KHEJUR GUREY KHEER POTOL

From "Pabnar Bikhyato Kheer Potol"... that is from Pabna district of Bangladesh to Neha Mathur of Whiskaffair's or NishaMadhulika ji's kitchen; "Kheer Potol" or "Meetha Parwal"rocks I see. So far I am concerned, I tasted it back in the 90's from a shop in T's neighbourhood. The already existing famous sweet shops in the locality we both lived in did not sell this particular sweet come dessert. I remember on my way back from his home, I stopped at this shop one day just to buy a few of these.... out of curiosity to try a new thing you can say.... ahh... now I remember the name of the shop... Madhuban .... the men at home do not even peep into my blog, otherwise the senior would have agreed and write a nice comment down below the post and say.... wifey yours meetha parwal / kheer potol / khoya stuffed pointed gourd tastes better than the Madhuban one ..... well have I started day dreaming? Nothing new in that .... I do at all times! 

With a kheer potol in my hand I was reading Rujuta Diwekar's post which says she would share with us some home exercises for weight loss and over all well being. I am already in a weight loss programme but so much unable to resist the sweet temptations specially when I prepare them. I have to because my men love having them,  and the senior does tell his colleagues about my food blog. Yesterday, I had some  caramel custard and ilish-bhaat / hilsa and rice at Debarathi and Sounak's place.... the very sweet couple of Shaukh Creations Photography.Art.Designs. The lady owns a saree boutique in the island... my latest from her is a pink n ash combination  Khadi-Linen saree .... I had to grab it because I saw Vidya Balan doning a similar combination ... ahh what an epitome of grace she is. Coming to this boy Sounak Chaterjee .... he is multi talented.... an engineer by profession, excellent photographer, painter, designer.... in a word he has got an eye for art in general. This is a Sunday, instead of taking some lessons from him.... I am doing this but I love sharing with you all my food tales. You see I am not so bad .... this guy takes picture of his beautiful wife and of other beauties ..... not of this fat old lady..... yet I am all praises of him ..... he deserves that..... you know when you work with him and so many in the island indeed work with him. I am more happy with this boy these days because he got my man get up from his couch and walk into the tennis court .... I am waiting to see how long. 

After a scrumptious lunch at the above's home, I went to meet a lady ..... to a very health conscious, sincere to the core Noopur Somani with whom I am doing a 12km night run end of this month. We were to collect our race pack yesterday and with her I cannot have anything else but a cup of yogurt ..... I love that though. Running with her is not a matter of joke given how much effort she puts in her work. She is not Kanti Bakshi who will pat my back and say do not worry... take your time. With a very bad record last time and daddy's sudden departure, I was not willing to do a run sooner, then this sister like former colleague Noopur told she wishes to do it together with me this time.... I loved the way she approached and complied. I have given immense importance to this thing in life .... treatment.

From 'Kheer Potol' to running; I am a poor story teller indeed .... one who looses track every now and then. Anyways, there are a series of celebration and festival and at my home too..... so a sweet share was a natural choice. I would say try Kheer Potol or Meetha Parwal at home... it tastes better than the store bought ones. My personal experience say the store bought ones are overly sweet.... at least the ones I tasted from few of the Kolkata sweet shops. I found it to be very convenient and easy recipe as was told by my friend Tanushree.... so I got a rough idea from her about the recipe of kheer potol last year. Earlier she used to read my posts and say these are the mistakes I found, edit them. She is busy now may be stitching a quilt or a dress. 

Though I peeped into Neha Mathur of whiskaffair.com and Nisha ji of nishamadhulika.com, I did it my own way, using date palm jaggery instead of sugar for the khoya / kheer. I do not have the energy or patience of boiling milk for hours for the khoya kheer neither do I buy khoya blocks from the store. I prepare that same old instant khoya following a You Tube video.... it is soft in texture than the normal khoya that tastes awesome. The pointed gourd is required to be cooked properly in this recipe to get rid of the raw smell and the feel of a vegetable.... the stuffing can be done by your little girls or boys ..... not all of them see Google Map to find the way to the kitchen. At my home, the junior visits kitchen to see what is new for him there in the refrigerator and the senior for beer cans.... they both love their girl's cooking. Be happy with the treasures you have in life, not the hurt you sustained! Living get easier that way! So, here is a make ahead festive sweet for you with khoya and pointed gourd which is done within an hour or little more than that.

INGREDIENTS : [for the instant khoya]

Milk Powder : 1/3medium cup
Milk : 1/2medium cup
Ghee : 4-5 tbsp
Cardamom Powder : 1tsp
Jaggery : 1/2small cup [I used Date Palm Jaggery] [usually sugar is used in this]

INGREDIENTS : [for the finished product]

Pointed Gourd : 6-8
Sugar : 1/3 Coffee Mug
Water : 11/2-2 Coffee Mug
Green Cardamom : 2-3

Edible Green Colour : 2-3 drop
The jaggery khoya kheer as we get


METHOD :

I had some date palm jaggery left in the refrigerator, so preferred using it instead of sugar. Take the mashed jaggery, milk, milk powder and ghee in a bowl and fold in well. Do not worry about the tiny pieces of jaggery if using, they melt once microwaved.

Micro wave at high for 3 minutes, stirring every 1 minute. What we get is this which also tastes great atop a pao or bread... try. Let it cool, it thickens a bit. 

We will take about 2 big cups of water in a deep bottommed vessel and bring to boil. Meanwhile we will, peel and scoop out the flesh and seeds of the pointed gourds. We will wash them thoroughly.

As the water starts boiling, we would add a drop of edible green colour, mix! We will add  the halved potol / parwal / pointed gourds gently. Let boil for about 7-8 minutes, we need to get rid of the raw smell, it should not feel like a vegetable at all inside the mouth.

Once done, take them out and discard the water.

In a deep bottomed vessel, take 2 coffee mugs of water, a drop of green edible colour  and set to boil. Boil for 7-8 minutes and add the pointed gourds and green cardamoms.

Let boil for 5-6 minutes further. Switch off the gas oven and let the pointed gourds remain soaked in the sugar syrup for 8-10 minutes.

Gently take out the pointed gourds and place in a plate.

We will stuff each potol / parwal / pointed gourd with the instant khoya we already prepared.

We will cool & refrigerate them to be had chilled. Enjoy the bite with your family and friends.

LEMONY NUTMEG BANANA EGGLESS CUPS

I perhaps have mentioned earlier that once I left school, the mother got me a round shaped baking gadget in which we could bake basic cakes and some basic biscuits. I remember besides the easy to make cakes, I  used to prepare semolina biscuits with nigella seeds.... the famous 'cha er dokan er biskut' of Kolkata .... famous roadside stall biscuits of Kolkata ..... I do not know why I stopped doing them, perhaps after marriage. Then struggling with a little boy all alone for ten long years.... I cooked only that much as was required for the well being of my boy.... Eating out and travelling were what we waited for the father to come and take us to. Life was not that tough either with support from both sides of the family.... they were just a phone call away. I do wish to go back in that life when day and life revolved around my son, if only the senior stayed with us.

I / We could not sail as much as compared to other mariner's wives.... for various reasons. My only concern was to take care of my son .... to get him all kinds of happiness so that he does not miss his father. Yesterday.... we were going out to meet a visiting friend and his daughter. They were in a short trip e route Kolkata from HongKong and told they wish to explore the place better we meet outside..... although, I insisted them to come over at our place. I was gazing at the son once he was dressed up .... he grew up so fast .... that boy who knew nothing except for the mother's lap. I asked why do you have to wear black and white always?.... The son told his maternal uncle [the only one he talks to] that his favourite colour is black .... perhaps the reason why the mother too has developed a liking for black and white.... or it may date back further..... Anushree [Rumni] and Gargi if only you are reading this.... do you remember how your parents used to make fun of mani for her madness for black sarees..... and that particular incident at Nalli's, Chennai...... good old memories. My mother perhaps know only of two colours... black and red.... she wears white perhaps because she has to.

That son who grew up fast and his father both love homemade basic cakes, what to do their girl fears to go beyond her limit. When it comes to baking.... oh I have made / make a lot of mistakes.... but I love baking small goodies for my men..... I pack them along with their lunch boxes.... the junior has something like short break in their school, while the senior refuses to eat any breakfast .... I do pack his breakfast too though there are severe fights on this issue. You cannot give in either if the waist size remains same for 35 years.... So the miser wife does not do any misery feeding them ghee, butter or cheese.... I do tell the senior if he followed the diet plan I made for him in the past years he would not have to lament for not having a girl friend. As usual the answer is get lost. I do not mind, rather get myself engaged in preparing this lemon and nutmeg flavoured banana cup cakes which they liked very much. There was a time when my brother, mom and father loved the cakes I made.... that is the only thing the mother allowed me to do.... at least I could do something for them. For the LEMONY NUTMEG BANANA EGGLESS CUPS we need less of ingredients. Come, let us follow the easy steps carefully and prepare these basic cup cakes full of natural flavours together for our loved ones. These cup cakes go pretty well as a tea time goodie or to be packed in your kid's snack box.

INGREDIENTS :

Refined Flour : 1 coffee mug
Baking Soda : 1/2 tsp

Baking Powder : 1 tsp
Nutmeg Powder : 1 tsp
Lemon Zest : 2tsp
Banana : 2 [mashed]
Plain Yogurt : 1 small tea cup size
Sugar : 1/2 small tea cup size
Vinegar : 1tbsp
Oil : 1/2 small tea cup size


METHOD :

Beat together the sugar, oil, plain yogurt, vinegar, the maximum of the mashed banana & pour in a bowl! To the mixture, add the refined flour, baking soda, baking powder! Fold in well! Add the lemon zest, the rest of the mashed banana, nutmeg powder! Mix well, however in case of a muffin, we are to just mix roughly. Our batter for the LEMONY NUTMEG BANANA EGGLESS CUPS is ready!

Pre heat the oven to 180*C. Fill some muffin cups with the batter until half or little less than that. Arrange them on a baking tray.

Place the rack inside the microwave and atop it the baking tray with cake cups. Bake at 180* for 12-13 minutes or adjust according to your machine. They should be done. Once cool they look like what you see!

I am as novice a baker who is in a learning mode still, my cakes may not look as perfect as that, but they taste well. Enjoy them as your tea time goodies or pack your kid's snack box with these quick to make cup cakes.

TIL BADAMBATA ALOO

Sesame seed / Til is quite in use among us Bengalis though not that much in our family except for during the period between Bijoya Dashami to Lokkhi Pujo .... Grandma, maa, aunties preparing 'Tiler Naru'... Sesame Ladoos.... and a greedy little girl trying to steal some at once. I use the word steal because we were not supposed to have before offering them to the Goddess. I am yet not successful with tiler naru... though it is just a two ingredient sweet with roasted sesame seed and jaggery.... the trick is in properly cooking the jaggery mix.... with Janmashtami approaching I am willing to prepare them. 

I land in this island and see both varieties of sesame seed is much in use here. To add more joy to the soul....  good quality tiler naru is available in the shops here. These are the little things that help me feel connected. I am not saying this because the island celebrates it's National Day tomorrow, its a gut feeling for sure. I should have gone for an authentic dish of this place today, but you know though I have adapted a taste for couple of their dishes, I rarely try them at home. You need to buy a couple of ingredients for that.... and the confused me gets more confused standing in front of the sauce section of the NTUC or Cold Storage or Giant .... you will always see me taking a lazy afternoon stroll in these stores after a healthy lunch of Yong Tau Foo or a dumpling soup or a fish soup.  One major reason of identifying myself with this place quickly is that their staple [if I can take the liberty to say that] and ours is rice and fish. This may not be an authentic Bengali dish but I have given a Bengali touch to it.

Coming back to til or sesame seed... it is quite in use at my home these days as an alternative to posto or poppyseed. Wish I / we could convince the higher authorities here that 'postor moto mahargo bostu hoyna, bhalo ghumo hoy'.... poppyseed is good to have and I hear it helps to sleep well.... if it has come out from the mouth of a 'Bangal'.... there is truth in it. That good quality Tiler Naru is I think a Southern Indian influence in the culture. I do not wish to emphasise such things as that requires a good amount of research..... but there can always be such telephonic conversations with the mom .... 'mani jano South Indian der sangey amader khabarer mil achey.... narkel dudh diye mach bolo ba onno besh kichu... oder pithe-pulir sangey amader mil achey'..... there are similarities between South Indian and Bengali cooking.... their Kozhukattai and our doilla pithe is almost same. Anyway, if I cannot prepare a local dish for the occasion, I will at least use some ingredients that are common here and understandable to a majority. Whether the dish is suitable to symbolise an Indian living happily in the island or not is for the readers to decide. 

It was 8pm yesterday when I told Cristine... let us prepare a quick fix vegetarian dish... so that in the next morning I need to prepare only the parathas.... So this TIL BADAMBATA ALOO with Paratha went into their lunch boxes today. I need to write more about Cristine soon... last Saturday I went to attend a programme... she prepared a  dessert for us with cornflour, coconut milk, sugar and sweetcorn kernels and calls it Maja Blanca... I really liked it.... I think I have to recreate it using dry fruits for my men..... my chopsticks are naughty enough to consider sweetcorn as an ingredient for salad unless it is used for some corn and cheese fritters. So at 8 pm on a weekday, you or rather a lazy self will not go for any elaborate cooking but for a quick, simple one as this TIL BADAMBATA ALOO. I am not happy with the pictures either but the taste is guaranteed. For that you need to cook together with me TIL BADAMBATA ALOO. If poppyseed is not banned at your place, you can use a bit of it's paste too. A fish curry and rice  dish was apt for the occasion but then what about the friends and readers who are keeping fast for the rest of the month or thereafter?

A Happy National Day to all who are celebrating, we stay or not... this island will continue to be one of the safest, cleanliest, disciplined country in the world map.... how will we spend the day tomorrow?... I will cook a jirey-kancha lanka bata diye Ilish beguner jhol - Hilsa with eggplants with a simple spice mix of cumin and green chilli paste.... authentically we use only slitted green chilli and nigella seeds for tempering if the fish is fresh and will not fry the fish too..... the brothersome store helps in the Asian stores say 'Apa, borofer hoileo maccc ta bhalo khaiben'... though frozen, you will enjoy it.... overjoyed at the sight of some gondhoraj lebu and jolpai too, their Apa uses the dialect of her forefathers.... ' jjjalpai diya cccchadni ki bhalo khaitam maa... didur haatey kon bhaijjan.... shidol / hidol shutki / hudki nimu ektun, kobey aaibo janayen'.... their Apa also takes pride in saying publicly that some of her and her senior's closest relatives live under moderate to extreme financial limitations and yet smile at any untimely visitors or guests and say 'ektu macccc bhaat na khaile jaitei dimuna'.... if you have come, you have to have some fish and rice before leaving.... and in the evening we are due to meet some special guests.

INGREDIENTS :

Potato : 6 to 8 medium [ I used Brastagi variety]
Onion : 1 big
Green Chilli : 3-4
Til / Sesame Seed : 1tbsp [roasted]
Cashew nut : 4-5 [raw]
Plain Yogurt : 2tbsp
Fennel Seed : 1/4tsp
Bay Leaf : 1
Turmeric Powder : 2-3 pinches
Salt : As Required
Oil : 4 tbsp

METHOD :

Wash the potatoes and take in a microwave proof dish, make holes in each one with a fork. Microwave for 3-31/2 minutes.... we do not want them to over boil. Take out and hold under the running water to cool them if you are in a hurry.

Peel off the skin carefully and cut half. Add salt and turmeric.

Peel and wash the onion, cut into smaller pieces. Dry roast the sesame seeds till golden brown. Take the onion pieces, sesame seed, plain yogurt, green chillies and cashew nuts in a blender.

Blend to a smooth paste, use water if only required.

Heat the oil in a wok and fry the potato pieces till little of brown.

Take out and keep aside. Temper the same oil with with the bay leaf and fennel seeds. Add the paste and a little of salt. Stir for not more than a minute, now add the fried potatoes and fold in well.

Add a medium cup of water and fold in well again.

We will cover cook for 3-4 minutes.

Remove the cover and check.... it should be done.

Ingredients like sesame seed or poppyseed pastes have a tendency to soak the gravy.... do not worry, it enhances the taste of the potatoes. Transfer the entire thing in a serving bowl and enjoy with either fried rice or paratha, poori, chapati or even toasted bread.

KOLKATAR LAAL MISHTI DOI

If 'Amrito' is far from me, I will bring it to my home.'Amrito' is a sweet shop in Northern Kolkata which is famous for its 'Laal Doi'.... sweetened red colour yogurt because of the use of jaggery or caramelised sugar in it. Having Amritor Laal Doi in a 100gm "bhar".... earthen pot is a ritual for me since childhood... and to be continued.... have you seen such a shameless diabetic.... you have not.... I am not even a good girl as my mother who eats 'neem pata bhaja without adding eggplant in it .... that is crispy fried young neem leaves with ghee.... I flatly denied to have and asked to spare me that... I am ok with bitter gourd, my men say no to that too.Those days are still not 'gone' when a Bengali's end of the meal dessert was inevitably  mishti doi and roshogolla or pantua. As we all know yogurt is considered auspicious among us and is a must in any ritual or prayer meets. Nonetheless to mention, during our examinations, the mother would put a big 'doi er phota'.... a dot with plain yogurt on the forehead, on the mathematics examination day that dot was bigger on the daughter's forehead..... oh mani ... how I regret not been able to fulfil your wishes. 

Coming to the yogurt, both sides of my family love yogurt, specially our late daddy loved it too much .... it had to be served with roshogolla to him. As of my brother, these days he is not much into sweets and desserts, but he definitely loves his share of mishti doi. His didibhai, this fat, old lady sends him 'Rakhi'... every year....... a sacred thread to be tied around the wrist of brothers  .... Sisters too should do that to each other, and friends too .... 30-35 years back, we did exactly that within the four walls of a classroom .... we used to exchange rakhi among us on the auspicious day of Rakhi Poornima. When I declared to my mother first that I have chosen T as my life partner, her shock was not that I chose it without letting them to decide for me but that... "mamoni... he is your Rakhi brother"..... I said,"no mani.... he is a dear friend.... not every person I meet is my brother or sister.... That is off course my belief.... once I came out of my mother's lap.

Sharing our very own, much loved 'laal mishti doi' was a natural choice today. I just wish to say try our 'laal mishti doi' and you got to get a wonderful chilled dessert option for life. On my last month's visit to Kolkata, I noticed most of the sweet shops are selling 'shada mishti doi' and not that much of 'laal mishti doi' alongside. To blog about a sweetened red coloured yogurt became an urge. My senior loved it and gave me a thumbs up. The junior will eat the western fruit yogurt, not really home set Bengali sweet yogurt; I compensate getting him his favourite Mac Meal or a Sushi Platter or a Pizza.... there is absolute harmony at my home.... just that they eat their beef outside, I eat my pork outside.... because I am fairly prejudiced and value the sentiments of my mother and my not that much of a friend maa-in-law. 

I have not sent a rakhi to my brother this year because we or to be precise he is not entitled to any celebration for a year, as if doing that makes him or us loving his father any less... my atheist men do not leave a single chance to take on me... you see darling / momci.... all the trouble in the world is because of religion.... look at us we do not react even when you guys shower us with not that acceptable adjectives. I really do not have anything to say.... he never has tried to impose his beliefs on me. 

Anyway, I hope you will love to prepare this no hassle, no pain, three ingredient chilled dessert... 'Kolkatar Laal Mishti Doi'..... sweetened red colour yogurt..... with milk, jaggery, plain yogurt.... I have used a little of caramelised sugar too. You definitely have to bear the setting time too.... that is somewhat between 8-10 hours... for me it takes that much. If you are in a hurry.... there is a baked option too which I have mentioned at the end of the post. Come let us enjoy preparing this Bengali chilled dessert together for our loved ones.

This was my 4th attempt at perfecting it and finally I could... I am immensely happy and satisfied. Wish you all who are celebrating this day a very HAPPY RAKSHA BANDHAN / SUBHA RAKHI POORNIMA...

INGREDIENTS :

Full Cream Milk : 1litre
Jaggery : 1/3medium cup [I used date palm jaggery]
Plain Yogurt : 1 small tea cup [beaten well]

Milk Powder : 1/2 medium tea cup size
Sugar : 2 tbsp [to caramelise]

METHOD :

We will boil the milk first. Take the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel. Place it atop gas oven and switch on the gas stove. Bring the milk to boil and keep boiling till it reduces to almost half and to a little of creamy colour. We should not let the milk to burn below and stir often. We will add the milk powder, stir well so no lump is there! 

Meanwhile, we will break and mash the jaggery as much as is possible with our right palm. As the milk reaches to the desired consistency, we will switch off the gas. Add the jaggery and stir constantly so that both the jaggery and the milk get to mix well.

Take the sugar and 1/4 small cup of water in a metal bowl and place atop gas. Switch on the gas and stir constantly till the mixture turns dark brown. Pour it atop the milk and jaggery mixture and give a gentle stir.

Pour the entire mixture to a glass / earthen bowl, add the beaten yogurt and give a gentle stir. We must remember that at this stage the milk mixture has to be lukewarm.

Cover the bowl with a lid, place a big vessel upside down on it to cover it entirely. Wrap a thick towel around it. It will take 8-10 hours for the yogurt to set properly. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.

If you are in a hurry for this mouthwatering Bengali dessert, there is a QUICK, BAKED version, which is not authentic but the taste remains same. You will take some water in a bake proof tray. Place the milk mixture pot in the middle of it. Cover with aluminium foil. Preheat oven for 5 minutes at 180*C. Place the tray with pot inside the oven. Bake at 180*C for 25-30 minutes or adjust according to your oven settings. Once done take out, let cool and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.

SHOJNE PATAR BORA O BEULIR DAL

                    

Before we indulge into some good, festive food for Rakhi Poornima / Raksha Bandhan and rest of the occasions to be had this month and next, let us have some comfort food. Do not expect much of healthy fairs in this blog. This is one food blogger who jumped into blogging without doing any homework, hence will dare not try to write about the history of a dish or a detail of its nutritional value. The lazy self denies to read and learn because she is more interested in novels laced with melodrama..... what to do I grew up on 'Sarat Rachanabali'. Though the old self now believes the Indian women need not be that epitome of perfection at all given situations, I cannot deny the fact I always marvelled his kind of writing, his description of 'Gram Bangla' is deep rooted within me. I read all of his volumes while at school, perhaps that was an influence enough to make me a silly, billy goat as this who feeds you made up stories from the past with a good amount of dramatisation. 

Eight years into this island, I am still that typical Bengali girl who told her senior 'T.... ami kanta chamoch dhortey janina'... when he took her for a dinner date for the first time at the Trinca's, Park Street in the early 90's, 1992 to be precise. We lived in Kolkata but in our home there was no ritual of fine dining at the restaurants. Eating out for us meant eating falooda-kulfi at the Rally's or Indra Mahal and Roshogolla-Pantua from a decent sweet shop... the mother got us cutlets and fries though. The mother who always said, 'toder baba amai to bairey khaoaini' was crying profusely day before yesterday.... your father could have lived a little more.... 'aar kota din thakte parto'. So, it is not always a blame game, the same father had subscription of end number of books, three to four bi-monthly magazines adorned the balcony of our two-roomed rented home, the brother got a computer set as early at a time when few middle-class family thought of owning one. This Kolkata girl did not know that Park Street had many restaurants and people can spend this much on eating out until my senior took me there. At their home, they did dine out once a month at least. 

The maa-in-law had beer with the family but was not generous enough to accept that a daughter-in-law should be taken into consideration in any decision making process, that it may hurt the girl if you talk negative of her family, and that it is absolutely unnecessary for the daughter-in-law to ask each and everyday what amount of rice should be cooked just to prove and accept that the mother-in-law has the supreme command in the household. No, this is not an attempt to assault my not much of a friend maa-in-law.... I do not spare my mother too if she behaves otherwise. There must be a reason why the brother's wife loves me much... she told  her colleagues and friends were impressed when they met me at our father's Shradh Ceremony.... they say I am quiet, reserved, calm ..... and the T da had to deny it quickly and say .... only I know what kind of a volcano I live with...... hence, he will get only shojne patar bora and dal and no mutton curry..... haha..... or may be there will be some.

The primitive girl of the 80's-90's remains the same till date.... Eight years into the island and she cannot use chopsticks neither knife and fork properly.... 'konta kon haathey je dhorbo chai bhule jai'.... I forget which one to hold in which hand... hihi.... Someone took a wise decision of not walking along with such a primitive, that again is a bad joke based on an imaginative story. Anyway, I feel one should not come in the way of someone with an aspiring dream of going high up in the social and economic ladder, you definitely should not if you care. Coming to the point, in the first week after I stepped into the island... I went to the super market and saw something similar to 'murir moya'.... puffed rice rolls kind of.... I could not hide my excitement and called the mother.... Mani... 'era murir moya khai..... shutki mach o khai'..... 

The mother visited in 2013, went back happy and told her mother, brothers and sisters, neighbours.... 'ranga aloo, shorshe shaak shobi paoa jai janish, shomudrer kekle, mourolao..... mamoni ke bolechi kekle mach diye mulo chechki ta korish'.... in a word.... she was content and happy to know her daughter will not die of hunger and can do our kind of cooking in a foreign land that feels so much of home, each morning you get to see the 'Ranganer Jhar or Tagar Phooler Gach' as you walk along the road just the ones the mother grows, saree clad women every 200 mt. I love to see my friends cooking pies and pastries and much appreciate it, but the purpose of this blog is to share what I grew up eating. Shojne Phooler Bora / pakora with drumstick flowers was more popular at our home with the onset of spring but this also works either with dal and rice or as a snack or an appetiser . 

You can trust my dishes full fledged, but do not believe in my stories.... they hardly have any truth in them.... all for fun. By the way, a small note or wish to some people concerned.... I do respect a struggling mother and to every child... a mother is a Goddess and thats the way it should be. I accept and respect that part... but please do not force unto me any kind of unwanted match-match... I am simply not interested. Friends who are taking part in such non-sensical game is only distancing me from them.... I know I am not a material to be kept, but you must respect people's wishes too.... as I told not all in a classroom needs to be taken along and treasured in memories.... Most important is.... I am yet to understand this game.... I am a free willed person who refuses to think deep. To the rest of my readers who has faith on my recipes.... come let us enjoy cooking together Bengali style Urad Dal and Drumstick leaves pakora / fritters / bora.

We will prepare the Urad Dal / Beulir Dal first. Let us start with it.

BEULIR DAL / URAD DAL

INGREDIENTS :

Urad Dal / Beulir Dal / Skinless Black Gram Lentils : 1medium cup
Dry Red Chilli : 2 halved
Green Chilli : 2-3 slitted
Fennel Powder : 1tsp [preferably paste]
Ginger Paste : 2tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp
Fennel Seed : 1/4tsp
Salt : As Required
Sugar : 1tsp
Oil : 2tbsp [Authentically Mustard]

METHOD :

Place a wok on the gas oven top and add the beulir dal. Stir till they turn little brown. Transfer to a bowl and wash thoroughly under running water. You can skip the roasting part & boil it directly!

Take the washed dal in a pressure cooker, add 2 big cups of water, a little of turmeric and salt. Close the lid and pressure cook up to 2 whistles. Let cool.

Heat the oil in a wok and temper with the fennel seeds and halved dry red chillies. Add the ginger paste and stir for a minute. Add fennel powder and rest of the turmeric powder and salt. Fold in well and stir for a minute.

Open the lid of the pressure cooker and add the boiled dal to the wok. Fold in well and add two big cups of water. Stir and cover cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the slitted green chillies and sugar. Let boil for another 2 minutes and it is done.

Let us cook the Drumstick Leaves Fritters!

SHOJNE PATAR BORA 

INGREDIENTS :

Drumstick Leaves : A Big Bowlful
Chopped Green Chilli : 1 tsp

Sliced Onion : 2-3 tbsp 
Rice Flour : 1/2 medium tea cup sized 
Gram Flour : 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As Required
Sugar : 1/3tsp
Oil : 100-150ml to deep fry

METHOD :

Tear off the stems and wash the tender, young drumstick plant leaves. Prepare a batter with the rice flour, gram flour, refined flour, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and sugar adding water little by little.

Add the washed drumstick leaves and sliced onions to the batter and fold in well. Make sure to drain all the water from the leaves.

Heat the oil in a wok. Take out small portions of the mix and add gently to the oil. We will fry the shojne patar bora in batches while adjusting the heat from medium to low. Once done we will place them on to tissue papers to get rid of any excess oil.

Serve the pakoras / shojne patar bora and beulir / urad dal with piping hot steamed rice.

SHORU CHAKLI

MEMORY BECKONS; SO DOES SORU CHAKLI / A BENGALI SALTY CREPE

....... Late 70's ..... Early 80's .... Long winter vacations at school... for a month or so..... and I spared no time to travel to my maternal grand parent's home. The brother would come with my parents later. This was the scenario until I was in college. It was an irresistible call..... I was born and brought up in that home.... too strong a bond. I remember when we first came to Kolkata, I cried and refused to..... I loved everything about that small township some 100 km away from Kolkata ..... also famous in some parts of the world for a few things. I feel I will take its name only when I am able to pay a tribute to my birth place..... which I should have done by now. The wow thing is that the senior was born just few kilometres away from mine, though a year later. I often say, you see we were destined to meet. The inevitable answer comes quick and crisp .... "oh yes! you would not have got a better head to eat". The wife does not get bitter, perhaps she had zeroed in on one or two of the exclusive collection of sarees from Jayeeta or Debarathi and an accessory from Gahonaz to pair it with.... how much of a dumbo she is, she cannot afford to get bitter in such a situation ..... she has to buy them all. Instead, she soaks some rice and dal separately for 3-4 hours, grind them to a paste in an electric grinder, switch on the gas oven, places a non-stick pan atop and prepares the crepes. It never was this easy for the grand mother, mother or for the yesteryear ladies in general. That is the reason why I always say, I am nothing compared to them. Let us go back to our childhood. The grandmother wraps a shawl around her little girl who sits quite with a steel plate looking greedily at the 'unan'.... the clay oven.... it was a big one in the courtyard of half of a football ground size, a garden surrounded by thirteen coconut trees, the grandfather grew even turmeric, ginger in the open space he kept for growing seasonal produce, and some landed properties further interior. No, he was not a zaminder, just a banker who valued every coin he earned. Excuse me dadu .... I will just buy an authentic Kalamkari and Madhubani on my next visit to Kolkata ..... after that not much .... plain cottons ..... I have to unlike all the saree pages that I have liked in Facebook .... they are up to prove that I am not the daughter of that family. 

OUR GRANDMOTHER WITH A DEMONIC STRENGTH & ENERGY; HER FAB PITHE PULI!

Coming to the grandmother, she  would tirelessly prepare a number of sweet and salty pithey .... Bengali sweet meats / salted snacks.... Dhupi, Doilla, Chitoi, Shoru Chakli, Gokul or Moongpuli. As a child, my appetite was like that of an adult, perhaps so I am punished with something called Diabetes .... 'jiboney onek paap korechilam noiley ki aar oats khete hoy'..... I must have committed major sins in life, else I would not have to live on oats. My oats loving friends, its just for fun and no means to take a dig at you.... just as you cannot think of having oil drenched fried eggplants with rice accompanied by a dollop of ghee, a pinch of salt and a green chilli... you will need to have an antacid at the very sight of it.... that was my favourite breakfast on way to school / college. Rujuta Diwekar will surely block me from her page.... you guys are not as bad as I am, and you will get some valuable notes on over all health, on pregnancy from her page. She does not need a recommendation from a 'chunoputi' .... small time blogger like me, all in good gesture... I find her reasonable who even recommends ghee for the weight watchers.

OUR MOTHER; THE PERFECT SUCCESSOR!

The mother too did all the sweetmeats / savoury snacks mentioned above learnt from her mother, and here is my attempt to carry forward the legacy. I will not talk much about the mother today, she is not picking up my phone..... early morning and she must be on the terrace.... mending her plants, cleaning her prayer room. When she is busy, she would not talk over phone. The daddy used to say, mamoni your mani is too busy now.... call in the evening.... the mamoni has to chat with her senior in the evenings and do a bit of cooking. Yet, my mother knows about every secret of mine, each story of my life, I find peace in that. I wished to share something with her.... the pppppp ... pops, daddy, father is visiting too much in the dreams these days... I see him mostly in family gatherings... marriage or otherwise and yesterday in a shoe shop along with the brother and me... woh... buying only from Bata was the norm in our house.... He is angry with the daughter, she no more remains his sweet, little, innocent girl who he thought will remain so for ever.... What to do Pops.... survival strategies, but trust me I will not go beyond limits. Do not ask me what the yellow roses are doing atop shoru chakli, red roses are ok though as its common. Well, do you ever ask the Big B why he signed some horrible movies breaking the hearts of millions of fans. We do not always do everything for a reason or we may be, which is not important here. More important is how to prepare SORU CHAKLI / salty Bengali style Crepes on oven top with just two ingredients rice and dal and a little bit of salt. Authentically, we always enjoy it with Khejur Gur aka Date Palm Jaggery. I think it goes pretty well with payesh / Bengali rice pudding too! I used small grained chinigura variety of rice  and the dal has to be Beulir Dal or Urad Dal in this recipe. Do not use over polished, fine cut rice for this purpose. If you do not want to be too conventional, serve it with some veggie sides. Come let us dive into the recipe and enjoy them hot and fresh.

I had a rough brush up of few recipes of Shoru Chakli on Google, but we all know each Bengali family follows more or less the same recipe, I followed mine.

INGREDIENTS :

Rice : 11/2 Big Cup [I used Chinigura Rice]
Beuli / Urad Dal : 1/3rd Big Cup
Salt : As Required
Oil : 1/2 tsp for 3-4 Crepes

METHOD :

We will soak the rice and dal in two different bowls in enough water for 3-4 hours.

Drain the water from the dal, and grind it to a paste. Try not to add too much water.

Now transfer the dal paste to a big bowl.

Now we will get a paste of the rice in a grinder adding little / some water. Transfer it to the same bowl where we kept the dal paste.

Mix well both the dal and rice pastes. I straightaway use my right palm. Add water little by little until it becomes a running consistency, yet a bit thick. Add salt as is required and fold in well.

Heat a pan atop the oven. Grease with little oil. Wipe it with a moist cotton cloth. Take one big spoon and pour in the middle of the pan and quickly spread with the back of your spoon. Turn over when the sides are little crisp. It is preferable to use a round headed spoon for the crepes.... 1/2 tsp oil makes 3-4 crepes.

Once we turn over, the done side looks as below.

Authentically, we enjoy it with Kejurer Gur aka Date Palm Jaggery .... you can choose yours. This time, I served it with payesh / kheer / rice pudding!