GUROMOSHOLAI MUSHROOM BROCCOLI

 

HEALTH & TASTE HAVE TO WALK HAND IN HAND IN MY HOME; AND DO TRA LA TRA LA!

My readers know I cannot have food that is not cooked with love and care, that does not appeal to my taste bud. I can understand having a spoonful what amount of care was taken whilst preparing it! In case of both males and females; I expect a little of sincerity on their part for the home they have built. You can divide the work of looking after your home & kids always but each of you must do your part sincerely! I do not have many things in the kitty to be proud of except for one or two! I never did leave my child at home and freak around. This is uncalled for unless you are working! My baby did complain to his teachers that mumma is more hooked towards her blog. What he did not realise then was he did not listen to mumma, on any matter. It was not easy for me to handle that. On reaching this island, his father took over rebuilding the child; I ended up at an unequal competition with two rebels. Given my nature, it was very difficult to overcome this hurdle. What his teachers did not know was baby was always against me cuddling the "Ladoo, Shri Krishna" and my phone. Now that he is sitting far off from home; he would realise that for mumma, he is always the prime! He would know that to take utmost care of his regular routine in his school, he had to be cooperative; help mumma with all the informations. He refused to share with me the school's chores; his father did not let me keep in touch with other parents. I do not know what was their problem to let me discuss our kids' studies with other parents! No one can deliver without cooperation. So, I gradually found myself involved with the blog way too much! I believe, the son would understand this now when he is living alone. But yes, all these have made him self-reliant! As his mumma, as an aunty; I would want these young people to cook their own food; which can be such a simple CURRY with BROCCOLI & MUSHROOM. They can add some boiled eggs or fish fillets to it, cook some rice and have a HEALTHY, NUTRITIOUS MEAL! Adding chicken pieces would need some onion & garlic.

SOUL SATISFYING MUSIC AND FOOD ARE A KEEP!

I cannot get rid of the fat from the belly area only because I cannot get along with the prescribed food required for weight loss. I love the Oriental Soups only after adding seasoning, chilli oil, this and that to them. Neither am I good with them at home! The food courts & eateries make so good soups, I cannot get that consistency and taste in my kitchen. Once I am inside my kitchen; I tend to cook spicy, hot, carb filled South Asian Food! I have gradually learnt to bring myself somewhere in between. I cook pretty number of lighter curries with HEALTHY INGREDIENTS; that definitely has to have some amount of spices! Without the desi / South Asian touch; my HOME COOKING is incomplete! My readers know I eat in Korean eateries to Vietnamese to Middle Eastern to Thai to Burger King; but what I largely cook at home should have an Indian / South Asian touch! What is a curry without the some BENGALI SPICE POWDERS used? So, these are the kinds I cook and stock up mainly for my week day dinners which usually do not have a rice or roti! Off course, different rustic Bengali dishes remain my ultimate love but how can one have a bharta without a ruti or bhaat? So I cook what you see, the vegetables  provide you with the necessary nutrition and a Bengali spice infused curry satisfies my soul and hunger pangs during the night time. Our lunch today was upma with a lot of vegetables. After I was done with the man's lunch box, he decided to work from home. He looked very tired, I suggested him to work from home. We ate the reheated stuff; upma you must eat fresh but it never happens at this home. I went down for a short swim.

I hardly lie to my readers! Yesterday, I indeed had a porota-lobia curry-jilipi lunch! Like I eat varied food; I listen to varied music; which one to hear when depends on my mood!

WHAT IS THIS GUROMOSHOLAI MUSHROOM BROCCOLI?

GUROMOSHOLA is powdered spices! I cook a lot of curries these days with spice powders alone. In the blog, I do have one or two such recipes, even a prawn recipe! I am in favour of frill-free food. Hailing from a middle-class Bengali family, we used specific spices only for our COOKING, I maintain the same style in my kitchen. Okay, I do store few other spice powders not used by my family like dry mango powder, chaat masala, nihari masala! I cooked this VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE CURRY with Broccoli & Mushroom using only few spice powders & tomato; aptly named it GUROMOSHOLAI MUSHROOM BROCCOLI! I can hear the man constantly talking to his office; these days I wish I too worked but how and when? With each passing day, I feel a little more unworthy of myself; almost an entire life spent and I could not learn the basics of a computer! But I can cook for all those people who get tired after a day's work! My wish had been to earn from blogging & cooking; aur kuch ati bhi to nehi!

INGREDIENTS :

BROCCOLI : 1 STANDARD SIZED

MUSHROOM : 7-8 [USE PORTOBELLO OR BUTTON OR SHIITAKE VARIETY]

TOMATO : 1

CUMIN POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

DRY MANGO POWDER : 1/2 TSP

NIHARI MASALA : 1/2 TSP [OPTIONAL]

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

BAY LEAF : 1

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Cut half the mushrooms, wash well and soak in hot water for half an hour. Cut the Broccoli into medium florets and wash well. Marinate it with a little of salt & turmeric!

Wash & chop the tomatoes! Heat the oil in the wok and temper it with the cumin seeds and bay leaf! Give a stir and add the chopped and washed tomatoes. Stir cook at low heat for a minute or two!

Add the cumin+coriander+red chilli+rest of the turmeric powders+the salt required and stir for a minute at minimal heat; sprinkling water. Do it for a minute.

Add the broccoli floret along with the marinade and the mushrooms sans the soaked water! Stir well for 2-3 minutes and add 11/2 coffee mugs of water. Cook at low to medium heat for 5-6 minutes.

Thereafter, add the dry mango & nihari masala powders, give a stir and let cook for a minute or two! We are done.

Your HEALTHY DESI SOUP CURRY is ready to be had. Have it with rice, roti or as it is!

CHILLI TOMATO SAUCE CHICKEN

 

IT IS EITHER CHICKEN IN SAUCES OR BENGALI LIGHT CHICKEN CURRY OR A CHICKEN REZALA!

My preferences with regards to chicken underwent a sea change. Even a decade back, the Kolkata restaurants knew how I dunked pieces of butter garlic naan in a thick lehsuni murgh that had cream on top; and smiled! "Poritriptir Hashi" is what we call it; I do not believe in certain translations; a smile of immense satisfaction does not sound the exact expression to me! Moreover, I am poor with vocabulary! I remember, after landing here in this island, I cooked certain sea fish varieties like King Fish, Snappers; but all of a sudden they started smelling, even the freshest of the produce. I know its not about the quality but my inability to accept the fish varieties I have not grown up eating. Today, our focus is on CHICKEN as a FOOD INGREDIENT! Here, the NON-VEGETARIAN MEAT varieties do not attract me, neither of chicken or that of the mutton. Again, quality wise they may be superior, but that too soft chicken post cooking does not go with my taste bud! When I am in Kolkata, I do enjoy having chicken; honestly, I do not crave for it! But yes, Aminia's Chicken Rezala with Roomali Ruti and Oriental Chicken in any decent restaurant are what I would have. The Reshmi & Pahari Kebabs I craved for some 15-20 years back are no more my craze. Actually, I can do that at home, if not that perfect! The men enjoy their share of "ruti o kebab"; they can skip any gravy; more the senior. It is hard to believe I enjoyed Badshah's Chicken Roll once, cannot think of digesting it anymore! I would do at home once in a while. The mother was / is  deadly against two things, Moghlai Porota & Rolls of Kolkata, she thinks those two can get any amount of disaster to our stomach! I see, I cannot digest them anymore! To me, any paratha outside of a humble home has excess amount of oil!

FOOD, FOOD, FOOD - SHOULD NOT IT BE THE LIFELINE?

Its still my lifeline; only that after a decade of stay in this island; I prefer lighter food outside of home; a rice stew, a chicken or prawn soup, a Thai Style fish with some rice makes me happier and feel safer. The mother and brother's wife, the son loves! Actually the son and the man are versatile eaters but the brother is typically a Northern Indian / Mughlai Food lover, the father too was! If he has to have Western then it has to be meat bakes or grills. At home, I keep it simple. Like yesterday, I was not willing to step out of home; the man was playing one after another detective series in Hoichoi! I used all of the left over rice in the refrigerator and cooked a fried rice, had with egg drop curry; also cooked earlier!

Oh! I cooked my first egg-vanilla cake yesterday morning in air fryer; it was good but not perfect! I have to correct few things  before getting my first ever air fryer cake to the blog! Before I took a bite with my evening tea yesterday; I did keep two pieces in the man's snack box! Today, his lunch box had ruti-tarkari! Mondays he is coming home early, he goes for the routine covid taste! Today, he is done with both his food boxes, I am happy!

Yesterday night, we thought of ordering Pizza; then we had to finish off a quite stale salmon. To me it smells, I just manage to eat!

Today, I went for a walk, on my way back I could not resist having a Strawberry Smoothie; it was past 2 pm already! I had a very late lunch with self made ruti, torkari, homemade doi! Cristine cannot prepare ruti well!

I would still be having something with my hot cuppa now!

WHAT IS THIS CHILLI TOMATO SAUCE CHICKEN?

If we South Asians use a combinations of spice powders for our cooking; the South East & East Asians use a variety of sauces. And the West? May be different types of seasonings & sauces? This CHILLI TOMATO SAUCE CHICKEN is one of the quickest CHICKEN RECIPE I would say!I would not buy a variety of cooking sauces at one time. I cannot go without Bengali Cooking beyond a week, so buying the sauces one or two varieties at a time is wiser! Today too I stood clueless in front of the sauce rack! What to buy? Black Pepper or Suki or Oyster or Teriyaki! I am a predominant Bong; sauces & seasonings & dippings are good but "ada-jeerey bata lonka chera jhol" is my survival story! Once in a while, I do not mind cooking such a platter with stir fry young green beans, chicken tossed in a ready made sauce and plain rice! We definitely enjoyed the meal but it cannot be on our regular menu! Do you know I love the crunch of spring onions? I dedicate the platter to the two handymen who did some small repairs last Saturday, happily without throwing any tantrum. I cannot expect this in Bengal, this amount of professionalism. I am truly thankful to Mr. Razali Sanduan & Mr.Francis! They did a great job!

INGREDIENTS :

BONELESS CHICKEN BREAST CUBE : 300-400 GM

CHOPPED SPRING ONION : A SMALL BOWLFUL

CUBED ONION : 1 MEDIUM SIZED

MINCED GARLIC : 1 TBSP

MINCED GINGER : 1 TSP

SLICED GREEN CHILLI : 3-4

LIGHT SOY SAUCE : 2 TBSP

CHILLI TOMATO SAUCE : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

BLACK PEPPER POWDER : 1/4 TSP

VINEGAR : 2 TBSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We washed the chicken cubes well and marinated in little salt, black pepper & vinegar! We will keep it aside covered for an hour or little more!

We have chopped and washed the spring onion!

We minced the garlic, ginger; sliced the green chillies & cube the onion. Each of them was washed well!

We heated the oil in a wok; stir cooked the ginger and garlic mince until light brown!

We added the cubed onions & sliced chillies and stir fried for a minute or two! 

We added the chicken discarding the marinade and also the soy sauce!

After about 10-12 minutes of cooking at medium heat, the chicken cubes looked as below!

We added the chilli tomato sauce  and most of the spring onions leaving some for the garnish!

We stir cooked thereafter for 4-5 minutes at medium heat!

We must serve it hot and fresh to get the best taste. About the green beans; we just need to chop off their ends, wash and marinate with a little of salt! In little oil, we have to stir fry some minced garlic & ginger. Thereafter, we need to add the green beans; stir cook for 3-4 minutes; add the sauce; fold in and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. We should take down and serve it fresh & hot!

PANCHMESHALI DAL

 

A BENGALI STYLE LIGHT LENTIL CURRY MAKES ME HAPPIER!

These days, I wonder if my baby boy misses his mumma made dals! In his growing up years and until last year, I have fed him DAL / LENTIL CURRY in every meal, almost! This mumma is a dreamer, she loves thinking her child must me missing her cooking, the touch of his parents! In reality, may be he is; it may not be in that magnitude his mother is dreaming of! He is right actually, if one cannot hug & get along with a new environment; keep brooding over what he  or she has left back; he or she may be in trouble. A new environment is a new scope of learning; thats what I make myself believe and be comfortable with! Every mumma in my situation would worry about the child's health and appetite. He went from an entirely different culture including the food culture. With regards the food culture; my men have an edge; they are not typical Bengali eaters; they are used to eating food of varied culture and love them. So, baked meat and fish, cheese & bread, hot dogs are not a problem for them. But the child's mumma wants ideal conditions for him. How good it would be if he could feed himself quinoa with meat & vegetables; brown rice with mumma style "patla mushurir dal and fish fry, fulkopir bora o dalna"! He knows mumma has no respite from her worries until his life gets fixed! Yes, BENGALI STYLE LENTIL CURRIES are my favourite, the son too found them easier and faster way to gobble his usual Bengali Meals. The daddy, Mr.T does have his dal share; but would not have if there is a mutton curry or hilsa or prawn or a long whiskered cat fish curry in the menu! He however enjoys the North Indian style dal varieties with breads! Let us get something similar today?

I THINK I AM LOSING OUT ON THE ENERGY LEVEL!

If that is normal at my age, how come our mother is so active and energetic nearing 75? Her mother is nearing 95, still manages by herself; although her youngest daughter is always there by the side! It has a lot to do with the eating pattern too, I eat what I am not supposed to! I cannot do rigorous exercises. I only walked may be 6 kilometres today after the monthly meet with my GP and it hardly helps in weigh loss. Before entering the home, I had a fish bun; back home I took a shower, did the afternoon prayer and had a full on lunch with jeera rice, ruti, raw banana kebabs & egg drop curry! I had packed the man's lunch box too with it!

I am now having tea & a croissant! Over eating may cause me lack of energy!

But eating what I wish makes me happy! Very few friends I have; I am scared of mingling; neither enjoy partying! You have to leave me alone to see me happy! The man, T hailing from a party monger family became too home bound! We both enjoy our stay at home and discuss about the son. All that we want now are to travel to the son and also to Kolkata, now & then! But how to? Let me share a RECIPE then what all of us in the family would enjoy?

WHAT IS THIS PANCHMESHALI DAL?

What is DAL? The Indians call their LENTIL CURRIES, dal! What does PANCHMESHALI mean? It means A MIX / MIXTURE! I cannot survive a day without a bowlful of dal! Mumma made her son dependant on dal. Well, he is not the kind who would discuss with us how frequently he is having dal, if at all he is having! There are remote chances he would consult a map directory and find out Bengali Eateries to have BENGALI MEALS! Mumma would always ask him to consider the hygiene aspect majorly! I have a number of tales to tell about people who are like me; they went to Greece and felt they would die if they cannot find a Bengali Eatery that very night! I can totally relate; I wonder why my men are not as much Bengali like? My / Our very Bengali father did enjoy Dhaba style Dal or in general, Northern Indian Food! Else at home, he preferred only the sour dal varieties! The mother always wondered why then he did have any dal offered as an invitee. Who will tell our mother thats how we behave with an outsider, we need to be formal with those who are not our own! Anyway, this PANCHMESHALI DAL is VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE and I did not follow any recipe of PANCHMEL DAL OR PANCHARATNA DAL doing this. The butter plays an important role in this dal but to make it vegan, just skip it and add more of lemon juice!

INGREDIENTS :

WHOLE BLACK GRAM LENTIL [WHOLE URAD DAL] : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

RED LENTIL [MASOOR / MUSHURIR DAL] : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

SPLIT DE-SKINNED BLACK GRAM DAL [DE SKINNED BROKEN URAD DAL] : 2-3 TBSP

BENGAL GRAM LENTIL [CHANA OR CHOLAR DAL] : 1/4 SMALL TEA CUP

SPLIT DE-SKINNED MOONG BEAN LENTIL [ HOLUD MOONG] : 2-3 TBSP

CHOPPED TOMATO : 2

CHOPPED ONION : 1 MEDIUM OR BIG

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 2-3

MINCED GARLIC : 1 TBSP

MINCED GINGER : 1/2 TBSP

CHOPPED FRESH CORIANDER : 2 TBSP

HALVED DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3

BAY LEAF : 1 OR 2

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

ASAFOETIDA : 2-3 PINCH

GARAM MASALA : 2 TSP

LEMON JUICE : 3-4 TBSP

BUTTER : 2 TBSP [SKIP IF YOU WANT IT VEGAN]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We will take all the dal varieties together; wash and soak them for an hour or so!

We will pour the uncooked dal mixture to the pressure cooker along with the water. The water should be about 21/2 - 3 coffee mugs! 

We will add some salt & turmeric, stir and close the lid. We will pressure cook at minimal heat up to 3 whistles.

As the cooker cools and opens by itself, the boiled dal would look like this!

In a wok, we will heat the oil. We will temper it with the asafoetida, halved red chillies, bay leaves & cumin seeds! 

We will give a stir and add the washed garlic & ginger mince!

We will stir cook them until brown and add the washed & chopped onions.

Once the onions get light brown; we will add the washed & chopped tomatoes, washed and slitted green chillies, the rest of the salt & turmeric!

We will stir cook until the tomatoes soften. We will add the boiled dal now.

We will add about 3-4 coffee mugs of water and stir well. We will cover cook for about 10-12 minutes and then open the cover!

We will add the garam masala, stir and let boil for 5 minutes.

Thereafter, we will add the washed and chopped coriander leaves and the lemon juice! We will give a stir and take it down!

We will pour the lentil curry in serving bowls and garnish with butter! For a vegan version, skip the butter!  Enjoy it with jeera or lemon rice & a variety of hand rolled breads!

NARKOL SANDESH

 

GOOD OLD DAYS TAKE YOU BACK TO NARU-NIMKI-MIHIDANA-MOYA!

I feel too sad that I had learnt to prepare muri-khoi-chirer moya few years back; now seems I have forgotten that little trick required in the end to bind the grains & cooked jaggery together. I prepare very good Bengali Style muesli but just failing to do a moya / laddu of them. I prefer to prepare the deshi muesli because I can do it with very less amount of sweet! I talk to the mother regular but forget to ask her about the right tricks of moya making, it is the last step I am forgetting. She is a champion with regards to doing moya-naru; the father loved them too much and those was his regular snack. Naru; coconut laddu is what I guess I have learnt to prepare well. Of the few other Bengali TRADITIONAL HOMEMADE SWEETS, I think I can do pretty well this REDUCED MILK & COCONUT SWEET! I did not really do it the traditional way but the end result is as it is; the taste remains the same. Although I took a faster route; it still would require pretty good time. I did it last month and it took about one and half to two hours for the mixture to get ready! Our families use moulds to shape the SANDESH / SWEETS; I am not having the good quality mould and lazy enough to work on it!

MY EATING TRAIL; IT'S ENORMOUS!

What I am eating since the last 24 hours is enormous. My problem is I cannot avoid the carb intake. I have to have my parathas, potatoes, rice and the list is endless. It was a Sunday yesterday; as per the intermittent fasting rules; I started eating post 1 pm and thereafter, it went on! I had no plan to go out of the home. I went for a walk as I wished to get something for the man. I always enjoy having something after the completion of my workout. I had that choice meal; they serve you like that, everything dumped together! I had got a lamb chop meal for the man. No other human would have rice after a brunch, I did. I had my rice with a bharta, bhindi bhaja and dal, bliss!

In between, my God family ate some Dragon Fruit for their lunch! 

I had a garlic roll & self made cake with my evening tea; made & served paratha & chicken for dinner to the man. I had the light chicken curry, dal and few pieces of dragon fruit for my dinner! I would want a fruit salad of my choice any day!

My stomach took few hours of rest and again I made a porota & oven cooked, less oil sabudana cutlets for my lunch today. Its a full on carb filled  lunch but I wanted it. I eat what makes me happy!

After 2 hours of that heavy lunch, I made myself a poached egg in the microwave. I think I saw a food channel making it, somewhere in Facebook! I was eager to see if it works! Now having it with a butter-bread!

It did work. I had taken together water & vinegar in a bowl and had gently broken an egg in it. I microwaved it covered, at low for 11/2 minutes. That was a fun activity! I enjoyed a firmer yolk with a soft white layer. You need to cook less time for a runny yolk!

I wished to write less today and share my food adventures with you more! I enjoy exactly this; to stay at home, experiment with food ingredients and eat them. I did something with the dragon fruits, wish to blog about it!

The man is back home early today. Every Monday, he has his Covid-19 test. He is having his Tuna Sandwich lunch now at 6 pm. He has no interest in food; I find it difficult to handle. Tomorrow is a nationwide holiday for HARI RAYA HAJI, let me share a FAMILY BENGALI SWEET RECIPE on the occasion!

WHAT IS THIS NARKOL SANDESH?

WHAT IS NARKOL? NARKOL IS COCONUT; AMONG BENGALIS! WHAT IS SANDESH? IT IS A DRY VARIETY OF SWEET AMONG US! WHAT IS NARKOL SANDESH? NARKOL SANDESH is a HOME STYLE COCONUT SWEET in Bengal. These are not sold in sweet shops; I have remotely seen CHANDRAPULI been sold in few neighbourhood shops. We were never allowed to eat that because the sweet was made at home in moulds. I do not have proper moulds, neither I am artistic or have that patience. The best I can get you is this simplistic shape. I did not have time to experiment; get a vegan & gluten-free version of it. Before that, the authentic BENGALI COCONUT SWEET had to get a place in the blog. The only non-authentic thing in the picture is the garnish of the pumpkin seeds; we do not do it, we do no garnish in this case. Moreover, in the stepwise pictures; you would see I did not prepare the kheer / reduced milk before hand and then proceeded with the recipe, as does the family veterans and serious Bengali Cooks. What I did also took a lot of time, but less than what it takes in my mother's kitchen. There is no one who would take these forward after me; let it be in the Blog!

INGREDIENTS :

FULL CREAM MILK : 1 LITRE

SHREDDED COCONUT : 2-3 COFFEE MUG

SUGAR : 5-6 TBSP [I USED BROWN SUGAR] [IN EITHER CASE USE MORE IF REQUIRED]

GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 11/2 TSP

GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER : 2-3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We will put the milk for boil and keep the heat at minimal. Every 3-4 minutes, we would give a stir to avoid sticking at the bottom!

When the milk is boiling, we will blend the shredded coconut to a paste adding 1/2 coffee mug of water to it!

Here, I did not follow my family of boiling the milk to a thicker, creamier texture for the purpose. When it has boiled for 14-15 minutes; I had added the coconut paste, sugar, green cardamom powder. I gave a stir.

This would get the milk curdled after few minutes but we need not worry. We will add a table spoon of ghee, give a stir and keep boiling the mixture at minimal heat!

When the liquid dries up a considerable amount; we will increase the heat and continuously stir; else the bottom would burn.

We will add the rest of the ghee and give a stir; the sides should come out and the consistency has to be sticky!

I had turned it onto a plate and cool a bit. We will knead it when its still a little warm. Thereafter, shape them as we wish!

If you have good quality mould, patience & artistic skills; use them and make these look better! The taste remain the same!