Tuesday, April 08, 2014

A Gift for Shubho Naboborsho -- welcoming the Bengali New Year

The Bengali New Year, Poila Boishakh--the first day of the month of Boishakh is around the corner. Thankfully signs of spring have started showing up in my corner of the world too. Looks like Winter has finally taken a break and gone to vacation land.



To celebrate the New Year and to thank all readers of Bong Mom's Cookbook I am sharing with you my love for tea and tea/coffee mugs. My talented blog friend "Rhea Mitra-Dalal" who blogs at euphoRHEA makes these amazing hand painted mugs and plates and all kinds of hand painted crockeries.  She made these lovely tea cups for me and then I asked her if she could please make a few more for you guys too.

Browse the euphoRHEA album.


 

Aren't they really pretty ? See, why I wanted to share them with you ?

To win a cup  all you have to do is tell me "What would you like to see in my blog in the future?". Leave your comment with your contact e-mail and the country where you are from. Readers from India have a special advantage this time as the winner gets this cup and one other item of their choice from euphoRHEA.

 I will see you all next week.

Note: Due to shipping restrictions etc. this giveaway is restricted to India and US only. 





55 comments:

  1. More sweets/ desserts. aradhita1@gmail.com
    Country: USA

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  2. More sweets/ desserts. aradhita1@gmail.com
    Country: USA

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. More easy to cook/microwave/convection oven cooking..coz we are all busy :) amritamandal09@gmail.com
    Country:USA

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  5. oh... Sad to hear you wont be able to mail them to Canada :(

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    1. Well the shipping rates to Canada are kind of high na ? Will check and let you know. Please leave your e-mail or drop me a line

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  6. Sandeepa, would like to see more of those bong cuisines spiced with your childhood memories..spl Tomar Mayer hather ranna tomar moton kore :)

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  7. Sandeepa di, ami Sujana. Doing my Phd in Economics in Louisiana State University. I am crazy about cooking too. Your recipes inspire and facilitates me to cook every evening after a looong day at school. It will be great if you provide some easy to cook street food recipes. I miss Kolkata and street foods a lot here.
    I bought your book. Kudos to your eloquent articulation. I am a writer too. If you call poetry as writing :) You are truely an inspiration. Keep on the good work.
    my email adress: sujana.kabiraj@gmail.com

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  8. Sandeepa Di, I have been following your bog since 2007. Your recipes entwined with the stories have been so interesting to read. I am glad that chosen this medium to share a part of your lives with your readers. I am a bong but I have never lived in Kolkata, all I have is the fleeting impression that I've accumulated through short visits and yet I love bong food. Thanks to your blog, I can cook some delicious and authentic dishes. I owe my cooking to you. I do not want think of something clever and unusual just for the sake of this giveaway. I feel that you are doing a wonderful job of presenting this compendium of Bong recipes and you should continue to do so in future. All the very best. e-mail: tanima.chax@gmail.com. Country: India.

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  9. I am always on look for filling snacks...so snacks would be something which i would look for in future posts here....

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  10. Bong snacks are my favourites....I would like to see few more of those please. Also some condiments and preserves Bengali style. I know you may not be able to post the mug to me....however can inbox you someone inIndia who loves tea and cooking just like you

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  11. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post, It is awesome.

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  12. Nice post, i hope everyone will like your post..

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  13. Hi, I would like to see more of Food Travelogues of Bengal/Bangladesh and also some readings on the historic influence of foreign cultures(eg. Dutch,Danish,French) on the Bengali cuisine...

    Arghya Sanyal

    arghyasanyal@gmail.com
    INDIA

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  14. Sandeepadi - I totally looove your blog the way it is right now - esp. a story with each recipe, be it traditions; some event in BS or LS's schools, or any other trivia. Your blog is my go-to everytime I want to cook something from my Ma's kitchen - I just never got to learn it haathe-dhore from her and somehow your recipes taste just like hers! What I would like to see more in your blog going forward are -

    1) Foody travelly stories - keep up the awesome work there; absolutely no changes
    2) Bong vegetable recipes - you already have lots and I owe all my offlate fatafati ranna to you. But yeh dil maange more hence :P I've been wanting to make mocha ghonto (not the coffee!), incase you have any recipes it'll be shanghatic!
    3) Comments/questions enabled on some old blogs - As a late joiner, often I might have some question or just a wow love it comment on some old recipe but find the comments are closed. If there is a section on your blog where we can post on old recipes where commenting is now closed, that'll be very cool. Ofcourse I could always email you, but sometimes it feels trivial to just send a one-liner email. Commenting on the blog could be easier.

    Look forward to more stories, food and cooking :)

    kuntala.karkun@gmail.com; India

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  15. Debadutta ChakravartiApril 09, 2014 5:14 AM

    Hi Sandeepa Di, I have been following your blog regularly from the past six or seven years. Last year I even bought your book. It made for a delightful reading. Your childhood stories were somewhat similar to my childhood. We stay in Mumbai, India and were able to visit Kolkata only during the summer vacations. My Dida used to lavish us with dishes which my mother couldn't cook in our home due to unavalability of items. Her speciality were different type of pickles she used to make specially for us. Tetul, Kamranga, Aam etc. She used to even give us bottles to take back home. My Dida is now no more and the recipes were lost with her. Even my Maa passed away before she could tell us the recipes. It would be nice if you could include some of the age old recipes of bengali pickles which are found rare these days. Looking forward for more books from you.

    debaduttachakravarti@gmail.com, Country: India

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  16. Sandeepa, I love the way you weave your stories around your recipes. However, of late you have not shared many recipes. Please write more stories about your girls and how you adopt your recipes to suit there palete. I would also love to read more about recipes from your Ma with reference to your own childhood.

    Runa
    runa.dasgupta@gmail.com; India

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  17. You pretty much cover everything in your blog Sandeepa..but personally I want to see the recipes to make authentic poochka water like the ones you get in Calcutta, jhalmuri recipe, egg roll mustard sauce, and some snacks which Bengalis make and store during Poojas.. (Did you cover all this earlier, I tried searching but wasnt too successful)

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  18. Wishing you advanced Happy New Year Sandeepa. May the coming year be filled with lots of joy and happiness. I want to more see you reviewing few of your local restaurants and would love to know your take on them. :-)

    Siri

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  19. Kitchen secrets and cooking tips

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  20. At the extreme risk of indulging in sedition, here goes: There is a huge population of Bengalis (and non-) living in an arc in the West Coast from Sacramento to San Diego; most of them love to cook, I would presume (my daughter does, in spades) And many of them would want to give some basic non-Bong food a shot You are inventive, confident (in spite of what you say about yourself) and articulate So why should your blog not be nibbling, just that little bit, at non-Bong winners How does one make a great Lal Maas? A Puran Poli to die for? A super Chicken 65 starter to fight over? So on. Think about it and throw the idea out if it's too over the top Partha Basu Shambazar/ lately Gurgaon / India basupar@gmail.com And oh, yes Happy Netaji's Birth Anniversay (The Netaji statue at Paanch Mathar More where SCB is seen exhorting Delhi Challo!, but pointing towards Sri Lanka) is ready for its annual wash and scrub down I'll miss it Partha da

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  21. Your own blog in its Good old form - from the initial days when it was started...where all your stories and recipes were available to all your readers over the Internet.....instead of its present form, where, before we could even finish reading & want to go back to some of your old stories/recipe page, it has been locked because of reasons better know to the author.

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  22. Hi Sandeepa di, I'm a regular reader of your blog, and I love the your recipes, along with the interesting anecdotes you post. When I was small I'd often visit my Bong friends' homes for their birthday parties and would relish the dishes their mums prepared. It was very different from the food we had at home and I still remember the taste with a lot of fondness. In your blog, I'd love to see more typical Bengali 'birthday-party' kinda recipes ( snacks as well as main course ) :)

    With love,
    Shireen Srivastava
    Kolkata ( India )
    E-mail : vaibhavshireen@gmail.com

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  23. Hi, Would love to see some snacks/lunchbox ideas for kids.
    Ekta
    TX, USA.

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  24. WOuld want to see sweets and deserts.
    --Seema
    gopalan.seema@gmail.com, US

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  25. I would love to see more fish recipes. My hubby tasted some kind of Hilsa preparation when he visited Bangladesh and a kind of soft khichdi ..
    Shobha
    keshwanishobha@yahoo.com ( Brazil) - I can provide my mom's Indian address.

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  26. I have a slow cooker and I try cooking different Indian recipes using that. So far only the dal makhani and your hyderabadi marag are the successful ones. it would be great if you can give us some great slow cooking recipes :-)

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  27. Would love to see some Bongo Western Fusion Cooking please!
    Nayana Das at nayanakarnikdas@yahoo.com
    Mumbai India

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  28. I am relatively new to your blog, and I love it just the way it is. The stories you put up along with each recipe - that is lovely, adds such a personal touch to your posts. :) What I would like to see more of on your blog in the times to come is stories about markets and the produce available there, personal stories about the cuisine of the places you visit, etc.

    galnxtdoor01@gmail.com

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  29. Hello!
    I love your blog, and refer to almost all the recipes noted here. I moved to the U.S about 9 months ago, (right after I got married) and since then this has been my cooking bible. My husband is now accustomed to asking 'is this is a bong mom recipe?' whenever I make something new or yummy :)
    I also relate to all your BS and LS stories since my sister and I had a grand time growing up together and sharing things much like your daughters.
    As I said I am new to the U.S i'd like to see a few more posts about experiments done with the local vegetables/meat available here. I am still discovering things on my own (and through your tips and feedback) but yes, I'd appreciate some more.
    Keep up the good work! Cheers!
    Suchana Sen (sensuchana@gmail.com)
    Idaho, USA

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    1. :) .. way to go Suchana, surprised to find you here ... she even inspired me to cook :P

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  30. Hi!
    Firstly, congratulations on the success of your Blog, your Book and with Bong Food!

    I would really love to see the blog continue the way it is, with a story behind all your dishes, like a memory wrapped around a taste!

    In addition to that if I could ask for something more from your blog, it would be more accounts of your day to day, ermmm, culinary adventures? Few months back you had gone travelling and were MIA from FB and this blog space. Perhaps you may consider putting up pictures of the food you had there, the farmer's markets around that area and what's their special produce that time of the year when you visited; or maybe you could write about the coffee in the deli you had the other day while catching up with a friend. Your blog is doused with nostalgia. The day to day anecdotes of today and now is perhaps not so often featured. As a reader I would like to see more of how you deal with long office hours and what you cook for dinner on those days. You get the drift.

    Healthy Bong Breakphashts will be asking for too much. Being a Bong I know we don't have much options there, so I keep my list short and put for your consideration the above proposition. It does read like a ramble but I hope you get the gist of what I'm trying to say. Happy weekend meals we can perhaps manage on lazy weekdays, but what does a city girl and mother of two cook on those dreary nights after a long, long day at the office?

    Ankita - I'm not that egotistical as my email suggests.. the woes of having such a common name, I guess (theankitaghosh@gmail.com)
    Bangalore, India

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  31. Hi,
    I am so happy that folks from India can also partcipate this time!!Yipee!! Thank u & we all love u lots!!!

    Since summer is already here(atleast in India) can we have some mocktail recipes from you.

    And as always kudos to u for such a wonderful blog & book. Both are life savers when I run out of ideas to make something new!!!

    My email id :debjanib@gmail.com
    Mumbai, India.

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  32. Bengali easy to make savory dishes :) would love to make and surprise my friend(who lovesss bengali food as well)

    Aarti from Chennai

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  33. Wonderful blog - not much to ask for. Tobuo maybe you can include Menu and recipes of items that can be made for major holidays and celebrations with a bengali touch but using ingredients that are typical of the festival or holiday.
    E.g. cranberry chutney or aloo bhaat-e(mashed potatoes) or something with sweet potatoes for thanksgiving. Other ideas for Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter/ Halloween.
    m_Mookerjee@yahoo.com, USA

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  34. Picky eaters' recipes, please ! Especially foods where veggies can be hidden. I have a very picky almost four year old :)
    And if possible, more recipes using different pastes and moshola from different regions of Bengal (for a start....). Thanks. Your Chicken 65 and Bhejitebil chops are on regular rotation in my house.

    J
    jossjc@yahoo.com

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  35. Your blog is already so good. Still as you asked I would love to know more on healthy snacks. My email add: writetorumana@gmail.com. Country: India

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  36. Your blog is already so good. Still as you asked I would love to know more on healthy snacks. My email add: writetorumana@gmail.com. Country: India

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  37. Your blog is mouth watering and sure doesn't give the heebie jeebies to all the amateur cooks like me... Somehow as women (more so perhaps as Indian women) we are made to believe that the double xx chromosomes are supposed to indicate some kind of special culinary powers :)... On the other hand your blog also challenges the other stereotype that "modern" career women necessarily do not/ cannot cook. Therefore, I enjoy the centrality that you accord to quotidian practices, savouring every moment, giving them a magical quality...

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  38. I would love if you include more experiences of your failed recipes... The kind of kitchen disasters, almost like an antithesis to the kitchen goddess image :)

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  39. Thank you for keeping this lovely blog going.. You do have a way with words, not to mention the delicious recipes:-) I would love to see more vegetable/vegetarian dishes from Bengal, if possible...

    Thank you,
    Gayathri (USA)

    Gayathri_aiyar@yahoo.com

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  40. Hi Sandeepa, I am absolutely in love with your blog. I have tried a lot of you recipes. I am an avid baker and feel that you should add more baked goodies, particularly focusing on breads.

    Indrani Bhowmick,Kolkata,India

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  41. I love your blog.. Honestly it is difficult to choose what I would want to read here.. I am sure I would love anything you write.. Just keep writing ..

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  42. Please put more recipes of bangla ranna like posto, pui shak, begun pora, labra, kumro, lau dal

    It is hot in california and i am pining to eat those

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  43. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  44. Hi Bongmom,
    Thank God for you. I am a 'barir choto meye turned grihini now" so u can well understand my agony. And once I was out of Bengal I was so much more in love with it. That's when I came across your blog. My love for food knows no bound. :)
    I would really love to see some Paanta bhaat recipe(along with the savory side dishes) in your blog. I don't know why it is so underestimated as a meal but it's so quintessentially Bengali. Not to forget the drowsiness afterwards. It's only now that I am getting to know my Bengali roots well. so would love if you write something about this simple, easy yet so tasty recipe.
    Thanks Again.
    Location: Bangalore, India
    Email : marina.chatterjee@gmail.com

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  45. Dont change a thing. Loved your book too.

    debi.sengupta(at)gmail.com

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  46. What would you change about this space? I say, nothing. I have a feeling, your blog feels just like your living room does when you're talking to friends. And that's just as it should be.
    Shubho Noboborsho to and your family, Sandeepa. Much love.

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  47. Hi Sandeepa!

    I have been in love with your blog forever and follow it religiously. I brought your book and treat it like a bible, keeps me connected to the one thing i understand best-food! Your blog has a very good mix of recipes but i'd love it if you could post recipes of gourmet food you would replicate at home or your take on something super fancy uou might have eaten at some place, would be very interesting!!!

    Thanks!
    Love and hugs
    Pratyusha
    email- pratyusha.mukherji@gmail.com
    location- USA

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  48. Hi Sandeepa,
    I am a typical Non resident Bengali who had never cooked before her marriage and turned to ma on the phone for even the simple "Aloobhaja".Thanks to the net and you,now I know of and make all those bengali recipes which took even my mom by surprise.Keep going.I love your space.I would love to find more bengali desserts here.
    Love
    Antara,Ranchi,India










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  49. One thing you can add to this already popular blog is some meal plans for lunch and dinner.
    Antara,Ranchi,India.
    antarag78@rediffmail.com

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  50. Hi Sandeepa I'm a little late here. Just wanted to suggest you have a section for lost Bengali recipes, probably as part of your traditional recipes and maybe encourage reader input. I'm always afraid that age old recipes from our grandmothers' generation or before will be lost forever.
    My email : mimi.guha@gmail.com
    NJ,USA
    Thanks for the giveaway.

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  51. It Feel So Amazing To Read This Post. I Just Want To Thank The Writer For Providing Such An Informative Article. Thanks Once Again.
    Labor Day Quotes 2014

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