Khichuri -- on a Snow Day

I would have never, ever thought that my first post on this New year would be a Khichuri.

Bengali Khichuri | Khichri

There are many variations of Khichuri in Bengal, from the revered Bhog er Khichuri made with roasted moong dal and pure satwik ingredients to the Musur Dale er Khichuri which is made with red lentils and is flavored with onion and garlic to the Bhuni Khichuri which is a richer and drier version of Khichri

Yes, the Bong's rainy day picker-upper, their precious offering to Goddesses, their solution to all word problems, the heady mix of rice and lentils with spices and veggies -- the Khichuri.

The thing is I never got the whole brouhaha over this dish.
I mean, "Dude, it is just Dal and rice, why are you going so crazy 'bout it?"

It appears, not the Bongs alone, all of India is kind of crazy about Khichdi. In fact they are so crazy that they wanted to declare Khichdi as India's National food. Seriously? National Food? When you have so many better things like Ilish er Jhaal, Dim Kosha, Biriyani, Galouti Kababs, Aloo Paratha, Mysore Dosa to choose from, you choose Khichuri. Major eye roll!

But what can I say. My Baba is major Khichuri bhokto. He loves his Khichuri with dollops and dollops of Ghee and relishes it like no other. The husband-man is another big time Khichuri fan. Although unlike my Dad, who love his khichuris whether bland or rich, this guy loves a good khichuri.

Today we have been bombarded with what the meteorologists are calling the "bomb cyclone". It has been snowing since midnight, along with a lot of wind and it looks like we are in the middle of a snow desert. Schools have been closed and there is no way any one is venturing outside. So today I decided to make Khichuri for lunch. The only silver lining in that whole cloud of Khichuri was the omelette, yes the only thing that can redeem a Khichuri for me. I don't care for fries or labra. A nice Indian omelette with onion and green chilies is my only knight in shining armor when Khichuri is for lunch.

Unlike the Bhog er Khichuri which is made without onion and garlic and with roasted moong dal, this every day Khichuri is made with Musur aka Red Lentils and has its fair share of onion and garlic.

You can serve it with an omeltte, papad, some pickle like I did or with Beguni or Begun Bhaja

So, the thing is for a long time my Khichuri would never turn out right. You would think it is an easy-peasy thing to do but somehow mine always went wrong. Either the lentils were under-cooked or the veggies were over done or something. I eventually got it right but I figured there would be hapless souls out there who like me fail at making a Khichuri. For them, I even made a shaky video of this whole Khichuri making, holding my phone in one hand!

The Great Bengali Pata Bata or veggie Pâté -- leafy greens pâté

Mulo Shaak Bata | Phulkopi Pata Bata| Bengali Pata Bata

Radish greens, Cauliflower leaves, Lau Pata, and other such fresh green peels or leaves which we usually discard, are made into a beautiful dish in Bengal called "pata bata" which is a seasoned and spiced paste of these leaves and stalks. A close cousin of  Pate in French or a Pesto in Italian, this very Bengali rustic dish with generous doses of Mustard oil is a culinary delight.

Many, many years ago, it was a cold winter day just like today, when I was visiting my in-laws in India. Well not exactly cold like today as it was in India but it gets pretty cold where they live. Though I must say with the  sun on the terrace winter in their town is far better than here. On that winter afternoon there were several small bowls on the dining table at lunch. So yes, lunch is what I concentrate on when I visit anyone, in-laws or out-laws.

Well there were always several small bowls on the dining table but this time each of them contained a paste or mash like something in earthy colors of brown, deep green or deeper green. I had never seen the likes of them and was actually a bit suspicious with their color and portions. The husband-man however went ecstatic and shouted in glee "Baata korecho?" I was still clueless. The guy loved weird things like bittergourd and bitter neem leaves fry and so his happiness did not aid my confidence.

Nimbly I took a little of one of those baatas and mixed it with white rice and took a morsel. Flavors of mustard oil, green chili, kalonji burst in my mouth. This was good. So so good. Unlike neem paata which I detested. Surprised with the fullness of flavors and smoothness of the texture, I asked my Ma-in-law what it was ?

"Mulo Shaak Baata", she said. And then she pointed to the others and said "Kochu baata" and "Kopi paata baata"! I was bowled by all these baatas or pates or pastes. They were really heavenly. That something so simple like "Leafy greens of radish" or the "green leaves of cauliflower" could morph into something so delicious was beyond my imagination.

She explained how the greens are ground into a paste on the sheel-nora, the same pocmarked slab of stone used in all Indian homes used to wet-grind spices. After that the paste is sauteed in Mustard oil with spices like kalo jeera(kalonji), green chilies and garlic, until the water is dried out and the paste is cooked.

Sheel Nora -- though here it is being used for making posto

Back home, I asked my Mother, "How come you never made paata baata?"

She looked quizzically at me and didn't appear too happy about my allegiance towards this strange dish called "paata bata"

And when I explained what it was she dismissed it as something that Bangals make, "Bangal ra oi shob banay".

Well might be true. The Bangals, or the Bengalis who immigrated from Bangladesh during or just before partition, are known for their distinctive cooking strategies. They are also known for their enterprising habit of using every bit of vegetables and fish in a dish and not wasting even the peels. I am not sure why people from this region of Bengal are more prone to making baatas etc while the folks from West Bengal are not.

It could be that the immigrant Bengalis, living a rough life, uprooted from their home and earnings, were more careful about not wasting food and making the most of what they had. It could also be because Bangladesh was a river state with frequent flooding, so people tried to make most of the vegetables they grew during those periods of rain and flood. In both situations, the idea was to stretch to the limits of what little you had.

So whatever the reason of their origin, the pate' like dishes made from vegetable peels or leafy greens or even whole vegetables are delicious. Later my mom-in-law also made a Kaanchakolar khosa baata made with the skin of green plantains which I have shared on the blog earlier.  Last month when we were visiting my friends from Thanksgiving, my friend Deepshikha made a "Dhonepaata Bata", a similar paste like my Ma-in-law makes but with coriander leaves. It was not the "dhonepata chutney" that we make every winter. This was a cooked dish.

So once I was back in my kitchen I was itching to make a paata bata. But instead of using only Coriander leaves, I wanted to use radish greens and cabbage. And then I didn't find any radish greens at the market so I got some watercress, which we are very fond of. The paste was now made of watercress, cabbage and coriander leaves.  More of coriander and watercress and less of cabbage. I wasn't sure how the  cabbage would  turn out so I sauteed them first and then made the paste. But honestly  the transformation of these greens into this Bengali style pâté was spectacular.

Goat Sukka -- a spicy dry meat dish to blow you off

Goat Sukka | Goat Sukha

Goat Sukka or Goat Sukha is a dry mutton preparation, which is native to the Mangalore and Udupi region. Many attribute the origin of this dish to the neighboring region of Goa where culinary influence of Arab and Turkish traders can be seen in the meat dishes. The recipe probably amalgamated with  the signature ingredients of the western coastal region of India and is thus heavy on spices like peppercorns and fennel and a good amount of coconut.

Jump To Recipe

Though I am not fond of winter or cold or snow, I love the festive spirit that is all around during this time of the year. Shopping around for little gifts to be sent to school, lighting up the house, putting up the Christmas tree, each tiny thing seems to be filled with light and joy. There is something to look forward to every evening. And the houses look so pretty shining brightly against the winter sky.

Also this is the perfect time to cook the spiciest, richest dishes as both the food and process of cooking warms you up. Like this Goat Sukka which I will tell you about but I need a preamble...

Many years ago when I had started blogging, it was a small, close-knit community of Indian bloggers. We read each others blogs, commented on posts, cooked from each others blogs, and slowly via food became familiar with a sliver of their lives.

Slowly though the community disbanded, they are still there but they don't blog as much. If I have to search for a recipe and I google it, there are thousands thrown at me and I have to cautiously scroll through to find the one that will work. There is always some that will work but I don't trust them blindly any more.

So all this reminiscing is because of one single dish called Goat Sukka. It might actually have been Goat Sukha, given that it is a dry meat preparation but I have seen it blogged as Sukka and I like to call it that way. Goat Sukka is a dry mutton preparation, which is native to the Mangalore and Udupi region. Many attribute the origin of this dish to the neighboring region of Goa where culinary influence of Arab and Turkish traders can be seen in the meat dishes. The recipe probably amalgamated with  the signature ingredients of the western coastal region of India and is thus heavy on spices like peppercorns and fennel and a good amount of coconut.

I had first made Goat Sukka from SigSiv's blog. We loved it too much and I bookmarked her recipe. It had just the right amount of fennel, peppercorns and whole coriander, the perfect aroma of kari patta, a little bit of coconut, and was way easier than making kosha mangsho. I made it a few more times and then I forgot about it. These things happen. I get obsessed about some dish, cook it every other day, and then bam I forget all about it for the next 2 years.

So after this long gap, I felt a strong urge to cook goat sukka again. To refresh my memory I clicked on the url I had so carefully saved. And guess what happened ? I got a "This site cant be reached error"!! I tried hacking around and yet nothing. In desperation I sent Sig a Facebook message to see where her blog was. Turns out she hasn't blogged for a while and now her domain has expired. In the process she has also lost her blog posts.

I was so depressed by the news that I decided not to make Goat Sukka at all. But I had already bought 5 lb of mutton and no one wanted a mangshor jhol or kosha mangsho again. So I googled and pages upon pages of Goat Sukka washed over me, none of which seemed liked my old Goat Sukka. Then I searched up another favorite and very very reliable Konkani blog Aayis Recipes and no wonder she had the chicken sukka recipe.

Based on the old recipe I had in mind and with help from the one that Shilpa of Aaayis Recipes had, I made the Goat Sukka again. It turned out to be so so good. I also didn't want to risk losing it again and so right away got down to blog about it.