Pineapple Chaatni/Chutney

I have been waiting to see "The NameSake" (author Jhumpa Lahiri)but now they say it released only in select theaters and none of the theaters in my area belong to this elite group. So I have to wait I guess till it’s on DVD. I have read the book and liked it immensely. I admit that "The Interpreter of Maladies" was better, the short stories more crisp and succinct but I like this one for a whole different reason. I like it because of the oneness I feel with Ashima. The book narrates the story of a young Bengali immigrant couple (Ashoke & Ashima) who immigrate to Boston for higher studies in the early 70's and then the story deals with their settling down in the US, the kids growing up here and with everything that an South East Asian Immigrant has to deal with emotionally

It’s been 3 decades since Ashoke & Ashima made their journey and USA has changed a lot since, for one it’s more open to Asian and South Asian people and culture. Specifically the state I am in is almost like the 29th Indian state ripped apart and placed in the wrong continent, ok almost. I don't have to mix Rice Krispies with peanuts, chili and mustard Oil like Ashima, I get Muri/Mamra and I can get a closer cousin to JhalMuri than she could (not like the JhalMuri in the Kolkata Local Train but close). And Yet I feel the oneness the closeness with Ashima, if she was my neighbor we would be best friends maybe.

Like her I am apprehensive to raise my daughter in a country I still don't know much about.
I have a gnawing fear of the day she might stop responding to me in Bangla, and her accent will be difficult for me to follow (Bangla or Bengali is the language we speak at home, no English there).
I am deep down worried that she will look forward to Christmas more than she will ever do to Durga Puja, a festival close to my hearts, a festival we would wait for with fervor as soon as Summers heat mellowed down.
I don't know how I will explain to her how I with my friends, wearing our Ma's yellow saree, would go puja hopping on the morning of Saraswati Pujo from one school to other as she goes around for "Trick or Treat" on Halloween.
I am at a loss thinking what should I tell my daughter when she goes to her first prom, I have nothing, no experience to share with her. There are so many questions I need to get an answer to before I can even explain to my daughter as she grows up here.

I guess I will figure out like Ashima did and she will too like Gogol.

But even though it has been 3 decades there are some things in the book so true about the bengali immigrant community that I can easily identify with it.

A typical lunch menu that Ashima prepares and Lahiri goes on to narrate is "lamb curry with potatoes, luchis, thick channa dal with swollen brown raisins, pineapple chutney, sandesh molded out of saffron-tinted ricotta cheese"

As I was re reading the book, the "Pineapple Chutney" struck me and that what it is going to be for this Sundays Lunch where couple of our friends are coming over I thought. Perfect for AFAM and perfect for a Bengali Lunch

For Maheshwari the gracious hostess of AFAM at Beyond The Usual, I prepared this in a small qauntity yesterday and its extremely easy and quick to prepare. Sweet, a bit spicy and rich yellow in colour this chaatni/chutney is perfect to complement any lunch or dinner menu

Pineapple Chaatni/Chutney

What You Need

Serves 4

Crushed Pineapple ~ 1/2 of a 20 oz can . I used Dole Brand Crushed Pineapple 
If using fresh pineapples, use 2 cups of pineapple chopped in small pieces
Dry Red Chillies ~ 2
Mustard Seeds ~ 1/2 tsp (not heaped)
Ginger Julienne ~ 1 tsp
Sugar ~ 1/8 cup
For fresh pineapple, more sugar will be needed, at least 1/2 cup
Lime juice -- juice from a quarter of a lime
Salt ~ according to taste
Mustard Oil ~ 1 & ½ tbsp

Bhaja Masla  ~ ½ tsp

How I Did It

Heat Oil in Kadhai/Frying Pan
Add mustard seeds and dry red chillies. Cover if you are afraid of mustard seeds dancing around
When the seeds pop add the ginger .
Add the crushed pineapple If using fresh pineapple add them instead of the canned.
Add salt and sprinkle turmeric powder.
Saute the pineapple for 4-5 minutes and then add about 1 cup of warm water.Also add juice of a quarter of a lime.
Cook the pineapple pieces for 5-6 minutes and then add sugar. Cover and cook till pineapple pieces have softened. This will happen very quick for the canned one. For the fresh this will take about 40-45 minutes.
Sprinkle a pinch of bhaja masla to finish

The movie review for The NameSake from SepiaMutiny -- Read the comments too, very interesting

Trivia:The Spanish explorers thought pineapple looked like a pine cone, so they called it "pina." The English added "apple" to associate it with juicy delectable fruits. South American Indians had a name for pineapple meaning "fragrant excellent fruit," which became the basis for its botanical name: ananas.(Source:here)

MySpice -- Turmeric

Turmeric known as Haldi in Hindi and Halud in Bengali, is another spice omnipresent in Indian culture, not only in cooking but also as a part of various other rituals.
It is a member of the Ginger family and is native to South East Asia. The root is dried and ground to a fine bright Yellow Powder which is used extensively to flavor and color Indian curries. The Sanskrit word for Turmeric is Haridra which means “Yellow Wood” and that is what the dried root looks like. The spice has an earthy, bitter flavor, and it is added to Indian curries in a very small proportion as an excess of it ruins the taste

Turmeric is also used extensively in Indian rituals and signifies prosperity and fertility. In Indian Hindu weddings, applying turmeric paste to the bride and groom on the morning of the wedding is an important part of the wedding ceremony. In Bengali weddings its the grooms side who send this turmeric paste along with several other gifts for the bride on the morning of the wedding and these gifts are known as "Gaye Halud er Tatwa"

In the Southern Part of India, Turmeric is also a offered to married women as part of a ritual called “Haldi Kumkum”. Please correct me as I am not much aware of this ritual.

Why Turmeric Is Good For You

In Ayurveda Medicine, turmeric is considered to have numerous medicinal properties. It was considered as an antiseptic and antibacterial agent in India and was used for cuts and burns. It was also said to purify blood and my Ma insisted that a small ball of turmeric paste & jaggery (fresh turmeric was used for this and not the powder) eaten every morning would purify the blood and alleviate all stomach problems. Its another thing that the pungent taste of freshly grated or ground turmeric didn’t actually salivate my taste buds and so I would keep away from those tiny balls of goodness

Turmeric contains Curcumin which is anti-inflammatory and used for psoriasis treatment.Recent studies have shown that turmeric reduces cholesterol, blocks progression of neurological diseases like Alzheimers and works wonder in short

A very nice and appetizing way to include fresh Turmeric in my diet other than the powder which I simply cannot live without is something I learnt from M (not a Bong but a Marathi), a cousin of my cousin M. So say M1 is my cousin and M2 is M1’s cousin. Now M2 (an excellent cook) has been very kind and has fed me delectable food on two occasions, but stupid me has lost her number and since M1 has moved back to India, have never been able to call M2 since.
Now once when we were at M2’s for dinner she declared “I have to have green chillies with my meal, I love munching on them and I always do this”, saying which she took out a pretty flat container from the refrigerator where in there were sliced vibrant green chillies and slivers of bright orange carrot like thing floating in lime juice. Very happily I too took some of the chillies and the “orange” thing thinking all the time “why the carrot tasted different”. On finally giving voice to my thought, M2 said the weren’t carrots but juliennes of fresh turmeric and I was hooked.

Turmeric in Lime Juice

Since then I buy fresh yellow turmeric from the Indian Grocery Store when ever I remember to do so, peel the outer skin, cut them up in juliennes, slit some green chillies, squeeze some lime juice and let the slivers of turmeric and green chillies soak in the lime juice with a little salt.

Note: Alternately in a mason jar add 1/4th Cup Vinegar, 1/4th Cup Water, few whole peppercorns, mustard seed, red chili flakes. Salt and sugar if you need it. Add the julienned Turmeric and green chilies to it. 
Refrigerate them and they stay good for couple of weeks. As the days go by the pungent flavor of turmeric is mellowed down and they taste better. So if you do not like them on Day One give them a try couple of days later.
Have it with your meal as a substitute for the pickle or let the pickle be and have it as one more thing with your meal.

Turmeric Info source: Me and my family, Wiki & this

Update: From all the comments I wanted to make a few updates which I think would be useful for everyone
Shilpa of Flog&Rosbif said she doesn't like the "staining" part which is true. I forgot to say, chopping up the turmeric may stain the chopping board so put a plastic wrap on your chopping board and then chop. Hands can be cleaned with rubbing lime on them, and even simple soap & water is fine. But if you have a French Manicure...
Maheshwari of Beyond The Usual said they use Turmeric for removing odor of meat while cooking
KitchenFairy of Secret of Taste and Gini of Salt & Pepper said that turmeric paste was used for cosmetic purposes. Yeah applying turmeric paste on your face etc. is one of the many popular uses in India
Supriya of Spice Corner says even the leaves are used to make some dishes for Ganesh Chaturthi.
Sunita of Sunita's World said they have a custom similar to Bengali Weddings called "mah-halodhi"

This goes to Weekend Herb Blogging brain child of Kalyn's Kitchen and hosted this week by Becky of Key Lime & Coconut

Chaal Kopi ~ a Cauliflower Dish

I have a tough life you know. After I have done my days share and fed the kid, read to her and am almost dozing off to sleep, she nudges me.
“Hmmmmmm”, I say
“Do you know what I want to be when I grow up?” the little one chirps.
I have no clue and this is not a good time to discuss career options I think, but who am I to decide anything

“I want to be a Painter, a Doctor, the One with the Hammer and also the Cleaning lady” she says very enthusiastically

Interesting combo I think and why not, this is a free country let her be whatever she wants to

“That’s nice”, I say and shut my eyes tighter only to be nudged again

“What do you want to be when You grow up?” she questions

I am being given a second chance here and what I really want to be is a billionaire lazing in a private island and enjoying good food and blogging about my high-falutin life maybe.
But that’s not what you tell a kid if you are the mother

“Painter”, I say deciding on a safer option
“But I am already going to be a Painter”, she argues
“Then You decide” I say, hoping to resolve the problem quickly

“You can be the Base Ball Player”, she suggests
Not my cup of tea that, so I say “But I don’t know to play Base Ball”

“You just have to wear a white cap and hit a ball with a bat, it’s easy, you can do it if you try” she says very knowledgeably

So I dream of how famous I am going to be hitting that ball and doze off to sleep thinking of Fame, Fortune and Fulkopi. Fulkopi in Bengali, Cauliflower in English and Gobi in Hindi that's G for Nupur’s “A – Z of Indian Vegetables” this week. Now don’t ask me why Fame & Fortune led me to dream of Fulkopi, ask Freud.

Chaal Kopi Or Cauliflower cooked in spices with a smattering of Rice is a very tasty and different dish. The rice is just that little bit and it’s the Cauliflower that dominates the taste. This recipe is from my Bengali Recipe Book and my Ma never made this. The dish is dry and goes well with rice or Chapati.


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Chaal Kopi ~ Cauliflower cooked in spices with a smattering of rice

What You Need

Cauliflower ~ 1 cut into large sized florets. The large is the key here, do not chop into small fine pieces else they will turn mushy, see the pic.
Potato (optional)  ~ 1 large cut into large longitudinal pieces
Tomato ~ 1 medium chopped into small pieces, you can also used canned whole tomatoes
Green Chillies ~ 3 chopped or slit
Green Peas ~ 1/3 cup

For Masala
Cumin Powder ~ 1 tsp
Ginger paste ~ 1" grated
Turmeric Powder ~ 1 tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp 

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp to sprinkle at the end

For Phoron or Tempering

Tej Pata or Bay Leaves ~ 2
Elaichi or Cardamom ~ 4
Cinnamon sticks ~1" thin stick

Dry Red Chili - 2 Dry
Coarsely bruise the above Whole Garam Masala

Basmati Rice ~ 1/3 cup soaked in water
Peanuts ~ 1/3 cups
Raisins ~ 10/15

Salt
Sugar ~ 1/2 tsp
Ghee ~ 1 tsp
Oil

How I Did It

Chop the cauliflower in florets as shown in pic
Chop potatoes and dunk in water, chop tomatoes & green chillies real small. 
Heat Oil in Kadhai/Frying Pan
Sauté the cauliflower florets with a little turmeric and salt till they take on a light golden hue. Remove and keep aside
Sauté the potatoes till they too turn a light golden and remove and keep aside
Sauté the rice and the peanuts and when you get that nice smell, remove and keep aside
To the hot oil add the phoron i.e. the Bay Leaves, Cardamom, Cinnamon Sticks (coarsely bruisely the cardamom & cinnamon sticks) 
When they start sputtering add the tomatoes & green chillies and sauté till the tomatoes are well done and are mushy
Add the Cumin Powder, Red Chili Powder and the Ginger paste and fry the masala till you see the oil separating from the masala
Add the peas and potatoes and mix well. Next, add the cauliflower florets and mix well so that the masala coats all the veggies
Now add the rice and the peanuts and mix
Add salt and ½ tsp of sugar and the raisins
Add water. I added about 1 and ½ cup to start with. Basically the veggies etc. should be partly immersed in the water, as they along with the rice need to be cooked. But since you do not want the cauliflower to overcook, be careful with the water and start with less to be cautious
Cook covered on medium heat and check in between, if needed add a little more water
Check to see that rice, and the veggies are cooked. If done add ½ tsp of Ghee. The recipe called for 1 tsp but I added only ½ tsp
The end result should be dry but do not overcook to dry off the water, so I again reiterate add water consciously
Sprinkle a little Garam Masala Powder if the cauliflower is not the freshest one and has a slightly pungent smell

Note for the Busy Mom: If you are cooking on a busy weekday, cut all the vegetables in this recipe before hand as in the previous day when you have no cooking chores. Remember to soak chopped potatoes in water else they develop a ugly black spot

Trivia:This dish has a prominent role in the movie Bend It Like Beckham—the film's DVD contains a featurette titled How to cook Aloo gobi., with the film's director making the dish. This led to the pickup line 'Why cook aloo gobi, when you can Bend It Like Beckham".