OIL FREE MINCED MUTTON CURRY

 

ONCE UPON A TIME; THE WORDS MUTTON & SALIVA SEEMED CO-RELATED!

The very word mutton did make me salivate! May be because of their price, hilsa & mutton always remained exclusive items in the lives of the Bengali middle class. Bengal or Kolkata would increase the gap of getting the two home, but hardly would compromise with the quality. On several occasions, my parental family compromised with the size of a hilsa but never with it's freshness or quality. If the seller dupes you is a different issue, it has happened with me in Kolkata! There is no dearth of fraudulent people there; else mutton and hilsa are usually the best tasted in my home state. One need not require to be a great cook or use an array of spices to get a good tasting mutton and hilsa dish; at least the Bengalis do not require must of cream, dry fruits and nuts, essences in our curries. I personally cannot have a dish that is overly dressed. Food should be as simple as possible to win my heart but it has to be well cooked. Food cooked hurriedly in high heat is not a thing I have grown up watching or appreciating. We are not Orientals, why should we? For the same reason, I am not the right person to cook Oriental food; my hands do not move so swift, my gas burners prefer to remain timid all the time. About that once up a time thing; here in this tropical island, we do not get that breed of mutton, neither hilsa. Very recently, what Mustafa Centre sells as goat meat for 35.90$ per kilogram seems to be near to the Kolkata Mutton. To me, it is not a wise idea to always buy a mutton at that price or a hilsa for 70-75$. There are two reasons why I do not; I cannot get out of my middle class frame. Secondly; the mutton and hilsa are still not fresh but chilled, frozen been air flown. Then, why should I?

ITS A LAZY DAY SINCE MORNING; NO PLANS FOR COOKING OR TO GO ASTRAY!

There are some days like today when I have nothing as such to do. The man has office this week until Wednesday. I have no client to serve today. I planned not to go out of my home; else I will again end up eating out. Yesterday, we were at a friend's home and had a lovely lunch picked up from Jaggi's. Today, I had to be homebound; I could not go for a swim, as I had an eyebrow embroidery done few days back. What to do the entire morning was biting me! All our indoor plants got a shower. Cristine got me a good half-an-hour body massage and I danced to some Bollywood music without knowing anything about the art form, dancing. But moving and shaking your body helps. After the shower, prayer and lunch; I was almost dozing off but I want to add something to my blog! I am doing that job; writing a RECIPE POST! I do not know what I am writing, my brain is perhaps in sleep mode. But I think of food even when I am sleeping; I have sent Cristine to the mall to get a Japanese Cheese Cake and a Mac's Strawberry Sunday. I did not get a cheese cake ever since the son left home; let us have some. It was smelling egg too for a while, I dislike the smell of eggs in desserts. I dislike the raw smell of any non-vegetarian items. This minced MUTTON CURRY too is cooked with love in slow heat to rob off any smell. I wish to end this day on a lazy note. We have spent the entire day beautifully yesterday, else the man has got too stuck at home; he is seen either in his office or lying on his couch. "See if you can you please stop smoking and drinking regular" pleas are given a deaf ear. I so wish to take him for walks, to the sea side, roam around, have some food; I am always content with the company of my own; who listens? Anyway, we at least eat our meals together. Because he has office tomorrow, I got that cheese cake, else it is difficult to feed him any extra food if stationed at home!

I am feeling better after having the Sunday; the head got clearer. One is shared between me and Cristine, else my blood sugar level spikes. I will not touch the cheese cake today but will do some "chirey-badam bhaja" to go with my evening tea. I started eating at 2:20pm and it will stop at 10pm for the day!

WHAT IS OIL FREE MINCED MUTTON CURRY?

It is nothing special; only the MINCED MUTTON is cooked without oil. Yes, I know red meat is not good for health; I believe it all depends upon the frequency and amount of having it. When the son was at home; such kinds were perhaps made every week; now we have lessened the intake. I can remain happy with "mocha, echor, paneer, potol, kochu, thor, palong, pui, kumro, lau, chalkumro, laal shak, kolmi, kancha kola, chuno maach, shutki maach but the rest need fleshy fish, meats. I find minced mutton easy to cook and good to have in a land where our kind of goat meat is not available! Having MUTTON MINCE CURRY is not new to me; I think I used to have it in my grand parent's home as a child; definitely in my parent's home all through! MINCED MEAT is an economic option and supremely tasty if you are a meat lover. For us; myself, the man, son, brother, even our parents; now for Cristine too; a bowlful of this OIL FREE MINCED MUTTON CURRY with or without potatoes with some chapati or rice is a bliss. It they had enough salad, I would have brought down our meals to an one main dish thing! They do not, I feed them three to four dishes! This NON VEGETARIAN CURRY is nothing unique; just that the marination period is more using good amount of yogurt and spices. I think I should call my parental home and ask them to attempt at oil-free meat preparations! There you are, I made my own "chirey bhaja" in microwave, I do have the recipe in the blog; the black coffee is yet to arrive!

INGREDIENTS :

MINCED MUTTON [GOAT OR LAMB MEAT] : 500 GM

PLAIN YOGURT : 150 GM

LEMON JUICE : 2-3 TBSP

ONION PASTE : 2-3 TBSP

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

GARLIC PASTE : 11/2 TBSP

CHOPPED FRESH CORIANDER : A HANDFUL

RED CHILLI POWDER : 2 TBSP [USE AS PER YOUR TOLERANCE LEVEL]

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CINNAMON POWDER : 1/4 TSP

GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/4 TSP

CLOVES POWDER : 2-3 PINCH

SALT : AS REQUIRED

PROCEDURE :

We will take the minced mutton on a strainer and wash thoroughly. I do not like any residual blood on it. We will transfer it to a bowl.

To it, we will add the beaten yogurt, ginger+onion+garlic pastes; turmeric+cumin+coriander+red chilli powders+salt and marinate well. We will keep it covered in the refrigerator, anywhere between 2 to 3 hours. We will take it out half an hour before cooking!

We will heat a wok and add the marinated minced mutton to it along with the marinade. We will stir cook at low heat for 2-3 minutes!

We will reduce the heat to minimal and cover cook for 15-16 minutes. We must remove cover and check the status every 3-4 minutes. We must check the level of water release.

After about 20 minutes, it will look like the above. We will add the lemon juice+ cinnamon powder+ green cardamom powder+ cloves powder+1 coffee mug of water.  

We will give a stir and slow cook for another 4-5 minutes, add the washed and chopped coriander and again give a stir. We should be done!

Our minced mutton curry should be ready by now to be had with a variety of bread or plain steamed rice!

KASURI METHI CURRY PATA CHALER GURO SNACK

I ENJOY SELF MADE SNACKS THE MOST THESE DAYS; WHAT A SELF LOVING  PERSON THIS IS, NA?

I think it is worth, to cook yourself and enjoy having them. That way, every ingredient you are cooking with is in your control. You well know what tickles your tastebud and cook accordingly! What happened is the man does not wish to snack in between meals. This mother and her son immensely love it, the son has left home. Cristine too can survive without snacks, the otherwise slimmer self has a big tummy that bothers her a lot. I love food anytime even if people have a problem with my height and weight. The problem is I cannot deny that an obese self is a wrong self; that one should follow certain healthy rules in life. I am sorry that I cannot do away with all the pleasures with regards to food and stick to a stricter diet. I cannot allow a no-cooking or less-cooking environment in my kitchen. What else to do? What little I could do is I stopped getting "chanachur" and some other snack items at home. The man so loved "muri-chanachur" every weekend, totally stopped having! I feel whats the point buying big packets for me alone, most of them do not go with my tastebud! I prefer preparing sweets and snacks at home; as per my choice, using less oil. I am giving away about 11/3 packet of store bought uncooked French Fries to Cristine to take for her friends coming Sunday! 

I strongly felt I have to stop getting these frozen bags of cut potatoes. When we eat, we should do it fresh! Its no big deal to have it once a week or twice a month. Our parents were very much against outside food; misery is not the only reason; they really preferred home cooked food done with decent ingredients. My parental home always got "Ganesh er Agmark tel, moida and atta" too when they stopped getting it from the ration shop and had lend the cards to their house helps. Hence, I make my SNACKS fresh, this time with RICE FLOUR!

FAMILY WILL HAVE AN INFLUENCE ON YOU; YOU CANNOT BE AN ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT PERSON!

Perhaps, this is the reason why I am turning more towards home cooked food with each passing day! In fact, the man is more into home cooked food. He would either have what I cook or dine in proper restaurants, which are very expensive here. He is not fond of eateries; the reason why people here see me wandering alone on the weekdays. Since yesterday, he had been working from home. Cristine and him are having whatever I had cooked last Saturday with rice or hand made breads for their lunches; whilst I went out for my walks and having my lunches outside. From 8th of May, things will turn stricter in this island with the increase in few community cases. We are still not sure if the restrictions will be like last year's Phase-1 or be like Phase-2. My brother thinks I unnecessarily roam around the island; it is not like that, I go out because I hate indoor exercises except for dancing to Bollywood beats; swimming too do I enjoy. It is my food habit that is wrong. After a choice meal lunch; a sugar-free iced lemon tea is not an issue; but what you cannot see is I am having a Britannia's Dry Cake too; shall be having this re-heated RICE FLOUR SNACK with my hot cuppa and then a dinner! Now, do not ask me if I wished for those Jackfruits, I felt like that fox who never got his coveted bunch of grapes!

WHAT IS THIS VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE STUFF; KASURI METHI CURRY PATA CHALER GURO SNACK, MADE OF? 

 This is a few ingredient rice flour snack! As told earlier, I need some snacks and choice of biscuits with my tea & coffee. I do not enjoy the store bought ones these days. In fact, I cannot eat the ones I want; like the "South Inidan rose cookies, madan kotkoti, mishti sugar coated goja or badam", etc. I want sweet stuffs but cannot eat after having a little; I never did have a sweet tooth, now with restrictions, I can only have a little amount. The best is to make my own snacks. I won't say that this KASURI METHI CURRY PATA CHALER GURO SNACK is  something of HEALTHY SNACKING; but it uses very few ingredients and most importantly, less oil. Doctors always say, oil is the culprit. I am sure had I deep fried the snacks, they would have looked better. I do not know about the taste because I have loved it oven cooked. The roasted cashew nuts and raisins so much added to the taste; so did the crushed black pepper, curry leaves and dried fenugreek leaves with regards to the flavour. We must have it fresh & hot for the best taste!

INGREDIENTS : 

RICE FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG

CURRY LEAF : 10-12

DRIED FENUGREEK LEAF : 1 TBSP

BROKEN CASHEW NUT : 1 TBSP

RAISIN : 1 TBSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/2 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

WARM WATER : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 2-3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We will place a pan on gas top, heat it moderately and dry roast the rice flour for 4-5 minutes, add some salt to it! We would add warm water to the rice flour little by little and keep stirring. After about 3-4 minutes, we would transfer the dough to a bowl and add the freshly crushed black pepper!

In another wok, add 2 tsp oil, heat it mild and lightly toast the dried fenugreek leaves & the washed and towel dried curry leaves. Thereafter, we will add the broken cashew nuts and washed & towel dried raisins. We will stir cook at low heat for a minute and switch off the gas stove.

We will add the toasted mixture to the roasted rice flour including the oil. We will let it cool, else we burn our right hand palm and fingers. We will knead well the entire thing for 3-4 minutes.

We will grease our palms with oil & tear off small portions and shape each as we wish! I believe, the best taste comes from  deep frying them but I try to avoid that these days as much as possible! What I did was oven cooked the snacks in combination mode.

I had greased an oven-proof plate with little oil, placed the snackers on it and brushed little oil all over them.

Mine is a convection mode oven. I had placed the low height wired stool inside and placed the plate atop. I had cooked them in microwave+grill mode at 300 power for 10 minutes. I did not  require to turn over and cook again!

Your hot cuppa session gets better with this vegan, gluten-free, less oil snack!

RAGI MANGO STOVE TOP CAKE

 AT TIMES, FORCE MECHANISM WORKS; IN THIS CASE, IT IS MY BAKE MODE THAT FAILED!

Its pretty two -three months now that my convection mode microwave went wrong and I have learnt preparing stove-top cakes! The baking section went haywire, whilst the microwave, grill & the microwave+grill cooking segments are working fine! In this scenario, what am I to do, I am yet to decide. Had the entire thing spoilt, buying a new one would have been a matter of few hours. Because it is still in a working condition, I am finding it difficult to discard it. We are Indians, more so I am a primitive Bengali indoctrinated heavily by the family ways! My parental home's loft has things from pre-historic age, they use furnitures forty to forty five years old. I would strongly oppose if they say they cannot afford a better lifestyle. When our father first took me to see our Barrackpore home after it's completion; I was mesmerised at the sight of a newly painted, spacious, double-storied building! It was a natural feeling for those who were living in a  two roomed rented space for nineteen years. Only if it was built in the city! I offered him to decorate the new home accordingly without going beyond our middle class limit. He did not agree; and those old furnitures kept getting repaired and used till date. They are not even antique masterpieces you need to preserve! In the matter of misery, the couple did click very well. Not really misery, we got what was required; the couple actually refused to upgrade themselves; else I find no reason why the father refused to buy a plot of land in Salt Lake or those flats opposite P.C. Chandra and VIP Sweets in Ultadanga at an affordable price; instead found heaven in a place so far from the amenities found in Kolkata. These days, it feels if the father wished to upgrade, the mother would have given in. Did not she want her kids to shine in life; particularly in academics? She wished to whisk away her kids from the shadow of a family that she felt is reluctant to upgrade itself! It is her, who took me to SIMPLE BAKES. It is the father and brother who lovingly ate them. In the recent years; the man, son, Cristine had eaten the worst of my bakes, without a noise!

MAKING A CAKE OR CUSTARD; IS A LEISURE TIME PLEASURE!

You see, I am not a certified baker, not even a sincere one. But, I enjoy doing it, I still visualise my happiness when the mother got me a round oven only meant for basic cakes & cookies. I do not know who inspired her to do so; I guess, it were the cookery shows she used to watch! She never ever allowed me to experiment in her kitchen; such calculative and stern homemaker she had been! If on some days, I tried and spoilt the food, the father would save me from her rage. Bhai was away from such petty things! His experiments were unique; inserting a jujube seed inside his nose or trying the stunts of Spider Man or beating me! The son too used to beat me until last year. Now, if I ask him if he would fight with mumma when we meet next; there is no answer from the other end. With the increase in  community cases here and extreme upsurge in India; I feel upset, worried; when to go to India; when we can  meet the son is a question mark now. I simply dislike this bondage, we are not the kinds to refute rules either! In such a scenario, I immensely enjoy cooking this and that. The only regret is my inability to feed my child; who ate silently almost everything I cooked; it was fun for mumma to watch his weird self around. He can get us some relief video chatting often, send us a lot of pictures; he would not! Sundays are lonelier with Cristine's off day! What we do is watch the television, try to get the son talking, sleep and eat one meal from outside. Yesterday, I did get for the man a Mala Spiced Salmon & Rice bowl from Umisushi and I had Noodles, Eggplants, Mixed Veg from a Malaysian joint, AllGood Gourmet, I think! 

Anyway, a couple of our own do not have any, one couple friend fought the virus recently knowing there is no one after them. What I say is each life is precious, live it! Then, if you have one, he or she or them become your prime; your worries concerning them multiplies. As of me, to panic is my habit! One cannot say I did not not care for him or her; I very much do! Not only for the son at far, the heart does beat for India; its difficult to take what the News Channels are showing! When my pulse rate increases, I take to "extra cooking", a dessert or a sandesh or cake! It is a pleasure always!

WHAT IS THIS RAGI MANGO STOVE TOP CAKE?

All these years, quite a few people asked me to share STOVE TOP CAKE RECIPES! I listened, the dilli-dallied self was not taking any initiative. Now that the bake mode of the oven is gone and you cannot think of repairing something at a decent price in one of the world's most expensive island; you will try your hands to prepare a cake on the gas top! I am telling you, its totally worth it, not at any point I felt tired! Actually, you have to enjoy what you are doing! Reading text books was not what I enjoyed. Today, it feels I should have forced myself a bit; bhai should have listened to all of us for the sake of his mother. I can feel the mother when she says she did very less for her own mother, given it is for her that our mother could complete graduation, do BEd thereafter. Mani was not a brilliant student but studious, she loves academics! I can feel the pain when she says she wanted to study further but the family situation did not permit. What I realise today is I had to be little sincere with life, build a career! I would not be looking for earning small time money today, that also is tough in this tiny island! A frustrated soul is a pitied one, avoid that and cook with me this GLUTEN-FREE; VEGAN CAKE! Done with RAGI FLOUR, RIPE MANGO PULP, BROWN SUGAR, OIL; this RAGI MANGO STOVE TOP CAKE is a project to remember! You need few bites to get used to it because refined flour cakes or snacks are a different high altogether; there is no equal match but health is precious!

INGREDIENTS : 

RAGI / FINGER MILLET FLOUR : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

RIPE MANGO : 1 STANDARD SIZED [I USED THAI HONEY]

BAKING POWDER : 1/2 TSP

BAKING SODA : 1/4 TSP OR A LITTLE LESS

BROWN SUGAR : 4 TBSP OR A LITTLE MORE

VANILLA ESSENCE : 1/2 TSP

OIL : 4-5 TBSP

ROASTED & CHOPPED ALMOND, CASHEW NUT, PISTACHIO

PROCEDURE :

To 1/2 coffee mug of Ragi Flour; we have added the recommended amount of baking powder and baking soda & mixed well.

We will blend together the fresh mango puree, brown sugar and oil and add to the flour. We will mix it well.

We will add the vanilla essence and again mix it well.

We will grease a cake tin with few drops of oil, dust it well with flour.

We will dry roast and chop the mixed nuts; pour the prepared ragi-mango batter to the cake tin; top with the mixed nuts!

We will heat a wok placing a stand on it for 4-5 minutes at low flame. Then place the batter filled cake tin on it!

We will cover it with a transparent lid so that we can monitor the entire cooking process.

We are to cook it at low flame for 55-60 minutes. 

What we get is a warm fluffy cake! Once little cold; we will turn over the cake on a plate!

Again we are to set it right on the plate before using the knife! It was a very good experience for me!