Eternity

My Dida, my Ma's mother, my maternal grandma passed away last week. The memories of her that I carry in my heart can not be captured in a blog post and it is no point saying how dear she was to me. Though she was old and frail, I was really hoping to see her if and when I visit India later this year but that is not to be.

She was a wonderful cook but I never ever attempted to learn any culinary skills from her. I was too happy eating, thinking that is the norm, she would whip up one delicacy after other while we just gorged on them. Many of her cooking traditions has come trickling down via my Mom of course but to make a Chingri Cutlet(Prawn Cutlet) or Kankra Jhaal(Crab Curry) or even Khasta kachori like her will never again be possible.

She was getting old and had almost lost her will to live any longer. I am sad because I couldn't hold her and give a tight squeeze before she went on her journey to eternity,the way I always used to before I left her home

I will be back once I have my thoughts settled

I don't think any comments on this post is necessary so comments are closed

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D's Squash Blossoms and Designer Fulkopi Bhaja

It was only last week that I was cursing the guy for starting his seeds late and now see what he has. His squash plants have blossomed and there are pretty yellow flowers all around. Didn't I say he was D best. Ok I never did, so what !!!



A couple of years back we used to have a tiny pumpkin patch which never gave us any fruit but we were only too happy with the blossoms and the leaves and stems(kumro da(n)ta). The stems and leaves were put to best use if either set of parents were here. I usually don't have too much patience to chop the stems and leaves and make a da(n)ta charchari so this time there is no pumpkin but the two lone squash plants have made us happy.

However we didn't get the timing right to harvest the blossoms. One day all happy with the blooms, I clicked pics and by next day the bloom had closed.

"Harvesting squash blossoms requires careful timing. You want them before they bloom, though sometimes it’s tough to distinguish between a bloom that opened and closed, and one that has yet to open."

Squash have male and female blossoms on the same plant (monoecious). The blossoms of both sexes are open and fertile only during the morning hours of one day. During this time pollen must be transferred by bees or by a person. The male blossom may open a second day, but the pollen will no longer be fertile and the blossom will close, wilt and drop from the plant that day or the next. See what ego these male blossoms have ? The females are no less, they make those guys wait like anything . There may be 3 to 4 male blossoms opening for several days to a week before the first female blossoms open.

Plants are such a miracle of nature and there are so many things you wouldn't know unless you see them happening right there in your backyard. Like the other day I saw my methi plants close their leaves and go to sleep at night. They opened up once again at dawn. Has anyone noticed that or can I just say I "discovered" the phenomenon.

So anyway we had only closed blooms to fry and that too only four(the male flowers) of them. Once you have those blossoms, remember to gingerly pull out the stamen before you cook, since the stamen makes it bitter. D made the squash blossom fries and since he does NOT measure, this is how it goes.

To make a squash blossom fry, make a batter with chickpea flour(besan), little rice flour, salt and red chili powder. The batter would have the same consistency of a pakoda batter. Dip and nicely coat the blossoms in the batter. Deep fry in hot oil till brown and crispy

Last weekend after a long time, read really long time we were at Whole Foods. So of course we had to eat at their salad bar and there I had something which was exactly like our very own Bengali Fulkopi Bhaja but with some more Indian spices.

Back home I had one medium cauliflower chopped in medium sized florets and put away neatly packed in the veggie drawer. I wanted to make a Fulkopi Bhaja but with some spices and so this was the Designer Cauliflower Fry or Fulkopi Bhaja. Instead of frying it on stove top I finished it in the oven

Heat Olive Oil in a Frying Pan. Add some chopped red onion and fry till light brown in color. Add some ground corriander powder, fennel powder, very little garam masala powder, paprika and a little red chili powder. Fry the masala with a sprinkle of water. Add the cauliflower florets. Add salt to taste and mix well with the masala. After frying the cauliflower for a couple of minutes transfer the entire content to an oven safe bowl or tray and bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. The cauliflower will be done and lightly crisped at the end of the process.
Sprinkle a generous helping of sumac on the beautifully roasted florets and enjoy.

I am sending the Squash Blossoms off to WHB #191 hosted by Cheryl from Gluten Free Goodness. This event was started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and now has a new home at Cook Almost Anything at Least Once

More blossom goodness from Ahaar and Grow, Cook, Eat

What delight did you grow to eat today ?

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Bati Charchari with Love

My grandparents lived in an old rambling house in a nondescript para(community or development) in North Calcutta (now Kolkata). The house was old, it's days of glory being long over.As appendages were added on to it and banyan trees took roots in its crevices, the house tried desperately to hold on to its rich past.

In this house my maternal grandparents came to live after retirement as a part of a large "joint family", a term as rare these days as those old houses in North Calcutta. My Ma's three uncles and an aunt along with their offspring, some married some not lived under one roof, their kitchens separated but their roof united. There were some undercurrents among its residents for sure but on our annual visits every winter the whole house and the family came together and welcomed us as one.

So while we watched Chitrahar and snacked on alur chop ar muri lazing around at Baro Dida's (Eldest Grandma) ornate teak bed, we ate egg roll at Ful Dida's (Flower Grandma) fancy dining table. The main meals were always at my own Dida's(my maternal grandma) kitchen though and we wouldn't give those up for anything.

My Ma's aunt or pishi, C Dida, had lost her husband at an young age and lived in this house along with her four daughters. She was a proud soul and instead of being dependent on her brothers financially she worked as teacher at a nursery school and lived within her meager means to bring up her four daughters impeccably. One of her daughters pampered me a lot and so I would spend a considerable portion of my time at their room or tag along with her wherever she went.

Many mornings during those vacations, I would go and sit in their small kitchen while C Dida made breakfast. Their small but squeaky clean kitchen with a shiny pump stove and minimal utensils exuded a charm that no gourmet kitchen ever has. Their breakfast too was extremely simple, left over ruti(chapati/roti) lighty fried with little oil to a wafer like crispiness was served with bati charchari. I loved that simple breakfast so much that most days I would have that sitting on their red-oxide kitchen floor, still damp & cold with early morning moisture.

I don't know what makes an indelible impression in a child's heart, the stinging coldness on one's bottom, the hot off the tawa ruti mingled with the sharpness of mustard oil in a bati charchari or the love of near ones but those mornings of two and half decades back are etched in my childhood memory and bati charchari and basi ruti bhaja( fried leftover chapati/roti) is still a favorite on my food list.

My Ma too would make a Bati Charchari often and the only time I would have ruti for breakfast at home was when it was accompanied by a large serving of bati charchari.

On this post the other day, a reader Boishakhi, reminded me of the delicious yet simple Bati Charchari. She also mentioned how she adds other vegetables to this dish. That is what I have today. And so while my Ma's and C Dida's bati charchari had only potatoes, this has carrots and sugar snap peas in it. A sprinkle of glittering red middle eastern sumac makes the dish more international than you can imagine.

I am sending this off to WHB #190 hosted by Laurie from Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. This event was started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and now has a new home at Cook Almost Anything at Least Once


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Bati Charchari

Prepping the veggies: Peel and chop two medium sized potatoes in 1" long pieces. Peel and chop carrots similarly. I had about 1 and 1/2 cup of chopped carrots. Wash and keep whole 10-15 sugar snap peas. The snap peas are optional and you can use any other vegetable. You can also use cauliflower for this dish but I didn't. Note: Ideally the vegetables for this dish should be cut thin, in julienne, however I had chopped them thick and I found it didn't make a whole lot of difference to the dish.

Start Cooking:

In a heavy-bottomed deep pan heat 2 tsp of Mustard Oil

Add 4 hot Indian green chili, slit halfway

Add all the veggies

Add salt to taste + 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and mix well

Add 1&1/2 to 2 cups of water and mix well.

Cover and cook without any stirring till veggies are cooked and water dries up. If needed add more water for cooking

Once done, add 1-2 tsp of Mustard oil on top before serving

I sprinkled some sumac for its gorgeous color but this is totally optional as it is not a native ingredient for this dish.

Note: I have not used Red Chili powder, tomatoes or coriander since my Ma wouldn't. I also went a little low on the oil. You can adjust these according to taste.

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Brown Rice -- Methi Rice

My Container Garden

The last few days have been super busy. Pardon me, I have neither blogged nor visited any blogs. There were so many unread posts in my blog reader and I felt so restless that I closed my eyes and clicked "Mark all read" for all of them.

In other news the 5 year old graduated...ahem, only from Kindergarten. But they had a full ceremony with a cap and a robe followed by a luncheon. It seems like just the other day that S started going to daycare/pre-school, bawling her lungs out and turning my knees into jelly. She has certainly graduated from a crying 2 year old to a school loving 5 and once again I feel the butterflies in my tummy as she looks forward to Grade 1 in the bIIIIg school. But that is not until September and till then she still has summer camp to enjoy at her old school.

We also got the house painted over last week (To expel any doubts I just want to edit to add that we didn't do the painting ourselves, we are not that great :)). Choosing colors is a nightmare cum pleasure rolled into one, a nightmarish pleasure if you wish. All I did till the last minute was bought sample jars while S and D painted test swatches. Thankfully most of the colors came out as expected except one which we had to re-do. So while the nightmare is over, I am sorely missing checking out paints and pairing them on the world wide web. The kitchen got a much needed break and except for Baby A's Khichudi I hardly cooked anything

After a hectic week of a ramshackle house and eating out almost all week, I wanted to bring some sanity to the body over the weekend. The body was craving something earthy with the lightest hint of spices. Made a simple Methi Rice with methi (fenugreek) greens from my container garden. I planted methi, corriander, basil, lemon balm, swiss chard and some beet in containers on the patio. D has tomatoes, squash, okra, pui saag(pohi greens) and some other stuff in our small backyard veggie patch. He started late though and I don't know when we will see any produce.

The Methi Rice or Rice with Fenugreek Greens I made was with Brown Basmati and it is not much of a recipe, more of a coming together of ingredients around the house. I did not measure anything and what I have here is more of a ball park estimate than approximate. This goes to The Heart of the Matter # 27 whose theme is Best of June's produce.


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Methi Rice with Brown Rice

Wash and soak 1 and 1/2 cups of Brown basmati

In a Kadhai or a heavy bottome pan, heat oil

Temper/Chaunce with 4 Elaichi/Cradamom, 4 Clove/Laung and 1" stick of Cinnamon/Darchini

Add 1 cup of finely chopped red onion and fry with a sprinkle of sugar till light brown

Add 1 tsp of Ginger paste and 1/2 tsp of Garlic paste and fry

Add 1/4 cup of Methi greens(I only had this much, add more if you have) and 1 cup of peas or frozen mixed vegetables(defrost before adding) and fry till the veggies look cooked

Add a little Kasoori methi and 1/2 -1 tsp of Biryani masala and fry for a minute

Add the rice and saute for couple of minutes. Add 1/2 cup of milk + almost 4 cups of water and let the rice cook. Flavor the water with some lime zest, I added 2-3 leaves from my lime balm plant. Note: Amount of water will depend on the type of rice you are using

Season with salt and pepper.

Once the rice is done, add 1/4 cup of crumbled paneer and mix well.

Garnish with coarsely grounded roasted peanut.

Trivia: Methi or Fenugreek is popular both as a herb and as a spice(the seed). Supplements of fenugreek seeds has been shown to lower serum cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein in human patients . Methi from Qasoor in Punjab is very famous in its fragrance throughout the country and known as Qasoori Methi.

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