SPICY BHUTTA STUFFED OATS SNACKER

I WAS CAUGHT UP WITH THIS AND THAT SINCE THE MORNING!

In between I managed to prepare this stuffed snack; vegan, gluten-free and air fried! I have a reason to be happy, else the MacBook charger not working all of a sudden left me crazy. I am managing with an old wire, Cristine gets these solutions. I do not disturb the man when at office unless something is serious. He does not even take the calls. I wonder why an Apple product would dysfunction in little over a year. The son did not take our call last night is a reason enough to make me sad. I do not get angry at him, visiting that city two times made me understand the situation there. He stays in a temporary, rented home with minimal stuffs, he does not get the home feel. Even in the rain or snow, he has to arrange his meals by himself. He has his studies and now a shifting. I do not know whether to stop hoping for his admission in the city's other university. He is there until August, let us see. Only last month, around this time we were with him. Mumma never would get enough of him, at least he should stay safe always, that I pray for every minute. Thousand and one times we have pleaded him to talk to us often, he sticks to his own will. Cooking and Blogging keeps me sane, also the OTT platforms. 

YESTERDAY TOO I WAS DOING SOME EXPERIMENT IN THE KITCHEN!

For long, I had been watching semolina coated fish fries doing the round in the social media. I haven't seen it ever been done within the family, not a Bengali concept either. For any experimental recipe with fish, I choose the cheapest Basa / Sutchi fillet variety that is odourless. If my attempt fails, less of the money would be wasted. The son too has learnt to compare the prices of commodities of the various stores. As tourists, we ended up paying higher prices and he kept scolding us. He was also scolding us for wearing sweaters in a weather which he was thinking to be pleasant. In mumma's head, there had one word roaming; hypothermia, all her effort to advice the son went into vein. It seems peace in life has gone for ever. We got habituated living under an umbrella, want the same for the son. I was unable to accept the bare minimality of his home, more when I saw a lampshade or a discounted bed spread set at the Target. I was wanting to buy and decor his home. I forgot he is a student; he is at one place in the present, tomorrow he would be elsewhere. Mumma just wants to make his living space look like a home. He hardly is taking any interest and then I told any girl in  his place would have set the room & kitchen area nicely. Well, we had almost oil-free semolina coated fish fry and air fried potatoes for our lunch yesterday. My question is why the top did not brown? The potatoes were just perfect, why would I even deep fry?

At night, we had rice with fish kofta, cauliflower leaf & stalk bharta, pointed gourd-potato curry and lentil curry. Saturdays & Sundays I eat like a monster and gain weight by the Monday; again loose some by the Friday and the cycle goes on. Our son did not take the call, the in-law's son did not take their call. Amidst the chaos; the brother's video call last morning was pleasant; I was happy to see the newly renovated home but the way I wanted it would have costed him double the huge amount he has already spent. If the house was located beside the Barrackpore station, I would have insisted them to stay there forever and completely renovate it to a modern set up. I have no greed for that property, I have interest in my brother's upscaled living, he did not get himself a life he was capable of.

WHAT IS BHUTTA STUFFED OATS SNACKER?

Bengalis call the corn kernels or the entire thing Bhutta. The season of the corn is approaching in Bengal, this island sells it round the year, it is dear to the son's present country of stay too. Roasted corn with lemon juice, salt, chilli powder rubbed on it was the only street snack the parents bought for us happily. At some point, I stopped eating it. In the recent years, I again fell for corns, Bhutta Khees does not sound that deadly to me these days. But corn has to be served tossed in lemon juice and red chilli powder to me, mixed with onion & green chillies. I can have it only that way. Today, I cannot blog about a Bengali recipe, only last month the son took us to a war fact's museum. Although I have studied Political Science, I am far from Politics; I try to get back to the maximum. I was thinking of preparing a tasty but healthy snacker and I got this low oil, vegan, gluten-free, air-fried SPICY BHUTTA STUFFED OATS SNACKER! Trust me, it tasted fabulous. Here is what I ate as my first meal today.

Thats vegetarian Tom Yam flavoured noodles, the stuffed snackers, a shredded coconut laden Potong ice-cream that takes me to my childhood, how I loved the stick ice-creams & kulfi from the wooden box carriers.

Few other similar recipes from the Blog are here; OVEN COOKED COCONUT KEBAB, BROCCOLI KAJU KISHMISH DIYE CHITOI PITHA, LESS SUGAR LOBONGO LOTIKA

INGREDIENTS :

CORN KERNEL / BHUTTA : A BOWLFUL

CHOPPED ONION : 3-4 TBSP

CHOPPED CHILLI : 1 TBSP [I USED THE BIG RED VARIETY]

CHOPPED FRESH CORIANDER : 2 TBSP

OATMEAL : 2 COFFEE MUG

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/2 TSP

LEMON JUICE : 1 TBSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1+2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

I washed well the corn kernels and all of the chopped vegetables, took them together in a bowl. Thereafter, I added a little of salt, half of the crushed black pepper, the lemon juice to the bowl and mixed well. Our stuffing is ready.

I prepared oatmeal grinding the oats in a blender, transferred it to a bowl. I added a little of salt, 1 tbsp oil, a bit of the crushed black pepper to the oatmeal and rubbed well.

To the oatmeal mix, I added some warm water and kneaded for a minute. The dough would tend to dry soon, add a little more of warm water and knead again but do not add a lot of water in the beginning.

From here, Cristine took up. She tore off smaller portions from the dough and made a pocket in each. She then filled each of the pocket with the spicy corn / Bhutta filling. 

She then closed the ends and gave it the easiest round shape, a bit flattened you can say. She placed them on a greased oven friendly plate and brushed the top with some oil.

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven with a limited air-frying facility.  I cooked them at AF-2 mode for 15 minutes.

We had them hot with fresh coriander+green chilli chutney.

BAEL FRUIT PARFAIT

 I TOLD YOU ALMOST NOTHING GOES TO THE WASTE BIN IN MY HOME!

Unless a food item rots, I try to give it a makeover and eat. On return from our travels, my handbag comes full with this and that served on the airplane, it is not possible to eat everything served on a long flight. Mostly comes the tiny chocolates, cheese squares, muffins. This time too they came, I had to use them because Cristine was not having them. Everything has an expiry. All about today's recipe share I am coming to later. I am gradually getting back to my normal schedule; that of early morning walks, then swim, shopping for the raw ingredients nearing the weekend, going out to nowhere, sit alone somewhere. Visiting some islands and parks alone are due. Actually, I enjoy more staying at home, eat home cooked food and watch something. I sincerely wish to do some online teaching, this is a life spent without the right connections. Lazy peoples' lives end doing nothing fruitful, planning great. I have to tell the son about the importance of networking. We know less about his contacts and friends. Homecoming after any tour is good, if only the home was near to our son's. We want the best of both the worlds in our lives, that cannot happen. 

IT WAS INDEED A FULFILLING TRIP THIS TIME!

We felt happy to see our child in a happier mood. He allowed us to click him, he clicked us, agreed to go here and there with us. We could feel that the son is in a relaxed mood. I was happy with the studio apartment we stayed in and the neighbourhood around. We were roaming the entire city mostly on foot, I loved it given the cool weather. For us, it was cold almost. I was sad unable to wear my tunics, they came back untouched. I happily cooked with few utensils, in less of space. Back home, my cooking spree did not stop. With Cristine's help, I kept cooking without calculating if we can finish all of the dishes in five days. I do not need to cook too much. Then one thing is that it is my passion, the other reason is that I am updating my blog. In an Airbnb kitchen, I was not giving my best shot; neither the son, nor the man ever complains. It is me who is not satisfied. Like yesterday, I mended the raw Jackfruit curry adding to it more of spices, we do not cook a light curry with it. I also added more of fried onions and chopped green chillies to the Hilsa Bharta. We had a fulfilling lunch, a Bengali meal yesterday.

At night, I made luchi; the Bengali puffed bread, had with the Gobi Butter Masala.

WHAT IS BAEL FRUIT PARFAIT?

Trust me, the idea was impromptu. Not in my wild dreams I thought of preparing a parfait with Bael fruit extract. I bought the fruit from a Bengali shop to have it's juice, a summer time ritual in the family. Here we get too good quality Bael Fruit / Wood Apple / Bengal Quince. They are too sweet with no hint of bitterness in them. Cristine was not having the muffins and cinnamon cake, we had yogurt and sweet grapes in stock. All of a sudden, the idea of a no-cook, sugar-free, vegetarian  BAEL FRUIT PARFAIT popped up in my head on a Saturday morning. Trust me, I loved having it. You may add sugar or honey but I did not require any. I am indeed fond of fruits-yogurt-oats kind of stuffs. I would have been happier if I could use granola instead of the oats but I do not store it fearing a spike in the blood sugar level. The cream parfaits I had been buying while touring cannot be eaten regular, such unhealthy it is. Parfaits should be done with yogurt and various combinations of fruits, now I recommend using Bael extract to it. Ayurveda goes gaga about it, since my childhood I have seen it works to ease constipation. However, medical science does not recommend it too often. If you are a diet watcher, this recipe is a keep. I want the son, brother, his wife to have this. The man, his sister do not crave for food, I wonder how! Take a look at my elaborate lunch, Cristine made my favourite vermicelli upma, my yogurt cake tasted good, mango is a love.

Few other Wood Apple recipes from my Blog are these; BAEL AAM CHILLED NECTAR, DUDH DIYE BAEL ER PANA, DOI BAEL ER KULFI, DAAB ER JOL DIYE BAEL ER SHORBOT, DOI DIYE BAEL ER PANA

INGREDIENTS :

BAEL FRUIT : 1 STANDARD SIZED

MUFFIN : 2-3

GRAPE : 7-8 [YOU CAN USE OTHER FRUITS, EVEN DRY FRUITS]

PLAIN YOGURT : 100 GM

OATS : 2 TBSP [YOU CAN USE GRANOLA]

I DID NOT USE SUGAR, YOU MAY IF YOU WANT

PROCEDURE :

Wash and break the Wood Apple fruit without damaging your kitchen floor. 

Take the extract in a bowl, add a little of water and do kneading like action. Thereafter, use a strainer to get a smooth, nectar like extract.

Beat the yogurt and chop the washed grapes. Cut the cakes into smaller cubes. You may or may not dry roast the oats, I did not.

Take a glass, not a tall one because a parfait is pretty filling. The first layer was of yogurt and then of the fruit extract. Thereafter, I added some oats, chopped grapes, cake cubes.

Then again I had put a layer of yogurt, Bael extract. Top it with the rest of the chopped grapes, cake cubes, oats.

Chill it in the refrigerator before having.