SPICY VEGETABLES AND CHICKEN SOUP

I COOKED AND DID THIS FEATURE SOME TWO YEARS BACK!

Thereafter, I kept sharing this and that, getting this spicy soup recipe to the blog wasn't happening. It is CNY celebrations approaching in this island, this share should be appropriate. Thereafter, I can get something for our Saraswati Puja. Also, I believe to prove a point, we need not insult someone sitting right beside, specially if that someone is clueless about your tricks and plans. We need not hurt people without any valid reason. If you do that, I do not take it kindly. Anyway, we can take the liberty of preparing soups as per our taste buds, I do not get the energy to. I remember, though Cristine had cut all of the vegetables, washed them and also the chicken, I found the process pretty time consuming. You may laugh at it, because you have seen me cooking way more time consuming recipes. I think about two aspects; the purpose of my blog, the motto of my life. Yet, I have deviated much from that purpose, I blog about curry puffs, breads, etc. Cake baking, making of jam & jelly were always there in the family; I am baking cakes since the end of the 80's, our mother had been making jam & jelly since the early or mid 80's. At this home, we would never get away with the Bengali Cooking, as long as I am alive. Besides, I would be cooking recipes that attract me. I learnt to cook a variety because I was bringing up our boy on whose plate I wished to serve a variety of colourful food. I think I did a fair job, our mother too did a lot of cooking for us. The only difference is that our parents did not allow us a bit of outside food, I did not   apply such restrictions in our son's life. Ever since he went to the college, no such titbits / snacks come to our home on a regular basis. Last month, when he came I did get but he wasn't having them much.

IT IS A SUNDAY EVENING, I WOULD REMAIN OCCUPIED TOMORROW EVENING!

Yes, we can have dinner dates on a Monday evening. In this island, commuting is not an issue. To sit somewhere outside of your home, after the office is not a big deal. I do not even work, neither do I have a school going child at home. I have also learnt from our mother that once the kids are back from the school, mothers should not be loitering outside. They are to sit near their studying kids. Though a friendly person with a non-stop chatting ability and a love for it, our father would come straight home from the office. Only that, on Sundays, instead of taking us out, he would go here and there to play the bridge game. Neither I, nor my brother had much of complain about it. My only complain is that he never did dream big for his children, neither worked towards it, nor guided us towards it. You have to inspire your kids to surpass you. The warm, good, honest, a man of character is no more with us! Deviating from his happy go lucky nature, I expect our son to be an achiever, also be a nice human being like his maternal grandfather, have a meticulous, skilful mind like his paternal grandfather! Breads our father did not like, do not know if he would want soup with roti had he been alive. The mother enjoys soups, so does the mother-in-law. Though the father stayed in Kolkata since his college life, he could never belong to the city, Bangladesh ruled his heart forever. Our father's side and my mother-in-law's side carry Bangladesh in their hearts! He however loved various paratha / roti / tandoori roti with meat kebabs & tarka dal. I had to leave my family behind for a better future for our son. The son too left home to explore the world, we cannot expect him be around always. He does not talk regular to us is my hurt.

WHAT IS THIS SPICY VEGETABLES AND CHICKEN SOUP?

I do enjoy chicken clear soups with a dash of crushed black pepper. On that evening, I wished to prepare a desi style soup with the regular spice powders we use in the kitchen. Of course, it suited my taste bud, the rest in the family loved it too. I want the son to prepare this and eat with toasted bread. My readers would not believe that we are not clear about his regular intakes. I had a feeling on his last visit that he does not eat much of rice and curry, for a mother who loves to cook for the family, you know it is heart breaking. I fear what years of eating out would do to his health. Anyway, this non-vegetarian, thick bowl of SPICY VEGETABLES AND CHICKEN SOUP is sure to catch your fancy if you are fond of desi curries. In a case otherwise, adjust the amount of spices.

Few other similar recipes from my Blog you may like can be these; TOMATO EGG DROP SOUP, BENGALI STYLE CHICKEN STEW, PEPE BATA DIYE PATHAR JHOL

INGREDIENTS :

SHREDDED CHICKEN : ONE COFFEE MUG

CELERY STALK : 2-3

CHOPPED LETTUCE : ONE COFFEE MUG

SLICED CARROT : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

SLICED ONION : 2-3 TBSP + 1 SMALL TEA CUP

CUBED POTATO : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

CUBED TOMATO : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

SKINLESS GARLIC CLOVE : 4-5

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/2 TSP

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

BUTTER : 1 TBSP

REFINED FLOUR : 2 TBSP [CORNFLOUR WOULD DO ALSO]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

TOMATO KETCHUP : 2-3 TBSP

OIL : 2-3 TBSP

METHOD :

It was a good idea to take vivid pictures of the steps of the making this soup. 

I had some chicken ribs lying in the freezer! I washed them well, took in a saucepan, added 2 coffee mugs of water and a little of salt. I had put the ribs for boil.

Once the chicken meat got tender, I took it down and let it cool. I had strained it to get the chicken stock.

Meanwhile, Cristine did cut and wash the vegetables, put them all in the pressure cooker; added 2 coffee mugs of water, the cumin+coriander+red chilli+turmeric powders, the ginger paste & some salt.

I pressure cooked it up to 4-5 whistles keeping the heat at the minimal. Once cool, I blended it in batches.

Listen folks, I am not in the habit of cooking soups regular, did not have the idea that the vegetables would release a lot of water. So, when you pressure cook them, add less of water.

I heated 2-3 tbsp of oil in a wok, added & fried 1 small tea cup of the onions.

I had shredded the boiled chicken and added to the wok. I had stir cooked for 3-4 minutes, added some crushed black pepper & the tomato ketchup. I stir cooked for another 1-2 minutes.

I had added the pureed vegetables to the shredded chicken stir fry and folded in well. 

Thereafter, I added the refined flour to the chicken stock, beaten well and added to the soup thats simmering. 

We would give a stir and adjust the salt only if required. I had let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes! 

Thereafter, I added the butter, gave a stir and took it down.

You may serve and have it hot with toasted bread or chapati.

UPSIDE DOWN MIXED FRUIT CAKE

 IT WAS ON THE 1st OF JANUARY I WROTE A BLOGPOST & THEN IT IS TODAY!

It may be normal for others but for me, it is not! I enjoy writing a blogpost given I have nothing much to do! Others do it as a hobby, they have their office & a home to handle! I have nothing much to do besides the cooking that is my passion! I do not like much of cleaning the utensils & mopping the floors regular! If the man takes me to the Europe or North America for a change, this unwillingness may not be an issue given the market place & the bus or train station should be a 10-12 minutes of walk! I am absolutely not fond of living in a quiet neighbourhood with houses far apart! Although I am not a mingling type, the noise around has to be there! The neighbourhood cannot feel ghostly. Cristine is more than willing to travel to the west with us but there is a huge amount of levy involved in the process! The most important part is the man wanting to take a leap, at this age it is risky to be adventurous, our child is studying and the parents have set his education as a priority! I am not a practical person, I dream like the main characters in a Yash Chopra movie without thinking of the pros & cons! We stay in one of the world's most secured nation but it is too strict about the foreigners' do's & dont's, and it is an island nation! Had I have been confident about the English language like Sharmila & Tiger Pataudi's younger daughter, my first choice of profession would have been to write & earn from it, the second choice would have been to be a teacher, the third would have been to deliver food to different homes! I insist that one should know about their passions whilst in college and go ahead with their higher studies accordingly! I did not even realise in my 20's that I love literature this much, cooking too!

I PROMISED TO MYSELF I WOULD NOT COOK ANYTHING ON SUNDAY BUT I COULD NOT KEEP MY PROMISE! 

The Tagore-Pataudi household's younger daughter may be good in English but she cannot cook at all! The thing is cooking is not considered as a high skill! It hurts and I do not care at all, I would untiringly keep cooking as long as I can! Till date, our mother cannot think of hiring a cook, neither she likes anyone cutting the vegetables! She has no qualms about cooking meals, though my brother & Bidisha asked her to keep a cook! She gets angry when Bhai most of the days would order food from outside without informing her! I have suggested her to cook recipes like chicken or mutton, fish curries of their choice, rajma, chana, kofta, dal, greens stir fry, bhartas instead of too rustic Bengali veggies, she would not listen! I too cannot stop cooking authentic Bengali vegetables, I am happy the man wouldn't say no to the maximum, neither the son! Because the duo do not trouble me much, I would respect their food choices! They have listened to me when I told beef & pork would not enter this home! Only that last month the son told he wants me to cook "beef biryani", when I told that cannot happen, he told he would smear beef on my face! That is a young blood speaking who enjoys making fun of and irritating his mumma! Our son loves his "dimma & thamma", his grandmothers! The man has reached an age wherein he would not get into arguments in all matters! In the son's absence, we sit together on a lonelier Sunday to watch a movie, series with a bowlful of "jhal muri"! I would however call it "chanachur-badam muri" because the two important ingredients, cucumber & coconut slices are missing! I like boiled potatoes in it but it's addition kills the crispiness of the puffed rice!

Yesterday, for dinner I made those "ragi-maida" flatbreads and had with self-made mixed-vegetable pickle & Bengali cabbage sabzi! Though the man does not believe in having millets, he ate; just made a little fun of millets in denial of their benefits! I love millet made roti!

I finally managed a sour jujube pickle sitting far off from Bengal. Off course, I would blog about it! I am thankful to the Rajdhani Stores for getting me the sour variety; the sweet jujube / narkeli kul is easily available in the season!

The sight of a jujube takes me to the maternal grandparent's home in Krishnanagar, Nadia, WestBengal! There had a big Jujube tree in their courtyard that bore both the varieties, the sour & sweet! I do not know about the Botanics involved in it! Our life is like that; a mix of sweet & sour experiences, be careful about the amount of spices you add to it!

WHAT IS THIS UPSIDE DOWN MIXED FRUIT CAKE?

I always give a shoutout about a refined flour cake! When it comes to baking one, I end up with a vegan & gluten-free one! May be I want to serve a slice on each one of your plates; after all it is the celebration time in both sides of the family! I would call this UPSIDE DOWN MIXED FRUIT CAKE a dessert in fact! On tasting it, I felt a scoop of ice-cream atop a slice would have suited the best! I skipped the ice-cream part as I had a bowlful of "sabudana khichdi" too for my first meal on a Monday! I love my carb intakes and cannot change my food pattern & bowls totally! I can get some moderations! After an 18 hours of fasting, I cannot think of having a small bowl of oats porridge, a bowl of fruits and then eagerly wait for a vegetables & chicken soup for the dinner with toasts! I must show off my cooking skills, I must get to live happily which includes eating merrily! I named it a mixed fruit cake because besides the apple, banana & orange play an important role in this vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian cake! I am done with the first meal of the day, it was the Maharashtra style "Shabudana Khichdi" and the cake I am blogging about today! Full of starch or carb, I like the Marathi tiffin and a "Marathi Manus" would do it the best! 

Few other cake & snack recipes you may try from my blog can be these; VEGETARIAN GLASS CAKE, BANANA FRITTER, DRY FRUITS AND READYMADE FLOUR IDLI, SEMOLINA VEGETABLES FINGER

INGREDIENTS :

APPLE : 1 BIG SIZED

BANANA : 1 BIG SIZED

ORANGE : 1 BIG SIZED

OATS : 1/2 COFFEE MUG + 2 TBSP

RICE FLOUR : 1/4 COFFEE MUG

CORN FLOUR : 2 TBSP

BAKING POWDER : 1/3 TSP

BAKING SODA : 1/4 TSP

SUGAR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP [I USED BROWN SUGAR]

OIL : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

ORANGE PEEL : OF ONE ORANGE [PLEASE CHECK IF IT BITTER OR NOT, ALTERNATIVELY USE 1 TSP VANILLA ESSENCE]

I have seen themodernnonna.com website owner to blend the orange peel together with the other ingredients, but the bitter peel varieties would not work!

METHOD :

I took the oats, rice flour, corn flour, baking soda & baking powder in a blender; got a powder of them!

Thereafter, I added the oil, brown sugar, banana, orange segments to the blender and blended to a paste!

At this point, I kept aside the vanilla essence & tasted a bit of the orange peel! It did not feel bitter and I blended together the peel to get a fine paste!

To make the process easier for me, I used an aluminium foiled cake tin!

I did not even peel the apple but we should! Cristine sliced the apple as thin possible, it could be thinner but we are unable to! 

I washed the apple slices again & added some brown sugar to them, mixed well! Cristine arranged them at the bottom of the foiled cake tin! She added the batter and levelled it!

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven. I had placed the low wired stool inside and preheated it at 160*C.

I had placed the batter filled cake tin atop the stool and baked the cake at 160*C for 20 minutes!

Every machine's baking time may vary, you have be careful!

I had to use a smaller cake tin, but the cake was moist & tasty, that makes me happy!

DUDH CHITOI PITHA

 AN AUTHENTIC BENGALI WINTER TREAT!

These recipes take me to my childhood, precisely to our maternal grandmother's courtyard! I speak less of the paternal grandparents only because they lived far off, in Assam! There too the cooking scenario was the same, only that I did not witness it! Actually, the paternal grandmother never used to cook or do the household chores! I have heard, back in Bangladesh, the paternal grandfather had a flourishing business, they always had a couple of helps to do the cooking, cleaning, gardening! Whatever, our paternal grandparents had a golden heart, our maternal grandmother had golden hands! Ask me what she could not do? She would cook, she had an Usha sewing machine which she would use to stitch in most of the afternoon after a small nap! Again her evening started with tea making, evening prayer, a brief communicative session standing at their gate! These days, it seems to me it was just yesterday! One thing the grandmother was relieved of was cleaning the beds, dusting; that was always done by our youngest maternal aunt! I have learnt to do the same from her, our mother never had to look into that area until my marriage! What I did not do at all at the parent's home was cooking! Then gradually I felt the urge to cook & wanted full freedom to run my kitchen & home my way! I think I do it pretty well!

WHICHEVER WAY YOU SPEND IT, 1st JANUARY IS INDEED A SPECIAL DAY!

This year, the son is home, the happiness is doubled! I wish he could stay month long with us! I am a bit off about the fact that he would leave too soon! Yet, we enjoyed the 31st night over a quiet dinner at the Swiss'otel's Steakhouse! I do not eat steak, I had bread, olives, cheese stuffed red pepper, olives, artichoke, creamy Rigatoni with mushrooms! I have clicked the food, will do a public post with those sooner! It was the son's choice, he doesn't demand too often; else I am not the kind to visit too expensive food hunts! But, you should take care of your kids' wishes as per your ability, such wishes vanish with time, cater to those wishes in time! Your kids should not feel unattended! This morning, I went to the Ramakrishna Mission, it's Kalpataru Utsav there! All the followers of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Sarada Maa Order would go to their nearest RKM on this day! After the devotional songs, chanting, pranam; I had breakfast there before walking back home!

Here the sun rises at 7am, see the enthusiasm in the old man! I reached a bit late! That tall, thin young man is a Sindhi boy who volunteers at the temple! About today's food at the temple & yesterday's at the steak house, I would make two separate posts in public view! I cannot share prasadam together with ham & beef steak! Let me give you a glimpse of the cocktails & the complementary onion bread!

I would discuss in details in a different post with our picture together; we could manage the son's consent for one!

WHAT IS THIS DUDH CHITOI PITHA?

This is the 1st January Morning, our Poush Mash too & Kalpataru Utsav! Poush Mash calls for a variety of "pithe-puli" among us; they are sweet & savoury pancake & dumpling varieties, steamed or fried, even dunked in sweetened & thickened milk! Chitoi Pitha is a salty rice flour based pancake, when we dunk this pancakes in thickened sweetened milk, it becomes a vegetarian, gluten-free Bengali dessert, DUDH CHITOI PITHA! It is too much of a traditional recipe among us and as I say, it brings back a lot of childhood memories! Today, I would want to wrap up the post sooner, not in the mental frame to engage here, the reason I would divulge later! Anyway, for this recipe we need few ingredients like shredded coconut, rice grain, a bit of salt, milk, date palm jaggery specifically in our case! But you can use sugar or brown sugar or normal sugarcane or coconut jaggery instead! I guess only Bengalis use date palm jaggery during the winter months, it's heaven to me & I store it in the refrigerator!

INGREDIENTS :

Gobinda Bhog / Chini Gura / Kali Jeera Rice : 1 coffee mug [we get this variety in the Bangladeshi stores] [ I have used Idli Rice variety] [our families use atap chal / rice grain]
Shredded Coconut : 1 small tea cup [optional]
Oil : 2tbsp
Salt : 1/3tsp
Baking POWDER : 1/2 tsp [authentically not used]

BAKING SODA : A PINCH OR TWO [authentically not used]
Water : As Required for a paste like consistency

MILK : 1 Litre

Date Palm Jaggery : 150-200 GM

Sugar : 2 TBSP

METHOD :

Let us prepare the Rice Pancakes at first! 

Wash and soak the rice overnight. Next Morning, drain the water and transfer the rice to a grinder, add the shredded coconut too.

Add some water and grind to a fine paste. Do the grinding part pausing in between and do not add water all at a time!

Pour the batter into a large bowl.... Add a little of water if only required! Add the salt & mix well, use a hand beater!

Add the  baking powder & soda, the family veterans never use. Beat again well! The batter wouldn't be too thick or watery! Mix well again the entire content.

Heat a cast iron or non stick round, small wok on the gas oven very well.  Brush the centre of the wok with a bit of oil! Take a round shaped spoonful of batter and pour gently at the centre of the wok.

Do not do anything.... just cover and reduce the heat to minimum immediately.

It took me about 1 minute for each to fluff up. They say the more we beat the batter, the fluffier the cakes become!

Gently take out, the bottom will be little burnt..... while the centre will be fluffy! 

I usually cut each rice pancakes into four pieces! I do melt the date palm jaggery adding a bit of water & let it cool!

Then I boil a litre of milk until thick, stirring every 2-3 minutes & add the sugar & rice cake pieces! 

I would boil for 2-3 minutes more & then I switch off the gas stove & add the jaggery, else the milk may curdle!

We either eat the dessert warm or cool, refrigerate & eat next day at normal room temperature! Many among us enjoy it stale!