A simple chorchori - mixed vegetables tempered with paanch phoron

Since K has started working at the University of Mumbai as Assistant Professor, I suddenly find myself having to  make him packed lunches. Since he shares the lunch with his colleagues (of course he devours their goodies too) I try to make vegetarian food as often as possible so no one is left out.

Now vegetarian food is a challenge indeed and after a couple of weeks of paapri/ gwaar/ french beans with potatoes, cabbage, bhindi bhaaji or cauliflower with green peas, K protested that more variety was required. Sigh...these are veggies we're talking about! What do I know about variety??!!

Well, being a Bengali, I should have known quite a bit. Bengalis have a huge and rich tradition of vegetarian cuisine and it's mind boggling just how delicious some of the dishes are. So I duly called up my mother and demanded a recipe. Something simple that didn't involve grinding masalas or making pastes, just something I could throw together on a busy working day.

Keeping in  mind the vegetables I had bought, this is what she told me to make.

Sim, begun, kumro ar alu chorchori

Paapri, eggplant, red pumpkin and potato cooked with paanch phoron

Here's how-

Cut the vegetables into smallish equal sized pieces.

Heat mustard oil in a wok or kadai and let the oil heat up nicely. When the surface of the oil shivers reduce the heat and put in about half a teaspoon of paanch phoron. My mix contains kalonji, methi, rai, saunf and radhuni. That's nigella, fenugreek, mustard, fennel and wild celery seeds (also known as ajmoda in Hindi). Add one or two dried red chillies. Kashmiri or Bedki, whichever you have.

Once the spices sizzle add in the potatoes and the pumpkin pieces. Stir everything nicely and fry the vegetables well.

After about 8 to 10 minutes add in the cut eggplant pieces and the strung and cut paapri. Stir everything and continue to cook. Lower the heat and let the vegetables cook slowly. Cover the wok and stir once in a way just to see that it doesn't burn at the bottom.

Add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and salt to taste. Mix well and sprinkle a little water to generate some steam to cook the vegetables through. Cover. This preparation must not have any gravy so be sure to add not more than a tablespoon or so of water.

Serve hot once the veggies are done. The pumpkins should practically disintegrate, the potatoes should be soft and buttery.

You can use a variety of vegetables including radish, leafy greens, the favourite of Bengalis - the potol, plantain, green peas, etc.


The beauty of this dish is really its simplicity. A simple paanch phoron and dried chilli tempering and just turmeric and salt. The flavours of the vegetables themselves come through and you have a delicious and healthy dish to lap up!

And thus starts my exploration of Bengali vegetarian cuisine...

Cafreal Chicken goes Red!

My love affair with Chicken Cafreal started with my mother's hunt for easy recipes which she could cook with minimum fuss and delicious results. At some point she discovered the ready made green flavourful masala paste that was one of the greatest gifts to the cook who is simply too tired to cook from scratch. We tried various brands and voted the Goana Foods green cafreal masala as our favourite. This magic paste was available at the local cold storage shop and we bought it in vast quantities and even order it online today. Here's the recipe for green cafreal chicken.

It was many years later that I made it to the magical place that is Goa - and there I discovered red cafreal masala  made by another company called Marcarfly. Here was a revelation in a plastic packet! I didn't know a red variation even existed and since then my kitchen is always well stocked with plenty of packets of both varieties. You can buy this at Kitchenette at Margao or at the other similar shop just next to it.

Nothing is easier than making Red Cafreal Chicken. All you do is marinate the chicken with a little salt. Slap on a generous bit of the masala paste and let it sit for an hour. Then all that's left to be done is for the chicken to be slowly fried. If you're in a hurry, don't wait. Cook it immediately.

Here are a few pics of what this absolutely delicious dish in a jiffy looks like..

The paste is thick and oily and has a deep red colour Be careful! The colour gets on to everything!

Coat the pieces nicely with a generous amount of the paste. Let is sit for an hour.

Fry slowly in a neutral oil and let it cook properly inside and then let the outside get nice and crisp. Cook the leg pieces and the breast pieces separately. The breast pieces need a shorter cooking time and will get overcooked if you dunk in all the pieces together. A little care goes a long way.

Serve hot off the pan with bread or rotis.

This works well with prawns too. And you can also do just a big pile of chicken wings and serve them up as a starter. Be sure to have plenty of napkins handy!

A Food Bloggers' Pot Luck - an inspiration for Payesh

Sometimes my Bengali genes give out a loud shout and I am compelled to cook something essentially Bengali. No fusion, no inspired creative moments allowed, for once I have to follow the rules. Coincidentally while my genes were shouting the Mumbai Bloggers Pot Luck diner was announced and voila! I had an audience too. I decided to make Payesh.

Payesh is an auspicious milk preparation made on birthdays in nearly all Bengali households. All communities across India probably have their own version of sweetened reduced milk cooked with rice/sooji/vermicelli, etc. Us Bongs, we make Payesh.

I have always had an aversion to sweets and milk products and defiantly refused to have any Payesh all through my childhood. Not that I would eat it today. I don't like milk and now I am also diabetic but that's a different matter entirely...

Anyway, since the rest of the world does appreciate the simple poetry of a well made Payesh, I decided to make it for the dinner.

First I called my Mom and quickly went through the procedure and then I got on with it.

Here's what you need for Payesh for 10 to 15 people

3 litres full fat milk
5 tablespoons sugar (use more if you prefer)
2 tablespoons Gobindo Bhog rice
10 green cardamoms
4 bay leaves
a pinch of salt
raisins
LOTS of patience

Wash and soak the rice for half an hour. De-stalk the raisins and soak them separately.

Bring the milk to a boil in a large heavy bottomed vessel. I used a copper 'kalai' vessel that my Mom in law used to make biriyani. The thick bottom prevents the milk from scorching at the base and using a large vessel helps in minimising the chances of the milk boiling over.

Once the milk is boiled reduce the heat and add the bay leaves and the cardamom pods. Split the pods so the flavours can blend easily.

Drain the rice on a small napkin so that the water is completely removed. Drop the rice into the simmering milk and let it cook as the milk reduces. Stir this occasionally and ensure that the milk does not stick to the bottom of the vessel and burn.

After an hour or so the milk would have reduced considerably and the rice grains should have literally 'exploded'. Just 2 tablespoons of rice will increase tremendously, trust me! If the milk needs to reduce some more, simmer longer.

Once the rice is cooked and the milk has reduced sufficiently add the sugar. Stir well and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. Put in the raisins too.

The Payesh will thicken as it cools and a gorgeous creamy malai will form so decant it into your serving bowl while it is still hot. Decorate with flaked almonds or pistachios if you like.

A deceptively simple dish to make one thing a Payesh maker needs in abundance is patience. There isn't all that much to actively do. There's hardly any prep required. But you have to keep your eye on it. The milk burns and your Payesh is ruined. Reduce the milk too much and you get a thick porridge instead of a creamy rich Payesh which is in fact what happened. An extra litre of milk was boiled and reduced in a panic and the Payesh was 'repaired'.

The recipe and proportions above will work perfectly as long as you keep your eye on things :)

Photo Credit: Jyotika Purwar

Here's the Payesh that I made for the Mumbai Food Bloggers' Pot Luck on Saturday 30th July at Gostana

Momos on the mind

Momos were suddenly omnipresent in most of my conversations over the last couple of days and I thought to myself, it's high time I tried making them. I love momos. And I love pork momos the best. Chicken momos are a huge compromise and vegetable momos are an aberration. I had all the makings for pork momos in stock and I had finished the day's quota of work early. The omens were auspicious and my momo adventure began.

I first googled momo recipes just to get some basic concepts clear but nothing seemed to match with what I remembered from the momo parties in the Boys' Hostel at Deccan College all those years ago. I chanced upon some videos on Youtube which were a great help in figuring out the making of the momos themselves. 15 minutes of serious internet research and I was ready to rock and roll.

I put the pork mince out to thaw and chopped onions and grated some fresh ginger in the mean time. Once the pork was completely thawed I threw in the chopped onions, grated ginger and salt, mixed it all well and let it sit.

Flour, water and a good pinch of salt is all I used to make a soft pliable dough for the covering. Once kneaded thoroughly, it rested for about half an hour.

And then the real fun began.

I rolled out the requisite disc and then I proceeded to make the first momo. Here it is - 

not bad eh? 

As I made the rest of the momos they got easier as I got more confident. As soon as the first five were done I was ready to steam them and see how I had fared. 

I put them all in my quickly put together steamer which was a large pot with water on which I placed my stainless steel colander. I oiled this so the momos wouldn't stick. This I covered with a steel plate, bound the sides with a thick towel to minimise the steam that would escape. Once the water was boiling nicely I steamed the momos for about 25 minutes. Since I didn't have a proper steamer that shut tightly, I gave them some extra time. 

Here they are! My homemade pork momos..

With the first batch I realised that I needed to make the covering thinner and yes, the next batch did turn out even better with my newly gained knowledge. Fat juicy momos, mouthfuls of heaven, made by me. What a triumph!

I probably sound childishly thrilled but momos have so many memories attached that making them fairly successfully myself has been a special achievement indeed. A slice of the past visited me as I spent this evening making momos and reliving wonderful days at the Deccan College with our friends Aren and Chumbeno. Thanks guys, I could never have done this without you. 

Simple Pleasures

This post is not about food, it's about the simple pleasures of life. I've let myself get caught up in the madness of life and work so much that I have forgotten many of the simple, fun and pleasurable things I used to do. One of my greatest loves has always been baking, and like with regular cooking, one needs an appreciative audience for this too. Though I have a devoted audience at home concerns about weight and general health led me to more or less give up on baking. After all baking is for pleasure and you can't expect me to get excited about baking ragi biscuits! So the baking languished and the hubby wandered around looking disappointed.

Today I thought to hell with it...let me bake again. And I did. Nothing earth shattering, just a simple sponge cake with a whole lot of raisins in it. Hubby was at home and was eager to help and join in the fun. We had a blast! An inspired idea had us picking out raisins and various dried fruit from a huge jar of muesli that was being ignored for many months. I bunged them into the batter and we had a lovely home made cake dotted with assorted dried fruit.

Sometimes we must bend the rules and live a little too. I had such fun baking and the the joy on hubby's face was simply priceless. As much as you love someone, you must remember to do the little things that make them happy. That's what life is about, isn't it?

A half hour's effort and what splendid results...and I'm not talking about the cake!

The recipe for the cake is here.

Lunch at Mainland China, Vashi - a singular experience

Living in Navi Mumbai can leave one feeling pretty isolated so I thank God for the Internet every day. But one needs to have a real social life too, where one meets people face to face. It was time to make some new friends and a chance conversation with a new acquaintance led me into the unexplored world of the kitty party.

I was excited and a little embarrassed at the same time - I mean, a kitty party! But it was time to put aside all preconceived notions and give myself a chance to just go out and have some fun. And I did.

The venue chosen was Mainland China in Vashi. Now Mainland China as a restaurant chain has a formidable reputation built up over many years and many outlets all over the country and I was quite looking forward to going there. I was going to meet eight strangers (and one close friend!) and it was nice to have some sort of comfort zone, even if I hadn't been to this Vashi outlet more than once before.

One lady from the group was already there as my friend and I walked in. We got comfortable and before we knew it the waiter was at our table asking us what we would like to order. We said we were waiting for at least seven more people and we'd like to wait a bit. In another two or three minutes another waiter came by to take our order. We said the same thing and pointed to the large table we were sitting at and at all the empty spaces. We asked for the drinks menu thinking we'd at least order a drink.

The a la carte menu arrived. We specified we were going to all have their un fixed lunch because it would be easier for all. I reminded the waiter to get the drinks menu. The un fixed lunch menu arrived and with it an eager senior waiter type, all ready to take our order. There were still just three of us at the table. I asked for the drinks menu again.

We had some questions regarding the un fixed menu and the eager fellow went off to look for someone who knew how the un fixed menu works. No sign of the drinks menu yet. I finally lost patience and raised my voice asking one of the senior staff wandering around if they had a problem with serving us alcohol or any other drink. Many apologies and the drinks menus arrived.

Meanwhile a few more ladies arrived and our table began filling up. Introductions flew around, the fun had begun. The un fixed menu has soup and dim sum too and we all asked for both. Meanwhile the Chinese tea arrived. I don't like the stuff so I opted out but I did notice that there seemed to be a huge amount of tea leaves floating in every cup. The tea drinkers requested that the tea be strained and served because they couldn't enjoy the tea with a mouthful of leaves with every sip.

We continued chatting and joking and I was having a good time. Then the soup arrived. No sign of the drinks, by the way. Two beers, one cocktail and one mocktail had been ordered. Soup was served to all and voila! the drinks arrived and guess what? So did the tea! So we had soup, drinks and tea all together.

The dim sums also arrived but we were barely halfway through our soup. Now the un fixed menu has 3 pieces  of the dim sum per person but we were served 2 each and we had to demand that the third one be brought. It felt so silly but if you say 3 shouldn't you serve 3 and be done with it?? By this time the main courses began to arrive and the portions were unbelievably small. Why would the restaurant serve combined portions in dishes the same size as their regular single portion dishes? Why make the customer feel cheated? We insisted that they serve everything in their individual portions.

The food took forever to get to our table and when it came the waiters milled around dumping food on our plates, shouldering in from both sides literally giving us no room to even sit. It was simply unbelievable.

We finally chose our desserts and instructed them to bring each one individually. Guess what? They didn't. Everything came combined again and there were waiters actually serving half a scoop of ice cream because there were 9 people and six desserts had been ordered. Which part of 'bring everything individually' they didn't understand I honestly don't know.

This is possibly my worst experience eating out ever. I don't remember what the food tasted like because I was too pissed off to appreciate it. The service was beyond abysmal.

Being in the food business myself I am always willing to understand, be considerate and forgive a random mistake. But this was simply ridiculous and I had to hold myself back from holding a basic training session in courtesy and table service at Mainland China, Vashi.

Lunch at Mainland China, Vashi was a singular experience indeed. And it will remain so. I have been to other outlets, one of my favourites is the one in South City Mall, Calcutta. This one was a shock to the system.

I apologise to this long post, rather this rant...but I had to say it.

A Reunion and a Breakfast

College Reunions seemed always to be something older people were attending and suddenly I was attending one myself. They say life begins at 40 and yeah, some parts of life were beginning all right! The excitement and anticipation built up as we found class mates and friends through our best online friend finder, Facebook. And then one Friday after frantically finishing work, we were off to Pune to our beloved Deccan College to meet friends we hadn't seen for years. Some we last saw roughly 16 years ago. Much revelry, much fond abuse and many hugs later there we were, together again.

A reunion is a strange animal...it brings back memories of a time long past but that time feels like it was just yesterday or the last week. The intervening years feel like the blink of an eye. I felt I could simply reach out and touch that past, touch the person I was, the people we all were. So much has changed for all of us yet there we were, the same as we were all those years ago. The same sense of friendship, of closeness, of belonging. Everything had changed yet nothing had changed at all...

A regular haunt in the old days was Vohuman Cafe near Jehangir Hall hospital. With Hormazd uncle reigning supreme at the counter shouting at Mohammad or Satish to hurry up and collect the toast butter, or at some poor hapless customer for not having change to the loud buzz of conversation, the smell of eggs frying and butter melting on to hot toast, it was all familiar and comforting to be back. Prices have gone up and the place is a bit spruced up - a fresh coat of paint and a new false ceiling with lots of lights - but the feeling of being back at Vohuman is as wonderful as ever.

Here is a picture of Hormazd uncle with big star Salman Khan, that uncle insisted we all admire :)

And here's Hormazd uncle again, the eternal ladies' man..

Endless plates of bun maska, toast butter, masala omlette, double half fry (palti marke) and chai after chai after chai. What a perfect breakfast we all had as we sat around the old marble topped tables joined together higgledy piggledy.

Replete after a huge breakfast and a flood of memories we were all quite full.

One never quite grasps the impact a reunion has till one has been there. For hubby and me it was a journey back in time as we relived our courtship, completed writing his PhD thesis, attended endless excavations across the country, sat up endless nights playing cards, drank litres of booze, learned about archaeology and about life. It was like it happened again. I spent nearly 10 years at Deccan College, undoubtedly the best years of my life... I would go back in a heart beat.

Photo credits go to my friends Tridib and Jubal. Thanks :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares by Nigella

The first Nigella book I bought was How to be a Domestic Goddess and it is one of my most favourite books of all time. Not just among cook books, but among books in general. After drooling over the pictures and sighing over the delicious recipes and enjoying her seductive writing style it was time to get into the kitchen and try out some of the goodies for myself.

The recipe for Peanut Butter Squares called out to me! They were, she said, a homespun version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Now these are never available here in India and if I had a chance to recreate them in my own kitchen who would dare get in  my way?!

So I did try them out and they were gorgeous..simple, no fuss, straight forward gorgeous. What makes me like them even more is how ridiculously easy it is to make them. No cooking involved, no fancy techniques, no fiddly equipment, nothing. A cake tin, a couple of mixing bowls, a spatula, a fork and a microwave, if you have one. If you don't, a saucepan works just as well.

So here's how you make the Peanut Butter Squares. My recipe is slightly adjusted using ingredients that I had.

50 gms dark demerara sugar
200 gms icing sugar
50 gms butter (unsalted if you can get it, I used regular Amul )
200 gms smooth peanut butter

300 gms chocolate
1 generous tbsp butter

1 8x10 square brownie tin

Take a clean mixing bowl and mix the two sugars. Make sure the icing sugar is not lumpy. If it is just whizz it in your mixer and it will be fine. Add the butter and the peanut butter and mix it all up. Use a fork and work it together till you get it all fairly well mixed. Butter the tin and dust with a bit of icing sugar. Press in the peanut butter/sugar/butter mix to cover the entire base of the tin and press nicely into the corners. Smooth out the top with your spatula or just go in with your hands and flatten it out nicely.

Melt the chocolate in your microwave or in a double boiler. Heat water in a saucepan and place a heat proof bowl on the bubbling water with the chocolate in it. Be careful, don't let water get into the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted add that tablespoon of butter and blend it in nicely. Your chocolate should glisten beautifully. You can use plain dark chocolate or a combination of dark chocolate with milk chocolate, whatever works for you.

Pour the chocolate onto the Peanut butter base in the brownie tin. Smooth the surface and let it cool in the fridge till it is set absolutely firm. Resist temptation and leave it alone for at least a couple of hours so it sets properly. Cut into squares and enjoy!

As simple as it is to make them, these little babies are sinfully rich. Indulge only occasionally :)

Going, Going, Goa!!

Going to Goa is like a pilgrimage for me. We look forward to a lazy week of doing nothing, eating plenty of superb food, reading and generally lazing around. K and I like to drive from Mumbai all the way to Goa. Well, he does all the driving, I just enjoy the ride! And there were, once again, on our way back to that wonderful place, Goa.

At Mangaon we stopped at a little shop on the main road itself for some fresh mango kulfi. K enjoyed it so much we stopped here again on the way back. This massive slab of kulfi cost all of Rs.25.

We usually stop overnight somewhere on the way. We have stayed at Ganpatipule on one trip and this time since we were going for a shorter period, decided to drive all the way to Sawantwadi before stopping for the night. If you are ever there and need to stay the night, The Mango is a great option. Exceptionally clean rooms, well furnished, prompt and friendly service and the best prawn curry I've ever eaten! Sawantwadi is also known for its papier mache and wooden handicrafts.

We stopped for lunch at a new highway restaurant on the ghat section before Chiplun. The food was fresh, flavourful and surprisingly not hot with chillies. We found this to be the trend at all the highway stops on the way to Goa and on our return trip too.

Refreshed after a good night's rest at The Mango in Sawantwadi we proceeded towards Goa. There's a major section of the highway being broadened and work was on in full force.

And then there we were! In Goa! We stayed at a resort in Benaulim, further south from Margao. We first stopped at our favourite shop in Margao and stocked up on some ready masala paste packets and choriz pau to munch on. The taste of Goa...fresh and spicy!

Once we'd checked in and dumped our bags we went in search of lunch. Now if you're familiar with Margao you know about Longuinho's. We found a restaurant bearing their name in Benaulim itself and we trooped in ready to pig out on some good Goan grub. Crisp batter fried prawns, Beef chilly fry, and king fish curry with rice. Bring it on!

In the next few days we ate at many places across Goa and made some amazing discoveries too. Whenever I remembered to whip out the camera I took pictures. At other times I was too busy enjoying the smells and flavours so I have no pictures.

If you're in Goa check out Branco Bar and Restaurant in St Inez. The Salted beef tongue was simply divine.

Rava fried Mussels

The Salted Beef Tongue

Pan fried squid with LOTS of garlic!

If you are in South Goa come to Pedro's on Benaulim beach. The best crisp fried squid on Earth is here, I promise. We ordered it twice and they were consistently good. This is one meal I regret not having pictures of.

The drive back was an adventure in itself. It took us roughly 48 hours to get back because we had car trouble. It also was a chance to really connect with locals at Kharepatan and then again in a little village before  Hathkhamba. The car finally said enough a couple of kilometers outside Sanghameshwar so we spent the night there. And discovered amazing food in a hole in the wall little eatery. There were modaks made with Kopra Paak (grated sweetened coconut) with fruit pulp added. It seems this is a local speciality. Sitafal, strawberry, chocolate (!), and mango were available. K proclaimed the mango ones to be the best.


No journey on the Indian highways is complete without stern and sometimes philosophical warnings to drive carefully. Here's my favourite one.

"You are a traveller, not a competitor"

And then there are kulfi and falooda vendors too

Learned people say that the journey is as important as the destination. Truer words were never spoken. What a wonderful country we live in.

Chinese Breakfast on the Street

This morning I woke up seriously early, at 5.30am. The motivation was that strong! We were going to try out the breakfast sold on the street at Poddar Court, somewhere beyond Esplanade in Kolkata. I looked on good old Google and found that we had to go to Sun Yat Sen Street. This turned out to be a little beyond Benticnk Street which, I was told, is full of shoe shops.

Well, we found Poddar Court quite easily and looked for the Chinese vendors. There were a bare handful and I saw more luchi torkari (puri and potato sabzi) sellers than the Chinese guys. However, the few that were there made our morning.

The first thing I saw was a tray laden with glistening pink and white fresh pork sausages. I immediately bought some.

Then as I glanced around to see what all was on offer, Dada walked up tome with a plate full of fish momos.

The sausage seller agreed to keep my parcel while I sampled the goodies from the others. The fish momos were quite nice. Not spectacular but nice. 

We wandered over and checked out one seller who seemed to be doing brisk business. We tried the Pork fried momos. He offered us steamed fish momos too but we'd already tried those from someone else. This quite offended the fellow and he very sulkily commented that his were made with 'pure' fish..no onions, and were the real thing. We tried them out to appease him and they were quite nice too though I will admit, they were different. 

The street is quite messy and the stalls are all higgledy piggledy sharing space with a tea stall, vegetable vendors and even flower sellers. One one side was a lady selling soup with rice dumplings. The was even a table where you could stand and enjoy the soup. The table was provided with a caddy of soup spoons, forks, chopsticks and little steel saucers for the garlic sauce.

The soup was lovely! Hot, mild broth with tender green garlic shoots, and two delicious rice dumplings that were flavoured with fish and pork. Just perfect for a nippy morning.

By now we were quite stuffed so we looked around to see what else there was and keep it in mind for next time. There was this one man selling Pork rolls and pork chops. No, not the pork chops you'd imagine but the typical bengali potato covered chops made with pork! A marriage of Chinese and Bengali cuisine, no doubt. He also had these interesting flat large puris studded with decent sized whole prawns. We will try these out next time.

 On the opposite side of the road was a vegetable vendor selling a variety of leafy greens - mustard greens, radish greens, Kolmi shaak, methi leaves, green garlic, bok choy and Chinese lettuce. And there were flower sellers too with a medley of colours making the morning bright and cheerful.

And of course we brought some goodies home..
Here's one. This is the size of the dinner plate and is stuffed with rice. We shall find out just how it is at lunch today.

If you're in Kolkata and are up for an adventurous and delicious breakfast check out Poddar Court very early one morning. Everything's gone by 8am so come in early! You can eat like a king without spending even Rs.100 here.

Oh, and Merry Christmas to you!