Another of those cookery blogs

2005-07-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

A few two line recipes:

Make a thin square slice of a Paneer chunk (of the size of a bread slice), stick pepper corns to it, fry it and use is as a patty for sandwich. Mom’s patent.
Half-boil sweet peas and then fry them with chopped ginger. Add lemon juice and coriander leaves. Not worth it though unless you are a health freak.
Boil small potatoes, peel them. Make a powder of ajwain (joan). Fry a little garlic paste, add the potatoes and then add the ajwain and amchoor powder. Neo-Bong Aloo’r dum.
Fry chopped green capsicum and ladies finger (Okra, dumbo!) in mustard oil till soft. Tastes yum. But only with mustard oil.
Boil Masur daal, drain the water. Mix it into a paste using a hand grinder (or better still, put it into a blender – do not have to discard the water in this case) – add mustard oil, chopped green chillies and chopped onion.Add a little mustard oil to aloo-posto, or even daal at the end when it is cooked.
Recipe for a comeback if anyone says that mustard oil stinks: Dahi stinks too, if you are not used to it.
Jaljeera powder with Thums Up. Try this before, after of without meals. Coke does not qualify.

Okay, Memorykeeper. Here's the end-of-the month post to make you happy. And as per Pallavi's suggestion, most of it is in the healthy oil.

2005-07-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Its a very hot summer here at Chicago, quite like the one in Kolkata. That is a good excuse for me to start experimenting with vegetarian food. And here I would want to register my protest against what many non-Bengalees who claim that for Bengalees, phish is vegetarian. That is like the Bollywood typificication of the "Madrasi accent" - which you will definitely not hear in Madras, or anywhere South of the Vindhyas. Just to remind, for Bengalees, vegetarian is what the widows were (I am turning my eyes away from the sad truth, I do not want to use the present tense) allowed in the patriarchal system : no meat, no fish, no onions, no garlic, at times not even Musur daal. We all have seen thakuma's suffering that fate, and have marvelled at the taste of simple purity in whatever they made. It is impossible for me to recreate that magic, but I keep trying.

Here are a few recipes in that genre. Vegetarian, no onion, no garlic. I have already written about some: Moong Musallam, Begun Bahar, Green Aloo Dum for example. But they are heavy, kind of party delicacies. The ones that I am experimenting with now are in the Thakuma genre, excellent for hot summer noons.

Urad daal

First, a disclaimer. I am not a culinary academician, so I cannot vouch for the fact that these two are exactly the same thing, but they are pretty close. All you need for this is the daal, green and red chillies, jeera, a little lemon juice and some coriander leaves.

First soak the daal for about 15 minutes. Then boil it in a pressure cooker. After that, mix the boiled daal into a thin pasty consistency using a daaler kanta or a hand grinder. Now add the jeera in a little oil. When it sputters, you may add some hing to it if you want to. Now add the daal. The daal should have sufficient water to come to a boil. Once the daal boils, add red chillies (2/3, broken in halves), green chillies (cut along the length), salt, sugar and tuemeric to tase. Add a finely chopped tomato. If you feel like it, you may want to add some ginger paste (only a little though) at this stage. Stir it well.

After turning off the oven, add some lemon juice (to balance the chillies) and chopped cilantro. Done. Gives you something similar to the Biuli'r daal

Aloo'r Torkari:
Very basic. But very tasty, if done properly. Cut two or three potatoes into even, half-inch cubes. Fry them with Kalo jeera, salt and a little sugar. Once the potatoes start turning soft and yellowish, add half a cup of hot water. Stir. The water will wear off the potatoes, and you will soon have a thick gravy. It is this gravy that gives the dish its taste. Add peas, green chilies (cut along the length) and, if you want, chopped cilantro. Add ghee generously.

Alo'r khosa bhaja: (Potato peel fry)
You have made the Aloo'r torkari, so you must be left with the peels. Don't throw them. Sprinkle them with salt and turmeric and fry in oil (preferably mustard oil, unless you are a health freak). Add some posto dana (poppy seeds) while frying. Keep frying till they become crisp. If you are the type that prefers culinary adventures, you might try adding some chat masala to it.

Try these three together, I hope, as they say in Hindi, naani yaad aa jayegi - in the literary sense though.

2005-06-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Suddenly came across an old file I had stashed away in some deep recess in a directory called "et cetera". It has two chicken recipes. I feel I got them from someone while chatting. It has ym written all over it : the emoticons, the shortened words, the weblingo, the misspellings. I just do not remember who gave them to me. I took a quick account of the ids I knew – Rajkonya, Priya, jit, susd….drew blank. Sad feeling this – more than the guilt of publishing it without giving the right credits, it pains you because you feel that the file must have had some happy memories which you have let slip…

So I am publishing them almost verbatim, changing them somewhat, putting them together in coherent sentences to ensure readability:

CHICKEN SOFTY

cut 500 gm. of chicken intpo reasonable sized pcs. boil in water with a tsp of turmeric pdr. when pcs are tender seperate chicken from the stock and reserve seperately. heat oil in a pan. add 200 gm of onion paste , 50 gm. ginger paste, required amt of red chilli powder, salt, sugar, 50 gm. of beaten curd, 20 gm of cashew nut paste, 1 tbsp tomato sauce. saute all ingredients till brown. add chicken pieces and saute well. pour in the stock. add garam masala. remove from the pan when gravy thickens. Aint that B-)?

CHICKEN 65

take 500 gm. Boneless Chicken wash and pat dry. take 1 tsp of red chilli powder, 1-1/2 teaspoon cumin powder, the paste of 5 cloves of garlic. break 2 eggs and seperate the yolks. beat the egg whites till smooth, add 1 gm of saffron colour, the masala paste referred earlier , 2 tsp of lemon juice, 25 ml of refined oil and salt to taste. mix very well and then marinate the chicken in it for at least 2 hours. heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken till golden in colour. garnish with lemon slices and serve hot. :):)

=d> my friend - whoever you are

2005-06-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Payesh / Kheer

Payesh (or Kheer, as it is known in some parts of India, not to be confused with the Bengali kheer) is a great test of culinary craftsmanship. Unless you get the order, the timing and the proportions right, you end up with doodh-bhat.

BTW, the right way, as always, is the Bangal way.

You need about half a gallon (1.1 litre) of good milk, not the fatless tasteless milkless variety. You might also use half-and-half, about half the amount. With that, you take about half a fistful of rice (Gobindobhog / Basmati). You can use about the same amount of Cashew and raisins.

Keep boiling milk, and add some ghee to it the first time it fluffs up. Stir as often as you can. Add two or three pods of cardamom. Keep the basmati rice soaked with some ghee ready. Add it to the milk when the milk is somewhat dense. Add the rice little by little: do not drop it all in together. Keep stirring as you add the rice. The rice should be boiled, very boiled. The final idea is that the rice should be visible, but when you touch a grain it will sort of disintegrate. So the rice almost (not totally,but almost) melts in the milk. That is the reason why you need a high milk-to-rice ratio. Before the stuff is done, add sugar according to taste. Add kaju, raisins etc after that. Do not boil for more than 5-10 minutes after adding sugar. The whole process will take about 90 mins if you are working with half agallon of milk.

It is important to serve this chilled. If you want to have it for dinner, make it in the morning, let it cool and refrigerate it. In the refrigerator,the payesh "sets" into a semisolid consistency.

A little tip: Suppose you are a novice and you want to keep ensuring that the consistency is right and the sweetness is exactly that level you had had when your mom made it. So you keep tasting as you make the payesh. If you do this, remember that it will be much sweeter and thicker when it is cold than when it is hot.

2005-06-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

I admit, I had not read Soma's blog in some time. When I got to reading it, I discovered she has laid down some ground rules for complicated cooking and really complicated cooking. They are:

1) try sticking to only one kind of spice while cooking (eg. panch phoron/black cumin/ cumin seeds and not zerra dhaniya , garam masala all together..if you know what I mean).

The Mars-Venus rule applies here too. I have noticed that men generally tend to use 10,000 different masalas together - right from Mexican Chicken marinade to American lemon pepper (Trina tells me that you do not find lemon pepper on the other side of the Atlantic) to Bengali Panch foron - and create magic out of it. Although each experiment yields a different result, it is always novel. Every meal is a surprise when a man cooks, even for the cook himself. Women, on the other hand, are conservative by nature. So, they would make curry that tastes the same every day of their life. One's consistency is another's boredom.

2) do not use sugar in cooking excepting in making desserts.

Soma, you are a Bangal, and so am I. Just try telling this to edeshis. They use sugar in everything from shaak to machhbhaja. (Imagine the plight of a Bangal who has an edeshi partner). However, there is one exception to this rule. You can use sugar in the heavy curries to add colour. What you do is add half-a-spoonful as soon as the oil is hot. The caramel gives a crimson hue - even light curries look heavy.

Anyway, Soma is the greatest Biriyani artist that I have seen in my generation. So, she can talk about these issues with some authority. I just hope that she puts up some more of her really really complicated recipes on her blog. They are not that complicated though :)

2005-06-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

The wonders of the microwave

The microwave is a hugely underutilised gadget. Most people use it only for heating and thawing. It is really meant to be a cooking machine. It can be used to prepare food ab initio. Some ideas:

Boiling rice: Just heat the rice with sufficient water for 18-20 minutes. Ensure that there is excess water when it is done, and drain the water at the end. This ensures that the rice is neither runny, nor sticky. If one is adventurous but is short of time, one can try adding ghee (be generous here), salt (plenty) and sugar (plenty). This time, measure the water so that you do not have to drain it at the end. The ghee will ensure that there is no dryness. You can even add cut vegetables to the rice when it is about half done – and you get a quick Pulao substitute.

Boiling potatoes: The other thing that is not commonly done is boiling potatoes in the microwave. All that has to be done is putting the potato in and switching the machine on. A large potato takes about 6 minutes to be boiled, and you have to turn it over a couple of times in the meantime. This way, what would have taken 25 minutes on the oven can be done in a fifth of the time. Okay, to be technically correct, I should mention that this is closer to baking than boiling, and the potato turns out a little drier than it would have, if you had boiled it in water.

Caveat: Do not try to boil the potato with the rice in the microwave.

You can make a lot of fancy dishes too on the microwave. The only thing is that you need some pre-cooked or canned sauces.

Creamy Chicken Rice:

Ingredients: Rice, a pound of boneless chicken, two onions, one capsicum (green pepper), a can of creamy chicken soup, parsley leaves, salt pepper, chicken masala, garam masala and butter. It is good to have a flat casserole for preparing this.

Prepare the rice and keep it aside. As usual, chop the onion and capsicum, and snip the parsley. Cut the chickn into small quarter-inch pieces. Butter the inside of the tray well. Then add the onion and capsicum with another tablespoon of butter and heat it for about 4 minutes on high, turning them with a spoon after about two minutes. Then add the chicken. After about 6 minutes, the chicken pieces will change colour to white. Now add the creamy chicken soup along with salt, pepper, chicken masala and garam masala to taste. If you have lemon pepper, you can add that too. Heat it for 5 minutes, mixing it from time to time. Now, add the rice and parsley. Heat for another 5 minutes, and the chicken rice is ready.

This one is another taste-it-to-believe-it recipe.

2005-06-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

Green Chicken:
(Madhuban Mitra)

I am quite fond of this colour Green in my food – and like green vegetables and non-vegetables. I would also like to bring to the reader’s attention that unlike what Delhiwallahs think, Palak is not the only way to turn food green.

You need: Chicken (in whatever quantity), coriander leaves (one bunch), green chillies (about five), Kasuri methi leaves – note that all of these are green.

Marinate the chicken with vinegar and salt for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make a paste of the coriander leaves and the chillies – keep the water in the paste to a minimum. Heat oil and sauté the marinated chicken in it for, say, five minutes. Add the paste and cook the chicken in the paste. Add sugar and salt according to taste, cover and let it simmer. The more you cook, the thicker consistency you get. Add a little ghee and kasuri methi leaves before taking it off the oven.

2005-06-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

Tagged

It is heartening for someone in the sad margins of bloggerdom like me to be tagged.

To try a feeble translation of an old Bengali adage, he who cooks also reads books. And not just cookbooks.

Despite that, there is a disonnect between the chef me and the reading-writing me. So, the chef me will refer to the tagged me in the third person, and will lead the reader here.

Thanks, Ani and Runglee.

2005-06-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Chicago Chicken

There are these specific spices that work wonders with specific foods. You dont need anything else, and nothing else will work. Chicago chicken, a local recipe, is a classic illustration. All you need is lemon pepper, chicken pieces and olive oil. Chicken pieces should be thinly sliced, and cut into pieces about one inch square large. Marinate them for about 15 minutes with lemon pepper and maybe some Garam Masala powder - and nothing else. Heat up the olive oil, and just fry the pieces! Take care to ensure that the pieces turn white, but not brown - on either side.

This particular recipe is local, but not too old. It was conceived not so long back in a particular studio apartment in Evanston by a graduate student who writes blogs. He seems to derive all his sense of worth from cooking. He hopes that this Chicago Chicken recipe will bring him fame the world over.

2005-06-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

Shaak and Spinach

Here is a beautiful article, titled "shAk and Spinach", by Amitabha Mukherjee. It is about food, language and memories and life elsewhere:

I quote a part here, but I suggest you read the whole:

Words fade in translation. It is futile trying to convey the richness of bugumbilia or shAk to the foreigner. Transcending words, one needs the direct experience, but even then it is a poor approximation to the totality of shared experience that shAk represents.

Going the other way, the same word is merged jostled in the crowd and merges with a host of other meanings. Its colour has bleached, its associations are frayed, and when you meet him in a distant land, part of you also seems lost with it. When you eat bhAt in America, you are eating rice. When you buy chAl, or the farmer grows dhAn, it is also rice. But rice comes in many more shades to the Bengali in me, each intertwined into delicate strands of memory. The feel of bhAt as I mix it with my fingers - the chAl as I sieve it through my hand directly from the jute sack - how can I relate this with the neatly pre-packaged grain that I eat directly from the rice-cooker? And the word itself - it means everything and therefore it means nothing to me. What of the process of serving and eating rice - bhAt bADA and bhAt bhAngA - which will never have an analog in English? What then of polAo, the festive mood of which is irrepairably lost in the colourless "fried rice" that degrades it to mere food, and worse, lumps it with a myriad dishes from far east and elsewhere. Then there is pAyes - rich, sweet, lush and creamy - off with your banal "rice pudding". There is "muri", and "khai", and "chiDe" - what a letdown it is to eat "puffed rice mixture" when what we are eating is muri-chAnAchur. The eskimo has twenty words for "hole in the ice", and I am sure he also feels the same sense of loss and devastation in a pagan land that knows only ice in the fridge. What of lankA and marich - both "chile": or when you say hot - is it jhhAl or is it garam? And then there is the untranslatable: what of the sondA gandha - how can "smell of the earth after the rain" tickle the nostrils the same way?

This difference in translation is, of course, also a difference in culture, and ultimately, a difference in identity. This is the gap that is so palpable between a second generation Indian and one who grew up in India. Communities in exile, like the Tamils of Singapore, or the Jewish diaspora with Hebrew, hold on to a purer form of the language, which mutates and may even be lost in the motherland. This is their fragile attempt to hold on to something that is uniquely theirs. Words define us; shared meanings define our identity. When we lose a word, we also lose little bits of ourselves. When we are in the same place, each loss is replaced with more new ones; but in a foreign land one can merely cling ever harder to what was there in the past.

2005-04-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

Bean Varuosy

Here is my first formal attempt to make something completely phirang. Ingredients are rather simple – olive oil, green beans (preferably not frozen), thyme leaves (this is kind of important), almond flakes, butter and garlic paste. What you do with them is even simpler. Heat up the oil and let the garlic paste sputter in it. Before it starts turning brown, add the beans. Fry them with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Lemon pepper will do wonders here. When it is about half done, add the almond flakes, and then once the flakes become crisp, add butter. Be very generous here. Finally, spread some crushed thyme leaves on it.

It's quite good, as long as you do not make the mistake of trying it together with rice or roti.

2005-04-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

Promises made to oneself are interesting. They are easiest of all to break - no one's going to cry or fight or haul you up - but you somehow end up carrying the burden of disloyalty a lot more if you break one - because now there is no one you can make excuses to. So, I am deprived of the opportunity of making excuses why I have not been regular in blogging, although I draw some comfort from the fact that this is a malaise that afflicts almost every blogger with a real life to live out there.

Anyway, here's one recipe that I got from Susmita Sengupta, my friend in Ann Arbor. Another one that has never failed to produce magic.

Begun Bahar:

You need - one large brinjal (I can see why the tomato may be called vilaiti baingan, but I fail to see why the brinjal should be referred to as egg-plant), a bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro - this I can live with), sour cream (my mother used curd instead and got decent results), cumin seeds, green chillies (3), salt, sugar and turmeric as usual.

First, cut the brinjal into discs, about half an inch thick. Wash them, lightly spread salt and turmeric over each side of the discs and fry them in oil. Fry till they turn yellowish or even reddish - but they should not turn brown. Keep them aside. Next, beat the sour cream well with very finely chopped green chillies, salt and sugar. Chop the cilantro very fine. Now, heat some oil in the pan, and add the cumin seeds. Next, add the cilantro - give it a quick stir for about 15 seconds (not more than that - else the cilantro will turn brittle), and add the beaten sour cream. Turn the flame down, let it simmer for a minute, and then add the brinjal. This is a version of Begun bhaja that not too many Bengalees know of.

A note to Susmitadi:
Susd, I did not have the time to take your permission before publishing this, since I wrote it on an impulse. I hope you will treat it as a misdemeanor and not a violation.

2005-02-11T23:05:00.000-08:00

Here is some news. I have been hailed as a saviour. As the news goes, I have saved economics (Hark Hark Nobel Committee) by writing this blog. Rest of it is indeed an inside joke. (But guesses, intelligent guesses, wild guesses, dreams, conspiracy theories and phd theses about how this blog saved economics are welcome. )

That, friends, is reason enough to give this blog a fresh lease of life.

Some of my friends wanted me to write more about vegetarian dishes. The problem is that I think I am not capable enough. The margin of error in case of vegetarian cooking is much lower. Only the initiated would know what I mean.

Green Aloo Dum:

Ingredients:
5 medium to large potatoes, a pound of green peas, a one-inch piece of ginger, coriander and cumin powder, turmeric powder, green chilli, crushed pepper and butter.

Half-boil the potatoes, peel them, cut them in to blocks and keep aside. Then take about three-fourth of the peas and boil them. The make a paste of the peas, the chillis and ginger. Now take some oil in a frying pan and add the paste to it. Add coriander, cumin and turmeric powder and salt to taste. Keep frying it till oil leaves the sides. Then add the potatoes. Stir for some time. Add a little water to it and let it boil. Once you have a viscous paste, add the remaining peas. Finally, add the crushed pepper and butter.

If you want a rich, thick, creamy consistency, you should not add water. Instead, add some sour cream. It makes a good party novelty.

2004-10-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

When the supermom gets adventurous, she makes the Vindaloo, which she also calls the Angry Meat. And why not? 25-28 red chillies, 20 black pepper corns, and lots of green chillies - all this for 2 kilos of red meat! This dish, I am told, was the favourite of Chengiz Khan. Befitting indeed.

Angry meat (or Vindaloo)

(Sucharita Mukherjee)

You could actually get a ready made paste for this. But Iprefer the home made one and its pretty easy too :)

For the paste: 1/2 cup water; 1 cup vinegar; three or fourpods of garlic; 2'' ginger root; 4/5 cloves, a bit ofcinnamon, 25/28 red chillies; black pepper corns (20); 3spoons of whole coriander and cumin seeds. Grind all this together in a paste.

For the cooking: 2 kgs of pork (you could try mutton too); onions (3); ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Marinate the pork in the ground masala over night. Heat oil in a pan and fry chopped onions. When browned lightly, add ginger garlic paste and lots of green chillies and fry somemore. Now add the pork with the marinade and cook. Adding water may or may not be necessary. Keep stirring. If you are in a big hurry, you may pressure cook, but its best if you cut into small pieces and cook without pressure. Its more time consuming, but worth it :)

2004-10-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Bangalore has gone truly international. Here are three recipes from Bangalore that span two continents.

Crab Masha'allah:

(Priya Basu Chatterjee)

This one is a very old Mesopotamian recipe. It is said that Haroun-al-Rashid, the Caliph of Baghdad relished the crabs of Shat-el-Arab, and this recipe was prepared by his chef-in-chief. Later it came to India with the Muslim invaders much before the Mughals, got Indianised, and got to be called Crab Masala. And lately, the Sicilian Mafia started loving it - they call it crab Marsala.

Ingredients:
Onion, ginger, garlic, whole red chillies, tomatoes, crabs (de-shelled), ghee, garam masala - (whole, not ground) : cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and some garam masala powder. You can make the garam masala powder by frying the whole garam masala on a tawa without oil and then grinding it using a coffee grinder. You cannot get the whole garam masala from the ground version though.

Make a paste of onion, ginger, garlic, whole red chilly (two) and tomatoes(quantity according to amount/no. of crabs) in the blender and keep it aside. Fry the de-shelled crabs to an orangish hue. Then heat a tablespoon of oil in the wok. Add the whole garam masala to it, and once the aroma comes (it takes about 30 seconds or so), add the paste. Add a teaspoon ofredchilli powder (if u want it spicier) & 1/2 tsp sugar..keep stirring until oil and masala separates...add the crabs ...then toss and turn till the masala has evenly spread on the crabs..add water(depending on how much gravy you want) and salt. Cook to a boil. Garnish with ghee and freshly ground garam masala powder.

Have it, and with crabs crawling in your tummy, you feel like the Caliph indeed.

Thai Green Curry with Bhetki:

(Madhuban Mitra)

The Thai Green fish curry is so close to Indian cuisine that if you are having it in some restaurant, you are sure to have the urge to investigate whether the chef is Bengali or Bangladeshi. You can make this with any boneless fish like Bhetki or Tilapia.

Ingredients:
Spring onions, cilantro (coriander leaves), whole black pepper, garlic, green chillies, coconut milk, Bhetki cubes

Blend the onions, cilantro, pepper, garlic and green chillies into a paste of uniform consistency. Stir the paste in oil for about 2 minutes, and then add about a cup of coconut milk to it. Once it boils, add the Bhetki cubes to it. It doesn't take much time for the fish to get cooked. Add some lime leaves before taking it off the oven. Thats all.

Pesto fresco alla Genovese:

(Madhuban Mitra)

Take lots of cashew, lots of fresh basil, lots of garlic, a jar of green olives, half a jar of black olives and make it into a thick paste without any water. Use a little olive oil instead of water if the mixer/grinder needs it. Add lots of olive oil and parmesan cheese to the paste. Your pesto is ready. To preserve it, stuff it carefully into an airtight bottle, pour some olive oil on top and refrigerate it. Use it as a spread for brown bread, with pasta, or put it to any other innovative uses you can think of.

2004-10-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

If the supermom gets time, she gets a little more adventurous, and makes this one. The Malaicurry or most other standard shrimp recipes are too complicated and time consuming. This one takes less time and resources, and is a nice change.

Cauliflower Shrimp

(Sucharita Mukherjee)

Ingredients: Shrimp, Cauliflower, dry coconut, mustard paste, turmeric and green chillies.

Deshell and fry shrimp and set aside. Next chop cauliflower into florets and fry. Add mustard paste to this when fried and continue stirring. Add green chillies. Add dessicated coconut and keep frying. Add turmeric and a little red chilly powder. When cooked add sugar and salt. Add the shrimp. Add a bit of water if it starts sticking to the sides. Garnish with coriander leaves.

2004-10-14T23:37:00.000-07:00

I am sorry about not having posted in the last three weeks. Apologies to those who have been reading it, and those who have been writing in with recipes. I have quite a backlog of recipes to post. I promise to make up. In the next few days, you can expect a lot.

Here is a household Bengali recipe - quick to make, good to eat. Goes with both rice and roti. Another Supermom recipe.

Aloo Korai Shutir Dom (Alu Dum with Peas)

(Sucharita Mukherjee)

Ingredients: I kg Potatos, about 1" ginger, 500 gms peas, cumin seeds, turmeric and red chilly powder, green chillies and oil to cook.

Peel potatos and boil them. Cut into big pieces (cubes). Grind half the peas you have, with ginger. Heat oil and cook ground peas, green chillies and all the spices. Add a little sugar and salt till oil separates. Add the boiled potatos tothis and little water. When done serve garnished with boiled peas.

2004-09-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

News for those who thought only women were writing here. There are men other than me who are enthusiastic enough about food to write on this blog. And this one is a real man too (real as against virtual - he is a good "offline" friend of mine), although he has a very "interesting" virtual alter ego.

Shrikhand
(Aniruddha Gupta)

For many non-Maharshtrians, the only experience with Shrikhand is courtesy Aarey, the Haringhata of Maharashtra govt. Not a pleasing one. So many of us have the misconception that Shrikhand is a very heavy, greasy and cloyingly sweet milk product. Couldn't be further from the truth. The proof of Shrikhand is in eating, and I have had some Shrikhand made by Ani - it was fabulous. Everything in the right proportions. And here's his recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb Farmer's cheese
2/3 lb Mango Pulp
1 tsp crushed cardamom seeds
sugar to taste
Ghee

Method:
If you can't get farmer's cheese, use cottage cheese and drain out all the liquid. Blend the cheese, mango pulp, cardamom and sugar until the consostency is smooth. If you find it too thick, you can add a small amount of milk and blend again. Chill for 15-20 mins. Pour a few teaspoons of melted ghee and serve.

Quite easy, and very delicious. I can vouchsafe for that.

2004-09-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

The internet is a strange place - ask anyone here to name a four letter word starting with f, and the answer is food. Honestly, I am amazed at the number of foodies I have met on the net. And here's another one in that great line. She promises to be pretty prolific, and starts with a double whammy.

Working Mom's Pulao:
(Sucharita Mukherjee)

The real Pulao (or Pilaf, as the uninitiated call it), can be a lot of hassle. Here is a recipe that takes out the hassle without taking out the taste. (Maybe I am overselling a bit here, but you can use this recipe to get a very quick approximation of the pulao - great for dummies).

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice (500gms), Star Anis (joitri), Whole Cumin seeds, Onion (one big), Ghee for cooking.

Wash the rice and dry completely. Fry sliced onions pieces till golden brown. Add star anis(2) and cumin and fry. When fried add the rice and fry somemore. Add salt to taste. Add water and cook.

IMP Tip: Be careful about the quantity of water. So add less first and then when needed. Rice should not be over cooked. Try not to leave the kitchen when the rice is being cooked.

Dahi chicken:
(Sucharita Mukherjee, again)

This one is the perfect complement with the Pulao.

Ingredients:
Curd if you are in India or Yoghurt elsewhere (200 gms), whole garam masala (this is kinda important, gets you the flavour), one big onion (or two small ones) chopped, one big tomato chopped, grated ginger (1 inch piece) and chopped garlic (three cloves) (using ginger garlic paste might give you an inferior outcome), Korma Powder (Shaan is pretty good), and of course, 700-800 gms of chicken (thats a normal sized chicken, dressed).

Add three-fourths of the curd to chicken and refrigerate for two hours. Fry the onions in oil. Add whole garam masala and fry some more. Add ginger garlic (chopped garlic and grated ginger). Add achopped tomato and cook some more. Add the marinated chicken and cook. Add Korma Powder and keep cooking. When the oil separates, add the remaining curd to this and cook somemore. DO NOT ADD WATER.

NOTE: The Korma powder is optional, but it tastes damn good. You can use ghee as well and also a bit of turmeric.

2004-09-12T23:29:00.000-07:00

Suhridi vehemently claims that she exists. Going a step further, she claims that she exists even outside the virtual world. Well, she cooks. And eats. Therefore she exists in the real world. Admitted.

And the sweet lady has sent a new sweet recipe. This is "Mishti Doi". I dont know how it translates into English. It is surely not sweet curd or sweet yogurt. The closest translation is "Abracadabra", for it indeed does magical things to your taste buds.

Bhapa Doi / Mishti Doi

(Suhridi Basu)

'Gati' has pestered me so much for another recipe on Kolkata sweets, that I am starting to get the feeling that probably he thinks that i am a sweetmaker like nabin moyra or ganguram.... just kidding :-) So here is another recipe on his request.

Ingredients:

Yogurt or home made curd, Condensed milk, Evaporated milk

Mix yogurt, condensed milk and evaporated milk in ratio of 2:1:1. Mix very well, so that a fine mixture is made. Pour the mixture in a baking tray and put in oven at around 170-200F for 1 Hr approx. Check from time to time to see if the mixture has turned more like the curd we know, by cutting through with a knife. Garnish with pista pieces and refrigerate. Serve chilled.

And chill out.

2004-09-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

Just found another Indian cookery blog. Although the fist two on the list and cucumber sandwich and ice cream cake with strawberries, which, by no stretch of imagination can claim to be Indian, as you scroll down, you will find things like Bhel Puri, Samosa, Kulfi, Rasam, and some delicious chicken stuff including butter chicken, Chicken Tandoori and Chicken Tikka. Worth checking out.

And yeah, there are some non-Indians who have quite an impressive collection of Indian recipes. One of them is this. Worth a look.

2004-09-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

I just came across a pretty nice cookery blog with a very quirky name - cooking for engineers. Whatever the name suggests, it is a nice site and a must-read for those of you (non-engineers too) who are interested in serious cooking.

Today I thought I would chip in with yet another chicken recipe. Statutory warning - spicy stuff, not for the weak at heart.

Chicken Rezala

Ingredients : Boneless chicken cut into small pieces - 2 lbs, 2 large onions, five-six fresh cloves of garlic, a half-inch piece of ginger, plain yogurt (200 gm), black pepper (both crushed and whole), Bay leaves (two or three), ghee and salt to taste. And yes, you need a pressure cooker and a blender for this.

The method is rather simple. Blend the onions, garlic and ginger into a paste, and marinate the chicken with the yogurt and the paste. Keep the marinade for two hours. Then in the pressure cooker, heat some ghee (be generous here), throw in the bay leaves and about 10 whole black peppers. Add the marinated chicken. Fry it. Add salt, and crushed pepper to taste. No chillies here, but this tastes good only with a lot of crushed pepper. Keep stirring. I have talked about this earlier too, the importance of stirring cannot be overstressed. Do not add water. Cover the pressure cooker and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Four whistles should be enough. Thats it. Done! Shorter than most of my other recipes, I suppose.

Before serving, you can garnish it using chopped green chillies and lemon juice. This goes extremely well with roti or paratha.

By the way, be forewarned. The Rezala is not a standard Bengali dish. It is different. Very macho. Once you eat it, you will realise why.

2004-09-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well, suddenly we move from the realm of the mundane to that of the sublime. I guess there has been a selection bias - the people who I have been able to dupe into writing here are those that were top-of-my-mind as famous foodies. So, here goes another Bengali delicacy. From a friend of mine who is a permanent fixture in the chatroom I frequent. Given the amount of time she spends in the chatroom I doubt whether she has a real life - I have a sneaky feeling that her entire existence is virtual. The Bhapa Sandesh is very, very real though.

Bhapa Sandesh
(Suhridi Basu )

Bengalis never get tired of sweets, neither do I. Being far away from bengal I try to experiment with cheese ( chhana ), milk and sugar - who knows one day I can come up with a brand new sweet recipe!

Try this out:

Ingredients:
Ricotta Cheese
Condensed milk
Dry milk powder
Sugar
(Thats all!)

Mix ricotta cheese, condensed milk and dry milk powder in 4:1:1 ratio. Add sugar according to taste. Mix thoroghly. Put the mix in a baking pan and put it to bake in an oven at 150-200F for 30 to 40 minutes approx. The time may differ depending on the temperature. Check from time to time to see if the mix has dried up enough to look like sandesh. If you pierce through the mix using a spoon it should cut through.

Cut into small pieces. garnish with pista and cardamom grind and serve.

2004-09-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

Apologies for this long hiatus. I am actually thankful that blogger.com did not cancel my account. Such things surely happen on Yahoo and MSN. I have been busy with countless other meaningless pursuits, one of them being this rant. This gap has also taught me another thing, that my enthusiasm runs in a sine curve (as if I already did not know it). So I am opening up this space for guest writeups. The only restriction is that they have to be fully explained recipes for stuff that is edible. You can send the recipes to me at sourav.gati@gmail.com As long as you dont send me abuses, you will be published. Even if you send me abuses, don't forget to include some recipe, and I will separate the abuse and recipe - and publish the recipe here. However, you might get only the abuse back in return mail.

The first guest writer has is Susmita Sengupta from Ann Arbor, Michigan. We met over a chatroom, and since then she has supplied me quite a few recipes over the instant messenger. There are all...Yummmmy to say the least.

Yummy Chicken
(Susmita Sengupta)

I am no great cook, but I am recognized for carrying out my cuisine trial. At times it becomes quite a bit of persecute for the taste-bud. Nevertheless, sometimes it really comes out to be a successful venture. Following recipe is just one of them.
Ingredients:
Chicken (cut into small pieces)
Tomato Puree
Sour Cream
Cashew
Ginger Paste
Garlic Paste
Onion
Coriander Leaves
Red Chilly Powder
Salt
Chicken
Bar-B-Q Tandoor Masala
Oil
Milk

Marinate the chicken with sour cream and Chicken Tandoor Masala. Best is, to keep the marinate over night. Bake the chicken pieces at 400 degree till it’s done. Make a paste of 1 table spoon cashew nut and keep it aside. Cut the Onion and keep it aside.On a frying pan put little bit of oil. Stir the garlic paste. Fry the Onion till its golden brown. Put Ginger paste, and fry it together until the oil and spices are separated. Put 2 Table Spoon of Tomato pure and give it a quick stir. Put the cashew nut paste and stir it for 2-3 seconds. Put 1 TS of Chicken Tandoori Masala and red chilly powder and stir. Put all the baked chicken pieces in the gravy and give it a quick stir. Put little bit of milk, for more gravy. Once everything is done, put 1 or 2 table spoon of sour cream, and yes, put salt according to your taste (Make sure, you taste the gravy before you put the salt, since tandoori masala has salt in it). Garnish it with coriander leaves.

I am not sure of naming this recipe. But one of my friends, very enthusiastically once said “wow…yummy!!!!”…So, why not call it yummy chicken.

2004-03-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Snacks
Let us now talk about some easy, easy snacks. These are largely my own simplified versions of what is otherwise pretty common roadside stuff.

Evanstonian Omlette

Required ingredients:
1. Mixed vegetables, cut into small pieces : frozen, packed stuff is fine – try to use the variety with lots of peas, carrots and cut green beans
2. Chicken or meat franks (for Hot Dogs)
3. Two eggs
4. Shredded cheese (optional)
5. Cilantro (Coriander leaves – optional)
6. Other, standard stuff
7. Usual fare : Oil, salt etc

Break the two eggs in a bowl. Add some salt and half a cup of milk. Mix thoroughly. Chop the cilanthro leaves and add to the mix. Cut one or two franks into small, thin disc-like pieces. Now heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the meat pieces. Fry them on medium high heat. After about 3 minutes, add the veggies and keep frying. Add half a teaspoon of salt while frying. After about 7-8 minutes, add a generous helping of cheese : stir thoroughly. Then, within a minute, add the egg mix. Spread it out in the frying pan like you do with an ordinary omlette. After 3-4 minutes, reduce the heat. Do not disturb the pan. Soon, the omlette will be a one-inch thick pizza-like thing with a soft top and semisolid crust at the bottom. Now you are done. Do not fold it : it is too thick to fold. Take care to ensure the bottom is not burnt.

Next, comes the chef’s trick. Slowly tilt the pan and let the omlette slide to a plate. It must not break. Sprinkle some powdered pepper on it. Add some ketchup on top : if you are skilful enough you can write your guest’s name on the omlette with the ketchup. She will remember, for sure.

Grad student Burrito

Once we had a whole plate of mutton Biriyani left over from a party. It was then that I conceived this Indo-Mexican, very grad-student Burrito. All I needed apart from it was some tortillas and mayonnaise. I was pretty surprised with my innovation. So here goes.

Cut up an onion and a green pepper into thin, long pieces and fry them in oil. Keep it separately. Now, take a tortilla and spread it out. Now you need to make the stuffing. First, lay on it some rice from the Biriyani in a stratight line along the middle (much like they make the filling for egg rolls in Kolkata). Then, cut up the mutton or chicken chunks into long pieces and put them on the rice. If you have some cooked rajma, you can add it too. Next, add some mixed veggies. If you use frozen vegetables, thaw them well before making the stuffing. Add the onion-capsicum fry to it. Finally, add a strand each of mayonnaise and ketchup in the form of a straight line on the stuffing. Now roll the tortilla into a cylindrical shape. Place the tortilla on a frying pan on medium high heat. Hold it with a spatula so that the rolling does not come off. But the heat will soon ensure that the tortiall retains its rolled shape. Turn it over very, very carefully and keep heating. Within 3-4 minutes, you are ready with a burrito. My suggestion would be to treat your Mexican friend with it: he will never have had a burrito that tastes like THIS.

Egg Roll

This is so simple that I wonder whether it is worth writing the recipe here. But the fact that so few people actually make it makes me feel that writing out may at least act as a reminder that one does not have to physically visit Kolkata to have an egg roll. You know the ingredients: half of an onion, a green chili, an egg, a tortilla, some lime juice and some ketchup. Cut the onion into long, thin pieces. Pare the chili too into very small pieces, and keep them. Break the egg and stir it with half a teaspoon of salt. Now heat some oil (be generous) in a frying pan and fry a tortilla, turning it over in the pan. Not too papery, not too soft. Keep it aside. Then, spread the egg mix out in the pan, and after 30 seconds, cover it with the tortilla. After a minute, take it off the pan and lay it out on a paper napkin with the tortilla facing down. Just like the burrito above, add the onion pieces in a line. Throw in the chili (only if you like). Add the ketchup in one strand along the onion. Sprinkle the lime juice all over. Then roll the paper with the tortilla-omlette inside. One suggestion : at every step, try mimicking the egg-roll wallah you ate it from the last time. With this, you create not only a very delicious dish, but a piece of Calcutta too.

2004-03-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Somehow, my craving for home was not lessened a bit by the spicy, oily stuff that I made everyday. I felt as if I was eating at a cheap hotel. It was the very plain daal that added a touch of home to my meals. Daal can be made in many, many ways, ranging from very bland to very spicy. Here are a few of them, going up the spice ladder.

The Homely Musur Daal

To make it my Mom’s way, you need one ingredient that is found only in West Bengal: it is called Randhuni. The spice is an element of Panch Foron (Paanch Puran), but there it is often replaced by black mustard. If you cannot get hold of Randhuni, you can use Paanch Foron, and I would give recipes for both.

With Randhuni, it is deceptively simple. Boil two fistfuls of daal in water with a pinch of salt. Ensure that it is thoroughly boiled. 30 minutes on high in the microwave in a large bowl (otherwise the froth will overflow) should be enough. (A little trick: whenever you boil something always add salt, that raises the boiling point of water and quickens the process of boiling.) Now, heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan, and add half a teaspoon of randhuni to the oil. (How do you know that the oil is heated? Simple. One indicator of the fact that the oil is hot and ready is that the bubbles that form in the oil will have died down. Another indicator is that the oil will be much more “mobile”: it will move more freely across the pan once it is hot. The first indicator works better with mustard oil, and the second one better with vegetable oils.) In about a minute, the randhuni will give out a nice aroma. Then add the boiled daal. Add half a tablespoon of salt, half a table spoon of turmeric powder. Do not add chili powder. Cut a few green chilies longitudinally (along the length) into two halves and add them to the daal. In about 8-10 minutes, you are through. If you have a “daaler kanta”, (a daal stirrer), try stirring the daal when it is hot so that the lentils mix through. You are ready. Amazing that you get so much taste with such little effort.

With Paanch foron, you can do it exactly the same way replacing randhuni with paanch foron, although IMHO, it tastes better with randhuni. However, you can embellish it better with paanch foron. Cut an onion into small pieces and fry it in oil till golden brown after you have added the paanch foron (remember to add it only after the spices are hot enough to give out an aroma). Then add the boiled lentils. Again, with onion or no oinion, you can add dhonepata (cilantro leaves) a minute before switching off the heat.

Moong Musallam

This can be a real party delicacy. The basic ingredient is unsheathed moong daal and green peas, in a ratio 2:1. First, take a frying paan or tawa, spread the daal on it, and heat it on medium high heat. Spread the daal out thinly, and keep churning it with a spatula so that the lentils do not burn. You can also keep shaking the frying pan to achieve the same end. Do it for 3-4 minutes, and the daal will change colour from yellow to orange-red. Take a pressure cooker and heat two tablespoons of oil, add jeera (cumin seeds), and three or four red dried chilies. Next, add the daal to it. Add a large cupful of water, and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Add salt, turmeric powder and if you want, a small amount of chili powder too.A touch of sugar often tastes good. After seven or eight whistles in the pressure cooker, switch off the heat. Relieve the pressure by releasing the valve or just holding it under cool running water. Open the lid, and check the consistency. If it is too thick, add some water. But do not make it too liquid, it does not taste good that way. Add the peas, and heat it for 5 more minutes. Add a tablespoonful each of ghee and garam masala powder. Mix it well and switch off the heat. If you want to do without this second round of heating, you can add the peas in the first round, but the ghee and garam masala have to be added at the end.

In case you do not have a pressure cooker, the process will take much longer: maybe an hour and a half on high heat. Remember to use a covered pan. You get the same taste though.

Try it, try it, try it. Only then you will know what I am talking about.

2004-02-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

Subramaniam's Chicken, or the Theory of Everything

Beginner's chicken made me adventurous. I started inviting people home. But this was Madras, and there were Subramaniams. And Swaminathans. A meat-eating Tambram is as rare as a penguin in Sahara. So how could I entertain them? I devised my own means.

The idea is to take a cauliflower, fry it somewhat, and then treat it exactly the way I treat the chicken in my last recipe. And thats it. EXACTLY same. You even get the same reactions. Here, however, I am offering an alternative way to prepare it. In fact, you can make the chicken in the same way. These are equivalent.

First, cut up a large cauliflower into 1-inch pieces. Discard the stumps. Peel two potatoes, and cut them into pieces of similar size. One general tip: when you are making some sabji (vegetable curry), try to cut all the different vegetables into similar sizes. Add some salt and chiili powder. Fry them lightly in a small amount of oil. This step is a must for any cauliflower dish. Otherwise, the cauliflower gives out a certain boiled-veggie odour which many people do not like. But do not fry it until brown, then you lose the taste.

Take two onions and chop them finely. Fry them in three tablesppons of oil. After they turn yellow, add a teaspoon of salt. Keep frying. Add half a teaspoon of turmeric. Keep frying. Now add finely chopped ginger and garlic, or ginger-garlic paste. Keep frying for some time. Now add two finely chopped tomatoes or tomato puree now. Add two teaspoonfuls of chilli powder. After some time, add a tablespoon of chicken masala (vegetarians : not to worry - chicken masala does not contain chicken). Aagain, it does not matter much if you do not have chicken masala, just skip this step. Add curry leaves of you want. After sometime you will find that the oil is getting separated from the frying mix. You will now get the unmistakable masala smell. You basic mix is ready.

Now add the cauliflower and potatoes. With the spatula, move the mix to the right, left, inside out and upside down. Vigorously. 5 minutes. Now add a cup of beaten curd / yoghurt. You can even try my personal favourite, creme fraiche (or if you are risk-loving, mishti doi). Now keep playing with the mix for about 10 minutes. It will get boiled in its own juice. Wait till the juice almost dries up. Once the juice is drying up, there is a risk of the mix sticking to the pan. But it is now that the cauliflower is getting its taste, so keep churning it vigorously so that it does not stick. You will notice that it is now changing colour from yellow to brown. Add some ghee or butter and you are done.

This, in fact, is a general recipe for all-purpose vegetables. Make the masala mix, and add any vegetable to it. Add aloo, and you have aloo dum, add beans and you have beans masala, add everything and it becomes mixed veg. You can even make egg curry in this way. Again, never fails. Just that everything might taste similar. ;-)

Subbubhai, happy?

2004-01-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

Beginner's Chicken

After a month of struggling with boiled potato, I discovered Chicken. The good thing about chicke is that it is very difficult to go wrong with it. I am putting down what I used to do in my very early days with chicken. Even now I use this recipe most of the time, with some variation. The only major ingredient you require for this one is a lot of patience.

Cut 2 lb ( 900 gms) chicken into small pieces. Good if it is boneless, does not matter otherwise. Add to that a cup and a half of beaten curd / yoghurt to make the marinate mix. (You can get a very interesting variant if you use sweet curd (mishti Doi). Add one tablespoon of oil. In the mixer, make a paste of two large red onions and two tomatoes, and add it to the mix. Add to it one table spoon of salt, one table spoon of chilli powder and three tablespoons of chicken masala. You can get Everest or any other Masala in any Indian shop. If you have ginger garlic paste, add it too. Otherwise, add three cloves of garlic and a small piece of ginger to the mixer when you make the onion-tomato paste. This, too, is kind of optional. If you do not have chicken masala, no problem. However, then make sure you add the ginger and garlic. Mix the marinate well and let it stay for about an hour.

Add three table spoons of oil to the frying pan. When it gets heated up, slowly add the marinated mix, and start frying. Use the spatula to churn the pieces. Keep churning. Do not add water. It will start boiling after sometime when juices will come out of the chicken. Let the juices dry up. Once it starts drying up, you will find that the chicken is slowly changing its colour to light brown. Keep churning now to ensure that it does not stick to the botom of the pan. After it comes to a point where it will get stuck unless you churn it vigorously, add two cups of water. Let it boil. It is now that the Chicken is getting its taste. By now, the chicken pieces will have disintegrated into almost a paste-like consistency. Once this mixture almost dries up, you are done. Add some butter or ghee before turning the oven off.

If you do not have a mixer, there is some work to be done. Its the usual fare though. Cut the onions into very small pieces, and fry till golden. Add half a tablespoon of salt, same amount of chilli powder. Add the ginger and garlic if you have them (small pieces if you do not have the paste). By this time, you should have cut the tomatoes too into small pieces. You can use diced tomato or puree instead. Now add the tomato, and fry. Now add a teaspoon of the chicken masala (if you have it). Keep frying until you get a the onion and tomato mix, and almost become a paste. Then add the chicken. You can also try cutting two to three potatoes (size of the pieces should be equal to the size of the chicken pieces), and add them with the chicken.

The chicken is ready. This method has never failed me, and will never fail you. All the best.

2004-01-27T13:45:00.000-08:00

Aloo Seddho (Boiled potato):

For a long time, I took my food for granted. Never realised what it took my mom to make all that which sustained me and made me what I am.
It was only when I started living alone and had to worry about how to make (or buy, but economics tells you that resources are always limited) what to eat to live that I had an appreciation of all the pain, effort and love that goes into every dish, every day.
The first day I bought a kilo of rice, a kilo of salt a kilo of ghee and a kilo of potatoes, and lived on Aloo seddho for about a month thereafter. Alooseddho still remains a favourite, and I have kept on working on it.

Basic:
Take a potato, boil it, peel it, mash it and eat it with ghee and salt. If you peel it an cut it into smaller pieces before boiling, the cooking process will be faster.
If you want to try a "dry boil", wrap the potato (with peel) in three wet paper towels and microwave on high for 7 minutes. Do not overdo this, the potato might burn.

Advanced:
While mashing, add a generous helping of butter/ghee. Add salt. Try adding some fried jeera (cumin) powder. For a more Bengalee taste, add some mustard oil. Do not forget to add chopped green chillies. You can add chopped onions too. But if I have onions, I chop them, fry them separately with kala jeera (kalaunji) till they assume a light golden colour and then add it to the mash. Another thing that really lends flavour to the mash is some chaat masala.

For the adventurous
If you have some mango pickle (I prefer to use mango thokku pickle), add pickle oil - not the picked mango though. This not only gives a slightly tangy taste and a flavour, it also gives a nice colour to the mash. But do not overdo this, only half a spoon is enough for two large potatoes. Another version is to boil some eggs hard (# of eggs = # of potatoes), then mix the eggs with the mash.

The good thing about these above options is that you can use none, or any or ALL of them. Mash it well, ensure that there are no lumps of semi-boiled potatoes.

Thats the closest approximation to manna that you get.