FULKOPI O ALOO......... A ROYAL TOUCH

Although there seems nothing royal in the plating or the pictures, I named it so because being a middle-class Bengali we are not used to adding dry fruits & exotic spices in our food! This home is totally into food coma since last week.... I mean this is a food-o-phobic home because the lady of the house worships food, during festivals the maniac gets even crazier.... the below whats app shot is the proof that her sugar level has stagnated at one point or ever increasing, yet she has to prepare a sweet by today and get her Bijoya Dashami post ready.... I am not going to cook at all next week... except for the husband's lunch box... that too most of the days Cristine may prepare a sandwich and egg fried rice for him... the wife will be busy selecting which saree to wear in the morning and which one in the evening! Let us indulge in eating a lot of unhealthy food this week. 

I am not ready to call Chicken Tehari unhealthy, it is wholesome .... just a diabetic should not have too much of it! If you have a plateful of Chicken Tehari on a Wednesday night at 10:30 pm and go for your Blood Sugar test at 10am on a Thursday morning.... you have to send such unromantic messages to your spouse .... "sugarta berey gechey"..... if your spouse is like mine.... does not love you.... he will not give any answer like "good husbands"... "oh baby... my sweetheart.... do not worry.... I love you the way you are... get up and go to the gym... I will come back early today and go for a night stroll together"..... Oh! that is a distant dream never going to be fulfilled.... someone calls me a hippopotamus to an idiot and questions the validity of the university which has conferred me a master's degree! Look at the wife, the husband wished for a biryani meal and she prepared a Chicken Tehari for him... It so happened that this guy called the husband was on leave last Tuesday... I had to go out with Cristine for some pre-pooja shopping, keeping his lunch plate of Lemon Rice and Egg Drop Curry inside the microwave.... not to worry, he can reheat his food! He perhaps wished to have Biryani, hence the message.... When I saw the message I was already on my way back inside the metro railway station.... unwilling to tap the card and go out again.... I love spending "us time" with him at home watching a good movie or listening to music. I was feeling bad for he never demands anything for himself.... Hence, the Wednesday dinner had to be a Chicken Tehari.... Biryani is not an instant thing at this home... it is a sacred dish .... it requires proper planning.... assorting ingredients if not 100 of them like in a Royal Kitchen.... I am totally against calling any flavoured rice dish as biryani... 

                                 

On Tuesday night, I could manage this vegetarian dish of FULKOPI ALOO.......... A ROYAL TOUCH and served it with some Luchi. Try it anyone day of Durga Pooja as your breakfast! This morning the son had to go early to the school as they are to visit an industrial plant as part of their academic syllabi.... The daddy got an excuse to set out of home even earlier saying he has to drop the son.... they did not want a lunch and breakfast box.... I did not agree to that.... the husband expressed his second wish within a week's span... Bengali French Toast! I was feeling lazy and complied.... else this is a very unhealthy lunch box idea... it is to be done and eaten immediately and only once in every15 days.... All big talks at one place and my wishes sit in the opposite side of it.... I could not think of a chia seed breakfast and had it with tea. Okay, I promise my readers that I will have a sugar free Chia Seed Pudding for lunch and halloumi with greens for dinner. Halloumi seemed near to paneer to me.... I will always prefer a butter toasted paneer to a halloumi... though I specifically like halloumi and smoked cheese in the cheese family! There is a totally unhealthy fair going on at this home!

This vegetarian dish of FULKOPI O ALOO....... A ROYAL TOUCH is not an authentic Bengali recipe ... the idea just played on my mind!... I do use dry fruits and spices like mace, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon in my cooking often.... felt it can be had with Luchi-Poori on a festive morning or over the weekend. I am absolutely against what Kolkata is making out of Pooja... I could not believe my eyes when some of my friends had sent me some pictures of pandals all around Kolkata... I thought they are of the previous years! Then a dear friend, a wonderful human being Sanjib Ghosal, whose wife is an authentic Bengali cook teaching English in the secondary section of an Indian International school here, gives me the true scenario.... few Durga Pooja  committees made open "matri darshan" for public since the Mahalaya.... refuting the age-old tradition of removing the mother's veil only on the "shashti" day evening!.... Sanjib and Paromita are flying to Kolkata wth their daughter to get the feel of pujo... they will again visit Kolkata in December... I can understand this but not what the pooja committees are doing over there.... killing the tradition .... or may be I am wrong who could not replace a Birendra Krishna Bhadra until this date! 

A not that much of traditional or authentic Bengali vegetarian side of FULKOPI O ALOO............ A ROYAL TOUCH  is not wrong to be shared! I am again getting nostalgic, going back to the 70's and 80's when pooja was spent at the maternal grandparents' home at my birth place .... "dadu" used to book rickshaws for us while he himself stayed back. The rickshaws took us from this pandal to that including that of the royal house... "rajbari".... Lets talk food..... this is a vegetarian dish but not satwik... it has onion-garlic in it... It was tasty but I am still wondering should I have skipped using turmeric and get a white coloured dish? By the way, do not eat a Bengali French Toast in the morning... it is causing severe indigestion to S at the moment... too heavy on the stomach.... its actually an evening snacks for us. Its sad to know that I am aging... the stomach rebels which boasted of an excellent digestion power even a decade back.... need to ask the husband about my insurance coverage.... That too is not a good idea... what if I have a fat amount of insurance coverage and then the man gets a "supari" to kill me? "Woman Power" is still a farce ... is love too? As the husband says that we love ourselves the most... so we do for those in relation for our own good! I do ask him ... " does too much of wealth kills our finer qualities?"... You remember those well defined eyes and lips... that resembled a Goddess?... the Bollywood Diva surely had a lot of pain beyond that smile.... whom the near ones used as a money laundering machine! Be like me, I went out yesterday and spent on the self... who has seen a tomorrow? If my son celebrates his birthday within a month of my death, I will know I have raised  him wrong! I talk too much these days and irrelevant!! Don't I? Thats very much unlike me, perhaps it is a part of the aging process!

INGREDIENTS :

Cauliflower Florets : 2coffee mugs [of a standard sized cauliflower]
Potato : 2-3 medium sized
Onion Paste : 2-3tbsp [of 1 big sized]
Tomato Paste : 3-4tbsp [of 1 medium sized]
Garlic Paste : 2tsp
Ginger Paste : 1tsp
Caraway Seed : 1/4tsp
Mace : 2
Clove : 3-4
Green Cardamom :3-4
Cinnamon Stick : 2-3 two inch stick
Black Peppercorns : 1/4tsp
Dry Red Chilli : 2-3
Raw Almond Slices : 1/2tsp 
Raw Cashew Nut : 5-6
Star Anise : 1
Melon Seed : 1/2tsp
Raisin : 10-12
Bayleaf : 1
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp + 1/4tsp [the 1/4th tsp used in the spice mixture can be skipped]
Salt : As Required
Sugar : 1tsp
Oil : 3-4 tbsp

PROCEDURE :

Wash the cauliflower florets under running water and microwave at high for 5 minutes adding 2 cups of water. Discard the water and wash again. Marinate with little salt and 1/2tsp turmeric. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

Peel and cut 1/2 each potato and wash under running water. Marinate with 1/2tsp turmeric powder and little salt.

Heat oil in a wok and fry the cauliflower florets and potato pieces separately in batches. Switch off gas for the time being.

Chop the tomato and wash the pieces under running water. Get a paste on your blender. Get the ginger-garlic and onion pastes ready on your work station.

Dry roast the mace, caraway seeds, cloves, cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms, almonds, cashew nuts, dry red chillies, the star anise for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

Take all the dry roasted spices in a blender... add the melon seeds and a little of water. Blend to a smooth paste. Add little more of water if required. We should always pause in between the grinding or the blending process. I have spoilt two blenders earlier not doing it!

Reheat the used oil. Temper with a bayleaf and add the ginger garlic paste. Stir for 1-2 minutes.

Add the onion paste and fry for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste now and stir cook further for 2-3 minutes. Add some salt and 1/4 tsp of the turmeric powder if using.

Add the roasted spice paste and keep stirring till most of the water has dried.

Add 2 coffee mugs of water. Bring to boil and add the fried cauliflower and potatoes. Let cook covered for 5 minutes at low heat.

Once you feel that the cauliflower and potatoes are done, adjust the salt, add the sugar, raisins! Cook for a minute and switch off!

Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy with any kind of breads or fried rice or pulao rice!