Dimer Dalna Shakshouka Style

Shakshouka ...Bengalified !

That the easy peasy Poached Egg curry was a dish with a fancy name (Shashouka), was something I learnt during random cookery reels on social media.

In my kitchen this simple poached egg curry was born around 27 years back when I had started living on my own and more importantly started cooking without Ma's supervision. No need to boil the eggs...Easy, Quick, dinner ready in minutes.

Much much later, came to know that it's a dish on its own merit with a fancy name too.

Here's my Bangali Shashouka or Poached Dimer Dalna :

Ingredients :

1. Eggs - 4

2. Chopped Onions - 2 

3. Pureed Tomatoes - I used 4. .... The more the merrier...completely a personal choice

4. Whole Garam Masala - Cinnamon. Cardamom (green), Cloves

5. Whole dry Red Chili - 1 or 2

6. Bay Leaf / Tej Pata - 1 or 2

7. Ginger Garlic Paste

8. Whole garlic cloves - because I love fried garlic...may be skipped

9. Masala Paste - Turmeric+Cumin+Coriander+Red Chili+ Kashmiri Chili

10. Salt to taste

11. Milk Cream (Accumulated Malai) - a bowl...again completely optional...I had  a bowl ...hence used

12. Chopped Coriander Leaves

13. Green Chilies-As per heat tolerance 

14. Mustard Oil  - 3 tbspn

Procedure :

1. Heat Mustard oil in a kadhai and once its comes to smoking point temper with Whole Dry Garam Masala (given at sl 4, 5, 6.

2. Add whole garlic cloves to the oil and once it turns light brown, add chopped onion and Ginger-Garlic Paste and a pinch of sugar. Keep stirring till the onions turn light brown.

3. Now add the pureed tomato followed by Sugar.  Cover and cook on medium flame tilll the tomatoes are mushy and cooked...around 2-3 minutes

4. Now add the masala paste mentioned at Sl.9 of Ingredients followed by the malai / milk cream..Cook on high flame for 3-4 minutes to remove the rawness of the spices.

5. Now make four (or as many eggs you have) circular hollows on the bed of the gravy. (Picture 5).  Break the eggs one at a time into the hollows. I break the eggs , one at a time into a small bowl and slide each egg into the hollow gently. Lower the flame. Cover and cook till the eggs solidify. If you like runny yolks, the cooking time at this stage will be lower. This is a personal c

hoice.

6. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with rice, bread or just as it is. .... We had it for dinner with steamed rice.

Keema Pav

 Minced Meat with Soft Bread Roll

Soft and warm, fresh tawa toasted, buttered Pav dipped into Juicy Mutton Keema ... thats what culinary dreams are made of .

Delicious and super easy to make.

Ingredients :

Mutton Keema - 500gm
Pav - 2 packets (16 bread rolls)

Butter (I used Amul Garlic Butter) - 50 gm

Mustard Oil - 2 tbspn

Ghee - 1 tbspn

Tej Pata / Bay leaf -1

Whole red chili -1 

Garam Masala whole - Cinnamon 2 pieces; Elaichi-2 green; Clove -2 to 3

Whole garlic - 4-5 pods

Ginger Garlic paste - 3 tbspn

Onion - 2 medium sized , chopped

Onion - sliced into rings for garnishing

Tomato - 1 medium sized chopped

Green Chilies - as per heat tolerance. I used 5 -6

Coriander leaves chopped

Kesuri Methi-2tbspn crushed (optional)

Haldi - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chili - 1 tsp

Red Chili - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Home made Garam Masala - Dry roasted and finely powdered Cinnamon + Elaichi-green + Clove.

Green Peas - a small bowl

Cubed (small) and sauted Potatoes (optional) after smearing with Haldi & Salt 

Boiled eggs -2 (this was as per a video of Ranveer Brar... I normally do not use eggs in Keema)

Procedure :

Keema

1. Wash and then marinate (preferably overnight) the Keema with Ginger Garlic Paste, Salt, Haldi, Red Chili.

2. In a pressure cooker, heat 2 tbspn Mustard Oil and temper with whole garam masala, Bay Leaf, Whole red chili, 4-5 whole garlic. 

3. Add chopped onions and a pinch of sugar, followed by 2 tbspn of ginger - garlic paste. Fry well till light brown. Add chopped tomatoes.

4. Once tomatoes are mushy, add the powdered masalas mixed with water. Cook till you get rid of the raw smell with occasional sprinkling of water to avoid burning.

5. Once masalas are cooked well, add the marinated Keema / Minced Meat. Mix well and cook on high heat till oil separates. Add a cup of warm water if too dry.

6. Pressure Cook for 2-3 whistles on medium flame. Allow the pressure to release on its own.

7 . If too dry, add some warm water. Add a bowl of blanched green peas, sauted potatoes (optional) . Let the meat, peas and potatoes come to a boil.

8. Garnish with Ghee, Crushed Kesuri Methi leaves, chopped green chilies, garam masala and chopped coriander leaves.  

9. Slice the onions into rings and also slice the boiled eggs

Pav

1. Divide the Pavs and slice horizontally.

2. Smear the tawa with Garlic Butter / Plain Butter/Ghee

3. Toast the sliced Pavs on both sides.

Serve the Keema garnished with Sliced Onions, Sliced Eggs and a slice of Lemon along with warm, buttered tawa toasted paws....

Kanch Kolar Kofta

Curry made of Raw Banana Dumplings 

Kanch Kolar Kofta is a pure vegetarian delicacy of Bengal, often cooked sans onion & garlic.

However today's preparation was prepared with Onions but sans garlic.

When a colleague distributed fresh home grown Raw Bananas from his "kheti", I ditched the idea of making crispy shallow fried banana chips and decided to make the slightly more elaborate Kanch Kolar Kofta Curry.

Ingredients :

• For the Koftas

  *      kachkola (unripe, green bananas) - 2 

  *      boiled potato - 1 large sized

  *      onion paste – 1 small onion (can be skipped if totally sattvik vegetarian)

  *      ginger paste – 1 tsp

  *      green chillies (finely chopped) – 2 small

  *      cumin powder - ¾-1 tsp 

  *      coriander powder - ¾ -1 tsp 

  *      turmeric – a pinch

  *      Roasted Cumin powder or roasted garam masala powder – ½ tsp

  *      Salt to taste

  *      Sugar as per taste

  *      Maida (refined flour for binding)- 1-1.5 tbsp

•         For the Gravy

• *Cubed potatoes- 2 medium sized                                                                                                      *Finely chopped onions- 1 (optional and to be avoided in case if pure vegetarian)

• ·    *Tomato pureed- 2 small

  ·    *ginger paste-1tsp

  ·    *cumin powder – 1 tsp

  ·    *Coriander powder-1/2 tsp

  ·    *turmeric powder – 1tsp

  ·    *Kashmiri red chilli powder-1 tsp

  ·    *slit green chillies – 3-4

  ·    *mustard oil – 1.5-2 tbsp

  ·    *dried red chillies - 3

  ·    *bay leaves – 1-2

  ·    *green cardamom-2

  ·    *cinnamon- 1-2 one inch pieces

  ·    *cloves-1 or 2

  ·    *salt as per taste

  ·    *sugar

  ·    *ghee-1 tbspn

  ·    *home made Garam masala - ¼ tsp (dry roasted green cardamom, cinnamon, clove and powdered in a pestle mortar)

  *2 cups of warm water
  
  
  

  Procedure :

  Kanch Kolar Kofta (Raw Banana Dumpling) 

  
  
  1. 1. Cut kachkola (raw bananas) into 2-3 pieces depending on their length. Also take one large or two small potatoes , cut in half and place in the pressure cooker. Boil in a pressure cooker with salt, pinch of turmeric, ¾ litre (or till the raw banana pieces & potatoes are immersed) of water. Cook on medium heat till one whistle .
• 
  
• 2. After release of pressure, remove the boiled bananas & potatoes from the water and peel their skin. Mash the Kanch Kola and boiled potato till smooth. 


• 3. Add onion paste/grated, ginger paste,  chopped green chillies, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, pinch of Bengali garam masala or roasted cumin powder, salt, sugar and maida. Mix everything uniformly. 
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• 3. Divide the mashed mix into balls and press the spheres gently into discs .


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• 4. Shallow fry the koftas in a frying plan till they are uniformly brown in colour. 



5. Drain from the oil and keep aside.



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• The dalna or the Gravy

• 1. Take 2-3 potatoes and cut them into cubes, smear them with salt and turmeric and shallow fry them till 80% cooked. 
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2. Mix the spices - ginger paste, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, and kashmiri red chilli powder with water.

  

• 3. In a kadai, heat mustard oil. Season with dried red chillies, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and cumin seeds.
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4. Add chopped onions and tomato puree. Allow the rawness of tomato to be cooked into a mushy paste and add the spice mix prepared at sl2. Cook well while sprinkling some water from time to time to avoid burning of spices.  Add the salt  &  sugar. Keep cooking the spices till oil separates and now add the fried potato cubes. Add warm/hot water to make the gravy. Cover the kadhai till it comes to a boil.

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• 5. Slide in the fried koftas into the boiling gravy. Lower the flame till the gravy thickens.  
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• 6. Garnish with ghee,  garam masala , slit green chillies (as per heat tolerance).  
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• 7. Take it off the flame and serve with steamed rice.