The Year That Was- Bye-Bye 2010 - Welcome 2011

As all the good thing should come to end. Another good year is coming to end soon.
When I look back, I do think I have tried to cook from fresh ingredients daily which means take-away and restaurant dinning are probably once in a week affair in our home. I simply managed to pack two lunch-boxes daily early in the morning and seeing empty lunch boxes in the evening gave me immense satisfaction also. I have made no New Year resolution so far as I am unable to stick on it whenever I tried to do so. So will take the moments as it comes in the coming new year.

I have posted 70 recipes so far this year. Well also completed my 200 th post and four years of blogging. When so much is happening in this space, thought of having a good-bye post where all the recipes should be listed.
In case you have forgotten to check any recipes, you may do so now.
So, sit back with a cup of coffee or tea and read the post or recipes you have missed. If you find anything worth of trying, do so and let me know how it turn out for you.

Starting from the very first post of the year 2010.


Bandhakopi Palang Kabuli Cholar Ghonto ( Cabbage Spinach and Chick peas Vegetable Medley )
As the new year ushered in , I was struck with back to reality syndrome.And was just wondering to start this new year with a good and authentic Bengali recipe but I was little clueles while writing this post as when it comes to differentiating between a labra, chenchra , chorchori and ghonto , I do think there is a very thin line.I just thought it's better to call it a vegetable medley or in Bengali a typical "Ghonto".....

Ilish mach'er matha diye Bandhakopir Chenchra (Vegetable with Hilsa Fish Head )

When it snowed at that time, I just thought something warm and Authentic Bengali cooking would fill our heart with the warmth of our homeland.Made this Bengali way of Chenchra with Hilsa Head.Ilish/hilsa as you all know is synonymous with being a Bengali.Right ?

Keema Diye Ghughni- Yellow Matar with Minced meat

In my paternal grandparents home mutton keema ghughni was prepared on Dashmi during Durga Puja as a customary. I have fond memories of growing up surrounded by my big joint family and relishing this Keema Ghughni.



Sedhu Poli-( Steamed rice dumplings with sweet coconut filling)

Poush paban and puli-pithe, I do think every Bengali household holds this tradition of preparing something sweet during those 3-4 days of sankranti and especially during maker sankranti.


Couscous payesh

A payesh recipe with a non-traditional ingredient cous-cous and that too with palm jaggery.
I couldn’t have thought or preparing something sweet and that too from couscous but this was a very pleasant innovation for me. We thoroughly liked this payesh with palm jaggery.Wish I had some patali Gur to have the authentic touch.

Methi-Matar - Another version

Methi and matar but not with green peas.I substituted green peas with dry yellow peas and followed the recipe guidelines for keema ghughni.This vegetarian version turn out even more lip-smacking.

Pomfret 'er Tel Jhaal- a spicy preparation of pomfret fish

There is a very quick way of making a mach’er jhaal or tel jhaal.In this case pomfret is being deep fried and gravy is made using the left-over oil in the pan itself. Add a bit of green chilly and some garlic or ginger and bit of tomato pieces. A quick and easy fish curry can be set on the dinning table.

Oolkopir torkari-Kohlrabi stir/fry

 An easy -breezy Kohlrabi stir/fry.A very simple vegetarian recipe to accompany your paratha /roti or even some fried rice.

Cous-cous Upma and Cous-Cous mint salad
An Indianised/Bhartiya version of cous-cous recipe, one is upma and another is a simple salad.Cous-ous preparation makes great side-dish.

Healfy salad

This healthy salad is my 6 year old dear daughter’s creation. As she says it’s healfy so the name healfy salad. This has been a regular part of our night meals since then.

Palang Shak'er Ghonto

Palang shak’er ghonto is one such niramish /vegetarian recipe which is quite staple food in every Bengali home. I guess if you add some spicy fried bodis/wadis to this ghonto, it uplifts the taste and flavor. And in case you want some peek into Oxford, then you probably won’t like to miss this post.

Mushroom with Minced meat
I don’t think, I would have thought of this combination unless I was struck with dilemma regarding preparing a vegetarian dish. I had these mushroom but was not at all willing to prepare a vegetarian recipe. And splash of second it occurred to me to try out keema/minced meat with mushroom.

Tandoori keema kabab
Ok, I knew I was on a keema cooking splurge. But never mind it was Holi/Doul in Bengali and how could not I make something non-vegetarian. This is something you want to make-ahead of your party and reheat it at the time of serving. Excellent way to spice up your cocktail party.

Doi Diye Mach-Fish in a Yogurt gravy
A very famous preparation of fish with yogurt.

Dal/Lentil stuffed vegetables
What you do with your left-over dals.I do like to use them while kneading my roti dough or I end up using them to stuff my vegetables.Red Bell peppers and zucchini/courgettes are my favourite vegetables for this kind of stuffed vegetables.

Stuffed and Roasted baby Chicken
 Baby Chicken is stuffed with the filling made out of left-over wholemeal bread and spring onions.And then an overnight marination with loads of spices.
A perfect Sunday rendezvous with your family members at dinner table. What more you could ask for?

 Yogurt cereal Breakfast
A very healthy breakfast with cereals.I end up adding the picture in the blog's header in case you were wondering about it.

Strawberry Bread
 Strawberry and that too in a buttery bread.Do you need any more reason to indulge yourself.

Dal Bukhara and Cabbage torkari/stir fry
 Dal Bukhara a very famous north-Indian recipe and a Sabzi/torkari  made with cabbage.We had the bandhakopir torkari with paratha.

Yakhni Rui Mach'er Pulao- fish yakhni Pulao
Now this is what I call a keeper recipe. I have fond memories of my Baba cooking yakhni pulao.I was just trying to capture that vague memory of my father cooking in the kitchen. I came to realize later that my daughter was hanging with me in the kitchen much the same way I used. This recipe is amongst top 10 recipes in spice and curry.

Ice-Cream Cake Roll
This sponge cake roll turn out quite delicious and just was perfect with some more ice-cream.My DH S thought this was quite similar in a way cassata ice-cream which is so fondly eaten back home.

Mango Mousse

One delicious desert made with mango syrup available here in cans. It saved a whole lot of time and sweat in kitchen. A very quick and easy desert to assemble in case you have some company in the evening.

Huli Podi

Made this South-Indian sambhar powder and also a nice fancy scarf for my DD.

Sprout-chaat

Sprouts are very healthy.Made this quick chaat recipe with green /chana /Chick peas.I now can say I have grown something organics all by myself in comfy of my home.

Dill Leaves with Potatoes- aloo soya pattey ki sabzi
I had my share of memories growing up in a North-Indian neighborhood. This recipe is being part of that memory.
In case you want to look into some Stonehenge Pictures, you won't want to miss this post.

Chicken Chowmein

Indianised version of a Chinese staple with loads of spices.I happened to change my layout, the one that you see now, also from this post onwards.

Buffalo Chicken Wings
We were in then enjoying summer days and this was just a perfect way to use up chicken wings and spice-up our dinner table.

Tangra Mach'er jhaal
 A fish curry made with coarse powder churned freshly.Cumin seeds-Nigella seeds-whole black pepper is made into a coarse powder and then added to the simmering fish curry.Amazing flavour with freshly prepared masala.

Pabda Fish Curry
This fish curry is a quick fix meal.A very Bengali way of preparing fish curry with the oil that comes out after frying the fish called as mach'er tel , so the name "Pabda mach'er tel jhaal"..

Bottle Gourd with Huli Podi

Lao'er torkari kinto dakhini twist diye..which means a Bengali is trying to incorporate some South-Indian flavour with Sambhar Powder.If that makes some sense..yes and it did taste fantastic.A very vegetarian recipe, goes great with rotis or porota.

Quinoa with Scrambled egg
  This was a surprise combination for me.I tried my hand for the first time making something with quinoa..pronounced as "keen-wah"..well I wasn't disappointed at all.

Rui Mach'er do Pyaza
When I prepared this, my inner self was divided in two different opinions. Rui fish is prepared generally in a very traditional Bengali way of making curry. And Do pyaza is if am not wrong is a North-Indian way of making spicy non-vegetarian curry.curry. But it looks like the amalgamation of both the world is even more delicious.

Cute Duck Poris for Kids
My friend K shared this recipe and Pictures here.Thanks K for being a part of our world here.Hope someday we will meet again.

Methi Huli Podi Paratha

Another way of incorporating some spices in an everyday roti.And we all know benefits of green leaves.

Peshwari naan
These naans are great for any party or even if you are making it just for your family.Peshwari naans are little different as these have some stuffing.Usually the stuffing is made of some dry fruits/coconut etc..

Chicken yakhni Pulao
Another yakhni Pulao.A pulao preparation made with aromatic water or yakhni in Hindi.This has been my way of making chicken pulao for quite bit of time now.This remind me of my Baba's way of making chicken dum pulao in large dekchi for entire joint family.

Dosa and sambhar
Although I have been making dosa for quite a long time.But I always forget to mentio it here.This was long overdue I guess.

Thai Style Chicken Curry
I would call this a little variation from signature Thai recipes as I didn't had some of the ingredients like galangal and kafir lime.But still it came out delicious.We had a nice time eating it with warm cooked rice.

Hyderabadi Lukmi or Keema Shingara
This recipe has become one of the most read post in this blog.This one is really a great discovery for me.We just don't need any reasons for making this.Now where is my cup of tea?

Cauliflower with Huli podi
Kopir Torkari with dakhini twist.I made this cauliflower sabzi wih the sambhar powder that I made previously.And trust me with home-made freah powder everything taste so delicious.A must try for every vegetarian.

Rui Fish with Cabbage
 Rui Mach'er matha diye bandhakopir torkari.Well all said and done,a very traditional Bengali home-cooking, if you are interested then sometimes give it a try.Oh! and this post was my 200th post ..finally!!

Steps in making Rotis- a beginners guide
This was a result of a readers request for tips in making rotis.Never realized so much goes into making my daily affair of making rotis.Some great insights into the chemistry of making rotis.

Around The world- Craft Ideas
This post is all about home-made crafts for kids.In case you are wondering how to keep your child engaged with some good works.Then this post has some great links to try out craft ideas.

Baby Corn-Beans-Brinjal sabzi
Alright three B sabzi , an excellent way of incorporating vegetables to your daily cooking.

Baby Corn Red Bell pepper Sabzi

Alright this one turn out even more flavourful with addition of tangy tomatoes and sweet red bell peppers.

Parota and Aloor torkari  and  Cherry banana Pancakes
Both these posts reminds us of
Shakalaer Jol-khabar e Bideshi influence.OK, with change in pace of life and migration towards bigger cities from villages.Our eating habits have changed also.This post is a reminder to start all over again the forgotten practices and recipes and specially at Breakfast table.

Murg Shahi Korma
If you think you can resist this awesome recipe, you are wrong.This is a stunner and as I am writing this, it reminds me of the amazing aroma and flavour it has.Splendid recipe.

Zucchini Onion Fritters

Ghiya or lauki or lao ke pakode is a famous way of making pakodas in a typical UP aen home.Well, just substituted Lauki with zucchini and I was not disappointed at all.A very flavourful preparation for pakodas on a rainy day.

Pista Murg Keema -Chicken mince with pistachios
Loads of flavour with Pistachios, minced meat was never the same.This turned out very delicious.

Nimbu Ka Achaar-Lemon Pickle

I tried my hand in making Achaar and rest is history now.There is always some batches of this nimbu ka achaar in our home.With this home-made achaar our meals have become little more interesting, oh! I mean Delicious.

Shorshe Mangetout/snowpeas
This is my take on sheem shorshe.As we get mangetouts plenty here, so thought of subs sheem/hyacinth beans with mangetout would be a decent idea.This saw a keeper recipe also.Made home-made mustard powder which we used regularly in our day-today cooking.

Darbesh
It was Durga Puja and we were thinking of making somthing which should warm up our heart to the festivity.Darbesh as I fondly recall as prepared on may be nabami. So here is my easy and simple take on Darbesh.


Till Ke Gajak-
Gajak as I can recall is a North-Indian sweet snack prepared especially during winters.These turn out quite OK for us.Evening time snack has some great variation now.

Microwable Sandesh
This was during Diwali that I prepared these M/W Sandesh.Things have become far easy now with the inventions of new technologies.

Pabda Mach'er Shorsher Jhaal
Pabda fish and shorsher bata I mean mustard seed paste- a very intriguing combination.

Ever versatile Pressure Cooker Pulao
Well the name says it all, isn't?

Pear Pancake
 Fruity Pancakes are always great ways to warm our breakfast table.

Coconut and Brussel sprouts stir/fry
Narkol diye brussel sprouts.A great vegetarian side-dish,goes well with rotis and rice as well.

Home-made granola cereal
home -made stuff is always healthy with no additional chemical preservatives etc.I don't see a reason to purchase boxed cereals now.

Paneer Shahi Korma
 A vegetarian delight.Rich and creamy with the addition of almonds in it.

Eggless walnut dates bread
Well the name says it all.Loved this eggless bread and trust me this is a keeper recipe.

Easy chicken noodle
well it was snowing and to keep ourself warm this easy chicken noodle soup came to our rescue.

Pistachios cookies
What is Christmas without some cookies.Well this is our read me and my daughters joint effort in making these cookies.

Kosha Shorshe Murgi -Chicken in spicy mustard sauce
And special mention about this post.This is a recipe shared here by my loving DH S.You can not resist this recipe and I am still smitten by that taste and flavour.You have to try it out to know what I mean here.

Thats it friends

Good bye 2010, Welcome 2011

For a better world without hate,


Follow your heart, believe in fate


Only visions and the mind,


Will guide you to the light :-)

---lines from “Goodbye Milky Way” by Enigma


Wish you all a very Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year