Tumi'r Chicken Malai Kabab

Today is Bishawakarma Pujo.

And guess what ? I do not have a single food memory of this festival.

Tomato? Potato? Khichuri? Biriyani? Potol Posto? Neem Begun? Bishwakarma ki kheten🤔

Nothing. Zilch. Nada. My brain throws up a 404 Error at "Bishwakarma Pujo Food". Ki blasphemy!!

There are several for Durga Pujo, a couple for Lokkhi Pujo, a nice number for Saraswati Pujo, even one for Ma Mongol Chondi'r Pujo.

But Biswakarma? Nothing. My mother never made anything special for this guy. Neither did my Thama, paternal grandmother.

Even Dida, my maternal grandmother, who usually was the one with all the rituals and related food, did observe something called "Arandhan", on the day before Bishwakarma Pujo but that was for another goddess Ma Manasa.

Actually I don't remember my Mother making anything special on Ganesh Pujo or Karthik Pujo either.

Do you see the trend here ? I guess these Bengali females were more feminist than any. They made special dishes only for the Goddesses!

But I believe in equal opportunity. If Durga, Lokkhi can have their bhog er khichuri and narkel naru then Baba Biswakarma can have my Kababs.

So what if the women in my family never cooked anything for him! I have other resources.

These tender, soft, juicy malai kababs are my friend's sister's recipe. She lives in UK and she shared this recipe with me almost 4 years back. I have made it umpteen times since then and everytime I make it I remember her saying that she uses "Crème fraîche" for this dish, for that is what they get in Europe and not just some blah "sour cream".

There are many recipes of Chicken Kabbas out there but I always, always stick to Tumi'r recipes. And every freaking time I make these kababs with hung yogurt, some cream cheese, a little sour cream -- I say to myself I should have used "Crème fraîche"!!!

That is how recipes are for me, they are always about who told you about it, whom you learned from, where you heard about it, whose home you tasted it, who gave you those small to  and what you remember it by.

Chicken tenderloins cut in kabab sized cubes -- 1.5 lb

Marinade Ingredients

Thick Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt strained of whey) -- 1/2 cup
Sour Cream -- 1/4th Cup (I usually don't have sour cream at home so skip this)
Cream Cheese -- 3-4 Tbsp
Olive Oil -- 2 tsp

Spices for marinade

Garlic Paste -- 1 Tbsp
Tandoori Masala -- 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder -- 1 tsp
Chat Masala -- a sprinkle
Dried Mint -- 1/2 tsp
Green Chili -- 2 minced
Lemon Juice -- from 1/2 lemon
Salt -- to taste

Marinate the Chicken pieces with all the ingredients listed under "Marinade Ingredients"

Then add all ingredients under "Spices for marinade"

Toss the chicken pieces well making sure all pieces are well coated. Now refrigerate for 1 hr to overnight.

When you are ready to cook, put the pieces on a skewer. put the skewers on a grill rack with a dripping tray below. Into the oven at 375 F for 20 mins.

Then take out and turn the skewers. Drizzle a little bit more of olive oil and put to broil for 6-8 minutes

Serve it right away with salad or roti.

School Lunch ideas: You can also cool and freeze in portions and add these to noodles or fried rice or even make a chicken tikka gravy with these kababs

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Bengali Rice Congee or Phenaa Bhaat

Phenaa Bhaat in all Bengali Homes == Bengali Rice Congee in a restaurant.

Few days back, I was talking to Pritha Di( the famous Pritha Sen) about typical Bengali breakfasts served in Bengali middle class homes until a few years back.

" Don't tell me about Luchi, Parotta, Kochuri. Tell me something else, " I said.

That is when memory of this ubiquitous dish, ever present in our childhood mornings, came back.

For the first ten years of my life, I remember rushing through the morning, sleepy eyed and grumpy to catch the school bus somewhere around 8 AM. What I cannot fathom is, how I managed to eat a hot breakfast of soft cooked rice, mashed potatoes and boiled eggs with a pat of melting Amul Butter, that early!! My daughters can barely finish a bowl of cereal in that time.

But it wasn't me alone. Millions of Bengali kids fortified themselves with a similar breakfast and probably still do. It is a healthy, one pot meal. easy for the mothers to cook and definitely good for the kids who swallow the soft morsels hurriedly in the morning.

In PrithaDi's home it was known as "Jau Bhaat". In mine "Phenaa Bhaat" and if the starch was drained then "Seddho bhaat" or "Bhaate Bhaat".

In those days, we had no idea that other Asian kids, strewn around China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Myanmar are probably eating a similar gruel called Congee as their breakfast.

The key to the Bengali "Phenaa Bhaat" is the rice. It has to be a short grained rice and if a fragrant one, all the more better. So the natural choice is Gobindobhog rice. In its absence you can use Kalijeera or any other local short grained rice. The rice is to be cooked with lots of water and vegetables to a starchy gruel like texture. The vegetables vary with season and shouldn't overpower the dish. During summer it is usually potatoes, and then you pick couple of choices from okra, pumpkin, radish and green papaya. In the winter, there is carrots, sweet peas, cauliflower and of course potatoes.

Once cooked, the vegetables can be mashed separately and served with the dish. Some of the vegetables like pumpkin, potatoes and papaya can just be roughly mashed into the rice itself. My mother used to also serve fried fish with the seddho bhaat when she was pressed for time. All of this would be topped with Ghee or a pat of golden Amul butter.

I like it when the dish has a silky and smooth texture and served with eggs. I also like to dress it up with some green chili and ginger slices fried in mustard oil.

3 Ingredient Oreo Cookies Ice cream

Summer temperatures have been high around here and that can only mean ice cream and more ice cream.

This "No Ice cream Maker" recipe is so easy that any kid could do it and that's what Little Sis did. Well she is not that little any more. Almost eleven.

But what I am saying is, this recipes is so easy that any kid in elementary school who can follow some instructions should be able to make this ice cream.

Honestly taking a photo of this ice cream was more difficult than making it. Since the oreos had been crumbled and the rest devoured by the girls, we couldn't find any Oreo cookie to style the ice cream photo. That is when Big Sis suggested to put a tiny piece of brownie (she had just made a batch for her friend) on the ice cream. That is what you see there and Li'l Sis said it was a good addition to the ice cream actually. Sugar on Sugar.

But then that's what our short lived summers are for.

3 Ingredient Oreo Cookies Ice cream

What you Need

Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream -- 1 Cup

Condensed Milk -- 1/2 Cup or 4oz (a little less than this is okay)

Oreo Cookies -- 10-15 Oreo Cookies crumbled (Either crumble them with a rolling pin or use a mixer)
Note: We had Thins so used about 15

How I Did It

Beat heavy cream/whipping cream at high speed setting until soft peaks form. Speed setting 6 for 6 minutes. This was our KitchenAid setting.
You could use a hand mixer or even beat with a whisk but the latter would take longer time.

Add Condensed Milk to the heavy cream and stir to mix.

Add the crumbled Oreos. Mix well.

Pour this heavenly mixture in an air-tight glass container. Cover with lid. Put in freezer.

Take out after 8-10 hours. Ice cream will be set by then.

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