Blog Etiquette and Eating in NYC

The title of my post might have you baffled, there is no correlation between the phrases before and after "and" except of course for me both has to do with food.

I have been blogging for some time now with considerable gaps in between.In my blogging life many of the people on the right sidebar, on my archaic blogroll has fallen off the blogosphere. I still have them there,I don't update that list, it is a list of all those bloggers I had encountered early on. There is a special connection with them, no I don't know their e-mail ids or anything about them except what they cared to put on their blog but I still have them like old friends. The new ones with whom I have forged a connection are on my Reader, as I get to know more I slowly add them there.

And though I try to keep my virtual space separate from the real one, for me the same basic rules apply for both. If a friend in my real life would have been hurt I will stand up for her. If I meet people who don't mind their P's and Q's I would gently try to remind them (come on I am a Mom, that is my job).


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Blog Etiquette 101 for the un-initiated. Readers are welcome to add on to this.

1. You do not plagiarize. You do not lift pictures or posts in entirety without asking. You can do excerpts with acknowledgment but sorry not the whole thing

2. You do not leave rude comments or make snide remarks regarding a blogger's posts. You can disagree, you have your full right to do so but then you do it politely

3. Everyone has a right to their opinion. Just like you have so does the blogger you are bashing. When your post is a rant/bash against another blogger's posts, do so openly and politely. Give a link to the post you are venting against, clearly voice your opinions and state why you disagree/agree. This will prevent readers from leaving snide comments and generally enjoying a controversy.

4. If your rant is not triggered by another blogger's posts and it is your own original copyrighted rant do not encourage comments which seem to suggest otherwise. That means, do not say " Thanks for understanding" and such nonsense when a reader comments "Yeah how can someone make Bitter gourd with brinjal, ridiculous"

5. Even if a blog post makes you mad, do not use bad language that might hurt the blogger's sentiment while blogging or commenting. You see only a slice of a blogger's life on the web, you have no clue as to what might have made her write/think that way. If you are still angry, take a deep breath and practice Bhujanga asana.

6. You have full freedom to bash anyone from your personal life on your blog. If they read you, god bless you my child.

Though we live in suburbia, close to NYC, we hardly go there. Both D and me being city phobic we stay away from the Big Bad Apple unless it is absolutely necessary that the city be blessed with our presence. The past weekend found us there roaming the galleries of Met and sampling some great NYC street food prepared by the city's sidewalk chefs

Biryani Cart, winner of the Vendy Award has an awesome menu. It was hard to decide what not to eat with the kind of food they had there. If you are in the area do check out this cart on 46th and 6th. And can you believe how cheap it is, the box of biryani came at $5.50 and so did the other one and the quantity is a little over sufficient for a hungry adult. Ok I ate one whole box, so what !!! There is no place where you can sit and enjoy your meal though, you can pack your lunch from here and have a nice picnic at Central Park instead.

We finally settled for some delicious Chicken Biryani and...

... a Lamb on Rice. This is an Afghani dish but at this particular cart the dish is more spicier and tasted much better than what I have had before.

Do you see that proud Vendy Award winner cert ?

Rickshaws in front of the Met. A greener, cleaner Calcutta ?

We then had Kati Rolls after just 3 hours of this at the Kati Roll Company. We shared two unda chicken rolls and unda shammi kebab rolls. They were delicious and too filling. I liked the Egg Chicken Rolls better than the Shammi Kebab one. My woe of missing out on Calcutta style Rolls were assuaged by 95%.

Jeet Thayil of India in New York says that "If you have to ask what a Kati Roll is, you haven't lived." So true. But back home it is more popularly known as The Egg Roll except of course at Hot Kati on Park Street(Kolkata) whose rolls are famous as Hot Kati Rolls. I hope the Hot Kati guy knows how his naming is the food lingo in the streets of a busy city across the globe.



Important !!!

Oh, and I forgot to ask something very important. I need some help from my readers here in the US. If any of you have used the following colors for your home, please,please leave me a comment with your e-mail id. I want pictures of homes painted with any of these -- Benjamin Moore Suntan Yellow, BM Lemon Sorbet, BM August Morning, BM Patina, BM Apple Crisp and BM Asbury sand. Please, this is Urgent, search for the right color is keeping me away from the blog so please help if you can.

Bitter Better Uchche

I have always talked about how Bengalis love bitterness, not in life but definitely in their food. A traditional Bengali lunch will almost always begin with some bitter preparation of Bitter Gourd or bitter tender Neem leaves. This is in sync with Ayurveda, with the concept of cleansing your palate before you delve into more complex and rich food.

Of all the bitter foods that we Bengalis are subjected to since childhood, I would say Bitter Gourd or Uchche is the meekest. After years of being subjected to chirotar jal ( chirota, a plant whose leaves were soaked in water to make a bitter concoction), first thing in the morning on weekends you do start appreciating uchche. Even thinking of chirotar ras gives me the shudders and makes me glad that I grew up and have enough liberty to declare a chirota free house.

And then there was Kalmegh, the nightmare. See the name, KalMegh loosely translates to Dark Cloud. How could something that sounded so ominous be pleasant ? As a child if my nature at any times turned from sunny to irate or my tantrums over exceeded the usual quota my Ma attributed the behavior to worms in my tummy rather than behavioral dysfunction(??). Backed with my Dida's support she treated me to kalmegh er bori (crushed leaves of the dreaded kalmegh shaped into pellets) or kalmegh er ros(juice of kalmegh leaves) which were supposed to be potent enough to get rid of worms. Actually she even got a bottle of Kalmegh extract for S which of course I did not dare to use on the unsuspecting child

Truth be told these herbs/medicinal plants did work wonders for the system and my Ma went through a lot of effort to prepare such concoctions. If only I drank them religiously instead of pouring them on the Tulsi in our balcony, I would have flourished today instead of the "still growing strong" Tulsi

Though I have got over those bitter plants, bitter gourd or uchche is a staple on the menu at my home almost every other week. D loves it(yewww !!) and S eats it dipping it in a bowl of yogurt.

Uchche bhaate or Bitter gourd boiled/steamed and then mashed with potatoes, drizzled with mustard oil and salt is the most common thing on the menu. Though we don't add the potatoes any more and serve it just with little mustard oil and salt

Uchche Bhaja or Fried bittergourd is another simple preparation where you chop the bitter gourd in thin slices, smear them with little turmeric and salt and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. You then fry them in smoking mustard oil(any other white oil works) till they are crisp. I usually shallow fry and so mine are not as crispy as my Mom's

Next is the Uchche Begun which is a dry preparation of Bitter Gourd and soft velvety eggplants. Cooked with minimum spices, the eggplant complements the bitter gourd beautifully and yet does not undermine it. When had with steaming rice it is a beautiful starter preparing your palate for better things to come

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Uchche Begun/ Bitter Gourd and tender eggplants

Prep: Wash and chop two medium sized bitter gourd to small pieces. Wash and chop two medium sized Japanese eggplants, the long slender ones, in small cubes

Start Cooking:

Heat Oil(preferably Mustard Oil but others work fine) in a Kadhai/Frying pan

Fry the eggplants with 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder till they are soft and lightly browned. Do NOT deep fry as in begun bhaja

Remove and keep aside

Temper the oil with 1/2 tsp of Kalonji/Nigella seeds and 5-6 slit hot Indian Green Chillies

Add the bitter gourd, sprinkle a little turmeric and saute till they are soft. Usually I cover and stir in between with a sprinkle of water to hasten the process and not to make the bitter gourd crunchy

Once they are soft, add the eggplants

Add salt, mix all nicely together and cook till both the veggies are done

The end result is a bitter medley of eggplant and bitter gourd. Standard way of eating is mixed with white rice



Other dishes with bitter gourd:

Uchche Posto Jhuri


Shukto

Mator Dal ar Begun Bhaja

The Earth's population will surge to EIGHT BILLION by 2025. With increase in population comes an increased demand of food. When this surging population consumes more food that it is able to produce, food prices skyrocket as it did last year.

While we balked at the rice price last year we also gradually became accustomed to it. It is not the same for all people though, higher food prices push more people towards poverty. A's nanny says in Bangladesh food prices are so high that it is hard for the middle class to feed themselves unless one member of the family works in the western world and thus earns high wages.

To meet rising food demand, intellectuals say we need another Green Revolution, the kind that doubled the grain production in Asia especially India during the 60s and 70s. Really ? Aren't theHigh-yield grain varieties, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and the works that worked wonders at the time showing there wrath now. Why do you think villages in Punjab, our one time 'bread basket' are suffering the wraths of cancer today ?

A Greener Revolution may work better says an UN Panel. Duh ? Sustainable farming methods such as composting, crop rotation and interplanting with legumes has been proved to better soil quality, increase yield and reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers.

An interesting low cost project in norther Malawi in Africa, SFHC (Soil, Food and Healthy Comunities project) distributes legume seeds, recipes and technical advice for growing crops like peanut, pigeon peas and soy bean which enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen while enriching the diet as well. Farmers there say, that by crop rotation they have increased yield and cut down fertilizer usage by half.

The projects hogging the limelight however are those by the big shot foundations which focus on bringing Green Revolution to Africa with subsidized farming programs, fertilizers and hybrid seeds. (Source: NatGeo)

Which model will prevail will depend on the powers pushing them. But whatever it is, the surging masses needs to be fed and if that can be achieved with a lower ecological impact planet earth will have few more years of survival.



I love my legumes, a bowl or two of Dal a day keeps me happy. While my favorite is the Red Masoor Dal I rotate my legumes to take advantage of all. Mator Dal or Split peas are the dried peeled and split seeds of Pisum sativum. They come in yellow and green varieties. They have been mechanically split so that they will cook faster.

They are very different from the Indian Toor Dal or Chana Dal though they look similar

Though this dal is relatively common in Bengal, my Ma seldom made it except for in a Tak Dal and consequently I never did. A friend introduced this to me. And it is she from whom I got both the recipes. These are the two ways I have made Mator dal(Split peas) one with veggies the other without. For indexing purposes they are two separete posts.

Check out Sabji Diye Mator Dal or Mator dal with Veggies. Both these dishes go to MLLA # 12 hosted by Annarasa and initiated by none other than Susan

This lovely earthy Mator Dal was what I packed for lunch with some Begun Bhaja and a roasted grape tomato garlic salad. I always love having a bowl of Dal rather than a thick soup. Completely satisfying for both the soul and the tummy. The roasted tomato salad and the eggplants gave the Dal the color and pizzaz that it was missing being earthy and all

The Begun Bhaja or Fried Eggplant is a very simple Bengali delicacy. I see a lot of recipes where the Begun Bhaja is prepared with lots of spices but the ones I have had in my home or other Bengali homes and eventually make are always the simple ones with absolutely no spice other than turmeric. They do soak up some oil so I fry the slender japanese eggplants chopped in mini rounds to have smaller portions of begun bhaja, the oven baked ones are no where near in taste.

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Matar Dal/Split Peas

Wash and cook 1 & 1/4 cup of Yellow Split Peas in the pressure cooker with a little turmeric. You can cook in a pot too, it will take longer time though

In a deep bottomed pan heat 3 tsp Oil + 1/2 tsp Ghee

Temper with 1 tsp of Whole Cumin Seeds/Jeera, 3 cloves of garlic minced

When the spices splutter add half of a chopped red onion and 4-5 slit green chillies

Fry till the onion turns a nice pink and is softened

Add the cooked Dal and mix well

Add salt and desired amount of water. I think I added about 1-2 cups of water. Let the dal come to a boil

Just before taking off the heat add a little ghee and 1/2 tsp of Garam Masala powder


We enjoyed this simple Dal with some Begun Bhaja and a roasted salad.

Begun Bhaja

Chop a good quality eggplant in thick rounds or cut vertically

Wash well, pat dry and smear with little turmeric and salt. Set aside for 10-15 minutes

Heat Mustard Oil to smoking.

Slide the eggplant slices gently into the hot oil and fry till golden. Take out with a slotted spoon and drain on a kitchen towel

To make the roasted salad, in a decent sized aluminum foil throw together 12-15 grape tomatoes, quarter red onion chopped, 3-4 cloves of garlic, olive oil in fair amount and sea-salt. Close the foil to make a pouch. Bake in oven at 375F till the tomato skins are wrinkled up and garlic is soft

For lunch we had just the Dal with this salad and mini begun bhaja



Trivia: The yellow Split peas is the legume used to make Pease Porridge as in the popular children's rhyme "Pease Porridge Hot"

Mator/Motor Dal with Veggies

Mator Dal or Yellow Split Peas when cooked with vegetables like sweet red radish, yellow pumpkin and baby potatoes takes on a whole new avtaar. This recipe is from a friend and we thoroughly enjoyed this heart warming dal

Mator Dal with Sabji/Split YellowPeas with Vegetables

Wash and cook 1 & 1/4 cup of Yellow Split Peas in the pressure cooker with a little turmeric. About 5 mins at full pressure. You can also cook in a pot, only it will take some time.

In microwave cook 1/2 cup of chopped red radish, 1/2 cup of cubed pumpkin, 1/2 cup of tender-green cauliflower stalks. The stalks are optional, I did because I had some and my friend suggested I put them

In a deep bottomed pan heat 3 tsp of Oil + 1/2 tsp of Ghee

Temper with 1 tsp of Whole Cumin Seeds/Jeera, 2 cracked Dry Red Chilli and 10-12 methi seeds

When the spices splutter add the veggies and 3-4 slit green chillies

Fry for 3-4 minutes till you get a nice aroma of the veggies

Add the cooked Dal and mix well

Add salt and add water to get the desired consistency. Let the dal come to a boil

Just before taking off the heat add a little ghee. I did not add any this week but a little boosts the flavor

Garnish with lots of chopped coriander leaves

Update on June29th,2013: Today I cooked the same Motor Dal with Pumpkin and Edamame in pods. Also added some grated ginger towards the end. Awesome.

...and then a Kofta Pulao

(Continued from here)

The Kofta Pulao is here as promised. Though to make this I use a layering technique like Biryani, I still insist on calling this a pulao for
One, It is not as spicy as a Biryani
Two, Kofta Pulao has a nice ring to it

Now the pics here don't do justice to the actual Pulao for see I couldn't have clicked the pictures with friends around, they would have thought me crazy. With the leftover Kofta curry I had made a small quantity of pulao for just us and took some hurried pics before I would see the end of it.

This goes to Nags who is hosting this month's Monthly Mingle started by dear Meeta and the theme there is Ravishing Rice

When Kalai left a comment on my last post I could very well identify her. Far away from home and family, the friends in this adopted country are our extended family now. Their kids are my daughter's cousins and they play a big role in shaping her life. The girl in white on the beach is the elder sis that S can look up to. I have seen her grow from a toddler to an almost teen and she is the perfect role model any 5 year old should have.

I am thankful for these friends and their kids and hope S and A bring as much happiness to this extended family as they do to ours.



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Kofta Pulao

To make the Kofta Pulao we are going to use the same gravy that we made for Kofta curry in the previous post. However if your aim is to make the Pulao, reduce the gravy till it is thick and of a consistency which is enough for coating or spreading like a paste but does not flow. Usually I will use part of the above prepared gravy for the pulao while the rest will be served up as a Kofta Curry

Keep the thick gravy and the chicken masala balls in separate containers

Wash and soak 2 and 1/2 cups of Basmati rice for half an hour

Heat Oil + 1/2 tsp of Ghee in the Kadhai/Wok/Frying Pan.

Season the oil with 4 Green Cardamom/Elaichi, 4 Clove/Laung, a 1" stick of Cinnamon/darchini and 2 small bay leaves/tej patta

Add 1/3 cup of finely sliced onions. With a sprinkle of sugar fry the onions till it is a light pinkish brown

Drain the rice and add it to above. Do not add water at this point.

Add a little turmeric for color and fry the rice till you get a very nice smell

Add 4-4&1/2 cups of water for 2 and 1/2 cup of rice. This will also depend on the brand of rice you are using, remember to go with 1 cup less water than usual. Add little salt, few drops of kewra water(optional) and cover and cook. Note: Start with little salt as the pulao will get some salt from the Kofta gravy too. You can always adjust later

Once the rice is nearly done take it off the flame. With this water ratio, the water will dry up and yet the rice will not be fully cooked, it will be done almost 95% but 5% wil remain. Fluff the rice with a fork

Now in a flat bottomed deep oven safe bowl
--- spread the kofta gravy at the bottom layer with some finely chopped corriander.
--- add a layer of the rice.
--- top the rice with a layer of the gravy, 5-6 koftas/chicken balls, some golden raisins, chopped corriander leaves, 1/4 tsp of Biryani masala sprinkled over.
--- now again add a layer of rice.
--- finally top it off again as before.

Note: While spreading the gravy masala do not over do it, you want a pulao and not rice mixed with curry. All of the gravy that you made might not be used up for the pulao. If you do not have homemade Biryani Masala use your favorite brand

Finally cover tightly with aluminium foil and put in the oven. In my countertop oven the heat setting is at 350 F and time taken is 20 minutes

Once it is done, check for seasoning/salt and adjust. We like a little sweetness in our pulao and so I add very little sugar too. Mix everthing nicely and gently taking care that the balls do not break and yet the spices spread out evenly

Serve with some of the Kofta Curry and a Raita. It is delicious to say the least.

Kofta Curry and then...

The past(the one before the recent one) weekend was a long one, not long as in l---o---o--o-ng but merely long. A friend decided to come and stay with us for 2 of the three days. No one asked, they simply notified and rang the bell Saturday night with two kids, a wife, two pillows and several other paraphernalia. Well we have known them for years and such privileges are acquired if you know one for long.

I was a bit weary of the situation. Given my recent stranger anxiety along with baby A's I wasn't sure how things would pan out. That they had a 3 month old who according to the parents was colicky and could wreak havoc by crying(again according to parents) didn't soothe my tense nerves.

Things turned out very well though and everyone had a blast. Sunday was well spent at the beach. It was a bit cold but nothing to keep the kids away. Big Sis S, her friend M, her two pseudo cousin brothers A&A and a pseudo elder sis G had loads of fun at the beach and then later on the rides at the boardwalk.

Baby A doesn't like strangers and that means any adult outside the family and her nanny. She also doesn't like to be bound in any static object like highchair, bouncer, static strollers etc. And she doesn't keep her dislike to herself, she protests loudly and monotonously. So she had to be carried while the older kids played on the beach or on the rides. She is a petite child, very much so and carrying her is easy, so many friends aka strangers volunteered but she pouted and her eyes wailed up at gestures of such love and intimacy. She clung to her not so petite Mom and generally had a mighty good time watching everything from a safe perch.

Back home she was intrigued by the 3 month old. At every opportunity she would scoot up to his bouncer, stand up and try to poke his head, face whatever. She also tried to take away the smaller one's pacifier several times. The 3 month old didn't really cry all that much or maybe I have just got used to such stuff.

Big Sis S had a great time overall with her friend M(the visiting couple's elder daughter) who is same age and that brings me to a niggling doubt which I will throw at you as a question. What do you do when you have house guests and your parenting principle does not match theirs ? The husband is pretty non-conformant and dishes out same sermons/scoldings/rules to all kids. Fortunately since most of these people are close friends no one minds. I am a bit hesitant though to do the same. What about you ?

Since Saturday night we all were invited to a friend's party and Sunday lunch was outside, I had decided to serve a homecooked meal on Sunday night. I knew I would be dead tired and maybe even crabby by the time we came back home Sunday evening. So I had decided to do a pualo and a gravy, a part of which could be cooked the day before. D would be grilling hot dogs and corn to supplement the meal.

What I made was a Chicken Kofta Curry (Chicken meatballs in a gravy) and then a Kofta Pulao (a meatball pulao) with some Raita to jazz it up. Both the curry and the pulao are a major hit with family as well as friends. And so even though we were almost full with the continuous snacking and grilling we sat down for a late dinner at 11 in night to devour these delicacies.

This particular dish serves 3 purpose at 3 stages of making.

1. When you make the Chicken masala balls, you can fry them and serve as appetizers.
2. You then make a gravy (the Kofta Curry) with the same balls, it turns out as a deliciously finger-licking side dish.Don't skip the frying the onion and then blending routine, it adds to the taste as does the fragrant Kasoori Methi
   
3. Finally you use some of that gravy and the kofta to make a Kofta Pulao which serves as your entree. Whip up a raita and you have a gorgeous spread

The Kofta Pulao recipe comes in the next post in two days time


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Chicken Kofta Curry (Meatballs in a delicious gravy)

Make Chicken Masala Balls(better known as Koftas)

The following quantity makes about 40-50 meatballs. All of them will NOT be used in the gravy.

To make Chicken masala balls I follow this recipe mostly. Roughly I will repeat here.

Dry roast 5-6 dry red chillis (adjust according to your choice) + 4 tbsp Corriander seeds + 1&1/2 tbsp Cumin Seeds + 1" stick of cinnamon + 5 cardamom + 5 clove + 10-20 cashewnuts

Cool and grind to a fine powder

Wet grind to a fine paste 1 medium onion + 5-6 cloves of garlic + 3" piece of ginger + some chopped corriander leaves + 8 indian green chili(go with few if your hot tolerance is low).
Note: Sometimes if in a hurry, I will make a wet paste with just 2 tsp Garlic Paste + 2 tsp ginger paste + 2 tsp corriander paste

Marinade 2-3 lb(rough estimate) of minced chicken(chicken keema) with all this
Dry masala,
Wet Masala,
2 tbsp of yogurt
and salt for 30 mins to 2-3 hrs

Grease your palm with little oil and then make small amla or tomatiilo sized balls

Fry some of these balls and serve as an appetizer. The rest will be used in the gravy. To use in gravy you NEED NOT fry the balls.

Make Kofta Curry

I used about 24-28 chicken masala balls to make this curry

Heat Oil in a deep bottomed frying pan/Kadhai

Fry 3 medium onion chopped + 6-8 cloves of garlic + 2" ginger peeled and coarsely chopped

When the onion is lightly browned add 2 medium red tomato coarsely chopped and fry till the tomato is all mushed up and there is no raw smell. Note: I add a teeny tiny spoon of sugar to help in browning onion
Alternate Idea : Boil the raw onions. Cool and grind to paste. Make a separate paste of ginger + garlic+green chili. Make a puree of the tomatoes. You have to spend a little more time to fry the onion paste in this case.

Cool the above and blend to a paste. Keep aside

Heat some more oil in the same frying pan. This time go with less oil

Add the prepared onion+ ginger+garlic+tomato paste and fry till oil separates from the masala

In a small bowl make a paste of 3 tbsp Yogurt + 2 tsp of Cumin Powder + 1 heaped tsp of Biryani masala + 1-2 tsp of Red Chili Powder + little(1/4tsp) turmeric powder. Note: if you don't have your home made Biryani masala use Garam Masala

Reduce heat and add this masala paste to the Kadhai/Frying pan

Add 2 tsp of Kasoori Methi (dried Fenugreek leaves)

At low heat saute for couple of minutes till you see the masala is cooked and the oil seeping out from the sides

Add 1 cup Milk + 1 cup water. Note: I added 2% milk, you can add whole milk but this tastes as good

Add salt and mix everything well

Increase the heat to medium and let the gravy come to a boil

Chicken balls being steamed in the gravy

if{
If you have NOT fried the chicken balls, add them(the raw spiced meat balls) to the gravy now.
}
else{
If you did not pay attention and have fried the chicken balls you can add them to the gravy at the second last step.
}

Cover and cook till the balls are done. The balls will cook pretty quickly in the steam and will be done in 5-7 minutes.

Once the balls are cooked, remove them with a slotted spoon and keep aside. You don't want to over cook them

Reduce the gravy till it is thicker to a consistency you would like

Check for seasonings, add the chicken balls to the gravy, mix everything well and garnish with finely chopped corriander leaves.

The delicious Kofta Curry is ready to be served with Naan, Roti or a Pulao...

Note: If you are feeling extremely lazy you can get Chicken Balls from Costco or wherever and use that to make this curry

Pui Chingri -- Pohi Saag with Shrimp

“On the subject of spinach: divide into little piles. Rearrange again into new piles. After five of six maneuvers, sit back and say you are full.”
Delia Ephron from How To Eat Like A Child

There was a phase last year when I was unable to cook. We outsourced to a local bengali caterer and between him and D managed to feed the family okay. This guy however was pretty monotonous with his menu, he had some 4-5 items which he would repeat over the weeks and after a month you would think that alu-posto, dhokar dalna and charchari were all there is to a bengali menu.

To satisfy my cravings for authentic vegetarian bangla food a friend came to the rescue and would send over a little of whatever she cooked each week. Now she is a damn good cook and has a vast repertoire of Bengali recipes, she also likes to cook and eat well and prepares a full 6 course meal for dinner almost every day. No doubt that food from her kitchen was much awaited while the caterer's supplies languished in the refrigerator.

She used to make this Pui Chingri (Pohi Greens with Shrimp) which I fell in love with. I am sure my Ma would make it the same way but I was a typical kid regarding food choices and so though my Ma would force greens down my throat I don't have fond memories of them. Now with age I am not scared of my greens any more and even the slimy Pui has joined my list of favorites.

I have also learned greens don't make you stronger, it takes much more to grow into a person of character and strength, the 5 serving of vegetables merely sustains you in that journey.

"There was a Young Lady of Greenwich,
Whose garments were border'd with Spinach;
But a large spotty Calf,
bit her shawl quite in half,
Which alarmed that Young Lady of Greenwich."
Edward Lear, English artist, writer

Pui Shaak or Pohi Saag has the scientific name of basella alba and some other fancy names like Climbing Spinach, Malabar Spinach etc. Basella alba is a fast-growing, soft-stemmed vine, reaching 10 m in length. Its thick, semi-succulent, heart-shaped leaves have a mild flavour and mucilaginous texture.

Typical of leaf vegetables, it is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is low in calories by volume, and high in protein per calorie. The succulent mucilage is a particularly rich source of soluble fiber, thought to remove mucus and toxins from the body. The plant is also a rich source of chlorophyll. You can apparently grow this plant from the stems/stalks and with tips from Soma I have planted some of those stalks in my backyard

This dish goes to WHB # 185 hosted by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook

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Pui Chingri/Pohi Greens with Shrimp

This is a very simple and approximate recipe and serves about 3-4 people

Prep: Devein and clean shrimp if fresh. If frozen defrost shrimp and remove the tail. Toss about 8-10 shrimp with a little turmeric and salt and keep aside for 15-20 minutes

Wash and clean the pohi greens(I had about 1lb) and chop in small pieces. Chop the stems too.

Start Cooking

Heat Mustard Oil(or any white oil) in a Kadhai

Fry the shrimp till they are a light golden yellow. Don't fry them too much, they get tough. Remove shrimp and keep aside

Fry 1 small potato chopped in slices till it is light golden in color. Remove and keep aside

Temper/chaunce the oil with 1/2 tsp of Paanch Phoron and 4 slit green chili. If you cannot stand the heat of green chili ignore

Once you get the beautiful flavor of paanch phoron add the greens along with the stems

Saute and let it cook

You can cover and cook to make it cook faster, but frequently remove the cover and give a good stir. The greens will release a lot of water which you want to dry up. Slimy pohi doesn't taste good.

When the greens is almost done add the potatoes, salt and 1/4-1/2 tsp of Red Chili Powder. Mix well and cook till potatoes are done

Add the shrimp and mix well with the greens

Serve with hot rice

Ilish Begun er Jhol | Hilsa & Eggplant in a light gravy

Ilish Begun er Jhol | Hilsa & Eggplant in a light gravy

This is a delicious stew kind of fish curry made with lightly fried pieces of flavorful Hilsa (Ilish), chunks of tender eggplant and infused with flavors of Kalo Jeere(Kalonji/Nigella Seeds), Green Chilies and Mustard oil. The simple spices used for tempering are very common across the length and breadth of Bengali cuisine and depending on the dish being cooked, these spices enhance the flavor in a unique way. This delicious jhol, light stew, has no other spice except nigella seeds, green chilies, turmeric and depends solely on the fish for its taste and flavor.

Jump To Recipe

Till the age of sixteen I didn't know that Ilish(Hilsa) could taste so good in a simple light jhol (a soupy gravy) like this. My Ma never made this particular preparation of Ilish, it was always ilish bhaja(fried Hilsa), ilish bhaape (steamed Hilsa) or shorshe ilish ( Hilsa in mustard sauce) at our home during monsoon, the Ilish season back home.

Years ago it was the day of Saraswati Pujo. In our home(as in most Ghoti bengali homes) this was not only a vegetarian day but a day on which you ate Khichuri, bhaja, chaatni & such. I was a teenager who didn't like her khichuri and that too one served even without a omlette. The day didn't hold much of a prospect for me until my friend called and invited me over to their home for Lunch. I wasn't too enthusiastic about the food thinking it would be the same fare but the lure of her latest Sidney Sheldon was there and so I went.

Come lunch time, the table was laid out and we sat. There were hardly 2-3 covered serving bowls on the dining table and I felt forlorn, till her Mom started serving. There was no Khichuri but plain white rice, dal, alu bhaja(potato fries) and a ilish er jhol( Hilsa in a light curry)

"How can you eat fish on Saraswati Pujo ?", I was aghast

"But Bangals have a tradition of eating Ilish on Saraswati Pujo, we absolutely must and if it is Jora Ilish(a hilsa pair) all the better", said the friend's Mom. Wow, Bangals (Bengalis originally from East Bengal who later migrated to India or West Bengal. East Bengal is now part of Bangladesh) are such intelligent people, must marry one of that species, I thought.

And then I saw Ilish with all that begun (eggplant), a Ilish Begun er jhol (Hilsa in a light gravy with eggplant) they told me. I was skeptical, Ilish being one fish that is not cooked with vegetables in our home and then I took my first mouthful. The simplicity of the curry bursting with flavor of soft brinjal, the taste of the Hilsa and the mustard oil was too much for me. It was absolutely delicious, it shifted Ilish's position from a special fish you would respect to a homely fish you could love.

I have been in love with this dish ever since. My in-laws being Bangal make this exactly the same way and now when I get Ilish I make this before venturing into ilish bhapa(steamed hilsa), shorshe ilish(mustard hilsa) and others. This is served with white rice for a homely meal and has no trappings to make it famous except the fresh light taste.

Weekly Menu -- Week of May 17th

Ok so I finally baked a cake succesfully. My baking attempts have always been a flop show even with the simplest of the cakes. So I always stick with a Betty Crocker mix or a Bisquik and try to end the story there.

I guess I am not good at sticking to instructions and my mind wanders off just where the recipe says sift flour and baking soda together. Improvising where baking is concerned is a strict no-no and I have learned it the hard way.

This time I was determined to make it work though and I chose a simple recipe from Sunita. Something that did not ask for any new fangled ingredients hitherto unknown to me, something that could be achieved with what I had at home and something that did not ask me to beat eggs and such for 5 whole minutes.

So Pear-Walnut Cake it was made with atta.

But trust to me goof up even with the simplest of all recipes. After following all her instructions I preheated the oven to 180, did you read it right,1 - 8- 0. Isn't that way too less, I told myself, maybe I should increase the temp. But then I had decided to stick, blindly stick with the recipe so with all my doubts I heated the oven to 180. And then I followed what the recipe said exactly. When the timer went "Ping" all excited I took out the bake tray to see nothing had turned "golden brown" and the batter was the same gooyey mess it was half an hour earlier.

And then my brain which had hit the dead end, 'coz it was 12:00 at night by then did a jolt and it struck me that Sunita was in the UK and so her recipe said 180 C, see the C, not F but C in capitals. I was in goddamn North America where they didn't believe in C (Celsius) and had F (Fahrenheit) !!! So after all the math conversions we finally raised the oven temp to 350 F and the cake turned golden brown and delicious after a glorious 17 minutes.

This week I tried to go carb-less on some days of the week and it was easier as we did a lot of grilling outside. This was the menu

Potato Capsicum Curry -- This was based on this dish, not exactly but kind of

Pepper Mushroom -- All time favorite from Cham and my recipe

Uchche Begun -- Bitter Gourd with brinjals. Shall post soon

Cabbage Fry -- This was M Didi (baby A's nanny) contribution. I finally asked her to cook one or two dishes for me each week.

Masoor Dal & Toor Dal with Dill -- Regular masoor dal. The toor dal with dill was a new flavor. Haven't tried dill too much and this was the first time had it in a dal. Reminded me of one of the paying guest Aunty in B'lore, this was the unknown taste I always found in her dals.

Grilled Chicken

Baked Tilapia

Grilled brocolli, carrots and long green peppers

Kadhai Paneer

So these were my Mothers Day Gifts. Mission accomplished. But the "cheapo" that I am, I plan to trade half of the Pier 1 gift card for a HomeGoods one, that will get me a lot more with the same amount.

A sweet pea plant, hand made cards, hand made frames and...

I know, I know its the sentiment that counts and not the gift and I do apply that principle for all others except the parent and D. You see if someone close like my family is giving me an expensive present, I would rather see the money well spent. With others I am polite.

But sometimes the gift giving especially for Kid's birthdays goes a bit out of hand, both ways when you are the giver or the receiver. While giving the budget seems to constantly increase with the years and with Big Sis S's class of 15 kids, having a birthday party almost every month sure puts a strain on the purse strings. The receiving scene is not too happy either with lots of gifts which the kiddo exactly doesn't need, given that she is not the kind who plays extensively with toys.

Really what do you do with a gift especially kid's toys(which just grows and grows) that you don't think your kid will play with at all ?

I could be like my Mom who wrapped up the nth La Opala coffee mugs that I got for my wedding and gifted it to neighbor 2's niece's sister-in-law on her marriage. The relations were far flung and the gift was sure to submerge in a deluge of more such coffee cups.

Or I could be like this friend who presented us with a pretty gift with words as to why she thought this would be perfect for us. Later when we took out the gift from the box, tucked in its warmth was a card blessing a certain bride and groom on their marriage.Given that neither us nor the friend were recent new brides, I can only say the gift had a long lineage.

Truth be told I have done that at times but with a close network of friends it is a dangerous thing to do and so the gifts keep piling up in the basement. With the kid's toys I don't want to do it because I feel people do spend time and money and some thought buying them so you can't just give them away.
Seriously tell me what do you do ? Do you donate, recycle gifts, do what ?

Since S has declared her love for paneer, we get a block for her almost every other week. We ate paneer in moderation before, maybe once in two weeks and that was it. Now with the deluge of paneer I thought of trying a Kadhai Paneer. I am not too fond of bell pepper with chicken or fish and Kadhai paneer is not exactly my favorite item on the menu. But this might be a good way to get those anti-oxidant loaded bell peppers into Big Sis S I thought.

So Kadhai Paneer it was and I followed the recipe from Fun'n'Food this time with certain changes to my taste. It is a very simple recipe with little time needed and simple ingredients. It tasted pretty good and looked pretty too.


Read more...

Kadhai Paneer

Prep: Cut almost 12 oz of Paneer in small cubes. There were about 2 cups of paneer cubes.

The Nanak brand of Paneer I usually buy is pretty soft by my standard and I don't fry them. If your paneer is hard sitting in the refrigerator microwave for a few seconds to make it soft or if your paneer is the tough variety, fry lightly and dunk in salted warm water

Chop 1 medium red onion in big chunks and also de-seed & chop 1 medium Bell pepper in big chunks

Start Cooking

In a Kadhai or Frying Pan heat Oil

Flavor the oil with 1 clove of garlic minced

When you get the flavor of garlic add the onion and saute till translucent. While frying the onion add little sugar about 1/4 tsp

Add the bell pepper and saute. Cover and saute till capsicum is soft

Add 1 tsp of ginger paste and then 2 tsp of garlic paste. With a sprinkle of water saute for a minute or half

Add little turmeric, 1/2 tsp of Cumin powder, 1 tsp of Red Chilli powder and 1/4-1/2 tsp of Garam masala powder

Fry the masala again with sprinkle of water for 2-3 minute or till the masala has coated the onions and pepper nicely

Add 1 cup of tomato puree and 1 & 1/2 tsp of Kasoori methi. Add salt to taste. You may need to add little water(I added 1/2 cup) depending on if you want gravy or not. Note: I made the puree with canned tomatoes and so mine wasn't super thick kind, you can use canned or fresh tomato puree

Add the paneer cubes and simmer at medium heat till the gravy thickens and the paneer and bell pepper is cooked. Check to see if the seasonings are correct and adjust accordingly

To enhance the taste add 1/2 tsp of ghee and mix well before taking of the heat

Trivia: Green capsicum is the least mature type and has a fresh ‘raw’ flavour. Red capsicum is basically a matured or ripened green capsicum and is distinctively sweeter. Yellow and orange capsicums are similar in taste to red capsicum, although not quite as sweet. All of them are excellent sources of vitamin C and vitamin A

Beet Gajor Chechki

Before I tell you what I got and did for Mothers Day I need a little prelude, a flashback.

"It was my birthday some couple of months back(don't wish me it will be way belated). I no longer look forward to birthdays, not because of the cliched age factor but more pertinent issues at hand.

The foremost being "OMG what is the hubby going to get me this time". This phrase has changed from anticipation to foreboding over the years.I have known the husband for long and it seems to be getting worse. Not because he gets me bad presents but because he gets impulsive presents.
At the very beginning it was pretty nice and simple, he was a regular friend and got me nothing and demanded a treat. Then he got me books which was nicer except for the time he got a Stroustrup.

It seemed to go wrong after marriage though. I try to give him ideas come birthday time and since I am a sensible girl I ask him to get stuff which can be of household use but he has his own ideas and tries to spring a surprise every time which I have begun to grow afraid of. The poor guy is actually pretty good at heart and his gifts would be ideal for any female but me.

This time it was the worst of worse, he got me a gift card to a Spa. A Spa, a Spa, what was he thinking ? I am not even remotely the Spa kind and as much I know of him neither is he. In fact he had been attracted by my well oiled whiskers in the first place. Why would he want me to go to a Spa and get rid of them and other such stuff ? What would I do there or rather what would the Spa people do with me ? They would not even know where to start. And if I stripped and lay down on their massage tables that would be the end of it.

I was pretty depressed with this whole Spa thing, perfect good money wasted I felt. I could have blown that all out in Pier 1 and revamped the whole house and now I have to do pedicure every month to use up the gift card, I lamented. My feet who are used to such luxury maybe only twice a year are not going to be too happy and no way am I going to get a massage laying down all naked."

So its been a while now, I have not used the Gift card yet, it expires in two years, so I still have time to muster courage. And in the next post I will tell you about Mothers day and the GIFTs.

Chechki in motion

Now to the Chechki. Ok, I don't even know if this dish is called a chechki. My Ma used to simply call it Beet Gajor er Bhaja(a stir fry of beet & carrots). But a friend said she does the same and calls it chechki. Given that I have no "chechki" in my repertoire I decided to call it that and now I have "charchari", "ghonto" and yes a "chechki" too in my blog, a one stop shop for all bong varieties. With this you can only guess what "hits" I am going to get, including a deluge of Phelps' fans who will be totally at sea, well but they better swim.


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Beet Gajor Chechki (Beet & Carrots stir fry)

Prep: Wash, peel and Chop two medium sized beet root and two decent sized carrots in thin slices and a length of 2" or so. The way you chop is important in this dish.

Start Cooking:

Heat Oil in a Kadhai or Wok or a wide mouthed frying pan. I used Olived Oil and it is fine but you can use Canola or Peanut or Sunflower oil. No mustard oil here.

Temper the Oil with 3/4 tsp of Kalonji/Nigella seeds. When the spices start popping add 1/3 cup of chopped red onion and 5-6 slit hot Indian green chili. Note: you can substitute the Kalonji with Paanch Phoron if you wish

Once the onion turns pink and translucent add the chopped beet root and carrots

Add salt, a little turmeric and fry for 2-3 minutes so that the veggies is nicely coated with what little spice you have there.

Cover and cook at medium heat. Every few minutes raise the cover and give the veggies a good stir.

You might need to sprinkle a little water but that would be very little just to create moisture to aid in the cooking.

Cook till the beet root is well done(carrot will cook quicker hopefully). Give one more good stir and taste-adjust for any seasoning. Enjoy with roti or by itself

Note: I do not add garlic or any other spices in this dish but you can add a little garlic along with the onion & green chilli, I think it might give a nice kick to the dish

Update: This time around I did add 1 clove of garlic finely minced along with the onion and also added little lime juice at the end as suggested by a reader. Both added a lovely new layer to the taste





Trivia: Borscht is an Eastern European soup made from beets that has been an important winter staple in countries like Russia and Poland since the 14th century. In 1975, during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, cosmonauts from the USSR's Soyuz 19 welcomed the Apollo 18 astronauts by preparing a banquet of borscht squeezed from tubes and other treats.

Also if you are in Belgium this dish would have certainly helped you today as Belgium has declared Thursday as a Vegetarian Day in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint

Shuddh Videshi Ghee ar Alu Sheddo

I made Ghee, at home, with my own hands. No I didn't milk the cow or anything and I used a shortcut, but if we put that aside, I made Ghee in bold letters.

With that I graduate from a regular Mom to the ubiquitous Aunty-ji. Pleez do consult me with all your gharelu(household) problems including mom-in-law , husband , bai and water shortage, and of course how to make ghee. That I can't make decent phulkas shall not be discussed in this post.

So I never made ghee @ home before. Never needed to. My ma and ma-in-law took it upon themselves to send home made shuddh desi ghee for Big Sis S till she turned 3. After that it was store bought which was used sparingly since we are not big time ghee eaters. Now Baby A has started on solids and it was time to introduce fat to her. There was no grandma around and Mom found out that making shuddh videshi ghee was not difficult at all, much easier than the cow's milk --> boil milk to gather the cream on top --> save the top cream from milk for days --> make desi ghee route

So this is what Baby A's Mom did to make glorious golden ghee


Read more...

Making Ghee

In a heavy bottomed pot/vessel/pan place 4 sticks of organic unsalted butter. At medium heat let the butter melt. There will be foaming and bubbling while the butter melts but soon this will subside. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered. Stir intermittently. Gradually you will see milk-solids turning from beige to brown and settling down at the bottom while a clear transparent golden liquid remains at top. Once the milk solids turn a deep shade of brown turn off the heat. Note: The point at which you turn off the heat is critical, too little or too much is not desired. Keep watch and don't burn the milk-solid. Also keep the heat at low and don't try to hasten the process by turning heat to high.

Do not disturb the vessel/pot/pan and let the milk solids settle down at the bottom while only the clear liquid remains at the top.

Decant the liquid by tipping the vessel gently and collecting the liquid in a clean dry glass jar. You can also use a cheese cloth or any clean cotton cloth for this purpose

The golden liquid that you just collected is precious ghee. Smell. Heaven.

Let the ghee come to room temperature. Close the jar tight and store at room temperature. If ghee is not made correctly i.e. cooked too little it tends to spoil or sour, but if made correctly it stores well at room temperature

Now we Bengalis do not throw away anything that is edible and the deep brown milk solids that remain at the end of the ghee making process are a delicacy for us. We call it cha(n)chi (ch as in chair and then a nasal sound for n) and eat it mixed with plain white rice, salt and mashed potatoes. Strangely while I do remember the smell of ghee from my childhood, more than the ghee I remember this rich brown "leftover" granules which we used to savor mixed with white rice.

So while the home was fragrant with the smell of ghee we enjoyed a rare dinner of rice, alu sheddo with finely chopped onions and green chillies and dollops of ghee & cha(n)chi.

To make alu sheddo(siddho), boil potatoes skin on till done. Hold under running water and peel the potato. Mash with back of a spatula. Add little mustard oil, finely chopped red onion, finely chopped green chilli and salt. Now with clean hands work all of this in the potato and make smooth rounds of mashed potato. Enjoy this with white rice and dollops of golden ghee.

According to Ayurveda, Ghee builds the aura, makes all the organs soft, builds up the internal juices of the body-Rasa, which are destroyed by aging and increases the most refined element of digestion-Shukra or Ojas, the underlying basis of all immunity and the “essence of all bodily tissues”. Ghee is known to increase intelligence--Dhi, refine the intellect-Buddhi and improve the memory-Smrti.

A little bit of ghee added to your food boosts the flavor and if that ghee is home made the taste triples. So like me if you do not use ghee as a cooking medium, occasionally add half a tsp of ghee just before finishing off your cooking and savor the goodness of ghee.

My Spice -- Garam Masala, Bhaja Masla & more...

Bengali Garam Masala is actually a very simple mix of 4 spices: Cloves, Cardamom, Cinnamon and Tej Patta. The Tej Patta as I have seen is abandoned many times in favor of the others. My Ma however loved it and used it whenever the recipe called for garam mashla as phoron (i.e. tempering the food by spicing the oil)

Whole Garam masala

She would sun the above spices and in our stainless steel jarred Bajaj Mixer make a dry powder of them and store it as a guro Garam Mashla or as we say in English Garam Masala powder

I take a step ahead and put more stuff in my Garam Masala powder. I also dry roast the spices instead of just sunning them which is the norm. My version is NOT the standard bengali version. The Bengali version usually does not have Red Chilli or Mace

Spices I use to make my Garam masala powder

My Garam Masala Powder

Dry Roast 20 Green Cardamom/Elaichi, 10 Clove/Laung, a 2" stick of cinnamon, 3-4 Dry Red Chilli for the slightest heat, 2-3 small barks of mace/javetri and a small Tej-Patta. Note: What I have here is a Bay Leaf but a small Tej Patta(Indian Bay Leaf) works better. Also you can substitute red chili with black peppercorns. You can dry roast either on the stove top or pop them in the oven at 250F for 5-8 minutes. The roasting is done only to warm the spices which have been lying around for a while. Instead you can sun them and then grind.

Grind to a fine powder in your coffee grinder.

Store in an air-tight container for future use

Lately I have been a sucker for home made spices. I cleared the pantry of all Shan masalas and barring the Kitchen King, Kasoori Methi and Amchoor I have no other store bought spice powder. Oh, wait I have a packet of Deggi Mirch which is used sparingly by us and and indulged on by the nanny.

So anyway without all the Shaan masala I was kind of stranded in no-spice land when I wanted to make a Kofta Pualo some time back. Luckily I remembered the Biryani Masala at Mallugirl's. I love that masala and use it for not only making Biryanis but in various other dishes.

Here is how I make Biryani Masala based on this recipe. I reduce the carraways seeds and increase the fennel as I like the sweetness of fennel and find cararway seeds too spicy. Also I forgo the star anise and add nutmeg powder instead of the whole.

Biryani Masala Powder

Dry Roast 8-10 Green Cardamom/Elaichi, 8-10 Cloves/Laung, 2" stick of cinnamon, 1 small Bay leaf, 5-6 small bark of mace/javethri, 2 tsp of Fennel seeds, 1 tsp of Carraway seeds/Shah Jeera

Put all of the above in a coffee grinder jar along with 1 tsp of nutmeg powder

Grind to a smooth powder and store in an air tight jar

Use this masala for loads of stuff from adding a pinch to your pualo to spicing up the marinade for fish, from adding to biryani to your chicken curry. I use this masala alternately with Garam Masala but when using this, use a smaller quantity.


And then there is the Bhaja Mashla(Roasted Masala) my Ma makes for sprinkling over most chutneys and also in vegetable chops. I had blogged about it here in my Baked Beet Roll recipe. The Bhaja Masala is called so because the spices here are dry roasted and then ground. This spice mix has been blogged about in detail in my later post Bhaja Masla.

Bhaja Mashla

To make this Dry Roast 1 tbsp each of Jeera (Cumin Seeds), Dhania (Corriander seeds), Saunf (Fennel Seeds), 6/7 Laung (cloves) , 6/7 Elaichi (Cardamom), 3/4 TejPata(Bay leaves), an inch & half of cinnamon stick and peppercorns according to desired hotness.Then just dry grind it to a powder. Note: This was last made by my Ma and so measures are approximate

Punjabi Garam Masala

The recipe of Punjabi Garam Masala is from Anita of Mad Tea Party. Original recipe is here. I think her recipe asks for more of the black cardamom but I used about 15. Also I used the seeds and discarded the skin

I did it this way. To make this sun or gently warm on tawa 1 tbsp Cumin seeds, 1/2 tbsp Clove, 1/2 tbsp Peppercorn, a 1" stick of cinnamon, 1 tejpatta and around 15 black cardamom. Dry grind to a powder.

Check out other spices in this series in the left hand column

This weekend our kitchen floor is getting a makeover and so the kitchen will be closed for weekend. I am shacking up at a friend's place, kids in tow and the friend has promised to make a Patha'r Mangsho'r jhol for lunch tomorrow. She cooks delicious food and you know what I am looking forward to.


Wishing all Moms a Very Happy Mothers Day. There is a Mother Day event going on at Desi Momz Club. All moms, member or not please feel free to contribute.

Brown Rice -- Tomato Rice

There was an interesting article in NatGeo(May '09) about the carbon foot print of wine. It seems it is more carbon efficient for a New Yorker to raise a glass of French Wine than a California one.

The wine journey from Napa Valley, Calif by less efficient and more carbon emitting trucks has a larger carbon foot print than the wine container shipped from France or even Sydney. So even though "distance" does matter, efficiencies in transportation might overcome that.

Though the article is not there on the net, the research findings which provided the numbers for NatGeo are here

All this makes me think it might not be all that environmentally prudent to buy local food always and shun food based on "food miles" alone

Who said "Going Green" would be easy ?

Green is back in my neighborhood though and so is Spring.


Read more...

Tulsi(Holy Basil) barely survived winter

Hostas are back, overcrowded, need to space them out, didn't

Annual azalea bloom in the garden

Green is back

We used to be quiet afraid of Brown Rice when we first heard about it. We even made fun of it and like ignorant bumpkins made statement that rice which was available for free in Indian ration stores were packaged and sold in super market aisles here at a high price.

Truth be told we had tried neither, the ration rice or the brown rice. But like true browns we chased the white until we fell for the goodness of brown.

With great trepidation we tried our first brown rice and liked nothing much about it. The only way we could eat this stuff is as a Khichuri or a Fried Rice, proclaimed the other half. So that is how it was, Brown Rice Khichuri or Fried Rice occasionally, on days we felt our body should ingest some goodness. Eating it felt morally so good that we could chomp on a burger later without any guilt.

Slowly we ventured into making regular brown rice, flavoring the cooking liquid with cardamon, cloves and what not. We got hooked onto the nutty taste, it tasted best with a gravy thing or with dal. We even graduated to having fish curry with Brown Rice. Yes, we have come a long way on the Brown Rice Trail.

We still continue having white rice though and haven't switched completely but weekends are always brown and so are most of the one pot rice meals.

Some weekends back D made a Tomato Rice. He used Brown Rice instead of the white rice that is normally used. He followed Sailaja's Recipe down to making the spice powder. It tasted beautiful.

Next day I made some to pack for lunch. I skipped the spice powder as I wanted a non-South Indian Tomato Rice. Instead I added some fresh home made Garam masala powder. That tasted great too.

And we had one more Brown Rice recipe that worked great for us. Are you afraid to try Indian dishes with Brown Rice, give it a try, you just might love it.