CURRY AND SPICE: MOCHAR BORA O AADA DIYE MOONG ER DAL

"Aada Diye Moong er Dal, Ghono Doodh Er Chana, Shobai Boley Dena Dena, Diley Je Amar Ghar Cholena"...... the rest of the lines I forgot, even the name of the writer! The mother used to sing for her kids! When it comes to blogging, shouldn't this give me the utmost pleasure to blog about what & where I belong to? Did not I create this space to share what I grew up eating, dishes that are vanishing from the scenario with such a pace? It is good to move ahead in life, else we stagnate but it is not that wise to forget all about the roots! A balance is much required in all aspects of life. As I always say I have made my blog a "khichdi"one which was not intended to! It is also true that along the way I have made friends from many walks of life, that blogging about a MOCHAR BORA O AADA DIYE MOONG ER DAL pre Xmas is difficult on emotional ground! That pretty woman from the west, a BigB and curry fan does not deserve a lau ghonto either from me during the Xmas. I tell her I will live a life like her once the son completes his studies.... She told they saved each penny while bringing up their kids.... now that they are established.... I enjoy my life to the fullest! Didn't I instantly see my mother in her .... I did!

I will not think twice before blogging about a cake during the Xmas, you must consider and reconsider that I am not good at pies and tarts..... The xmas fervour may not be over yet, but I will not stuck in there, a majority of my readers do not know what a tart is! I remember last year when I blogged about a cake, one young girl commented "didi, I do not have a microwave, can you post a cooker made cake?" Till date I have not conformed to her, the guilt is on! To prepare a perfect cake on a cooker requires a certain amount of skill that I need to learn.... In fact a lot of things are required to be learnt to call myself a proper food blogger.... I do not even comply to that norm of having the required props for the blog! I simply barge into certain blogs just to get a visual treat, while some others I like for their diligence, their thorough understanding of the pulse of their readers and delivering accordingly.... there are still some who became a part of my life! You are welcome until you expect me to observe and think! I will not do that as I am ruled by my heart...... anyone in the "real" world who "deliberately" hurts is instantly bid a good bye ... my plastic smile at you will say I just tolerate.... after all we are social beings! Coming to that unknown girl whose words still haunts me got lost somewhere may be, if you still follow my posts, you may like to prepare today's share of MOCHAR BORA O AADA DIYE MOONG ER DAL .... an authentic Bengali recipe done following the family recipe.

This family's love for fries and fritters is known to all by now, it is a must in an all vegetarian day! The men's hatred for vegetables is handled this way compromising heavily on the health part but not on a regular basis. I do have a saviour in a variety of kofta curries and in that universal aloo, haha! I would really seek some expert advise about the benefits of Aloo / Potato.... are they really healthy? I do not always go by the wiki tales! At this home if a vegetarian bottle gourd / lauki / lau ghonto is made, this lady will eat some extra grains which she is not supposed to, the senior is okay with it if there is a nice fish or meat curry too, the junior will not touch and gorge on the meat curry! If there is a "Chingri diye lau ghonto"... the man and his wife are happy and happier respectively, the junior will pick up the prawns and leave the rest! What if I prepare a Lauki Kofta? Both the men will eat with luchi / porota, provided there is a meat curry! So I do them in turns trying to keep everyone happy.... even this "pathetic in mathematics" woman has to do this much of calculation!

Before I happily share this authentic Bengali way of doing MOCHAR BORA O AADA DIYE MOONG ER DAL, I had to recall those unhappy moments before the mathematics examination.... I never could get why the two trains had to meet at some point and create ruckus in my life.... That does not mean I faired well in literature either! You know a couple of my childhood buddies follow this blog, any kind of lie will catch their radar! The poor mother never could digest the fact that her daughter is an average and does not miss a single interview of those promising boys and girls on television till date. With that gloom and guilt on my mind, I try to follow her footsteps in the kitchen at least.

Mocha is Banana Blossom.... we do chop it and prepare a vegetarian dish with coconut, potato and black chana or a non vegetarian version with shrimps. At times we reserve the innermost portion, slice them and batter fry! I am sorry I should have taken the picture for a better understanding. Anyway, rice.... dal... and fritters is something we love on an all vegetarian day, the platter you see below is incomplete.... the onion, lemon and green chilli is missing! Mochar Bora is done in our family with slices made from the inner most part of the banana blossom.... Of the various Bengali dals, this moong dal done with ginger is common and simple! Both goes well with rice, the dal will go with South Asian Breads too!

INGREDIENTS : [for the Banana Blossom fritters]

Slices from the innermost portion of Banana Blossom : 5-7
Rice Flour : 1/3small cup
Gram Flour : 4tbsp
Nigella Seed : 1/2tsp
Green Chilli : 2 chopped
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Turmeric powder : I tsp
Salt : As Required
Sugar : 1/2tsp
Oil : 100ml to deep fry

INGREDIENTS : [for the Split Green Gram with minced ginger]

Moong Dal / Split Green Gram : 1small cup
Turmeric Powder : 1/3tsp
Minced Ginger : 1tbsp
Dry Red Chilli Powder : 2 halved
Cumin Seed : 1/4tsp
Bayleaf : 1big or medium
Green Chilli : 2 slitted
Salt : As Required
Sugar : 1tsp
Oil : 1tbsp [authentically mustard]

METHOD :

Let us prepare the dal first. Bengali dals are little watery and mashy... what is the english of "daler kanta?"... stirrer?.... we use that! Moong dal is little thicker!

Dry roast the dal till light brown, take it in a bowl and wash under running water 2-3 times.

Pressure cook adding half of the turmeric, salt as required and 1 coffee mug of water up to 2 whistles! Let cool.

Heat oil in a wok, temper with the cumin seeds first, stir. Add the bayleaf, halved dry red chillies and half of the minced ginger. Give a quick stir, add some salt and turmeric! Stir for half a minute at low heat.

Now add the boiled moong dal. Add 2 coffee mugs of water in the pressure cooker, mix with the remaining residue of the dal and pour in to the wok. Stir and let the dal boil for at least 5 minutes at low heat.

Add the slitted green chillies, half of the minced ginger and the sugar. Stir and let boil for another 2-3 minutes. Add salt and water if only required, else do not.

Transfer to a serving bowl.

For the banana blossom fritters, we need to discard the stem end of the inner most part of the banana blossom. Slice them at medium thickness, do not forget to rub your palms with few drops of oil before slicing.

Wash and pressure cook up to 4 whistles at low heat adding salt and turmeric. Once cold, discard the water.

Apply little salt on them again. Let us prepare the batter now! Take together the rice flour, gram flour, salt, turmeric, sugar, nigella seeds, red chilli powder, slitted green chillies together in a bowl.

Add water little by little and prepare a batter of paste like consistency.