CARROT PISTA LADOO

"Bashonto esheche, Shimul.. Polash er Rongoli.... Dol Purnima- Holi Hai amar kachey aki artha .... Nirbhejal Anondo Prakash... Boshonto hariye jai onekeri... Bashanter Bilap thekei jai... "..... Do I have to translate?... Its spring... time for some special blooms... Time for Bengal's "Dol Khela" and the rest of India's Holi! I am not a part of this celebration.... for some reason or the other .... but I can play for you Tagore's "shei to boshonto firey elo... hridoyero boshonto kothaii" or can sing for you "rangeelarey tere rang mein yun ranga hai mera mann".... I really do not mind enjoying both or different kinds given what, when suits my mood. I do not categorise myself into a particular genre. I grew up enjoying a mix of quite a few kinds ..... light ghazals been the most favourite until the husband introduced me to a Kenny G and Elvis Presley .... What a bliss! The husband made the biggest blunder too! I do not allow anyone near me when I listen to Kenny G....  They go out to office and school.... I am in the right mood.... Cristine puts the phone in the mute mode... curtains on... gives me that fat book... may be a Jane Austen... 

So what if I find solace in an Ashapoorna Debi or Jane Austen or Suchitra Bhattacharjee's Mitin Mashi series.... they all are good literature... Some do categorise or accuse some literature as "womanly".... that does not sound good to me.... Literature can be only good or bad. I am a Bengali.... I know I am so much of it that I had a plateful of rice with a blogger friend's lucrative "tyangra er jhol" last week.... it was maddening given I could not visit Kolkata last winter.... A big, orange salmon entered this house last week... yet I am craving for a "charapona / kajoli macher jhol".... I do not have to show it off on a particular day .... The confident self went and had some chaat and dosa instead while humming a melodious Bollywood number .... This morning the son's lunch box was packed with "luchi o kalojeera phoron diye aloo chocchori" and mumma had to taste it with tea and Kenny G.... Lunch would be either a homemade tomato soup or I may go out for a "Bak tu teh".... Balance your meals... folks!

So you see I listen to a Kenny G, an Anupam Roy or one "pot full of attitude" but with a God gifted voice Rupankar as and when I wish to! We go to any extent to watch a Srijit Mukherjee / Rituparno Ghosh / Anindya Chaterjee film.... but prefer to watch a Padman instead of a "Swapan Saha" movie! It is up to you whether to call me a Bengali or not.... while I tap my feet humming Suneeta Rao's "Pari hoon main... Mujhe Na Choona"..... 

Well, we do not leave a chance to attend the concerts of the Bengali singers coming here... from Lopamudra Mitra to Anupam Roy.... This lady takes over the entire stage once she is up there... such is her command over her voice that she uses very less hands and oh! her wits in between... Bengalis spread worldwide... do not miss to attend her programme if there is any! Coming to this guy Anupam Roy, I always have a special place for him on my mind.... the engineer left a highly paid job in Bangalore to pursue his passion.... music. Few years back, he came here for a concert and wow... me and the son were in the same flight with him from Kolkata as I could not afford to miss his programme. In the waiting lounge, I went up to him for a click... and... I liked him more... no airs at all... so gentle. The husband came to receive me at the airport... I had to say .... look at that handsome... we are going to attend his concert tonight... and he is soft spoken unlike you! That is when the man says he had been already listening to him and is a fan! After all these, the husband did go to the concert.... he knows his birdwatcher wife does not spare guys half her age.... while the brother may still wonder... who is Anupam Roy didibhai pointed at? .... Not my Kimi's competitor nor Jholmol Khan's gym mate .... let me have luchi, mutton and "chorbir bora" instead. You see my dear readers, as long as I miss "chorbi in mutton"... that is the fat in the mutton we do not get here... I am very much a Bengali... wherein a Dol Poornima celebration will start with a sweet.... CARROT PISTA LADOO.... instead of a jibe goja.... that is also true about me!

However silly I am to write anything and everything that is not remotely near to the concerned recipe,  the end product of the dish I prepare is edible and good.... I cook many a things... but share those recipes that I confidently can say.... you can do and have them. I do pizzas  and pastas too.... why should people follow my recipe of pizza?.... Hey.... lovely people... got some "loti" and "lau" too yesterday.... I felt this time... let my men do not eat my kind of things... I will do them to celebrate my "self"..... I should.... else my stomach grumbles...

I will keep them happy with meat curries, homemade pizzas, different kinds of sweets including this CARROT PISTA LADOO.... At times, all of us will bond over mango desserts, middle-eastern breads & dips, vegetarian kofta, salmon, oriental sweet &sour preparations... dumplings, sashimi.. sushi.... Vietnamese / Thai spring rolls... the list of common food interest is big too.... Yes, I may not blog about my dumplings or pizzas as such but I will soon share the video link of a two ingredients pizza dough I came across and tried... too good! ..... and I cannot help but share that winter dal recipe in spring.... getting a bit more selfish and say... we are lucky enough to get every thing throughout the year.... except for fresh "aar, boyal, dhai, tyangra, kajoli".... sigh! 

Once a Bengali.... always so... no wrong in loving a black glutinous rice topped with ice-cream either. Anyway, let us kickstart the Holi celebration with this sweet.... CARROT PISTA LADOO made of freshly made carrot paste, sugar, ghee, green cardamom, chopped pistachio. I sincerely hope our "Bal Gopal", "Radha-Krishna" would love to have this sweet .... we should also see that part... she had the guts to go public with her feelings... haha.... we do it and are called witches.... "paper mein sign kiya? gandegi fyal rahe ho... samaj mein... chchi!".... Rest of the world... this sweet tastes as good as a carrot pie filling or carrot squares topped with some cream... go ahead... you will love! 

Do not expect much innovations from me.... the mother could not help even after feeding the daughter "Brahmi Shaak"..... she still must be watching those topper boys & girls speaking and regret not feeding the daughter... files of brain booster "Brainolia" too! Buddhadeb Guha to Raj Kapoor / Yash Chopra / Maniratnam / Gulzar Saab... all are responsible.... I cannot even ask one Tina .... how could you be good in mathematics when I kept on wondering " tumhari mummy ko kamre ki chabi khona hi tha?"..... I passed in mathematics perhaps for the algebra & statistics part... Let my mother adopt those who study, sing, dance, play, cook, work et all at the same pace.... while I cook and sing for you.... "eei sundor sharnali shandhyay.... aki bandhaney joralego bondhu"....

You may also wish to see few sweet / dessert recipes already on blog...

KOLKATAR LAAL MISHTI DOI

NOLEN GURER SANDESH / COTTAGE CHEESE JAGGERY FUDGE

CHOCOLATE SANDESH

INGREDIENTS :

Carrot : 4 
Sugar : 1/3small cup
Milk Powder : 1small cup
Full Cream Milk : 1/4small cup
Ghee : 3tbsp + 2tsp
Green Cardamom Powder : 1/2tsp
Green Cardamom : 2-3
Chopped Pistachio : 2tbsp 
Powdered Pistachio : 1tsp 

METHOD :

Cut and discard the two ends of the carrots. Peel off the skin and wash.

Shred the carrots and get a paste of it.

Take together the powdered milk, 2tsp ghee and the full cream milk together and mix well.

Microwave the mixture for 2-3 minutes stirring every 1 minute. Our instant khoya / solidified milk is ready.

Heat 3tbsp ghee in a wok and from 2-3 green cardamom to it... aroma matters.

Add the carrot paste and keep stirring until we do not get the raw smell of the carrot anymore.

Now add the sugar and green cardamom powder and keep stirring till the mixture come out clear from the sides of the wok and kind of dry... but moist.

Add the solidified milk / khoya and chopped pistachios... Fold in well and stir for just 1/2 a minute or so.

Transfer to a plate... let cool a bit.

Prepare ladoo from the mixture when it is still warm.

Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle powdered pistachio atop the CARROT PISTACHIO LADOO. They taste the best when served fresh.... I had to refrigerate though for the moron who is travelling.