Aam'er Luchi - Mango Luchis from Pragyasundari Devi

It's no secret that I have started studying Bengali food seriously as of the last few years. I've been trying to learn as much as I can from every available source that I can find. And there's a lot out there! But there's one source that just sings to me, calls me back often, makes me work my way through the Bengali script instead of breezing through others that are written in English and are so much easier to follow - and that is my set of the two volume  Amish O Niramish Ahaar by Pragyasundori Devi.

First published in the beginning of the 1900s this book is like a text book and I have found it ideal as a learner who needed to understand the basics before venturing into the more elaborate stuff. From these volumes I have cleared many of my basic doubts, and understood a lot about the foundations of the cuisine in general.

I did a live demo of a recipe I learned from the book today and I'm sharing that here. The recipe is for "Aam'er Luchi" or luchi with mango. Luchis are the Bengali style of puris made with maida or all purpose flour in contrast to the more common whole wheat ones. Bengalis love white flour and we have many preparations using it. Here's the recipe for luchi. Aam'er luchi has not only aam or mango but a few other interesting ingredients as well and isn't just a luchi recipe with aam added to the mix.

I am reproducing the recipe given by Pragyasundori Devi in her book with no changes. This recipe makes around 20 to 25 luchis depending on how big or small you roll them.

Aam'er Luchi 

375 gms Maida (all purpose flour)
2 tsp ghee
30 gms chhana
3/4 cup mango pulp
fresh coconut milk as required (approx 3/4 to 1 cup)

ghee for frying

I made the chhana at home. You can also use really soft and fresh malai paneer.
I used the pulp from two smallish Hapus mangoes. After removing the flesh from the mangoes I whizzed it in my food processor to get a smooth puree.
I used coconut milk from a tetrapak. You can always use fresh if you prefer, or make some from coconut powder. Whatever works for you!

To make the dough for the luchis start by incorporating the chhana into the maida. Mash the chhana as finely as you can with your fingers pressing to flatten the granules as much as possible. Add maida a little at a time to the chhana and keep mixing and kneading till all the maida is used up. You will end up with a crumbly mixture. The chhana must mix with the maida really well so you ultimately have a smooth and lump-free dough. Take your time to do this step properly.
Once the chhana is mixed in well add the ghee and mix it in properly.
Next, start mixing in the mango pulp.

Once the mango pulp is mixed in start adding the coconut milk and knead till you have a soft dough. Use as much coconut as is required. Your dough should be smooth and soft with no stickiness at all. Knead the dough for several minutes, work it well.

  

Make small balls of the dough and roll out luchis around 6 inches in diameter. 

Heat ghee in a kadai and fry the luchis. Properly hot ghee will ensure your luchis fluff up nicely. Regulate the heat or the ghee will burn. 

Pragyasundari Devi doesn't mention what the luchis should be served with. My husband recommended we have them with something savoury. Luckily I had cooked a whole chicken in Indian spices with a nice gravy so we enjoyed the two together. I have to say it was a perfect pairing! 

Oven Roasted Mangalore Chicken Ghee Roast

Roast chicken is something I make really often. It's easy to do and the variations are unlimited so one never gets bored. So once again I had a full chicken waiting to be roasted and I was casting around for inspiration. And I chanced upon Shriya Shetty's Mangalore Chicken Ghee Roast done roast chicken style.

Shriya (@chiashetts on Instagram) runs a restaurant and a bakery in Mangalore and does pop ups wherever she gets a chance. She also makes Mangalore Ghee Roast Masala for sale, in small batches (which gets sold out super fast!). This is just the kind of inspiration I was looking for and much to my delight, I also had packets of her utterly delicious home made ghee roast masala in the fridge.

Oven Roasted Mangalore Chicken Ghee Roast

1 whole chicken, skin on
4 onions
1 packet Mangalore Ghee Roast Masala
Salt
Ghee


Wash the chicken inside and out and pat it dry.

Slice two onions and halve the other two

Make gashes in the fleshy parts of the chicken to allow salt and the masala to penetrate properly. First sprinkle salt all over the bird and inside the cavity too. Now apply the ghee roast masala all over the chicken not forgetting the cavity. Tuck in masala under the skin wherever possible. Work gently so you don't tear the skin.

Refrigerate the chicken covered and let it marinate for a few hours or even overnight.

When you're ready to roast, remove the chicken from the fridge and bring it up to room temperature.
Preheat the oven at 150C.

Place the sliced onions in a layer in a baking dish spread just enough for the chicken to sit on. Tuck in the halved onions into the cavity of the bird and then place the bird in the baking dish. Drizzle ghee all over the chicken. Cover the dish as tightly as possible with aluminium foil.

Put the baking dish on an oven tray and set it to roast for an hour at 150C. Let the bird cook long and slow for juicy and tender results. If the chicken is large, cook for longer.

You can check for doneness in between - just be careful while handling the hot and heavy baking dish. To check, pierce a fleshy portion near the bone like the thigh with a sharp knife. If the juices run clear you chicken is cooked. Baste with melted ghee when you open to check.

Remove the foil and roast the chicken for another 15 to 20 minutes to finish the cooking (sometimes the meat around the cavity stays a little under done) and to crisp the outside. Remove the onions from the cavity at this point and place them in the baking dish to caramelise a little while the chicken cooks.

I served this oven roasted ghee roast with neer dosas I ordered from a local restaurant.

There is a certain joy in sitting at the table with a dish of  roast chicken redolent of ghee and masala and a pile of neer dosas picking out bits of succulent roast and crisp skin while mopping up that incredible ghee, onions, and masala 'gravy' with soft neer dosas. Aaah!

Kheema Rajma - Kidney Beans with Mince

Cooking rajma well depends largely on the rajma beans themselves, on how good they are. I have struggled to cook rajma to that magical buttery consistency all my life and had in fact, stopped trying for several years.  A friend recently gave me a big bag of pahadi rajma and I decided to give it another try. Many friends shared their tips and tricks and using that advice I tried again.

The rajma cooked so well, to that perfect creamy consistency, that I decided to make the final dish a little more special. And so I made Kheema Rajma and we had a superb lunch :)  I didn't need to cook the rajma for several whistles of the cooker (I never cook that way!) nor for hours on a slow flame. These rajmas were so good they cooked quickly in the pressure cooker, simmered for around half an hour once the cooker whistled. The secret to cooking rajma is using really good rajma.

Kheema Rajma 

1 cup pahadi rajma
2-3 green chillies
1 inch ginger
4-5 cloves garlic
1 tsp ghee

250 gms mutton kheema
2 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2-3 green chillies
1 star anise
2 inch cinnamon
2-3 Indian bay leaves
salt
sugar
turmeric
jeera powder
kashmiri chili powder
1 tsp Bengali garam masala or your preferred blend
Tomato ketchup
fresh coriander, chopped
mustard oil

Wash the rajma and soak it for around 12 hours. Drain out the water a couple of times in the course of the soaking and soak in fresh water.

Marinate the mince with salt and ginger garlic paste.

Once the rajma has soaked for enough time drain and pressure cook with enough water along with the ginger, garlic cloves, green chillies and ghee. Once the cooker whistles lower the heat and simmer for half an hour. Let the pressure come down on its own after you switch off the heat. If the rajma isn't cooked to the correct softness cook it further till it's done.

In a wok heat mustard oil and drop in the whole spices and green chilles. Let them sizzle for around 30 seconds and then add the chopped onions and a generous pinch of sugar. Saute till the onions turn translucent and then add the tomatoes and the ginger garlic paste. Stir well and fry till the tomatoes blend in. Add the dry spices and a splash of water, and cook till the oil is released. Stir frequently so nothing burns.

Add the marinated mince to this onion tomato mix. Break up any lumps that form and cook the mince for a good 10 minutes till the spices have mixed in well.

Now add the boiled rajma including the water it was boiled in. Add salt and bring the whole to a boil. Smash some of the rajma with the back of a ladle; this will thicken the gravy. Simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Add a good splash of tomato ketchup while simmering. Taste and adjust salt as required. Add chopped fresh coriander just before taking the kheema rajma off the heat.

Serve with hot rice.

Pui Chingri

The vegetable market in Nerul is one of my favourite markets - first of all, it's not a concrete building but a neatly laid out grid of old fashioned stalls covered with tarpaulin. The paths between the stalls are uneven and the whole affair is rough and rustic. One jostles other shoppers, avoids the odd rotting veggie on the floor, and tries to catch the attention of the vendor as he attends to other customers, weighs produce, takes payments, and generally goes about his business. There are no aseptic aisles with neatly packaged produce on shiny, well lit shelves. Not that I don't enjoy a trip to the supermarket, but supermarkets don't have that energetic vibe of a proper street market, do they?

I had slid into the habit of buying groceries and even vegetables and fruit online - there's no match for the convenience that affords - but after a few months I was itching to be out there in the market, in the middle of that magical atmosphere surrounded by people, noise, and piles of fresh produce.

I waited for the hubby's day off from work and dragged him off to the market. The monsoons have just hit Maharashtra and fresh greens and seasonal vegetables are now flowing back into the markets. As I wandered among the stalls I came to the one that sells fresh leafy greens of every variety along with an excellent selection of 'videshi' or foreign produce - broccoli, basil, asparagus, parsley, etc., which are now as mundane as carrots and potatoes. As I looked at the leafy greens I saw many I had never cooked/eaten/seen before. So I thought to myself, why not try something new, and picked up a bunch of basella or Malabar spinach, what we Bengalis call Pui.

Leafy greens are commonly used in Bengali recipes and you will find both vegetarian (in fact, vegan) and non vegetarian preparations. Fish and prawns are often stir fried with seasonal greens, lightly tempered with paanch phoron, or just mustard or nigella seeds, or combinations of the same with green chillies, etc., accompanied with vegetables like red pumpkin, potatoes, green peas, brinjals, etc. I decided to make Pui Chingri, a dish I had heard about but never eaten.

Pui Chingri 

15 Prawns 

1 bunch Pui or malabar spinach 

1 Large potato 

1/2 tsp Paanch phoron 

3 Green chillies 

Turmeric 

Salt 

Mustard oil

Shell and devein the prawns, and wash.

Marinate the drained prawns in salt and turmeric

Clean the pui - pick out wilted leaves and discard the very thick, woody bits of stem. Chop and wash the pui greens in plenty of water. Drain in a colander.

Cut the potato into medium sized cubes.

Heat mustard oil in a wok and fry the prawns for a minute till they turn opaque. Remove to a dish.

In the same oil fry the cubed potatoes till they get slightly browned. Remove to the same plate with the prawns.

Add a little more mustard oil to the wok if required and let it heat up. Drop in the green chillies and follow with the paanch phoron.

Once the spices sizzle add the washed and drained pui leaves and tender stalks. Stir it all well till most of the leaves have begun to wilt. Add salt and a little turmeric, cover and cook on a low flame for a few minutes.

Add the fried potatoes and cook further. Don't add any water - the pui will release enough to cook the potatoes. Stir well and cook till the potatoes are nearly done.

Add the prawns to the wok and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook for a minute. If there's too much water in the wok leave off the cover and dry it off till it's minimal.

Serve the Pui Chingri with a simple daal and hot rice.

The pui greeens didn't seem to have much of an inherrent flavour but I still liked the dish and so did the hubby. Smaller prawns would be ideal for this as they pack tons of flavour and would certainly enhance the dish. Teamed with a simple masoor daal and plain white rice, this made for a lovely mid week dinner and the husband has packed the leftovers in his office dabba. Now if that isn't a stamp of approval I don't know what is!

Begun Pora - Roasted Eggpant Bengali Style

Begun Pora is one of those dishes that every Bengali has encountered at some time or the other in their life time. Like most vegetarian preparations of Bengali cuisine this is another exceptionally simple recipe that's big on flavour and taste, and therefore enjoys cult status.

Years ago when my Didin's sisters cooked on 'koyla'r unoon' or coal fed clay ovens the begun pora was made frequently. That flavour, of course, simply cannot be recreated on a gas stove, and even less in an electric oven. Still, for apartment inhabiting urban dwellers like us the only way to get a relatively good smokey begun pora is to roast it on the open gas flame. Yes, cleaning up after the roasting is a pain but then - no pain no begun pora!

There are many variations to the basic theme of roasted eggplants spiced up and served with rotis or parathas, across Indian cuisines. Some add a medley of spices, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and even curd. The version I like best, probably because that's what I grew up eating, is where the roasted eggplant is simply mashed up and mixed with raw onions, green chillies, fresh coriander, salt, and of course, mustard oil. There is no further cooking beyond roasting the eggplant till it is charred and the flesh is translucent. The smoked flavour dominates, the chillies add punch, the onions give crunch and texture, the coriander makes it fresh and vibrant, and the mustard oil stamps it as clearly Bengali.

Begun Pora

1 large 'bharta' Eggplant
1 medium onion, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped fine
A few sprigs fresh coriander leaves, chopped fine
salt
mustard oil

Wash and dry the eggplant and then make four cuts from the tip to the base, leaving the stalk in place. If it's a really large eggplant make a few stabs in the four quarters just to help it roast quicker. Take a little mustard oil in your palm and coat the eggplant inside and out with the oil. Do this carefully so you don't break off any quarter from the stalk.

Roast the eggplant slowly over the gas flame. It took this one around 20 minutes to roast - I reduced the flame often so it would cook right through and not just burn on the outside. Make sure you monitor the roasting process - Not only can the eggplant burn, the gas flame might also go off because of the juices dripping from the eggplant. So pay attention and NEVER leave it unsupervised. Check the eggplant occasionally by inserting a knife into the flesh to see if it is cooked. The flesh should change colour and become translucent till right inside.

Once it's done take it off the flame and leave it in a plate or wide vessel to cool. Once it's cooled enough to handle peel off the charred peel of the eggplant.

Now add salt, a hefty slug of mustard oil, the chopped onions (chop the onions smallish - not too fine but not coarse either or they will be a little jarring as you eat), chillies, and coriander leaves and mash it up all up and mix well.

Break up the eggplant flesh as much as you can. Once it's all mixed just have a quick taste and adjust salt if required.

Serve the begun pora with hot phulkas or simple parathas. You can add this simple begun pora to a more elaborate menu as a flavourful side dish too.
 

Murg Musallam - A Blast from the Past

Being on food groups on Facebook has one advantage - you never know when you might chance upon a recipe that you simply can't wait to try, or one that brings a flood of long forgotten memories with it. Yesterday I saw a post about Murg Musallam and the first thing I thought was 'this is something the brother loved when we were kids'. I don't have any specific memories of the dish itself but I remember hearing about it from him and I remember his excitement over a chicken cooked whole, his eyes big and round and filled with wonder. It wasn't something that was ever cooked in our house but since we had many Muslim neighbours we were not deprived :)

I waited patiently for the recipe to be shared once I had read it I knew I had to try it out. It sounded pretty straightforward and, with a couple of my own variations, I knew I would enjoy making it and eating it too. This is Imbesat's recipe for Murg Musallam that I used as my guide. I have made very minor changes to her recipe based on my personal taste and preference but on the whole the recipe is quite the same.

Murg Musallam

1 chicken, whole, without skin

Marinade
salt
garlic paste
curd

Stuffing
Raisins
cashews
fried onions
lemon juice
salt
sugar
ghee
3 boiled eggs

Paste
3 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup fried onions
2 handfuls garlic, peeled
2" piece fresh ginger
3-4 strands mace
2" cassia bark
5 cardamom pods
5 cloves
2 tbsp poppy seeds

For the gravy
ghee
Kashmiri chilli powder
freshly powdered pepper
3 Indian bay leaves
curd
water
salt

Rinse the chicken inside and out and then marinate with salt, curd and garlic paste for a couple of hours, or overnight if you have planned ahead.

In the mean time get the stuffing and the curry paste organised.

For the stuffing heat ghee in a small pan and fry the cashews and the raisins lightly. Boil two or three eggs, depending on how large the cavity in the chicken is. Peel and lightly fry the eggs. Slice a large onion finely and deep fry till it is a deep golden brown. Drain well. In a bowl mix the fried onions, cashews and raisins with a little salt, sugar and a generous slug of lemon juice.

To make the curry paste gather all the ingredients and grind them to a paste. I did it in two batches in the chutney grinder attachment of my food processor.

It takes around an hour to cook the chicken so depending on when you want to serve give yourself a little more than an hour before serving time. It's easier if you have someone to help you while stuffing and then trussing the chicken. The marinade makes it slippery and messy and therefore a little hard to handle!

I found that I couldn't stuff even two eggs into the chicken without them popping out at every chance making it impossible to truss. I was alone while cooking this. I took a chance and chopped one egg into large chunks and mixed it with the remaining stuffing. Then I pushed in as much of the stuffing, barring the other boiled eggs, into the cavity of the bird. Ideally I should have been able to plug the hole with a full egg but the hole was too big. I trussed the chicken as tightly as I could and pushed in a boiled egg later. Try to close the cavity as best as you can so the stuffing doesn't fall out while frying the chicken.

Heat a generous amount of ghee in a thick bottomed vessel. Place the trussed chicken in the hot ghee gently and let it brown on all sides. This should take around 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. In the same ghee that's in the pot put in the curry paste. Add some more ghee if required. Fry the paste well for a few minutes. At this stage add the chilli powder, bay leaves, pepper and salt. Stir around and cook the paste well. Add a cup or so of fresh curd and mix it in well. Cook for another couple of minutes.

Put the chicken back in the pot and pour in a cup of water. Blend the paste into the water. Add more water if you need to. Bring to a gentle boil, spoon some of the spice paste over the chicken, and then cover and let it cook on a low flame till done.

Succulent chicken blanketed in a thick luscious gravy, serve your Murg Musallam with hot parathas.

This is a relatively easy dish that would be a hit at parties and potlucks. Make extra stuffing and serve it on the side with extra boiled eggs too.

Marathon Bloggers 

Sheermal - My First Indian Bread

Things have been a bit hectic for me and one of the things that got seriously neglected was the monthly bread baking with the We Knead to Bake group. I have missed five or six months of baking for one reason or another and I had to get back into it or the year would be gone and I would have hardly baked this year. I joined the WKTB group to learn different kinds of bread and to practice and learn new techniques. I was doing nothing, much to my disappointment. Well, there's no way to get back on to wagon apart from doing just that - getting back on. And so this month I'm back on the WKTB wagon, barely by the skin of my teeth.

The chosen bread for November is Sheermal. A mildly sweet, soft flat bread, sheermal has saffron and milk in it and can be quite rich because of the addition of ghee/butter and egg. This beautiful bread is commonly eaten in the regions spanning Persia, across the Indian sub-continent, as far as Bangladesh.

Incredibly easy to make, sheermal takes approximately three hours in all, including proving time. This is the recipe Aparna gave the WKTB group and I followed it mostly to the T. The only change I made was instead of rose water or kewra essence I used Orange Blossom water which comes from the Middle East. I didn't have rose water or kewra essence and I was looking for a chance to use the Orange blossom water anyway and the sheermal gave me the perfect opportunity.

Sheermal

2 1/4 cups sifted flour or maida
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup ghee
1 egg
1 -2 tsp Orange Blossom water
1/2 cup milk
a generous pinch of saffron strands

In a cup add the yeast to the warm water along with the sugar, if you're using active dry yeast or fresh yeast. This has become such an automatic step for me that I do it even with instant yeast though it's not necessary.

In your mixing bowl pour in the flour and sprinkle the salt and mix lightly. Now add the yeast mix and stir to combine. Beat the egg lightly and then add it to the flour mix. Give it a stir and now start adding the ghee a little at a time. Continue mixing till the ingredients come together to look like large crumbs. You can do this in a food processor if you have one. I didn't add all the ghee as I didn't require it.

Now add the milk a little at a time and bring the dough together. Once the dough formed a rough ball I took it out onto my work surface and kneaded it for a good 10 minutes adding milk, a little at a time, to ultimately get a beautiful and soft dough. I didn't use up all the milk either. I brushed my mixing bowl with a little ghee and put in the dough to prove. Cover the bowl with a damp napkin and leave it in a warm place, undisturbed.

Soak the saffron strands in a little warmed milk.

Once the dough has doubled (this can take anything from an hour to two hours) punch it down gently and knead for a couple of minutes. Put it back in the mixing bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Set the oven to preheat to 180C.

Remove the rested dough onto your work surface and divide into four portions. Shape each into a ball. Gently flatten each ball to form a disc approximately 6 inches across. Brush the top with the saffron and milk generously and then prick the entire surface neatly with a fork. Place the prepared discs on your baking tray and bake at 180C for 12 to 15 minutes till the sheermal turns a beautiful golden colour.

Brush with butter as soon as you take them out of the oven. Serve with your evening chai or with a spicy gravy main course for dinner. I'm going to make some chicken to go with my sheermal :)

We Knead to Bake #22

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Dohneiiong - Pork with Black Sesame, from Meghalaya

A few days ago I went for an incredible lunch that featured the cuisines of the north eastern states of India. From aperitif to dessert, it was a wonderful gastronomic tour of seven states and I learned a lot about the cuisines of this region. I think the biggest lesson I took home with me is the fact that momos are not from the North East. They're from Tibet and Nepal, although they have penetrated into many regions of India, not just the NE.

Given my love for pork, I was quite thrilled to see a dish featuring my favourite meat on the menu. That wasn't all - we also saw a demonstration of how this dish was made. The recipe was shared with us and I am going to share it here on my blog for one very simple reason - you will find the ingredients anywhere and quite easily. There's no exotic ingredient that you have to beg your friends to bring back from their home in the NE.

Dohneiiong - Pork with Black Sesame by Gitika Saikia

Half kilo pork belly
100 gms black sesame seeds. Roasted and powdered
1 onion, sliced
2 tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste
3 - 4 green chillies, chopped
1 tbsp red chilli paste
1 tbsp turmeric powder
mustard oil
salt

Boil the pork belly and cut into largeish cubes.

In a thick bottomed pot or casserole dish heat a few tablespoons of mustard oil till it smokes. Reduce the heat and chuck in the sliced onions. Let it fry stirring it once in a while. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another couple of minutes. Once the onions have changed colour add the pork cubes, chillies and the chilli paste. Stir well and mix properly. Add the salt and the turmeric too. Saute on a medium flame and let the pork cook for a good 10 - 15 minutes.

Mix a little water into the sesame powder to make a thin slurry. Pour this into the pork. Water is added to the sesame powder to make it easier to mix it into the pork, so don't use too much water. Now cover the pot and let it cook for another 5 minutes or so. Give it a stir once in a while and it will be ready to serve as soon as the water is gone and the oil is released.

This tastes best served with sticky rice but you can enjoy it with whatever rice you make at home.

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Slow Cooked Mutton Chops with Caramelised Onions

Mutton chops are of two kinds - the potato covered croquette like ones like these, and the delicious cut of meat that I cooked for dinner.

These babies were lying in my freezer forever. I had marinated them and bunged them in hoping to cook them soon but somehow the opportunity just never came. Today we had nothing on the agenda and dinner was going to be at home. I had these out and thawing and they were ready to be cooked in a few hours. The initial plan had been a sort of gravy and I had planned to fool around with poppy seed paste and other bits and pieces but somehow I wasn't in the mood for something fussy. So the chops ended up being slowly pan fried with a generous handful of sliced onions.

Grilled Chops with Caramelised Onions

Marinate a few chops with curd, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric, cumin powder, a good dash of coriander powder, and your favourite garam masala blend. Let it marinate for a good six hours or overnight in your fridge.

Slice a couple of onions finely. In a flat non stick pan heat a couple of tablespoons of any neutral oil. Once the oil is hot add the onions and fry gently till they begin to turn pink. Add the chops and fry on high heat for a couple of minutes turning the chops to sear all sides.

Lower the heat and cover the pan with a lid that fits. Let the chops cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. Turn them over and cover and cook again for another 10 to 15 minutes. Add any marinade that's left in the bowl. Don't add any water.  Let the chops cook on low heat as slowly as possible. Mine took around an hour to cook. Just check occasionally to ensure that nothing's getting burned.

The chops will have no gravy, just the darkly caramelised onions that have absorbed the marinade and the flavours of the meat.

Serve these as a starter on their own. Be sure to add some of the onions to each serving. Eat with your fingers and I promise you, you will lick them clean. A simple no fuss dish, slowly cooked. Poetry on a plate.

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Gajar ka Halwa - Indian Carrot and Milk Pudding

It started towards the end of October - as the weather cooled in the north I saw picture after picture of the delicious red carrots flooding every food group board on Facebook and more often than not, people were making gajar ka halwa with those carrots. 

I have always disliked Gajar ka Halwa. Once again I have a seemingly stupid reason for my dislike. My dad liked to cook and as most men, especially in those days, he was not into making mundane daal, bhaat, torkari, but liked to cook up the fancy and complicated stuff. The fact that slave labour (me) was available inhouse was an added benefit, I'm sure! And so gajar ka halwa featured often. 

I would be duly sent upstairs to our neighbour's house to get their grater. It was a big red plastic bowl with a white grater that fitted on as a lid. 30 years ago it was unusual and uber cool. Anyway, I hated that grater because I'd be the one stuck grating that mountain of carrots. Okay. Honestly, it was probably just a kilo of carrots but to a 9 year old it was a mountain. I'm not surprised that I remember nothing about the process of making the halwa apart from the grating. I seem to have deleted it all out of my memories! 

Well I am past 40 now and I like to think I have grown up enough to get over the trauma of grating those mountains of carrots. And so I set out to make gajar ka halwa myself. No. I didn't grate any carrots - I got my cook to do that part of the job ;)

Having seen tons of Gajar ka Halwa posts on Chef at Large on Facebook I asked for a recipe. The answers were instantaneous and I had a whole load of fool proof recipes to choose from. Ultimately the Hubby selected one that he felt was the most authentic one and it appealed to me too because it had no short cuts.I like to do a recipe the correct way the first time and only after that pare down the method for an easier version for future use. 

Thank you Harpreet Bedi Chadha for sharing your recipe. 

Gajar ka Halwa (with my own tweaks)

2 kg Red carrots, grated

2 lts full fat buffalo milk

5 green cardamom, seeds removed and reserved. 

Pure ghee, as required

Sugar - roughly 1 cup. Use more or less according to how sweet you want the halwa to be

15 blanched and halved almonds

20 raisins and 10 cashew nuts for garnishing. 

Take a thick bottomed largish vessel to make the halwa. 

Put in the grated carrots and the full fat milk and bring both to a boil. Pound the cardamom seeds gently in a mortar and pestle or under a rolling pin and add them to the boiling carrot and milk. Reduce the flame and let the milk get absorbed into the carrots and reduce. 

Stir every few minutes ensuring that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the vessel. This is going to take a few hours so there is no option but to be patient. Keep stirring every five minutes or so.

In the mean time you can peel the blanched almonds and halve them. Put them aside. Heat a little ghee in a separate pan and fry the almonds very lightly. If you're using raisins or cashews, fry them too. Drain out the excess ghee and leave these aside. 

Eventually the milk in the carrot-milk mix will reduce and you will get to the final stages of the halwa. 

Add the sugar and stir well. The sugar will dissolve and the halwa will get watery again. 

Stir away patiently till the halwa reaches a nice thick halwa-like consistency. If you like you can add a few of the raisins and a few nuts (chopped) to the halwa. Pour in the ghee too. Mix well and your halwa is ready. 

Remove to a pretty bowl and decorate with the remaining nuts and raisins. 

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Not Quite Traditional Sorse Narkol Chingri - Prawns in Mustard and Coconut

My sister in law, K's sister, is quite fond of the few Bengali dishes she has eaten at my house and it was quite natural that I would cook something Bengali when she's coming for lunch. She and her kids love prawns and so I decided to make Sorse Narkol diye Chingri or Prawns cooked with Mustard and Coconut.

The mustard and coconut combination is a classic Bengali combination and it is magical with prawns. My recipe is not traditional at all but is my own tweaked version. It's easy, it's delicious, and I usually have all the ingredients at hand.

This is a simple preparation with a few ingredients and that is why it can be tricky, especially with the mustard paste. Be sure to soak the mustard powder before you add it into the prawns. I use the Sunrise mustard powder that's popular in Bengal. I have also had success using the Atlas brand mustard powder which is great for making table mustard and is easily available in Mumbai. Even bottled kashundi works quite well. However, English or French style mustards are not options.

The same sauce can be used to cook fish and paneer too.

Sorse ar Narkol diye Chingri

Prawns, shelled and de-veined
salt
turmeric
chilli powder
jeera or cumin powder
green chillies
2 onions, finely minced
sugar
garlic paste
mustard paste
coconut milk
mustard oil

Marinate the prawns in salt and turmeric powder.

If you're using mustard powder to make your paste soak in water and make a thin batter like paste 15 to 20 minutes in advance.

Heat oil in your wok or kadai and let it get really hot. Reduce the heat and add the green chillies. Slit them if you're okay with the pungency or leave them whole if you just want the milder flavour. Add the chopped onions and fry slowly. The onions must not brown. Add a sprinkle of sugar and let this cook on a relatively low heat for a good five minutes. Add garlic paste and cook for another minute.

Now add the marinated prawns, a dash of chilli powder and some jeera powder. Stir well and let it cook for a minute or so.

Pour in the mustard paste and and stir. And then pour in 200 ml of thick coconut milk. Add a little water if you want a thinner gravy.

Bring it all to a boil and let it bubble till the prawns are done. This should take 3 to 4 minutes at the very most.

Serve hot with plain rice.

Kosha Mangsho with a Bahraini Twist

Kosha Mangsho is one of those quintessential Bengali dishes that you will see on every Bengali restaurant menu and is usually in the repertoire of most Bengali housewives. However, it's not something my Mom ever made and I was introduced to it somewhere in my 20s in a small Bengali restaurant  called Radhika in Pune. Since then I have seen and eaten many versions of this dish and have wanted to try making it myself too.

There seem to be two fundamental points of difference with Kosha Mangsho - a thick minimal gravy versus a a thinner jhol like gravy, and cooked in a pressure cooker or cooked directly in a wok or thick bottomed vessel. Somehow I have always preferred the thicker less gravy version and the non pressure cooker method is after all, the real way to do it - so that's what I did.

I have an inherent inability to follow rules and it was the same with the Kosha Mangsho. Even though I hadn't ever made it myself before, I didn't want it to have the typical Bengali taste and flavour. I was in the mood for something different. So I decided to use the technique and play with the flavours.

I went through my spices in the pantry cupboard and chanced upon the Bahraini Spice mix that my fried Jubal had shared with me. This spice is a beautiful blend of the usual garam masala spices with the added zing of dried lemons that is typical to the area. It works wonderfully with pork and with goat meat and I was sure it would make a killer kosha mangsho.

Here's what the spice bottle looks like. the black streak that you see at the top of the bottle is the dried lemon. You have to empty out the bottle and mix everything up really well. Sorry for this sorry looking image!


Kosha Mangsho with Bahraini Garam Masala

1 kilo goat meat, cut into small pieces

150gms fresh curd/dahi

salt

turmeric

jeera/cumin powder

ginger garlic paste

Bahraini Garam Masala 

mustard oil

3 large onions, chopped really fine

1 star anise

3-4 cardamoms

3 inch piece cassia bark

3 bay leaves

mustard oil

4 potatoes, cut into quarters

Marinate the meat in the first six ingredients and let it sit for as many hours as possible. Marinate overnight if you can, or at least 4 hours. 

I used a thick bottomed biryani deghchi to make the kosha mangsho and it worked perfectly. Use a thick bottomed kadai or wok or just use your pressure cooker as a pan. 

Heat about half a cup of mustard oil till it smokes and then reduce the heat. Fry the potatoes till they are nicely red and then remove and keep aside. In the same oil throw in the whole spices keeping the heat at medium so you don't burn them. Add the finely chopped onions and fry well for about five minutes. Keep the heat on low and let the onions cook slowly. Add half a teaspoon of sugar and stir well. Don't brown the onions, just let them fry slowly till the edges start to turn colour. 

Add the meat pieces one at a time without too much of the marinade. Reserve the marinade. Zap up the heat and braise the meat well. Keep stirring because you don't want to burn the onions. Coat the meat pieces well with the onion mix and braise for five minutes or so. This preparation needs some attention so be prepared to stir and stir! 

Once the meat is well seared you can reduce the heat to medium and add the reserved marinade. The curd in the marinade and the onions will both release water as will the meat so don't add any water to the cooking pot. Use a frugal quarter cup of water to wash out the marinade that's stuck to your bowl and keep it aside. Once you've added the marinade give it all a good mix and cover the pot. Reduce the heat as soon as the liquid in the pot starts to bubble. Let the meat cook in this steam undisturbed for about 10 minutes. 

Add the marinade wash water, give it another good stir and braise covered for another five minutes. You have to keep coming back to stir and add water, very little at a time. This process continues till the meat is cooked. Depending on the quality of the meat this could take anything from 45 minutes to an hour. Add the potatoes when the meat is about 80% done. If they get cooked too soon, remove them to a plate and add them again later. That's what I did. 

Your kosha mangsho is ready once the meat is cooked through and is tender. 

Serve the kosha mangsho with luchis, parathas, or even the wonderful Malabar parathas. 

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Masala Kheema

Both K and I love mutton kheema (minced goat meat) and our favourite way is to cook with potatoes, carrots and peas. This is one dish that regularly features on the Katy's Kitchen tiffin menu and is not very different from what I ate as child at my mother's very Bengali table.

A simple every day sort of dish, you can enjoy it with hot rotis, parathas or even with rice if it's made with a little gravy.

Masala Kheema 

500gms kheema marinated in -

vinegar
salt
turmeric
chilli powder
jeera/cumin powder
ginger garlic paste

1 large carrot, peeled and diced into small cubes
1 large potato, peeled and diced into small cubes
1/2 cup green peas
2 onions chopped fine
1 large tomato chopped
1 tbsp garam masala powder or a meat masala powder
oil
3 - 4 green cardamoms
3 cloves
2 medium bay leaves
1 stick of cassia bark, couple of inches
1/4 tsp shah jeera
2 tbsp tomato ketchup

Marinate the kheema for at least two hours.

Heat oil in your kadai or wok and throw in the whole spices and once they have sizzled add the diced carrots and potatoes. Fry till the potatoes begin to turn colour. Add the onions and a couple of green chillies and fry till the onions start to brown. Throw in the chopped tomato, stir well and then add the marinated kheema. You will have to stir the whole thing for four to five minutes to mix everything well and to break up any clumps of kheema.

Now add the dry spices and a splash of water so the dry powders don't burn. Blend in the spices including the garam masala powder. Add the green peas along with a quarter of a cup of water and then cover the vessel. I use frozen peas. In case you're using fresh peas add them in earlier along with the onions and tomatoes.

Reduce the heat and let it simmer. It will be cooked through in another five minutes or so. Taste and adjust salt if required. Add the tomato ketchup and stir to blend in nicely.

Serve hot with rotis, parathas, pav or even rice.

29 December 2013
Marathon Bloggers

Chicken with Mint, Coriander and Whole Spices

There was a big fat bag of mint glaring at me from the veg basket in the fridge. I don't know what possessed me to buy it when I did but now it was there, staring at me balefully, already ignored for three or four days.

And then Saturday arrived and I wanted to make something nice for lunch. I was in the mood for chicken, especially because it cooks fast and doesn't need a lot of pampering and prep. But that mint wouldn't leave me alone. It refused to wilt away quietly so I could chuck it a few days later with a twinge of regret. So it was going to be mint and chicken. I had no recipe and I wasn't in the mood to drag out the books and hunt. I did what most of us do these days... I shouted for help on Facebook.

Many suggestions and ideas came forth and I went with a recipe a friend sent me in private. A nice low-fuss recipe and I also had everything required for the recipe. I did tweak the recipe and this is what I did though I  mostly followed the original.

Chicken with Mint, Coriander and Whole Spices

1 chicken, cut into pieces, skin removed and discarded
1 -2 tbsp fresh curd
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil

2 large onions, sliced fine
a handful of garlic cloves - use as much garlic as you can handle
1 cup of fresh mint, picked and washed well
1 1/2 cup fresh coriander, picked and washed well
4 -5 green chillies - less or more depending on your heat tolerance
1 inch ginger
1/2 tsp whole cumin/jeera
2 green cardamoms
1 inch cassia bark

oil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp pepper corns
1 inch cassia bark
1 black cardamom
1 mace/javitri
salt

Wash and drain the chicken pieces and then marinate in curd, turmeric and oil. I also added salt.

Make a paste with the mint, coriander, garlic, ginger, green chillies, jeera, cardamom and cassia. I also added about 15 peppercorns here. I reduced the peppercorns used later. Chop the ginger so it doesn't jam the blades of your mixer. Lesson learned today!

In a wok or kadai heat oil and add the whole spices. I just loved the aroma of the javatri as it released its goodness! Once the peppercorns start sizzling and popping add the finely sliced onions. Keep the heat on medium and fry slowly letting the onions turns pink and then ultimately brown. I added a little sugar at this stage.

Once the onions have browned add the ground mint paste. You can grind it as fine as you like - I left it a little coarse because I like that texture. Fry the masala well till the oil separates. Add a little water and let it cook further. Once the oils are released again add the marinated chicken pieces. Coat all the pieces well with the masala and then cover the wok and let the chicken cook. Keep the flame lowered and just be patient, leave it to cook. Give it a stir after 5 minutes or so and add a little salt if you think it's needed.

Veda's recipe calls for two juicy tomatoes cut into chunks to be added to the pot now. I completely forgot! But you can add them. Once the chicken pieces are cooked through take off the lid and let the excess water dry off. Leave a thickish gravy if you prefer or dry it out further.

Serve with hot parathas.

This took barely half an hour to put together and it was really yum.

7 December
Marathon Bloggers 

Kori Gassi - Chicken curry from Mangalore

I'm a fundamentally lazy cook. The very thought of a long laborious process to getting food on the table is enough to dissuade me from cooking the more complicated or just elaborate or time consuming sort of dishes. However, there are those rare moments when a recipe simply calls out to me and my inherent laziness evaporates and I am filled with enthusiasm and energy.

I saw this recipe for Kori Gassi on Ruchik Randhap, one of the first blogs that made me literally drool all over my keyboard - the gorgeous photos, the beautifully documented recipes and the little vignettes about Mangalore, the food, the customs, and the author herself, all had me hooked. Though I have always planned to try out a recipe from here somehow my laziness always won. However today I felt energised enough to make the effort and cook something a little more involved.

I stationed the hubby at the dining table with the laptop and the browser open to the correct page. He read out the ingredients and I put them together on a large platter as I checked to see that I had everything I would need. Luck was on my side and I had everything. Well, nearly. With a few adjustments and replacements I was on my way to making Kori Gassi as described by Shireen on her wonderful blog.

Kori Gassi 

For the masala

2 medium onions sliced
12 dried kashmiri chillies (I used only these)
2 cups grated fresh coconut
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp cumin
12-14 pepper corns
1/2 tsp fenugreek
5 -6 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coriander powder (in place of whole coriander)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp agal (in place of tamarind)
1 inch cassia bark
3-4 cloves
1 tbsp ghee

Heat the ghee in a thick kadai and fry the onions, cassia, cloves and poppy seeds. Let the onions turn a nice golden colour and throw in the grated coconut. I used a tray of grated fresh coconut that I bought from the supermarket. Roast the mixture well and once it gets nice and fragrant add the turmeric and continue to roast for another 5 to 8 minutes. The coconut needs to be nicely toasted.

Now add the remaining ingredients for the masala and let the entire mixture roast well. Keep an eye on the heat and don't let anything burn. Just stir around for a couple of minutes and then switch off. Remove to a large platter and spread it out so it cools faster.

Once cooled grind the masala to as smooth a paste as you can. Use water as required, of course.

Now that the masala is done, the rest of the procedure is fairly simple.

Cooking the Gassi

1 large onion, chopped fine
2 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
ghee
1 chicken, cut into pieces
2 cups coconut milk
salt
1 onion, sliced

Heat more ghee in a thick bottomed vessel and fry the chopped onion. Once the onion has turned golden add the tomatoes. Fry well and mash the tomatoes in. Let it cook for a few minutes till it all smells good and you see the ghee emerging again. Add the chicken pieces now. Stir well to coat and add a quarter of the masala paste too. Add salt. Stir well and cover the pan. Let the chicken cook for around 10 to 15 minutes till it's nearly done.

Now add the coconut milk and the rest of the masala paste. Mix it well and add half a cup of water too. Add more if you feel the gassi is too thick. Add salt if required. Bring it to a boil and then simmer till the chicken is cooked through.

On the side in a small pan or vessel heat a tablespoon of ghee. Fry the sliced onion till it is pale golden and then add it to the gassi. Mix it in and the gassi is ready.

I served the Kori Gassi with plain boiled rice. It was wonderful!

Nonta Suji - Bengali Style Savoury Semolina with Vegetalbes

Nonta Suji is something my mom made fairly regularly when I was a kid. There is a sweet version called Suji'r halua, more familiar to non Bongs as sooji ka halwa. I prefer this savoury version and it's one of those things my mom makes brilliantly.

It's fairly easy to make - the only downside is that there's a decent bit of chopping involved. lazy as I tend to be, I love this so much I don't mind the extra hard work involved.

Nonta Suji

1 medium potato, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 capsicum, cut into small long strips
1 onion, sliced but not too finely
1 or 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
half cup green peas
half cup semolina or suji
salt, turmeric, chilli powder, jeera/cumin powder
1/2 tsp kalonji or nigella seeds
2 tbsp mustard oil

Heat the oil in a kadai and once it's smoking hot reduce the heat and add the kalonji. Let it sizzle and then add the potatoes and carrots. Let them fry for a 3-4 minutes. Cover the kadai so it cooks quickly. Add the onions and the green chillies. Stir well and make sure you don't burn the onions. Once the potatoes are cooked through add the salt and the dry spice powders and mix it all well. Add the capsicums and the peas now and give it all a good stir. Let it cook for a minute and then pour in the semolina.

Roast the semolina well stirring constantly. Let it coat all the vegetables nicely. Your mixture should look dry. You can increase the heat but then you must keep stirring or the semolina will burn giving the final dish an unpleasant taste.

Add approximately a cup of water. Pour in 3/4th and see. The water should just float above the level of the veggies and semolina. Don't pour in too much all at once. Add the rest only if needed. Stir away and keep mixing. The water will get absorbed into the semolina and you will have a thick mass of veggies and semolina in less than a minute. Let it get quite thick, it should not fall off the spoon but should actually be difficult to move.

Squash a portion into a bowl and upturn it onto a plate. Garnish with a fresh green chilli and fresh coriander if you have them at hand.

Railway Mutton Curry

The name itself evokes memories and fanciful pictures of uniformed waiters serving lunch on rattling railway carriages while the well dressed traveller shook out his starched napkin and picked up his fork and knife, ready to dig in!

I saw this recipe on a food group on Facebook. The recipe has been adapted already and I have tweaked it further. So I do not claim that is what Railway Mutton Curry is. I've never had it so I don't have anything to compare it with either. What drew me to the recipe is not the original method but something that was added along the way. The version I read had whole pods of garlic added to it.

Now, I love garlic. I simply love it and am never caught without it. My pantry always has fresh garlic pods, peeled garlic waits for me in my fridge alongside the garlic paste, and I also stock fried garlic - sliced, and finely chopped. There was no way I was going to ignore this recipe!

Incredibly simple to make, you need about 10 minutes at your stove and then you just let it cook on it's own. Apart from marinating time of course.

So here goes -

Railway Mutton Curry (inspired by Mr. Jayanta Das)

500gms mutton pieces
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 potatoes quartered or 3 smaller ones kept whole
1 tsp Jeera
3 red dried chillies
3 green cardamoms
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
2-3 sprigs curry leaves
salt
ginger garlic paste
2 pods garlic
Mustard oil
vinegar or tamarind extract

Marinate the mutton in the garlic ginger paste and salt. 30 minutes to an hour is adequate though I left it overnight.

In a thick bottomed vessel heat mustard oil. The original recipe asks for ghee but I don't like ghee in my mutton gravies so I used mustard oil instead. Use whatever you prefer. Once the oil or ghee is hot enough chuck in the whole jeera, dried chillies and the cardamoms. Sauté a bit and let it all sizzle  Add the sliced onions and fry till the onions turn golden. Add the spice powders and curry leaves and mix well. Put in the whole garlic pods too.

Pop in the potatoes. let it all cook for a few minutes and then add in the marinated mutton. Fry the mutton stirring properly to let all the pieces brown a little. Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar or diluted tamarind pulp if you have it. Stir for a minute or two and then add water. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer for 30 to 40 minutes till the potatoes are cooked through and the mutton is soft and done.

Serve with plain steamed rice. And don't forget to squeeze out the gorgeousness that is that garlic!