Koraishutir Kochuri na Koraishutir Parota

Today I will not talk much and we will have a peas-ful time.

Koraishuti|Motorshuti| Sweet peas, whatever you call ya, has sweet, nostalgic ties to our Indian childhood. It was a coveted vegetable that made its appearance in our childhood sabji markets only during winter. Since it stayed around for only a couple of months, it was much adored and cherished, just like anything else that is not routine or regular in our life.

Almost all of us have fond memories of shelling sweet peas with the winter sun on our back, our feet stretched out on the colorful madur on the terrace. Grandmothers, aunts, mothers, cousins, all sitting together and shelling sweet peas, amidst gossips and tales of joys and sorrow. Sweet Pea was not just a vegetable, it was something that brought families together. And if all the shelling was toward Koraishutir Kochuri for dinner, our joys doubled and triple until it spilled over in the winter sun

But today there will be no nostalgia about shelling green peas by the mounds on winter evenings watching Chitrahar on DD1. No fond remembrance of the waxy pea pods and their sweet pea smell.Not a word about how the pea pods would taste in a jhol Ma would make. I could have lapsed into sweet memories of my Dida making koraishuti'r kochuri and us huddled in the pantry below the stairs, shelling peas, popping a couple of peas from each pod, laughing and the mound of peas growing much smaller than the mound of gathering pods.

But I will not speak thus because I did not shell a single this Friday night. I used my pack of frozen Birds Eye peas in the freezer. I lost out on the bonding over peas but on a Friday night when all I wanted to do is fix dinner and conk off, the shelled sweet peas worked more than fine.

And also let me clarify, I did not make Koraishuti'r kochuri. No, I made Koraishutir Parota. Not much difference except for a gallon of oil here and there. Not that a gallon more matters when it's the season to be merry. But I had just consumed pounds of butter a week back and did not think following up with a gallon of oil would be judicious.So Koraishuti'r Parota it was.

Updated on Dec 30th 2017: This post has been updated with the Koraishutir Kochuri recipe which I made again today. I have realized a gallon of oil does not a difference make when serious stuff like Kochuri is around. So if you scroll down you will get the Kochuri recipe!!!


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So towards this venture let's first make the Pur or the stuffing made with peas only. It is easy and quick if you have a freezer and peas in them.

The stuffing remains same if you make Kochuri or Parota.

This makes stuffing just enough for 8 Parotas or 12-14 Kochuris. Take into consideration that if you are like me, you will eat the stuffing just like that too.

Defrost 2 cup of frozen sweet peas. I usually prefer the Microwave for such purpose.

Put in a blender
the peas
1 tbsp of peeled and chopped ginger
2 green chili(optional)
very little water, a tsp to start with
Make a fine paste

Heat Vegetable Oil in a frying Pan

Add a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida. I will insist on this as it lends an awesome fragrance. Many Bengali homes will add a little whole cumin instead of Hing, but I will steadfastly stand by Hing. I sometimes do the tadka with cumin + Hing.

Add the pea paste that you just made. Sprinkle 1 tsp of Dry Roasted Cumin + Red Chilli Powder(Bhaja Moshla). Add salt to taste. If your peas are not sweet enough add a little sugar. If you like it hot add some Red Chili Powder. Improvise.

Now keep stirring till the water from the pea mix totally evaporates and the mixture becomes dry, thicker and congeals like in 4th picture anti-clockwise. This takes a good 15-20 minutes or more. Basically it should come to a stage where you can make a small ball for the stuffing.

The Koraishutir Parota

Now let us first work on the dough for the Parota. I am not really a flour girl and flour intimidates me. So though I have tried to bring it all down to numbers the merit of your dough is in your kneading

The following measure makes more Parathas than the stuffing I made. Since I make smaller sized Parathas this measure gave me about 14 small parotas.

AP Flour/Maida ~ 1 cup
Whole Wheat Flour ~ 1 cup
White Oil for shortening ~ 1&1/2 tbsp. many people use ghee as shortening too.
Salt ~ a pinch or say 1/4tsp
Warm Water ~ 1 cup(added gradually). Some people add warm milk to make a softer dough, I haven't, you can try.
Dry Flour ~ in a plate for rolling the Paratha.

In a wide mouthed bowl add the flour, the salt and the oil for shortening.
With your finger tips rub in the oil into the flour.
Now gradually add the warm water working the flour into a dough. If it becomes too watery don't panic and add a smattering of flour but it is smart to be cautious with the water.
Knead the dough till it does not stick to your fingers at all.
Keep on kneading till the dough becomes alabaster smooth, soft and pliable.

Cover with a damp cloth or damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

Once again pummel/knead the dough and make small ping-pong sized balls from it.

Now start rolling as follows

Roll a small disc

Make a small ball out of the stuffing and put in the center of the disc

Bunch up all sides to make a purse

Now pinch the dough to cover up the opening and flatten it out on the palm of your hand.

Roll out sprinkling a little dry flour as you go

Heat a skillet/tawa. Place the rolled paratha on the heated tawa and cook on one side until bubbles starts to appear.

Flip the other side and pour oil in drops around the edges of the paratha.

After half a minute or so flip again and again add oil around the edges. Keep doing this, every side half a minute or so until the paratha is cooked on bot sides. There will be little brown spots on the surface and then you know you are done.

Koraishutir Kochuri

For making Kochuri we use more Maida/AP Flour and more shortening

AP Flour/Maida ~ 2&1/2 Cup
Whole Wheat Flour ~ 1/2 cup
VegetableOil for shortening ~ 3 tbsp

Make the Dough like dough for Luchi

In a wide mouthed bowl add the flour, the salt and the oil for shortening.
With your finger tips rub in the oil into the flour.
Now gradually add the warm water working the flour into a dough. If it becomes too watery don't panic and add a smattering of flour but it is smart to be cautious with the water.
Knead the dough till it does not stick to your fingers at all.
Keep on kneading till the dough becomes alabaster smooth, soft and pliable.

Cover with a damp cloth or damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.

Once again pummel/knead the dough and make small ping-pong sized balls from it. For Kochuri make smaller sized balls.

Roll Out

Now to roll out, follow same steps as the Parota.

Kachuri is deep fried and smaller in size so make smaller discs. Put stuffing and roll just like above only a bit thinner.

Fry

Now heat oil in a wok/kadhai and deep fry the kochuri till both sides puff up.

This process is more like making luchi which I have here and here.

Enjoy these with some Alur Dom or Cholar Dal or just by themselves.

Tomato diye Macher Patla Jhol

Come Winter, I start recollecting the exact way this light fish curry with tomatoes would taste. It is not that I make it only in Winter. No, it is an easy dish and I make it throughout the year whenever I have less time on hand which apparently translates to often.

But never do I think deeply about it as I do, when the mercury drops and I seek out a patch of sunlight sliding through the high windows of my family room.

Years ago winter meant sunshine on your back, a sunshine that warmed you unlike the folly outside my window. It also meant lots of fresh plump red tomatoes, their skin smooth and taut as a baby's bottom and green coriander leaves, dhone pata, with a smell that reminded you of green fields stretched out luxuriously in the winter sun.

Ok, I am not really sure if they reminded anyone of anything but food but that statement sounds pretty nice so that is how it will be written.

It also meant mid-terms or half-yearly as we called them.Coming home early, dusty and tired after half a day of writing about meaning less things on a sheaf of paper, right in time when Ma would be serving lunch. On such days, this light fish curry with the fresh tomatoes was what I most looked forward to. Made with Rui(Rohu) or some fresh Chara Pona, this halka jhol solely relied on the tomatoes and the fish to impart the right taste. With some fluffy white rice, this would be the only bright spot on a day that would be later spent ruthlessly memorizing the details of Panipat War.

Better days of December would soon follow and there would be rich fruit cakes, pastries from Flury's, juicy Darjeeling oranges made into kamola kheer, but this macher jhol would still hold its place and would whisper "home" while we made a pledge to survive on only rum balls the entire life.

Perfect to be described as "kalojiire ar alpo aadar ros, kNachalonkar kuchi diye ekta machher halka refreshing jhol ranna korlam, sathe seddho chaaler jhorjhore bhaat" -- Kuntala

In the US, if you have access to an Asian Market, I would insist you get fresh fish like Striped Bass or Buffalo Carp cut in steak sized pieces from there. They taste awesome in this gravy. Even Pomfret or Butterfish from there will work well. Rohu from your Bangladeshi Fish seller works very well too. If everything fails try with fillet of Tilapia or Rainbow Trout.

Never, ever make this dish with Mahi Mahi like I did this Sunday. It took away all the taste of the dish. Also no Salmon. Sweet water fish works best for this kind of light gravy.

I blogged about exactly this dish in October when I just started blogging way back. Things don't change that much foodwise.


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Tomato diye Macher Patla Jhol

Serves 3 adults. About 6-8 pieces of 2" x 3" fish pieces.

Wash the fish pieces in warm water, pat dry & and smear them with half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and salt. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes

Heat Mustard Oil in a Kadai/Wok till you see smoke just coming out, indicating it's hot enough.
Fry the fish in hot oil till it turns light golden on both sides, kind of deep fry. The only draw back of this is most of the oil goes to waste as you discard most of the oil after frying. You can also save this oil for frying fish again next day as my Ma would do.

If you are using fillet of fish you can shallow fry them in much less oil.

Heat Mustard oil to smoking in Kadai/Wok.

Temper the hot oil with a little less than 1/2 tsp of Kalonji/ Kalo Jeera and 4-5 hot Indian green chillies slit through the center.

Puree or finely chop two medium tomatoes of good quality. I used about 1 cup of fresh tomato puree.

Saute till they become a fine pulp, kind of mushy and you see the oil seeping out on the edges. The raw tomato-ey smell should be totally gone.

Add 1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger and saute for a minute

Now add a pinch of turmeric powder and 1 cup of water. Add salt to taste.

Simmer till the gravy comes to a boil.When the gravy comes to a boil add the fish pieces.

Add a fistful of fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Cook for a few more minutes and you are done. The gravy is light and is best enjoyed with white rice.

Chocolate Marble Pound Cake -- science of baking

Because it is December and we are in the Northern Hemisphere where December == Cold Winter, I have decided to crank up the oven on Friday nights to give us the much needed warmth.

This will also help me work on my non-existent baking skills. My goals aren't lofty. I just want to bake something decent that BS and LS might love and their children might enjoy and 200 years later the family fondly remember Great Grandma Bong Mom's Pound Cake while beating eggs 300 strokes by hand. Ahem.

So far, BS loves the Chocolate Brownies and the Better Than ... Chocolate Cup Cakes. I haven't told her the name and yet she loves them. They are really rich and chocolate-y.

Before Thanksgiving I made the Zebra Cake which looked really nice with the zebra patterns. But it was a little less sweet and not very rich in texture. Me & D liked it because it was less sweet and more bread than cake like.

BS didn't really show much enthusiasm.

Now honestly BS's showing or not showing enthusiasm does not mean much except a snub on my "I am the best" feeling. She could have ga-ga'ed over the same cake if it was at her best friend's house and might even come back and eat this two months later. You never know.

Last Friday, my project was Chocolate Marble Pound Cake from Sailaja's Kitchen. Pound Cakes have loads of butter but since it is December, I said ok and went ahead. While baking I am trying to understand the science that goes behind all that creaming and beating and it would be really nice if I could experiment more and flush the product down anywhere but my throat till I get the perfect cake.

This particular cake was rich and dense. When had the next day it needed to be nuked for 10 secs to get the moist taste.Also the batter was thicker and more spreadable than pourable. That I learned was not a source of panic but the norm for pound cakes. Really ? Is that true ?
I also needed 1/4 cup more milk than the recipe asked for to make the batter moist. The cake again was a little less sweet for the kid's liking but they enjoyed it with some preserves.

Since I am trying to find meaning in this madness of baking, I will have my two cents on baking science right here. None of them are my theories, they have been sourced from here, here and here.

Let me put some jam on this

Most buttery Pound Cakes start with a step called creaming. What happens when you cream butter and sugar ?

The first step in making a pound cake is to take lots of butter at room temperature and beat it with an electric mixer. This incorporates air bubbles. Sugar is gradually added to the butter. As the sharp sugar crystals cut into the butter, tiny pockets are formed and fill with air as the mixer blades pull more butter over the top of the hole to close it. This makes the butter double in volume and become creamy in texture, which is why this procedure is called “creaming.”

While creaming you know you have reached there: when you're no longer able to see sugar granules, but you can still feel them if you rub a bit of the creamed fat between your fingers.(from the God of Such Things Alton Brown)
Here is a "one bowl" or "quick method" pound cake that skips this step

What's the fuss all about ?

How to add eggs ?

Eggs should be at room temperature before they are added to the butter-sugar. Never happens with me, I will put them in luke warm water for 5 mins and proceed. Ok, maybe I SHOULD bring them to room temp.
Add eggs one at a time to the creamed butter and sugar and beat. Now Alton Brown says, adding eggs one at a time is silly. It must be. Anything one at a time sounds silly to me. Just dump all together and get it over with, I say.
It is better to mix the eggs together first so that the water in the egg whites can hook up with the emulsifiers in the yolks. Did that even make sense ? Whatever.

Now this is easy to understand.The eggs adds more volume and allows the mixture to hold even more air. Beat until the mix is smooth, light in color and the volume has increased to look fluffy.
The texture of the cake is dense if the eggs are added whole and much lighter if the egg whites are beaten separately and then folded into the rest of the batter.

I want lots of that gooey purple stuff. Much more than Didi has.

How to add the dry ingredients ?

First sift all the dry ingredients, i.e. the flour, the baking soda or powder. Then add the dry ingreds first, usually alternating with liquid(which in this case was milk) till it is well blended. The protein in flour, the gluten is what makes the cake hold its shape but too much of it will make the cake tough.So do not overbeat as that will produce more gluten.When you start with the dry you cover the flour particles with fat and so water can't get to the flour and there won't be any gluten. This ensures a tender cake. Whoa !!!

The baking soda or powder when comes in contact with liquid or when heated, releases carbon dioxide that forms bubble in the batter. So you get more air pockets or holes in the batter. This one thing is elementary science at least.

Ooopsie Daizy !!

What happens in the oven ?

As the batter heats up in the oven, bubbles(remember air pockets formed during creaming) expand and the batter rises. As the carbon dioxide breaks down, the moisture in the cake forms steam, which fills the air pockets our sugar made. Eventually, the steam evaporates, but by this time the protein in the flour has had enough time to set, thus making the cake hold its shape.

Just as heat makes steam and carbon dioxide expand, coolness causes contraction. So if you open the oven door before the cake is set, a draft will burst the tiny bubbles and the cake will fall.

This is Messy

What is it about cake pans ?

The size and shape of the cake pan plays an important role in baking. Apparently all cakes cannot be baked in all kinds of pans. Size and material does matter. Most cake recipes work well for cup cakes too. To make pound cake cup cakes try this.

I am not eating any more of this stuff. I am done.

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Chocolate Marble Pound Cake

What You Need

AP Flour -- 2 cups
Baking powder - 1&1/2 tsp
Salt -- a pinch

Butter ~ 1 cup
Sugar ~ 1 cup

Egg ~ 3
Vanilla extract ~ 1 tsp

Milk ~ 1/2 cup(Original recipe said 1/4 cup)
Cocoa powder ~ 2 tbsp

How I Did It

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and dust a 9" round pan with flour.

Sift together the Dry ingredients

2 cups of AP Flour
1&1/2 tsp of Baking Powder
Pinch of salt

In a mixing bowl add
1 cup = 2 sticks of unsalted butter
With the aid of your mixer beat the butter.
Add 1 cup of sugar gradually.
Beat till sugar and butter mix is light in color and fluffy.

In a small separate bowl add
3 eggs
and beat lightly with a fork

Add the egg mix and 1 tsp Vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugar and beat with your mixer(for 2-3 mins) till you get a smooth mix.You could also add eggs one at a time to the sugar-butter mix, beating for 30s -- 1 min each time.

Now add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to above, gently mixing. Follow with a little of the milk. Continue this ending with the dry.

Remove a cup of this batter in a bowl and combine with 2 tbsp cocoa pwd. Mix it gently. My batter was thick and not easily pourable.
Pour a tbsp of white colored batter into the greased and floured pan. Alternate with a tbsp of cocoa batter. Continue through out till both the batters are finished.
Smooth out the top with a spatula.
Take a knife and swirl it around the batter in a zig zag fashion, 3-4 times.

Put in the oven and bake for 40-45 mins. Check with a toothpick to see if it is done. Take out of the oven and cool for 10 mins.