Matar Makhane

Well, first of all a very Happy new Year to all of my friends out there. I hope and pray that this year is Safe Happy and peaceful for each and every one. 2012 as it was called the "Year of doom" finally bade us goodbye with a very sad note and an ugly scar on the face of our democracy and freedom. I hope the tragic demise of Nirbhaya doesn't go waste. May you Rest In Peace Nirbhaya.

This Recipe is one of my all time favorite for a chilly North Indian winter evening. Since I grew up in the North of India(not the extreme north ofcourse), I loved those cold and chilly winters, when mornings were too chilly and foggy, days were very short, the sun was romantically warm , food was piping hot, and nights crept in early, the bed with blankets was always warm with hot water bag , room heater near the bed side. Winters then meant Christmas and New Year Vacation, little assignments to complete , lots of painting and sketching and ofcourse idling and playing out in the warm sun. In Gwalior, winters also meant the much awaited "Trade fair" or Gwalior Mela and not to forget the Tansen Sangeet Samaroh(since my parents are very much into music , although I cant make head or tail of any "Sur and taal", I still loved Tansen Samaroh).
Ma made this recipe in the winters when greens peas were in complete abundance.
A few weeks back I tried this one for the first time , and fortunately it came out quite well.
So here's the ingredients and ToDo list for the recipe:

Ingredients:
Makhane (I used a whole packet)
a cup of green peas(I used the frozen ones)
a potato diced
green chilies, ginger and jeera paste
a tomato finely chopped
2 table spoon khuskhus(poppy seed) soaked in water for an hr or 2
ToDo:
Grind the khuskhus, you may also add blanched cashew and almond if you want a richer taste. Meanwhile toss the makhane on low flame, you may toss in a bit of oil or just bhunaofy without oil.
Keep aside. Fry the diced potato. Drain on a kitchen towel. Now in a kadhai add little oil, splatter jeera seeds, add chopped tomatoes, salt and little turmeric. Lower the flame and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes with the lid closed. After 3-4 minutes open the lid and increase the flame, keep stirring. Add chilly-ginger-jeera paste(add a little water only if you feel the masala may get burnt). Add a pinch or 2 of sugar. Keep stirring till oil separates. Add the khuskhus paste. Stir for a few minutes. Add the peas. and water as desired. Simmer for a few minutes. Now add the makhane, again cook for a few more minutes till makhane and peas are fully cooked. Garnish with chopped coriander. I also garnished it with a small teaspoon of roasted khuskhus to get that nutty touch.

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Ghugni or "The Yellow peas Bengali snack"

Actually the title is not literally correct. A because the Ghugni is not a native to Bengal rather to the East Indian states of Bihar , Bengal , Orissa or Odisha(I recently happened to know that the state's name has got changed, phew God only knows what the achieve by changing names) and B its not just a snack but rather healthy breakfast too. Served in many households along with Luchi (Maida puri) or Muri (Puffed rice), this is a easy , hearty and ever welcome breakfast. And for snacks,Ghugni topped with onions , a little tamarind chutney goes great with the Cuppa.

The best Ghugni of the world award always goes to Ma's Ghugni. No its not just my mom, its the same for all bongs. Ask any bong,the best Ghugni they ever tasted and they would definitely say : "Ma er kora Ghugni" (cooked by Mom), at least I say so, Mr Husband says so, my Ma says so, my bong friends say so(long list). I really don't know whats the secret behind this mystery. So the other day I made Ghugni for breakfast, it didn't turn as wonderful as my Ma's , nonetheless it was quite yummy.
Here's the ingredients:
a cup of yellow or white peas
an onion chopped
a tomato chopped
ginger chili paste
a potato cut into dices
ginger julienne
chopped corainder,
bhaja masala(Dry roast a handful of jeera , saunf, few peppercorns and dry red chilly depending on hotness , then grind ) or roasted jeera powder
a bay leaf
Jeera

Since it was weekday I was making Ghugni , and I did not have much time in the early morning rush hours, I soaked the peas the previous day for 3-4 hours and then pressured cooked them until rightly soft but not mushy, kept the boiled peas in fridge to use the next morning.

Heat oil  in kadhai, fry the potato dices till light golden, keep aside. In the same oil(you may reduce the oil in case its too much), add bay leaf and cumin seeds. Let them splutter. Now add the onions, fry till golden brown. Add ginger chilly paste and chopped tomatoes. Fry for 3 minutes. Add turmeric, salt and keep frying till oil separates. Now add the peas and fried potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped onion and coriander and ginger julienne. Sprinkle a little bhaja masala.
I served it with Muri(puffed rice) and tea

Footnote: We have switched to Green tea as our daily breakfast cuppa. Although not as tasty and flavorful like Darjeeling or Assam or Masala tea and completely sugarless and milk-less, the green has immense health benefits compared to milk tea. And somehow we have come to enjoy this tea more than milk or black tea.

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Sorse Kopi.. Cauliflower in mustard and coconut

Bongs love any recipe with mustard paste in it..The pungent and sharp taste of ground mustard adds magic to many veggies as well as pisces recipes. Love knows no bounds and so is our love for this humble seed.

The other day I was bored of cooking and eating aloo gobhi (dry or gravy whatever). Since the choice of veggies is quite limited in Texas, and ones like Mr Cauliflower are my guest at all time any season of the year, I decided to try something new. And what better option then Sorse Kopi (Cauliflower in mustard), a very very simple and quick recipe with a very different taste to the palate.

I used:
1 medium Gobhi(Cauliflower)
5-6 green chilies (depending on the heat U like)
2 tbs of grated coconut
2 tbs of mustard seeds (soak it for an hr)
salt to taste
turmeric
a pinch of sugar
oil for cooking

Cut the gobhi into medium size florets. Keep the florets immersed in hot water (with a pinch of salt) for 5mins.(they should retain their crunch) Drain water and pat the florets dry.
Meanwhile make a paste of mustard seeds with 3-4 green chilies and a pinch of salt and a little water. I usually strain the mustard paste with a tea strainer to remove the skin of mustard seeds. In the strained mustard paste , I then add the grated coconut and give it a quick churn. Now in a kadhai , heat a little oil. Mustard oil is definitely preferred. Throw in a little nigella seeds, a dry red chilly. Add the florets and fry on high for few minutes. Now add turmeric , salt and a pinch of sugar. Add 2-3 slit green chilies After frying for a minute on high flame, cover the kadhai and keep on medium flame for few minutes. Once the gobhi is half done , add the mustard coconut paste , stir for a minute and then cover and keep on medium flame for a few minutes more. Once the gobhi is done, toss it on high for a minute or two. Enjoy with rice or roti.

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Dhaniya aloo

I love aloo or potato like no other vegetable. Potato in any form except for the potato wafers which does not allure me that much. As a small kid while reading stories of other countries I often envied the people and places where potato is a staple food. I think I can survive just on potatoes. During my bachelorhood days away from home at Chandigarh, when my roommate left for Delhi on weekends and I had to stay back for some reason, I always made sure I indulged in various potato recipes(my roommate refrained from potatoes). So you can understand how much I am in love with this veggie.

I had seen this recipe in on of the NDTV food shows. With some slightest concoction , I tried it.
I used:
half a kg baby potatoes,
2-3 cloves of garlic, a small piece of ginger
few green chillies, a bunch of coriander
finely chopped onions
chopped tomato

Boil the baby potatoes. Shallow fry them and drain excess oil in a kitchen towel. Now blend the coriander chilies, garlic , ginger and a little salt in a blender. The mix is more like a chutney. In a kadhai, heat oil. Fry the onions till golden, add the tomatoes, salt to taste and turmeric if you want. Fry till oil separates. Now add the coriander chutney. Fry for few more minutes then add the potatoes. Toss for 2-3 minutes in high flame. Now simmer for a few more minutes. You may sprinkle a little water while simmering. Serve hot with roti or paratha.  

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Radhaballavi aka Daal puri and Kashmiri Aloo dum for Sunday Brunch

Now on a December day when the sun plays hide and seek , and I keep running around for a bit of sunshine, I don't feel like going for a breakfast and then an elaborate lunch. So for such a cloudy and lazy Sunday a good nice Brunch is the keyword.  And here comes Mr Husband's idea of daal poori and Kashmiri Aloo Dum. Of-course the daal was soaked the previous night for a different cause, but no harm done if its used for Kachauri or Daal Poori or as is called in bengali "Radhaballavi". The recipe of Kashmiri Aloo Dum has been taken from a TV show "The Foodie" of Times Now so I wont take the disclaimer. The Brunch I would admit was a joint venture and turned out simply fantabulous.
For the Radhaballavi

Soak a cup of Urad Daal overnight. In the morning make a coarse paste of it with very little or no water. No in a frying pan drizzle a few drops of oil, add a pinch of hing.Then add the daal paste, salt and a little chilly powder. If possible add a teaspoon of roasted cumin seeds powder. Mix well and stir till the mixture is dry. Let it cool.
Kneed flour with salt ,2 tablespoon cooking oil and little water. Make a soft dough. Keep the dough covered for half an hour. Now make small round balls of the dough. Fill spoonful of daal mixture in the puri balls. Roll out the balls into puris. Make sure the stuffing does not come out.
Heat oil in a kadai. Fry the puris till golden brown.

For the Kashmiri Dum aloo
Boil and peel potatoes(I used 500 gms small potatoes). Pierce the potatoes with fork or toothpick. Now deep fry them on medium flame till they are brown(dark brown, such that outer cover becomes little hard). Keep the potatoes aside. Now take oil in a kadhai. Add a pinch of hing, and a bay-leaf. Now the original recipes asks you to add saunth or dry ginger, since I was not having dry ginger, I added ginger chilly paste at this stage. Add turmeric and Kashmiri chilli. Fry for few minutes. Meantime, take a cup of curd, add fennel seed powder and green cardamom powder and salt, whip the curd. Add this to the masala in the kadhai. Keep stirring for few minutes. Now add a cup of water. Add the deep fried potatoes. Add a teaspoon of garam masala. Check the seasoning. Cover the kadai with a tight lid and let it simmer on low flame for 15-20 minutes.
Enjoy your Sunday Brunch..

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Achari bharva baigan(Stuffed baby brinjal)

Phew .. the last few weeks have been quite stupendous on me.. loads and loads of academic work. Finally I am done(hopefully for good). Though there are many priorities assigned in line, I plan to take a short break and indulge myself in whatever i like best.. which is of course cooking blogging and painting..not to forget watching Star Trek with Mr husband. Oh I have become a huge fan of Star Trek recently thanx to the better half. I always despised Sci-fi, but that's past now. It all started with "Star Trek : The next generation". Now Janeway and Chakotay of Star Trek Voyager fascinate me. I always refrain my self from any sorts of addiction but I should admit Star Trek has become a complete addiction.


The other day I tried this recipe. I wanted to improvise on the Bharva baigan recipe but nothing I found on the internet seemed quite interesting. Then I came across this particular video on you-tube. The original recipe on you-tube is very different, and mine as I would say is a collection of stolen ideas blended with some of mine. As long as there is no copyright violation, I think we can very well enjoy the recipe.
So all I used was:
few small brinjals or eggplant or aubergine or guinea squash or baigan or begun.. oh my god this vegetable has so many names
onion, green chillies, grated ginger, salt, turmeric, a small tomato or little puree(this is entirely optional), amchur, dhaniya powder and
..

the secret ingredient(as the sweet lady on youtube said): any pickle(achar) you have at home
For the stuffing , I fried the onions till light brown. Then added green chillies, salt turmeric , grated ginger. Added a small finely chopped tomato to make the stuffing little mushy. You may skip the tomato. Once the stuffing was almost done, added a teaspoon of dhaniya powder and a little amchur. Let the mixture cool. While the mixture was cooling down, I slit the brinjals into quarters (hey do u know the paste tense of slit is slit.. frankly I didn't , I thought the word was slitted but then my PC said "ITS WRONG"), dipping the slit ones into water to prevent blackening. Now before filling the brinjals, I added a spoon of the pickle masala-oil to the stuffing. Believe me this is all needed to make the recipe "Achari". The slit baigans are then stuffed with this spicy tasty mixture. Then in a kadai, I poured little oil. Once hot, I lowered the stuffed brinjals into the oil. Kept the flame on full for a few minutes, tossing the brinjals to other side(to get the outer skin crispy). Then before closing the lid, I sprinkled a little salt on the brinjals. Kept the the brinjal covered for around 10 mins(this time may wary), checking and flipping them time to time. Once soft , removed from flame.. and served.

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Borir Jhaal (Aloo vadi)

The bori or Vadi as we call in Hindi are sun dried lentil dumplings. In the north its mostly spicy but we bengalies prefer the non spicy one. We have bori in small and medium size of massoor, urad , chola daal. During childhood days, come summer and Ma used to make these BORIs , sun drying them and then packing them in air tight jars for the whole year. Now a days Bori/ Vadi are readily available in grocery shops. We like putting these boris in vegg recipes as well as fish recipes. And sometimes its just the borir jhaal which we like to devour with steaming rice.

The "bori aloo r jhaal " is a typical HOT bengali recipe. I used the medium sized urad daal bori(which I had brought from Kolkata and saved a few) and small arhar daal badi (which i had got from Indian Market).

So I used :

The above mentioned boris

diced tomatoes

a small potato cut into wedges

and Ginger Jeera paste..now I usually make the paste of an inch  or 2 or ginger and little soaked Jeera , keep it in an air tight container. This comes handy in many of my cooking. And before closing the lid of the container a drizzle a little of oil on the sorface of the paste.. This keeps it fresh for a longer time.

Now the instructions:

Heat a little oil(preferrably mustard oil ) in a non stick pan. Fry the boris at medium flame. Keep aside, you may drain the excess oil in a kitchen towel

Now in the pan heat little oil again, temper half a spoon of kalaunji.

Add the potatoes. Fry a little. Now add the diced tomatoes. Cook a little. Add the ginger paste. Add haldi, salt and red chilli powder as per taste. Cook till the masala is done. Add water as desired. Now add the boris. You may add the boris first and then the water. I went the former way as my boris were too soft. Simmer this for very few minutes. Garnish with coriander.

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Dahi Baigan.. eggplant in curd gravy

During the good old doordarshan days, we had this afternoon children's program... It was a story of a kingdom , the kingdon of veggies and the king was our very own cute , plump "बैगन राजा".. donned in a beautiful green crown, then he ruled over the entire veg kingdom.. and he still does..

बैगन or বেগুন or eggplant or aubergine or melongene or guinea squash or  brinjal as it is lovingly called is many of our favorite. Be it Baigan ka Bharta or Bharwa Baigan or simple Begun Bhaja many of us can not say no to the humble vegetable. 

 I learnt this recipe from my most promising friend "THE INTERNET" , the site I have completely forgotten. I had never tasted the original recipe , but felt like giving it a shot. And it did turn out very well, tasty and refreshing specially in the hot parched summer.

For the recipe I used: 

A good chubby eggplant.. (can be substituted by the slender ones as well).

A cup of curd.

Few green chillies, fennel seeds (saunf) , asafoetida (heeng).

Cut the eggplant in long pieces. Smear salt and turmeric. Shallow fry the pieces. Dry excess oil in a kitchen towel. 

Keep the cup of curd ready.Add little salt, red chilli powder as per taste. You may add a little water in case the curd is thick. Make sure the mixture is smooth.

Now heat some oil in kadai. Temper with a pinch of heeng, 1-2 dry red chili , a few pods of cardamom, a teaspoon of  saunf, 2-3 slit green chillies. Now add the curd. Keep stirring for a few minutes so that no lumps are formed. Add the eggplant and simmer for another 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander.

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Tomato stuffed

I am not in the mood of writing much today.. So here goes just the recipe.
You need:
A few tomatoes, preferably round ones
Boiled Potatoes, grated ginger ,
chopped coriander and chillies,
sweet corn if you like
Scoop out the center pulp. You may use the pulp in any other recipes. Mash the boiled potatoes , add sweet corn, chillies , ginger, coriander, salt and a little chaat masala. You can replace potato with grated paneer. Fill in the tomatoes. Place in an oil smeared microwaveable plate. Season a little with salt and black pepper. You may or may not sprinkle a few drops of oil. Microwave on high for 6 mins. The time may vary based on softness of the tomatoes and pwer of microwave. so keep checking after 2-3 minutes. Enjoy!!

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Pyaz posto (Onion poppy seed)

Again back to square one after about 4 weeks of holiday at home, deciding what to cook daily has become a puzzle. At Kolkata it was a feast daily with all favorite recipes cooked by Ma and Sasu Ma.. from Bhapa Ilish, Koraishutir kochuri, Mangsho,Mochar Ghonto,Lal Shak (oh its an infinite list) to desserts of Gulab Jamun, payesh , Pithe.. ah I am missing Kolkata.. :( ..
We had decided not to indulge in non veg for a little time after our return so this saturday I decided to go for a            simple meal with a posto recipe.
We Bengalies are a great fan of posto, the most favorite of all is the aloo posto. Then we have potol(parval) posto, posto r bora, dherosh(bhindi) posto. But I (rather I should say "WE") kept it more simple.. Pyaz posto. This is one of my hubby's recipe and he really makes it devastatingly delicious.
So here goes the recipe.
3-4 tablespoon Posto (Poppy seed) soaked in water for 2-3 hour. Make a thick paste of 3-4 green chillies and soaked posto.
Slice a medium onion. Heat oil in a kadai. Add sliced onions and 2-3 slitted chilies (depends on how hot you prefer). Fry for a few minutes. Add salt and a pinch of turmeric. Now add the posto paste. Keep frying. You can simply remove it from the fire once the paste is dry.. but my hubby makes it more amazing.. He adds a little mustard oil in the middle of the posto in the kadai and keeps frying the posto in small amounts from the sides.. he fries it till the pyaz posto changes color to light brown.
A simple n very tasty recipe goes great with rice n daal.

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Chhanar Dalna (Paneer kofta )

The other day I was left with a litre or more of milk in the fridge. Since hubby was leaving for an official tour , I was in no mood of making a dessert of the milk. So i decided to make Chhanar dalna . Chhana in bengali means paneer, and dalna is a curry. These are small paneer balls in a thick gravy. My Ma makes it amazing.Now I thought of trying my hand at it.

So here goes my recipe:

Ingredients:

For Chhana:

Milk a litre or more

lemons/ lime juice

For the paneer balls :

Green chilies,salt, little of aata,a boiled potato, coriander, ginger

For the gravy:

Tomatoes, ginger, jeera powder or paste

Put the milk to boil in a sauce pan. Once the milk has boiled put the gas in simmer. Now start adding lime juice slowly and keep stirring. The paneer will seperate and float on top. Strain the water in a muslin cloth. You may hang the muslin cloth for an hour for the excess water to drain. Once the water has drained , take the paneer in a bowl. Add the boiled, peeled and mashed potato, salt to taste, finely chopped coriander, ginger and green chilies. Now add a little ( a teaspoon or so) aata, the aata is for the binding. I sprinkle a little water to make it softer. Heat oil for frying. Make small balls of the mixture. You can put a raisin inside the paneer balls if you like. Fry the balls (kofta) till golden brown. Drain the excess oil in a kitchen towel. Now for the gravy. I usually prefer gravy without onion and garlic. One can make a onion gravy as well. My version is: Heat 3 teaspoon oil in a kadhai. Add cumin seed and bay leaf. Now add chopped tomatoes, salt and little turmeric. Slit some green chilies and add. Lower the flame and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes with the lid closed. After 4 minutes open the lid and increase the flame, keep stirring. Add ginger paste and jeera paste(do not put water), garam masala, red chili powder. Keep stirring till it leaves oil. I usually add a little curd to my gravy at this point and a pinch of sugar..just to add color and enhance the taste. Stir it again for 2 mins or so. Now add water a cup. Let it simmer for 5-7 mins. Now add the koftas and turn off the flame. garnish with coriander. Believe me the paneer koftas will be so soft and delicious.

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