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.

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.

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. 
• 
  
• 3. Divide the mashed mix into balls and press the spheres gently into discs .


‍

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



5. Drain from the oil and keep aside.



• 
  

• 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. 
• 
  

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.
• 
  

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.

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

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.

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 (Poppy paste) 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!

Sheem Chochchori

Fried Broad Beans ....the Bengali way

 The Sheem or Broad Beans looked so fresh and green, I of all persons, who's not in the least bit a vegetable lover,  seemed to have fallen in love with them....Cautiously, as I had never cooked it earlier, bought just a packet of it....didnt have the heart to refrigerate this fresh a vegetable and hence cooked a 'Sheem Chochchori' (Broad Beans fried in typical Bengali spices) with it.

A quick and easy recipe .... though of course the presence of mustard paste (shorshe baata) and grated coconut in the fridge helped...

Ingredients :
Broad Beans - 250gms. ..each cut it 3 parts
Dry red chili whole - 1
Kalojeera / Nigella seeds - 1/4 tsp
Haldi / Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
grated coconut - a small bowl
mustard paste - 2 tsp
coriander leaves
green chili
salt to taste
sugar - a pinch
Mustard oil

Procedure :
1. In a kadai, heat the mustard oil and season with whole dry red chili & kalojeera
2. Add the Sheem pieces  (cut in 3 parts as shown in the pic) and add Haldi, salt and sugar. Turn the vegetable and spices around in the kadhai and let it cook till partially soft yet the crunchiness should still be there.
3. Add the grated coconut followed by mustard paste. Let it cook for a couple of minutes more
4. Garnish with Coriander leaves and slit whole green chili.

To be savoured with steamed white rice

Cheesy Vegetable Fritters

Fritters / Chops/Cutlets made of Chhana (Fresh & fluffy Paneer), grated Cheddar Cheese and any finely chopped vegetables

Simple, fast and delicious....that's the other name of this dish.

Ingredients :
Chhana / Paneer from 2.5 litres full cream milk
Grated processed cheese  (used Amul) - 4-5 cubes or as many as you want
Any finely chopped vegetables : I used carrot, beans, capsicum, finely sliced babycorn, sweet corn kernels, mushrooms
Chopped garlic
Chopped Onions
butter / oil
Tej pata
Crushed peppercorns
Salt
Pepper powder
Oregano powder
Cornflour
Bread crumbs
Oil for frying

Procedure :

1. Curdle boiling milk with lemon/vinegar to make Chhana/Chhena/Paneer/Cottage cheese. Drain away the whey and press it lightly to retain the softness and fluffiness of the Chhana.


2. In a kadai, heat the butter. Add tej pata & crushed pepper corns into the heated butter, followed by chopped garlic and onions. Fry till golden brown.

3. Now add the chopped vegetables in descending order of hardness.....carrot, beans, baby corns ...capsicum etc...all in medium to high heat. If using mushrooms, better to saute them separately as mushroom will give out loads of water and make the other veggies soggy. We want the veggies to retain their crunchiness


4. Mix the crunchy fried veggies with the soft paneer and toss the mix in the kadai to mix well.

5. In the hot mix, gradually add the grated cheese and keep stirring. The cheese will melt and assimilate into the rest of the chhana-veggie mix.


6. After cooling, shape the doh-like chhana-cheese-veggie mix into friiters. Dip into a thin batter of cornflour+water and then roll in bread crumbs.

8. Shallow fry and serve with sauce, chutney or as it is....

Cream of Broccoli Almond Soup

Some left over broccoli which had turned yellowish and hence didnt want to use it for normal stir fry or in mix veggie dish preparation. So soup it was to cater to the kiddo tummies in the evening..

Ingredients :
Broccoli - I used 3/4 of a medium sized broccoli cut into medium sized florets
6-10 Garlic cloves chopped roughly
1 tej pata
Almonds - a handful...about 10-15..blanched, to ease the removal of skin
Salt
Rocksalt
Pepper corns ...freshly crushed
black Pepper powder
Chili flakes (optional)
grated Cheddar cheese
Milk - 3 cups
butter

Procedure :
1. Pressure cook the broccoli, chopped garlic with tej pata and a pinch of salt.
2. After blanching the almond in hot water, peel off the skin and saute the almonds in butter till golden brown
3. Now in a blender, make a paste of the pressure cooked broccoli-garlic and sauted almonds.
4. Heat butter and add crushed peppercorns to the heated butter. Fry for a few seconds and add the blended broccoli-garlic-almond. Cook on high heat till the raw flavour is eliminated.
5. Add milk and milk cream (malai/দুধের সব্র ). till it is of creamy & soupy consistency. Mix on high heat and lower the heat, cover and bring to a boil.
6. Adjust the salt by adding rock salt.
7. Sprinkle pepper powder, chili flakes (optional). Take it off the flame.
8. After pouring into soup bowls, garnish with grated cheddar cheese.

Serve this bowful of healthy goodness ....steaming hot...it's a meal by itself!

Dalia & Green Moong Daal Mixed Paratha

Parathas made of Broken wheat & Green Gram 

A simple, hassle free, super nutritious I'd downloaded from the net and make very often...but never blogge about. To ensure the recipe is safe and sound in my e-recipe book, in case my memory fails me or my laptop crashes, thought of noting it down....

The ratio of ingredients in the original recipe was Dalia : Sabut moong :Ata = 3/4:1/4:1 cups. And there was no onion in the recipe. 
The following are my measurements. 

Ingredients :
Broken wheat (dalia/lapsi) 1 cup
Green gram (sabut moong) 1/2 cup
Whole wheat flour (atta) 1 & 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Ginger 2 inch piece
Finely chopped onion - 1
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped finely chopped - 1/2 cup
Green chilli, chopped finely chopped- depending on the heat tolerance
Oil 2-3 teaspoon

Procedure :
1. Clean dalia well.
2. Soak sabut moong for about an hour. Drain and set aside.
3. Pressure-cookd dalia and whole moong in 2 -2.5 cups of water until soft. I require 5-6 whistles if the moong is not soaked for long.  Cool and mash the mixture.

4. Combine wheat flour, salt and oil.
5. Mix wheat flour with cooked and mashed whole dalia and moong.
6. Add grated ginger, chopped onions, chopped coriander leaves and green chillies.

7. Add water, if required, a little at a time and knead into a soft and pliable dough.
8. Keep the dough covered with a moist cloth for 15 minutes.

9. Divide the dough into 12-13 equal portions. Form them into balls. Roll out each portion into thin five to six inch sized discs.
10. Brush a little oil on a hot non-stick griddle (tawa) and place the parantha on it and cook on medium heat for half a minute on each side. Reduce heat and cook further till both the sides are slightly browned.

Serve hot with dahi (or raita) and / chutney Achaar.

This recipe is off to 'My Legume Love Affair # 56' being hosted by Lisa. The event was started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Malai Palak or Spinach in Milk Cream

A simple Palak recipe which tastes awesome with both rice & roti

DISCLAIMER : Quite unphotogenic to look at....but definitely delicious to eat!

Ingredients :8-10 bunches of Spinach / Palak / Palong Shaak
Garlic -5-6 cloves chopped fine
1 choppped Onions chopped
Tomatoes  - optional
Salt & Sugar to taste
Green chilies as per heat tolerance
Fresh Malai / Milk Cream / Doodher Shawr - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure :
1. Wash the Palak leaves well, drain the water and chop.
2. In a kadai / wok, heat oil and add the chopped onions, chopped garlic and a pinch of sugar into the oil. Saute till the onions turn a translucent pink.
3. Add the washed & chopped Palak.
4. Cook with an occasional stir without lid to dry away the water.
5. Once the majority of the water has been vapourised off, add the malai / fresh milk cream / doodher shawr, followed by chopped green chilies.
6. Stir it around till the malai palak is moist but not watery. In case the need arises to drain off the last remnants of wateriness, sprinkle some atta (all purpose flour) on cooked Malai Palak and give it a stir.



The simple Malai Palak is ready to serve with steaming white rice.

"Bangali Begun PoRa Dhoney Paata Baata Diye"

A non-recipe.....Smoked (Burnt) Brinjal with Ground Coriander leaves

Disclaimer : Considering that although this is a dish prepared almost religiously at least once a week, I NEVER ever thought it could be categorised into a 'to be blogged' recipe...it's that simple and almost a zero-spice non-recipe.... and one more thing....it's DIFFERENT from Baingan Bharta!!!

This simplest of recipes reinforces and exemplifies the fact that Bengali cuisine is predominantly less on spice and the focus is more on retention of the authentic taste and flavour of the vegetables.


Well....Begun PoRa with Dhoney Paata Baata is a slice of my Mom/Grandmom's Saturday & Tuesday dinner menu....especially in winter when fresh green corianders leaves were in abundance.

I dont know why, but'Begun porano' i.e Brinjal Roasting was / is carried out ONLY on Tuesdays and Saturdays....and strangely, I too, despite claiming to be non-prejudiced and non-superstitious and logical minded, I too roast my brinjals on Tuesdays and/or Saturdays!

Well...now coming to the basics :

Ingredients :

For Begun PoRa or Roasted Brinjal :
One Big Fat shiny Brinjal
Mustard Oil - about 2-3 tbsp
Green Chilli - as many as you want
Salt
Onion chopped (optional)-I did not use.

For Dhonepaata Baata or Coriander leaves Ground / Paste :
Coriander leaves - 6-7 bunches  or one big colander full of chopped coriander
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Green chillies - as many as you want
Mustard Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure :
Begun PoRa / Roasted Brinjal
1.The Big Fat Brinjal needs to be slit (criss-cross) right upto the stalk. Please dont remove the stalk, it helps to hold it over the flame while roasting.
2. Smear the surface with Mustard Oil and Rub it all over.
3. Hold it over the flame and keep turning it around as the flame scorches and roasts the skin of the brinjal. The idea is to roast it uniformly all over.
4. A smoky aroma fills the surroundings. And the outer skin of the brinjal is black, charred and almost peeling off.
5. Poke the inner smoked flesh to ensure its softened uniformly.
6. Peel off the outer charred skin and mash the inner smoked brinjal flesh well after adding the requisite amount of salt, chopped green chillies and chopped onions (optional). I had only one green chilli @home, hence used chili flakes for spicing up my begun pora!

Dhoney Paata Baata / Coariander leaves ground/paste :

1. Chop a colander full of coriander leaves and wash them well. Also wash some green chillies.
2. Now make a paste of the chopped coriander leaves + green chilies.
3. Using a Shil Nora (grinding stone used in most Bengali kitchens) would be the best option to make this 'Baata' / Paste, but the chutney jar of the food processor is a more convenient option (at least in my kitchen).

4. In a wok/kadai, heat a teaspoonful of mustard (and ONLY mustard oil) till smoking hot and pour the watery coriander leaves+green chilli paste. Stir briskly on medium to high flame till the moistness dries off and the paste turns a moss green colour. It's no longer watery now.

The 'Begun PoRa with Dhoney Paata Baata' is ready to be mixed with rice and savoured. 

Try mixing only Dhoney Paata Baata with hot steamed rice....I could devour a plateful of this rustic rice-Dhoney Paata Baata mix!!!

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