Kolai Dal with Chingri Maachh

Roasted Urad Dal with Prawns

Ingredients:

Dry Roasted Urad Dal 200gm

Ginger Garlic paste

Tej Pata

Whole Garam Masala

Onion paste

Onion chopped

Tomato

Turmeric

 Salt

Fennel seed (mouri)

Dry Whole red chili

Procedure

1) dry roast dal and wash

2) in a pressure cooker, add whole garam masala, ginger garlic paste, Tej Pata,  Onion paste, Haldi, Salt, sugar.  Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. 

3) In a wok, pour 3 tbsp of oil. Season with fennel seeds when hot,  followed  by chopped garlic and chopped Onion. Fry till golden.

4) add the Prawns into the woke after  smearing with Salt, haldi, chili powder. Fry till golden.

5) pour the pressure cooked Dal into the wok. Let it come to a boil. 

6) garnish with ghee, green chilies and coriander leaves (chopped)

Note: The photograph was clicked as an afterthought,  much after the dal was relished by us all and doesn't do justice to its taste 😀 

Mukhi Kochu .....Arbi .....Colocasia

A simple fry of Mukhi Kochu and Potatoes

Ingredients :
Mukhi Kochu - 250gm
Potatoes : 2-3 medium sized
Dry whole red chilies -2
Ajwain - 1 tbsp
Chopped garlic - 8-10 gloves
Curry leaves - quite a handful
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Tomatoes - chopped
Sambhar masala - 2-3 tbsp
Amchur Powder - 2-3 tbsp
Haldi/Turmeric -1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chili
Salt to taste
Mustard Oil - 2-3 tbsp

Procedure :
1. Boil and cube the potatoes and Kochu into equal sized pieces
2. Add Dry whole red chilies, Ajwain, Chopped garlic, Curry leaves into smoking hot mustard oil
3. Add a pinch of Hing followed by chopped tomatoes.
4. Add Haldi, Chili Powder, Salt, Sambhar Masala.
5. Add the boiled Kochu and potatoes and fry on medium to high heat.
6. Adjust the salt and chili level.
7. Sprinkle Amchur Powder. Stir it around till the veggies and spices are all mixed well.

PanCake

A kid friendly recipe with innumerable variations....

sweet or savoury?

Chocolate sauce or maple syrup or honey or fresh cream or butter?

Topped with banana/ strawberry/ blueberry/mango?

Nutmeg /cinnamon/ vanilla?

Jotting down the most basic version of a well liked breakfast so that the girls need not ask me the ingredients and measures each time they make pancakes..

The measurements taken from Internet.  Other than the milk quantity mentioned here, all measures and ratios are just fine

Ingredients for 8 pancakes 

1 ½ cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour / whole wheat flour,

2 tablespoons sugar (powdered)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt, reduce to 1/4 teaspoon if sensitive to salt or using salted butter

1 ¼ cups (295 ml) milk....I used 195ml or till the batter was of flowing consistency

1 egg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure 

BATTER

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and the salt in a medium bowl.

Warm milk  until lukewarm. 

Whisk milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract.. 

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately at first then combine just before cooking. When we are ready to cook, we combine the two mixes with a fork or whisk. 

COOK PANCAKES

Heat a large pan (mine has 3 circular grooves perfect for pancakes, crepes) over medium heat. The pan is ready if when you splatter a little water onto the pan surface, the water dances around the pan and eventually evaporates.

Lightly brush skillet with melted butter.

Pour ladle full of batter and cook till browned and crispy around the edges. Flip and cook the other side

Serve with toppings of your choice...chocolate syrup, honey, maple syrup, liquid jaggery, cream etc

Mushroom Spinach Crepes

A recipe from an FB reel made Sunday Breakfast a superhit.

Substituted the All purpose Flour of the original recipe with Whole Wheat Flour for the crepes as well as the white sauce.  

Ingredients :

A) for  around 18 crepes:

• Whole Wheat Flour ...2.5 cups (approx 250gms)
• Milk 2 large mugs or till a dosa like batter is made
• Salt to taste
• Baking powder & cooking soda..a pinch each

B) For the Mushroom Spinach Filling (measurements, ratio of ingredients as per taste and liking)

• Butter / Garlic Butter : 1 tbspn
• Chopped Garlic : a bowl full (around 50gm)
• Sliced Mushroom : 400 gm 
• Chopped Spinach : 1 bunch ...finely chopped
• Milk (original recipe had cream) : 1 cup 
• 2.5 cubes processed cheese : grated
• Chili Flakes
• Dried Hetbs
• Pepper
• Salt
• Ata / Cornflour for thickening (as milk was used instead of cream)

C) White Sauce 

• Butter : 1 tbspn
• Wheat Flour (original recipe: All Purpose Flour) : 1 tbspn
• 2 cups of milk
• Chili Flakes
• Dried Hetbs
• Pepper
• Salt

Procedure : Prepared the mushroom Spinach filling followed by the white sauce and crepes on adjacent gas burners

A) Crepes :

1) Mixed the Whole Wheat Flour / Atta, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt. Gradually added milk at room temperature and whisked the batter well to dissolve the lumps. Should be of flowing consistency

B) Mushroom , Spinach Filling :

1) In a wok, heated garlic butter and added chopped garlic and fried till golden brown.

2) Added the sliced mushroom and tossed on high heat. Added Chili flakes, dried herbs (oregano/Italian seasoning), Pepper.

3) Added the chopped Spinach. Tossed it around till it wilted.

4) Added Salt followed by Milk (substitute of Cream) and grated cheese. In case the filling is too watery, sprinkle some atta or cornflour for thickening 

C) White Sauce :

1) In a wok, heat butter and add a tbsp of Atta / Wheat Flour. Saute till brown. Add milk, salt, pepper, chili flakes, seasoning and bring to a boil till white sauce is ready  

D) Assembly :

1) Add a ladle full of batter to make the crepes.

2) Add the filling 

3) Fold it as you wish or find convenient

4) Serve on a plate and either dunk it in whote sauce or pour some white sauce as garnishing and sprinkle some chili flakes/pepper/chopped parsley or coriander leaves. (Optional...I left out the last bit as hungry eyes were more interested in the food rather than the decor and drama... ;)

Paneer with Posto and Capsicum

Had this delicious paneer dish at a cousin's place. Loved it.
She mentioned some ingredients she'd used, I guessed some she may have missed....the result was quite a refreshing tasting Paneer!

Ingredients:

Paneer – 500gm

Tej pata-2

Tomato chopped-1

Ginger paste -1 tbsp

Whole jeera

Whole Garam Masala

paste of 2 medium sized capsicum

paste of 2 tbsp posto

Dhone-jeera powder – ½ tsp each

Salt

Sugar

Green chili

Ghee at the end

Procedure:

1. Season the oil with Tej pata, Whole jeera, Whole garam masala, ginger paste/grated 

2. Add the tomato followed by Capsicum paste and let it cook till the oil separates.

3. Add the Posto/Poppy Paste followed by sugar, dhone - jeere paste.

4. Add the Paneer cubes and salt to taste 

5. Add some water...not too much...just a sprinkling

6. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes.

7. End it off with adding some slit green chilies and a liberal spoonful of ghee.

8. Eat it with steamed rice or roti.

PS: I'd added some diced potatoes which I'd sauted prior to adding to the gravy. Potato is totally optional....I added because I like potatoes with paneer 😉

Masala Poorie / Puri

Chholar Dal or Chana Dal was already carried forward from Lunch. Hence the Puri with a twist!

Though we Bongs are partial towards 'Phulko Luchi'...Poories made of Maida, Covid restrictions and limited supplies prompted me to improvise with whatever was available.... and here goes the recipe of Masala Poorie

Ingredients as per my availability: can be tweaked around to suit taste and availability

Maida - about 1/2 cup

Ata (whole wheat flour) - 3 cups almost

Hing /Asafoetida - 1 tbsp

Chili flake - 1 tbsp

Ajwain - 1.5 tbsp

Salt

Sugar

Ghee- 1 heaped tbsp

Curd (because it was available)-a bowl approx

Warm water

Procedure :

Mix the dry ingredients.

Then mix the ghee followed by curd and warm water....knead

Roll into poories and fry....

I served with Chholar Dal...

Anything like Alu Dum, Chhole, Chutney will do....even just like that...warm puffed spicy poorie tastes awesome!

Lau Chingri

Bottle Gourd with Shrimps

The addition of Shrimps (Kucho Chingri) to the humble Lau (Bottle Gourd) has elevated this dish to  an exalted position in the world of Bong gastronomy. The 'Lau Chingri' didnt stop at conquering the heart of the Bong gourmet, but inspired the cult folk song from Opar Bangla "Saadher Lau banailo more Boiragi" !

Coming to the recipe, here it goes :

Ingredients : 

Lau / Bottle Gourd- chopped into small pieces

Pumpkin julienne-a small qty ..about 1/3 the quantity of Lau

Shrimps-de-veined and washed

Panch phoron-1 tsp

Tej pata -1

Shukno lonka / whole dry red chili

Grated/paste of ginger

Holud/turmeric

Jeera powder

Green chili

Dhonepata / Coriander leaves-chopped

Ata (whole wheat flour)- 1 tbsp

Ghee

Salt

Sugar

Procedure :

1.Steam the chopped lau + julienned pumpkin

2. In a Kadhai, heat oil and season with Panch Phoron.

3. When the phoron is crackling, throw in Tej pata, Shukno lonka followed by the washed and de-veined shrimps.

4. After frying the shrimps add ginger, turmeric, jeera powder followed by salt and a pinch of sugar.

5. Now add the steamed chopped lau + julienned pumpkin into the spice mix in the kadhai.         

6. Stir it around..no water is to be added as white gourd gives out water.                                  

7.Keep it covered for a few minutes till the vegetables are cooked. Remove the cover...let the moisture evaporate.

8. Once the veggie-shrimp is done, sprinkle a spoonful of Ata to help dry up excess moisture and make the dish 'maakha-maakha'.

9. Finish of with dhonepata, slit green chilies and a dash of ghee.

10. Serve with steamed rice

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