Narkel Posto Bora -- inspired by Mitan Ghosh

Narkel Postor Bora

Yesterday I got a delivery slot from Costco on Instacart. Yessss!! Never thought things like this will give me so much joy.

If a month ago to this day, you would have asked me what was the greatest accomplishment in life? I would have fumbled. Now I know the answer. Getting a delivery slot on Instacart after trying for a whole week! That is my major accomplishment.

The husband-man is kind of the nonchalant types and is ready to go to Costco once a week at least. During this quarantine he misses Costco the most I think. More when he is stuck at home with all of us all the time. However I don't want to go out in the next two weeks since our Governor keeps saying that cases will peak in our state in these two weeks. Honestly, I don't think anyone knows the correct model that predicts the peak but given that we have been in lockdown for 3 weeks now and the curve hasn't flattened, this better be the peak!

So I am trying to get essential grocery items home delivered and it has not been easy. Delivery slots are never ever available and harder to get than winning a lottery.

However I am not going to complain about this lockdown at all. It has given me time to relax a little both mentally and physically. We are also connecting with friends a lot over Zoom and Hangouts. We even celebrated our favorite twins' 14th birthday over Zoom.

We have had  Virtual chai time with the neighborhood ladies on Zoom, each with our own cup of chai in our own favorite corner.
No one had to make 8 cups of chai or wash all those cups or clean house before guests were coming😂😛
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We have even had Zoom morning meetup with college friends from different parts of the world which has not happened before because weekends are always busy.🤩
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Every day now, I have the time to video chat with my parents 2-3 times a day. 💕
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LS's Bharatanatyam class with 14 others girls and teacher is via Webex. I don't have to drive her to class and I can now watch her dance😍

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We had enough time to watch movies like Tootsie, Murder on the Orient Express, Wajda  so far🎬. Not many but this is a rare occasion in my home. The four of us hardly have time together or if we do, each wants to spend that little free time doing their own thing.
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The girls are baking and even cooking a lot, making lunch for themselves almost every weekday. Lil Sis has become quite the baker with her steady supply of banana muffins for our breakfast and is often seen making pasta for lunch during the week.
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I have never had better weekends!! And never as connected as with social distancing in place!
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This is a difficult time indeed and my prayers for all who are suffering. But for others, whose only fallout of the pandemic so far, is quarantine, we really have NOTHING to complain about.

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Now today I made these Narkel Posto Bora aka Coconut Poppy seeds fritters after drooling over my friend Mitan's photo of the same. Mitan is a talented designer and also an amazing cook. Every day of this quarantine she has been luring us with her food.

Since Posto is nothing but Xanax for us Bengalis, I finally gave in and made these following her recipe. Since I am running low on Posto, the addition of coconut was a very welcome idea. These are so good and makes you feel so happy, that you will exude positvity when you make them


What You Need

Grated Coconut -- 1 Cup (we get frozen grated coconut. I have defrosted and used that)
Poppy seeds -- 1/2 Cup

Green Chilies -- 2-3 chopped fine
Kalonji/Nigella seeds -- 1/2 tsp

Maida/AP Flour  -- 2 Tbsp

Mustard Oil -- 2-3 tsp

How To make the Paste when you have a good mixer

Soak the Poppy seeds in little water for 10-15 minutes. Strain the poppy seeds

In the mixer jar add
1/2 Cup of Poppy seeds with a little water
Make a paste

Add grated coconut to the above. Now blitz to make a fine coconut+ poppy seeds paste

How to make the Paste when you only have Magic Bullet which is not working at its best

Bring out the Coffee Grinder, it is an inexpensive and a familiar feature in a sambar smelling, begun bhaja greasing grad student apartment (I hope!).

Put 1/2 cup of Posto/Poppy Seeds in the coffee grinder and make a fine powder, as fine as the machine can without burning up that is.

Transfer the powder to a bowl. Make sure it's not too grainy.

Add approx 2-3 Tbsp of water to this powder and try to make a paste.

Now in your Magic Bullet jar, add 1 Cup of grated Coconut. With a splash of water make a paste.

Add the Posto/Poppy seeds paste to the Magic Bullet Jar and blitz to make a Coconut-Poppy seed paste.

Now make the Bora aka Fritters

The paste will look a little runny. There is no way you can make bora(fritters) with them. So add a little Maida/AP Flour. Depending on how much water you added while making the paste, you might need Maida anywhere from 2 tsp to 2 Tbsp. Mix well.
Note: If you happen to have a good mixer or a sheel or anything where you can wet grind the posto to a fine thick paste, you might not need the flour.

Next add the chopped green chilies, kalonji and salt to the Coconut-Poppy seeds paste

Grease a flat pan with few drops of Mustard oil and put on the hob. Very little oil is needed to make these, 2 tsp at most.Mustard oil is the oil of choice here. If you don't have that again weep and use Canola.

Shape a flat fritter/tikki/bora kind of structure with your bare hands, it will be irregular and just hold its shape. Put it on the pan and let it cook at medium heat. Once the edges have browned flip. Now it will be flippable. Do the other side till both sides are nicely browned.

You can have these just by themselves or with rice. Tastes awesome. Ok, you already know that.

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Quick Chili Paneer - by Big Sis

Quick Chilli Paneer

Day before yesterday, the weather being very nice, I was out in the backyard in the evening, close to the flowering trees. And then I don't know what happened. Boom! my eyes started swelling up and before I could say, "Hold on", the skin around my eyes got all puffed up, making my eyes squished inwards and tiny!!  I could not recognize myself even if I knew I was the same person. Had I committed a murder, this would be the perfect alibi. But too late. I hadn't.
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I was not bitten by an insect. Not even unknowingly. There was no pain. Just the swelling. I figured it was an allergic reaction and I do have pollen allergies which usually manifests itself in sneezing and sinus, but this eye thing was new. The husband-man and friends suggested I see a doctor but in these times, going out to a doctor's office is as much as an risky adventure as swimming across the Atlantic ocean. So I did neither.

Well, I could have opted for a televisit but then I really don't think the doc could do anything except suggest cold compress for my eyes and allergy medication, sitting remotely in the comfort of her own couch.

 So with my almost shut eyes, I looked up my symptoms on the internet and found that it could be something that could make me "DIE" in the next thirty years or it could be allergies. I went with the latter.

I have been on Zyrtec, a little of Children's Benadryl since then and putting ice on my eyes like a maniac. Yesterday I looked very Asian, not South-east Asian. My daughters said I was being racist but I am just trying to describe how I looked. I was also wearing sunglasses all the time and listening to NPR's moth hour instead of watching TV or reading books.

Today I look a cross between South-east Asian and Asian. So my eyes are coming back to normal, albeit slowly.

Since I was all  drowsy and almost blind, Big Sis made dinner yesterday. LS helped her with chopping. They both together made a Chilli Paneer and a Fried Rice which was so delicious that I wish they made dinner more often.

This is a Chili Paneer recipe we use often in our house. It's very quick and simple. I am not sure if BigSis followed it fully. Like any good cook she deviates from recipes and I am proud of that. Please take your liberty and do as you like. The result will be delicious.

What You Need

Onion - 1 medium chopped in thick slices
Green Pepper - 1 chopped in thick slices
Garlic - 4/5 minced
Green Chili - 2 chopped

Paneer - chopped into cubes

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar -- 1/2 tsp
Corn Flour -- 1-2 tsp

Vegetable Oil (or Sesame Oil) -- 3 Tbsp for cooking

To make the Sauce

Soy Sauce -- 2 Tbsp
Hot Sauce (Sriracha or any other Red Chili Sauce) -- 1 Tbsp
Maggi Hot & Sweet - 1 Tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce -- 1 tsp
White Vinegar -- 2 Tbsp
Mix all of the above to make this sauce. Taste and adjust for anything you feel is missing.

Here's how we Do It

Warm Vegetable Oil in a frying pan/saucier/Kadhai

Add the paneer pieces so that they are in one single layer. Sprinkle a little red chili powder, salt and sugar. Fry the paneer pieces so that one side is golden brown. Remove and keep aside.

To the same oil add the minced garlic.

Once you get the aroma of garlic add the onion and saute for a minute. Add the green pepper. Increase the heat to high and saute onion and green pepper until they are little soft.

Next add the sauce and mix. Reduce heat to medium.

Add the paneer pieces and toss with the sauce

In the bowl that you mixed the sauce add 1/4th Cup of water and 1-2 tsp of corn flour. Mix well. Add this to the frying pan and let it come to a simmer.

Adjust for any seasonings needed.

Serve with fried rice.

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Pasta Mexilian Bolognese -- or 3 ways to use the same dish

In the face of increasing number of deaths in New York and New Jersey, my lament about grocery stores sounds petty, There are many people getting very sick, there is an army of doctors and nurses and other healthcare workers tending to those that are very sick and getting sick themselves, there are the grocery line workers, the mailman, the garbage guy all risking their lives and out on the street while all I can complain about is going to a grocery store.

I am eternally grateful that we are able to stay home safe and so far doing okay. The little we can do to help flatten the curve is -- stay home and that is all we are doing. Thank you Google for this beautiful doodle thanking healthcare workers and researchers in the scientific community.



I had written this last week to remind me many years later how our day-to-day simple chores like grocery was impacted by the coronavirus.

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It is now the 16th day that I have been home and except for groceries once in 8-10 days, or a quick walk around the neighborhood, we have not ventured out anywhere.

Grocery shopping itself has become a nightmare.

Before going to the store, we have to wear masks, gloves, sunglasses.

Then on reaching the store have to wipe the shopping cart down with a disinfectant wipe.

After hauling all the grocery home, is the biggest task!

For the fresh vegetables, I got 2 weeks back,I had washed them and left them out in the sun. I chose a particularly sunny day to do grocery. If I had a Benimadhab Shil er Panjika (a Panchang) I would have consulted that too! I don't intend to buy Vegetables again.
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The non-perishables I keep in garage for 72 hrs.

The perishables like milk, meat etc has to be brought inside. Also the frozen stuff. This means more work.
I try to wipe down the bags and then when possible transfer the contents to another bag before putting in freezer finally.

At the end of this whole ordeal, I never want to go back to a grocery store again! Seriously.

Yesterday I went to Costco and it felt I was living in a dystopian novel. Costco has restricted access to only 30 members at a time inside the stores, so it was pretty empty, none of the usual rush. Every person was wearing a mask and gloves and moving around silently, picking up their groceries. No samples. No one peddling Vitamix. The check out persons were all behind a plexi glass shield and the usual happy faces were missing.
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The employees were managing the social distancing very well though including the checkout lines. Pretty impressive.
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Since we are all staying home, the kids do not have their after school activities and I do not have my grueling daily commute anymore, I do get more time to cook meals during the evenings. Even then it always helps if I can cook one dish and re-purpose it in different ways over the week. That way everyone gets to eat something new and yet I can ration pantry ingredients. Also my efforts in the kitchen are halved.

This dish is one of those which can be very easily serve many purposes. The primary purpose is of course the sauce base for one of our favorite Pasta dishes.
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This pasta is my take on Bolognese. But it's Mexalian Bolognese 🤣, like Italian + Mexican!
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First I make a chilli with ground chicken, canned tomatoes, garlic, onion, peppers and taco seasoning. Also some good old bhaja moshla and kashmiri mirch.

This chilli is then used used in 3 different ways.

1. First as a sauce base for Pasta. Our favorite Pasta Mexilian Bolognese

2. Second on a Roti or a Tortilla topped with avocados and onions. Or on a crepe made with millet and oat flour

3. Third you can make an empanada or a chicken patties like I did. I had puff pastry sheets and I used those