DOI TOMATO DIM

Honestly, I am enjoying eggs these days. I repeat, people like me should better  have eggs than explore sea fish & meat varieties. I remember DumDum Bazaar sold "kachim er mangsho", turtle meat that is; the mother got one or two days and cooked following the elder of her two younger sister's instructions. I so disliked, I so much had problem at it's sight that she never got it again. Mashimoni's in-law's family ate those, she was forced to. I did not tell you 1/10 of the true stories revolving around my life, I may not have the liberty to, I stand witness to many horrendous incidents around! I can recall incidents right from my childhood! I could not ever be adventurous with food may be because I was born in a home & family which was traditional, guided by too many rules & regulations. I doubt if my extended family there yet get packaged milk or not. Our mother too gets it from "Jhumri Mashi r Goyal." Back there in that township in  Nadia district too, they might still be getting milk from the diary farm they have been getting since 1960's. What I mean is, my side of the family hardly wanted to walk forward with time, they are against time it feels. How much I try, I cannot change beyond a point; "a goyal ghar, a bagan, a littler me playing there alone wearing a gamcha & sando genji, my 2 year old brother's unclothed self clicked under the mango tree, my painful ear piercing experience at a tender age of 31/2 years, the Church, My first school, Sister Marilyn, Ghurni, Judge's Court ground, moglai porota, chicken & fish cutlet with kashundi makhano peyaz at High Street er More, Adhar Mishtanno, visit to Ghurni o Rajbari, mehendi gaach at Musholman Para, the sobbing me requesting to let me watch movies at Chitramandir or Sangeeta"; everything comes alive these days; even my joy when the train used to stop at that particular station. Where the railway line went thereafter was not my concern. Way later, when the father got transferred to Jangipur, I knew that line goes to Baharampur, Murshidabad, further to Malda. If girls had safety on roads, I would have travelled throughout India by now. No, I am not the kind who will take risk and bring in trouble, the mother too well guarded me; yet there were attacks in buses, train. One must speak about both sides of the coin. Women are still not safe alone; the sexiest remarks, attitude towards women is what I sincerely dislike! Leave it! The thing is that the very rule & ritual bound maternal grandmother did allow eggs inside her home, never chicken. The paternal grandparents were less strict, never ate eggs or chicken though. Did the mother tell me in the recent years the grandmother was force fed eggs on the doctor's advice? I cannot remember most of the things, I am getting to be too forgetful. So many food pictures I have deleted for the same reason. Let me blog about this regular egg curry with asafoetida, yogurt, tomato besides the regular spices DOI TOMATO DIM before I forget what I had used in it. I think I did not use ginger in it, only onion slices & minced garlic besides few spices.

Yesterday, as usual I went for a walk around 11:30 am and was a little late to get them food which I gladly do once in a weekend. I was late because I was inside Guardian failing to decide which hair colour should I buy, then bought at a good offer from Watsons. For the food, I wanted for them chicken stacker burger from Burger King; they are not taking cash or manual orders. The KFC was just beside and I had got chicken stacker burger for them and a zinger meal for Cristine. I called her to come to the condo gate, so difficult it was to carry the soft drinks. It was 2:15pm and the son was so hungry. I asked him to wait for a click, else my readers would think I did not get food for Cristine. What I request, he has to negate; thats fun for him. However, he did let me click him; actually he cannot wait long for food after taking shower!

What did I eat? Cristine found her zinger meal heavy. Fine, I asked her to give me a store bought paratha with  half of the French fries she could not eat and an omelette. I have to ask my mother if she continues to cook "mumlet" or does omelette now. I say kudos to her capability of cooking in less oil.

These store bought flat bread packets are actually Malaysian Prata, I can have them only one at a time. I get one packet, it goes for months. I do not allow much, I have a help. I had on side the fruits I love. I got angry with Cristine when she forgot to serve me "lau er chokla boti" at night. I served the men and got busy doing social media posts about the milk buns I made. She served me "tok dal & egg drop jhol" and forgot about the "chokla boti" I so love. Starting to eat, I found what I so love is missing. She was already halfway with her dinner and felt bad when I asked "tui bhuley geli?" She definitely did, she cannot be otherwise; so I did not move mountains! This morning, we all had the me made egg free, milk buns I made yesterday. The man was refusing to have, I had shown some "senti"; "lokta senti ta khelo shokal shokal; boyosh hocchey bojha gelo." He had it with butter & omelette; the son had it with kaya spread, watermelon & papaya on the side; Cristine with butter, me with peanut butter.

They were soft & yum, yet not like the store bought ones. Then, no restaurants can cook light curries with minimal spices as our homes do. Here is one such egg curry from Bengali Homes; DOI TOMATO DIM.

INGREDIENTS :

EGG : 7-8 [FRESH DUCK EGG WORKS WONDER, I FIND CHEW'S EXTRA LARGE HEN EGGS A GOOD ALTERNATIVE]
PLAIN YOGURT : 1 SMALL TEA CUP
TOMATO : 1 LARGE
ONION : 1 STANDARD SIZED
GARLIC : 1 TBSP [MINCED]
GREEN CHILLI : 3-4 [SLITTED]
ASAFOETIDA : 2 PINCH
CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP
BAY LEAF : 1
CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP
CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP
FENNEL POWDER : 1/2 TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP
RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP
CINNAMON POWDER : 1/4 TSP
GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 2-3 PINCH
SALT : AS REQUIRED
SUGAR : 1 TSP
OIL : 3-4 TBSP


PROCEDURE :

Wash the eggs gently, take in a vessel having water enough to immerse the eggs. Add some water [this helps peel the boiled eggs easy]. Boil them at low to medium heat for 10-12 minutes. Leave aside to cool normally.

Discard the two ends of the onions, peel, wash & slice. Wash & slit the green chillies. Wash & chop the tomato. Peel 4-5 five big cloves of garlic [7-8 in case of smaller sized], wash & mince.

Peel off the boiled eggs, wash again and rub with little salt & turmeric. Heat the oil in a wok and lightly fry the marinated eggs. Take off.

Add the hing / asafoetida, bay leaf & cumin seeds.

Give a stir & add the minced garlic; stir until light brown and then add the sliced onions & slitted green chillies. Stir cook till the onions are golden brown.

Beat the plain yogurt well adding the sugar and pour onto the wok.

Add the cumin powder, coriander powder, fennel powder, red chilli powder, salt & the remaining turmeric powder.

Stir well at low heat for a minute and add 11/2 coffee mugs of water. Cover with a lid and bring it to boil.

Let it boil for 5-6 minutes. Now add the lightly fried eggs & tomato pieces, cinnamon & green cardamom powders. Let cook at medium heat for another 3-4 minutes. We should be done.

Have it with rice or chapati. We also had some "fulkopir kosha o mulo o dhonepata diye bhaja moong er dal" on that day.