KAJU KISHMISH BATA DIYE DAL ER BORA ALOO METHI

Ahh! The last two days were quite busy, going places. In fact, in the last two weeks I was more on the roads. Today, I think I can start off with my swimming sessions I so enjoy. For some reasons, I was unable to go on with my tantrums of doing whenever what I wish to for a while, I can resume to that status now. I am feeling a bit relaxed now. As you all know that I cannot do high intensity workouts, I simply cannot force myself with something that I do not enjoy, neither can I do away with my carb intakes..... I have a feeling that regular swimming did help a bit in toning my mid section. I have put on in the last two weeks, an average of 7km of walk does not really help in losing weight given my diet pattern. I was actually having different kinds of breads in the morning, butter toasts to cheese buns to custard buns with my tea and coffee, that has to stop or lessened to minimal. However, experimenting with such yummy vegetarian curries like this KAJU KISHMISH BATA DIYE DAL ER BORA ALOO METHI and serving it with luchi / porota / ruti shall continue. 

In this curry, I have used some home grown methi, masoor dal pakora / fritters, boiled potato and cashew nut+raisin paste besides few other ingredients. We had our dinner with it, mutton and luchi. None of my men did keep away the bowl of this vegetarian curry and had their luchi only with the mutton which means it is immensely acceptable. It was packed with paratha and taken for Miss.W. beside "moton, chichinge boti, radhuni phoron tomato diye mushurir dal, kancha kola aloo diye katlar jhol, dimer kosha, bhaat." Who told you only Southern India and Eastern India love rice? Miss.W is still not prepared to visit our home, there goes my note to Bossy, "boss, we all have to take her out together one day, else she will not." I am a girl, I can understand where the problem is. If our boy does not meet Miss.W, he would not know that there is someone similar to Jishnu dada with regards to wisdom. I saw glimpses of Deepro Roy in Miss.W.

You all have known by now that I have a habit of doing "gourchandrika." What people can express in two sentences, I may require a paragraph for the same. Actually, I do not wish to do away with my literary exercises. Most of you are in a job or a course, attend seminars, so there is enough brain exercise being done. If I do not keep myself engaged a bit then I would end up watching those stupid soaps all day. My husband writes an essay sitting in office once every 15 days, he told me once else he would forget writing English. Nishi or her likes do not require this exercise separately because they are doing it all day. People have multifarious qualities, I have none. 

I live in one of the world's best nations but that college in Bagula keeps haunting me. If you fail to act wise while taking major decisions in life, you are gone. I remember when I joined our school in class 6, it had a number of good teachers who were paid peanuts, quite a few of them left it for a better career. I specially remember those who loved this new comer girl..... the drawing teacher Amit Sir who was an alumnus of Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan never got fed up with my poor drawing skills, then the geography teacher who became a lecturer of Balurghat Girl's College Rita Roy Choudhury Miss, teachers should be like them. They both were so much in love with each other that even this 12 year old girl could see and feel. Then after few years, when in college may be in the 12th standard, we saw Rita Miss in the Kolkata Book Fair married to someone else. T was with me, he saw and was not bothered, and I? 

It felt sad, I could not go up to her and ask why miss? What went wrong? So many times the husband told me these are part of life, quite natural..... people meet, they depart, we are not the same in all the stages of life. I remain myself, still eager to know what actually happened between them. Why do the past keep coming even if it has no relevance to my life? Looking at myself, I feel only a literary circle would have made me happier. The utopia I believe in could only be expressed in print. For that I had to start young, concentrate and practice.... not everyone is born a Tagore. I told the husband, attending parties and get-togethers alone cannot be my life. By the  end of 2020, I have to find out what makes me happy, keeps me fruitfully engaged. Actually, I am too whimsical. Today morning, I felt I should have chia, yogurt and papaya to start off the day, so I did!

I would go for a Ban Mian meal for lunch, the Vietnamese girl at the back of our condo makes it great, will have ilish-shorshe and millet for dinner besides dal and veggies. Food is an important part of my life, I like experimenting with ingredients, so did I in case of this vegetarian curry KAJU KISHMISH BATA DIYE DAL ER BORA ALOO METHI. So many steps I had clicked of it so that you can do it without a problem, just do one thing.... chop the methi sprigs after cleaning for more of flavour.

INGREDIENTS : 

FRESH METHI / FENUGREEK LEAF : 2HANDFUL

POTATO : 2MEDIUM SIZED OR 1BIG

MASOOR DAL / RED LENTIL : 1SMALL TEA CUP

ONION : 1MEDIUM

TOMATO : 1MEDIUM

GREEN CHILLI : 2

CASHEWNUT : 7-8

RAISIN : 8-10

CUMIN SEED : 1/4TSP

GREEN CARDAMOM : 3-4

CINNAMON STICK : 4-5 OF 2INCH LENGTH

CLOVE : 3-4

BAYLEAF : 1-2

GARAM MASALA POWDER : 1TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4TSP + 1/4TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 2TSP

SUGAR : 1/2TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 5-6 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Wash and soak the red lentil for an hour. You can use a dal of your choice. The decision to prepare this curry was impromptu, red lentil softens the quickest.

Wash the potatoes, prick all over with a fork. Take it on a plate and microwave at high for 2 minutes. Leave to cool.

Those are my home grown fenugreek greens. We have just discarded the root ends and the dried leaves. Then washed them under running water, left to drain. Do one thing, chop them further for a better flavour.

Peel and cube the potatoes, rub some turmeric and salt. Heat oil in a wok and fry them till light brown.

Blend the dal / soaked lentil to a paste discarding the water. Thereafter add to it  some turmeric, salt, sugar and washed & chopped green chillies. Mix well.

Then fry the pakoras lightly. We are not eating them as fritters but adding them to the curry, remember this. they have to soak in the curry.

Prepare a paste with the peeled, washed and chopped onion, washed and chopped tomato, cashew nuts, raisins, melon seeds / charmagaz!

Heat the remaining oil in the wok. Temper with the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, green cardamom, cloves and cumin seeds.

Add the spice paste, rest of the remaining turmeric, red chilli powder and salt to it. Stir at low heat for 2 minutes.

Now add the methi / fenugreek greens. Later I felt I should have chopped them further.

Fold in well and stir fry at low heat for a minute. Add the lemon juice.

Now, add 1 1/2 coffee mug of water and bring to boil.

Add the fried potato cubes and dal pakoras and let simmer at low heat for 4-5 minutes. Now add the garam masala powder.

Let it simmer for 4-5 minutes at the minimal heat before you add the sugar! Let simmer for another minute & take down!

Serve & have it fresh and hot with bread & rice varieties. Keep some salad & pickle alongside.