Fish in Mango Ginger, Garlic, Pepper & Fennel flavoured gravy

Bored of the usual Katla Machher Jhol (Katla fish gravy, Bengali style) and feeling too lazy to chop  Onions, thought of just adding some totally different spices and check out the outcome.

INGREDIENTS:

1.Catla 750gm

2.For marinarion:

a)Lemon juice: of 1 medium sized lemon

b)Pepper powder 2tbsp

c)Garlic Powder 2tbsp

d) Rock Salt- 2 tsp

e) Turmeric - 2 tsp

3.Tomato - 1 large

4.Fennel Seeds 2tsp

5. Grated Aam Aada(raw Mango flavoured ginger) - 2 inch piece , grated.

6.Garlic...1 whole garlic roughly chopped 

7. Rock Salt...to taste

8. Kashmiri Mirch...2 tsp

9. Pepper powder ....2 tsp

10. Garlic Powder- 2tbsp

11. Green chilies...finely chopped-2

12coriander leaves.finely chopped ..one fistful

13. White Oil 3tbsp

14. Ghee 1-1.5 tbsp

15.One large tomato..halved 

PROCEDURE :

1. Wash and marinate the fish pieces with the ingredients  given at 2a to 2e for around 1/2 hour.

2. For frying the fish, I used a flat bottom non stick kadhai. Poured the oil and ghee and added the fish and fried them well on both sides. Keep the fried fish aside.

3.In the same oil+ghee mix, added a halved tomato and fried on low to medium heat for around 10min or till they become squishy. I fried while I was grating aamada and peeling Garlic.

3. Into the same oil, which had the squishy fried tomato,  added 2 tsp of Fennel seeds followed by chopped Garlic and grated Aam aada (Mango Ginger) and liberal amount of Pepper powder and Garlic powder. Fried everything on low to medium heat.

4. Also added Turmeric, Rock Salt and Kashmiri.Mirch and kept frying with some sprinkling of water till the spice mix was ready and oil was oozing out from the prepared masala.

5. Now added about 1.5 cups of hot water (water quantity depends on the required consistency of gravy). I didn't want a very runny gravy. 

6. added chopped green chilies. Covered the kadhai and let the spice mix-water combo come to a boil.

Now slid in the fried fish pieces. 

7. Cooked on medium flame., covered for 2-3 minutes. 

8.Added chopped coriander leaves and switched off the gas

9. enjoyed the delicately flavoured spicy, tangy, sweet(from fennel) fish curry with steamed rice.

Alu Paratha

 

The commonest stuffed paratha does not have any one-taste-fits all recipe.

There are hundreds of variations...boiled  potatoes, boiled and sauted potatoes,  variations in masala and condiments etc etc etc.

Thr reason of recording this variation of the stuffing is to save the recipe I came across in a reel and the tempting masala used. 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17kc9FaNAY/

Ingredients:

A. Stuffing / Pur

* 5 Potatoes medium and small mixed : 350 gm

* Chopped green chillies- 5 to 6 depending on heat tolerance. 

* Salt - 1/2 tsp. Next time will used Rock Salt. 

* Ajwain 1tsp

* Prepared Masala mix: 2 heaped tsp

(4 deseeded whole dry red chilies ;

Whole Jeera-1 tbsp

Whole dhone- 1 tbsp

Whole black pepper 1 tsp

Mouri 1 tsp

Dry roast above for 3-4 minutes or till the spices take on a golden hue . Cool and grind to a rough textured powder.

Dry roast a tbsp of kasuri Methi and crush and add to the above spice mix).

* finely chopped onion ..1 medium sized

* chopped coriander..a small bowl full

* chopped ginger 1 inch size

B. The Dough

* 300 gms wheat flour or Atta

* 15 gm/1 heaped tbsp of Besan 

* salt ..a pinch

* chili flakes from 2 whole red chili

* lukewarm water..approx 200-250 ml

* oil / ghee

Procedure:

1. Mix all ingredients under Dough except water. Then add water little at a time and knead a soft dough. Knead for 3-5 min to yield a soft, pliable smooth dough (around 540-550gm). Smear some oil or ghee , cover and let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes. 

2. Prepare the spice mix . Add the dry roasted and crushed kasuri Methi. 

3. Here the recipe said grate the boiled potatoes.  So instead of the usual mashing, grated the boiled/steamed potatoes.

4. Added chopped green chilies,  salt, ajwain, coriander leaves, spice mix, chopped onion,  chopped ginger. 

Next time will add some amchur powder too for some more tanginess. 

5. Mix, not mash, all the above with a fork. 

6. Going back to the dough, i divided the dough into equal balls (lechi in bengali)...each ball being 90-95gm. For smaller Parathas, 75 gm approx is also fine.

7. Roll out into around 4-5inch dia discs with a thicker centre and thinner edges.  Add the stuffing or pur ...abt 2 tbsp or a bit more. Ensure that the dough can be sealed well without the stuffing oozing out. Flatten the stuffed balls and roll them out to around 8-10inch dia parathas...sprinkling wheat flour as you go for smooth rolling. 

8.place a paratha on a hot  tawa...add oil / ghee/ , butter and fry both sides on low to medium heat.

Served with spiced curd and mango achar.

Besan ke Laddu

On the morning of Ganesh Chaturthi, was about to order Modak and Laddu, when an idea struck.

On a quick peep into Tarla Dalal's recipe of Besan ke Laddu,  realised that  I had all the ingredients and the procedure seemed easy. Barring a few minor deviations, followed the recipe to the T.

I inaugurated my Mother's gift of induction cook top with Ganesh Puja prasad making

Ingredients: yielded around 17-18 numbers 1 inch dia laddus.

* 4 cups (150ml) besan (Bengal gram flour)

* 1 cup (150ml) ghee

* 2 cups (150ml) powdered sugar...I found the laddus slightly more sweet than I would hVe liked. Next time will use 1.75 cups sugar.

* 1/4 cupcoarsely powdered almonds ...I used 1.5 cups skinned and toasted and coarsely powdered almonds. 

* 1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder...forgot using this. 

For The Garnish

1 tbsp almond (badam) slivers..skipped this step.

Procedure:

1. Using my brand new induction cook top at 'curry mode' at power varying between 100 and 300, heat the ghee in a deep kadhai, add the besan, mix well and cook for 13 minutes, while stirring continuously.

2. Switch off the flame and keep stirring for 1 more minute.

3. Either transfer the mixture into a plate or take the kadhai off the heat and keep aside to cool for 1 hour or till the mixture cools down completely. It took me around 15-20 minutes for the mix to become lukewarm. 

4. Add the sugar and knead it very well into the besan-ghee mix and then add the coarsely powdered almonds , cardamom powder and mix well while rubbing the mixture in between your palms till it gets a crumbly texture. 

I missed adding the cardamon powder out of oversight but wasn't a great miss tastewise.

5. Take a small portion of the mixture and shape it into a round ladoo

Repeat step 5 to shape 17 more besan ladoos.

6. Garnish the besan ladoos with almond slivers and store in an air-tight container. Skipped this step.

 

Malai Paneer.... Cottage cheese in a Milk Cream Gravy

An unplanned dish born out of laziness and leftovers.....a dish representing 'less is more'.

Suddenly remembered that paneer had to be cooked for dinner after cooking lunch items  while packing up the leftover chopped items like onion and tomato.

Was tired and lazy and was looking for shortcuts.

Used up the chopped onion & chopped tomatoes (1/2 each of medium sized onion and tomato).

Took note of the thick malai (milk cream) on the surface of the boiled and cooled milk , staring at me from the countertop :D 😋😉😉.

Ginger- Garlic paste is omnipresent in my fridge.

So here goes the simple malai paneer ....

Ingredients:

*Paneer 200 gms cut into small cubes 

* chopped onion - 1/2 medium sized onion

*chopped tomato - 1/2 medium sized tomato

*ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

*green chili - chopped 

*Pepper - 1 tsp

*Kashmiri Mirch powder- 1/2 tsp

*malai or fresh milk cream... 1 litre boiled milk yielded 1/2 bowl (150ml bowl) of malai (dudher shawr)

* kasuri Methi- 1 tbsp crushed 

* oil (used rice bran) - 1 tbsp 

Procedure:

1. Paneer to be cubed into size of choice.  Mine were <1 cm cubes.

2. In a kadhai, heat oil. Add the chopped onion, ginger garlic paste, chopped tomato, chopped green chili.  Fry on high heat till browned.

3. While frying above, add pepper powder, salt, Kashmiri red chili powder. 

4. Once the onion- tomato etc+ spice mix are well fried , pour the malai....keep stirring on medium to high heat to prevent burning. Add 1/2 bowl of warm water. 

5.Once the slurry starts bubbling, add the cubed paneer. Gently stir around in the gravy to coat the masala well.  Cover and bring to a boil on low to medium heat. 

6.Check the salt, sweetness and spice level. Adjust according to taste.

7. As a final garnish, crush kasuri Methi (dried Fenugreek leaves) between your palms and sprinkle on the bubbling paneer gravy. Swirl around to mix.

Serve with Roti,  Paratha, Jeera Rice. We had it with plain steamed rice.

Doi Maachh .... Fish in Yogurt Gravy

Fresh Sweet water fish, minimum spices, awesome to eat....that's the perfect recipe for Doi Maachh, as cooked by my Ma. 

Having received Peti pieces (belly pieces which are buttery soft and oh so delicious) of Fresh Katla of 3 kg above size, I decided there and then that Doi Machh it will be,,,  

In this particular recipe of my Ma, the fish are not fried prior to dunking in the gravy, as is done in most Rui Katla preparations. The preparation is a blend of sweet and hot.

Ingredients :

Katla fish - 5 pieces (about 300 gms)

Curd - 1 medium sized bowl

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1.5 tsp for marination + extra as required

Salt  -  2 tsp for marination + extra as required

Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Tej Pata / Bay Leaf - 2

Whole Garam Masala - Cardamom, Cinnamon sticks, cloves 

Onion chopped - 1 medium sized

Onion paste - 1 medium sized

Oil (mustard / Rice bran) - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbspn + 1 tspn for garnishing

Kashmiri Mirch - 1 tspn

Red Chili Powder - 1 tspn

Coriander leaves - chopped ... for garnishing

Procedure :

1. Wash the fish .

2. For marination : Mix a bowl of curd + ginger paste+sugar+salt. 

3. Marinate the fish in this slurry for minimum 1/2 hour.

4. In a kadhai, heat a mix of Oil + Ghee.

5. Temper with Tej Pata and whole garam masala.

6. Now add the chopped onion and fry till pink. 

7. While frying the chopped onion, add garlic paste and then add onion paste and fry well till browned to eliminate the raw smell. 

8. Add kashmiri mirch and red chili powder and fry well on medium heat till the onion and masala paste are well fried. 

9. Now lower the heat and add the curd slurry of the marination. Mix well with the onion-masala paste.

10. Now raise the heat and place the fish pieces in the kadhai and gently turn them around to coat them well with the masala and curd mix.

11. Add a cup of warm water. Lower the flame, Cover the kadhai and bring to a boil. Check the salt and sugar. The gravy should be sweet-tangy-midly hot.

12. Garnish with ghee and chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with steaming hot rice.

Sambhar Dal

Tangy Toor Dal (Split pigeon peas) with a medley of vegetables.

A staple in every South Indian household with every family having their own little touch and tweak.

In my Bong kitchen too, Sambar is much loved and right or wrong, we don't know...but we pronounce this delightful tangy concoction of Dal and vegetables as Sambhar 😉😘.

Ingredients for 6 servings

Toor/Arhar Dal ...150 gm

Water to cook Dal...450 ml (3 cups)

Vegetables like Drumsticks, carrot, bhindi (okra), lauki/lau (bottle gourd), pumpkin, Brinjal....all cut into 1-1.5" lengths.

Today I used carrot, bhindi, lauki and potato ....thanks to an almost empty fridge.

Tamarind ...a lemon sized ball

Turmeric ... 1 tsp

Sambar powder (store bought) ..3- 4 tbsp

Salt to taste

Sugar...a pinch to balance excess tangyness of tamarind.

Garlic pods...5-6 (optional)...I did not use today

Curry leaves... 10 - 12

Dry Whole red chili ..2-3

Mustard seeds... 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds....1/2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds ..1/4 tsp

Red chili powder... 1/2 tsp optional

Kashmiri chili powder.. 1/2 tsp

Hing / asafoetida...1/2 tsp

Green chili..2-3

Coriander leaves...for garnishing 

Rice Bran oil / Sesame oil ....3 tbsp in total

Rice powder and a spoon of curd to marinatr and fry the okra.

Procedure:

1. Soak the Dal in hot water for a couple of hours to reduce cooking time.  Not mandatory. 

2. Soak the tamarind in hot water to make the pulp. 

3. Place the Dal,  a pinch of turmeric, salt and water in my mini presurre cooker. Cook for 3 whistles and let the pressure release naturally. 

4. While the Dal is cooking, smear the 1 cm chopped bhindi with salt, hing, Rice powder, chili powder and 2-3 drops of water. In a kadhai, heat oil and shallow fry the bhindi with a tsp of curd (to prevent) sticking.  After frying , keep the bhindi aside.

I do this as I like the bhindi in sambhar to have a crunch. You can cook it with other veggies if you have no such preference.

5. Today I steamed the other vegetables while Rice was cooking in the steamer of the Rice cooker....for about 5-7 minutes. Vegetables can also be cooked in the pressure cooker along with the Dal if there's a time crunch.

6. In the kadhai in which bhindi was being fried, add diced onion petal. No additional oil required. Remove the steamed vegetables (carrot, lauki, potato) from the steamer and add to the kadhai . Saute after adding salt, turmeric. Once the rawness of veggies are done away with,  add red chili, Kashmiri chili, sambar masala. Fry theveggies and masala well. 

7. Now pour the pressure cooked Dal into the kadhai.  Stir well to combine the Dal and veggies. Add water to adjust the consistency.  Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat, add the tamarind pulp and a pinch of sugar. Let it come to a boil. Add the fried bhindi.

8. In a small pan, heat oil and temper with whole,  dried red chilies, curry leaves, hing mustard-cumin-fenugreek seeds. Once the crackling stops, pour into the booking Dal.

9. Add a tablespoon of ghee into the Dal and garnish with chopped coriander leaves abs green chilies. 

Serve a bowl of steaming health and goodness with Rice / Idli / Sambar / Uttàpam.

Sheddho Mushirir Dal...comfort food

Boiled Red Lentil 

 

Lunch (or Dinner) can't get simpler than this....

Phyana Bhaat (soft , runny, aromatic rice), ce), Sheddho Daal (boiled dal), Dim Sheddho (boiled Egg), Alu Sheddho (boiled potato)...

It's a Bong's comfort food that transports him/her to food nirvana 😋.

Ingredients : 

Masoor Dal.... 75 -100gm

Garlic pods...8-10

Tomato...1 large...roughly diced

Green chili...as many as per heat tolerance

Butter ...2 cubes of 1cm each (can be replaced with mustard oil or ghee)

Diced Onions can also be used which I avoided today. Add diced onions if using, alongside the tomatoes.

For the Phyana Bhaat (soft runny aromatic rice), I used the traditional Gobindobhog Rice...due to an extra whistle of the pressure cooker, it wasnt as runny as I wanted...but the divine aroma enhanced with dollops of ghee made my day.

Procedure :

1. Wash the dal. 

2. In a pressure cooker, place the washed dal, garlic pods, salt, a pinch of turmeric, chopped tomatoes, diced onions (I avoided), 2-3 green chilies, 2 cubes of butter / garlic butter / 1 tsp of ghee or mustard oil 

3. Add 400ml of water. Pressure cook till 3 whistles go off.

4. Let the pressure release naturally. Open the pressure cooker and give the dal a swirl to enhance its creamy consistency. Add water if required, but this boiled dal is had a bit thicker than your normal everyday Masoor Dal (Patla mushurir dal).

5. Best served with steaming hot phyana bhaat, Alu Sheddho/Chokha , Dim Sheddho with further (optional) dollops of butter or ghee for extra indulgence.

 
This Dal tastes awesome as a Lentil Soup...warm, buttery, creamy, with or without a crisp buttered bread toast