JOLPAI ER ACHAR

This was in plan for a long time, I prepared this achar / pickle before the start of pujo last year, did the plating and clicked mid this year and then for something or the other blogging about it was getting delayed. Yesterday, I felt it is the right day today to share a vegetarian pickle recipe whose plating is done with luchi. Yesterday, it was the birthday of a ferocious fighter who fought cancer with elan, now prepares "jam, jelly, achar" at home and supplies in and around Pune, today is the birthday of a published author, a professor, a friend from my college, an Andhra-ite in Kolkata who still gets pickle supplies from the family in Andhra, my sibling who misses "bhai-phota" ever since we had relocated prefers only luchi for his breakfast. I felt let me think less and share this no cook pickle recipe with chilli-mustard paste, lots of oil and Indian Olive variety Jolpai.... JOLPAI ER ACHAR, this condiment will suit. You see, it is not possible to do justice to all around at one time, let me think of the brothers and sisters who very recently got separated  and are living thousand miles apart. They would not mind having this platter alongside some sweets and "ghugni or aloor dum" may be? 

I was / am not happy with this picture. Most of the time I forget to notice the shadow of the hand phone, this time its too prominent. Then, my "luchis" are not looking good.  "Luchis" are bound to turn yellow if you fry them in a wok which you have used to fry some hilsa pieces and pakoras. "bojho thyala ebar Cristine luchir koraitey ilish gulo kora korey bhaj boler." I so wish to keep a wok separately for frying "luchi" but I myself cannot keep up to my promise. Not a good homemaker huh? I feel so lethargic to wear a hand gloves, scrub and clean my own utensils. Cristine being a Filipino has fair and supple palms, she simply does not apply a bit of energy when required, dilly-dallied like me. On several occasions I found residues even on our Corelle plates, I shout at her and then get her a 10$ t-shirt or take her out for a dosa or hand made dumpling soup. 

This Filipino girl too started loving to have "Luchi to Achar".... pickle of any kind, also this no-cook pickle, a condiment with Indian Olive and chilli-mustard paste JOLPAI ER ACHAR. I do not take pride in my "luchis" as such because people have already reached to "dhakai porota" to "stuffed naan." I feel  happy when they fluff up and get angry when you do not wait for the right temperature of oil required to fry "luchis." I never feed my "luchis gone wrong" to my family, they are reserved to go as "cha o bashi luchi" for myself. Stay tuned for food, supply of Gelusil is my responsibility.

INGREDIENTS :

JOLPAI / INDIAN OLIVE : 1KG

GARLIC CLOVE : 10-12 [PEELED AND WASHED]

BLACK MUSTARD : 50GM

GREEN CHILLI : 8-10 [WASHED]

TURMERIC POWDER : 11/2TBSP

VINEGAR : 50ML 

SALT : AS REQUIRED

MUSTARD OIL : 300ML-400ML

PROCEDURE : 

Take the mustard seeds in a sieve and wash. Soak in water for an hour. Peel and wash the garlic cloves, wash the green chillies too.

Wash the jolpai / Indian Olives very well and discard the water. Cut them from all sides, you can either use the seed in the achar / pickle or discard it as I have.

Now wash again the cut pieces and add the washed garlic pieces to it. Rub very well with salt and turmeric. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Now strain the soaked water and add the black mustard seeds, 2-3 garlic cloves, green chillies, vinegar and some salt to a blender.

Blend it to a paste. If you are unable to get a fine paste, add little more vinegar. Add the paste to the marinated jolpai / Indian Olive mixture.

Fold in well and then add the mustard oil. Fold in well again.

Add more oil if required. Now it is the time for some sunbath. The more sunbath it gets, tastier it will be, it's shelf life will be more.

It should be ready to eat with rice or luchi / poori / porota within a fort night. Always store in sterilised containers.

FIG O KHEJUR ER NOROM PAK

I am too much into made at home sweets these days, I am just unable to have the store bought ones finding them too sweet to my present taste bud. This is not the case for "bhaja mishti" that is fried sweets, specially "jilipi and amriti".... which are nothing but poison for me. I get them home rarely for the son and myself. Gone are the days when I would want to have "Shaktigarh er Langcha" or "Jilipi" or "kakur dokan er tatka goja" anytime of the day, after having 1/4th of them, my tongue craves for something spicy. I trust fully my hands when it comes to making of sweets, more because we do not get that quality of sweets here as compared to our place of origin. As a child or a teen I was never fond of sweets, particularly of roshogolla.... I developed a fondness for it way later in life. 

It is true if someone has told me that sweets have nothing good to give us. Then, I am unable to think of an occasion, festival, ritual without sweets and flowers. It is a special day for us at this home and back in India tomorrow and what is better than preparing a wholesome vegetarian sweet with all the goodness of dry fruits and with made at home Indian Cottage Cheese FIG O KHEJUR ER NOROM PAAK. In fact, my initial plan was to completely do away with either of sugar or stevia powder, then I thought that will be too much of a torture on my men. If I am doing something for them, I must pay my major attention to their taste bud, else my initial plan was to use milk powder, chopped figs and dates only as the natural sweeteners which would have been absolutely fine with Myself and Cristine. At one point in the process, I felt my men cannot have it. If the family veterans are not around or if I am not cooking for my God's family, I do make it a point to taste the food a bit. This morning, I had one full. Without tasting it, I cannot recommend it for my readers. Some went to the man's office for his colleagues.

In this context, I remember an incident. After my marriage, I had been working at a school. It was a warm, summer morning when I got an interview call from that school in Belur, I had to leave home around 10 or 11am in the morning. Some hot rice and vegetables were there on the table. I had to eat and was serving my plate, thats when the husband's paternal grandmother shouted at me.... you cannot have the first rice grain before others.... I ate two slices of bread and went off. Not getting to have rice was not a problem but the reason behind it was unacceptable. Years after, the night when her death news arrived, we were at my parent's place in Barrackpore. "Dada-Boudir Biryani" came in already when the husband had to go for a not so much of a joy ride through a National Highway around 11pm. He has to go, he must but I have always noticed that his life has always been less important, like in that unearthly hour or always, he had to sit beside  Raja, our first caretaker of the wheels who had the ability to be a Formula1Car Racer. Leave that, the husband obviously could not but I had a full packet of Mutton Biryani. The death news did not affect me not because she was 84 years old but because she had no feelings or respect for me. I have no love fihey gifted me a strong, honest life partner who happens to be the entire family's ATM Machine. My husband not only spends for us but also had to bear the expenses of his treatment with no one to help. Now people want him to move mountains for them, this wife is not an angel they must know. Should not I go to M Centre to buy him a gift today? I think I should. This is not an one of case, a daughter-in-law's and a son-in-law's treatment is different and shamelessly so, because my mother-in-law does not know how to respect other's feelings, she never did hesitate to make it very clear to me. Because she made it very clear to me, I could not have any amount of love for anyone in that family, beyond a point I do not allow them near me.... Sense of Duty?..... Yes, I have!

I was preparing this yummy Bengali themed vegetarian sweet with Homemade  Indian Cottage Cheese, Milk Powder, Stevia Powder, Figs, Dates FIG O KHEJUR ER NOROM PAAK in between watching two movies.... "Margarita with a Straw" and "Chittagong".... After watching "The Sky is Pink," our friend Soumya recommended Margarita which somehow we missed. If something appeals to me, I do some research concerning it. I did read about the very qualitative couple director Shonali Bose and Bedabrata Pain, their immense losses, not having a child is a pain, having and losing one is a pain beyond repair. I love the Southern Star Revathi, I hope she would enjoy this "non-south-y" sweet given she is so versatile when it comes to taking up roles, so averse to botox jobs being done. Kalki is French at birth, so Indian at heart, she can have, the Bengali director duo would surely enjoy. Manoj Bajpayee still has some mannerisms, Nawaz-ud-din can make you sit tight through his movies without having a heroine. Come do it and send a sweet box to their homes, I do not send friend's requests to celebrities, I am averse to their temperament or tantrums whatever!

INGREDIENTS :

FRESH MILK : 2 LITRE
POWDERED MILK : 4TBSP
CHOPPED DATE : 2-3TBSP
CHOPPED FIG : 3-4TBSP
VINEGAR : 2TBSP
WATER : AS REQUIRED
GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1TSP
SUGAR : 3-4TBSP [I used Stevia Powder]
CHOPPED PISTACHIO TO GARNISH

PROCEDURE :

Put the milk for boil poring it in a heavy bottomed vessel.

To 2tbsp of vinegar, add 4-5tbsp of water to dilute.

We have already soaked Figs in warm water and washed the dates. Thereafter just drain the water, towel dry and chop them.

When the milk starts boiling, reduce the heat to minimal and add the diluted vinegar 1tbsp at a time. 

As the milk starts curdling, switch off the gas oven.

Immediately strain the whey water passing it through a white piece of cloth placed over a sieve. 

Wash the chena / cottage cheese under running water. Tie the cloth, this time I kept it under a heavy utensil instead of hanging it.

After 45 minutes to 1hour, you get this.

Knead it well for 3-4 minutes.

In a glass of warm water, add 4tbsp of powdered milk, stir well. Pour it onto a wok passing it through a sieve.

Switch on the gas stove and keep stirring the milk. When the milk comes to a boil, add the sugar or stevia powder. Keep stirring.

After some 5 minutes, add the chena and stir to avoid remains of any lump.

Continuously stir for 10-12 minutes, add the green cardamom powder now. Mix well.

Stir cook for another 7-8 minutes. The cooked cottage cheese would still be moist and not be crumbly. Take down on a plate and let it cool.

Knead for some 3-4 minutes.

Add the chopped dates and figs and mix well. This will moisten the content further.

Shape as you wish.

Try to have them fresh, if refrigerating, then not more than 2 days.

CURRY PATA O KALOJEEREY FLAVOURED NIMKI

I think I enjoy made at home from scratch nimki, that is fried salted snackers more than the store bought nimki variety. In the Bengali type of Nimki variety, we do not really use any spices, however if I am a recipe blogger I would want to include different variety of this particular snack in the blog. Certain plans of mixing and matching different flavours are there in the mind. Things get easier at home if there are containers full of munchies for the family, the only problem is I cannot keep my tongue under control, this sensory organ is the most active part of my body. I eat, eat and eat more and never get bored, my waistline never gets into shape, it did for two years when I used to go for work, ran and survived mostly on salads. Later I felt it is not sustainable throughout my life, I cannot die without tasting life, it cannot be a boring affair for me. Equally there is fear factor at work inside, I so love South East Asian set rice meals, cannot have them full out of the fear of having rice. I wasted my food yesterday from that fear in all probability thinking Yong Tao Foo would have been a better bet or may be a fish soup. Actually, the amount of low cardio walking or swimming I do get fruitless if I have heavy carb filled meals during the lunch hours. I do not love eggs, starting your mornings with eggs, fruits and greens helps otherwise. I had half boiled eggs two times in a 4-5 days of span, and voila I could digest but with a heavy feeling I do not like. 

I have to do away with this biscuit and cake thing on a regular basis in the morning. I am loving my fruit platters with a marination of red chilli powder and black salt, the reason of not starting my day with a fruit bowl may be totally mental, I have to overcome it. I love "khoi / chirey / muri with doi or chilled milk" but their mother is rice.... whats the point? What would be my lunch today? I think my hair needs a colour today, so instead of going out for a walk or going down for a swim I will have Cristine applying it. Thereafter, I may try an instant Rawa Dosa on the newly bought big tawa which is exclusively meant to be a field practise tool for me to learn thinner crepes with different batters, preferably sugar free or with less sugar. Look what the senior was enjoying with the vegetarian, curry leaf and nigella seeds flavoured fried snack CURRY PATA O KALOJEEREY FLAVOURED NIMKI.

 The "dil is not that khush khush" since this morning. Have you ever thought of that academician woman with origin in  Kolkata who may not be able or willing to handle "public attention" at this moment. It is very difficult to accept or to come in to terms with certain truths, not being part of something anymore which happened to be your's once. Can we be wise enough to respect feelings and stop bothering people in public forums? However, I have always believed that great personas have broader mindsets and they have the ability to turn any negativity, pain to positive vibes. Take the example of Aisha Chaudhary, she lived 18 fruitful years which may apparently seem less but oh! what an accomplished one.... Painting, Ted Talks, a Book to her credit. It was heart warming and heart wrenching at the same time to watch the movie, but we have learnt an important lesson from it, it is not about how many years we have spent on this earth but how we have spent it. No, it is not easy to think in this manner when it concerns your own but you have no other way but to think exactly this  in such a situation when you know you are going to lose someone dear soon. Aisha, I definitely know would have enjoyed this vegetarian, fried snack CURRY PATA O KALOJEEREY FLAVOURED NIMKI, she was not allowed to for medical reasons is a different issue. The senior at this home is more upset back from the movie theatre. At times it feels that he is not that much of a strong heart as we think or he considers himself to be, he is very soft at the core of his heart.

Anyway, I have used half and half multigrain atta and refined flour, ghee toasted and crushed curry leaves, kalonji, salt, oil for this awesome, made at home snacker.

INGREDIENTS :

MULTIGRAIN ATTA FLOUR : 1COFFEE MUG

REFINED FLOUR : 1COFFEE MUG

NIGELLA SEED : 1TBSP

CURRY LEAF : A FISTFUL

SALT : AS REQUIRED

GHEE : 2TBSP+3TBSP

OIL : 100GM

PROCEDURE :

Take the two varieties of flour and the amount of salt required in a bowl and mix. 

Mildly heat 1tbsp of ghee and toast the washed and towel dried curry leaves in it without burning. They would turn crisp and wow it's flavour would be.

Pour the ghee and curry leaves mixture to the flour mix and wait to cool it down. Add 2tbsp of ghee too. 

Once cool, crush the curry leaves with your palm.

Now keep rubbing the entire mixture for 2-3 minutes until the texture looks like this, it will loosely bind in your fist.

Add the nigella seeds now and fold in.

Now add warm water little by little and knead to form a smooth but firm dough. This may take some 10-12 minutes.

Now cover the dough with a cling wrap for 1/2 an hour. Open cover and knead again for 2-3 minutes. Tear off bigger portions like that of a tennis ball size, smoothen between palms.

Dust the rolling base with some flour, coat each ball in flour and roll out roundels without taking the stress of getting them perfectly round.

If I have cookie cutters, I will not look for a blade or cookie cutter to cut them. Then with a fork, just prick on each piece.

Heat the oil but not to the smoking point. We would add some of the uncooked nimkis or snackers when the oil is warmer and not supremely hot.

We will keep stirring at minimal to very low heat for quite sometime until they turn golden brown.

Place onto tissue paper before serving.

We would always wish to have them warm and fresh which is not possible. Store them in dry, clean containers if doing in bulk. It stays good for a week or more without refrigeration.