E(n)chorer Dalna...Raw Jackfruit curry-Bengali style

Raw Jackfruit or Ee(n)chor is eaten as a vegetable and not just eaten but is a delicacy in Bengali Vegetarian cuisine! And in Bengali it's also jokingly called 'Gaachh Paa(n)tha'.... literally translated, that would mean 'Tree + Goat meat'..and meant to say that Raw Jackfruit curry tastes as good as Goat Meat, but is of course vegetarian !! ;))

As a kid I would neither touch or taste either the ripe or raw version of the fruit/vegetable. As I grew up, I developed a taste for the vegetable version but the strong aroma of the fruit version (Kathaal) could never lure me into tasting it!

Seeing the rare sight of raw Jackfruits on the shelves of the supermarket and knowing my homehelp would take care of the tough part of cutting it, I bought a medium sized one.

Ingredients :

Tender raw jackfruit, cut into small cubes and blanched/steamed in salt water

One small onion chopped

One small onion paste

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Tomato chopped (optional)

Two potatoes cubed

Bay leaf / Tej Pata - 1

Garam Masala whole - 3-4 elaichi (Cardamom) + 1 " cinnamon stick + 2-3 clove pieces

Haldi (Turmeric) powder - 1 tbsp

Jeera (Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Mirch - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Mustard Oil preferably

Procedure :

1. Smear the potato cubes with salt and turmeric and fry and Keep aside

2. Lightly fry the cubed and blanched jackfruit pieces. Keep aside

3. In oil, throw the Bay leaf and whole Garam  Masala.

4. Add a tsp of Garlic paste

5. Add a pinch of sugar and the finely chopped onions.

6. Fry till light brown, then add the ginger paste followed by onion paste. Fry well till nicely browned.

7. Make a mix of the masala paste - Turmeric + Jeera powder + Kashmiri mirch + Chili Powder + salt with little water

8. Add to the fried onions. Cook well on medium to high heat (Koshano as we say in Bengali) till the oil separates out.

9. Add the blanched and fried Jackfruit / Ee(n)chor pieces into the masala and mix well on medium heat. Sprinkle some water if too dry. Add the potatoes.

Continue cooking till the vegetables are soft and cooked.

Finish off with a dash of ghee (clarified butter)...

This post is off to Weekend Herb Blogging #363 started Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and organised by HAALO and  hosted for the week by ELENA of ZIBALDONE CULINARIO

Reposting Summer Thirst Quenchers

Chilled thirst quenchers and soups to beat the summer heat!!! Click on the drink names for detailed recipes

BCJMJJ8BFWYZ

ICED TEA

 

AAMER AMBOL (a soupy raw mango preparation)

WATERMELON JUICE  

AAM PORA SHERBET (roasted raw mango drink)

 These Summer delights are off to SERVE IT - CHILLED

Mango Kulfi

Summer ….the season of Mangoes, vacations, sorbets, ice-creams, kulfis and more….

This summer has been a summer of Mango kulfis for us ….making kulfis almost every 3 days and relishing this awesome summer treat almost daily.

The recipe is a slight modification of Tarla Dalal’s mango kulfi recipe found here

Ingredients : yields 11-12 medium sized kulfis

Full Cream  Milk – ½ litre (the full cream part is optional)

Condensed milk  – ¾ cup of a 180ml cup (I used sweetened condensed milk)

Milk powder – ¾ cup of a 180 ml cup

Sugar (may be skipped if condensed milk is sweetened OR the mango is v.sweet) – 2 tbsp

Mango pulp of 3 -4 medium sized mangoes.

6 aluminium moulds

Procedure:

1.    Mix together the milk, condensed milk and milk powder  and bring to a boil and simmer for 5-7 minutes

2.    Cool down the mixture completely. I put it in the refrigerator to fasten the cooling process

3.     In the meantime, keep the mango pulp of 3-4 mangoes ready

4.     After the milk mix cools, add the pulp and give the mango-milk mix with a hand whipper.

5.     Pour into moulds and freeze.

     Take them out of the mould, or as Tarla Dalal says "demould" them.

6.   

          Serve, relish and attain mango nirvana!! ;))

This post is off to SERVE IT CHILLED
and also to 'SIMPLE AND IN SEASON'

Black Beauties...BERRY BERRY TASTY!

(Kaalojaam - Delicious & Healthy)

Delicious Kaalojaam (Black Berry) .....A summer fruit available for a limited period in June-July. Kaalojaam or BlackBerry has a unique taste...you have to have it to understand.... sweet with a coarse-acidic tang which leaves an aftertaste. But the purple juicy pulp of these small spherical fruits is almost addictive...you just cant seem to stop....and before you know you have a bowl full of seeds....remnants of the fruit you just ate up!

Though I love to eat them as it is, to add to its taste, I do as follows :

Ingredients
Kalojaam = 500gms
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Kashundi (Indian Mustard sauce) - 1 - 1.5 tsp

Procedure :
1. Just put a slit or two on each of the fruit
2. Marinate with salt, sugar and kashundi.
3. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour
4.Enjoy !

Side Effects : A purple tongue!!!

Some more info about the humble Kaalojaam - A wonderful fruit for combating stress, cardiovascular disease and cancer. It has very few calories so anyone with obesity can eat it happily. You can skip your evening tea and consume this fruit instead because it cools and body and prepares it for rest. The best thing would be to make a drink with kalo jam, pudina pata, salot or honey to guarantee a good night’s sleep.

Water Melon Drink

Scorching heat. The dry moisture-less air parching your throat and the body begging for fluids.

Just the right backdrop for chilled fresh fruit drinks...which not only quenches your thirst much better that the synthetic fizzy drinks but gives the body the much needed minerals and nutrients so easily lost the the unending heat!

So here's the recipe for a chilled and pretty red glass of water melon drink!

Ingredients : One medium sized melon yielded three tall glasses of drink

* One Water Melon (or as many as you need)

* A tsp of sugar

* Ice cubes

Procedure :

1. Scoop out the pulp of the water melon and de-seed (that's the troublesome part!)

2. Put the de-seeded pulp, crushed ice/ice cubes and sugar in a blender. Blend to a smooth paste. Add chilled water if required.

3. Pour into glasses and let the heat take a backseat while you savour the bright red drink!!!

Aamer Ambol

Raw Mango in a light watery soup

Come summers and the kitchen becomes a sea of orange, yellow and green! Gorgeous mangoes in all its various hues and avatars, rule the roost so to say....be it the morning breakfast with mango smoothie, the mid morning fruity break with mangoes, the afternoon dessert of mango custard or mango pudding, a cool smoked raw mango drink to beat the heat, mango chutney, just mangoes and oh so many more delicious mouth watering mango delights to fill the day!

So today when my Ma's friends, an elderly couple, was coming over for lunch, I decided to go for a traditional Bengali summer lunch and dish out the oh-so-soothing Aam er Ambol as the last but final item on the menu, right before the desserts of Doi-mishti. As I have written earlier (here), Chaatni, tok or Ambol is the penultimate item in a traditional Bengali meal, the final one being doi-mishti (Curd and sweet).

So here goes the recipe of the simplest of simple preparation :
Ingredients :
# Raw Mango - 3
#Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
#Dry Whole red chilli - 1
#Sugar - 100 gms or sugar syrup - 1 cup (I used up the leftover syrup after making roshogollas)
#Rock salt - 1/2 tsp
#Chilli flakes - a pinch (optional)
#Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure :
1. Slice the raw mangoes longitudinally as shown.

2. In a wok, heat the mustard oil. Throw into the oil, mustard seeds and dry whole red chilli.

3.As it splutters, add the sliced raw mango pieces. Add the sugar/sugar syrup. Add 4-5 cups of water. Cover with a lid, lower the flame and let it come to a boil

4. As it boils, sprinkle the rocksalt. Check the taste and if required add some more sugar and salt.

5. Sprinkle a pinch of red chilli flakes (optional)

6. Take it off the flame and chill.

The Aam er Ambol (Pronounced Awmbol as in Awful) is ready to be savoured after lunch or dinner!

Aam Pora Shorbot

(A Drink made of Roasted Raw Mango pulp)

Aam pora shorbot/sherbet is a perfect antidote to the scorching heat of the peak summer months of April, May in India. Returning from school to a chilled glass of home made Aam pora shorbot during the deadly hot summer months are fond childhood memories. At the onset of summer, Ma would make a huge quantity of the concentrate, add preservative (Sodium Benzoate) for storing, and use as and when required. She would dilute the spiced and sweetened concentrate with chilled water for instant use. It would last the whole tenure of summer.

These days, a variation of Aam pora shorbot...Aam panna, is a much in demand summer drink, available in packaged avatar too. That these healthy, soothing and tasty drinks are being chosen over the aerated variety to quench thirst is indeed a cause for celebration! These drinks have a high nutrient value, a saviour against heat strokes and dehydrations too.
Unlike Ma, I dont make the concentrate in bulk....I use 8-10 mangoes at a time so that the concentrate lasts me a week or so.
Note : Aam Panna and Aam Pora shorbot preparation is the same. The only difference is the starting material.
While in Aam Pora Shorbot, the green mangoes are roasted over fire, in Aam Panna, the green mangoes are boiled. I prefer the smoky taste of the roasted mangoes and hence, though more time-consuming, I make the Aam Pora variety more often.
So here goes the recipe :
Ingredients :
What I used...
Sugar : 250gm
Rock Salt : 1tsp
Red Chilli flakes :1tsp
Roasted and ground Cumin powder : 2 tsp

Procedure :
1. Roast the mangoes in their jackets over a flame.
2. Cool the mangoes and then remove the skin.
3. Scoop out the pulp and mash it after removing the seed
3. Pass the pulp through a sieve, so that the fibres, if any, are removed.
4. Add powdered sugar, chilli, flakes, rock salt and mix over medium flame for a minute or two.
5. Sprinkle roasted and ground cumin powder.
6.Take it off the flame. Cool and store the concentrate in glass bottles.

To make a drink, add 1/4 glass of the concentrate. Add ice cubes and chilled water.

Koth Bel Maakha....delicious Wood Apple Pulp!!

That the routine weekend trip to the supermarket would transport me to my growing up years...who knew. As I mechanically stuffed the Gourds, Potatoes, Onions into my basket, a familiar yet not-so familiar aroma drew me to a corner of the fresh vegetables/fruits section. A row of moss-green-pale-yellow speckled, rough & hard textured sphere with the name of Wood-Apple were sitting pretty on the cornermost shelf.

Is it or is it not, was what I asked myself ???

A quick SOS call to Ma describing the appearance and English name of Wood-Apple confirmed that it was indeed the 'Koth Bel' Dida used to mash and spice up for us to savour on hot summer afternoons, sitting on the terrace and squirming yet loving the predominantly sour-yet-sweet taste with the distinct flavour of the Koth Bel Maakha (Maakha-a Bengali term which means to mash & mix)!!!

Oooh...an almost involuntary shiver in remembrance of the unforgettable taste ran through my palate even as I stood right in the middle of the supermarket. Greedily I picked up four Koth-Bels or Wood-Apples (a name totally unknown to me till that day) and proceeded towards the cash counter......

Well, without wasting any more time, I'll proceed directly to the simplest possible recipe of a fantafabulous pickle dish which is chock-a-block with nutrients (something which a quick google search informed me)


Ingredients :
Koth Bel - 2
Sugar - 1 tsp (or as per taste)
Salt - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
Mustard Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Green Chillies - finely chopped (again depending on the chilli tolerance factor ;))

Procedure :
1. The hard rind is to be cracked open.
2. Scoop out the brown pulp within.
3. Mash it into a smooth paste. The soft seeds may not be removed...they add to the taste
4. Add all the ingredients as given above and mix well.
5. A few hour in the sun would be great but we were too greedy and couldnt wait that long....
6. The flavour cant be described....you have to have it to understand....

This is my entry to this week's WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING #173 hosted for the week by Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once. The history of WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING is available here. The logo for the event is .....