The Great Bengali Pata Bata or veggie Pâté -- leafy greens pâté

Mulo Shaak Bata | Phulkopi Pata Bata| Bengali Pata Bata

Radish greens, Cauliflower leaves, Lau Pata, and other such fresh green peels or leaves which we usually discard, are made into a beautiful dish in Bengal called "pata bata" which is a seasoned and spiced paste of these leaves and stalks. A close cousin of  Pate in French or a Pesto in Italian, this very Bengali rustic dish with generous doses of Mustard oil is a culinary delight.

Many, many years ago, it was a cold winter day just like today, when I was visiting my in-laws in India. Well not exactly cold like today as it was in India but it gets pretty cold where they live. Though I must say with the  sun on the terrace winter in their town is far better than here. On that winter afternoon there were several small bowls on the dining table at lunch. So yes, lunch is what I concentrate on when I visit anyone, in-laws or out-laws.

Well there were always several small bowls on the dining table but this time each of them contained a paste or mash like something in earthy colors of brown, deep green or deeper green. I had never seen the likes of them and was actually a bit suspicious with their color and portions. The husband-man however went ecstatic and shouted in glee "Baata korecho?" I was still clueless. The guy loved weird things like bittergourd and bitter neem leaves fry and so his happiness did not aid my confidence.

Nimbly I took a little of one of those baatas and mixed it with white rice and took a morsel. Flavors of mustard oil, green chili, kalonji burst in my mouth. This was good. So so good. Unlike neem paata which I detested. Surprised with the fullness of flavors and smoothness of the texture, I asked my Ma-in-law what it was ?

"Mulo Shaak Baata", she said. And then she pointed to the others and said "Kochu baata" and "Kopi paata baata"! I was bowled by all these baatas or pates or pastes. They were really heavenly. That something so simple like "Leafy greens of radish" or the "green leaves of cauliflower" could morph into something so delicious was beyond my imagination.

She explained how the greens are ground into a paste on the sheel-nora, the same pocmarked slab of stone used in all Indian homes used to wet-grind spices. After that the paste is sauteed in Mustard oil with spices like kalo jeera(kalonji), green chilies and garlic, until the water is dried out and the paste is cooked.

Sheel Nora -- though here it is being used for making posto

Back home, I asked my Mother, "How come you never made paata baata?"

She looked quizzically at me and didn't appear too happy about my allegiance towards this strange dish called "paata bata"

And when I explained what it was she dismissed it as something that Bangals make, "Bangal ra oi shob banay".

Well might be true. The Bangals, or the Bengalis who immigrated from Bangladesh during or just before partition, are known for their distinctive cooking strategies. They are also known for their enterprising habit of using every bit of vegetables and fish in a dish and not wasting even the peels. I am not sure why people from this region of Bengal are more prone to making baatas etc while the folks from West Bengal are not.

It could be that the immigrant Bengalis, living a rough life, uprooted from their home and earnings, were more careful about not wasting food and making the most of what they had. It could also be because Bangladesh was a river state with frequent flooding, so people tried to make most of the vegetables they grew during those periods of rain and flood. In both situations, the idea was to stretch to the limits of what little you had.

So whatever the reason of their origin, the pate' like dishes made from vegetable peels or leafy greens or even whole vegetables are delicious. Later my mom-in-law also made a Kaanchakolar khosa baata made with the skin of green plantains which I have shared on the blog earlier.  Last month when we were visiting my friends from Thanksgiving, my friend Deepshikha made a "Dhonepaata Bata", a similar paste like my Ma-in-law makes but with coriander leaves. It was not the "dhonepata chutney" that we make every winter. This was a cooked dish.

So once I was back in my kitchen I was itching to make a paata bata. But instead of using only Coriander leaves, I wanted to use radish greens and cabbage. And then I didn't find any radish greens at the market so I got some watercress, which we are very fond of. The paste was now made of watercress, cabbage and coriander leaves.  More of coriander and watercress and less of cabbage. I wasn't sure how the  cabbage would  turn out so I sauteed them first and then made the paste. But honestly  the transformation of these greens into this Bengali style pâté was spectacular.

Maach Shaaker Bhorta -- from Hasina Ahmed and Hena

The best thing I love about  blogging on food for all these years is the people I meet via my blog and new recipes I learn from them. I could have probably learned them from other websites, some youtube video or even a cookbook. All of them excellent sources.

But when I hear it from a real person it is very different. It makes it more tangible, more real for me. I feel humbled that they share their precious recipe with me. Something probably handed down through generations or something they invented or something shared by their friends. That the recipe found a way to my kitchen from theirs, touched with all their love and turmeric makes it more precious.

I have been honored to have Rituporna's Chitol Maacher Muithya, Somnath's Raastar Ghugni, Indrani Bhattacharya's Kumro Begun Chingri, Ahona's Methi Maachh, Sunetra's Piyaajkoli Macch, Piya and Chandrani's Dhonepata Bata Sheem on my blog.

Today it is Hasina Ahmed di. I have never met her or known her and yet I would trust her recipes over any youtube recipe video.. Hasinadi had once introduced me to the different greens that we get at the Asian stores here in US. I was clueless about most of them and only after her gentle nudging did I start buying those strange-named greens and cooking them. A few weeks back, Hasinadi told me about a Maacch Shaak er bhorta that her friend Hena taught her. Over to her for more...


1. Tell us a little about yourself and your friend Hena

I grew up mostly in Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh. My family is originally from Noakhali. I moved to the USA twenty six years ago after I got married. Currently I live in a very small university town in western South Dakota and work full time (8-5). My husband and I love to try new food (especially ethnic food). Food is actually a very important part of your life. What you put in your mouth remains with you. Having a satisfactory (&healthy) meal is good for you both physically and mentally (my physician says so)

Hena and her husband owned a motel in a VERY small town called Hot Springs (2 hour drive from our town). She is a home maker and mother of two boys (11 and 6). They moved to SD from LA 8 years ago. They have sold their motels (to a Gujrati family) a couple of months ago and are getting ready to leave SD.


2. You are from Bangladesh. Do you still hold on to the food culture you had grown up with ? Assuming you are in the US, how do you do that?

Yes, I still hold on to the food culture I had grown up with and I have no plan to change it. Nowadays, you get all most all the ingredients (including khejurer gur) for your cooking in the South Asian Grocery Stores in the big cities. I usually buy my spices from Denver (400 miles from where I live). Actually it is easier to cling to your ethnic food culture if you live in a big city or close to a big city but it is a challenge for the remote and small town dweller like me. I try to be as much creative as possible

3.Bengalis have huge respect for the cuisine from East Bengal. What do you think makes such an impression?

I know our friends from Poshchim Bongo love our meat preparation (kabab, kosha mangsho, korma etc.) But do you think our fish preparation is better than yours? My observation is the Bengalis from Poshcim Bongo cook the best Niramish in the sub-continent. We, the bangals, eat meat regularly and that gives us a wider comfort zone as far as the meat preparation is concerned.

4. Give some examples of how you recreate the food of your childhood with American ingredients

Cooking meat here is not difficult at all. According to my mother, desi spices which are available here are much better (she probably meant less bhejaal) than their counterparts back home. Here is how I make my chicken tikka kabab (see the photo below).

I must confess that cooking vegetables in desi style in an area where I live needs a lot of creativity. During the ninety’s and last decade Broccoli was the magic vegetable. We tried to eat Broccoli at least once a week and I got tired of boiled broc (sometimes raw brocs).

I experimented for sometimes and now cook broccoli in the following ways. 1. Stir fry it with kalo jeerey and dry red chili phoron. 2. Peel the fat stems, cut them into match sticks and cook with shrimp and tomato. 3. Steam sliced broccoli florets on a pan and make bhorta.

I have a family recipe of ‘mishti kumro cooked with moong daal and narkel doodh’. Mishti Kumro is not available here. I replace it with acorn squash (I buy fresh and tender acorn from the farmer’s market in summer).
I use the bideshi vegetables but use desi spices and style to cook my vegetables. Here is another photo. Mushroom, zuchini, potato, snow peas and chayote squash cooked with shorshey and kancha lonka phoron. I also used home-made poriyal masala.

5. You introduced me to a lot of greens. Given that you have a love for gardening, do you also grow them ? Which ones are the easiest to grow ?

Gardening is my passion. I essentially grow flowers (roses outdoor and orchids indoor). But I also have a vegetable patch where I grow our desi vegetables (lau, pui shaak, lonka, long and small round begun, etc.) I grow korola and sometimes methi shaak in pots. Desi veges don’t grow very well here as it is very dry but I still try. If you are in the East Coast, or in Florida or in California, you can grow any desi vegetable that you want to. I use the methi shaak (that I grow in the pot) for cooking my daal. Lau in my vege patch (photo below).

6. So how do you make this Maacher Bhorta ?

My friend H gave me this recipe. Hena is originally from Sylhet. They call this dish Lye Bhorta and originally it is done with shorshe shaak or mustard greens

1. Telapia fillet -  2 (depends on the # of people).

2. Smear the fish fillet with pinch of turmeric , dry red chili flakes, salt and garlic powder (optional), and lemon juice, Leave it aside for 20/30 minutes.

3. 2 cups of very finely chop spring salad mix (original recipe says special 'shorshey shaak' available in Sylhet area). Note:I tried it with arugula and I also stir fried it with garlic, instead of keeping it raw.

4. In a bowl put
very finely chopped red onion (I used quarter of a large red onion),
green chili(4 hot Indian green chili)
one tablespoon of finely chopped dhoney pata/coriander leaves.
Mix well with hand, lightly pressing the coriander leaves and green chillies

5. Fry fish with very little oil. It should be on the crunchier side,

6. When done with frying, break the fish with your hand. Mix all ingredients and add salt to taste.. Sprinkle mustard oil and mix well. Try to mix with your hand. The Sylhetis call it 'lye pata bhorta'. You may skip onion if you don't like it raw. Hasina Di substitutes the mustard greens with organic salad mix. She says, " It became very popular in our home and we are having it almost every week. Though it is called bhorta it is more like salad."

We too loved this Maachh Shaak er Bhorta. I want to try it with different greens next. Thank you Hasina Di and Hena.


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Shaak Bata -- Sweet pea green Paste or Pate

Saraswati Pujo is a few days away and this is the time of the year when my Dida's Gota Seddho drifts up in my memory, which is otherwise inundated with a lot of fluff. At all other time, the Gota seddho is pushed beneath deadlines, middle school tests, elementary school valentine's day, snow forecasts, and seasons of Parenthood yet to be watched on Netflix. I don't think of Gota seddo at any other time of the year but come Ma Saraswati and this post hovers in my sub-conscious.

Sweet Pea Tips

I don't usually make it. I am not sure if I will make a Gota seddho this year either. The whole essence of eating gota seddho during the season is not lost on me though. I appreciate the immunity boost that these vegetables gives at the turn of the season. And to do my part, today I have all greens in my blog.

The Asian Market in my town is a veritable feast of leafy greens all year round. When I say Asian Market, it actually means Chinese/Korean market, teeming with fish, noodles, variety of sauces and unfamiliar vegetables. They have greens there like no bodies business and with names that no one would have thunk. I have learned not to be flabbergasted by the names though and with help from some of my blog readers, I confidently buy watercress and Yu Choy from there. Baby Bok Choy is now my favorite green.

Watercress

Now my side of the family was never big on different variety of greens but the husband-man's is. His mother usually makes a lot of different kinds and cooks them in innumerable ways. The last time that we visited them, my mother-in-law made a mean "mulo-shaak baata", radish greens sauteed and made into a paste. I think the "baata" or turning every thing into a paste is more of a East Bengal thing and I must say it is brilliant idea. The "mulo shaak baata" tasted really amazing.

Kale Bhaja -- and how Green is my valley

Stir Fried Kale with lots of garlic, dry red chillies and then eaten with steaming rice with dollops of Kasundi. Yes ! That easy.

Though I am not too fond of eating "greens", I love green. The color green in nature.And as I say every year, I am mesmerized by the green that springs up around where I live as soon as April rolls in. The transformation is so magical and so abundant that coming from a childhood dominated with dusty greens year around, this green grabs me by the throat, flairs my sinuses, makes me take zyrtec and yet mesmerizes me.

Most evenings these days, I look forward to sitting in the patio and drinking my tea. Just staring at the green trees as I drive to work every day makes me hopeful. And taking advantage of the green and warm weather, this Mother's Day was spent at the park hiking or rather strolling along one of the trails, enjoying a a picnic lunch of pasta salad and boiled eggs and being treated to umpteen homemade cards.

Here is BS's card made during recess at school. My heart swore at the praise bestowed on me until she said,"Fate was the only word that "rhymed" with great.Ar kichu mone aschilo na." I thought, "At least not 'crate' or 'vertebrate' ."
But she also took great pain and time to make the beautiful origami flowers following instructions from youtube and that was her gift. Precious.

On Friday, I went to LS's school for the Mother's Day tea as is the norm. Either I have just got too used to it or my expectations have gone higher but this year I found the affair to be a bit shoddy. The school could have done a better job, at least as good as last year's. Or the year before that.

So anyway during the activity time, there was this rectangular construction paper where the kids had mentioned what they like to do best with their Moms and the Mom-child duo were supposed to draw/paint on that theme. No surprise, well a little surprise, that LS said she likes cooking with me. Not baking, which she does a fair bit, but cooking. That the kitchen and the adjoining family room is where we all congregate and spend most of our time might make her feel that all she is doing in her free time is cooking with Mom.

Also that  a couple of times, I have let her get on the step stool and stir something in the pot.
And she thwacks garlic and garam masala on the mortar.
And she rolls tiny rotis when my Mom is here.
And she gets to press the buttons on the blender jar when I am making onion paste.

You know where this is going ? In sharp contrast to my childhood where Ma firmly believed "girls need not learn to cook", my kids spend their life in the drudgery of the kitchen. Sniff.Sniff.

"So LS, how did you spend your childhood ? What did you play ?"

"Ohh, I cooked a lot with my Mom. And then some more."

Back to the art project, so LS drew this. She drew me and herself. This time "no visible belly button" and we are making orange Maggi. She also did not let me draw anything other than that single squiggly line of Maggi in the whole page.

It is beautiful and is going in my treasure chest.

Now, back to the green that I am not terribly fond of. The edible kind.

Since my Baba, is not very fond of eating and believes that "bhaat-aluseddho-dim seddho" for lunch and "dudh-pauruti" for dinner is enough for a human being's survival on this planet and everything else is a waste of time, my Ma did not get to cook a wide variety of greens. Palong Shaak, Laal Shaak, Methi shaak were the most common variety in our home. Pui etc. making occasional rounds. I am not sure what she felt at this green limitation but she seemed happy with the choice.

It was my husband who however is the green connoisseur having had all kinds from paat to kolmi to pui shaak to lau shaak all through his childhood. But we don't get all that variety here. Instead we have the Farmer's market with "Bok Choy", "Kale", "Broccoli raabe", "Collard greens" and "Swiss chard"

Since Kale is being touted as the "queen of greens" and people are drinking Kale Juice by the gallon, I have started buying more of this particular green these days.

The easiest way I make Kale Bhaja is as follows

Chop Kale greens

Heat Mustard Oil to smoking

Temper hot oil with dry red chilli and lots of garlic, thinly sliced.

As soon as you get the flavor of garlic, add the greens and mix. If you have a lot of greens instead adding all together , do it in steps. Toss greens, let it wilt a wee bit, add more greens, toss, repeat.

Once you have added all the greens and mixed nicely, add salt to taste and cover the saucier. Let the greens cook. Check in between and sprinkle little water if necessary.

Meanwhile make a paste of poppy seeds. This is optional but adds a nice touch.

Once the greens are almost cooked, add the posto/poppy seed paste, mix well and let it cook for few more minutes until done

Enjoy with a dollop of Kasundi and steaming hot rice.

There is another delicious way to eat Kale as in Baked Kale Chips

I have also cooked Collard Greens like a Kashmiri Haak. Some of the other green dishes from my blog are here for you to pick and choose.

Masoor Dal with Bok Choy

Broccoli raabe into a Sarson Ka Saag

Bok Choy is used extensively in a Dal, in a jhol with eggplant and bori and sauteed with garlic in olive oil
 

Mulo Shaak or Radish Greens

Kale, I cook mostly stir fried like spinach or add to my Dals. Mandira's Kale Chips are very famous too.

Pui Chingri

Shaak Ghonto

Dim diye Palong Shaak

Palong Shaak er Ghonto

Palak Kadhi

Dal with Beet Greens

Spring Mix-Roasted Sweet Pepper-Mango Salad

I think I should come out clean and let you know that most days I do not cook elaborate meals. I have neither the time nor the energy for it. It also helps that I am kind of lazy.

But then again I am a believer in home cooked food with a certain aura of health around it. Ask my friends, at times my healthy cooking spree drives them 56 miles away from my home. But I stick to it with the same earnestness that SRK has for his six-packs or Salman for his shirts. This, my earnestness, means I need to do some preps like cooking ahead or making masala pastes, baking fish instead of maacher jhol or serving a salad that gets done in the oven 90% of the time.

Fridays becomes a tad challenging to eat an interesting dinner within my vegetarian boundaries. More so if I decide to not eat alu-posto, musurir dal and bhaat.

Recently the bag of mini sweet peppers that I have been picking up from Costco or Wegmans have helped somewhat in that direction. Roasted with a splash of olive oil and sprinkle of black pepper they taste divine. Some Feta drives it up a whole notch.

Today I made a salad with a boring box of spring mix, the roasted sweet pepper and some mangoes. It really, really was divine and I don't say such stuff often. The husband who on spotting a salad always asks "Ar ki ache?" (What else is there?) was almost happy to have just the salad and nothing else. Given that the sweet peppers roast themselves in the oven and the organic greens come right out of a box this is the kind of meals I love to cook. That way I get far more time to take pictures than actually cooking it.

I got a batch of six mangoes yesterday but they were not really sweet. A sprinkle of brown sugar and some paprika made them eminently edible though.

The peppers roasted in my toaster oven at 350F for 20-25 mins are delicious by themselves. Some feta and lime juice can only make it better.

The final salad was as good as it was pretty.Try it out and am sure you will like it.Happy Friday Everyone.

Befriending Sarson da Saag

Unfriend -- a new word though trust Blogger to still thinks otherwise. Heard it on NPR day before and I was surprised, so "unfriending" was not a word all these days. How else could you explain the ebbing away of the people you once knew ? It is true I have not really "unfriended" people formally for ages. People just flow in and out of my life, some without even a formal good bye, they move away, I lose interest and one fine morning I ask D, "You remember T, she used to make such lovely shorshe chingri, heard they moved to a new home, its been years that we have talked to them". I don't make an effort to befriend T again, I have moved away, even if I call there won't be much to talk about so I don't. But I haven't "unfriended" her, if I ever refer to her shorshe salmon to new acquaintances I still say "I had a friend T".

My daughter and my neighbor's daughter "unfriend" each other almost every day. Every afternoon I hear "N says she is not my friend any more". There is hurt in that voice, the pain of rejection.Before, that pain used to hurt me, I used to reassure her "It is ok, you can make other friends". Now I know to ignore, almost every evening they get together and play again. I am not sure how the "befriending" happens, they don't lock their thumbs, they don't do anything, they just become friends.

This post reminded me of my childhood, those days of "aari" and "bhaab". The little girls holding up their cute pinkies and declaring a somber "katti". An hour or so of not talking to each other, not making eye contacts and then everything forgotten as thumbs were locked into "bhaab". If things were really rough, there was even a poem, a very humiliating one, to end it all.

Aaari, aari, aari
Kal jabo Bari (Tomorrow I shall go home)
Porshu jabo Ghor (The day after I shall be with my family)
Hanuman er lyaj dhore tana tani kor (Meanwhile you while away your time pulling a monkeys tail)

That is how we did it then, formally with decorum.

How do you "unfriend" for that matter, now that you have been reminded you can ? Do you just bump people off your contact list and send them a "unfriendly" message ? Soon will you also "unfollow" on Twitter ?

I befriended "Sarson Saag" very recently.


Read more...





Strange as it may sound, I never had it back in India. The famous Makki di Roti and Sarson di Saag never enticed me enough. Recently Baby A's nanny, M Didi, suggested that we get "shorshe shaak" or mustard greens and she would cook it for us. We never saw Mustard Green at the Indian Grocer's and then one day she pointed out to broccoli rabe at the Farmers Market and declared it to be "shorshe shaak". So that is how Broccoli rabe was re-christened as sarson saag at our home and later as I learned in many Indian homes across USA.

Her preparation of the greens were ok, nothing to be talked home about. And then one of my colleagues who is a Punju shared his lunch of sarson di saag with me. The greens were delightful, creamy and delicious. A call to his wife later, I got the following recipe. I have tried it only once since and have not measured the ingredients, follow your instinct and you will do fine.

Sarson Ka Saag

Wash the greens well.

Cook in pressure cooker one part broccoli rabbe (or mustard greens) with 2 part spinach, a little salt and a couple of green chilis for 15-20 minutes

Take the greens out, add a little chickpea flour to them and make a smooth pulp or kind of paste out of them. I did a coarse puree but technically you are not supposed to use any electronic gadget.

Heat Oil in a saute pan/Kadhai

Add minced garlic or garlic paste

Add a good amount of finely chopped onion and fry till onion turns reddish brown

Add a little turmeric, red chili powder, and pureed tomato

Fry till you see oil seeping out from the masala

Add the greens, salt to taste and cook till there is a little oil coming out from the side of the greens

Serve with butter or a dollop of yogurt as I did

Enjoy with Makki di Roti, Chapati, whole wheat bread or just by itself

Note: I felt some paneer in that saag would have been just wonderful


Trivia: In north India and Pakistan sarson is more intimately entwined with village life. Sarson is a surprisingly resilient plant that resists infestation and is not easily affected by adverse weather. It is, therefore, eminently suitable to an unsophisticated rural economy. Wide fields of blooming yellow mustard, the sarson ki khet is a popular shoot location for Bollywood romances.

Kochur Loti diye Ilish Maach -- lost in translation

If someone told me last week that I would hardly find time to do things that are important to me, like cook or blog or browse blogs or do nothing this week, I would say "Pfbttttt".

And this week, I cannot tell you how much I am missing doing nothing.

If someone told me last year that I wouldn't miss Durga Pujo at all this year, I would roll my eyes and look away

But this year I really am not missing it. No nostalgia about sharat, sheuli, kashful whatsoever.

Nope, none, nada, zilch.

I am secretly happy that I don't have to push aside sweaty bodies smelling of jasmine and Aminia's biryani in Gariahat and prostrate at my tailors to get my salwar stitched in time. I don't have to decide which pandals to visit on Panchami when the crowd is at its mildest best and sit home on Ashtami watching "Sharodo Parikroma" on Television. And yes the food, the long wait for that single egg roll because it is Pujo, ahhh I have overcome that.

If someone told me last year that I would have "Kochur Loti diye Ilish er Matha" in my blog, I would say "In your dreams, dude".Ok, maybe not the "dude" part.

Yeah, really. Kochur loti ? Who am I kidding ?

I am sure my Ma cooked such stuff but honestly I have no memory of Kochur Loti from my childhood, teenhood, pre-adult hood, neighborhood...

But LS's baby sitter who is from Bangladesh and has this fond fascination for such things got a pack of Kochur Loti from where else but New York. I already had the Hilsa fish's head or Ilish maach er Matha languishing in the freezer, waiting to be thrown out, for my family detests such smelly things. So when LS's baby sitter said she wanted to make Kochur Loti with fish head, what did I have to loose ?

M Didi made this with onion, garlic, ginger and lots of chili. It was hot and happening.

I don't remember my Ma cooking it that way though. She belongs to a different genre. I am sure she made it with coconut and kala chana. I am not even sure if she added fish head.

Google tells me Kochur Loti is nothing but colocasia stem/shoots and it requires special technique of cooking to remove crystals of calcium oxalate. Kochu or Colocasia too has these crystals and cause itching if they are not removed by thorough cooking. These stems or shoots are very popular in Bangladesh and is now also popular in West Bengal. It is available in the US in South Asian grocery stores in the freezer aisle and a frozen packet costs around $2.

To cook Kochur loti with Ilish Macher Matha follow this recipe, looks pretty authentic. For vegetarian version just don't add fish head.

Edited To Add: The blog Akansha's Recipe, that I had linked earlier has stolen many blog posts and photos. I was not aware until Jaya of Spice and Curry told me she herself was a victim. This Plagiarism is killing us.

I do not have an exact recipe because I did not cook it. Here is how LS's sitter made it.

Wash and clean the fish head pieces and smear with salt and turmeric

Heat Mustard oil

Add ginger, garlic and onion. Fry well

Add the fish head pieces. Fry till they are lightly browned

Add the Kochur loti, Red Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder and salt to taste.

Keep stirring frequently at medium heat. Continue stirring till all the water released has dried up.

Add little more water and cover and cook till fish head is soft. Dry up excess water.

And since Durga Pujo is less than 3 weeks away and we know that you need to eat good food for that IS celebration, here are some things you can cook if you are stuck at home watching Pujo Porikroma on the telly. If you have a steel heart and iron arms , I am sure you will be out there during Pujo waiting behind umpteen people at the Phuchka wala outside the Mandap. Or do people go to Mainland China these days ?

Shoshti

Luchi Alur Dom ar Cholar Dal
Luchi ar Alu Charchari 

Chaal Kopi

Doi Fulkopi

Beguni

Dhokar Dalna

Saptomi

Kolkata Egg Roll

Fish Fry

Maacher Chop

Chingri Pakora
Egg Pulao
Dime er Parota ar Keema

Ashtomi

Pathar Mangsho ar Luchi ba Bhaat

Mutton Rezala ar parota

Doi Murgi

Chicken korma

Nabomi

Bhapa Ilish ar Jhar Jhare Sada bhaat

Chingri Maacher Malaikari ar Ghee Bhaat

Doi Maach

Doi Shorshe Ilish

Rui Maacher Dumpukht

Shorshe Chingri Bhape ar Sada Bhaat

Muri Ghonto

Bijoya Dashami

Bhapa Doi

Kalakand

Narkel Naru
Malpua

Ghugni

Dal with Beet Greens

Little Sis aka LS is a funny creature. She is the kind you would like to have at the other table at the fancy restaurant. The kind who will stick her tongue out at you, climb up and down the high chair, throw forks around, throw folks around and make you silently gloat on your own parenting skills. When she starts yelling you can pay your tip and leave.

I cannot leave however. I am the Mother. I have to grab her by the nape while I shovel Pad Thai down mine. I have to constantly remind her that throwing a plate(thankfully it was a copper or some metallic kind) around is not acceptable behavior, that she cannot pull tablecloths or poke ac vents.

People@Home think I am too soft with her. But trust me I am not. Ok, maybe I have lost the steam to discipline since Big Sis aka BS but even then I am not soft. It is just that LS is like that, naughty and funny and always on her toes.

Now BS is the quieter one, she doesn't scold her little sis when LS shouts "My Turn" ever so often, doesn't utter a word when LS takes away her crayons, lets her lick her ice cream and only sometimes complains that LS scratched her arms.

LS never complains. If needed she throws herself on the floor albeit carefully and expresses her anger. She plays mostly with BS's friends and uses her limited English editions of "Hello", "How are You Doing", "No, don't" and "My Turn". After that she just continues in Bengali. She figures her way around them, relying totally on BS for help and ignoring any grown up interference.

A couple months back when we were at Orlando, she shook hands with Mickey and told him a lot of stuff including "Hello", "How are you doing". Unfortunately Mickey did not understand a word. Since then she has a Mickey fixation. So she is the kid you can hear yelling "Mickey", "Mickey" at the library or the mall or anywhere the familiar mouse is visible.

She is the one with parents sporting an embarrassed look.

Next time when you hear a kid in the flight protesting to wear the sea belt, when you see a kid who is practicing target with forks and peas at the restaurant, when you hear a kid whose excited voice drowns the silence in the library please, please DO NOT blame the parents.

Think of LS. Some kids are "like that wonly".

Now to the Dal cooked with a bunch of beet greens. This again is my Ma's dish. Since we usually get a bunch of beet for LS, Ma uses the greens in this Dal and it has become a family favorite. You can work around with the spices and the type of Dal. I have always, always cooked this with only Masoor--Red Lentils but I have a hunch that this will go beautifully with Toor too.


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Dal with Beet Greens

Wash and cook Masoor Dal(Red Lentils) with enough water and little turmeric. I usually do it in the pressure cooker. I had about 4 cups of Cooked Dal. My dal was cooked rather thick, usually it should be more liquid.

Chop the Beet Greens. I had one bunch of it.

Heat 3-4 tsp of Oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Temper the oil with 1 small Bay Leaf, 4 cardamom, 4 clove and 1" thin stick of cinnamon

Add 2 cloves of garlic finely minced, followed soon by almost 1 &1/2 -- 2 cups of chopped onion. Fry the onion till it is soft and translucent.

Add the chopped Beet Greens. Fry the greens till there is no raw smell of the greens. If they tend to stick to the bottom of the pan, sprinkle water and scrape and fry.

Add about 1/4 tsp of Garam Masala powder if you wish and 1 more tsp of oil. Fry for couple more minutes

Now add the cooked dal. Do this gradually, sauteing the dal along with the greens so that they mix thoroughly

Now add water about 3-4 cups of it. Add salt and sugar to taste. Add chili powder to taste. Let the Dal simmer till it comes to a boil. Mix thoroughly. Switch off and squeeze a quarter lime juice into the Dal. Serve with rice or Roti or just by itself.

Palak Kadhi -- Spinach in a spicy Yogurt Sauce

I have this low feeling this week, you know the kind of feeling that you are not doing anything worthwhile and the world is heavily deprived because you are not doing anything worthwhile, kind of feeling

But then that is not worth writing here, so I will write about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution instead, just to get it off my chest.

The weird part is, I didn't even watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution because I didn't know anything about it . But bear with me and you will be rewarded with nuggets of wisdom.

It was not until Saturday morning when the Dad started quizzing BS on random objects from the refrigerator that I got curious. The Dad was visibly worried about these kids in Huntington, Va who couldn't tell a potato from a tomato and had never seen a broccoli head. These kids belonged to families who ate fried donuts for breakfast everyday and had never seen food being cooked from raw ingredients. For them food source was the frozen section of the refrigerator. School lunches in this town was no better and pizza and nuggets were the staple.

I was so in awe by this whole idea that I didn't even scorn the Dad for watching Hulu while claiming he was doing "work" work down in his office.

Imagine there are families where the Parents do not chop, stir, cook, thus wasting their time to provide a meal. Instead they take out a pretty cardboard box from the freezer, zap it in the microwave or dunk them in hot oil and serve it up. I am sure the Mothers in these families are not like me and they are using their time for much more worthier causes than mine.

I am sure the School committee or whoever decides on the school lunches are also very competent and probably deciding on a rigorous curriculum while they think a pepperoni pizza counts for 2 grains and a vegetable !!!

Apparently Mr.Jamie Oliver does not like the whole idea. He does not like fried donuts for breakfast or obese 7 year olds for lunch(sic!). He wants them to eat food from scratch and we will see what happens. To know more, Topeka search for Jamie Oliver Food Revolution or catch the show on ABC Friday 9/8c

While in my slumped state I will just proceed to make a very simple dish, a Palak Kadhi, spinach in a yogurt gravy if you wish.

This is not exactly what I had planned on cooking. I wanted to cook a Khatta Palak that I had from a friend's lunch box. The recipe that she gave me was however so simple and sketchy that I was sure I would screw it up.

She said "Cook Spinach with green chillis and little rice in the Pressure cooker. Beat Yogurt with chickpea flour till there are no lumps. Season the yogurt with salt and red chili powder. Add the yogurt to the cooked spinach and rice and mix well. Add a pat of butter and enjoy the dish"

I couldn't believe that something so simple could taste so delicious and didn't attempt the recipe. Instead I made Palak Kadhi. With my bag of frozen spinach(ewww, not from scratch, losing points here), this kadhi was done super quick. It is just like regular kadhi but with spinach in it. It tastes great with rice but I will often eat this just by itself.

Here I must say that this seasoning that I use for my Kadhi these days is inspired by Hooked on Heat(who has a wonderful blog and has a book coming out). My Mom just used mustard seeds, red chili and a little ginger for her Kadhi but I love the additional flavors that Hing and Kasoori Methi brings along.


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Palak Kadhi

What You Need

Chickpea Flour/Besan ~ 1/4 cup

Thick Yogurt ~ 2 cups
Water ~ 1 cup

Spinach ~ 1 & 1/2 cup of frozen chopped spinach or 2 cups chopped fresh spinach

Cumin Seeds/Jeera ~ 1 tsp
Fennel Seeds ~ 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds ~ 3/4 tsp
Hing ~ 1/8 tsp
Dry Red Chili ~ 2 broken

Kasoori Methi ~ 1tsp
Red Chili Powder ~ 1/2 tsp
Turmeric ~ little

Water ~ 1/2 -1 cup
Salt
Oil ~ 2 tsp
Ghee ~ 1 tsp

How I Did It

If using fresh spinach, cook 2 cups of chopped spinach in pressure cooker or microwave with 2-3 green chili. If using frozen chopped spinach, which I did, just defrost 1&1/2 cups of spinach.

In a bowl add
2 cups of thick yogurt and beat well.

To it add
1/4 cup of Chickpea flour/Besan and 1 cup of Water. Whisk until you get a smooth batter with no lumps.

Heat about 2 tsp of Oil in a pot

Temper the Oil with
1 tsp Cumin Seeds/Jeera
1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/8 tsp Asafoetida/Hing
2 broken Dry Red Chili

When the spices start dancing add the spinach and saute for the next 3-4 minutes.

Lower the heat to real low and slowly add the yogurt mix, gradually mixing the spinach with the yogurt

Crush 1 tsp of Kasoori methi between your palms and add to above. Add a pinch of turmeric and 1/2 tsp of Red Chili powder(more if you want it hot). Add salt to taste. Mix well.

Now add about 1/2 to 1 cup of water and let the gravy come to a boil at low heat. At low-medium heat let the kadhi simmer for 15-20 mins. Add more water if necessary and simmer until the raw smell of chickpea flour is gone.

Adjust for seasoning. I will add a wee bit of sugar at this point. Add about 1/2-1 tsp of ghee, switch off and let the kadhi sit covered for 15-20 mins. If you like it hot add some crushed dry red chili for the effect.

Serve with Rice

Palang Shaak er Ghonto -- spinach 'n' veggies

Palang Shaak er Ghonto

Bengali Cuisine is very subtle, understated and not really very popular outside Bengal. Most Indians outside of Bengal think Bengali food is all about fish and sweets. The moment you are introduced as a Bengali to any one who is not, they will tell you "Oh, we love Bengali sweets" and they will wax about "how much they like Roshugulla" with what they think is a Bengali accent but is so not.

I am sure the same thing happens about food from any other region too. All we know globally about Indian food is Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka and Palak Paneer. Extend it a little more and it may include Masala Dosa and Idli. Even we as Indians know very little about food from other regions of our own country. My Indian colleague's will often ask me, so what is it that you Bengalis eat other than Fish ? Yeah, nothing actually, we eat fish and then sweets and then just keep repeating the pattern until we are full or in a state of malnutrition.

Growing up as a Bong kid, I paid little attention to Bengali Food. At that time Bengali food wasn't glamorized, no restaurants except the roadside ones, served a decent Bengali meal. It was solely home food and as a kid you pay little attention to home food.

Truth be told, I became aware and more conscious about Bengali Food only after stepping away from home and the bond grew stronger, the further I went. My friends here in the US are very diligent cooks, the ones who are Bong cook authentic Bengali food and they cook it very well. Their love for the cuisine kind of pushed me to cook more and more of the Bengali Home Food. It wasn't complex, a mix of spices here, a subtle pinch of cumin-coriander there, a dash of mustard oil as a secret ingredient and voila you have a subtly spiced dish with all the taste of all the vegetables in full flavor.

Myth#1: "Despite its uniqueness, Bengali food failed to grow beyond connoisseurs. Short-cuts are frowned upon by purists and innovative improvisations dismissed as unacceptable compromises. Traditional Bengali cuisine is gradually becoming a dying art, kept alive only by Anjan Chatterjee’s chain of restaurants such as Oh! Calcutta, a few other eateries aimed at the diaspora, and caterers who still serve a complete traditional meal at wedding receptions." -- Chandan Mitra in Outlook

Though I agree in parts with the above article in Outlook, I think it is far fetched to say "Traditional Bengali Cuisine" is a dying art. Chandan Mitra wouldn't have said that if he saw my friend here who makes the authentic Chapor Ghonto with Motor dal er Bara or the one who insists her Sundays are not right if she doesn't make Luchi-Begun Bhaja. There is this whole category of modern, educated Bengali women, managing kids, home and work, and yet finding time to cook and serve a Bengali meal to her family, miles away from their own country. So while "Oh!Calcutta" is definitely trying to make Bengali cuisine popular as no other restaurant has done, it is these women who are keeping the cuisine alive.

Myth #2: Bengali cuisine is time-consuming, involves a complex blend of spices, is much more than just fish.-- same article as above

It is much more than fish but every day Bengali food is neither complex nor time consuming, unless all you cook is Maggi 2 minute noodles. It can get elaborate if you intend to go the whole nine yards and prepare a full traditional Bengali meal but you need not do that every day. With a little bit of planning and delegation, cooking everyday Bengali Food is simpler than making Pizza from scratch. If you can just ignore the purists and make your own adaptations, you will have a delicious, balanced meal ready which will serve you far better than the frozen box of Paneer Butter Masala.

This Palang Shaak er Ghonto or Spinach with a medley of vegetables is cooked a little different from my Mom's. Every home has its own little tradition of cooking the exact same dish and so taste of the same dish varies from one home to other.

While my Mom uses dhone-jire-ada bata, this one solely relies on Paanch Phoron and Roasted Cumin powder(Bhaja Jire Guro) to create magic. I had it at a friend's place and liked it very much. D says this tastes more like what was made at his home.

Spinach with other winter vegetables like radish and pumpkin makes it the perfect side for Dal and Rice on a winter afternoon. To make life easier I have used chopped frozen spinach and that doesn't mar the taste any way at all. But I would insist that you use Mustard Oil because that lends a magic touch to this simple preparation


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Palang Shaak er Ghonto

Prep

Peel and chop two potatoes in cubes.

Chop red radish in half about 1/2 cup

Peel and chop pumpkin about 2 cup

Defrost 2-3 cups of frozen chopped spinach.I just microwave it for a minute. If using fresh spinach, wash --> chop fine

Dry Roast and grind cumin seeds/jeera to make the roasted cumin powder. I usually make this in a large quantity and store.

Start Cooking

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a Kadhai/Saute pan. I use Mustard Oil to cook this dish.

Temper the oil with 1 tsp of Paanch Phoron and 2 cracked Dry Red Chili. You can add 1 small clove of garlic finely minced but sometimes I won't.

When the spices sputter add the potatoes and radish. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp of turmeric on them and saute. Cover and saute so that the veggies cook faster. retaining their flavor and form.

When the potatoes turn a little golden add the chopped pumpkin. Cover and saute till pumpkin softens.

Add the chopped spinach and mix well. Saute everything for a minute. Sprinkle
1 tsp of roasted cumin powder,
salt to taste,
add 2-3 slit green chili/or red chili powder to taste.
Cover and let the vegetables cook.

When almost done add a little sugar(usually if pumpkin is sweet you can skip sugar) and adjust for seasonings. If needed add a little more of the roasted cumin powder. Add about 1/2 tsp of mustard oil, drizzled from top to bring out the best flavor.

Serve with Rice or just have a bowl of this vegetable medley.

Similar Recipes:

Pui Shaak er Ghonto