CHAI MASALA FLAVOURED MISHTI DOI

 IT FEELS HAPPY TO PREPARE MISHTI DOI RIGHT!

I am not that good at making mishti doi / sweetened yogurt! Rarely I would take upon myself the stress of setting a mishti doi! It is raining for few days; yet yesterday, I wished to prepare Mishti doi! "Aur hamne kiya, hamne kiya, hamne kiya"! I would keep reserve it for my guests tomorrow! Only one tea spoon I had to taste, I must do it before getting a recipe to the blog! At this time, it is 5:50 pm, I have just started writing the post! Since the morning, I am in a mess! I did not do any constructive work, Cristine made sandwich and packed her sir's lunch box. I only clicked the pictures you would be seeing in the post today! My thoka tagar / Chinese Gardenia plant have got fungal infection, Cristine and I spent time on that! In all these, my regular exercise of poking the son in whatsapp did not happen today!Around 2 pm, I felt like going out for a walk and have my lunch outside! I had a spaghetti & grilled fish plate for 7$, got irritated at the sight of a fly. This food court behind the Kovan MRT and the one at the Tekka Centre are dirty! I go at times to get food at a cheaper rate!

Back home, I had a shower, sat wrapped in a bed spread with a bowl of muri o naru, a chilled tea! I do not know why my hunger was not met today post lunch!

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MY LIFE?

It's the same thing repeating day & night! Ever since the son went off, I feel lethargic! I was ready to resume the food delivery services, but no fruitful discussion took place! I am firm about my business rules, cooking chores have lessened hence! I had been unnecessarily cooking a huge amount and variety of Bengali Food; not that Cristine, T do not want Bengali Food! They want less amount and variety! I feed them less, feeding myself to the hilt! This morning I had been talking to my brother and Bidisha! I may be travelling to Kolkata sometime in March for a month, we were discussing the logistics! T won't be going with me, he told we should travel to Kolkata separately! I do not know why he said! It would be three years in July I did not visit! I wanted to go when I could freely meet people, go to the fish market, buy sari, salwar suits, eat out! I cannot go there and stay in captivation, I need to soak in the essence of Kolkata! Okay, once I was out today, the mom-in-law called wanting the recipe of chilli chicken. Few months back too she wanted! I know she would not cook it, she needs a help to take her to the toilet. Her / their daughter can get them anytime, these days they fear eatingoutside food! Off course, I would cook and take for them! The first thing to be done is cleaning my home, some minor repairs are also to be done!

WHAT IS THIS CHAI MASALA MISHTI DOI?

I have become a pro about setting plain curd; I can take that pride! I also have two sweet curd / mishti doi recipes in the blog, yet would not be successful every time. Yesterday, all of a sudden I remember, may be the mother or someone else told me long back that sweet yogurt requires fresh, more amount of plain yogurt to get set! I think it was the mother who said, she too rarely did mishti doi. CHAI MASALA FLAVOURED MISHTI DOI  is just a flavoured version of the original Bengali dessert. In this gluten-free, vegetarian mishti doi dessert, I have added the flavours of green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves that I usually use to prepare spiced tea / masala chai for me! As of now, I am having popcorn & kopi halia kosong / ginger coffee without sugar & milk; listening to an old favourite, "tumse milkar na janey kyun, aur bhi kuch yaad aata hai"! Seriously, with the death of Lata Mangeshkar & Bapi Lahiri; I am more hitched back to my teens; I had always been a bathroom singer! Padmini Kolhapuri had such a plain face but I found her sweet; not really a fan of Mithun, Sabbir Kumar as an actor, singer respectively, both gave super hits to Bollywood though!

Between 3 pm and 7 pm, I ate three times. Tonight, I need some rice with dal, egg curry, salad!

INGREDIENTS : 

FULL CREAM MILK : 1 LITRE

MILK POWDER : 2-3 TBSP

PLAIN YOGURT : 100 ML

SUGAR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP [CHOOSE AS PER YOUR PREFERENCE]

GREEN CARDAMOM : 3-4

CLOVE : 4-5

CINNAMON STICK : 2-3 ONE INCH STICK

PROCEDURE :

We have taken the milk in a deep bottomed vessel and put for boil! We have added the milk powder to half a medium cup of lukewarm water and mixed well. We have crushed the whole spices a bit!

Once the milk has boiled for sometime, we would add the milk powder mixed with water, the crushed whole spices to the milk and give a stir. We would keep stirring often to avoid burning at the bottom!

After taking down the milk, we would put the sugar in a sauce pan, put on the gas top. I usually sprinkle some water, though Cristine warned caramel does not require it! I am not good at caramel making!

Once the caramel is done, we would pour it into the milk and stir. Boiling a bit, the caramel would melt, get a nice brown colour to the milk.

Thereafter, we would strain the milk and take it in another bowl.

We would beat about 100 ml of plain yogurt and add it to the milk, mix well with a manual hand beater!

We would then pour the milk to another bowl for setting! We would cover it! We would again place a big bowl on it that can cover the pot!

Finally, we would wrap the entire thing with a thick towel. We would leave it in a warm place for 8-10 hours!

We are done! We need to refrigerate it for few hours before serving! 

Enjoy the dessert together with your loved ones!

GREEN TOMATO DAL

DAL / LENTIL CURRY BECAME A PART OF MY DAILY LIFE SINCE I STARTED TO HAVE SOLID FOOD!

Social Media wasn't there in those days, neither the tagline "Dal, the ultimate Comfort Food"! Socialisation in those days meant cooking a special dish in bulk, distribute it to the neighbourhood homes, the neighbourhood women chitchatting in the evening for sometime. I remember a seasonal dal, "Garui er Dal" would come from our landlord's home. Though we are "Bangals", this did not happen in our family! The relationship with the landlady was really good, with the family too. They got scared when we  did not vacate after over a decade! At this juncture in life, I feel it was our parent's fault forcefully staying there for 19 years! Anyway, coming to Dal, it was a part of life. It may not be that all the Bengali Homes cooked dal every day, the maximum of them did! Our family definitely did. T's mother did not, going out for chat sessions or calling in friends would have got delayed else. She did a lot for people is true. Her daughter is more like our family; after office she would be at home and devote her time entirely up-keeping her household. In fact, both of her boy & girl have known the value of money, keeps away from unnecessary talks; unlike her! But she hardly used to cook eversince I entered their home. There was a whole timer, young girl who would cook daily, she would cook dal because some of us needed it. I was learning to cook then and refused to cook unless I was given full freedom in the kitchen; which mother-in-laws hardly can! Yes, my brother's wife stays with our mother but our mother is super active until the afternoon. After her late lunch, she would switch on the television and sleep, wake, again sleep until the dinner time! Moreover, my brother's wife stays mostly with her ailing parents, she need not have to do much for our mother; who by God's Grace manages everything well! The lady was saying she too needs dal every day! Right, I remember now! Twenty Three years I am out of that home, I cannot remember the nitty gritty! Since the brother's marriage, I have taken a stand I would not interfere much in that home's affairs!

HOW DO I ENJOY MY DAL?

I love dal, consider it the best of all soups one can have. We are that section of the Bengalis who enjoy their lentil curries a bit soupy if having with rice! Many a times, I had it with roti too! Once the son turned a year old, I depended more on a home cooked dal and rice for him instead of Cerelac; I have mentioned this several times. It was also easy for me to feed the unwilling son a semi liquid rice-dal-vegetables mash! I have seen other mothers not adding salt, spices, chillies to baby food until a ripe age. My son got used to regular food since age three; he ate what we ate! It was surprising, on his recent visit he was wanting rice, dal, a meat or fish that is deboned! More surprising was that he served himself eggs this time. He was not fond of eggs as his father! Does it mean he is not eating enough, or rationing food or getting bored of the food variety available? You would not get an answer from my son! This mother sits quiet in sorrow but does not stop eating! What else to do in life? Yesterday for lunch we had Bengali meal; dinner was "porota o aloo potol er dalna".

Since this morning, I was restless! There came a mechanic too, the clock struck 2 pm, I felt I must go for a swim. Too hungry I was, had few ribbon twists! This is where I go wrong, unable to resist! Around 4 pm, I had the above lunch! Now Cristine went to get either chicken or veg pies for both of us to have with our hot beverages. I would have Kopi Halia Kosong / Ginger Coffee without sugar & milk! For dinner? Luchi & Lobia Curry; the latter was cooked last to last Saturday, would get spoilt! We need to finish the cooked food before cooking some soups!

WHAT IS THIS GREEN TOMATO DAL?

The truth is we may not be eating green tomato for generations. Whilst our stay in DumDum, one day the mother got some unripe tomatoes, cooked with posto / poppy seed paste! She heard about it from someone else. She would get it rarely, I do not remember if she cooked a lentil curry with it or not. But with the onset of spring, bitter dal / lentil curries were made and with the start of summer, sour dal. Sour lentil curries and fish curries were done regular in our family! Like in February, "topa kul er dal" was made, I vividly remember! It is lentil with the unripe, sour jujube! I crave to get those almost extinct recipes to the blog but I need to get the ingredients in hand, why not cook a lentil curry, a soupy vegan, gluten-free one with unripe tomatoes? Here we go with a tasty, vegetarian, dal recipe GREEN TOMATO DAL! I would suggest the mother to do it with matar dal / split pea dal, wish I could courier a bowlful for the son! T eats dal if served with pakora or with flat or puffed breads! His issue is either he would have fish-meat-egg curry & dal, pakora or a non-veg curry and a mochar ghonto or echorer dalna! You cannot feed him all of them. His father too likes dal; our father is no more with us, loved sour dal or North Indian Dals with breads. Let us proceed with the easy recipe, Cristine too got potato patty for us! I do not feel motivated enough to slim down! I remember our visit to Rajasthan & a bit of Gujarat in 1996 with the parents and their friends! I and the mother ate so much of a tiny variety of jujube, she called "shey kul" with chilli-salt that we were caught up with stomach ailments! Do not know if bhai remembers it or not! Its age that is taking me back to the incidents not considered important earlier!

I am happy that T does not bother me much, I cannot stand over bearing people. Perhaps, the son finds me a bit over bearing! Let the life flow, isko pakar ke mat rakkha karo!

INGREDIENTS :

SPLIT PEA LENTIL / MATAR DAL : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

GREEN UNRIPE TOMATO : 2 STANDARD SIZED

DRY RED CHILLI : 2 HALVED

GREEN CHILLI : 3-4 SLITTED

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1 TSP

BAY LEAF : 1

BLACK MUSTARD SEED : 1/4 TSP

MUSTARD OIL  OR PLAIN OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE : 

If we can wash & soak the matar dal in hot water for 2-3 hours and boil in a deep bottomed vessel over slow flame, the taste of the lentil curry would be way better! But I pressure cooked to boil the dal.

I think I do not know the proper use of a pressure cooker, I mean I cannot work without the valve. I think that matters a lot. Here is what I did!

I washed the lentils 2-3 times, took in the pressure cooker and added about 3-4 coffee mugs of water to it. To that, I added a bit of salt and turmeric.

I gave a stir, closed tight the lid, pressure cooked at minimal heat up to 2 whistles!

I let the lid open by itself, used a stirrer to mash the boiled dal!

I heated the wok, tempered it with the mustard seeds, halved dry red chillies and a bay leaf!

I added the boiled dal to it. I added 2 coffee mugs of water to the pressure cooker bowl, and then added it to the wok.

While the dal was cooking, I washed, cut each tomato into 4 pieces, slitted and washed the green chillies too!

I added them to the boiling dal and increased the heat from low to the medium.

Once the tomato pieces are half melt, we would add the sugar & adjust the salt!

Enjoy it warm with rice or roti! Get some fries and a non-veg curry! 

BENGALI PYAZI

 

"MURI AND TELEBHAJA" IS THE MOST POPULAR AMONG THE BENGALI EVENING TIME SNACKS!

Surprising enough, our parents who were deadly against letting us have street food; did get Telebhaja / fries and fritters on a regular basis; I mean weekly once or fortnightly! In those days, for a maximum of Bengali Homes; puffed rice with fries and fritters from the neighbourhood shops had been the evening time ritual. Whilst in our home, we were feed chana / homemade soft paneer, muri; also roshogolla with muri or ruti; worst had been a glass of milk or complan added to it, marie or cream cracker biscuit with homemade jam on top! Biscuits were a pleasure but milk? Nah! Actually, back from the school, I would have rice; later during the college days; the practice was forcefully stopped due to my obesity! Once in college and with quite a few tuitions in hand; I could exercise some liberty of having outside food! I did get freedom from the parents, not Bhai! On days when I headed back home an hour or two late; post 6 pm, I would get Telebhaja! We enjoyed them sitting together! Our mother was fond of "fuluri", till date I dislike it! On days she got us maggi or pastry cakes in the evenings or made porota for us, she would get fuluri for herself. I would still insist the father loved his "muri-kola ba aam-dudh" the most in the evenings! These days, the mother hardly wants outside food!

KOLKATA & TELEBHAJA!

They are intertwined! The older part of Kolkata [North Kolkata], it's suburbs would have a fries and fritter shop every three hundred metres! Only the condominium localities, new developments for the past two decades would not have them. They would not have anything that are specific of Kolkata, those that defines Kolkata! Actually, those who buy flats in the secluded areas, want to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the city life! We were like, wished to upgrade us to stay in a decent condominium, did not really want to get totally aloof from the Kolkata life! Few would understand why I wish to stay in a condominium near to the Baguiati and Nagerbazaar! From our place to Baguiati Bazaar it takes to get a decent Telebhaja, do not know what exactly is the scenario now, if Tegharia opened up new shops or not! Feeling a bit homesick these days; just scared of a fate like Bappi Lahiri, Lata Mangeshkar or Sandhya Mukherjee! Did not they get their boosters? Okay! The two veteran ladies were ninety up but Bappi Lahiri and I, both have got comorbidities and the over weight issue! Yet, I had that lemon cream biscuits on my walk today; back home the cooker made rice & malka masur dal, pointed gourd & chilli pakora!

Cristine made them, she adds more of gram flour & less of rice flour like the rest of the India. They tasted good but softens quickly! I mostly make the fries and fritters we eat and blog about ; all of us love, the son and I love the most! I already have a related recipe PAKORA / TELEBHAJA / FRIES N FRITTERS existing in the Blog! I just need to update the pictures. Besides, I have a good number of fried snacks recipes in the blog; from BENGALI BEGUNI to PUI PATAR BORA !

WHAT IS THIS BENGALI PYAZI?

It is one of the most common and popular fritter in Bengal; some other states of India also have it! The taste and the ingredients of this BENGALI PYAZI would slightly differ! The main ingredient of this batter fried onions would be same everywhere! The star ingredient of this vegan & gluten-free fritter / snack is Onion; bigger in size, fresh! There is no artistry shaping them and frying; we need patience to fry them continuously adjusting the temperature! I keep myself occupied with cooking, exercise a bit of humour even if I am not in the mood or habit; we have to live well as long as we are here on this earth! My loner self finds a good friend in music, of my choice of genre!

INGREDIENTS :

SLICED ONION : 2 COFFEE MUG

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1 TBSP

GRAM FLOUR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

RICE FLOUR : 1/2 MEDIUM TEA CUP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4 TSP

SUGAR : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

NIGELLA SEED / KALO JEEREY : 1/2 TSP

OIL : ENOUGH TO DEEP FRY

WATER : AS REQUIRED

METHOD :

We would have the sliced onion & chopped green chillies washed & ready! I did add some chopped spring onions; home grown!

 

We should prepare a batter but I make things easier for myself, for you too!

We would add the rest of the ingredients except for the water & oil!

We would fold in the ingredients, and add water little by little to prepare a paste like consistency!

We then would heat a good amount of oil, not to the smoking point!

We would take the battered onion mix on our palm and flatten a bit; gently would add to the oil!

We would cook both sides well at low heat, in batches!

When they turn golden brown, we would take them out!

We would rest them on a tissue paper for sometime and serve hot with a choice of sauce / chutney!

VEGGIES & RICE STIR FRY

I KEEP RICE AND BREAD AS THE PRIMARY FOOD ITEMS ON OUR DINING TABLE!

I am an overweight person; many of our age have quit carbohydrates altogether or eat carb in moderation! I feel lack of energy without my share of carb. Few years back, I did away with rice, roti, noodle, luchi, porota five days a week. This went on for 2-3 years! One day, I felt I am unhappy! I questioned myself if I am really that concerned about my health that I am set to make this sacrifice or I am trying to please some one? That I am trying to look good in someone's eyes! I strongly felt I am stooping too low to woo people to take interest in me!This wasn't me ever who would want to falsely impress people. Wasn't I always firm on my belief that one has to know and love my true self enough to be with me! I cannot be the one to falsely persuade anyone to be in their good book! People need to know the real me, accept me the way I am or quit! Departures are heart wrenching but truthfulness gets us peace! So, I eat if I crave for something!I have no burden of making me look good, I did not take this pressure on me even at a young age! Okay, I do have the sorrow of not fitting into the fashionable dresses or having the right height! Wish I had the concern for upgrading my academics and career instead!I managed to eat all these today; starting at 2pm until now!

Those are ragi flour-cornmeal pancake! The cream cheese waffle was a sin I committed!

WHAT IS THE SCENE IN THE HOME FRONT?

My blood pressure level seems gradually coming down, if not reading great. My doctor did not change any medicine, neither I lessened my food intake. We need to keep fit for our own good, not to impress! Then, if I cannot eat what I want, I feel unhappy! Last Saturday, after I cooked a lot, the man declared his gum has swollen, he wants liquid  and semi-liquid food! Last night, I discovered I can prepare amazing soup with leftover raw vegetables! Of course, it underwent a couple of steps and use of desi spice powders!Below is what we ate yesterday!

I required a little of rice in my soup, enjoyed it! Sometime later, I would capture each step and get my desi, spicy soup to my blog! The man is not wanting Bengali Food each day of the week, 365 days! May be next week I would cook Bengali Food for 2-3 days and the rest of the days we would eat low caloric food! Even soups need to be cooked for a longer period using spices in my kitchen, I would serve them with roti & grilled chicken on some day; throw in some pasta on another day while serve it with toasted bread and grilled fish on the other! Bland food cooked hurriedly with less of love cannot happen in my kitchen! Today, let me share a carb filled vegan, rice bowl! You may use a wheat free soy sauce, make it gluten-free! Today morning, the man's lunchbox had soup and the self made soft bread!

I only asked Bossy if he can have croutons in  his soup, why is he denying to have a mashed aloo-potoler dalna-daal-bhaat bowl if I am ready to mix them well? Tonight, I would cook together the fragrant rice, cooked dal, tomato, potato & potol pieces; serve it with deboned bhetki mach! The person has no interest in food; this infuriates me! If I do not get to cook, what do I do all day? Either one takes me to some other country and let me get busy knowing it; or we go back to India, so I can find a job in a small scale local school!

WHAT IS THIS VEGGIES & RICE STIR FRY?

It is near to the homely Oriental Rice I prepare at times. I usually use ginger-garlic mince, onion, chicken stock cubes in it, did not use this time!I wished to add fresh, fried cauliflower to the basmati cooked rice, ended up using few other vegetables we always have at home. VEGGIES & RICE STIR FRY is a vegan rice bowl you can cook when there is some leftover rice in the refrigerator! Carrot is always there in our home, also the green peas, corns in the freezer! In this, I used dark soy sauce, black pepper corns; it is the presence of the cauliflower in it that would make you happy! I did not wish any other ingredient to overpower the cauliflower! Let us proceed to the easy recipe! I took a week of break from blogging; I was not feeling to! Lata Mangeshkar was'nt my family but one of our icons! Some of their influence had been predominant! She outlived her life; 92 was way bit an age to go for eternal rest! She achieved everything possible in one lifetime; contributed vastly in the music industry! Since one week,  many of her songs made a comeback to me, wish I had a trained voice to record them, share them with the people! Unable to, I sing them for myself! My greatest drawback is my inability to remember the lyrics, may be because I have no pressure to learn them! I was reminiscing the past through her songs, now blogging has to renew! Music ke sang main chalti rahungi; "yeh mulaqat ek bahana hai" to "chal Chameli bagh mein mewa khilanunga"!

INGREDIENTS : 

COOKED BASMATI RICE : 3-4 COFFEE MUG

SMALL CAULIFLOWER FLORET : 11/2 COFFEE MUG

SMALL CARROT CUBE : 2-3 TBSP

SWEET CORN : 2 TBSP

GREEN PEA : 2-3 TBSP

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1 TSP

SOY SAUCE : 2 TBSP [I USED THE DARK VARIETY]

SESAME OIL : 1 TBSP

WHOLE BLACK PEPPERCORN : 1 TSP

BLACK PEPPER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 4-5 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We have cut the carrot and cauliflower as desired, washed them well. We would soak the cauliflower florets in hot water for about half an hour!

We would marinate the cauliflower, carrot, green peas, corn with a little of salt after being washed and drained!

We would heat the oil in a wok, temper it with the whole black peppercorns; add the cauliflower and carrot! We would stir cook them at low heat for 5-6 minutes!

We would add the washed green chillies, washed & marinated green peas, corns! 

We would stir cook them well at low heat for 3-4 minutes!

We would add the dark soy sauce, salt to adjust, the sesame oil, crushed black pepper!

We would increase the heat, use two ladles to fold in well everything, stir fry the rice and vegetables for 3-4 minutes!

We should serve and have it hot alongside a meat, vegetable or fish dish!