Kumro Seddho/Kumro Bhaate -- Mashed Butternut Squash

So here we are, back to hectic Monday, from a long luxurious weekend. My high point of last week was getting the Cuisinart Hand blender from CSN Stores.Yep, that is what I finally ordered, thanks for all your wonderful comments. I still have some left over points and have to finish them up by this month end. I am not going to get extra tall bar stools, but they are selling those if you like.

Now back to the weekend we were discussing. Hope you all had fun, cooking, cleaning and clearing up.

Kumro Bhaate

Me ? I really had fun. Not to make you jealous or anything but all I did this holiday was eat food cooked by friends and sit at the corner couch with my feet tucked beneath reading Judy Blume. Typical "lyad khaoa" as we call such relaxation in Bong lingo.

Of course it wasn't totally peaceful, because there is LS to account for. But she spent a lot of time with BS and our friend's daughter and didn't cause much harm except scribbling with a pencil on the walls of their new home. Now these friends are practically like family, so they didn't mind the graffiti and continued to feed us good food throughout.

I wouldn't have done that. Before LS came into our life, I was very particular about walls and such stuff. I would internally hyperventilate if a child so much as brought a crayon to my Western Flaxed wall. And then LS came and changed everything. In the scheme of things, Western Flax suddenly was not that important.

I didn't tell my friends that though. I mean here was this guy effortlessly making rosogolla from scratch, just to give us the fresh wonderful taste of warm soft rosogollas bobbing in light syrup and here was I doing nothing but sitting on the corner sofa and there was my little girl practicing "Sircol" on their fresh white walls. How could I tell them fresh white walls was not important ?

Apparently they knew.

Back home yesterday, I was not up to cooking much. It was D's dinner making day so I had to do something for lunch. While I cooked the chicken, I thought how exactly I should serve the Butternut Squash in the refrigerator.

I am not particularly fond of cutting and peeling B. Squash. I never said this, because I thought it was my personal problem. But it seems it is a global phenomenon(does 2 people make global ?) and peeling butternut's tough outer skin is not everybody's idea of fun.

I usually do Mandira's roasted butternut squash . That way, there is no peeling and it tastes good too. But the soul craved some sunny kumro bhaate or kumro sheddho with steaming rice.Yes, I could have hacked the squash in chunks, boiled them and then peeled the skin to make kumro sheddho. That would be normal but also b..o..r..ing.

So I hacked them, tossed them in olive oil, red chili pepper, roasted cumin powder, salt, little honey and roasted them as Mandira said. I kept the honey and spices low, 'coz ultimately I was going to mash it up and spike it up with mustard oil.

After it was done, I peeled the skin off. You could also scoop out the orange fleshy innards, that would be easier. It came off effortlessly like hair off my scalp. I then mashed the soft flesh. Added a tsp of mustard oil, 3 finely chopped green chili, sugar and salt to taste and lightly worked everything in.

It tasted delicious. Not exactly my kind of comfort food, but the kind of food I am at the right age to go back to seeking comfort.

For posterity's sake, BS loved this and asked for seconds.


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Kumro Seddho -- Mashed Butternut Squash

Cut a butternut squash vertically through the center. Scoop out the seeds. Now hack large chunks of it(same or larger than the ones in the picture).

Toss the chunks with
1 tbsp Olive Oil
a pinch of Dry Roasted Cumin Powder
1/4 tsp Red Chili Powder
salt to taste
1 tsp of honey

Preheat oven to 350F. Roast the squash in a single layer till you see squash is done and the skin is just starting to shrivel. Do not over roast it, because we are now going to mash it.
Note: With regular Indian pumpkin skip the roasting part and just boil, mash and season

When done, peel the skin off and scoop out the orange soft flesh in a wide mouthed bowl. Mash it, yeah, mash, mash.Add 2 tsp of Mustard Oil, 3 green chili finely chopped, a little sugar and salt to taste. If you like it hot, crumble two dry red chili pepper and add the flakes. Work everything in lightly with your fingers. Garnish with freshly chopped corriander leaves.

Serve with steaming white rice.

Note: If you want to skip the oven, you can boil the butternut squash on stove top till tender. You can also cook in the microwave for 10-12 minutes or until tender and fully cooked. Remember to cover and add a little water while cooking in the Microwave.
If you have a Pressure cooker, cook in the pressure cooker. It should be done in 5-6 minutes, I am thinking, check this.
In the MW or boiling method, the squash may become watery. So after mashing remove extra water and then add the seasonings.

Alu Seddho/Alu Bhaate -- Thanks for Mashed Potatoes

This Thanksgiving I am really thankful that BS does not have a Thanksgiving Feast at school.

Now don't get me wrong. Usually I have no problem with them, the feasts that is. Actually I love feasts more when they are hosted by a third party.

In all her pre-school years, the teacher would put up a sign up sheet behind the door a week before the party and the parents would pick anything from that list to get for the feast. The school was paranoid about food allergy in a good way and no cooked food from home was ever allowed. The list was always always made up of boxed or packaged items, juice, fruits and paper products. The school supplied the rest.

Her school since last year is no less paranoid about food and does not even accept home baked cake etc. for birthdays.

So last year when her teacher sent home a list a week before Thanksgiving with a tick and my name against Mashed Potatoes, I was flummoxed. With despair I looked at the Paper Products, Table Cloth, Juice boxes, Apple slices all there on the list but nary a tick for me on any of them but Mashed Potatoes.

Why me ? I said silently and soon after I said 20 "Hail Marys". I mean shouldn't I be thankful that after all it was only mashed potatoes and not a whole stuffed turkey.

And what after all is Mashed Potatoes ? Nothing but what in Bengali we call Alu Seddho and what I ate for breakfast with rice and ghee for the first eight years of my life until the doctor intervened.

Alu Seddho or Alu Bhaate with a hint of mustard oil, finely chopped red onion and green chili, served with steaming rice, light masoor dal and a spoonful of flavorful ghee is after all every Bengalis comfort food. My Ma could make it with her eyes closed. Why, even my Dad could make it with his eyes open and that speaks volumes about the ease of the dish.If I had doubts about mashed potatoes I would be putting my Bong upbringing to shame.

So I said "Hah" and promptly forgot all about it.

However as the day dawned near I started having my doubts. Logical doubts based on real life. Doubts like would BS's classmate take to mustard oil like fish takes to water ? Was it ok to put finely chopped raw red onion in food served to 20 odd kids, half of whom probably had never seen an onion in life ? What if their parents sued me because the green chili was too hot or the mustard oil caused them to sneeze ?

So, I sent her teacher a mail asking what kind of Mashed Potatoes they preferred, Asian-Indian or American-Indian ?

The teacher said I need not worry too much and I could pick any American recipe.

So, of course I googled and each recipe of mashed potato looked worse than the other. I mean, milk, heavy cream and cream cheese in your mashed potato ? Why would you need two sticks of butter to make a potato taste good, hello, who set up that rule? What was I doing here, trying to teach kids spell O-B-E-S-I-T-Y?

Chop potato in quarters. Boil in pressure cooker or in an open pan. You can also microwave. When the potatoes are done, cool and peel the skin. Mash the potatoes with a masher or your hands. Add few drops of mustard oil, very finely chopped red onion, very finely chopped green chili, salt to taste. Work everything together. Make uneven, rustic looking balls and serve with steaming rice and ghee.

So, there I am again, e-mailing the teacher, asking which exact recipe she wanted me to follow.

Was Alton Brown's mashed potatoes with garlic good enough ? Did she want cream cheese or just milk and butter was fine ? What potatoes did she think would cut the deal, Russet or Yukon Gold ? How many times should I wash my hand and was Bath & Body Anti-bacterial better than Purell ?Did she even know how much a bag of Yukon Gold cost ? I mean, what is wrong with Idaho, I make Alu Seddho with Idaho and they are very good.

At this point I am sure the teacher must have hollered a few choice words at me in confinement of her school's staff room. In a very polite mail, she suggested I just buy mashed potatoes at the super market and send it to school.

Trust me, till that time the e-mail arrived I did not know that they sold mashed potatoes in the Super Market. Yes, mashed potatoes in a tub or in a box, microwaveable and ready to eat. I could see before my eyes, Manju'r ma, my Ma's house help, losing an opportunity to be the next Martha Stewart simply because she did not know to package and market alu seddho. My eyes welled up at the opportunity lost and I cried fat tears right there at one of the aisles in the frozen section of Shop Rite or was it Wegman's.

Ok, I actually cried because there were so much to choose from. I came home with tons of mashed potato boxes, some with sweet potatoes, some with garlic and chive, some plain, some organic, some in tubs while others in flat boxes. The hubby not trusting my choices had made his own detour and came home with boxes which had dehydrated mashed potato flakes. Where do they need that now ? NASA maybe ?

Our dinner table overflowed with boxes of mashed potatoes of all kinds. We finally narrowed down to the kind we thought would serve the school right it's purpose and returned the others. Some for which we lost the receipt stayed in the pantry for the next 6 months till expiration date. Some stayed in the freezer and my Mom made delicious Alu'r chop with them.

And BS claimed she loved mashed potatoes the way her Didun made.

This year I don't remember the exact brand which we had sent to school and I would have to start all over again. But the school authorities had enough of my mails last year and this year second graders are not having a Thanksgiving feast.

Honestly, it is not my fault.

*****************

Ok, and today, at around midnight, I baked this zebra cake from this wonderful blog. The midnight part is not as important as the "I baked" part. It was an easy cake to bake and was quiet good to eat too. I found it a little less sweet for the kids liking so next time I am going to up the sugar. For now I did a cream cheese and chocolate frosting to enhance the sweetness.

Happy ThanksGiving folks, if you are celebrating. If not, just be thankful.

Dhonepata Maach -- Fish in a cilantro sauce

My two girls being different in a lot of aspects are uncannily similar and I am not including points about both being of the same gender here. For one they are both House Devils and Outside Angels. In case of LS, "Outside" means other people's homes and excludes public places like library, stores, mall etc.

But the charm of hearing "How well behaved your kids are", have worn off me.I would rather they jump on the neighbor's couch than mine and beat up snotty down the road than share my idli stand with him. I don't see that happening though. Even LS who screams if BS so much as touches her bagel, will politely give up her toys in face of a stranger who is not a house resident. And I did not even teach her to share !!!

Now to the fish. This recipe is my friend S's, the one who is the diva of fish fries and all such things. Have I told you she is an amazing cook ? Ok, I have.

But have I told you that she might be THE reason for me to eventually shut down this blog ? No, I haven't ? Well, I just did. I mean I didn't shut the blog, but if I ever did She(S) is to blame.

Every time I am at a dinner at her place, I want to come home and forget my password for Blogger. I mean there she is, cooking up a storm for 30 odd people, each dish perfect and delicious, the presentation beautiful and the best is, every time she has something new to offer, a slight twist on similar Bengali dishes  and here am I who gets the hibbie-jibbies at the very though of cooking for 30 people !!!

S is also very nice about sharing her recipes. She doesn't have intentions of filing a patent on them and her recipes are totally open source. She will share them with all her tips unlike some people who guard recipes like the state secret.

So last week at the dinner she hosted, she had made an amazing green fish/fish in cilantro sauce/dhone pata maach. It was very unlike anything I had ever had. It is another story, that "that evening" was unlike any I had ever had, what with the hostess accidentally cutting her hand and being rushed to the emergency for stitches and the kitchen looking like a murder scene with blood and shards of glass everywhere. But we Bongs are shameless folks, so while S was in ER we ate her awesome fish, bhapa chingri, biryani, fulkopi et al and discussed her awful accident.

Yesterday while discussing her eight stitches, she revealed the secret of her fish. I wanted to try it right then, but I did not have half her ingredients. So I improvised. The result was good but not as good as hers.

Maybe it is time for me to make the last call.

1. S said, we need Shaan Fish Seasoning. I had none and no way was I going to buy a box for one dinner for two of us . The ingredients on the Shaan Spice box said:mace, clove, cardamom, green mango powder, fenugreek leaves and what not. I mixed 1/4 tsp Garam Masala + 1/4 tsp Kasoori Methi + 1/4 tsp Corriander Powder + little Amchoor to make my own seasoning.

2. S said to use a little of MDH dried Mint. Again I gave this a skip.

3. S said to fry the fish, I baked them. S said to use a little ajwain, instead I used Methi/Fenugreek seeds and Big Brown Elaichi/Cardamom.

As a result my dish wasn't exactly like hers. But still I am writing it down both with her and my versions so that I NEVER forget her version which I intend to do soon.


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Dhonepata maach -- Fish in Cilantro Sauce

Serves 2 adults and 1 kid. 2 fillet of Tilapia cut in cubes were used.

Grind together
1 cup of chopped fresh corriander leaves
1/2 cup of thick yogurt
2-3 fat cloves of garlic
1" ginger
4 green chili
to a smooth paste
Note: S used a little dry mint in this paste.

Cut the fish fillet in 2" cubes. S used a fish called Swahi, I did Tilapia. A firm fish with no strong flavor works well

Smear the fish with turmeric and salt and keep aside for 15-20 mins. Pan Fry the fish pieces till they are light golden on both sides. I baked them at 350 for 20 mins and then on broil for last 5 mins.

Heat White Oil in a saucier/kadhai. Add 1 cup of chopped red onion. Fry the onion till it browns on the edges. Cool and make a paste. I don't remember if she asked to use Tomato.

Season the oil with 5-6 methi seeds and two large cardamom. S did not use methi or cardamom, remember she had Shan. When the methi seeds sputter, add the onion paste. Fry for half a minute. Then add the corriander-yogurt paste. At low heat fry the masala till you see there is no excess water and oil seeps out from the edges. You need to cook the masala really well, you will no when it is drier than what you started with and there is oil around the edges.

Now add about 1 tsp of Shaan Fish Seasoning. I did not have this, so I added my spice mix of 1/4 tsp Garam Masala + 1/4 tsp Kasoori Methi + 1/4 tsp dry roasted Corriander Powder + little Amchoor . With a sprinkle of water fry the masala for a minute. Make Garam Masala like this.

Now add 1 cup of water. Add salt to taste. Let the gravy simmer at medium heat. Adjust and check for seasonings. I think I added a little sugar at this point.

Gently slide the fish pieces into the gravy. let it simmer for 2-3 minutes till gravy thickens. Switch off and transfer to serving dish.