Rohu Roe fritters .... Rui Machher Dimer Bora

A dull grey rainy day culminates into an evening of continuous rains. As with the weather outside, the ambience within the four walls was also dull, damp and grey!

Boredom was further enhanced by the fact that the Friday evening was not only a rainy evening, but was about to be followed by AD's Maths Exams the following day i.e Saturday....what could be worse!

Well, had to spice up the tea time with something more than the biscuits and the 'Bhujiawallah' snacks!!

So the 4kg Rohu's Roe, sitting in the freezer, was brought out, thawed, spiced up and deep fried and savoured with mugs of hot steaming ginger tea! Aaaah Bliss.....

The recipe....

Ingredients

Roe of a 4kg Rohu roe yielded about 38-40 (1.5" dia) fritters or 'Boras'

Onion - 1...finely chopped

Ginger - 1 tsp grated 

garlic - 2-3 cloved chopped

Green chillies - as many as the heat factor allows

Besan or gram flour - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil to deepfry.

Procedure :

1. Mix the roe with all the above ingredients. 

2. Make coin sized balls and flatten

3. Deep /shallow fry on a non-stick pan

4. Serve hot with tea/coffee.

These 'Bodas' or fritters can be an accompaniment to Plain Rice-(Mushurir/Masoor) Dal. 

Another option would be to make a gravy with onion, tomato and potato and add these fritters and make what in bengali is known as 'Maachher Dim er Bora'r Dalna'

Thor Ghonto

A dry vegetarian dish made of BANANA PITH or STEM

The abundance of Banana Plant in Bengal is probably responsible for Bengalis using up each and every part of the plant, as I've already mentioned in several of my previous posts (here & here).

But a sad reality of today's fast paced nuclear families, is a gradual obsolescence of these regional delicacies. The main reason behind it is the difficulty in cutting and chopping these plant parts. I found a blogpost detailing the cutting procedure of Banana stem or pith, or as we Bengalis call it THOR.An additional tip is the last dicing or chopping....it should be as fine as possible. Almost minced.

Well, coming to the recipe of Thor Ghonto....this recipe is suitable when the stem/pith i.e Thor, is tender. Else the better option would be to go for Thor Chhechki.

Ingredients :

-Thor of length abt 1.5 ft - 2 nos.

-Gobindobhog rice preferably or any other similarly fragranced rice - 1/2 bowl

-Potatoes diced small - 1 medium or 2 small

-Grated coconut - 1/2 Gram/

-Bengal Gram - 1/2 bowl soaked in water (overnight preferably)

-Bay leaf/Tej Pata - 1 or 2

-Whole Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

-Whole garam masala - 2-3 green elaichi/cardamom, 1 1"stick of cinnamon, 2-3 cloves

-Masala Paste -
     Jeera powder - 2 tbsp;
     Halid/Turmeric-1 tsp;
     Red Chili powder- 1 tsp;
     Kashmiri Chili powder - 1tsp (optional)

-Salt

-Sugar
-Ghee - 1-1 1/2 tsp
-Roasted Garam masala powder

-Mustard Oil - 1 cup (This recipe is high on oil...for that matter all thor, mocha recipes are....)

-Wheat flour/Ata - 2 tbsp (optional, as a binder)

Procedure :

1. Cut the thor as given here. It's a very well illustrated explanation.Chop as fine as possible.

2. In a pressure cooker, take the minced thor, add a cup of water, add salt and haldi/turmeric and pressure cook upto 2 whistles. Drain the water and squeeze out as much water as possible.

3. Fry the diced potatoes after sprinkling a pinch of salt and turmeric.Keep aside after frying.

4. Now fry the washed gobindobhog rice in oil till crispy. Keep aside.

5. In the wok, pour the cup full of oil, heat it and season with whole garam masala, tej pata/bay leaf and cumin seeds/whole jeera.
6. Throw in the soaked Bengal Gram and immediately cover the wok with a lid until the bengal grams stop spluttering.
7. Now add the masala paste (haldi, jeera powder, red chili powder & kashmiri chili powder) and salt and sugar.
8. Also add the grated coconut now. Cook the masala well, 'koshano' as we call it in Bengali.
9. After the masala is well cooked, add the pressure cooked, water drained & squeezed minced thor. Mix well with the masala.
10. Add the fried rice followed by diced potatoes.

11. Cover and cook on low/medium flame for around 10 minutes. Keep stirring on and off. No water is to be added. If required drizzle a spoon of oil.
12. If the thor ghonto appears a bit too moist, sprinkle a tsp of Flour/Ata and turn the vegetable around to mix it. This is an optional step and is required ONLY to reduce the moistness of the dish.

13. Before taking off the 'ghonto' off the flame, heat ghee and season with roasted garam masala powder and pour over the 'Thor ghonto'.

The Thor Ghonto is ready to be served with steamed rice.

This post is off to Weekend Herb Blogging #291 started by HAALO and  hosted for the week by PAULCHEN'S FOODBLOG

Paneer Bhurji .... Scrambled Cottage Cheese

No excuses, justification, prelude or small talk!

Just some oft made recipes.....

A simple, nutritious as well as delicious breakfast or tiffin which can be used as a filling in a wrap or a sandwich, OR eaten just as it is, with toast!

And Rush, if you mash the paneer to a smooth consistency, grate the veggies instead of dicing them and eliminate the salt, there you are, a tasty treat for your little one!!!

Ingredients :

Paneer - 1 litre

Lemon - 1

Vegetables of your choice-(bell peppers, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, corn kernels, baby corns etc) - diced.

I used Capsicum, tomato and onion - 1 each

Green chilli - chopped fine

Coriander leaves-also chopped fine.

Salt to taste

Pepper corns, freshly crushed for better flavour & aroma

Butter /olive oil/white oil- 1 tbsp

Procedure -

1. Curdle the milk with the lemon to make fresh homemade paneer / cottage cheese

2. Just strain the whey but dont hang it in a cheese cloth to make it firm. We want the paneer soft and moist

3. In a wok, heat the oil/melt the butter

4. Throw in the crushed pepper corns followed by the diced onions, tomatoes and other veggies.

5. Saute in high heat for a minute or two but retain the crunch

6. Add the scrambled paneer. Stir around for a minute or two. Add salt.

7. Garnish with the chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.

This recipe is off to 'Fast & Quick Healthy Dishes - Guest hosted by Kalpana Sareesh of Life with Spices, on behalf of Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes

Dosa's cousin & a Dakshini Alu Dum

(Goala/Gola Ruti....Dokkhini Alur Dum Diye)

Goala/Gola (pronounced as in 'Goal' -'a') Ruti is a kind of instant Dosa or a Pancake sans the egg & the sweet taste.

In our home Goala ruti is a much made and much loved weekend breakfast / brunch. It's quick, can be had with a side dish, sauce or as it is. Any vegetable chopped fine (like carrot, cabbage, capsisum, etc etc) can add to its nutritive value.

Today to enhace it's south indian-ness, I paired it with an alu dum which had a Duxini touch to it!

So here goes the recipe :

Ingredients

For the Goala Ruti :

* Maida or All purpose Flour : Suji or Semolina in 1:1 ratio. I used 80gm each of Maida and suji which yielded around 9 Goala Rutis/Pancakes

* Milk - 2 - 3 cups

* Salt to taste

* Onions - finely chopped 1/2

* Carrot - Finely chopped 1.

* Coriander leaves - finely chopped

* Green chilies - chopped fine

* You can add ginger / garlic paste & sliced if you like....I DID NOT

* Water to add to the batter to make the consistency more liquid

For the Duxini Alu Dum:
* Potatoes - 8-10 or as many as you require

* Onions - 1 large size, quartered

* Tomatoes - 1 medium, diced

* Curry Patta - a bunch

* Urad Dal/Kolai Dal (White lentils) - 2 tsp

* Whole dry red chili - 1

* Mustard seeds/Shorshe - 1 tsp

* Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp

* Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

* Sambhar Masala - 1/2 tsp

* Salt to taste

* Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp (+/- depending on heat tolerance)

Procedure

I first make the Alu Dum followed by the Goala Rutis

Duxini Alu Dum:

1. Boil the potatoes with their skin on. Afterward peel the skin off and cut each into 4 quarters.
2. In a wok, take oil and when hot, temper with whole dry red chili, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves
3. Throw in the quartered onion and add a pinch of sugar. Fry till it turns pink and translucent.
4. Add the ginger paste followed by diced tomatoes.
5. Add the boiled and quartered potatoes.
6.Add the coriander powder, chili powder and salt
7. Toss them around to mix the masalas well.
8. Once the raw smell/taste of boiled potato is gone, sprinkle the sambhar masala

9. Mix around one more time...check for salt. Take the wok off the flame.
The Duxini Alu Dum is ready!

Goala Ruti :
1. Mix together the maida and suji in 1:1 ratio and pour milk to make a batter of dosa like
consistency. You can make the batter with ONLY milk or milk & water.
2. Add the chopped onions, grated carrot, finely chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves etc etc..
3. Add salt to taste.
4. Mix well.

5. Smear the non-stick tawa with 1/2 tsp of oil
6. With a hemispherical serving ladle, pour a glob of batter and spread it in a circle.

7. Fry one side on low flame. Flip it over and fry the other side.

8. Your Goala Ruti is ready to be savoured with the Alu Dum.

A simple stir fry

This, I guess, is too simple a dish, to be posted.

But it tasted just great and my 4 yr old couldnt stop having it(which to me or for that matter, to any Mom, is the greatest compliment as a cook!) ...so I thought...why not post it!!

Just a slight problem....there had been no photography session of ingredients, in-process activities and end product! I had to make do with clicking the leftovers!!

Here goes the recipe..

Ingredients : **
Button mushrooms - around 10-12, sliced
Cauliflower - 1 medium size cut into small florets
Sweet corn kernel - a handful
Peas - again a handful
Onions - finely sliced
Pepper corns - crushed
Garlic - 3 to 4 pods sliced
Cheese - 2 small cubes of processed cheese - grated
Oregano-chilli mix - a dash
Chili flakes - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil/ Butter

**-any vegetables like carrots, beans, brocolli, spring onions, capsicum etc etc & chicken pieces/sausages may be added to make it taste even better!

Procedure :
1. Slice the mushrooms after rinsing them well & patting them dry
2.Cut the cauliflower into medium/small florets and blanch them in salt water
3. Also blanch the sweet corn kernel & peas (I had used frozen ones)
4. In a wok pour 1 tbsp oil/butter. When hot, add the crushed pepper corns and sliced garlic.
5.When the garlic slices are golden in colour, add the mushrooms and sprinkle some salt. Fry in high heat till the water generated dries off and the mushroom is beginning to turn crisp. Keep it aside.
6.In the wok, heat 2 tbsp of oil/butter. Add the sliced onions and fry till they are translucent. Add the blanched cauliflowers and fry in medium to high heat. Add salt.
7. Throw the sweet cornkernels and peas into the wok and continue stirring. Add a dash of chili flakes
8.Add the fried mushrooms and stir it around a couple of times.
9.Now transfer the contents into an oven proof dish. garnish with the grated cheese and sprinkle a dash of the oregano-chili mix.
10. Put it in the Oven in grill mode for 7-10 minutes.(maybe less depending on the oven)

Enjoy !!!!

This recipe is off to 'Fast & Quick Healthy Dishes - Guest hosted by Kalpana Sareesh of Life with Spices, on behalf of Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes

Banana Flower...Mochar Ghonto

Pics  updated on 17-dec-12 with Mochar ghonto cooked with Chhola & cubed coconut.

Again a Bong recipe...this time a vegetarian one, though addition of shrimps could have converted it into a non-vegetarian one!
Banana trees are found in abundance in rural Bengal and in Bengal every part of a Banana tree and flowers are utilised.
Stem or pith - Thor in Bengali is made into a tasty vegetarian dish rich in Iron content.
Flower-Mocha (in Bengali) is what I made for dinner tonight.
Leaves - Traditional plates for food. And they serve as a wrap for preparing smoked or grilled items. Even for religious and social rituals they are utilised.
Fruit- of course the banana fruit!!! Raw bananas are used as vegetables..

Rich in nutritional value, Mocha or Banana flower is one of the favourite vegetarian dishes of Bengal.

Now coming to the Banana Flower Recipe .... Mochar Ghonto ('Ghonto' in Bengali means veggie mix)

Ingredients:

-Banana Flower-1
-Whole garam masala like cardamom (elaichi), cinnamon, clove
-Bay leaf (Tej pata):1 or 2
-Ginger paste : 1 tspn
-Coconut - it should be cubed and fried. But today due to lack of time and energy, I just grated and sauted it in a little oil.
-Turmeric:1 tsp
-Whole Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp
-Powdered mix of Coriander & Cumin seeds (Dhone+jeera powder) : 1/2 tspn each
-Boiled Bengal gram:1/2 cup (Again, today I didnt have that and used 1/2 cup peas instead)
-Clarified butter (Ghee) :1 tsp
-Garam masala (Dry roasted & ground into powder) : 1/2 tsp
-Green chillies : 2-3
-Potato cut into small cubes & fried: 1/2 cup
-Oil : 5-6tbsp (This is a dish which requires oil on the higher side)
-Salt to taste
-Sugar : a pinch

Procedure :
1.Throw away the outer purple cover of the flower.Take each bunch of banana flower, separate the florets, remove the stigma from the centre of each floret and the bracts (the translucent outer coverpluck the centre of each flower and chop into tiny pieces. (The detailed procedure is demonstrated here :http://www.masalatize.com/veg-recipes/how-to-cut-and-clean-mocha-banana-blossom-banana-flower/) Wash them well. Soak into salt water and boil the chopped flowers. Drain out the water. The toughest part is over!

2.Heat oil in the wok.

3.Add to the heated oil, the whole jeera grain and while they splutter, add the whole garam masala & bay leaf.

4.Add the boiled chopped banana flowers and stir it around in the wok.

5.Add salt, sugar, ginger paste and again mix them well with the flowers

6.Add the paste made out of turmeric, jeera and coriander powders. Sprinke water and mix well by stirring.

7.Add the fried cubed potatoes

8.Add the coconut cubes (grated & fried coconut in today's preparation) and the peas. If bengal gram (brown chana) is being used, which is more prevalent and also tastier, add the soaked chana along with the whole garam masala & jeera seasoning (as given in procedure sl.no.3). Cover the wok with a lid, till the chana gets fried, as else the oil splutters and makes a mess of the kitchen!!!

9. Sprinkle water.

10.Lower the flame and cover the wok. Let it cook for about 10minutes. From time to time, remove the lid and stir the ghonto.

11. Add a couple of slit green chillies.

12. You'll know the cooking is over when the ghonto (a Bengali a term used to refer a well-integrated mix of veggies) is well binded.

13.In a skillet, heat the ghee to which add 1/2 tspn of the roasted & ground garam masala mix. Add this to the almost ready ghonto.

14. Mix well. The Mocha Ghonto is ready to serve.

Note: Fried shrimps may be added as a replacement / in addition to the coconut (cubed/grated).

This recipe goes to the WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING #171 hosted for the week by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. The history of WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING is available here. The logo for the event is .....