"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!!!

Celebrating Kali Pujo & Diwali with Chhanar Jilipi

(Jalebi made out of cottage cheese)


It's that time of the year again!

Come September/October/November and the Indian Calendar is choc-a-block with festivities. Religious, social, cultural ... our festivities are a joyous symphony of vibrant colours, myriad tastes that tingle the palate and religious fervour that embraces and engulfs our sprirts. It's a time of the year I love and yearn for. The smell of new clothes, the anticipation of going home to family and friends, the smell of Pujo in the air, the sound of the Dhakis in the background are all so familiar and nostalgia evoking....yet gives me goosebumps every year thus creating the magic of pujo. For us since childhood, Pujor Chhuti meant Durga Puja followed by Lakshmi Puja and finally the festivities and fun would culminate with Kaali Puja exactly two weeks after Dussehra and finally Bhai Phonta just two days thereafter!

Maa Kaali, the fierce incarnation the Durga, is worshipped on the Kartik Amavasya night in Bengal. While Ma Kaali is worshipped in Bengal, on the same day, Diwali is celebrated in the rest of the country and Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped in most homes of North, South and Western India.

Diyas, candles, fireworks are an intrinsic part of both Kali Pujo as well as Diwali. And as in case of all Indian festivities, be it religious/cultural/social, food, especially a wide variety of sweets is an integral part of all our celebrations!

So on this ocassion of Kali Puja, as we indulge our sweet tooth, shoving to the backseat for a couple of weeks the fear of calories, pretending to ignore for a while the clockwise swing of the weighing scale needle, I bring to you a sweetdish I love.... CHHANAR JILIPI. I learnt it from my Ma during my Puja vacation and here I am sharing it with you......


Ingredients:
Chhana from 2 litres milk (check here to see how chhana is made in Points 1 & 2 of Process)
3 Black Elaichis, made into a paste (I used the green elaichi/cardamoms-around 5)
Maida (refined flour) - 2 - 3 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Baking Powder - a pinch
Sugar syrup using sugar : Water in the ration 1:1.5
Oil for deep frying


Procedure:

1. Knead the Chhana into a soft and smooth dough

2. Mix the Maida with the Oil.

3. Then mix the maida-oil mix to the chhana to give some firmness to the very soft chhana dough

3.Mix the elaichi paste and baking powder and again knead very well.


4. Pinch of small balls of chhana and roll into smooth balls.

5. Roll it into a snake like shape as shown above

6. Twist the two ends as shown in pics below.

6. Deep Fry each formed jalebi in the wok

7. Keep the sugar syrup hot/boiling.

8.Fry the jilipis and dunk them in the sugar syrup.

9. Let them stay dunked in the sugar syrup for about an hour when the jalebis soak in the sweetness of the syrup and turns juicy.

Serve hot or cold......

HAPPY DIWALI!!

This is my entry to the event FF:DIWALI DHAMAKA hosted by Purva Desai of PURVA's DAAWAT. The logo for the event is ....

Boiragi Dal....Mixed Lentil Soup

What has Dal (lentils) got to do with Boiragyo or spiritualism? Well, if you go by the name of this Dal…..quite a bit, I guess!

This Dal opens a floodgate of memories….of having lunch with Dadu (my paternal grandfather) during my growing up years.

A man of reticence, well-known amongst relatives for being a strict disciplinarian, with us grandchildren, Dadu was a different man altogether. Age had probably mellowed him. For me, his 'live-in' granddaughter, he was a storehouse of stories…of his growing up years, his schooling in the village pathshaala followed by his college years in Kolkata.

The sepia tinged memories of Dadu narrating his tales of a bygone era while we had lunch (on Sundays and holidays), with the 1 o'clock Bengali newscast on All India Radio in the background, are crystal clear even today, more than 20 years later.
Different stories of different phases of his life…Like when while studying engineering, he, with some friends played hookey and got caught while trying to sneak back to the hostel after a round of football match and were almost suspended by the professor. Of another occasion when the hungry youngsters, fed on measly hostel food, went uninvited, to a wedding party close to their college premises. After the host came to know they were engineering students from the hallowed institution, they were given an almost royal treatment and the boys feasted to their hearts' content. Stories of seaplanes taking off from water instead of the runway left me wide-eyed with wonder and amazement while tales of post World War II Germany and Britain, when food was rationed and life was stark gave me a first hand account of history. Myriad stories of a life spanning the entirety of the 20th century…..
To imagine that a modest dal had so many memories associated with it!!!
Well, coming back to the Dal…..peeping through the cobwebs of the past, the first time I remember having this dal, Dadu asked us whether we knew its name ….Boiragi Dal was what is was called, he said! 'Boiragi'?? I asked, taken aback by the totally out-of-context name. The Boiragis, he explained, lived on alms. And whatever they received as Bhiksha from each grihostho-baari was collected in a common container. And the Boiragi, at the end of the day, cooked this assorted Dal and hence the name Boiragi Dal.

But now as I write, a question comes to mind. Didn't the Boriagi receive any rice as alms. So that would make his day's Bhiksha a mix of Dal and Rice and hence it would become Boiragi Khuchudi!! Or did he have two separate containers for rice and dal? Explanations anyone??

Again, returning to the Dal…..the recipe :

Ingredients :

i) To be pressure cooked :-

-Any number of dal - I used 5 varieties. Masoor (Red Lentils), Toor(Pigeon Pea), Yellow Moong(Yellow lentil), Urad(White lentils), Chana(Split chickpea) : 20 gms each

-Ginger paste : 1 tsp

-Bay leaf : 2

-Salt to taste

-Sugar : a pinch

-Turmeric : 1/4 tsp

-2 glasses of water

ii) Other spices

-Oil : 2tbsp

-Dry red chillie (whole) : 2

-Panch phoron : 1 tsp

-Asafoetida (Hing) : 1 tsp

-Chopped tomatoes - 1

-green chillies : 2-3

-Ghee : 1 tsp

Procedure :-

1. Take all the dals and the other ingredients at (i) and pressure cook till the dal mix is of a creamy consistency. Mix the lentil grains well.

2. Heat oil in a wok.

3.Throw in the dry red chillies, panch phoron, hing and the chopped tomatoes and stir well

4. Pour the dal mix already prepared and kept aside.

5. Stir well and add some water if the consistency is too thick.

6. Check for salt and let it come to a boil

7. Add the slit green chillies and a dash of ghee before taking it off the stove.

8. Ready to serve with steamed white rice

*This is my entry to the BLOG EVENT 'LENTILS MELA' hosted by Ashwini's Spicy Cuisine. The event logo is....

** This is also going to the BLOG EVENT 'MY LEGUME LOVE AFFAIR-EIGHTH HELPING' hosted by The Well-Seasoned Cook. The event logo is...Bibliography :
Boiragi - From the sanskrit word Vairaagya which means Sannyasi or one who has renounced the world
Pathshaala -yesteryear's junior school in villages
Grihostho-baari - home of a family man
Bhiksha - Alms
Panch Phoron - Very commonly used seasoning in Bengali cooking. The 5 spice mix consists of Cumin (Jeera), Fenugreek (Methi), Kalonji (Kalo jeera), Radhuni, Fennel seed (Mouri/Saunf)