see I lessened your work load.... Absolutely no garlic, ginger, onion or any exotic spice is required in this dish... we will cook with all fresh ingredients, covered and at the lowest heat. Do not expect stepwise pictures of my Saturday cooking.... This messy woman is totally messed up on Saturdays.... starting at morning till the afternoon.
INGREDIENTS :
Broad Bean : 7-8
Potato : 1big
Shrimp : 350gm
Fresh Coriander Leaves Paste : 11/2medium cup
Green Chilli Paste : 11/2tbsp [adjust as per your taste]
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Nigella Seed : 1/2tsp
Dry Red Chilli : 2halved
Bayleaf : 1
Salt : As Required
Oil : 2tbsp [ authentically mustard]
METHOD :
We will not peel the skin of potatoes in this recipe, wash it thoroughly and cut into cubes. Peel, wash and cut each radish into four parts if medium or big. Then make thin slices. Wash the broad beans, discard two ends, make 5-6 pieces from each. Take all the vegetables together and marinate with salt and turmeric powder.
Wash and de shell the shrimps. Wash thoroughly again 3-4 times under the running water. Rub salt and turmeric.
Heat oil in a wok, lightly fry the shrimps, take out and reserve to be added later. Temper the remaining oil with nigella seeds, a bay leaf and halved dry red chillies.
Add the marinated vegetables along with the marinade. Fold in well and cover. We will cover cook the entire period at the lowest heat till the vegetable are soft.
After about 8-10 minutes, open cover and add the red chilli powder and little salt if required. Fold in well and cover again.
After 5-6 minutes, the content in the wok gets semi-dry, it is then we will uncover and add the lightly fried shrimps, the fresh coriander paste and the chilli paste. We will stir for 2-3 minutes and take down.
Authentically we enjoy this dish DHONEPATA BATA DIYE MULO SHEEM ALOO CHINGRI with nothing but plain white rice, you can try with some chapatis too!
winter special curry ....love that you have used coriander leave paste
ReplyDeletethank you Amrita...
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