PEPE ALOO MURGIR JHOL

  

A RECIPE THAT OF MEAT; SHOULD I OR I SHOULD NOT?

For the past few hours I am in this dilemma! Midmorning, the sad news of the demise of a close family member arrived! Mukul Kaku had been a fatherly figure; T's uncle from the father's side to be precise! I was unable to decide, that's when I remember Kaku had been an active member of the leftist party in his younger days, Kakima too was as I have heard! Then why cannot I celebrate him with a chicken recipe, that too with the one that our mother cook in our family home? I would keep blogging until the moment I can keep my calm! Kaku left us at 74, our father too! In fact, Kakima was more of sick! Last year April, I met them last! Kaku indeed loved his nephew, also our son he would visit when he was young! Kakima never took a side when I moved to a separate home! I think he was an honest gentleman, majorly lacking one thing! He spoke too less & never did smile! I do not know if he laughed & played with his granddaughter or not! I believe the ailing Kakima would be taken good care of by their only daughter! I remember how her skeletal self would take an "autorey" to my place at Ashogarh, then again take a rickshaw to my in-law's place! I found T's father to be extremely calm today, my belief got firmer that it is wrong to expect the males to be excessively strong! What is right is to express our pain or happiness whenever we feel like; it calms our body & mind; it is 100% natural & okay to feel weak & awkward!

YESTERDAY WAS ANOTHER NORMAL DAY!

Cristine went off, the son did not take our call and we were upset as usual! When T is upset, he would frown at me! I wish for an outlet for this, there is either a sports channel or crime series playing on the television that I do not want! I keep telling Bossy, let us go out, roam around the parks, eat some humble food & head back home by the evening! That would disturb his whiskey & wine sessions, hence he refuses! Because I understand how taxing a week long work life can be & how precious a weekend rest is for them, I do not make any noise! I fully utilise the week days roaming around alone! Not everyone would have a spouse to help upgrading the blog or help making food videos for people like me who are not technically sound! Yesterday, around 12 pm, I dragged him to the mall opposite, I wished to change the living room curtains! I got the lunch for us! He wished for a chicken rice. I spent 15-20 minutes to decide what to eat, I ate perhaps from most of the eateries! I bought that spaghetti & Japanese curry packet to cook for myself! I am ferociously against heat & ready to eat packets, once in a while I may! The taste of the spaghetti was good, thick curries full of sauce & cornflour is not my thing!

In the evening, we found out the curtain size may not match, I ran to the mall to change; they told they can refund if the card purchased with can be brought; I dragged again the unwilling T! This comfort I would not get back in Kolkata! Okay, our Kolkata flat is near to everything & the city centre-2 but this island has a mall with almost every mrt station! Then, there are people who do not like it, we felt the son has no issue there with shops & residence lying far apart! Anyway, Last night I made some multigrain atta poori & we had them with "cholar dal"!

This afternoon I did what you see below! That pot I got from the mother-in-law's collection but the water licks from it, I planted another Tulsi plant I found downstairs; this I would pray as Tulsi Maiya; the big one should be my source of the leaves required for the prayer! Earlier I had two, one manch & one in a tub! I read somewhere it is not good to have two! Also my manch spoilt! Prejudices kill you know!

Today's lunch was this; porota, begun pora makha & churma made from the stale millet breads I made last week! Yes, there was onion in my food, but from tonight I would arrange vegetarian food for the two of us, the next fifteen days we should! Kaku was an atheist, T is, his father is but I think there is no wrong showing some respect to the dead soul as per the Hindu ritual!

WHAT IS THIS PEPE ALOO MURGIR JHOL?

I believe, Bengali Homes that came out of the rigidity of not allowing chicken in their kitchens, needed a variety of chicken recipes keeping the essence of the curry as "jhol", "robibar er mangshor jhol"! I have seen this meat curry in other blogger friend's space! I do not know about their home but in our home such a curry may had been need based! We refused to have vegetables! Adding vegetables to a meat curry was definitely a smart idea of the mothers! For many decades; our Sunday menu had been the simplest; a "shaak bhaja" & mutton or chicken curry! Later, the parents did not fancy meat much, specially chicken, they cooked fish for themselves for lunch! At dinner, they would have one or two pieces of meat with garma garam chapatis! On a Sunday night, flatbread was a must in our home to go with a meat curry! This gluten-free meat curry PEPE ALOO MURGIR JHOL; i.e. chicken curry with raw papaya & potatoes was done often in our home! I loved the thin curry base of it! Today, I feel whenever Cristine would take a leave & go home, I would cook a mixed vegetables & meat stew desi style & have with rice or roti! Bengali curries are best to my taste, light yet with the right note of heat & spice! Okay, "nihari" & "suruya" as per the description of Molla Nasiruddin are quite enticing!

INGREDIENTS :

CHICKEN : 1 KG

RAW PAPAYA : A SMALL SIZED

POTATO : 2 BIG

ONION : 2 STANDARD SIZED

GREEN CHILLI : 4-5

GARLIC PASTE : 2 TBSP

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TBSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 2 TSP

BAYLEAF : 1-2

CLOVE : 3-4

GREEN CARDAMOM : 3-4

CINNAMON STICK : 3-4 HALF INCH 

LEMON JUICE : 2-3 TBSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 4-5 TBSP

PROCEDURE : 

Peel the papaya skin, slice off the inner layer holding the seeds, wash & cut in to bigger cubes! Peel off the potatoes, wash & cut each in to four pieces! Wash again & marinate with the salt & turmeric. Do this step only 10 minutes before adding to the wok, else they may turn black!

Wash & marinate the chicken with enough salt for an hour! Wash off with water thoroughly! This step gets rid of the unwanted raw smell! Marinate with some salt & turmeric, half of the red chilli powder & lemon juice for an hour!

Cut off the two ends, peel and slice the onions! Wash them well! Heat the oil in the wok & temper with the green cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon sticks & the bayleaves!

Add the onions & fry at low heat until light brown!

Earlier I had mixed together the ginger & garlic pastes+1/2 tbsp red chilli+cumin+coriander+1tsp turmeric powders & some salt with a tbsp of water! We would add the spice paste to the wok & stir fry it for 3-4 minutes at low heat!

We would add the marinated chicken with all of the marinade, fold in well & stir fry for 5 minutes at medium heat! We would reduce the heat to minimal & cover cook for 15-20 minutes!

We would remove the cover & add the marinated raw papaya & potato cubes; fold in well & cover! We would cover cook in minimal heat for 10-12 minutes!

We would remove the cover & add 2 coffee mugs of warm water, adjust the salt & let boil at low heat for 7-8 minutes, covered! We should be done!

This curry goes pretty well with both rice & chapati!

 

KALOJEEREY THOR CHIREY

 

IT IS 6:15 PM LOCAL TIME, I DO NOT KNOW WHERE TO START FROM!

I was never this disorganised in my life! I remember, I would nicely arrange my pencil box & geometry box at night for next day's school! That I was a mediocre student, that I could not answer most of the questions asked by the teachers, that I could not sketch a balloon is besides the point! My pencils would always be sharpened, later the pens would be  perfectly & I would always carry extras for an emergency or to lend my friends in need! That my pens did not produce perfect answers is my fault. I would repeatedly say not everyone is born with a talent or a general interest for academics but we should be sincere enough to study during our student life; anyone in a class can secure a 60-65-68 percentile of marks! I am talking about our time, India's tendency to shower marks these days may not be right! The boards need not be too tight with marks but there has to be a gap of marks between an average merit student & the few toppers in a class! We must give proper credit to merit! On a different note; a new pencil, a sharpener, a scented eraser made us too happy! Our father's one hobby was to collect good branded ink pens! We still have at least 15-20 of them in a holder in our mother's locker! I do not think they would work ever! I would take them to school at times to show my friends! College life is totally different from the school life! You just need to carry a diary & a pen; yet I would carry separate thin notebooks for each subject! I lacked the main thing, the urge to study well! Regrets later does not help! My areas of concern for the son at this time is not his studies; he is career oriented & knows what to do! Moreover, he likes the academic system in that country! For two years, in his 11th & 12th standards, he absolutely did not study but only concentrated on getting into that country's academic structure! Or did he wish to leave home? That we will never know! That he does not behave like other kids is what hurts me! 

I DID NOTHING MAJOR TODAY; YET I COULD NOT KEEP UP WITH THE TIME!

I did the shopping for my weekend cooking today instead of a Friday! Tomorrow morning I have some cooking, hence! No, I would not be cooking for a client, I do not get orders! I would not beat the bush for it; if I get one suitable, I would deliver! This is my status as of now! I wish to earn a little something but I do not know how to! I went to the market around 10:15 am & came back around 11:50 am! I shopped locally, unwilling to go to the Bengali or Indian market! What is the point? Do I get fresh supply of my choice of fish? Here too I did not get! For the past four weeks, not a single fish vendor here got a bhola / poa mach, the islanders eat yellow croaker actually! The NTUC sells fresh, small rui mach these day that I may have but T cannot have! Next week may be I would get one for myself & pomfret or salmon for them! There is hardly any issue with the vegetables, the local wet market is keeping "echor" too now a days. May be that is for the Southern Indian clients; had they have eaten the fresh water fish, we could have gotten them! Southern India eats small sized rui & ilish that most of the Bengalis do not fancy! Back home what I was doing I did not get, the clock struck 1:30pm & it started raining! A 2.4km walk to buy produce is no exercise! I went out around 2.25pm & it started raining again! Oh! I cooked my lunch, upma & had it too before going out! 

I prefer a Bengali salted semolina bowl with different vegetables or just with potatoes cooked in a little of oil! My existing blogpost has it but because I named it upma, I need to change the pictures! Hence, today I used ghee & peanuts in good amount, indigestion was inevitable! I would change the pictures tomorrow! Because of the rain, I could not walk, also I was wearing my slippers! I was loitering at the  market shops near home, it's a shedded area! I sat & had a spicy steamed bun & an Ayataka drink; the chilled sugar free tea cured my indigestion! 

Across the Atlantic, I did not see food stalls every few metres & people sitting in them until 10pm! The quite neighbourhood seemed strange to someone who lived in DumDum for few decades, now in an island that has food courts every 200 metres, a mall attached to the maximum of the metro rail stations! Our child is preferring there more! Anyway, we went as tourists, we would not be able to give a proper picture! But how cum kids' lives there are full of activities but not a single child is seen playing in front of their homes! Here the kids go down in the common areas to play!

WHAT IS THIS KALOJEEREY THOR CHIREY?

Because this is an Asian country, vegetables eaten are quite similar as that of what Bengal consumes! Okay, the native islanders do not eat Thor / Bharali / Banana Stem but the Southern Indians eat who have a strong presence here, specially the Tamils! Their way of cooking it is different from our's, I do not get how they cook banana stem so quick; our's is a time consuming recipe! But I must admit I enjoy their Poriyal dishes! The problem is not any eatery or restaurant would be able to serve the right kind of homely food of the region it is representing! In this lifetime, I had the wish to serve people authentic Bengali food but I do not have the business acumen. I laugh out loud when people here claim they are the first to provide Bengali Food in the island! I can make them get 2 out of 10 in a quiz conducted on Bengali Food, but I dislike debates! Banana Stem stir fry recipe was regular in our home; cooking it with chirey / beaten rice may be was rare! I do not remember every incident that clear! KALOJEEREY THOR CHIREY is a regular, rustic, vegan, gluten-free recipe with banana stem & beaten rice using minimal spices! The use of kalojeerey / nigella seeds & dry red chilli is significant, the flavour is unique of Bengal!

INGREDIENTS :

BANANA STEM  STALK / STAND : 500-600 GM

BEATEN RICE : 1 MEDIUM TEA CUP SIZE

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 3-4

DRY RED CHILLI : 3-4

BAY LEAF : 1-2

NIGELLA SEED : 1/4 -12 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1/2 TSP [OPTIONAL]

PROCEDURE :

We would discard the fibrous outer shell & take the inner white, hard thing!

We slice off the two ends, then slice the rest & cut into thin strips! The challenge is to take off the fibres each time we slice! Cristine did the entire dressing work!

Our family veterans cut way thin with a "boti" & never boil them in a cooker! I had seen they soaked the strips in salty water for sometime, washed & drained; again added salt & squeezed hard with fingers before starting to cook for longer period at low heat!

We cannot cut so thin with a knife or do not have the patience! I use pressure cooker to boil!

I had washed & soaked the banana stem strips for half an hour & then took in a pressure cooker, added salt & turmeric!

We closed tight the lid & pressure cooked at minimal heat up to 3-4 whistles!  We would let the lid open naturally!

We would drain the residual water completely & wash again!

We would wash & drain the beaten rice once & drain the water!

We would temper the heated oil with the nigella seeds, bay leaves, halved dried red chillies, bay leaves!

We would add the boiled & strained strips; sprinkle a little of salt, slitted green chillies & stir cook at low heat for 4-5 minutes!

We would add the beaten rice, fold in well & stir fry for 3-4 minutes, add the sugar or jaggery, stir again & we would be done with!

It is good if we use the hard variety of the beaten rice, they remain like rice, mine got a little of mushy!

We eat it with steamed rice, would go with chapati too! Everything on the platter is authentic Bengali & lovable!

MIXED MILLET ROTI

I HAVE TO RESCHEDULE THE BLOG WRITING TIME!

For a pretty one hour, I am struggling to keep my eyes open! What you see in the picture did I have for lunch, quite heavy! Okay, not all of those hand rolled breads I had! Because I wished to blog about them, I prepared quite a few, stored the rest to have in the days coming! All of a sudden I felt like cooking those & get to the blog today itself! The entire morning I was working in the hedge, treating my plants with a homemade spray, it rains here everyday & they get fungal infection! Mine hardly get proper sunlight! Cristine had to go out for few hours & I do not like to dump all of the utensils used in the sink! Finishing off with everything took the clock to 2 pm! It was raining all of the morning & still cloudy! Well, that was not the time to go out for a walk or swim; I had to edit & arrange the pictures for this blogpost, had to take shower & offer lunch to my God Family! Would I get time to dance for a while pre-dinner?

TWO ROTIS WERE NOT HEAVY BUT THE AMOUNT OF SIDE DISHES WERE EXCESS!

The amount of cabbage sabzi is for two people; in a normal scenario, I would not have taken out the chicken either! I took them out for a photo feature, if I keep them back they would get spoiled! Cristine told she would eat outside! She loves our food but has an addiction for noodles. I go against my principle & get her instant cup noodles which I think should not be had regular! The son too loves it & I would want him to buy it but have fresh from a takeaway joint than storing cup noodles at home! Few years back, I would have at times, now totally stopped! Its either a fresh bowl of noodle soup for me at an eatery or homemade! T used to enjoy noodles when young, he would take me to the restaurants & order it, these days he eats but would not crave for it! In fact, he no more craves for food! I wish I could be him! But in life, you have to have some kind of a passion & that for food is harmless! 

I seriously did not add any sleeping pill to the Dalia Kheer dessert but immediately after having that I was unable to keep my eyes open! When I think of my contribution to this world & in the family been zero, it hurts! At least T had to love eating for me to feel my life as important or the son had to love staying on the other side of the wall or say, "tui ashbi Amar kachey every six months"!

WHAT IS THIS MIXED MILLET ROTI? 

I am a rustic at heart! You see, in a first world country I picked up and planted something on my pot that is not considered edible here; that surely for a nostalgia, a family love for kharkol pata!

I have uprooted all of them given we have eaten enough; they refuse to leave me, have grown from nothing! I have two to three standing recipes about it to share but people have to help me get those, their actions must be good enough to inspire me! I had another Bengali recipe on my mind to share today about banana stem, then changed my mind this midmorning! This MIXED MILLET ROTI has used three varieties of millet flours; bajra / pearl millet flour; jowar / sorghum flour; ragi / finger millet flour! What I do is mix them together & store in a container! This family is typical Bengali when it comes to the choice of flour; the men, also Cristine wants refined flour the most, on my insistence they eat wholewheat roti; these days I add a little of the millet flours to the wholewheat flour and use the dough! For myself, I had been trying millet flour alone flatbreads for long! Also, I wished to blog about a vegan, gluten-free flatbread! After several failed attempts, I saw a reel & also a video by a vegetarian co-blogger from this island to cook the millet flour before preparing the dough! I followed the co-blogger & got this! 

INGREDIENTS :

BAJRA / PEARL MILLET FLOUR : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

JOWAR / SORGHUM FLOUR : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

RAGI / FINGER MILLET FLOUR : 1/4 COFFEE MUG

SALT : 1/2 TSP

WARM WATER : 1-1 1/2 COFFEE MUG

PROCEDURE :

I roasted the mixed millet flour varieties at low heat for 4-5 minutes. Thereafter, I added some warm water! Remember, our aim is a paste like consistency & not a liquid or semi-liquid batter!

I constantly stir cooked at low heat for 6-7 minutes & took down on a bowl!

I had let it cool a bit, added more of the millet flour & kneaded it for a pretty 8-9 minutes while it was still warm!

I dusted more of the millet flour to the small portion I took out from the dough prepared and smoothened between the palm!

I pressed lightly the rolling pin to give each a round shape; hard pressing would break them!

There were breakage on some, whilst some puffed up perfect; that made me decide to blog about them!

There can be umpteen number of vegetarian & non-vegetarian side dishes to go with the vegan, gluten-free roti!

TOMATO CHILLI SAUCE

WHY A CONDIMENT SHARE TODAY?

There is no particular reason, some 3-4 years back I took interest in preparing homemade condiments! Whilst scrolling the Google Album yesterday, I stopped at the pictures of this sauce. I felt the urge to redo the sauce & click fresh pictures! I did not prepare a sauce in between! Early 2020, the pandemic left us numb, we were cooking for bare sustenance; okay, in my home you can say I cooked tasty meals with the minimal ingredients sourced locally! My men cannot have rice with bitter gourd & pumpkin alone! Thereafter, the son left home & I am still coping up with the void created! He was born & I lost my job! At that time, we did not even think of staying without him for hours; the matter was delicate given his father was sailing at the time! After 21 years, you would not question your child what solution he has for his mother, the father at least has a job! That is wrong of a parent! Set your kids free, as long as they are aiming to do good in life; not partying every other day & wasting your hard earned money; you should be happy! If you have a mental ailment as mine, you have to live with it! I keep telling my son everyday I miss him but never question your son or daughter's decisions unless you see they are misusing the liberty given to them! Our child was doing poor in the computer science, we told him to drop it & concentrate on the Business Administration part; he got us A grades in CA; I loved his determination which I have always lacked! Had I have strived for the better, I would not have been a sit at home today doing nothing!

THE WEATHER IS COOLER, I FEEL LAZIER!

Today again I did not go out! I was swimming but with a fear! There was thunder & lightening, Coach Joe warned me not to swim in such a weather! Yesterday evening too I went for a walk in the heavy rain! I need to do some kind of a cardio five days a week as I do no HIIT or similar! After a Hilsa & pakora lunch, I had a 5$ churro & coffee combo at the Guzman Y Gomez! One good thing is that their coffee is sans any amount of sugar & I asked not to dust the powdered cinnamon & sugar on the churros! However, without the duo, there is no point having a churro!

It was raining, I was walking in the shedded market area, bought stuffs more than walking! Back home I see the existing television been replaced by a gigantic one! I am told it came for free with a specific StarHub connection! I let the bread winner enjoy the little of luxuries he wants in life! But in this small living area, it is not matching! Again it started raining, I feel drowsy after a big plate of vermicelli upma! Because I have nothing else to do, I am having an ever-increasing appetite I believe!

With a left over lentil batter, I also tried some appe pan fritters! They too required oil but way less! I am too uncomfortable working with an air fryer! 

This is how my present life is, highly unproductive unless you give some importance to cooking! With a Cristine at home, I am not even contributing to home making! I am only adding to my weight & width!

The deep fried ones are tastier than this version; this is good too!

WHAT IS THIS TOMATO CHILLI SAUCE?

I am fond of different variety of sauces & pickles with my fries, fritters, starters! I used to watch all of the ad jingles in those days, used to drool at those ripe tomatoes; wondered who used sweeter oranges as claimed for their squash, Druk or Nissan! Those days haunt me & this I think is a clear sign of aging! I enjoy living in the present too! I am a misfit in this smart, fast paced world; because I do not interact much, I can stay in my own comfort zone! For the past two years, I am not cooking much of a variety! The son has taken with him a major part of my energy & attention! I have a couple of pickle recipes to share with you too! I love my share of spicy sauces, not really a ketchup! However, the store-bought sauces have a lot of sugar in them! I fear more the artificial preservatives used! In this vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian TOMATO CHILLI SAUCE, I did not use any preservative & taste enhancer. In my neighbourhood wet market; I get fresh, ripe tomatoes at a good price!

INGREDIENTS :

RIPE TOMATO : 1.5-2 KG

FAT BIG SIZED RED CHILLI : 7-8 [choose your's]

SUGAR : 2-3 TBSP

KASHMIRI RED CHILLI POWDER : 2 TSP

CORN FLOUR : 2 TBSP

VINEGAR : 2-3 TBSP [ALTERNATIVELY USE 4-5 TBSP OF LEMON JUICE]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

PROCEDURE : 

The quality of the tomatoes & red chillies have to be really good! 

We would wash & cut the tomatoes & the red chillies, take them in a pressure cooker!

We would add some water and a little of salt to it! 

Closing tight the cover & lid, we would pressure cook at the minimal temperature up to 2-3 whistles!

Once the lid opens by itself; we would take the pressure cooked tomato & chillies in a blender & let cool! We will reserve the water.

We would blend it to a paste, add that reserved water a bit and strain well.

We would transfer the extract to a sauce pan & add the sugar & Kashmiri red chilli powder to it!

We would put for boil the paste & keep the heat at low! We would keep stirring! We also have to adjust the salt & the sugar at this stage of cooking, if required!

When the sauce gets thicker & the colour turns darker, we would add the corn flour to the remaining water and beat well! We would add it to the simmering sauce to get an even thicker consistency.

Add the vinegar & simmer it for few more minutes stirring constantly. Once cool, completely, use a funnel to transfer it to  a properly cleaned, dry bottle! 

Because it is homemade, store it always in the refrigerator & try to use up within a month or two! We have used vinegar as a preservative, hence!