A week long celebration came to an end finally.... all good things do! Durga Pooja for us is cyclic celebration... the wait is little longer.... say for 365 days.... thats it! We thoroughly enjoy the festival staying here far from home. In fact I am scared of Kolkata Durga Pooja.... I am definitely not in support of getting to see the mother's face as early as on Mahalaya neither am I comfortable with the idea of pandal hopping amidst crowd. To park car, hired or your own a mile away from each pandal, joining queue seems scary to me. I totally enjoy the gatherings here, given man takes leave, drives us there! He considers it festival, not religious ritual!
What else can I expect from a person who told me this when we got engaged.... "T to what extent would you be romantic towards me, how happy do you feel getting to be with me?" Take a look at the answer.... he said.... "yes, I am happy... I can make slits on your body with knife, rub salt, enjoy watching your reaction.... I will tie you with robe, hang you onto a moving fan, enjoy watching!" The clever person was testing the durability of my feelings.... I understood, didn't express fear .... that patience got me trouble-free life .... so I cook ANARASHER SANDESH to 8-9 dishes on a Saturday. That really helps me you know. I will just make some parathas on a Monday morning, reheat cauliflower-potato curry, pack the father, son's lunch boxes. Their short break boxes are usually packed with fruits, sweets or homemade cakes... even store bought cakes & sweets at times. I am not happy with Indian sweets sold here.... I make my own sweets at home with the soft & supple paneer made at home.... Bengali sandesh aren't sold.
Once I finish sharing recipe of ANARASHER SANDESH with you, I will prepare some "luchi / poori".... take out mutton kheema curry, serve hot their favourite lunch.... I would have been happier if they had some salad & raita in the platter. Mumma prepared both chicken & mutton within a span of 12 hours.... ask me why? The son is more like his father.... not in the habit of complaining usually. He was away from home during the entire week of Durga Pooja on an outbound trip from the school to Cambodia! Once back, he told there were more vegetarian food in offer than meat, he did not enjoy the food. Most of the students in Indian schools are vegetarian, hence our son will have problem and mumma has to cook chicken and mutton both for him! I could not manage the dried fish bharta yesterday.... both I and Cristine were feeling tired.... we had our lunch at 5pm and you can well imagine the husband's mood who says the priorities of my life are wrong.... He wishes to go out for a driving practice with me on a Sunday morning and I prefer to write a blog post. I mean I do not have the patience to learn anything.... its going to be 2 years ever since I have got a driving licence but cannot take the car out alone even in the neighbourhood.... the husband has to sit beside. I go for swimming classes down below.... while the co-learners learnt it in 5 classes, I am still struggling with a floater....
The brother is same, lacks patience .... he will watch Formula1, play car games over weekends, will not go out with his wife for a driving session, he drives great. His mobile phone got pick pocketed while boarding train last to last week..... he bought a bit expensive one not required to..... next day his wife transferred that big amount to his account as pooja gift! You know why we siblings are like this? Our mother spoon fed us. Now he feeds his family, I don't earn. However, I love cooking like her, she doesn't recommend eating stale food....
Even after cooking couple of dishes, I forced myself go out for walk in dusk. I am scared now after eating beyond limit for 5 long days.... Its not about overweight, that I am diabetic is a concern! Each day on my walk, I engage in clicks... be it "hanging dalim" or a "dedicated runner couple".... By the time I unlocked my cell phone, they surpassed me and went ahead.... Couple workouts are always fruitful.... At this home if I offer ... the man's expression seems as if he is "ghost stricken".... look at what he is doing.... one who can sleep 16 hours a day if given a chance.
Post workout, I love some chilled coolers.... people were having their weekend dinner by then... I was observing young couple in black..... so engrossed within themselves.... right associations can feel secluded amidst crowd, they don't need dark corners! .... In one of those shoe box high rises lives a couple who are good friends.... yet a she misses her best friend in him.... she wishes to let her hair down totally in his presence as she used to do in her teens....
Leave that, I click, wish to weave stories revolving my clicks .... I lack words that can be called good English. I loved that chilled drink... a mixture of milk tea, coffee. I had a chia seed banana sugar free dinner, while man, son, Cristine had prawn, 'bhindi bhaja, dal'. If you reheat fried 'bhindi' in microwave, it gets crispy again. I can't stick to healthy eating, I end up eating excess!
Yesterday, I updated one blog post.... MAACH TARKARIR JHOL ..... Now I wish to share this Bengali style sweet / sandesh recipe done with store bought frozen paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese, Pineapple Juice! If you follow the steps, you will know that this ANARASHER SANDESH is done with few ingredients. Come let us do this Bengali style sweet together!
Want to have a vegan, gluten-free sweet pineapple treat? Click the link @ COCONUT PINEAPPLE SANDESH
An old blog post of a fish curry with few veggies gets updated with new pictures, do have a look!
MAACH TARKARIR JHOL
INGREDIENTS : [ FOR ANARASHER SANDESH]
INGREDIENTS : I USED 250-300 GM FROZEN PANEER / INDIAN COTTAGE CHEESE
PINEAPPLE JUICE : 1/2 COFFEE MUG [BETTER USE PINEAPPLE PASTE, WE GET READYMADE HERE]
SUGAR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP
GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/2TSP
GREEN CARDAMOM SEED : OF 3-4 CARDAMOM
RICE FLOUR : 2 TBSP
EDIBLE YELLOW COLOUR : A DROP
PROCEDURE :
I have used frozen paneer, if you do with freshly made paneer, prepare paneer / chena / Indian Cottage Cheese first. Take milk in heavy bottomed vessel, bring to boil. Add lemon juice 1tbsp at a time while we keep stirring content.
Once milk curdles, stop adding lemon juice. Switch off gas stove, add the ice cubes immediately. We will not wait for the content to cool down.... the mistake I was doing all this while.We will immediately pass it through a white, clean, cotton or muslin cloth.
We will store whey for a later use in curries or doughs, just refrigerate it. I saw our mother using it to curdle fresh batch of milk ... we had to have chena everyday.
Tie the cloth properly. I never wash chena before tying knot, I love the smell of fresh lemon.Tie it tight to the kitchen tap and leave for 45 minutes or little more.Thereafter use it!
What I did this time follows.....
We would take defrosted paneer cubes, sugar, pineapple juice in a blender, blend at high for 2-3 minutes to get paste. Pause in between. I have spoilt two machines already.
We would add green cardamom powder, seeds to it. Stir cook for a minute, add rice flour. Quickly mix and stir cook until the entire thing comes out clean. Switch off gas stove.
Transfer entire content to plate. Let it cool a bit. We will knead it for 3-4 minutes while its still warm.
We get good quality wooden sandesh moulds in Chitpur area of Kolkata.... I thought of requesting our good friend Joy Ghosh to get 3-4 shapes for me, then I went & bought!
We will take small portions, press on mould, done!
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