Chirer Pulao aka Poha -- witth Oats ahem

Chirer pulao featured a close second in my "Most wanted School Lunch" list as a kid.

The winner was almost always the egg noodles.

Third and Fourth place were tied and was either a fried rice, savory french toasts or aloo paratha. Yes, my mother packed good lunches.

As far as I go Chirer Pulao is largely similar to a Poha, with small differences like the former does not have kari patta, is sweeter and is overall Bong. The experts may differ. My Mother made chirer pulao with a tadka of mustard seeds and finished it with lime juice and fresh coriander leaves. It would be a little sweet and tart. That chirer pulao would be studded with crunchy brown friend chinebadam pale on the inside, alu bhaja -- finger length potatoes fried and soft and soft green jewel like green pea motorshuti . It was a simple dish, I thought.

The first time I tried to make it on my own in the US, my self-esteem took a good beating. The chirer pulao turned into a chirer khichuri. And it all happened in the split second that I was searching for the mustard seeds while the poha was soaking. I did not know of a term called "mise en place" and I did not know I was using thin poha. It was the wrong kind. The thick poha stands a better chance of holding its own and is the poha of choice for Chirer Pulao.

Having survived that tragedy, I have been making the chirer pualo the way my Mother makes until that is this Monday.

This Monday I decided to add oats to chirer pulao. Why you ask ? Why not just let oats be and eat it as a breakfast cereal.

Well, while me and the husband eat a decent amount of oatmeal, the kids do not. They don't like the texture. Since I was making this for BS's school lunch, I thought why not make it a bit more healthy by adding steel cut oats. I mean people make oats upma all the time so why not this.I used only 1/4 cup of steel cut oats and 1 cup of poha and then cooked and rinsed the oatmeal to remove the slimy texture. The end result was pretty good if I may say so myself.

I was pretty impressed by my fine sense of culinary mix and match (ahem) and just when I was feeling a wee bit like Marc Samuelsson this conversation happened.

The husband(who was at work on Monday and would be back next day): What did you make today ?
Me: I made a Chire Oats er Pulao for tomorrow's lunch.It turned out so good.
He: Oats and Chire together ? ***Followed by Long silence ***
Me: Yeah, why ? It is really good.
He: Amake khete hobe na to ? I hope there will be none left by the time I return.
Me: !!#$%#$!!

But of course I did not let that bother me. The lunch was packed for BigSis next day and she did not complain.

For the recipe of Chirer Pulao with Oats check my blog for kids where I am storing lunch box ideas. 

Chirer Pulao or Poha

Steel Cut Oats -- 1/4th Cup (optional)
Thick Poha or Chire - 1 Cup

Vegetables

Potato - 1 medium
carrot - 1 medium
Green peas - 1/4 Cup
Cauliflower -- 8-10 small florets chopped if available

Green Chilli - 3-4 minced
Ginger - 1" knob minced
Onion - 1 small chopped

For Tadka

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 1

Other Ingredients

Peanuts- 1/8th Cup
Coriander - to garnish
Lime Juice - 1 Tbsp

Salt - to taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Oil -- 2-3 Tbsp



Prep

Cook 1/4 cup of steel cut oats in boiling water for 8-10 minutes or as mentioned in package. The oat should be cooked but have a bite. Once cooked drain on a sieve and rinse out the starch with cold water

Chop 1 medium potatoes along the length or small cubes. Chop 1 carrot in small cubes . Defrost 1/4th cup of  green peas

Chop 1 small sized onion. Peel and chop 1" knob of ginger in julienne

Fry a handful of raw peanuts till brown and crunchy.

Keep 1 cup of thick poha ready. We are going to soak it soon.

Start making the Chirer Pulao

Heat Oil in a fry pan. Vegetable Oil or Mustard oil preferred but I often make it with Olive oil too.

Saute the potatoes with a sprinkle of turmeric till they are golden brown. Remove and keep aside.

Temper the oil with 1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds and 1 dry red  chilli

When the spices pop, add the onion and saute till soft and pink. Throw in the 2 green chilli chopped in rounds and minced ginger

Next add the carrots and green peas. Saute and then cover to let the vegetables cook.

When the carrot is almost done, add the potatoes and finish cooking them.

While the veggies are cooking do this:
Take a sieve
Put 1 cup of poha/chire on the sieve
Now hold the sieve under running water and soak the chire until they are soft.
You can also soak the poha in water directly but I often end up with soggy poha that way. The sieve and running water helps me control the exact softness I want in my chire.
Once the chire/pha is soft, squeeze out the excess water and keep it ready

Once the veggies are cooked, add the poha/chire to the frying pan. Add salt to taste and toss the poha so that the vegetables and the poha are nicely mixed. Add the cooked oats and mix well. Add a tsp of sugar and cook the whole thing for a few minutes. Taste and adjust for seasonings.


At the very end add juice of about half a lime and mix. Garnish with fried peanuts and chopped coriander.

Dida's Gota Sheddho -- traditions reborn

Before I go into the recipe of Gota Sheddho let me be honest and tell you that this is the first time I made it.

I had never made Gota Sheddho before. Neither has my Mother. It is my Dida, my Ma's mother, whose Gota Sheddho is what I remember today. Her Gota Sheddho was much in demand in the North Kolkata neighborhood she lived. Younger women who had turned new mothers would send out a request to her before Saraswati Pujo. "Mashima, amar jonyo ektu gota deben", they would say.  In the years that we lived in Kolkata, she would send it for my Mother too, in steel tiffin carrier boxes, the day after Saraswati Pujo.

The dish did not look appetizing with its dull brown black color and I never really wanted to taste it. It was supposed to be had cold and my Ma would implore me to have at least a serving of what Dida has sent.. "It is good for you", she would say. I would swallow it like I would a lot of other veggies at that age. Fast. Pushing the morsels at the back of my throat.  Refusing to taste it with my tongues or senses. I wish I had better adjectives to describe that dish my Dida cooked with love for the wellbeing of her children and then theirs. But I hardly tasted the dish and every year I wondered if the young women in my Dida's neighborhood had gone bonkers to send request for "Gota Sheddho".

"Why would anyone want to have Gota Sheddho ?", I often wondered.

The Five vegetables: Red Potatoes, Purple Eggplant, Green Sheem, Whole peas in a pod, Baby Spinach

Yesterday on my FB page, a reader asked if I had a recipe for Gota Sheddho."Nope", I told her. And there the matter rested. Until another reader came by and shared a recipe of her Mother's Gota Sheddho. Anuradha's Mom's recipe was simple like it should be and it instantly reminded me of my Dida's Gota Sheddho. I had a hunch that this was how Dida made it. Strangely, at that point, I did not remember it as the dull black unappetizing dish instead I remembered it as something my Dida cooked. It must have been good, I told myself, she was a fantastic cook after all.

So I called my Mother. I wanted to know the story behind the dish. Why was it had cold ? Why was it cooked at all on Saraswati Pujo ? Information trickled down and a tradition shaped up.

I did not have Masshkolai so I used Green Moong

Ma said, "The day after Saraswati Pujo is Sheetol Shoshti. Shoshthi is the goddess of  fertility and worshiped by Mothers as a guardian angel of their offspring. Sheetol==Cool. And on the day of sheetol shoshthi, cold gota sheddho that had been cooked the previous day, is to be had by Mothers worshipping Ma Shoshthi.

The way your Dida made Gota Sheddho was by boiling kali urad(the urad dal with skin) known as maashkolai in Bengali with five different vegetables in season which were to be added whole, little salt, sugar to taste, some pieces of ginger and drizzle of  raw mustard oil to finish off. The vegetables most commonly used were small red potatoes, small eggplant, sheem, whole green peas in their pod and baby spinach."

Okay, so the Gota Sheddho was cooked on Saraswati Pujo but had cold only the next day and it was done apparently for the long life of one's children.

My Mother also said that on the day of Sheetol Shoshthi, Dida wrapped the sheel-nora in a fresh new cotton cloth and worshiped it. It was the sheel-nora's day off and no masala(spices) were to be ground or made into a paste. Amazingly, the gota sheddho is cooked sans any spices also. Not even a speck of turmeric is added to it. I am not sure if this was as a respect for the sheel-nora but that is how the story goes.

Now that I think of it, there seems to be a deeper meaning to the whole thing. Saraswati Pujo heralds the advent of Spring and with Spring came many diseases in those days. So along with the prayers for well being of the children, the food cooked was something healthy and brimming with nutrients from the steamed fresh new vegetables and dals. A diet like that would keep any disease at bay, given that you had it every day.

Now, there are many different versions of this dish. Each home in Bengal has their own little touch to Gota Sheddho. I closely followed my Dida's recipe, as narrated by my Ma. But I had to adapt and make some changes. I did not have the black urad dal and so I used green moong. I used five vegetables but did not follow the rule of six parts or numbers of each. Also instead of the raw mustard oil I heated up mustard oil, tempered it with few dry red chillies and added that oil to finished dal.

I am not a ritualistic person and I did not do this with the religious goal in mind. Everyday I pray for my children's well being and I do not believe that having a cold dal on a certain Spring day would do any extra good. But I am sure my Dida and the women of their generations had their own reasons and nothing beats the fact that this is a dish brimming with nutrition. I liked it hot though. And a squeeze of lime made it better.

 Dida's Gota Sheddho -- my version

The day before cooking, soak 1/2 cup of Green Moong (1 Cup if you want more dal type) in water. Actual recipes asks for Black urad aka maash kolai. 

The next day, in a big pot, add the soaked dal. In my case this was the pressure cooker.

Along with the dal add the following veggies whole. No chopping or cutting. Makes life easy.
Small Red Potatoes
Small Round eggplant
Whole peas in their pods
Sheem
Baby Spinach with stems
Ideally each vegetable should be added in six-es. But I did not follow this rule

Add enough water to the pot to cover the veggies and dal.
Add salt to taste.
Add 5-6 whole green chillies
Add a tbsp of grated or minced ginger
Note: Instead of only ginger you can use this -- 1 tsp of fennel seeds(mouri) + 2" inch piece of ginger, pounded in a mortar-pestle. Amazing flavor.

Cook till dal and veggies are done. Since I did it in a whistling pressure cooker, I did it for about 5 whistles at low medium heat.

When done, dry off excess water if you wish. Add sugar to taste. Drizzle some mustard oil. Serve hot or cold.
Instead of raw oil, I heated 1-2 tsp of Mustard Oil (more if you want, I keep oil low) in a separate kadhai. Tempered the hot oil with 4 Dry Red Chillies. Added the Oil+Red Chillies to the cooked dal.

This dish also goes to Jaya's event  "I cooked Gota Sheddho in my Indian pressure cooker and it did not blow up in my face".

Pasta with Roasted Peppers, Greens and Ricotta

Today was one of those days. The kind of day when you have a long To-Do list and nothing on it gets done.

Wait. Actually that is not today, that is everyday.

But while everyday, I just push off the today list to tomorrow, "today" some of the things on there had to be done. Simply had to. And one of them was to get Valentine's day gift or treat or some such thing for LS's class. Yes, for a class of four year olds who care the sheeshkabob about Saint Valentine. All they I am sure want is some colored candy which unfortunately I wasn't going to give.

Now all these years I have never sent gifts to school on V day. I have sent treats for the party but not individual gifts for the kids. "We just did this for Christmas. Why again in February?" was how my general train of thought went.But this year in a moment of weakness (or maybe it was the moment when I was busy clicking a food photo)I promised LS that I would send goody bags on Valentines Day. I promised but did not lift even one of my fat fingers towards that promise until I made the TBD list for today. "Buy V G.Bags", was scrawled on it along with several other illegible stuff which may  have included "Go to Gym" or may not.

To keep that promise, I came home; took a shower; drank tea with one several Marie Biscuit; quickly made a Pasta with roasted sweet pepper, spinach and ricotta because the tub of ricotta in the refrigerator was inching towards its expiration; donned a jacket and then rushed out to the nearest available store that sells stuff that can qualify for "V G.Bags". Thankfully the husband was around to take the kids to their taekwondo class and I could scratch that from my list.

So the main thing is, I donned a jacket and rushed out. When I say donned a jacket, I "donned" it on whatever I was wearing at home while sipping tea and cooking pasta. If you know me or in the case that you don't, it is high time you understand the way I function. I do not sip tea or cook pasta in designer wear. Forget desinger wear which I don't even own, I actually prefer drinking tea and stirring pasta in tracks which have been through the wash cycle so many times that they are now super comfy and in t-shirts so frayed at the edges that they might work better to mop my counter than covering my body. The only reason I like winter, is zipping up that jacket hides my wardrobe inadequacies in most places.

Comfortable in the super cape power of my jacket I breezed through the aisles of the store trying to figure which pack of valentine cards will give most bang for my buck, all the time feeling like I was being hit by a cold draft. But there was too much on my mind, like Winnie or Dora,  to pay attention to drafts and winds.

Finally all set, when I was at the checkout, the young guy at the counter was extra nice and kind of treating me like he would an older senile lady. You know, how you are extra nice and gentle and sweet when you encounter a ninety year old who is slightly woozy in the head. Well she has a reason, her sleep medication is doing that. "What is my excuse", I thought. It was then that I glanced down and what do I see ? The jacket that I had so confidently zipped up at home, had somehow unzipped midway and split up exposing my threadbare tee and holey pants. I surely looked like someone whose upper storey needed some repair work. Struggling with that zipper did not help at all and I quickly gathered my stuff and walked to the car. Fast.

Now I need a foolproof jacket. That tee and track pants are here to stay,

That said this Pasta with Roasted Red Peppers ,Greens and Ricotta was pretty good. A pinch of Garam Masala and some garlic made it better. It was inspired by a recipe in NY Times and will be packed for school lunch tomorrow. Of course it works perfect for a dinner too.

The recipe is in my kids' blog where I am storing lunchbox ideas.

Bhoger Khichuri and Anarosher Chutney

Bhog er Khichuri is the Khichuri, a Bengali will offer to the the Goddess on Durga Pujo, Lokkhi Pujo or Saraswati Pujo. If done on any other day it will just be the Bhaja Moog Dal er Khichuri or a Khichdi made with Roasted Moong dal or a Rice and Lentil dish akin to Risotto if I try going international.. The same Khichdi when mixed with devotion, faith, respect and fragrance of incense, is lifted to the sublime and is called Bhog er Khichuri.

Along with a mixed vegetable dish of Labra, different kinds of  fries called bhaja and Tomato Chaatni, this Khichuri was offered during Pujo, in heavy plates with raised edges made of kansa (bell metal) or brass. Water was served in similar glasses. Sweets and several fruits cut and cubed made up the other edible arrangements. Fresh flowers, heavy fragrance from incense sticks and dhuno made up the complete atmosphere.

In addition to all this there was something offered called noibiddyo, small mounds of small grained raw rice that had been soaked, raw yellow moong soaked, some sweet sondesh, pieces of ripe banana were arranged in portions in a separate plate. Though Noibiddyo or Naivedhya means "offering made to the Gods" and so everything offered should actually have fallen under this category, we specifically labelled this offering of raw rice et al as Noibiddyo. You will get a clearer image of this from this pic I found in Flickr.

After the pujo was over, these small mounds of rice, sondesh and bananas were mixed together in a kind of mash. The raw rice due to the overnight soaking was soft but had a bite and the sondesh and banana sweetened the whole deal. More than the khichuri, it is this thing called chaal-kola makha, distributed with prasad at the end of  pujo, is what I waited for.

Saraswati Pujo is on Friday. My parents are going to have an elaborate pujo back home as usual. Friday being a working day, I will have a small pujo at home in the evening where I will do almost nothing according to tradition except offer sweets and books, pray and ask her for knowledge and wisdom.

On Saturday, we will have a pujo at a larger scale in a friends' basement. There we will have Khichuri and labra and also much fun. I am trying to teach the girls to sing a Saraswati Vandana for the pujo there and given that I cannot sing a single note in tune, I have roped in help from YouTube. So every night for ten whole minutes I play a simple Saraswati bhajan on my laptop and the girls' join in singing at the top of their voice. It does not sound very musical and the little one keeps saying "Naamo Sharada Maatha" instead of "Maata", which is kind of funny given that "Maatha" in Bengali means "head". The ensuing cacophony is enough to drive any Saraswati up the wall but we are hoping that the Goddess and audience has more patience.

In prospect of this wonderful future (ahem!), I made a Bhaaja Moog Dal er Khichuri today. Since I did not offer it to the divine, I cannot say it was bhog er khichuri yet. Instead of Tomato Chaatni, I made Anarosher Chaatni or Pineapple Chutney. The Begun Bhaja or fried eggplants I baked in the oven taking cue from a reader who had suggested this method. I lighted up some incense sticks and then deliberated on eating it, since Khichuri does not feature in the top 20 things I want to eat stranded in a desert island. Furthermore Khichuri without an omlette holds very little charm for me. So I made an omlette, something which would have been impossible on the actual day of Pujo and then ate it all up myself. I mean I also fed it to the rest of the family.

You don't have to wait for any divine intervention, any day you want a one pot meal, make this and offer yourself.



Some of my previous posts on Saraswati Pujo are here and here. Here is my Labra, Begun Bhaja and Anarosher Chaatni recipe to complete the meal. There is another version of Khichuri I make called Bhuni Khichuri which is a spicier and richer version of this.

The very nice people from masalamommas had asked me a few questions and that article up on their site. Go check if you want. Thanks Salima, the lovely lady who did the piece. And btw that picture is of Salima's. 

Bhog er Khichuri 

 

A liitle prep

Chop 1 medium potato in quarters.
Chop half of a small cauliflower in about 6-8 large-ish florets
Defrost about 1/4 cup of frozen peas (or use same amount of fresh green peas)

Wash 1 cup of rice(short grained rice like gobindobhog, kalijeera etc. preferred, I used sona masoori) and soak in water

Roast 1 cup of Yellow Moong Dal till you get a nice nutty aroma. About 50% of the dals should be a light brown on roasting. Rinse the dal lightly in water and keep aside. Approx. 4 minutes.

In a separate frying pan, fry the potatoes and cauliflower with sprinkle of turmeric powder till they are a shade of light gold and the cauliflower florets have some brown spots.Throw in the green peas and saute them too.

After we are done with the prep part we will start on the actual khichuri

Heat Vegetable Oil + 1 tsp Ghee in a deep and heavy bottomed pot.

Temper the oil with
4 green cardamom
4 clove/laung
1 thin stick of cinnamom
1 Bay Leaf/tejpata
2 Dry red chilli
1 tsp of whole cumin seeds/jeera

When the spices pop to the oil add
1-2 tbsp mince or grated ginger 

Add 1 medium tomato

Add
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Garam Masala 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder(or Kashmiri Mirch)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
all made into a paste with water Saute for 2-3 minutes

Next add the roasted moong dal and mix with the masala. Saute the dal along with the masalas for couple of minutes.

Add 1 cup of pre-washed ned rice now

Now add about 8 cups of warm water to the pot. Add little salt. Cover the pot and let the water simmer to a boil.

2-3 minutes after the boiling starts add the potatoes, cauliflower and peas. Add 1-2 Cup more water if needed.

Once you see the water boil, lower the heat, cover and let the rice and lentils cook. In between, remove the cover, gently give a stir and check if they are done or if more water is needed.

Once the rice, lentils and vegetables are cooked, sprinkle about 1 tsp of sugar and a pinch of Garam Masala. Mix gently. Drizzle a tbsp or more of ghee . Serve hot.

Pressure Cooker Method:
To cook in pressure cooker, after you have added the vegetables, do not add any more water. Close the Pressure cooker lid and cook for 2 whistles or 3 minutes if in Futura pressure cooker.

Once the pressure has released naturally, open the lid and check the consistency of  Khichuri. Add little more water if needed and adjust for salt and seasoning. Add Garam masala if needed.

At the very end, heat 1 Tbsp ghee in a small frying pan and roast some cashews and raisins until golden. Add them along with the ghee to the Khichuri. Serve hot.

Egg Butter Masala or Egg Malai Masala

This Egg Butter Masala was inspired by an Egg Malai Masala a colleague's wife had cooked. Since I did not have her recipe and based this on my Paneer Butter Masala recipe, I decided to call it Egg Butter Masala. The end product looks and tastes very similar to what my Punju colleague had brought.

Now , honestly, I am not a big fan of butter masala kind of gravies. It is ok. I like them but I don't go ga-ga over them. However I have noticed that a large percentage of Indian population and still larger percent of non-Indian population goes absolutely crazy over this dish. My girls also love it. I guess it satisfies different palates and tastes. And for this reason, I have found that a dish like this helps a lot in a party or a potluck where you are not very sure of the food choices of the other person. This one is sure to please.

As you can well guess, I made this for a potluck at work. The recipe is almost same as my Paneer Butter Masala but this one is easier and more creamier. In the other one, I did not use cream. Instead I added cashew paste and evaporated milk. For this one, I thought, "What the heck ? If those people are going to eat 2 more tsp of butter or cream it is not going to harm anyone. Also my life will become simpler". With that thought I skipped the cashew paste and added about 1/2 pt of light cream. I also had to make it borderline spicy and could not use as much Kashmiri Mirch I wanted to. So to get some color I added tomato ketchup taking cue from Nag's blog.

The end result was very good and definitely easy to make. I cooked the gravy a day ahead. You can do it even a week before and freeze, only in that case, don't add the cream until you are ready to heat and serve it. To make it a malai masala substitute water with milk while making the gravy. I added eggs but really you can add anything to it. Both my girls loved it and you can sneak in veggie puree into it if that is your goal.

And for all those who have been asking about the book, we are now at the stage where my erudite editor is on her final edits and I am making small changes here and there. The book cover has been decided on and we have got some sketches to be included. The book is not a cookbook and intertwining the recipes and narrative has been both fun and hard work.Also with a work outside home, kids and the blog, I have been missing the deadlines set by my editor quiet often which means the book gets delayed just that much. Hope you all appreciate once it is out and anyone with a single negative comment about it will get a time out. Serious.

Ok, just kidding !

Egg Butter Masala

First let us make the gravy

Fry one red onion chopped in large chunks till soft. Cook and make a paste. You can also use raw onion paste but it sometimes tends to get bitter and also takes longer to cook so I like it this way.

Heat 1tbsp butter + 1 tbsp oil

Temper the hot oil with 1/4tsp of methi seeds and whole black cardamom lightly bruised

When you get beautiful flavor of methi, which is really really fragrant, add the onions paste. Fry for about 2 minutes

Next add
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp Kashmiri mirch(more to taste)
a sprinkle of turmeric powder
Saute for couple more minutes

Now add about 3/4th cup of pureed tomato. I used canned whole tomatoes to make the puree, good juicy fresh ones will work well. You can also use tomato paste but in that case you will be using only 2 tbsp of it.
Add 2tbsp tomato ketchup

Fry till the raw smell of tomato is gone. This takes about 6-8 minutes, at end of which you will see oil separating from the edges

Now add about 1 tbsp of Kasoori Methi warmed between your palms
Add salt and 1/4th-1/2 tsp of Garam Masala.
Add about 1/2 tsp of sugar
Mix well

Add 1 cup of warm water and let the gravy simmer and come to a boil. For a richer version add milk instead of water. At this point taste and adjust for seasonings. Add more Kashmiri mirch or salt or sugar depending on your taste. Simmer till gravy is the right consistency for you, remember you are going to add cream to this.

When you are happy with the simmering gravy, lower the heat and add 1/2pt of light cream. Yes lot of cream but you alone are not going to eat it. At low heat let the gravy simmer for 4-5 mins.

You have the Butter Masala gravy ready.

Now add the Eggs

While you are making the gravy boil about 6-7 eggs. Cool and peel shells. Now you can fry them with a sprinkle of turmeric to a golden brown or just let them remain the way they are. To serve, halve the eggs, sprinkle with little salt and add to the gravy. Simmer for a few seconds. Serve warm.

The Bengali Labra again -- a vegetable medley

I am not sure if Bengali Labra has anything to do with this time of the season but I find myself making it more during these months than any other. I do try cooking a mixed vegetable dish at least twice a month, throwing in a variety of veggies and thus ensuring that my veggie intake is avergaed out but most often it gets done with a bag of frozen vegetables from Costco which is largely dominated by broccoli and zucchini. And then I throw in some pumpkin, some carrot a dash of kasundi to sweeten up the deal.

For the labra though I specifically buy the vegetables with "labra" in mind. This is an antithesis to my Mother's labra cooking where the dish would be made with bits of pieces of vegetables left over in the veggie basket from the day before.

But me ? I made a list "To make Labra" and on Saturday even went out of the way to get something like mulo, which I categorically hate, to be put in the labra. Now the good part of having the blog to post the recipes is there is always some reader or the other telling me how a dish could be done better, or different or their version of the same thing. This time taking cue from the comments in my last Labra post, I made sure to keep the cauliflower leaves and stems to be added to the dish.

The cooking of the dish is very very simple as you all know. All it does is tries to utilize the best of the seasonal vegetables using a bit of this and bit of that. There is minimum of spices like paanchphoron, hing and ginger and majority of the  flavor comes from the vegetables alone. The dish tastes better when some time is allowed for the flavors to mingle and is served traditionally with Khichuri on Saraswati Pujo or a light dal, rice and slice of lime for a homey meal.

For the Labra follow the old recipe -- Labra for Saraswati Pujo  --  which is now updated with more pictures.

Instead in this post, I will take you for a tour around the vegetable market in my neighborhood in Kolkata which are shimmering with orange, purple, red and green at this time of the year.

Photographs by my Dad @Kolkata

Oranges better known as Clementines are a winter fruit in Kolkata. They come to the plains either from orchards in Nagpur or from the hills of Darjeeling

Rec Carrots, Methi Greens, Sweet Peas and Cauliflower are some of the winter veggies that entice you with their beautiful colors

Cauliflower with their large leaves, the kind perfect to put in a Labra

For more pictures of Indian market see my previous posts

Haat e Bajaar e -- to the Market(I)

Haat e Bajaar e -- to the Market (II) 

Thai Fish wrapped in Banana Leaves -- not a drop of oil

The last week of December saw a lot of friends in our home. Perfect time. Cold winters warmed by warmer friends. The house has slowly started feeling home as we share meals and swap stories. By the time I get around hosting all my dear friends I hope the house will feel like the old one and "more fun" as LS is wont to say. "Not saying that I don't like this house but the 123 AnyDrive was more fun", she declares.

Now this holiday season. there were friends we don't see that often and when we meet the first words that spill out are about the kids who have grown taller, shorter, bigger, lost teeth etc. There were also few friends whom we see more often and who see the kids at more close quarter to be astounded.

Now irrespective of who they are, I have noticed a repetitive trend in my nature in the days and even hours leading up to their visit. The same can be said of the husband-man. Only his ways of dealing with it is exact opposite of mine.

The husband-man believes in welcoming friends in his unshaven, PJ'ed best. Not only that, he thinks it is perfectly fine to have stacks of unpaid bills/papers/unnecessary stuff on the counter when friends are visiting. If the cleaning-lady has come in on a Thursday he refuses to understand the importance of scrubbing a sink just before the guests arrive on a cold Saturday.

"These are friends", he yells, "Friends I have known since XYZ, Kolkata, Bangalore, Honolulu, New Jersey (fill place of choice)".

"Ok, but how does that justify a dirty sink", I retort.

"It is NOT dirty. IT IS clean", he desperately points out.

"Agreed. It IS clean. But it is NOT cleaned 'before-guests-arrive-clean'. There needs to be scented candles on the bath counter and not a tube of hemorrhoid ointment," I counter.

"These are not guests. These are friends," he rolls his eyes, flaps his arms, behaves weird.

Given that the guy is pretty tidy and neat in his ways, it is beyond me how he does not get this. Sigh!! And it is only fair that I mention, surprisingly he is the one who does the major clean up and dish washing after the friends leave.

But after all these years he does not understand why on the morning  of a house guest or even dinner guest's arrival, I shove everything junk visible around the house, in the closet ,and close it tight. Then I prop pillows and screech at the girls if they dare to nudge even one out of its defined space. I take out  books which I last read about five years ago and then strategically place them on the side table (this has a good side effect as I then start re-reading forgotten books). I light candles, scrub the kitchen counter thrice and align the rug in family room every 3 minutes. If time permits I also take out the huge conch, Ma got from Andaman and which is stored away in the upper shelf of the entertainment center for safety, and place it on the console. Ta-Da.

I don't have fancy place settings and how I wish I could do that too.

"Ha, ha...if only they open your closet", the husband-man laughs deliriously watching me from the corner couch. I fear he might actually just ask them to do so.

"Ok enough. Remember to talk", I hiss.

No, no I am not insane and neither is the husband-man undergoing speech therapy. It is just that he believes that it is perfectly fine to make visiting guests watch "Myth Busters" or "NatGeo" in silent admiration or even  take a nap when friends come a visiting. While I am forever trying to think of the most exciting story to keep them entertained, he always volunteers to put LS to bed (which is a kind thing to do)  and only after an hour do we realize that he is the one who is actually snoring. "Ghumiye poreche," I tell the friends calmly and then wake him up and drag him down to participate in the late night adda.

"Gawd, they are my friends. NOT guests", he rolls his eyes exasperatedly. No one seems to mind really so he must have a point there.

And then he believes in serving solid robust food like pathar mangshor jhol, bhaat and boutique beer.

"Thai fish in Kola pata, all wussy-ussy fancy-pansy. I am not doing it" he declares. I plain ignore. If I have managed to get banana leaf from the Asian Store, and a recipe of a fragrant marinade off the internet, my guests better eat the Thai fish.

And they do. They do. No one even opens the closet.

This Thai Fish in Banana leaf is a new found recipe which I love. It started off with a recipe suggested by a friend  here. To it I merged a recipe of Green Curry sauce I found from Jamie Oliver. The two recipes punched together made a beautiful green curry paste. From then on making the fish was a breeze. It was so simple that it worked well for a weeknight dinner and even when cooking for more guests. The green curry paste can be made a day ahead but I felt it lost a bit of punch on Day 3. Maybe freezing instead of refrigerating for longer use will work well.

A note of caution while making the paste, lightly fry the onion before adding to the blender. This will avoid the bitterness many times grinding onion brings around. Also I added the lime leaves later and not while making the paste. The first time that I ground the leaves along with other spices in the mixer, the paste had a faint bitter taste. So I snipped the lime leaves with a scissor and then added to the fish while marinating. This way the paste was fragrant and perfect.

I was lucky to get banana leaves in the frozen section of the Asian Market. If you don't, just use parchment or aluminum foil. I have done that too. If you have no access to galangal or fish sauce, I suggest don't get shy, still do the fish but substitute with ginger and soy sauce

Also I tried this dish with three kind of fish -- Salmon, Tilapia and a fish called Swai. It worked best with Swai and Tilapia which are very mild fish and absorbed the flavor of the marinade.



The fish - I used 3 fillet of swai, each fillet cut in 3 pieces

In a blender jar add the following
1 onion, peeled and chopped (saute onion and use if onion tends to get bitter on grinding)
2 fat cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece galangal, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp coriander powder
handful of Thai Basil leaves
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp Soy Sauce
2-4 fresh hot red Chilli
handful of fresh coriander leaves
2 tbsp Coconut Milk (the thick part)
juice of 1/2 lime
Make a smooth paste


Clean and place the fish pieces in a large bowl. Sprinkle salt. Put the marinade on the fish so that all the pieces are coated nicely with it. If you have extra marinade freeze for later use. Snip 4 small Kaffir lime leaves in small pieces and add to the marinated fish. In absence of lime lives use lime zest. Marinate fish for 30 mins.

Next take a square piece of banana leaf.

Put a fish piece in the center. Add some finely chopped chilli rounds. More lime leaf if you have plenty.

Fold the longer ends of the leaf over the fish. Then fold the shorter ends to form a packet.

Secure the packet with a toothpick.

Put the fish packets in a oven safe tray with the toothpick side down. Bake the fish at 350F for 20-25 mins. At the end of this, open the covering and check to see if fish is cooked through.

Serve with white rice accompanied with one more Thai curry like this one.

Chingri Dhan-Dhana-Dhan -- Pudina Dhaniya Shrimp

Once upon a  time, years ago I used to make a chicken dish with coriander and call it Chicken Dhan Dhana Dhan. At that point I did not know much about cooking. The fact that oil separates from masala at some point of kashano was news to me. Instead I tried to shroud my insipid dishes under dazzling names. That the dishes were flop B-grade movies even with names like "Lal Badshah" was often forgotten amidst laughter over the names. Or people were polite and did not point out the fact blatantly.

Now when I think of Chicken Dhan-dhana-dhan, I have no recollection except for the name. It was green and had dhonepata but it was very different from my Dhonepata Chicken. But the name has stuck in the folds of my memory. Quirky names do that to me. I still remember the name a friend (with a penchant for coining funny names) from college had chosen for a prospective Bollywood movie. "Muhabbat ki Jhopri me Jhaarpit ki Raat" was her name for a Bolly blockbuster. Every time I think of that name, my lips curl up in a smile and I chuckle to myself.

<< Also Yogurt, Onion, Shrimp,Salt,Sugar and Oil which are not shown in the above picture >>


In every stage of life I guess there are names you find to laugh on. For my four year old, freshly introduced to potty humour, it is stuff like "Butt-er" or "Pippi" or even "Green Pea".  For another friend it is "Gopi", and since he has drilled into my brain I cannot address a "Gopi" with straight face anymore.

Same is with strange, quirky food names. If the food and hence the name is unfamiliar territory it can be source of much entertainment. Like say "Bibimbap". When I hear "Bibimbap" all I can think of it as, is Raavana's 6th wife with a flared nostril and thick gold nose ring on it. "Kimchi" brings to mind a lot of tiny twittering school girls. "Chenchda" comes alive as a young boy in narrow trousers with long sideburns and hippi haircut

Yesterday on Facebook, I asked for dishes with weird, quirky nonsensical names. Needless to say I had a hilarious time reading what the commenters had to say. There were "Faggots" (a kind of meatball), "Dhop er Chop" (the real deal), "Spotted Dick", "Country Captain", "Baykla Bhajja", "Elo-jhelo", "Round Round Stop", "Moo Goo Gai Pan"  and "Gambas pil pil". The name that stole the show for me was "Jil Jil Jigarthanda". I cannot wait for an opportunity to order it with a perfectly serious look. To say "Ek Ji Jil Jigarthanda dena" is a privilege I want to earn. With names like this I am sure the fish and chips eating Bard would never have dared to say "What is in a Name?". A lot of fun if you ask me.

Now back to today's dish which was built on the memory of the now lost "Chicken Dhan-Dhana-Dhan". It was also inspired by the "Pudina Dhaniya Chicken" and "Pepper Shrimp". The pepper in hot oil and also in the paste adds a very nice flavor layered on mint and cilantro. Chingri Dhan-Dhana-Dhan needs to be pronounced with the right inflection, a slight pause after the first "Dhan" and then "Dhana-Dhan" together with more speed. That is how you will get the right effect .With fresh coriander, green mint, and black peppercorns it will also  a deadly combo, truly a dhan-dhana-dhan.

Go Try.And come tell me the weirdest food name that you know.

Also a quick recap of book I have read recently and loved

Room -- Emma Donoghue
Oleander Girl -- Chitra Banerjee Divakurani

Chingri Dhan Dhana Dhan

Prep

Add the following to the blender jar and make a smooth paste
Coriander Leaves -- 1 cup chopped
Mint leaves -- 1/2 cup chopped (If you don't have fresh, use the dried mint but use less of it)
Yogurt - 1/2 cup of thick yogurt
Garlic -- 4 fat clove
Ginger -- 1" peeled and chopped
Hot Indian green chilli -- 2
Whole Black Peppercorns -- 1 tbsp
This greenish paste can be stored for future use and as base for many other curries. But don't use it as paint.



Lightly fry a small onion till it is soft and pink. Remove, cool and make a paste.

Clean and de-vein shrimp or defrost if using frozen ones. Toss them with salt and let sit for 15-20 minutes. I had about 22 medium sized shrimps(not jumbo but the 20-25/lb frozen kind).

Start Cooking

Heat 2 tbsp Oil in a fry pan

Now to the oil add
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste (more garlic than ginger)
1 tbsp fresh black pepper powder

When you get the nice aroma add
3 tbsp of the onion paste

Cook till oil separates. Now add the green masala paste. Add salt to taste, a tsp of sugar. Cook the masala paste till there is no raw smell. Now add little water(about 1/2 cup for gravy) and let the gravy simmer to a boil.

Adjust for salt and sugar at this point. Add juice of a quarter lime and a sprinkle of rock salt(beet noon) to add to the flavor.

Once you think gravy is almost ready add the shrimp and toss with the masala. The shrimp will cook fast and you are done as soon as the shrimp starts loses its raw coloring and looks white and orange. Do not cook the shrimp longer than necessary. The gravy will not be totally dry but will be clinging to the shrimps.

Serve with a pulao or rice.

Similar Recipes:

Pudina Dhaniya Chicken -- Chicken in Mint Coriander Sauce

Dhonepata Maach - Fish in Cilantro sauce

Chicken in Mint, Coriander and Coconut

Manisha's Lemon Pickle -- No oil and so good

Last week at Wegman's I chanced upon a bag of Meyer lemons. Now earlier I had no clue about these lemons and so they never caught my eye or fancy. However every other person I know in the blog world has posted something or the other about Meyer lemons in the recent past. So when I saw them at Wegman's I had to buy them even though they were going more expensive than my 5 for $1.00 lemons at Patel Brothers. But you know I told myself "these were no ordinary lemons and it is not every day that I get to see them", so I bought a bag of lemons.

Having no specific plan about them I used them as any other lemon. Which means I squeezed them on my black tea with honey, on BS's dal rice, on the Sunday mutton curry and even on the cucumber salad. They were full of juice, plump and overflowing. The skin was thin and smooth and the juice sweeter.

And then the weekend being very warm and sunny it struck me that I could use them in a bottle of Manisha's famous lemon pickle. Very excited at the prospect I shelved the plan for Monday. It was supposed to be sunny said my phone. Monday morning, being a holiday, I dunked 5 of the Meyer lemons and 2 of the regular lemons in water with the thought of making "an achaar". Since we love green chilli in our pickles I decided to add those too. LS was home with me and she stood beside me on a step stool helping me throughout.

Once the lemons were soaked, dried and cut in the manner Manisha had told us to, the clouds started gathering in the sky. The sun played a peek-a-boo and finally decided to call it day. It was only 11 in the morning. I panicked. How to sun my pickle ? I thought. The weather now showed "Snow" even on Wednesday. Being a novice pickle-er I did not want to take a risk.So, I thought I will go the stove-top way of pickle making which again Manisha had suggested in her post. "I will then sun the cooked pickle with whatever sun I get in the next few days", I told myself. Now she had warned that cooking on the stove top will not bring the same flavor that slow curing in 60 days of sun would. This would be like going to the tanning salon instead of the beaches of Hawaii.

Ah! whatever I told myself. I have Meyer lemons. I need a pickle. The sun I have no control on so I will take this route.

All of you do follow Manisha's Lemon pickle pictorial for the original taste. I have adjusted my measures because I saw the size of my lemon were smaller than hers and I used only 5 to her 6 large ones. I also increased the juice and reduced the salt since I was doing it on the stove and decide I did not need that much salt for curing.

After two hours of cooking on very low heat the chilli-lemon pickle tasted truly amazing. Did I tell you it does not have a drop of oil either ?

Here is how I did It

Wash 5 lemons and about 12 green chillies well and then dry them. They should be really, really dry.

Next cut the lemons the way Manisha has said. Slice of the edges to begin with. Since mine were smaller in size I first cut each lemon in half, then each half in two so that we have four quarters from a lemon. Each quarter wass then further divided in 3 or 4.

For the green chillies, I removed the stem and chopped in half.

Put the lemon pieces and green chillies in a glass jar. In my case I put them in a saucepan.

To it add the following
1/4th cup of sugar
1/8th cup of salt (Manisha suggests 1/2cup salt for 6 lemons. I had 5 but I could see mine were smaller in size and I was also doing it on the stove top so went with less to start)
2 heaped tbsp red chili powder(again Manisha uses 1/4th but I had green chilies so I put less)
1 tbsp Turmeric powder

Next make a spice powder by roasting the following
1 tsp Methi seeds
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4th tsp Hing
and then grinding to a powder.

Add this spice powder to the cut lemons.

Now juice two of the lemons and add this juice to cut lemons and green chilies.

In the original recipe you would have added all of this to the jar of lemons and then left it to sun. In my case I put the saucepan on low heat on the stove top. The lemons were cooked at very low heat for almost two hours. They released enough water and I cooked till the texture was something like the picture below. I then cooled and put it in a glass jar which I have left on the window ledge. At this point this lemon-chili pickle is edible and it really tasted awesome. Since I have not had the sunned version I cannot compare but it must surely be better.

RoshBora on Sankranti -- pithe parbon

"India being a predominantly agrarian country the harvesting season is joyfully celebrated during the months of Poush-Magh and Falgun (January to February), the festival being known by different names in different regions. In Bengal the harvesting festival is known as Poush Parbon (Winter Festival), poush being the name of the month.

This festival also celebrates Makar Sankranti or Poush Sankranti — marking the sun's passage from Capricorn to Aquarius.
This festival is also known as Pithey Parbon in Bengal, pithey or pithe being a sweet made with basic agrarian ingredients of the region like rice, date palm etc.There are several varieties of Pithey known as Gokul Pithey, Ashkey Pithey, Shajer Pithey etc. Along with this, sweets like Pati Shapta, rice-flour crepes filled with khoya and coconut stuffing, Soru Chakli and many more are also made."

The above paragraph was what I wrote on my post on PatiShapta in 2007. It still remains true. What is different is that in these 6 years I have learned to make two more kinds. Of Pithe. The Gokul Pithe being the second. Yes, a poor record but that is how it is. Especially if you consider the fact that my Dida, with her betel juice stained mouth and silver hair was a Pithe maestro. Ashkey pithe, dudh puli, nonta pithe, pati shapta, gokul pithe, raanga aloor pithey, rosh bora...her creations on Sankranti were endless. I never much cared for them nor did I spend time trying to learn how to make any. Pithe was not something I hankered after.

Today, I make Rosh Bora or RoshoBora-- a urad dal fritter soaked in sugar syrup-- on Sankranti, a sweet I least fancied but now adore and then label the whole thing under Tradition. What goes down must come back up.

Without further 'blah-blahing' on my part let us get down to task with this very simple of sweets made on Poush Sankranti. Let me also tell you that notun gur aka khejur gur (date palm jaggery) being widely available at this time, the syrup for this sweet is usually made with jaggery. I did it with sugar though.

*********

First, rinse and then soak 1 cup of Urad Dal in enough water . Urad dal is also known as kalai er dal in Bengali. Let it soak overnight for best results else 4-5 hours should also work well according to experts(and that is not me)

<< Insert picture of soaking Dal. I forgot to take any >>

Next morning rise and shine. After whatever your morning rituals are get to work with Urad. Drain the soaked dal which as you would see has risen in volume. Put the dal in your grinder jar. Do it in part if you have a smaller jar. Now gradually add water. For the measure I started with (i.e. 1 cup of Dal on the outset) about 3/4th to 1 cup of water will be needed to grind the dal. Add water gradually while making the paste so as not to make a urad soup.

<< Insert picture of you, your morning ritual or grinder making the paste >>

Pour the Dal paste out in a bowl and whip it with a fork. At this point I added about 1/4th cup of water to get the right consistency for the next step. Add salt to taste, about 1 tsp of sugar(optional) and around 1 tbsp of fennel seeds which have been lightly bruised. Lightly bruised means a gentle thwack in the mortar to just release the scent. Yes, yes, now I have the pikchar.

Now we will fry urad dal vada or bora as you like to say it. So heat enough oil for frying in a kadhai. BTW my mother brought this kadhai from her stash for sole purpose of frying during her last visit.Doesn't it look just the right amount of black and greasy ? When the oil is bubbling hot, test by putting in a drop of the batter. If the thingy bubbles and rises up, the oil is ready. With the help of a tablespoon, scoop up small portions of the batter and release in the hot oil. 

  

Fry the vada or bora till they are a nice crisp brown on both sides

While you are frying the bora, start making the sugar syrup on the other burner. In a saucepan take 2 cup of sugar + 2 cup of water and bring to boil. Throw in a few green cardamom  for fun. When the mixture has come to a boil, lower the heat to medium and let it simmer. After simmering for 14-16 minutes the syrup will be formed. Now the syrup for this bora should be a thin one, the one known as single string consistency. Here is a video showing you how to make sugar syrup.
Soak the fried bora in the sweet syrup.

The fluffy bora will soak up the syrup and become what we had set out to create -- the RoshoBora or the Rosh Bora -- the bora soaked in sweet syrup.

Enjoy. Sankranti or not.

Joynagar er Moa

Joynagar er Moa is a famous but rustic sweet of Bengal. Made from khoi , kheer and nolen gur, it is only a winter treat made in the small town of Joynagar about 50 kms from Kolkata. My father sent me these pictures from the local sweet shops in Kolkata which also sell this sweet during winter.

As a child I however remember hawkers from the village, going from home to home, selling this delicacy. They would come on bicycles, loaded with plain white paper boxes tied with yellow or blue strings,the boxes labeled as "Joynagar er Moa" in Bengali scripts. Some of those sellers were authentic, some not. Mother would know. Those plump round balls with raisin at the center and rounds of patali gur were the treats we looked forward to every winter.

Here is a good article on how they are made.

I had last tasted a joynagar er moa a decade back. This time my Father found someone who was traveling to US and is sending some for us. I cannot wait for tomorrow, for those soft sweet moas.

Aloo Peyaajkoli Bhaja -- humble beginnings

Aloo Peyaajkoli'r torkari is a very simple Bengali dish. The kind you would never ever think of blogging about or reading if it is somewhere out there. It is one of those things with minimum of ingredients and clean taste. Nothing complex, no overlay of layers of tastes, no come-look-at-me attitude.Humble. A trait we seem to be heavily lacking in these days. Growing up in an Bengali Indian home, one of the many life lessons we were taught as a child included de-boning a fish and to be humble -- "binoy" as they say in Bangla. And humble here does not mean "low" or "meek". It means modest, unpretentious, self effacing.

"Porashuno korcho, binoyi hote shekho. Vidya dadati Vinayam ", Ma would say in a sharp voice if I so much as tried to display any signs otherwise. Knowledge brings humility, she said.

Slowly as the world order started to change, "humble" lost its place value. It was no longer the thing to be. You had to be bold, brash, self-promoting, updating your status on Facebook with your latest acquisition and linkedin with your achievement.

"If you got it, flaunt it", became the new age Sanskrit mantra. Binoy can go take a walk. To BBD Bagh.

Maybe it made sense.If your car did not have a bumper sticker that read "My daughter is an Honor Roll Student", how in the world were the other cars' drivers to know. If you did not tell the world how great you are, who really had the time to go verify for themselves.If you at all went to Pattaya, what was the point if no one "Liked" it on Facebook. The onus now was on you.

Now honestly I am not sure which is good, what was best. I myself keep on posting pictures of the modest food I have cooked at home with adjectives like fragrant and delicious, so who am I to judge. But as everything goes in a cycle I am sure "humble" will one day find its place back in the charts again. So will simple dishes like "aloo-peyaajkoli bhaja".

Till then let me tell the husband-man how lucky he is to have me. Even after all these years, that guy just refuses to understand.

Now though I am saying Peyaajkoli, there is some confusion regarding this veggie. Peyaajkoli is actually the bud of the onion plant. What me and about 80% of people use is though the green onion/scallion which is the leafy part of the onion plant.

Though this aloo peyaajkoli bhaja is the most common dish with this veggie, I also make a Piyajkolir Tarkari that is similar but has shrimps. Sunetra's peyaajkoli maach with fish and green onion , that we made last year is another very popular dish in our home these days. The green shimmering peyaajkoli was a popular winter vegetable and hot ruti off the tawa with this tarkari was a staple in many a winter evenings in our home.

Chop a bunch of green onion/scallion to small pieces. I did not have much of green onions left today but it is best to have same quantity as the potatoes.

Chop 2 medium potatoes to small cubes

Heat Mustard oil in a fry pan.

Temper the oil with 1/2 tsp KaloJeere/kalonji and  a dry red chili.

Once the kalo jeere hisses and shows its temper add the cubed potatoes. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and fry the potatoes.Sprinkle little water and cover to let the potatoes cook. Remove the cover and stir in-between. Ideally the potatoes should have been fried in more oil but in my daily cooking I try to use less oil , in that path this cover-cook works well and fast.

When the potatoes have softened a tad(not cooked yet) add the peyaaj koli/scallion. Give a good stir and mix with the potatoes. Add about 1/2 tsp Kashmiri Mirch(or Red Chilli powder) and salt to taste.

Fry till the scallion wilts. Now cover and cook till potatoes are fully done. There will be some water released from the scallions which will help in the cooking. But remember to check and give  agood stor in between.

Once the dish is done enjoy with rice or ruti.

Doi Dharosh -- Okra in a spiced yogurt sauce

Doi Dharosh -- Okra in a spiced yogurt sauce

The Bengali Doi Dharosh is mine and my Mom's take on the Dahi Bhindi. In this dish, the gravy is a light yogurt based gravy just like in Doi Maach. Spiced with only whole garam masala and a touch of Garam masala powder it is a delicious dish

Jump To recipe

Before I wrote this post, I thought twice. Actually several times. Was it okay to start the New Year with something like "Dhyarosh" ? "Dhyarosh", "Bhindi". "Ladies Finger" and now "Okra". After all when a Bengali twists her mouth and utters "Dhyarosh Kothakar",  she is not exactly praising the person she is addressing. It is neither a term of endearment nor of highest praise. She is not really saying that the person is green and slender and really tasty when fried. Instead it is rather a term of disapproval, of disdain and contempt, of  labeling a person as lazy, clumsy and even a nincompoop. Now you know that why I was in two minds to start the first post of new year with "Dharosh".

But then I stood my ground and decided my love for Dhyarosh has not been visible around this blog much so this year that vegetable will get its place of honor. It will sing the opening song...Do-Re-Mi.... I will write paeans about it, maybe a novel, an epic. I have always loved the Dhyarosh in all its slimy-ness and never once thought that the texture was a deterrent to anything. I have loved eaiting it steamed with drizzle of mustard oil mixed wth rice in a dharosh sheddho. I have loved it fried with a squeeze of lime juice in a kurkure bhindi bhaja. I have loved it in a dharosh posto, in dharosh shorshe, in a bhindi masala in a kadhi.

But inspite of all that love I have not been able to cook dharosh that often. Mostly that has been due to issues dealing with buying okra.Until a few years back we did not get very fresh bhindi here and the ones that were available looked so tired that you wouldn't even call them Dharosh. The other issue was the board put out around the Bhindi corner. Its ays "Do not snap" and there is always at least 3 persons standing around doing exactly the same. It is hard to elbow them out and then grab a few of the remaining good bhindis. So I mostly  stayed away.

Since last year however the Indian grocery store I frequent has had reasonably good bhindis, this also meant there wasn't much paparazzi around it. I have been trying to get this veggie home more often. Now the hurdle I face is the kids who do not like its texture and refuse to eat it. I hope that will change some day too and we can be a "Dharosh family" with pride.