JALAPENO LANKA BHAJI

 SHOPPING FOR RAW INGREDIENTS IS IMPORTANT!

It goes on like a cycle. Ever since I have started this food delivery thing, the frequency of going to the market have increased. This week I went to the same Indian spot for two days; I may have to visit sooner. Money does not come easy at your doorstep. I do enjoy "bazaar-haat"; else I would not have started my minuscule venture of cooking for other homes. I did mention earlier, every morning around 7:30 am, I was called near the kitchen, dadu would be there back from the market! Yes, DumDum Market sits as early as 6am. I do not know what is the scenario now. It is  busy and big like Maniktala Bazaar, little less than the Sealdah Baithakkhana Bazaar! At times, it feels Kolkata lives more inside me than I think it does. I remember our  early morning trips to  Dakshineshwar temple, the look of the vendor's compartment in a train, our winter time picnic trips to the Duttapukur to Canning to Shonarpur "Baganbaris", aka the big landed properties rented as picnic spots! Oh! How I used to maintain a distance from the crowd, enjoyed my own company! Am I a loner since birth?

TODAY, I HAD BEEN A HAPPY SHOPPER!

That is because I got in hand some live magur mach, quite fresh hilsa and bhola mach! The last one is Indian Jew Fish which was not originally a family love. One day it entered our home with the boney Folui mach our parents loved. Thereafter, I and bhai started enjoying bhola mach, mostly during the winters. I feed my men too, it is fleshy and less boney; they do eat! Here, in this island; I hardly follow getting stuffs as per season. It is either available throughout the year or not at all! Until date, no one could tell me the actual reason why they do not eat fresh duck eggs but only the preserved ones. Some in their fifty's have told me they did eat fresh duck eggs in their childhood. My curious soul wants to explore all these facts! I think I have not yet started to explore this island, before we go back I may! I picked up banana blossom, raw jackfruit, a big bunch of red amaranth, mutton too. To get super fresh produce, you must visit a wet market around 8:30 to 9am. I cannot make it before 10 am. The largest fish shop at the Tekka Market used to keep the Bengal variety of freshwater fish, they are not keeping it now due to the pandemic. I mostly go the Bengali shops near the Mustafa area who starts business at 12pm, ends at 12am, I think! I was out early today, I bought Ven Pongal, Sweet Pongal! I purposefully did not buy any pakora, neither can eat pongal with chutney and sambar alone. I picked up two mushroom packets wanting to prepare pakora, once I entered the Mustafa Centre. I kept them back, picked up this, also wanting to prepare pakora. Thereafter, I changed my mind!

WHAT IS THIS JALAPENO LANKA BHAJI?

It is a vegan, gluten-free side dish; versatile enough to go with a variety of bread & rice. I went out of home around 9:20 am; came back visiting two spots around 1:25 pm! By 2:15pm, the stir-fry, vegetarian bowl with the Jalapeño variety of peppers was ready! I named it JALAPENO LANKA BHAJI; lanka is chilli in Bengali, bhaji is a stir fried dish! I loved it but cannot have such kind of food regular! I added onion, green peas, almonds, cashews, raisins, it tasted wow. Tell me what was the show stopper? The kulambu spice mix! Cristine & I had a good lunch, the man would have it at night alongside a pomfret curry! If I cannot have the pomfret; would switch to "chirey-doi"! I so wish the son starts cooking easy recipes like this one; eats outside less!

The man took to the office egg fried rice done with leftover rice and orange. The son has to learn following mumma or whoever he prefers. I am upset why he is not sharing any information with us. At times, I ask my cousin about him, sometimes in the parent's group! I expect our mother to cook this kind some days and serve bhai with porota! Bidisha anyway enjoys varied food!

INGREDIENTS :

JALAPENO PEPPER / CHILLI : 7-8 [MINE MAY BE A SIMILAR VARIETY]

GREEN PEA : A HANDFUL

CUBED ONION : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 2

CASHEW NUT : 5-6

ALMOND : 5-6

RAISIN : 6-7

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

KULAMBU SPICE MIX : 1 1/2 TBSP [ALTERNATIVELY, USE YOUR CHOICE OF SPICE POWDERS]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

BAY LEAF : 1

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Each of the Jalapeño Pepper, I have cut into 4 parts, lengthwise. The onion too, I discarded the two ends, peeled and cubed!

I always wash fish, meat, vegetables, eggs under running water!

I drained the water and marinated the onion & jalapeño peppers with the turmeric & salt!

I heated up the oil in a wok, tempered it with the cumin seeds, bayleaf, raisins, almond, cashews! Then stir-cooked for a minute at minimal heat!

 

I added the marinated jalapeño peppers, onion, green peas to the wok and stir cooked at low heat for 1-2 minutes.

Thereafter, I added the kulambu spice mix and the slitted green chillies. 

I folded in well and sprinkled 1/4 small cup of water, covered the wok with a lid.

We cannot cover for long, the vegetables would lose colour & texture. Every 1/2 a minute we would uncover and lightly stir. 

We would do this for 5 minutes and we should be done!

I forgot to click the last two steps!

I did not want to lose the colour & texture of the onion, but it did! It is a quick, healthy, easy side dish you can cook when in a hurry!