Bhapa Ilish -- Steamed Hilsa

"Junie Beatrice Jones or "Junie B." as she is called for short, is an innocent, spirited five- to six-year-old American girl". So what ???

Because she is what I am reading these days, I mean "she" as in about her, books where she is the main character. You see Big Sis S's kindergarten teacher very happy with her reading skills offered to get her some books from her own childhood collection. Had it been my teacher from my childhood I would have carried home books about Mahatma Gandhi or Aesop's fables and made Mom happy. But of course S's teacher is not same and got her a "Junie B. Jones" instead.

All was well, nice school story, the kind I was fond of, I thought, until S asked "what is pasketti?" That word sounded so wrong that I read the entire book in one go. Truth be told, it was funny. But the English, it was absurd. The book was strewn with words like "flied", "bestest", "runned" and so on and so forth. Apparently the little girl(the character Junie) being a kindergartner has not got her grammar right yet and so the book uses her kind of language. That is very well for a Mom my age but what does a kindergartner reading such English do ? I had to constantly tell S all the verbs that were wrong in the book to not mess her up. This series is a very popular kid's series and I really have no clue why they would use wrong English if it is meant for an age group whose language needs to be enriched.

Trying to be "the cool" Mom, who doesn't care for such frivolities I haven't told S's teacher about my concerns and so she has given S 2 more from the series.

Couple of days back S shyly told D that Junie B. has a boyfriend. The Dad panicked, I could see it on his face. He was imagining boys, tattoo on their fore arm and misshapen shorts rising low on the hips, knocking his door. And then he told her what my Ma used to tell me at 15. He said "That must be just a boy who is a friend, like you have R & A and T in your class". Smirk, smirk.

I am desperately trying to be "the cool" Mom here but honestly why does a kindergartner need a boyfriend and a current as well as an ex and also why do phrases like this "new Thelma (a naïve girl whom Junie B.'s boyfriend Ricardo always chases)" have to be in a children's book.

Maybe I will just be un-cool and give S's teacher a "Suitable Boy" instead.

Books which S can read and I have liked so far are The Magic Tree House and The Rainbow Fairies(Thanks Chox). Any more suggestions for 5-7 year old readers ?

And now to the Ilish Bhaape or Bhapa Ilish aka Steamed Hilsa. The dish I had talked about in my earlier post, the signature Bengali Ilish dish which has to be on all important menus when Ilish is in season. Hilsa steeped in a pungent mustard sauce steamed to perfection with a liberal dousing of mustard oil is a sensuous experience. There are two ways of doing this, actually 3, in the pressure cooker like my Mom, in a steamer and in the oven.

I usually don't do this if I don't get Ilish which hasn't been frozen too long which is rare. It tastes best with fresh Hilsa. The oven version of this recipe goes very well with salmon too. Also I heard Herring tastes close to Hilsa so you can try this recipe with salmon or Herring if you don't get Ilish/Hilsa. Shad fish in North America has a taste close to Hilsa too.

The fish roe(macher dim) is a delicacy enjoyed by the Bongs and Hilsa roe is much coveted. This time around I mixed Hilsa roe with little chickpea flour and green chili and then fried them in mustard oil.

Get this recipe in my Book coming out soon. Check this blog for further updates. 

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Bhapa Ilish/Steamed Ilish

Step 1: The Paste and the sauce

Make Sorshe Bata or Mustard paste.
Soak 2 tbsp Mustard seeds(Shorshe) + 2 tsp Poppy seeds(Posto) + 3-4 hot Green Chilli in less than 1/2 cup of water for 30-60 minutes
Grind the above with little salt to make a thick mustard paste or shorshe bata Note: Some of my friends do not use Posto or Poppy seeds for the paste. Instead they add a little grated coconut.

In a bowl add the above mustard paste + 1 heaped tsp Yogurt + 2 tsp Mustard Oil + 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder + 1/4 tsp Red Chili Powder(optional) + salt to taste. Mix well. This is the mustard sauce you will use for the fish. Quick Tip: If you have a bottle of Kasundi, add 1-2 tsp of Kasundi to the mustard paste that you have made. This lends an awesome taste.

Step 2: The Fish

Wash and clean 5-6 pieces of Hilsa/Ilish cut in steak size pieces.

Step 3: Bringing it together 2 ways

Way 1 -- In the oven

Smear an oven safe bowl with little mustard oil. Place the fish pieces in the bowl in one single layer. Pour the prepared mustard sauce over it so that it covers all the fish pieces nicely. Add 3- 4 slit green chili on the top and drizzle 1 tsp or more of Mustard Oil on them

Cover the bowl with an aluminum foil. Put this bowl in a bigger tray with 2" of water like a water bath. Bake at 375F bake for 25-30 minutes

Serve hot with rice. Does not taste that great if stored and served later.

Way 2 -- In the pressure cooker

Smear an pressure cooker safe bowl with little mustard oil. Place the fish pieces in the bowl in one single layer. Pour the prepared mustard paste or sauce over it so that it covers all the fish pieces nicely. Add 4 slit green chili on the top and 1 tsp or more of Mustard Oil on them

Cook in pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles. Here is a pressure cooker version.

Note on making Mustard Paste: When I didn’t have a small wet grinder to make my mustard paste I used to dry grind the seeds in my coffee grinder and then mix the dry powder with a little vinegar, salt, and green chillies and keep for an hour or so to prevent the bitterness. My current wet grinder(Magic Bullet) serves the purpose much better and makes a nice smooth paste with green chillies, and salt

Quick Tip: If you have a bottle of Kasundi, add 1-2 tsp of Kasundi to the mustard paste that you have made. This lends an awesome taste



Trivia: Hilsa is an oily fish rich in Omega 3 fatty acids

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