Quick Chili Paneer - by Big Sis

Quick Chilli Paneer

Day before yesterday, the weather being very nice, I was out in the backyard in the evening, close to the flowering trees. And then I don't know what happened. Boom! my eyes started swelling up and before I could say, "Hold on", the skin around my eyes got all puffed up, making my eyes squished inwards and tiny!!  I could not recognize myself even if I knew I was the same person. Had I committed a murder, this would be the perfect alibi. But too late. I hadn't.
.
I was not bitten by an insect. Not even unknowingly. There was no pain. Just the swelling. I figured it was an allergic reaction and I do have pollen allergies which usually manifests itself in sneezing and sinus, but this eye thing was new. The husband-man and friends suggested I see a doctor but in these times, going out to a doctor's office is as much as an risky adventure as swimming across the Atlantic ocean. So I did neither.

Well, I could have opted for a televisit but then I really don't think the doc could do anything except suggest cold compress for my eyes and allergy medication, sitting remotely in the comfort of her own couch.

 So with my almost shut eyes, I looked up my symptoms on the internet and found that it could be something that could make me "DIE" in the next thirty years or it could be allergies. I went with the latter.

I have been on Zyrtec, a little of Children's Benadryl since then and putting ice on my eyes like a maniac. Yesterday I looked very Asian, not South-east Asian. My daughters said I was being racist but I am just trying to describe how I looked. I was also wearing sunglasses all the time and listening to NPR's moth hour instead of watching TV or reading books.

Today I look a cross between South-east Asian and Asian. So my eyes are coming back to normal, albeit slowly.

Since I was all  drowsy and almost blind, Big Sis made dinner yesterday. LS helped her with chopping. They both together made a Chilli Paneer and a Fried Rice which was so delicious that I wish they made dinner more often.

This is a Chili Paneer recipe we use often in our house. It's very quick and simple. I am not sure if BigSis followed it fully. Like any good cook she deviates from recipes and I am proud of that. Please take your liberty and do as you like. The result will be delicious.

What You Need

Onion - 1 medium chopped in thick slices
Green Pepper - 1 chopped in thick slices
Garlic - 4/5 minced
Green Chili - 2 chopped

Paneer - chopped into cubes

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar -- 1/2 tsp
Corn Flour -- 1-2 tsp

Vegetable Oil (or Sesame Oil) -- 3 Tbsp for cooking

To make the Sauce

Soy Sauce -- 2 Tbsp
Hot Sauce (Sriracha or any other Red Chili Sauce) -- 1 Tbsp
Maggi Hot & Sweet - 1 Tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce -- 1 tsp
White Vinegar -- 2 Tbsp
Mix all of the above to make this sauce. Taste and adjust for anything you feel is missing.

Here's how we Do It

Warm Vegetable Oil in a frying pan/saucier/Kadhai

Add the paneer pieces so that they are in one single layer. Sprinkle a little red chili powder, salt and sugar. Fry the paneer pieces so that one side is golden brown. Remove and keep aside.

To the same oil add the minced garlic.

Once you get the aroma of garlic add the onion and saute for a minute. Add the green pepper. Increase the heat to high and saute onion and green pepper until they are little soft.

Next add the sauce and mix. Reduce heat to medium.

Add the paneer pieces and toss with the sauce

In the bowl that you mixed the sauce add 1/4th Cup of water and 1-2 tsp of corn flour. Mix well. Add this to the frying pan and let it come to a simmer.

Adjust for any seasonings needed.

Serve with fried rice.

If you like what you are reading, get Bong Mom's Cookbook in your mailbox

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Pakodi Kadhi -- dumplings in a yogurt gravy

Pakodi Kadhi

We are on the 3rd week of school closures. It has now been 14 days since we are in quarantine though the official lockdown in our state started a bit later.

Cases in New York and NJ seems to be rising like crazy. Almost 0.4% of NY's population has tested positive while 0.2% of NJ's

I am just glad that we are safe home and I am absolutely clueless why people are complaining so much about staying indoors.

I am for one happy as I can sleep a little more in the morning, don't have the hour long commute each way each day, and now that the girls don't have any after school activity, my evenings are no longer rushed.

Instead of crazy Sundays, where I had to plan and cook ahead for the week, now I am cooking a dish almost every evening. I am also making rotis, albeit painstakingly, and not always great ones, but I am trying.

Today after a long time, I made this favorite dish of mine -- Pakodi Kadhi.

There was a time when I would pester my Mom to make this once a week at least. She would usually make it on a Friday, the day we ate vegetarian meals only. There were three favorite dishes earmarked for Fridays and she would always rotate the menu amongst these -- Chhanar Dalna, Aloo Posto and Pakodi Kadhi.

My Mother, having lived a lot of her life outside Bengal, had adapted a variety of non-Bengali Indian recipes in her kitchen and made them often. This was one of them. So at a time when most Bengalis, including the husband-man looked at me curiously when I mentioned that Kadhi was my favorite dish, in our home we were eating Kadhi like we were born into it.

I still remember, many years ago, an impromptu guest (the typical Calcuttan) who had arrived with one of my cousins around our Friday lunch time. Our Friday lunch was usually simple and involved rice, dal, aloo posto and then either Chhanar Dalna or Kadhi. That particular day it was kadhi. We had almost finished our lunch when they had arrived but my Ma I remember insisted they join us at the table. The typical Bengali guy had plowed through, rice, dal, aloo posto, kadhi and sat at the table food drying up on his hands. When finally asked if he was done, he had blatantly said, he was waiting for the fish!! I still cannot forget the look on his face, when we told him, that there was no fish curry that day!! He was unable to fathom what the "kadhi" was and kept saying that in their house there was always a fish curry that followed dal.

Now that I think of it, it seems incredibly rude of him, but at that time we were just plain flummoxed by his ignorance.

Pakodi Kadhi or dumplings made of besan/chickpea flour in a yogurt gravy is a very popular dish in Northern india and also Gujarat. There are little differences in the spices used in the two regions. I find the Punjabi Pakodi kadhi is a tad bit more richer with use of onion in the pakodis as our Punjabi nanny would insist. The Gujarati Pakodi kadhi is thinner and less spicy and I loved all the variety of Gujarati Kadhis that LS's Gujju babysitter would make for us. But that was 7 years ago. We haven't had anyone making anything for us since then!

This version of Kadhi is closer to the Gujarati version but I have stuck to the spices my Mother used which were minimal. The kadhi that LS's Gujarati nanny would make was more thinner and white in color, with no turmeric. However my Mother does uses turmeric and her kadhi is not runny so I have kept to that.

Pakodi Kadhi --  dumplings in a yogurt gravy

Make the Pakodi

Besan/Gram Flour -- 1 Cup
Green Chilies - 3 finely chopped
Salt - to taste
Mustard seeds -- 1/4 tsp
Baking soda - a pinch
Water -- 3/4th Cup

In a wide mouthed bowl, add the
Besan
Green Chili
Salt
Baking soda
With a fork mix the dry ingredients

Gradually add water, mixing the batter to a medium-thick consistency. Make sure the batter has no lumps.

Heat oil for frying in a Kadhai.

Once the oil is hot, take a tea spoonful of hot oil and add it to the batter and mix it in.

Now in hot oil, add 1 Tbsp of batter.
Depending on the size of your kadhai, you can add more. 1 Tbsp for each Pakodi.

Once the pakodi is cooked, flip with a slotted spoon and fry the other side. Do this a couple of times, turning and frying the dumpling in hot oil until the pakodi is crispy and golden brown.
When both sides are golden brown, take out with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

This amount of batter will make almost 12-15 pakodis.

Make the Kadhi

Yogurt - 1 Cup
Besan - 1/8th Cup
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Yellow Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1 Cup

Spices for Tempering

Jeera/Whole Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Methi/Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chili - 2
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch


Green Chili - 2 chopped

Kasoori Methi -- 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Vegetable Oil -- 1 Tbsp

In the same bowl that you had used to make the batter, add
1 Cup sour Yogurt
1/8th Cup Besan
1 Cup Water
Red chili Powder
Turmeric powder
Beat well

Now in a saucier/kadhai warm 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil

When the oil is hot, temper with the spices listed under Spices for Tempering.

Once the spices start popping, take the saucier/kadhai off direct heat. Wait for 1 minute and then slowly add the yogurt mix.

Put it back on low-medium heat mixing the gravy. Cook at medium heat for 2 minutes. Add some more water and mix well.

Now increase the heat to medium and bring the kadhi to a simmer. Add salt to taste. If the yogurt is very sour add little sugar. Simmer until there is no raw smell of besan/gram flour. If needed add more water. Remember, the pakodis will absorb some of the liquid.

Now add the pakodis and simmer for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat.

Add 1 tsp of Ghee and the Kasoori methi crushed between your palm. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot with rice.




If you like what you are reading, get Bong Mom's Cookbook in your mailbox

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Dal Chawal Palidu -- from Bohri Kitchen

Belonging to a minority community in my adopted country and "God-alone-knows-what" community in my mother land, I stay away from discussing politics in this space. Also, I am not good at being a keyboard warrior.
.
However even as I type and share news about what I cooked and served for dinner in the backdrop of chaos, a part of me cringes at the selfishness of it all. But then that's life. That is what you do.
.
Bias as has always been a part of our countries. You peel away religion, there is region, then caste, then gender, then color -- there is always a minority community, whose voices are not loud enough to be heard. And it's always relative. If there is more of you, I am a minority.
.
Many a times, we are not even aware of the communities outside our own and often stick to the stereotypes. Like say, all Indians are vegetarians or all Indian parents get extremely upset if their kids get anything less than a A+ grade or Girls like pink or  South-east Asian Muslims serve Biryani on all important occasions.
.
To know a community, you have to break bread with them . It's best if you can share a meal but if not just expand your horizons and cook a meal. That way you learn a little and you find that your heart has space to share for more.
.
So that's what I thought I will try to do. I usually stick to my known cuisine of Bengali, global Indian, Italian, American etc.  This time, I went out of my comfort zone to find a Bohri Muslim recipe. I know no one from that community and I know very little about their eating habits. However Bohri Thal has recently become very popular in Mumbai and so there were plenty of articles on the internet. The more I read, the more I was intrigued.

"The Bohra community originated from a Muslim sect in Yemen and Egypt, later spreading to India and Pakistan. Hence, the food influences have been heavily adapted from the Middle East. The initial settlement of the Bohra’s in Surat, Gujarat have led to major Gujarati influence on the cuisine as well.This is why you will find that Bohri cuisine is much lighter and lower in spice than Mughlai or Pakistani food." -- Mumbai Foodie

.
I found a very, interesting and simple vegetarian dish that all those articles mentioned as the Bohri comfort food. So, I went out on a limb and made "Dal-Chawal-Palidu" for lunch today.

I followed the recipe from two sites -- Goya Journal and Farida's post in One Life To Eat

Did you know Dal-Chawal-Palidu and not Biriyani, is a dish for all celebratory occasions in the Bohri Muslim Community?

In the Bohri style of community dining, the family gathers around the thaal, eating the meal in courses that alternate between sweet and savoury.  One of the staples of the Bohri thaal is Dal Chawal Palidu – a dish with rice, lentils and moringa that is so beloved in the Bohri repertoire that no meal, no celebration, is complete without it. Gently boiled and spiced, the lentils are layered between freshly steamed rice, and cooked on dum, served with a side of tempered moringa - Goya Journal

.
It was so very different from the Dal-Chawal I have grown up with that I had to actually compare 4 recipes to make sure this was indeed a Dal-Chawal. The Palida on the other was more in our line of food habit and the taste was very akin to sambhar. We really loved the Palida.
.
Did we like Dal-Chawal-Palidu? Yes.
Will it be my comfort food? No.
.
But I did learn something and if I befriend someone from the Bohri community, I will look forward to taste their authentic version of "Dal-Chawal-Palida".

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts -- with Sichuan Peppercorn and Peanuts

Since last December, on my morning commute, instead of tuning in to NPR, I have started listing to 102.7.

This is my daughters' favorite channel playing popular music in English, half of whose lyrics I do not understand. Like really not understand. For a long time, I would hum Pink's "Beautiful Trauma" as Mala Mantra Mala....

Until now, every evening, we would actually get into a fight because as soon as they got into the car, they would flip my car radio channel to 102.7 and disrupt my NPR or Radio Mirchi listening. Since December, I have voluntarily flipped to 102.7 in the mornings, to listen to holiday songs and stayed on because the Morning show is very funny. Like really, laugh out loud funny. And I need funnies to get my mind away from the news.

So yesterday, I was tuned on to the show, and this caller calls in about his girl-friend not returning his call blah, blah. It seems this is one of their regular segments where the RJ's then call up the girlfriend/boyfriend and gift them an all paid date, if they agree to go out together. So anyway, the girlfriend is called, she picks up the phone and seems not very enthusiastic about this all paid for date thing. They then ask her, if there was anything wrong and she goes, "Well, he is very nice and everything but he said he loves me within 2-weeks of knowing each other and I am afraid, he can propose anytime. I find it very insincere that someone can say "I LOVE YOU" in 2-weeks!"

Having been brought up on healthy doses of Bollywood where the pair falls in love the minute they see each other and burst into a song at the end of the first meeting, I have always lamented that "love at first sight" has always eluded me. That it could be insincere is something I only now realized. The lady had a point.

However the caller guy, refused to understand this and kept pushing if he could meet her or come over and such. The lady very patiently explained that she liked it slow, and what he was doing was too much for her. The guy sounded, really desperate and I doubt their relationship will last. He was trying to do too much, too fast.

Sichuan peppercorns. And those are Big Sis's pretty nails

That could or could not be the problem for this Brussels Sprouts Dish. I was giving those cute vegetables too much attention and too many ingredients. Like usually I just roast them in the oven and they are good that way.
This time I seasoned them with Oil flavored with aromatics like garlic, ginger and my new found love Sichuan peppercorns. I also added a little of Maple Syrup to add a hint of sweetness

And then as if that was not enough, I roasted and crushed peanuts and added that on top of the roasted vegetables.

I am not sure if my Brussel Sprouts were feeling claustrophobic with all the attention because we ate all of them. This is one vegetable 75% of the family loves, only Little Sis does not eat her Brussel sprouts!

The Indian Vegetable Stew or Bangali r Sobji Jhol

Come fall and then winter, my feed gets populated with soups. Every one is making a soup. And I agree, they are delicious and warm and perfect for those chilly winter evenings.

My grudge is this.

If you can have a bowlful of Minestrone Soup and take a photo and post recipes and raise a whole lot of brouhaha, why not have a bowl of Sobji Jhol ?

What you ask is a Sobji Jhol or Indian Vegetable Stew? It is a light soupy dish with a medley of vegetables. In winter, that would be cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, green beans, green peas in their pods. But then there is no set recipe, it can be anything you want to add.

This jhol was in the background of all dishes that my Mother cooked throughout the year. In one form or another it always arrived at our dining table.

The vegetables in the jhol would tell you the season you were in. Winter always made brighter with tightly packed fair cauliflower, orange carrots, ruby red beets, green pearl like peas in their pods.

The spicing determined by time and my Mother's mood. Sometimes it would be freshly pounded cumin and ginger, on other days a sprinkle of Kitchen King from a box. It was "everything goes" kind of a dish and how we loved this runny, soupy dish with some rice.

I make a big pot of this "jhol" or vegetable stew often. Mixed with rice and a squeeze of lime juice, my girls happily eat the vegetables. I can eat a big bowl of this just by itself but it does taste best with some rice.

The Indian Vegetable Stew or Bangali r Sobji Jhol

The Vegetables

Cauliflower -- Chop 1 Cauliflower in medium sized florets.

Carrot -- Chop 1 big Carrots in cubes

Green Beans -- Trim and Chop 12-15 green beans in 1" pieces

Cabbage -- 1 Cup of chopped cabbage

Green peas in pod -- a fistful, washed

The Indian Mirepoix

Onion -- 1/2 of an onion chopped in small pieces (Optional. I skip onion most of the time)
Tomato -- 2 medium tomato quartered
Green Chili -- 4 green chili sliced
Ginger -- 2" piece of ginger grated

Paanchphoron (Five Spice Mix) -- 1/2 tsp

The Spices

Kitchen King Masala -- 1 tsp

If you don't have Kitchen King use 1 tsp of Cumin-Coriander Masala.

Salt -- to taste

Mustard Oil -- 2 Tbsp (You can also use Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil)

Fresh Coriander leaves -- for garnish

How I Make It

Heat Mustard Oil to smoking in a deep bottomed pot.

Temper the Oil with 1/2 tsp Paanchphoron and 4 green chilli

When the spices start sizzling, add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes.

Next goes in the tomatoes and ginger. Saute them for the next couple of minutes until tomatoes are soft.

Now add the vegetables in this order
Cauliflower florets -- sprinkle 1 tsp of Turmeric powder and saute florets for 1 minute
Carrots -- mix and saute for 1 minutes
Green Beans and Peas -- Saute for 1 minute
Cabbage -- Mix and saute for 1 minute

Now add
1 tsp of Cumin+ Coriander Powder
OR
1 tsp of Kitchen King Masala
Mix with the vegetables with a sprinkle of water.

Add enough water so that the vegetables are just covered by water. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium

Cover and simmer until vegetables are all done. The vegetables should not be cooked to death. They should retain a little crunch.

Adjust for seasoning and add salt, red chili powder or garama masala powder as needed. I finish it off with some fresh chopped coriander leaves and couple of chopped green chili.

Serve like a soup in a big bowl with a squeeze of lime juice. Add a little cooked rice to add more body to the thin soup.


If you like what you are reading, get Bong Mom's Cookbook in your mailbox

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Bati Charchari 2 -- with cauliflower stalks et al, pumpkin and eggplant

Our Lunch plate today

Bengali Cuisine has so many different varieties of vegetarian dishes that it is hard to keep a count. Charchari, Ghonto, Chechki, Jhol, Jhaal, the permutations and combinations are endless.

Even within each of these genres -- there are hundred different varieties.

Charchari is a dish which is usually made with multiple of vegetables. However there are exceptions and individual charcharis also rule the genre, like "Aloo Charchari" with only potatoes or "Dharosh Charchari" with only okra. But most charcharis involve a  myriad of vegetables with a lot of sauteing and thus generous amount of oil. I had read somewhere the name "charchari" came phonetically from the "char char" or charring sound that happened while sauteing vigorously in an iron kadhai.

The Bati Charchari is a little different from usual charcharis as it does not involve any tempering or  sauteing at all. In fact the bati charchari that I have grown up with was made with only potatoes, chopped in long  thin slices, cooked in a steel container with mustard oil drizzled oil from the top.

Today's Bati Charchari which I am calling Bati Charchari 2 is a variation of the typical charchari. It has mustard paste and a tempering of Paanchphoron , Hing and Green Chili. I love the flavor of Hing in my vegetarian dishes and often add them to charcharis. Instead of Mustard paste, I have used Kashundi from a bottle because my Mother sent me  a large stock of Kashundi recently.

The star of this dish was of course the cauliflower stalks which were tender and tasted delicious. I was delighted to see again a cauliflower with such lovely stalks and used the stalks and green in this dish as well as in a dal. Yep, I am officially that age when I get excited by cauliflower stalks.
Instead of going "Oooh, Farhan Akhtar", I am like "Oooh, such lovely green, firm, kopi'r daanta (cauli stalks)"🥰. My heart races seeing such stuff.
Here is a video to give you an idea about making this dish.

Bati Charchari 2 -- with cauliflower stalks et al, pumpkin and eggplant

Chop in equal proportions all of the following vegetables.

Cauliflower
Cauliflower stalks and leaves
Pumpkin
Eggplant
Potato(optional)

*I have chopped everything in cubes but you can chop them longitudinally

Heat Mustard Oil for cooking

Temper the hot oil with
1 tsp Paanchphoron
3-4 Green Chili
a pinch of Hing

Now add the vegetables, one after the another.
So add pumpkin, quick saute, then add cauliflower stalks.
Next, goes in cauliflower florets, saute for a minute.
Next eggplant

Sprinkle some Turmeric powder and saute everything for a couple of minutes.

Add
1 Cup of water
1 tsp of Mustard paste (OR 1 tsp Kashundi mixed with some water)
Salt to taste

Mix well.

Cover and cook at low medium until vegetables are tender.

Finish off with a tsp of kashundi and few green chilies for best taste

If you like what you are reading, get Bong Mom's Cookbook in your mailbox

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Kashundi Narkol Mocha -- Banana Blossoms with Kashundi and Coconut

Last week my Mother, who was visiting us over summer, left for India. Just before she left, I brought home a mocha as I wanted to practically see how it is prepped. Yes, I had never chopped a Mocha before this. Blasphemy!

Mocha in Hawaii

Mocha, banana blossoms is a favorite vegetable in Bengal. In fact in Bengal, a banana plant is much revered. During DurgaPujo, she is the designated wife of Ganesha and lovingly addressed as "KolaBou". The raw banana is another favorite in Bengali cuisine and kaachakolar kofta is high up in culinary ladders jostling with the likes of kosha mangsho. The tender core of the banana stems, the apparent trunk, is another nutritious vegetable favorite in Bengali cuisine. It is is called "Thor", not the Nordic God, but as impressive.The flowers of the Banana tree, Mocha, often served as Mochar Ghonto or Mochar Chop represent the very pinnacle of niramish Bengali ranna.

I had always shied away from cooking Mocha as I thought the chopping would be a difficult task. You see, chopping Mocha (banana blossom) in the seclusion of your own home, in isolation does not make sense. It needs a community to efficiently peel, remove stamen, and chop Mocha with efficiency and speed.

After this effort, I have realized that chopping 1 or 2 mocha is not that big of a hurdle and that amount of blossoms is enough to serve a family of 4. So take heart and go ahead.

I initially wanted to make Mochar Ghonto but I love some of those "kaala chana" in my mocha and I didn't have those. So I decided to make shorshe narkol mocha but was too lazy to grind the shorshe aka mustard paste. So use the bottle of Kashundi instead.



#howtoprepamochafromMyMa

It is time for my Mother to leave for India and now I realize that I haven't done any of the things I had planned to do with her.
.
I did not jot down recipes or make videos of her cooking.
.
Instead I just ate the variety of food she cooked without thinking of a recipe, cooked for her, sat down with her every evening drinking copious amounts of tea, joined her in her hangout with her friends(my neighbors) ,watched movies and saregamapa on Zee Bangla with her, took a vacation together, argued, disagreed and restrained myself from interfering when she spoiled my daughters😜
.
And then I panicked!! Hey where are those videos I wanted to shoot? Where are the step by step photos of recipes?
.
My mom balked at me "Oi shob ami parbo na"( I am not doing any of those things).
.
Really Ma? You can cook kochuri for your granddaughters and not tell me how much turmeric you put in your Maacher Jhol? You know how important it is to measure a piece of ginger before you chop!!
.
My mom rolled her eyes 🙄 and walked away.
.
The only thing I achieved is getting her to demo -- HOW TO PREP A MOCHA ( Banana Blossoms )
.
This I needed for myself. Or Lord help me, if I ever buy a pretty looking #bananablossom and know nothing to do with it except put it in a vase or shove it up somewhere!!!
.
So here's the one and only video of my Mom instructing on #howtoprepmocha.
.
Statuatory Warning: Wear one of those plastic gloves unlike her and make sure you have lots of time to spare. 😅

What a Bittergourd Kismur -- on Independence Day

Tomorrow is India's Independence Day and all I can think of is I am in 3rd grade dressed in bottle green or khaki or some patriotic color safari suit kind of uniform, apparently like Subhas Bose, and standing on a stage with few more freedom fighters and not been given a single word to speak as per the script. I look almost like Jeetendra in a safari suit except that I also had to wear circular steel rimmed glasses like Bose and my hair was tucked under a cap.

And then came the calamity. Nope, nothing to do with Netjaji's politics. It was all to do with our Dhobiji actually.

That shirt had 5 medals pinned on it by my teacher, decorations like the INA military uniform. I thought they were gold. The Dhobiji cared neither for Netaji nor for his uniform.

Don't think his lot had improved in any significant way after independence. This was the early eighties.

Everyone in our neighborhood considered him as several caste lower and though they wore the clothes washed and pressed by him, they were acutely conscious of not indulging in any other touchy-feely relation with him. So much so, that my very staunch grandmother would instruct him to air drop the stack of freshly washed, ironed and folded clothes on the sofa, in fear that he did not touch any animate or in-animate object in our home.
Sigh!If I had someone delivering washed and folded clothes to my doorstep I would hug, kiss and even marry him right away.

So anyway, when that Jetetendra, oops sorry Subhas Bose uniform was sent to him to be washed and pressed so that I could return it in its pristine condition to the teacher, he did not pay as much attention to the medals and such. He was clever enough to know they weren't gold. The result of his nonchalance was that of those five medals one went missing. And my heart stopped in tracks right there. My heart was gripped with a cold, dismal fear just thinking what my very Catholic teacher in my very catholic convent school would have to say on this. The British were long gone but I was terribly afraid of my crisp English speaking teachers, with names like Mary and Bridgette, and who I was sure came from some foreign country.

I don't remember what exactly happened thereafter except that my father had to go and meet the teacher and blame the Dhobiji, who thankfully knew no English and so wasn't summoned to school. For the next few months my position as the teacher's favorite was upended by my other classmates and I moped and lived in fear and never looked forward to Independence day celebrations ever. I rather stayed in and watched the flag hoisting on TV.

And then many years later, I went and got married on Independence day as it was the last wedding day with the last wedding muhurta for the season as per the Hindu wedding calendar!!!

I am sure that no-caste Dhobiji had something to do with this. Or my Anglican teacher. 😜

The only word to describe this whole situation is KISMUR. Yep, "what a Kismur", sums it all up.

Sheem Posto with Kasundi -- Snow Peas with Poppy seeds and Mustard

I have this habit of switching veggies, concocting recipes, substituting one ingredient with another. So it is no surprise that I hardly ever buy sheem, which we never find fresh at our Indian grocers anyway. Instead I buy the fresh, tender, translucent green snow peas from the Asian Market and substitute it for sheem!

With those fresh, tender, translucent green snow peas...ahem, I mostly make Dhonepata Bata Sheem. That dish is so freaking good that I cannot even begin telling you.

The one time that I actually cooked with sheem, and made a Tel Sheem, was when a blogger friend Soma, who grows amazing vegetables, sent me a box of tender sheem from her own garden. Those were soft and buttery and one look at them and you would fall in love.

Recently a friend had made Shorshe Sheem and the husband-man loved it. With snow peas in my refrigerator I thought of making a "shorshe sheem" today. Only, I felt extremely lazy and did not want to soak mustard seeds and then make a paste of it. I also don't have the smaller Magic Bullet jar anymore and to make a paste in the bigger jar, I would have to make a larger quantity. Instead, I decided to make a "Posto Sheem with Kasundi". So there would be posto and kasundi from a bottle and it would taste as wonderful.

Khichuri -- on a Snow Day

I would have never, ever thought that my first post on this New year would be a Khichuri.

Bengali Khichuri | Khichri

There are many variations of Khichuri in Bengal, from the revered Bhog er Khichuri made with roasted moong dal and pure satwik ingredients to the Musur Dale er Khichuri which is made with red lentils and is flavored with onion and garlic to the Bhuni Khichuri which is a richer and drier version of Khichri

Yes, the Bong's rainy day picker-upper, their precious offering to Goddesses, their solution to all word problems, the heady mix of rice and lentils with spices and veggies -- the Khichuri.

The thing is I never got the whole brouhaha over this dish.
I mean, "Dude, it is just Dal and rice, why are you going so crazy 'bout it?"

It appears, not the Bongs alone, all of India is kind of crazy about Khichdi. In fact they are so crazy that they wanted to declare Khichdi as India's National food. Seriously? National Food? When you have so many better things like Ilish er Jhaal, Dim Kosha, Biriyani, Galouti Kababs, Aloo Paratha, Mysore Dosa to choose from, you choose Khichuri. Major eye roll!

But what can I say. My Baba is major Khichuri bhokto. He loves his Khichuri with dollops and dollops of Ghee and relishes it like no other. The husband-man is another big time Khichuri fan. Although unlike my Dad, who love his khichuris whether bland or rich, this guy loves a good khichuri.

Today we have been bombarded with what the meteorologists are calling the "bomb cyclone". It has been snowing since midnight, along with a lot of wind and it looks like we are in the middle of a snow desert. Schools have been closed and there is no way any one is venturing outside. So today I decided to make Khichuri for lunch. The only silver lining in that whole cloud of Khichuri was the omelette, yes the only thing that can redeem a Khichuri for me. I don't care for fries or labra. A nice Indian omelette with onion and green chilies is my only knight in shining armor when Khichuri is for lunch.

Unlike the Bhog er Khichuri which is made without onion and garlic and with roasted moong dal, this every day Khichuri is made with Musur aka Red Lentils and has its fair share of onion and garlic.

You can serve it with an omeltte, papad, some pickle like I did or with Beguni or Begun Bhaja

So, the thing is for a long time my Khichuri would never turn out right. You would think it is an easy-peasy thing to do but somehow mine always went wrong. Either the lentils were under-cooked or the veggies were over done or something. I eventually got it right but I figured there would be hapless souls out there who like me fail at making a Khichuri. For them, I even made a shaky video of this whole Khichuri making, holding my phone in one hand!

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.

Spicy Kale Soup with Potato and Sausage

The weather around here is getting positively chilly. It had been a fabulous couple of months with great weather, festivities in the air, glittering lights and overload of sweets. The trees near my house are now preparing for winter, their leaves turning a rusty red, though this year we did not get the gorgeous colors like other years.

This is also the time when I start making soups. Soups that can be sent in a thermos for school lunch, soups that can be served with dinner. Now, the thing is there are millions and billions of soups and soup recipes out there, but my girls like only a few of them, and so those are the soups I make most often. Until they get tired of them that is.

In this whole gamut of soups, or rather a fraction of whole gamut of soups, both my girls seem to have taken a certain liking towards Kale soup.

Yes, you heard it right. K-A-L-E soup. It is a pretty, mossy green looking soup but it tastes delicious. I add little bit of potato to it and even carrots. I might or might not add sausages but sausages are definitely a plus. And garlic, oh yes garlic, lots of it please.

For a spicier, kind of Indianized version of this soup, I make a paste of coriander and green chili and then add it towards the very end to the soup simmering gently on the stove.

You see there are plenty of directions this soup can go. It is for you to decide which road to take.

Eggplant Indiana -- the baked Imam Bayildi

It is uncanny how I often repeat a recipe after years and yet it is around the same time of the year that I last cooked.

Yesterday, I bought these lovely eggplants from Costco. Wondering what to do with them, I remembered Imam Bayildi. Guess when I had made Imam Bayildi last? 8 years back just before Big Sis was starting Grade 1.

It has been eight years since. Yes E-I-G-H-T. And Big Sis is starting high school next week. What are the chances that I will be making the same eggplant recipe, at the same time of the year, after a gap of 8 years? And this when Big Sis will not even eat eggplant. Uncanny right?

When I read my old post I realized next week there will be no uniform. I will not have to worry about sewing buttons or hems. I will not even decide what she wears to school. But there will be lots more to worry, things far worse than "buttons"!

So anyway, yesterday when I looked up the Imam Bayildi recipe, I didn't want to fry the eggplants like the original recipe. Instead I decided to do the whole thing in the oven. Like a faux Imam Bayildi.

Now, as you know Imam Bayildi, is a classic Turkish eggplant dish, and it calls for quite a large quantity of Olive Oil. The phrase Imam Bayildi translates to "the Imam fainted" and often the joke is that the Imam probably fainted seeing the amount of expensive olive oil that his wife used in this dish.
This version that I made in the oven is way lighter and the Imam would probably never faint seeing it. He could faint from the heat of my eggplants though.

In fact seeing all the green chilies, Big Sis named it "Eggplant Indiana", which seems to be a more apt name for this dish.

Mumu'r Phulkopir Malaikari -- Cauliflower in Coconut Curry

This recipe is our friend Mumu's. She is one half of that couple who makes roshogollas and dal gosht and tolerates us when we land up at their home on any random weekends. That is saying a lot. No good stuff that I say about her and K, can top the fact that they welcome us and feed us on "random" weekend. I mean anyone who does that must be close to a saint or something

So anyway this Phulkopir Malaikari is Mumu's signature dish. We have had it at her home many times and loved it every time. I don't know why I never made it at home though until recently. A few weeks back, I made it at home, roughly following her recipe. It turned out so good that I had to share it with you all.

Now if you are a Bengali, Chingri Malaikari is your anthem and needs no explaining. If however you are new to Bengali cuisine, let me tell you that Chingri Malaikari, is a Bong's national anthem. I mean, it is a dish where succulent prawns are cooked in a gravy of coconut milk and is so delicious that you need to eat it to believe it. There are many theories about roots of this curry. I don't know which one is true but once you taste the dish, it clearly shows the effect of  the cuisine of SouthEast asia, the Malay world,which now comprises of the modern nations of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and southern Thailand.

If you are a vegetarian and have never tasted the Chingri Malaikari, this Cauliflower Malaikari, is just the thing you need.It is pretty simple where fried cauliflower florets are cooked in a coconut gravy with almost the same spicing as a Malaikari. Since there is no prawn which adds the full bodied flavor to the chingri malaikari, here we add a bit more spices to compensate. But I must say, the result is phenomenal! Try it.

Bengali Shingara -- not a samosa

There are samosas,the unique conical shaped Indian pies(in lack of a better word) made with pastry dough and stuffed with spiced potatoes, peas or mince meat and fried in hot oil, and then there are shingaras, the Bengali version of the same. Now don't you go and offend a Bengali, by saying that a shingara is same as samosa but only smaller. Never say that!

Bengalis are very possessive about their shingara, a popular snack served with steaming cups of tea, be it Darjeeling tea served in fancy china or sweetened bha(n)rer cha served in earthenware cups. While many upscale Bengali mashimas will look down upon aloor chop or telebhaja from the street, they will not blink a eye when offered these small triangle shaped delights from the neighborhood Kalika Mishtanno Bhandar, stuffed with potatoes-cauliflowers-sweet pea(the aloo phulkopir shingara being the favorite) in winter or potatoes and peanuts at other times of the year.

Growing up in Bihar, I was more familiar with the larger samosas from the stores, which I of course loved. The Bangali Shingara was something that was home made. Come winter, my Mother would be up in arms, steaming potatoes and cauliflowers, making conical structures from dough, like magic and frying up hot, hot shingaras. They were delicious and you could have as many of them. They were home made after all.

Potato-peas filling for shingara

Later, when we moved to this small town in Bengal, the shingara war was won by the local sweet-maker, Shotu, who fried batches of perfect shingara and made heavenly cream-chops in his shack like store known famously as "Shotu'r Dokan"!

Shotu'r shingara showed up at snack time, in our house, almost two or three times a week. Every afternoon around 5 in the evening,a huge black kadhai filled with oil would be put on the coal stove, at his store; mounds and mounds of alabaster white dough made of maida would be rolled into circular discs on glistening wooden boards; they were then stuffed and sealed in the blink of an eye; and suspended in the hot oil where they would be fried to flaky golden brown perfection.

My mother still made shingaras on some Sundays. Unlike me, she is one who fries stuff just because she wants to and not needs to. I mean, if I got perfect shingaras hot off the oil from a store, 2 miles away, I would have never made them at home.

Heck, I don't make them even when I don't get it at any store in my driving radius. We make do with samosas from the Indian stores, but I don't really like their stuffing. We love the Chicken samosas from Trader Joe's but there covering leaves a lot to desire. Sometimes for parties, we get the frozen samosas from the Indian stores, Swad or some such brand. They are ok. But honestly, none of them is a shingara.
There is my favorite Bengali caterer who does make great shingaras, with fried peanuts et al but he makes them only when there is a large order and that does not happen very often.

Sanhita's Nonta Bhapa Pithe | steamed rice flour dumplings

Nonta Bhapa Pithe  | Jhaal Pithe | Steamed Savory rice flour Dumplings

Pithe is reminiscent of the times when paddy was harvested in the months of December-January and the new crop was celebrated by making dishes that used rice, date palm jaggery(khejur gur also collected in the winter months) and coconut. There are a variety of pithe and puli made from these ingredients - patishapta, doodh puli, gokul pithe, bhapa pithe, chitoi pithe etc. While most of these have a sweet coconut-jaggery stuffing, the Nonta Bhapa Pithe is a steamed rice flour dumpling which has a nonta aka savory stuffing. It is also called jhaal aka spicy pithe because of the stuffing.

When the world around us is in a tumultuous state, among the few things that bring sanity, is food that has ties with our roots. Those ties might be frayed and not often remembered but it is there, a gentle reminder of who we are and how our journey has been. How in this global world, we have all immigrated, far from our roots, whether it is within the country or outside. There is comfort in knowing recipes that are old and yet have stood the test of time and movement. Knowing that this was the food prepared and consumed by my kin, in a different era, different world, in times of different beliefs, gives us strength in its perpetual persona.

Pithe,is reminiscent of the times when paddy was harvested in the months of December-January and the new crop was celebrated by making dishes that used rice, date palm jaggery(khejur gur also collected in the winter months) and coconut. Poush Parbon or Nabanno was a celebration of the new crop of rice, which was the mainstay for the then agrarian society. We have moved many years forward from those times where rice is now GMO and harvested multiple times and grated coconut can be found in the frozen aisles of grocery stores. Yet, we still take the effort to celebrate poush-parbon, in our home to honor those simpler times when we revered soil and its bounty, instead of taking it for granted like we do now.

Usually during Poush Sankranti, I hover between my fail safe recipes of paati-sapta and gokul pithe. I have never tried to make pithe with rice flour which is quintessential part of poush parbon for Bengalis. My Ma makes puli pithe which are rice flour dumplings shaped like a small rugby ball and stuffed with nice things like kheer or coconut. These "pulis" are then steamed and dunked in a milk based paayesh. I have never been fond of them or tried to make them. There was a nonta pithe or bhaja pithe that my Ma used to make with sweet pea stuffing. Those I loved butI have never worked with rice flour so didn't try making those either.

That doesn't mean, I miss those though. I know an amazing bunch of folks who are all very talented when it comes to cooking. One of our friends Sanhita, is an expert when it comes to whipping up traditional Bengali delicacies. Every year during Sankranti, she takes it upon herself to make all kinds of pithes and pulis, and then invites all of us over to her home for a pithe party. Didn't I say, I had amazing friends?

Spicy Green Beans in the Oven

Today Big Sis was talking about a friend of hers who is apparently very rich by hearsay.

Little Sis listened to the discussion for a minute and then declared "I will never be rich. Being rich is a waste of time!"

Astounded by this bite of information I asked, "Why is it a waste of time?"

Little Sis: "Well to become rich, you have to work hard and that will get you lots of money. Working hard is a total waste of time!"

I was left standing, my mouth agape, while Little Sis confident in her knowledge went off to bed.

But I am totally with her on the "working hard is a waste of time" funda. No wonder I don't like chopping vegetables. Any dish that calls for elaborate chopping of vegetables, is subtly skipped for better days, when I have ample time for an interesting movie to give me company while chopping. There can be nothing more boring than chopping vegetables while doing nothing else.

This Spicy Green Beans in the oven is the perfect recipe that lets me skip chopping, well a large part of chopping. You will have to use the knife but barely. For me, a bag of fresh trimmed beans from Costco does the trick. If you are buying from anywhere else, you will have to trim the ends but that's about it.

Spicy Green Beans in the Oven

Take a bunch of tender green beans. If you can get hold of trimmed beans you are in for immense good luck and fortune. If not, well then, you will have to trim the beans by sniping the head and tail.
Also "Tender" is the keyword here, but isn't that true for all vegetables.

Give them a rinse and pat dry.

Chop half an onion and two cloves of garlic in thick slices

Put beans, onion and garlic in a wide mouthed bowl

Toss them all together with
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp red Chili powder/Paprika
1/2 tsp of Cajun Spice powder(or any other spice. Aamchur and Bhaja Moshla can do the trick too)
salt to taste
2 tbsp Olive Oil

Let them sit in the marinade for 15-20 mins.

Now put them in a single layer in a baking tray and bake at 400F. Halfway through(after 15 mins) drizzle a tsp of olive oil and give them a stir.

Bake until the beans are brown and crinkled. We like them crispy so we bake for 30 mins.

While serving add a new dimension by adding either
slivered almonds
or feta cheese
or chaat masala and lime juice

If you like what you are reading, get Bong Mom's Cookbook in your mailbox

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Shosha'r Shukto -- Bengali Shukto with Cucumbers

This post was written way back sometime in July. That is when this dish was cooked and the recipe duly noted. Now when I look back on those long stretch of summer day, I want to throw a tantrum to get them back. But that is not happening. Never does.

So, while I try to brave my soul for fall, you guys take a trip back to summer...

Summer is always busy around home. The schools are over, the days are long and once I am back home, it is impossible to cook when there is so much to do outside. With my Mother here, it has been a slew of lazy days for me, as she is the one cooking up what the granddaughters fancy.

Meanwhile I am staying up late following the conventions and scouring articles about the preposterous things that one of the presidential candidates keeps on uttering. It beats stuff that even Zee TV saau ma's would mutter. If only he would have on 3 pound jhumkas and dazzling bindis, I would know for sure that it was a Ekta kapoor serial and not reality tv.

So anyway in between all this, my summer plants yielded fruits...I mean vegetables. This year we planted tomatoes, peppers , cucumber. Cucumbers mainly because LittleSis picked up a packet of cucumber seeds and wanted a cucumber plant. My dad did the brunt of the work on them but we were not able to build a trellis aka "maacha" for the cukes.. That didn't dither them though and the cuke yield was in plenty. By the time I realized there were so many of them hidden in the vines, they had already ripened and were not the best in a salad.

Ma made a shoshar shukto (cucumber shukto) with them as they were too ripe to eat raw. Why would anyone buy cucumber and make a shukto I wondered ? I mean cucumbers are good enough raw so why cook them ? Also the original Bengali Shukto has done enough to garner a following so why a contender ?

"Well, we had very limited choice of summer vegetables in our times and shukto made with the slightly ripened cucumbers was a welcome change from the daily grind of lau and potol," she said.

Valid point. The shoshar shukto tasted good too. It was creamy and slightly sweet with a faint bitterness of the uchhe. The crunchy boris added the necessary bite to a otherwise creamy dish. Maybe I won't make it often, but if you ever have a load of cucumbers to finish, this is a great way to go.