Quick Recipes for Covid-19 Lockdown and after

We have been in quarantine for just over a month now. And while some people have used this time to hone new skills, take masterclass, learn yoga, train for marathon, and become the next best chef, there are others like us.

Us as in me.

The ones who had dream in their eyes, a long list of things to do and learn and run and watch, at the start of quarantine but..... And there is huge BUT. But all that I have managed to achieve is multiple zoom calls and putting meals on the table. Oh also tweezing away a part of my eyebrow. I think I need at least 2 years worth of quarantine to learn anything. This past month was just spent thinking of the possibilities.

So, if you are the one who has been bogged down with work and lockdown and don't want to spend hours in the kitchen anymore, here are some easy recipes to tide you over. They are mostly quick and simple and  easy to make.

Quick Recipes for Quarantine and after

Bengali Khichuri -- Khichdi or Khichuri is the quickest one-pot meal of rice, lentils and vegetables to make. You can pair it with an egg or a papad and pickle or some fries and no meal is easier than this.

Quinoa and Samo Khichdi -- This one pot meal has Quinoa, Millets, Lentils and is protein packed as well as delicious

Bengali Congee or Phenaa Bhaat -- This is another very easy one-pot complete meal where rice and vegetables are cooked together and mashed. Top with some ghee or butter and serve with an egg or fried fish, and you have a winner

Kolkata Egg-Chicken Roll -- These are super quick to make if you have frozen parathas in the freezer. For healthier option, try these with Tortilla or Rotis.

Stir Fried Noodles - this is another favorite and easy meal to cook. You can add vegetables, eggs, shrimp or chicken of your choice.

Bread Pulao or Paurutir Pulao -- This is another of those dishes which can be a complete meal with your choice of vegetables and eggs

Doi Salmon in Oven -- This is our favorite Doi Salmon but this time done in the oven. This one is quicker and saves time. Some rice with this and you are set.

Coriander-Green Chili Fish in Oven -- Another easy and delicious fish in the oven.

Soy Sauce-Sriracha-Honey Salmon in Oven

Mixed all of these until it tasted just right
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Sriracha +.
Chilli Paste +.
soy sauce +.
garlic paste +.
honey glaze.
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 a drizzle of Olive Oil.
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Basically just mixed all together until it tasted yum and then poured over the salmon and baked it at 275F for 25 mins. It came out really good. #salmonwithsrirachahoneychilli

Busy Day's Egg Masala -- This post tells you to make an all purpose-masala that will really help you on most working days. the egg masala that follows is a delicious one too.

Savory Crepes or Dim er Parota _- You can make these and then use any stuffing of your choice. We like it with a dosa aloo stuffing or a keema stuffing

Boiled Dal with Lime Leaves -- If all else fails there is always a big pot of Dal. A boiled Dal like this one is super simple and fragrant with Lime leaves. All we need is some rice to go with.

Phuchka -- And then of course if you can make a meal out of Phuchka what else would you need

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Doma Wang's Prawn Toast -- easy, quick delicious

Prawn Toast

I didn't know Doma Wang until last year. I knew she was from Kalimpong and her restaurant Blue Poppy was famous for its momos and chilli pork, but I didn't "know" know her.

Then last year on Mother's Day, I wanted to send my Mom some food from a restaurant in Kolkata. She was not able to venture out much due to her knee pain and I thought it would be a nice surprise. I also thought it would be easy with these apps like Swiggy, Zomato etc.

Guess what? I couldn't use any of them in India with my US ph#. At this brink of frustration came a very kind restaurateur from Kolkata. Doma Wang who owns a restaurant called Blue Poppy in Middleton row.

She messaged me on FB and took upon herself to deliver food from her restaurant all the way to my Mom's for Mother's Day Lunch..And the food was so delicious. My parents loved the garlic prawn balls, noodles, chili chicken and the momos.

Then last year when I visited Kolkata, on my wish list was to eat at her restaurant. However it did not work out. So I called her to ask if she delivered food. I was desperate to eat her famous momos. The day before I was to leave for the US, she sent me her famous momos and pork sapata. They were so delicious. The pork sapata flew across oceans with me, and the husband-man as well as the girls wre blown away by this dish.

When I saw her and her daughters cooking Prawn Toast during this Quarantine, I knew I had to make this dish. It seemed to be very easy and if it was her recipe I was sure it would be delicious. So last weekend, I made these delicious Prawn Toasts at home. The perfect snack with a cup of tea. I am definitely going to make this as starters for parties too.

It was super easy to make. Just my kind of dish.

Easy, Quick and Delicious

Kolkata Mishti Doi -- Bengali sweet yogurt

Kolkata's Mishti Doi | Laal Doi

Mishti Doi is a sweet yogurt that is very popular in Bengal. The yogurt has a reddish tinge due to simmering milk for a long time and caramelizing sugar. This recipe gives both an oven as well as a non-oven version to set the doi.

In my childhood, Kolkata was the land of two kinds of "doi" or yogurt.

Tok doi -- the regular tart yogurt, white in color, which we always had with a sprinkle of sugar and the only kind available where we lived.
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Mishti Doi -- a reddish tinged, sweet and creamy yogurt served in small earthenware cups. This was only available in Kolkata in those days and was high on the list of our things-to-eat during our annual visits.
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Some people called this "laal doi" or red yogurt because of the reddish tinge. Some stores went all fancy and branded it as "Payodhi". My Baba was a huge fan of this one and since we didn't get mishti doi where we lived, he had it almost every day during our Kolkata visits.
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But still basically two types of yogurt.
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Last year, when I went to Balaram's outlet in MishtiHub, I was confronted with myriad varieties of yogurt. There was "Kheer doi" , "Aam or Mango Doi", "Baked Doi" (which seemed to be bhapa doi) and then our "Mishti Doi".
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This was all very good but the "Mishti Doi" was white. I mean no reddish tinge ar all. White as if it was washed in Surf Excel!! I squinted and looked at it from all angles but it looked nothing like that "laal mishti doi" of my childhood 😩😩. (It tasted very good though).
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I even asked the servers at the store about the color, and the young men gave me weird looks and said "Mishti Doi has always been white".

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Now for me Mishti Doi is always reddish with a caramel tinged color. It is said that the original Laal Doi attributes its origin  to Nabadwip's Phasitala, and Kali Ghosh. Kali Ghosh and Hari Ghosh were two brothers, who used to make curd and whey. They would boil buffalo milk and let it simmer in a gentle fire for a long time, to thicken and condense it. The milk took on a reddish tinge as it simmered and thickened. This milk was then sweetened and used to set Yogurt. Later the store bought Mishti Doi always had a layer of dalda or some kind of fat reddish in color on the top. It was really delicious!!

When I saw this reddish colored Misthi Doi made by a friend last week, I knew I had to make it. However I got the red color by caramelizing the sugar.
I basically used the same recipe as I have for my Bhapa Doi but I used caramelized sugar instead of Condensed milk. Also this was not bhapa so there was no steaming. I did not do the water bath in the oven that I do for my bhapa doi. Instead I kept the oven temperature low at 200F and kept this yogurt to set in the oven for 2 hrs. A lower temperature and longer time is better.

Few points to Note:
1. I used Evaporated Milk in this recipe so my process was fairly quick and easy. If you are using Whole Milk, you have to reduce the milk.
2. My sugar got caramelized a little bit more. I should have stopped a few secs early.
3. I think adding 2-3 Tbsp of Condensed Milk would be more to my taste for this Mishti Doi.
4. This tastes best chilled for 3-4 hours.