LEMON FLAVOURED MADELEINE

 THIS HOLIDAY SEASON EXPECTS ME TO LOOK BEYOND!

I have decided not to share "pithe-puli" on this day to wish the world! I am a Hindu, also had been a resident of Kolkata! The latter matters a lot, we have grown up in an environment that not only revelled during the Durga Pooja but also during the period between the Xmas Eve and New Year! On the occasion of Eid, our community members even go to the Muslim joints for rezala & roomali roti, korma & curry, hihi! This tendency of us has grown bigger with time! The tailoring shops in Kolkata remain the same busy in the month of December as they remain between July & October! In general, the Indian Bengalis are more of liberated souls as compared to other Indian States! We may give big talks, prefer to live in our past glory, be lazy but we give a lot of importance to education! That matters a lot; education & the liberty of mind! We cannot stuck in where our mothers had been, we have to evolve a bit with each passing generation & that is in no way showing disrespect to the elders!

THE SON IS HOME FOR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, WE ARE EXTRA HAPPY!

This mumma loves to cook and expects to feed the son home cooked food all day through! What I forget is that he is a full grown adult by now, too much of an independent minded & rebel self! He is going out, having few meals outside! Also, he is meeting the dentist, watching movies, buying stuffs! We know he is roaming around alone most of the time! At times, he is meeting people too, but who he is meeting he is not telling us! The man deals with the son too smartly, the son seems to be more fond of the father; not that much of me may be because he considers me nagging! I perhaps expected to control him the same way our mother exercised her control on us! That is impossible! I know every human is different from the other, yet I find it difficult to adjust with the son's weird behaviour towards me! I miss his hug, cuddles, miss all of his childhood that he gifted to me! Happiness is watching him enjoying the Luchi meal mumma made for him, for the family in fact!

Cristine made a perfect luchi dough yesterday, I got my luchis in good shape and happy, hence! I still hope the son would behave normal with me in future!

WHAT IS THIS LEMON FLAVOURED MADELEINE? 

The man & I had some Ragi Dosa with my choice of Potato Sabzi & Chilli Sauce for our lunch today! 

The son did not want lunch at home, he had Madeleine & Nolen Gurer Sandesh in the morning! Cristine went off for Xmas Celebrations only to come tomorrow night! I did enjoy my lunch even if my dosas are lame! At night, three of us would have a fish curry & rice dinner! Or do you want me to go & buy a whole, dressed chicken, roast it & have it with a quick polao I make? Okay, let me see how it goes after I finish this post! I can also shop tomorrow morning fresh from the wet market & cook for our lunch! Whatever, I chose this vegan & gluten-free baked delight LEMON FLAVOURED MADELEINE to share on the eve of Xmas! Actually, I have used only the Madeleine moulds, obviously I couldn't use a Madeleine batter as I wished for a vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free version!

INGREDIENTS :

DESICCATED COCONUT : 1 COFFEE MUG

RICE FLOUR : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

CORN FOUR : 2 TBSP

ORANGE JUICE : OF 2 ORANGES

BANANA : 1 STANDARD SIZED

LEMON ZEST : 1 TSP [I USED Bengal variety Gondhoraj Lemon]

BAKING POWDER : 1 TSP

XANTHAN GUM : 1/2 TSP

SUGAR : 5-6 TBSP [I used Brown Sugar]

OIL : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE

PROCEDURE : 

You may or may not powder the desiccated coconut, I did! I had taken the powdered desiccated coconut, rice & corn flours, baking powder & xanthan gum in a bowl & mixed together well!

I had juiced two oranges & strained it, Cristine did it for me! I added the juice to the flour mix!

I had washed, peeled, mashed & added the banana to the flour mix! I had blend together the brown sugar & oil & added to the flour mix!

I had added the lemon zest & beaten together the mixture for about 7-8 minutes with a hand beater!

We have to keep the batter at rest for 15-20 minutes, it has rice flour! 

Cristine brushed the shell shaped depressions in the Madeleine tray with a bit of oil! 

Meanwhile, I preheated the oven at 160*C, keeping the low height wired stand inside! Mine is a convection mode microwave oven!

I had baked the Madeleines for 15 minutes at 160*C! Temperatures may vary in your machine, be careful!

Enjoy them with Tea or Coffee!

VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE BAKED TIKIA

AFTER A PRETTY LONG TIME I AM WRITING A BLOGPOST THIS LATE!

I was preferring to write maximum of a blogpost in the daytime & then go for a swim or walk; come back, take shower, eat & then sit to finish off the remaining part of the blogpost! Today morning, I went to the Potong Pasir Shiva-Durga temple! Southern Indian temples have a variety of Gods & Goddesses; in this one the names are written, I would sincerely read! Today is too special a day, ever since the son left home & mumma lost the purpose to cook a lot on this day, she visits this temple near the Potong Pasir Mrt. 

Before the pandemic, they had a food counter in the adjunct hall, it closed down post pandemic! Only on Tuesday & Friday mornings, they would sell prasadam! I cross that area regular, do not make it to the temple! To me, visiting a holy place means taking shower, wear clean, pressed clothes & visit with a calmer mind! Wearing a walking dress I wouldn't enter! I am happy with today's visit, gradually learning how to offer in a non-Bengali style temple! I took good amount of fruits & flowers; the priest too gave me a fruit & flowers, bhasma [the holy ash]! Whilst I was taking this picture, a family of three; a mother, father & daughter were clicking too! They requested me to click them, I gladly obliged! They are a Keralite family from Mumbai, was enquiring about this island! We had a brief chat, I was saying Dubai has more of Keralites and our island has more of Tamils! Most of the desi / Indians would have that hidden attraction for a foreign land! Although India has progressed a lot; the clean roads, good transport, the strength of dollars has it's own charm! I had the same feeling as what I saw in the Keralite family's when I stepped here as a tourist back in 2006! I made up my mind then our child should get the taste of such a life! If you do not teach your child to dream, go & get, they would tend to stay in the cocoon! I want mine to reach heights, without stressing himself, without harming others! They wished the best for the son, I wished happiness for them & their daughter! 

HELLO MUMMA, WHY ARE YOU EATING THIS SIMPLE TODAY?

Well, mumma prefers eating at Popeye's on this day! Now, we have one at the Woodleigh Mall! Today, whilst returning, I passed that area, it was 12:35-40 pm at that time, I have my first meal post 4 pm! Hence, I had a bowl of "dudh chitoi" at first! 

Maggi noodles is not stocked at this home! May be yearly once I would have! Today, I craved for it, sent Cristine to get one from the Indian goods' minimart! There was no time to cook it with baby corns, mushrooms, broccoli, beans; I asked Cristine to just serve it boiled with the masala garnish! Again after a long gap I would have it! I offered my home God family, oranges; I had a hot cup of orange tea!

I liked that tea! There are a lot of food in the refrigerator, yet this mumma got two ripe avocados for 2$ today, she fell for guacamole after having it in the United States! But what is her plan today? That is to prepare avocado bharta! If I like it, I would share the experience with my readers! These days, I prefer my choice of vegetarian dishes, bhartas with my rice & roti! 

WHAT IS THIS VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE BAKED TIKIA?

I ate wrong today but last night's meal was decent & healthy! Yesterday, I got exhausted all day trying my hands on croissant making! The outcome was good but was not worthy to get a place in the blog! I did not wish to get to the blog a homely Bengali / desi recipe, today deserves some share that the maximum in this world can have! I am inclusive, specially on a day like today! An idea popped up & I ended up baking this vegetarian delight, VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE BAKED TIKIA! I have used healthy ingredients in it like desiccated coconut, carrots, a little of potato, dry fruits, onion & green chillies, a bit of oil & salt, dry mango powder and thats it! 

Simultaneously, I made this mixed veg achar with the available ingredients in my kitchen! There is not enough sunlight in this season here, all my Boris / the Black Gram Lentils paste balls got spoilt! Try this snack that uses only a tbsp of oil in the making, you will only be happy! 

Few other snacks, fries & fritters recipes from my Blog are these : PAN COOKED ALOO BEET GAJOR ER FRITTER, BENGALI BEGUNI, PAKORA / TELEBHAJA / FRIES & FRITTERS, PYAZ NOODLES PAKORA

INGREDIENTS :

MINCED CARROT : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

MINCED ONION : 2 TBSP

MINCED GREEN CHILLI : 2

CHOPPED FRESH CORIANDER : 2 TBSP

BOILED POTATO : 1

DESICCATED COCONUT : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

CASHEW NUT : 7-8

WALNUT : 7-8

RAISIN : 10-12

SALT : AS REQUIRED

DRY MANGO POWDER : 1 TSP

OIL : 1 TBSP + A LITTLE TO BRUSH

PROCEDURE : 

Peel, wash the carrot & onion; wash the green chillies too! Mince them together in a hand mincer! Be careful, I have got a deep cut on my right thumb in the blade!

Chop the coriander discarding the root ends, wash! Use the mincer to chop the walnuts, cashew nuts, raisins!

Take together everything in a big bowl! Add the boiled potato, salt, oil & dry mango powder! Mix everything well!

Add the desiccated coconut and mix well again! Shape into tikia of your choice!

Grease an oven proof plate with a little of oil and place the tikias on it! 

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven! I had placed the low height wired stool inside, preheated at 180*C! 

I had placed the plate with uncooked tikias & baked at 180*C for 10-12 minutes! 

I took out the plate, turned them over & brushed some oil!

I placed them back atop the wired stool, baked at 180*C for another 5-6 minutes!

Remember, the cooking time may vary in different machines!

Our vegan & gluten-free, extremely tasty snacks are ready to be served with a choice of sauce or chutney!

LIGHTLY SWEET FRIED SNACK

EVEN IN LONELINESS, I KEEP MYSELF HAPPY & RELATIVELY ACTIVE!

I am thankful to "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo"! A long time friend Pampa prescribed me to chant it everyday few years back & since then things improved! The heart remains lighter, I manage to engage myself in some project of interest whenever I feel a bit boring! However, that mental disease of fearing for the life of my own would never go! I do not go for treatments, neither I, nor the man believe in gulping sedatives! Moreover, with your only child living far off, you cannot live in peace, not in case of my kinds! To top it, the man would drive 5-6 hours to the neighbouring country alone, ever since his Australian colleague left their company! These are normal things to happen in life, you cannot stop people living, the man has to go to work to feed us, the son had to go out of the mother's lap to fulfil the parents' wishes & his own! To worry about "what's going to happen" is not a normal behaviour but I have made peace with it, not to leave me! It is also true, I can switch anytime to "Dil to dil hain dil ka kya hain, Jispe aya uspe aya, Dil ki ate dil hi Jane, Dil hi samjhe dil ki Maya, Dil ki maya puchiye to; Zara mujhko kya chahiye, Darde dil ki mujh, Bas dawa chahiye; Ibatazar ho chuki intaha chahiye, Dil to dil hai dil ka kya hain"! 

I am a huge Madhuri Dixit fan, of her smile & dancing skill; not of her fashion sense in those days or her choice of movies! 

WHAT WAS I ACTUALLY DOING YESTERDAY, ON A LONELY SUNDAY?

I could have taken to reading but could not! I was tensed until the man reached his destination! I tried to persuade the son to talk to me, that in vein! Cristine went out for her off day! I tried to watch a movie, could not concentrate! Thereafter, I felt like capturing the steps of the making of my lunch! I understand I do not make classy videos but the recipes are decent & I deserve some likes; that 7-8 views seem absurd! I was enjoying my lunch, forgot to click! I make pretty good masala chai, cannot digest! 

And those Luchis / Bengali Puffed Breads Cristine made last Saturday night! I preffered vegetarian sides whilst Cristine & her Sir had with chicken! Yesterday night, I had the chicken made using pickle oil! In the coming days, I want to have it with rice! I have invited a friend for lunch coming Friday, at this time I am planning the menu sitting with Cristine! I always would do this whenever friends & relatives are due! In fact, I would keep the refrigerator well stocked with food! I love to eat, the word food gets ripples on my mind! A bare table puts me off! I just do not believe in a lot of discussions over a glass of wine or cups of tea & coffee with barely something on the sides! That concept does not work for me!

WHAT IS THIS LIGHTLY SWEET FRIED SNACK?

I do not know if I can call this snack healthy, you can see it has been fried! Okay, the amount of oil used is less, also the flours used are oatmeal, ragi / finger millet, rice flour! We may take the liberty to call this vegan & gluten-free snack, more or less healthy! I named it LIGHTLY SWEET FRIED SNACK! Done with three varieties of gluten-free flours, banana, brown sugar, a dash of crushed black pepper; it just suited our taste buds! If you can have it fresh & warm, you get a crisp outer texture! You can store them for 2-3 days! I remember that day, it was an impromptu idea, the origin may be Thekua! Cristine was out on a work, I did not wait for her, neither this easy to make vegetarian delight requires any assistance! The stepwise pictures would echo the same I think! I could bake them brushing a bit of oil but I could not anticipate the right temperature and cooking time in the oven! I found it safer to fry them in less oil given my knowledge in the matter!

Few other snack recipes from this Blog are : BENGALI PYAZI, ONION CORIANDER CHILLI STUFFED FLATBREAD, SUJI O TIL ER MUCHMUCHE BORA

INGREDIENTS :

OATMEAL : 1 COFFEE MUG

FINGER MILLET / RAGI FLOUR : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

RICE FLOUR : 2 TBSP

BANANA : 2 STANDARD SIZED

SUGAR : 2 TBSP [I USED BROWN SUGAR]

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/2 TSP

OIL : 4-5 TBSP

WE CAN USE CHOICE OF DRY FRUITS, I FORGOT

PROCEDURE :

To get oatmeal, I powder the oats in a blender! We would take the oatmeal, finger millet flour, rice flour, crushed black pepper in a bowl & mix well!

To that we would add the washed & peeled bananas, sugar [brown sugar in my kitchen]! We would mash the bananas and mix everything!

The bananas are not enough to bring together everything to a dough! We cannot add more of bananas or a cup of water because that would leave the fried stuffs soggy! Also, we would find it difficult to shape the uncooked snacks!

What we would do is to wet our right palm and knead the dough! We will repeat wet the palm and knead until we get a firm dough but not dry!

We would tear off portions and give a shape to each with a smooth finish!

We would keep them covered for not more than 7-8 minutes, this would help the moisture to lock in!

We would heat the oil in the wok and fry both sides well, in each case! This step does not take much of time, do not burn them!

We would place them onto tissue papers before serving!

 

BENGALI BHOLA MACH CHILLI MUSTARD CURRY

THIS WAS ON MY MIND FOR LONG!

I mean I was too happy to find Bhola Bhetki / Indian Jew Fish  / Indian Croaker Fish here; not frozen but fresh! Post pandemic, the supply got too irregular! Earlier, I used to get them locally too! Post pandemic, the local wet market does not remain the same; there were three fish vendors & two big vegetables shops! Now there are only one fish vendor & one vegetables shop; that wet market's meat shops I bought from rarely! In the floor above of this permanent wet market in our area, has a smaller market from where I buy chicken & vegetables regular, some days fish too from the three fish stalls that sell local sea fish varieties mostly! One day, I have to visit the big wet market at the Hougang Avenue 1, just beside my doctor's clinic! I have to check if I get Bhola Mach, Lote Mach there, it gets closed by the time I visit my doctor! There is no point buying from the Tekka market unless you are visiting there on a Saturday or Sunday morning! Hence, you would see me shopping from the local smaller market, Rajdhani Stores, Southern Indian stores! I miss here only my choice of river fish varieties! I come across some Thai or Myanmarese profiles where I see their fish markets filled with fresh, our kind of fish varieties, tyangra, pabda, bell, aar mach, koi, puti & few more! I wonder why they are not imported fresh here, a lot of Bengalis stay here who would not want to have those frozen river fish varieties!

I HAPPILY COOK A VARIETY OF RECIPES HENCE!

We actually do not mind having a Luchi-Cholar Dal, Bhature, Lemon Rice, Homemade Chicken Burger Meals hence! I cannot source enough variety & choice of fish to cook throughout the week! It is not a healthy habit to have mutton regular, that too is either lamb or mutton with too much of fat! Seriously, I enjoy a spicy kebab made with the cheapest variety of fish fillet! Only that, deep inside, I miss a freshly made macher jhol / fish curry made with my choice of fish! I get home from pomfret to sea-bass to salmon; Cristine, her Sir & the son love them! I have decided I would not accept any unknown fish & meat at this stage in life! I know how to cook a varied number of Bengali / Desi style vegetarian recipes, the problem is I cannot turn to be a full-fledged vegetarian! My brother gets upset or not, I like smaller prawns & vegetables dishes, Bengali style! Yesterday, our lunch was spinach+potato, egg curry & faux poppy seed bakes made with white sesame seeds; all Bengali style! I managed to click our dinner, ragi+refined flour flatbread, light chicken curry, raita!

These days, I store only one variety of millet flour at a time, next I would get Bajra flour! This works well for us, we cannot live in a world of millet made kebabs to curry, neither do I wish to discard them totally! Had I have known about them two decades back, our son need not have to survive on "chirey, muri, khoi, bhaat" for some three years! I miss that extremely busy life with him, how every day we travelled 22km+22km to & fro his school, I wished for some me time in that busy schedule! Today, I crave to see him, only once in a year I get to! It feels disgusted!

WHAT IS THIS BENGALI BHOLA FISH CHILLI MUSTARD CURRY?

This wasn't amongst our family fish until one day in my teens, our mother got it home! It was a winter morning probably, because the brother & moi loved the curry made with the raw fish & fresh coriander paste! Both fresh coriander & this fish was available during the winters in those days! In the present day, those we get throughout the year! The fish comes in different shapes & colour; I love the below variety, the picture is sourced from the internet!

I do not know why it is called Indian Jew Fish, it is Bhola or Poa in Bengali which is not exactly Barramundi or Asian Sea-Bass! May be they belong to the same Croaker family & are cousins! In the pre-pandemic times, Singapore wet markets sold them fresh & that made me happy! Now a days, they are rarely seen! I just do not get at least some choice of fresh fish! I dug out these pictures from the album, a gluten-free Bengali style fish curry done with a choice of fish; BENGALI BHOLA MACH CHILLI MUSTARD CURRY! Well, I went down for a swim, back home took a shower, did the afternoon prayer & ate a huge meal!

I love noodles so much so that at times I would have it tossed in some butter, salt, crushed black pepper! Adding the peanuts did not make me happy, the family never did! The mango Swiss roll tasted heavenly, that our daughter like Wisha got us last Saturday! These days, I do not mention in public who got us what or what I take for people, it might create pressure on others, send a wrong message I do not intend to!

Few other Bengali recipes from my blog are; SUGAR FREE LUCHIR PAYESH, CHINGRI ALOO PEPER DALNA, MUSHUR DAL ER BORA, BENGALI STYLE LIGHT CHICKEN CURRY

INGREDIENTS :

BHOLA BHETKI / INDIAN JEW / INDIAN CROAKER FISH PIECE : 7-8

BLACK MUSTARD SEED : 1 TBSP

GREEN CHILLI : 5-6 [CHOOSE YOUR'S]

CHOPPED FRESH CORIANDER : 1 TBSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

KALONJI / KALOJEEREY / NIGELLA SEED : 1/4 TSP

BAYLEAF : 1

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

I like this fish's orange-red variety that is not flat shaped but the elongated ones; that tastes better to me! It definitely belong to the Croaker family!

Cut half each fish, clean the stomach! It has a lot of scales, get rid of them well! Wash well, re-check if all of the scales are gone!

Marinate the fish pieces with salt & turmeric for some 10-12 minutes!

We need to soak the mustard seeds in water for 1/2 an hour! Strain, wash and blend the mustard seeds to a paste along with some salt, ice-cubes & the green chillies!

The salt & ice-cubes do not let the paste turn bitter! Do the paste only 5 minutes before cooking, else the heat of the mustard vanishes!

Heat the oil in the wok & lightly fry the fish pieces, take out! 

Temper the same oil with the nigella seeds & a bayleaf! Add the mustard paste and stir for half a minute! Add 1&1/2 coffee mug of water & bring to a boil!

After the curry has boiled for 2-3 minutes in low heat, add the lightly fried fish pieces, cover cook for 3-4 minutes!

Add some chopped & washed coriander leaves, adjust the salt if required & take down! 

It is to be enjoyed only with plain rice!