CINNAMON BANANA FRIED DOUGHNUT

ONE CAN MOVE A MOUNTAIN FOR PASSION!

I may not be a versatile cook like a master chef, but I enjoy the art thoroughly!Because I am passionate about cooking,I repeat cooked the same recipe with the same ingredients within a gap of few hours!I am not feeling tired or exhausted, I do have a full-time help! The best thing about this BUN/DOUGHNUT is that none of us need much of help to do it, neither a lot of ingredients!South East Asia loves this FRIED DOUGHNUT in their breakfast!I would often get it from the nearby shop and so enjoy it with my tea or coffee!Is the chain"Dough Culture"whose I like the most? Yesterday night, we had the fried yeast buns with Bengali Ghugni and a green chilli chutney I made!

They tasted the original but I was unhappy with the looks! This morning, I decided to do them again! I was too eager to share this vegetarian recipe today!

IN BEWEEN THE COOKING PLAN, PREPARATIONS & THE ACTUAL COOKING; A LOW INTENSITY WORKOUT HAS TO HAPPEN!

There had been no lunch box preparations today, the son too is doing everything by himself, staying alone far off! I had ample time to think and decide to redo the VEGETARIAN FRIED DOUGHNUT! They are usually eaten with tea / coffee alone but we were to have it for our lunch, there were still some Ghugni left! I had prepared the yeast dough, set it to double inside the microwave and went out for a walk! I know the help would finish rest of the cleaning job! It was raining since early morning, later it stopped but we did not see any ray of the Sun all day! Such days are ideal for long walks, given we will not chance upon mud puddles here. With the responsibilities taken, I could not walk much!

I indeed take lanes & bylanes to have the pleasure to watch some organic farming! The above land definitely was not anyone's personal property! That area is surrounded by HDBs and may be they jointly maintain the farming! By 2 pm, I was at home!

WHAT IS CINNAMON BANANA FRIED DOUGHNUT?

Because I loved the fried buns from day one of having them, I wished to know the components used in making them. For long, I only planned to learn the making of it! Only recently, I have learnt the Cantonese people have these for breakfast!Even Vietnam & Indonesia have local versions of it! But how did the Mangaloreans got inspired from it? Ain't their BANANA BUN similar to it? I did not go deep into the research! What I did was I read few recipes of ASIAN FRIED DOUGHNUT / HAM CHIM PENG, and came up with my own version of CINNAMON BANANA FRIED DOUGHNUT; a VEGETARIAN SNACK! I read few bloggers' recipe of HAM CHIM PENG!

The above three pictures are sourced from the internet! Let me tell you, if you are doing Bengali Ham Chim Peng, you do not even require alkaline water! Everything you require is lying in your kitchen racks!

INGREDIENTS :

REFINED FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG

BANANA : 1 RIPE

YEAST : 1 TSP FULL

WARM WATER : AS REQUIRED

SALT : 1/2 TSP

SUGAR : 1/2 TSP

CINNAMON POWDER : 1/2 TSP

WHITE SESAME : A LITTLE TO SPRINKLE ON TOP OF EACH

OIL : 1 TBSP + 150 ML TO DEEP FRY

PROCEDURE : 

Take the refined flour, cinnamon powder, salt, sugar, yeast & banana together in a wide mouthed bowl!

Mash well the banana & mix well everything together!

Take 1 tbsp of oil in hand and add to the mixture.

Using the warm water little by little, we will knead a dough; this will take 7-8 minutes!

We will keep it covered in a warm place!

After 2 to 21/2 hours, it would be double the size. Mine did not much because I used little less yeast today!

We will add a little of oil & knead for 3-4 minutes. We will make smaller balls and keep covered again in a warm place for half an hour.

Removing the cover, we would see the dough balls have risen!

On a flat board / rolling base; we will roll each ball with a rolling pin. We will add some white sesame on top and lightly press!

We will heat about 150ml oil in a pan and fry the dough rolls.

Aren't they super easy to make?

Traditionally, they are eaten at breakfast with tea! We had it with Bengali yellow peas curry & green chilli chutney!

 

FRESH DRAGON FRUIT ICE LOLLY

 

HEALTH, AGE, FOOD, DIET, EATING PATTERN!

I think I am a failure when coordinating among them wisely! There was a time, I had a hidden pride of having the ability to eat anything and everything throughout the day; yet not falling sick. I mean not that sick, else I suffer from constipation since childhood! I have mentioned earlier a couple of times how in 1994,a minor surgery of my appendix removal led the team of doctors say I should not be given meat, greens or too much of any vegetables. They found out I tend to have colitis! Then, I should have stopped eating legumes too! I just cannot get too strict and particular about my diet chart! Besides the discussion or may be a part of it; I clearly remember while on the operation table and just before losing my senses; yet under the influence of anaesthesia I could hear the doctors calling me "baby elephant"!Several times I have told my parents, brother & the closest aids the doctors did call me names & I did not mind. Sometime around 1990, me and a friend were told, "Hathibagan e akhono hathi paoa jai!" We were at a place named Hathibagan, in Kolkata one afternoon when this comment came in!That was not a time when this body shaming, this and that were into being; the cool us perhaps entered that sweet shop at Hathibagan More and ate Radhaballavi & Pantua to our heart's content!Till date, I could not mend my ways!Thats why a Sunday like yesterday comes in life and I fall sick of wrong eating!No wonder, the man and the son keep calling me fat!

AN AVERAGE BENGALI DOES MORE OF WRONG EATING ON A WEEKEND!

Yesterday was a day really!I went to the Indian Market, I had to cater to a client today, I have to tomorrow. I do not mind that, there has to have some fruitful engagement in life! Because I dislike chatting, partying, straying all day;I enjoy the little amount of money coming my way through the only art I know; that is cooking! My only request to the man was to accompany me because it was Cristine's off day. I wished to sit somewhere and have our lunch! He refutes and I get angry! After the shopping, I get food for us, butter naan, chicken & chole for the man from Kaka Da Dhaba & a Chaat from Kailash Parbat for the self! And I promise to myself I would never get home a chaat. One should never home deliver a chaat item, they are to be eaten instantly after been served!

After finishing the little of work I need to on a Sunday, I had a chaat lunch, breaking a seventeen hours of fast! It was the worst decision anyone can take. All of the curd was absorbed by the snacks! It lacked the fun of having a chaat! I was caught with severe indigestion immediately after!

I was feeling awkward until I had a sugar-free, milk-free Twining's Darjeeling Tea around 7 pm! Thereafter, for dinner we just had rice-dal-potato boiled together. I definitely would not have the egg!

WHAT IS FRESH DRAGON FRUIT ICE LOLLY?

Usually, after a health disaster due to wrong eating,I take vows; wisdom engulfs me like fuming fire; I vouch for clean eating the rest of my life. But I fail to keep the good promises made to myself! The best I can do is get a HEALTHY RECIPE to the BLOG; that is VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE too! Whatever I COOK, EAT & SHARE has to be TASTY too; I mean it has to more or less appeal to my TASTEBUDS! So, I chose this FRESH DRAGON FRUIT ICE LOLLY to go to the blog today! Also since childhood, my system is a bit averse to diary products but our kind of families ignore it and consider feeding cow & buffalo milk the best thing done to the kids.These days, my stomach indeed is revolting to ice-creams; I am getting acidity from it! I love chillers but; the best alternatives I found are using various fruits to make iced coffee, tea & bars without using any amount of diary product!DRAGON FRUIT is a favourite fruit of mine ever since I have reached this island, so why not turn it onto an ICED LOLLY?

INGREDIENTS : 

DRAGON FRUIT : 2

ROASTED CASHEW NUT : 12-15

RAISIN : 15-16

SUGAR : 1 TBSP [I SKIPPED]

I enjoy having dragon fruits, although they are a bit bland!I here India too is farming it and we are getting a lot of it during the season at Baguiati Bazaar!

I had taken the peeled & washed fruit cubes in a blender. I had added to it half of the cashews & raisins to enhance the taste!

The raisins worked as natural sweeteners for me!I have added the rest of the half to it!

I have mixed the content well and poured into thermocol glasses; you can use plastic glasses or proper moulds!

I have inserted sticks in the middle and Cristine taped them!

I have kept them in the freezer for 7-8 hours!

While having, take them in a glass & have!

Ain't that a tasty & healthy thirst quencher?

CHICKEN SNOW PEA NOODLES

 

WHEN DID I ACTUALLY START LOVING NOODLE?

I really do not remember!I think I love it from day one of having it! That was may be in the mid 80's, when noodles reached the Kolkata "neighbourhoods", every corner of it!The China Town eateries served it then too!My family never went for fine dining! I read only in the newspaper about China Town!For us, those areas were dreaded.We had such humble lifestyle that I never missed eating outside or demanded! We did not learn to demand, neither allowed to!One reason may be this that there was always good food cooked in our family home. I had no idea about what is Chinese Food, neither craved for!I also saw in the Bengali movies there existed Western themed restaurants in Park Street and that Uttam Kumar looked ridiculous while twisting on the floor!I could not stop myself from giggling!If I craved for anything that was street food which we were not allowed until the late 80's! Towards the end of the 80's,I started getting outside food for the family and also had with friends.By 1984-85, we got the taste of noodles and the best thing to go with it was WWF & Jonny Soko & his Flying Robot!In 1989-90, may be I had Chinese Fried Rice first in my life, sitting in a cosy, little eatery and loved it! I knew ajinomoto gets that unique taste but I was soon to quit it, there was a buzz in Kolkata that it is harmful!For Oriental Food, the phrase "once in love, always in love" aptly suits in my case!But I am not generous about the extremes; cannot have flies, insects, frogs! Neither this island eats anything that move, frog they do!

WHAT ELSE A FOODIE CAN DO BUT SHOP FOOD ALL DAY?

I had to venture out today for my Saturday's client.I cannot stop at that, I end up buying this and that for my home. Its been so long I did not buy a dress for myself!Sending the buys home, I went for a long walk! That was also on a food mission.It is FOOD that motivates me!I ventured out for a Sheng Siong Super Market in this area.The directory took me almost 4-4.5km northwards. Earlier, I did go for a walk in the nearby area, if not to the exact location.These are happy lone expeditions of mine, I enjoy!I roam scot-free here without the fear of getting violated.Back home, I had a plateful of Semolina Idli I prepared in the microwave.

Cold Brewed Coffee I do keep having all day, specially back from long walks, I feel dehydrated! I could have come back home walking, but took a bus. I have a client to deliver within an hour and also a BLOGPOST to share! I went to the Sheng Siong to check if this branch too keeps Chinese Gizzard Shad & Rui Mach! On an evening walk, if I get in hand a fresh, smaller shad or rui; they would go well deep fried for dinner!

WHAT IS CHICKEN SNOW PEA NOODLES?

This kind of NON-VEGETARIAN DISHES are good as both SNACKS & MAIN MEALS!It is quick to do and encompasses our body's protein & nutrient needs; okay, to a good extent! This CHICKEN SNOW PEA NOODLE is an easy made NOODLE DISH using RICE NOODLES, SNOW PEAS & TENDER BONELESS CHICKEN STRIPS!As I have mentioned earlier, this island has ensured us safety, security & peaceful living!I felt its necessary to share a RECIPE that suits the Mid Autumn Festival!Even the Durga Pooja revellers would enjoy this. They queue in flocks to have those roadside roll & chow chow centres' food in Kolkata! How many have the ability to sit in Monica Liu's? There was a time we were regular at Tung Fong, Beijing,Big Boss and visiting Mainland China was kept exclusive, fewer times!

INGREDIENTS :

RICE NOODLE : 250-300 GM [YOU CAN USE OTHER VARIETIES]

BONELESS CHICKEN STRIP : 250 GM

SNOW PEA : 7-10

CUBED ONION : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 3-4

MINCED GARLIC : 1 TBSP

MINCED GINGER : 1 TSP

LIGHT SOY SAUCE : 2-3 TBSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/4 TSP

TOMATO KETCHUP : 2 TBSP

VINEGAR : 1 TBSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SESAME OIL : 1 TSP 

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We will wash the chicken strips well and marinate with the vinegar, light soy sauce, crushed black pepper, little of salt for 2-3 hours!

We will blanch or soak the rice noodles in salted hot water for 3-4 minutes.

We will strain the water keeping the noodles in a colander.

We will add few drops of oil to the noodles & mix well!

We will heat the remaining oil and add the washed & minced ginger & garlic to the oil!

We will stir fry them at medium heat until light brown & add the marinated chicken!

The pictures overturned, I did not notice, you will excuse me for that!

We will stir fry the chicken at medium heat for 3-4 minutes and cover cook at low heat for another 5-6 minutes!

Thereafter, we will add the washed slitted green chillies & cubed onions and stir cook at low heat for 3-4 minutes.

Earlier, we have cut the two ends of the snow peas, washed and marinated with little of salt!

We will add them to the wok and stir cook for 2-3 minutes. They should not lose the crunch!

 

We will add the ketchup now and give a stir!

We will add the rice noodles, use two ladles to fold in well!

We will adjust the salt if required! We will add the sesame oil and fold in well.

It must be served hot & fresh!