MOTOR DAL BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA

I COOKED THIS RECIPE TWICE IN A SHORT SPAN!

I do that if ain't I am happy with the outcome of the first. This morning I cooked it again and wanted to present the platter as this. Coming Saturday there is a birthday celebration back home  and certain things need not be talked about in public. There early morning, I cooked those chapatis to do the photo feature, I am yet to have what was supposed to be my lunch! After the cooking and photo feature, there comes arranging and editing the pictures! Usually, we would eat chapati "garmagaram" fresh from the pan, unfortunately I am unable to eat the breakfast! The man is travelling since last night; this time on a leisure trip! You can guess where to! Around 1:10pm, I went for a walk and did the mistake of buying a peanut butter stuffed waffle, located  across the road of our back gate! I am approaching 52, I felt heavy on the stomach, kept walking while eating! I wish to have the roti meal around 5-6 pm with tea or coffee, my dinner should be light! After few months I had a waffle, yet I got scared! I get scared only after having a high caloric thing! This does not help!

Too strict a diet regime would lead me to depression, what to do all day? This week there was no food order to deliver! I cannot think of going for walks and not eat something! Hence, my broad structure looks broader; it takes a lot of sweat and self control to get slimmer during the process of menopause; if one is a born obese!

I SAT WITH MY LUNCH DURING THE TEA TIME!

I enjoy such meals, homemade! Today it felt someone middle-aged should have waffle once every three months!

Two chapatis, laal shaak, dhonepata bata, kali dal meal that was. I can have roti-prata with anything! I remember, I was too fond of fish since childhood & some days, I would have "ruti-mach er jhol" for dinner, even "dudh-ruti" or "dudh bhaat" & "mach er jhol" on the side. The idea was not to give up my share of fish at any cost! There was a lot of happiness in a two roomed rented flat, there is happiness in the present day rented flat too! It is my worries, tension with regards to the safety & security of my own and our dearest son that kills me. Even if my brother drives to somewhere for an overnight stay, I get tension until he is back to the Barrackpore home. Our mother is strong mentally given the way she handled our family, her physical fitness is exemplary too! I come no where near! Even with a Cristine at home, I feel lonely, worrisome; not unhappy I believe!

WHAT IS THIS MOTOR DAL ER BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA!

I wanted a Bengali share today. Okay, I could have shared a cake or a soup, even a sweet bun, a bhature and aloo matar combo! Tandoori Roti would have been best but I am not good at it, also a tandoori roti gets hard quick! Instead, I decided on this vegan, gluten-free Bengali Curry; MOTOR DAL BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA! It is not totally a family recipe, but motor dal er borer jhol / lentil fritters curry is! I learned about this particular recipe from Gargi / Dola, she is the wife of T's friend, elder daughter of my father-in-law's childhood friend; our family friend! Last month she cooked this at a get-together; she says this is the family recipe from her in-law's side! Dola is the elder daughter-in-law of the Neogy family! I had been to both sides of her family; both her mother and mother-in-law are great cooks! For today's blogpost, I have chosen this Bengali recipe! My entire family would enjoy it! I cooked this last month, was unhappy, hence cooked it again! I felt something was missing! Yet Dola's fritters were spongier than mine! Like our mother, she did not divulge all of the secret, I felt. I think I am happier today.

INGREDIENTS :

YELLOW SPLIT PEA LENTIL / MOTOR DAL : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

POTATO : 1 

PAPOR / PAPADAM / LENTIL CRACKER : 2-3

BAKING SODA : A PINCH 

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

BAY LEAF : 1

DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3

GREEN CHILLI : 2

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 11/2 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 11/2 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP

GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/4 TSP

CINNAMON POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CLOVE POWDER : 2-3 PINCH

SUGAR : 1 TSP [I USED JAGGERY POWDER]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 4-5 TBSP 

A TBSP OF GHEE TO GARNISH IS REQUIRED, I SKIPPED TO KEEP IT A VEGAN DISH!

PROCEDURE :

We would wash and soak the dal in water and keep it covered overnight, say for 8-10 hours! 

We would drain the water and wash well quite a few times! We would take the dal and the green chillies in a blender, blend to a coarse paste! 

To get a coarse paste, we would not add water; blend for a few seconds, stop, scrape the sides, repeat 2-3 times!

We would take the lentil paste in a bowl, add a pinch of baking soda, salt, turmeric and beat well! We would peel, cut wash the potatoes, marinate with salt and turmeric.

We would heat the oil, then fry potato cubes and lentil balls at the minimal heat in batches! We would fry the papad too.

The fritters need not be fried too much, we are to put them in a curry!

Let us prepare a spice mixture with the ginger paste+ turmeric + chilli + cumin + coriander powders + salt! 

In the remaining oil, we would add the cumin seeds, bayleaf, dry red chillies! We would give a stir and add the spice paste to it! We would stir fry it 3-4 minutes at minimal heat, add the fried potatoes and stir for a minute or two!

We are to add 2 coffee mugs of water at this point and cover cook at minimal to low heat for 7-8 minutes!

We would remove the cover, add the fritters, cover cook for 3-4 minutes; remove the cover and turn over the fritters; cook for another 2-3 minutes!

Thereafter, we are to break each papad half and add to the curry,  add some sugar or jaggery, cinnamon+green cardamom+cloves powders! We would give  a stir!

We would transfer the curry to a serving bowl, enjoy it with rice or chapati! We grew up having mango, milk, sugar with rice or chapati in the entire summer season.

APPE PAN FAUX FULURI

WHAT STANDS IN BETWEEN ME AND A HEALTHY DIET?

May be my brother got bulkier but he does not overeat like me! His reason of getting fatter is something else; he sits all day while at work! He eats less but unhealthy food, a picky eater who hates steamed rice! The volume of food I consume in a day is huge, I am unable to put a control. Yesterday, I planned to cook and blog about this less guilt fries today. Accordingly, I soaked some cooked rice in water last night, to have it with the gram flour pakoras for my lunch!"Panta Bhaat" cannot be eaten measured, I at least eat it in big amount.  I also had a sandesh after the meal! And before the meal? I was on my walk when I had a "Kopi-O-Kosong & Papor Bhaja"; a pack of it I bought from a known Aunty's shop, located the other side of the station. There we stayed for two years once we landed here! The mall was under construction then, these shops did good business!

You know what? Making a "panta bhaat" from Basmati Rice is kind of an insult to those who survive on it! But seriously, I do not have space in my kitchen to store few varieties of rice! In fact, I prefer Ponni rice or Sona Masuri with Bengali Food instead of a Basmati Rice! 

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY YESTERDAY!

Ever since the son went off, our Sundays seem dull! Two of us middle-aged people sit all day and the television keeps on going! I do not call home anyone or do a food delivery because it is Cristine's off day! Yesterday, we had guests for lunch! I thoroughly enjoyed cooking for them, also the chitchat! Not that we rubb shoulders with them often, yet there is a peculiar feeling that had they been here, we would have been happier. We liked meeting each other in the Durga Puja venue or at an office gathering! That too stopped in the last two years due to the pandemic! But I am happy for them; we should be happy for others' progress! Cristine helped a lot, took a half day off too and our guests are positive minded, typical Indian "addabaj" that I never felt tired. In the first place, I call people home only when I can take proper care of them, get comfortable with them and entertain! They took an early leave; Amit and Neeti would be shifting to South America whilst their daughters would be studying in England! If we are still there in this island after few years, we would meet them again; they are citizens here, they would come back I believe! Once they left, I was squaring up and T was taking a nap! At night, we would not have the leftover party food! T had his love; "dim sheddo aloo sheddo makhon bhaat"; I had "quinoa-brown rice-dal-begun bhaja"!

WHAT IS THIS APPE PAN FAUX FULURI?

Fuluri is a Bengali road side snack! Our mother is extremely fond of it! In early April, when I was in Kolkata, Mani was staying with me and one day asked Rizia Mashi, my house help there to get her Fuluri! Mani eats it with a bowl of Muri or as it is as an evening snacks whilst Rizia Mashi's family would have it for lunch with rice! I thought of having what I call faux fuluri with fermented rice! The fun fact is that I love this APPE PAN FAUX FULURI but not the authentic fuluri sold in all the roadside "telebhajar dokan" in Kolkata! I call mine faux because I cooked them in few drops of oil in a specialised pan whilst the authentic ones are deep fried! I gifted my family an appe pan which they have not used as yet! I do not know if my brother likes it or not; I cannot remember everything from the past, also forget to ask every little thing! My brother's wife is more of a snack lover than I am, she should start using the appe pan & get my brother homebound; with regards to food! This healthier version of fuluri snack is vegan, gluten-free that uses few ingredients like gram flour, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, green chilli, baking soda! I like vegetarian snacks a lot these days, which was unbelievable a decade ago! If you want  to cook authentic fuluri at home, there are a couple of written recipes and videos existing the internet! I found Tasty Crowd's Fuluri near to the Kolkata likes in looks and texture but in Kolkata, they do not use nigella seeds, this and that in the batter, but only what I have mentioned in mine!

Above is the original picture I was happy about. But I had to change it because I wanted to try it adding Eno Fruit Salt to the batter instead of baking soda.

INGREDIENTS :

GRAM FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/4 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 2 TSP

CHOPPED CORIANDER : 2 TBSP [THE WEST BENGAL VENDORS DO NOT ADD]

ENO FRUIT SALT : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

WATER : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1/2 TSP REQUIRED FOR EACH POCKET

PROCEDURE :

We would take a coffee mug of gram flour / besan in a bowl and add to it the salt, turmeric, red chilli powders, mix well! We would add water little by little to get a paste like batter! 

We have to beat the batter for 7-8 minutes to get a smooth consistency! In a cup of water, we would throw in a bit of batter, if it comes up, the batter is ready!

We would add the washed and chopped green chillies and fresh coriander; mix well, keep covered for half an hour! 

In West Bengal, the street vendors do not add the coriander leaves, I did because I am not fond of gram flour, coriander covers the raw smell.

Thereafter, we would add the Eno Fruit Salt and mix well!

We would heat the appe pan on the stovetop and pour few drops of oil in each of the pockets! Each side would take 3-4 minutes to be done at the minimal heat!

Have it either with rice or as a snacks with tea or coffee.

MACH ER PUR BHORA POTOL

 

I DO NOT KNOW WHY EATING SOMETHING AFTER A BRISK WALK BECAME A RITUAL FOR ME!

I do this even if a lunch platter is waiting for me at home. Like today, I am out of home since the morning 10 am. I had to do some shopping, tomorrow too I would go to the Indian Market! Once done, it was 12 pm, I called Cristine at the traffic junction, handed over the trolley to her and went for a walk without my bag pack, water bottle, wet wipe tissues and my headphone. Yet I covered a good distance!

If you look at my step length and pace, it is not even a brisk walk, thereafter having French Toast with Tea was not a good thing, also it was not my lunch! On my walk, I tore some lemon leaves and the branch of a flowering plant from the roadside, not from anyone's property! This mental state of mine may seem  alarming to others, it is love for food! Food transpires happiness within me since I got to my senses! Now that I fear for the son's safety all the time and that T is busy in his job; and that I am not in the habit of partying with friends; roaming around the island and eating this and that is my favourite pastime! This exercise helps me stay off the boredom and tension! You are also silly and stupid if you expect the bread winner to ignore work and sing lullaby for you! Back home, within two hours, I had a late lunch with the sour fish curry, lentils and bitter gourd-mixed vegetables, boiled brown rice-red quinoa mix! 

I AM AGING SUPER FAST; A WRONG DIET PATTERN, INADEQUATE EXERCISE, AN UNKEMPT LETHARGIC SELF, ARE THE REASONS FOR IT!

Yet, I do not mind going public with my self or selfies, whatever! Yesterday's Pink tee & last Monday's Blue one were from Bossini bought last Friday, they are too thick & I felt sick yesterday as I walk in the day time! Cristine liked them and took! I must wear what gives me comfort! Light cotton wear gets me the ultimate comfort! 

And today, I crossed passed the Ramakrishnan Mission after few months. Its near my home, just that I was not taking that route for long! I can take that route everyday, but whats the point? I would not go inside the temple wearing sports wear while sweating, without a shower! Modernity is good, but I am old school enough to get off when years back I saw someone coordinated a tank top with a sari while visiting a temple, in Kolkata. I felt the spouse and the veterans present could have requested not to! It is not about right or wrong always, it is about the culture we grew up in, respecting it! T never interferes in my life but does not like it if I wear anything too high above my knee or way below my shoulders! It was a good day until now and things would keep me busy until Sunday which is good for me. A friendly family is leaving the island for the time being, to treat them, I would not mind a working Sunday! 

WHAT IS THIS MACH ER PUR BHORA POTOL!

Potol is Pointed Gourd. Stuffed Pointed Gourd, a Bengali delicacy that was not done often in our home. Even when it was done, what was commonly used for the stuffing was either smaller prawns or coconut and chilli-mustard paste. Although, my brother has seafood allergy, prawn has always remained a star ingredient in our mother's kitchen, also the grandmother's. In fact, the entire family branch perhaps used smaller prawns in various vegetable dishes. I say this from my memory of travels to the relatives' homes. The paternal grandparents, uncles, aunts stayed far off; yet the family recipes are same; indigenous ingredients came from Assam, even from Tripura to our home in DumDum, then to Barrackpore until few years back! About this MACH ER PUR BHORA POTOL, i.e. boneless fish stuffed pointed gourd; I heard from a co-blogger who blogs at Delicious Addiction, few years back, she told me that her family does the stuffing with Bengal Carp! For my fish chop, kofta, stuffing; I absolutely do not take the hardship to debone a rui / katla! I use the fish fillets readily available. Cooking this non-vegetarian, Bengali recipe was an impromptu decision taken on 2nd October, 2021! I was cooking MACH PATURI; fish wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on stovetop! I was to update an older blogpost! What to do with the extra cuts from the shaped fish pieces and the excess of the chilli-mustard-coconut paste? I had some extra pointed gourds after doing a delivery and made this. I totally forgot to click the stepwise pictures! Oh God! Help me get engaged with what I like, I was never a light hearted person, I get myself involved in the happenings around, over think, get heavy hearted! I feel sick specially when we as a society fail someone who needed some guidance to get back in track! We cannot badmouth anyone until one becomes murderous, does wrong! Until then, it is our fault if we have pushed someone to the edge!

Cristine is wearing a gold ring similar to mine, only that she bought it with her own earning! My brother's wife too does a lot with her own earning, and knows much of outdoor works, from banking to the medical!

INGREDIENTS :

POINTED GOURD : 5-6

BONELESS FISH FILLET : 250GM

POTATO : 1 STANDARD SIZED

CHOPPED ONION : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

MINCED GARLIC : 1 TSP

MINCED GINGER : 1/2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1/2 TSP [OPTIONAL]

LEMON JUICE : 2 TBSP

 NIGELLA SEED : 2-3 PINCH

BLACK MUSTARD SEED : 1 TBSP

SHREDDED COCONUT : 2 TBSP

GREEN CHILLI : 3-4 

OIL : 5-6 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

I had cut the Sutchi / Basa / Dory  fish fillets squared shaped for another recipe. I used the edges for this recipe!

We would peel the potato, wash & boil in water! We would boil the fish too separately!

We would soak the mustard seeds in water for an hour, drain & prepare a paste along with the green chillies, shredded coconut, a bit of salt and ice-cubes; the last two do not allow the paste get bitter!

We would peel each of the pointed gourds leaving a gap and wash. 

We would scrap the flesh and seeds with the back of a spoon or with the tip of a knife  making a hole at one end. We would wash them again! 

We are to prepare a paste of the flesh & seeds of the vegetable!

We would marinate the pointed gourd with salt and turmeric for some 15-16 minutes! 

Then we are to heat the oil in a wok and fry the pointed gourds well! We have to take them out of the wok!

We would temper the remaining oil with the nigella seeds, add the minced garlic, ginger and onion; fry until brown! 

We would add the seeds and flesh paste, the boiled, mashed potato and fish; mustard-chilli-coconut paste, salt if required, a little of sugar, stir cook at low heat for 8-10 minutes. 

We are to add the lemon juice , stir cook for a minute and take down!

Once the filling cooled; Cristine stuffed the pointed gourds with the filling! 

I prefer having it with rice without the added gravy. It would go pretty well with roti-prata! I cooked Kali Dal and  Bandhakopir Ghonto also on that day!

MANGO SEMOLINA BUTTERCUP CAKE

AN EARLY MORNING BAKE IS REJUVENATING!

What else to do? It was raining since early morning, waking up it felt I have nothing to do! In fact, last evening I planned I would not eat the mango I offered to my God family but reserve it for a cake to be made today! And so I did! Yesterday was a Sunday I felt too lonely, not remorseful though! I was stationed on my couch all day after Cristine left! I could not watch any of the OTT Platforms as they are password protected & I could not follow T's instructions in Whatsapp, also I cannot operate our television, Cristine does it for me! At this point, I missed the son! On such a day, he would switch on a channel of his choice, put the volume to the highest that mumma dislikes. Today, it feels those were the warm moments for me! Sitting alone, I am getting angry with T, he has to take me out on a travel & I only wish to visit my son's city at this time! Not that I would interfere in his home but sincerely want to set his rented flat so well that he gets everything near his hand rest of the time! Because he is an unmarried student, mumma would take the liberty! Then mumma would roam around; explore that city & come back! T's sister & her spouse travels every three to four months. Anyway, I would refuse any long travels without the son until his marriage, either I would visit him or Kolkata or just nearby spots in Malaysia! After an isolated Sunday, I went for a walk around 12:30pm today, was walking locally. The weather is not good & I have a blogpost to write! I had  a spaghetti & fried chicken plate at Jollie Bee, was disappointed with the chicken served cold. I did not realise the spaghetti has sausage meat, I avoid it. The son is too fond of sausages that I stopped getting home long before! He loves bacon too, mumma does not want him to eat all these often!

The spaghetti was good but it felt why did I have to eat such an unhealthy lunch at this age, kids going for it is okay!

WHAT IS LONELINESS, MOROSE, AGRESSIVENESS I WANTED TO KNOW!

Like all three of us in this family are loners at some point. My men are agressive but not in excessive amount. I would not have survived together with them in that case. What amount of loneliness does it take for someone to develop behavioural issues amounting to destruction, causing hurt to others! That is scary, uncalled for. Yesterday, I requested Cristine to come back a bit early by 10 pm; she came back by 8 pm and went down for some exercise. I was feeling lonely all day but it never feels like this world seems useless to live further! See how happy I look today donning one of my two new walking t-shirts bought from Bossini, each at 8:90$! They are thick textured, felt hot but the thin textured, body hugging tee exposes my defects!

I do not know how people take good selfies, I am not good at it! Only my lunch was disappointing! Yesterday, I wished to roam around in the local mall and eat Burrito, if some time could be spent among the unknown crowd. But I could not pick myself up, dress & go out! That does not mean I thought of extremes, social media is my television! I have two books to complete, not happening! I had two good meals yesterday, there is no question of skipping meals in my life!

That "patali gur" with chapati at night was the best thing! There are good reasons to continue living on this earth! Those who do not want, wish to destroy themselves & others; are sick, needing medical and mental assistance! Harming the self is one thing, wanting to harm others is an extreme level of sickness needing the matured intervention in time! These people might have faced lovelessness, poverty, negligence, torture while growing up!

WHAT IS THIS MANGO SEMOLINA BUTTERCUP CAKE?

You can see, Cristine is holding the finished product, my first ever near decent Air-fryer Cake!

I am having mango without any restrictions. Yesterday, it felt let us do a cake in the air-fryer; using mango as the star ingredient. Cristine helps me with operating the air-fryer. The rest of the arrangements are done by me! The  half used butter cup was lying in the refrigerator for how long I cannot remember, else I prefer oil. Butter is the best but I do not use it often. Only that we had to use unsalted butter & the baking time should have been 18 minutes instead of 20 minutes @ 180*C! Because this vegetarian, air-fryer baked MANGO SEMOLINA BUTTERCUP CAKE is tasting good, I felt let me share it for the average bakers as similar to me! I am having a slice with my ginger coffee & Cristine went for a walk! Okay, I would not shout at T for not taking me for travels enough; I have a Cristine; he never said no to the son's admission in an expensive university as all three of us have a common dream, and he never shouts at me with regards to what I spend when & where!

 

INGREDIENTS :

RIPE MANGO : 1 STANDARD SIZED

SEMOLINA : 1 COFFEE MUG

PLAIN YOGURT : 2-3 TBSP

JAGGERY POWDER : 4-5 TBSP [YOU CAN USE SUGAR]

UNSALTED BUTTERCUP : 100-125 GM

BAKING SODA : 1/4 TSP

BAKING POWDER : 1/3 TSP

VANILLA ESSENCE : 1 TSP

ALMONDS OR ANY DRY FRUITS TO GARNISH

PROCEDURE :

I see the buttercup's expiry date is sometime in 2023, but I do not know if we should keep it for long once open! Below are the few ingredients we are using!

The mango needs to be washed & peeled, cubed!

To the semolina, we would add the baking soda and powder, mix well!

I melted the buttercup block in the microwave! Do it at the minimal heat that would require a minute to melt!

In the blender, we would take together the mango cubes, jaggery, yogurt, melted butter cup, blend to a paste!

We would add the paste to the semolina mix, fold in well! If you use sugar, the colour would be better!

We would add the vanilla essence and mix well again! We would keep the batter covered for 20-25 minutes!

Thereafter, the batter would look as below!

I have used brown paper bowls for baking, poured the batter to the bowl! We would level the batter well and place the almonds on top!

Cristine gently placed the paper bowl into the Air-Fryer, we baked it at 180*C for 20 minutes; 18 minutes would have been perfect I felt later! 

Enjoy it with your favourite beverage; get smiles to your kids; gift them happy upbringing; we have known what unhappy childhood can do to this world! Human Brain is capable of doing anything to any extent; good or bad!