Tava/Pan Fried Mutton Shami Kebab

I have been away for a while from active food blogging, as I had to tender and look into many personal matters and one of them being a relocation again. Now, I have lost the counts how many times I have relocated. But it feels like home coming to UK once again as per written analogy. Malaysia was a fabulous experience. Someday I want to go back again there, to relive our wonderful memories.

When we landed in UK, that same whiff of air hit me again, a sense of familiarity among unfamiliar faces engrossed into their smartphones. It took us for a while to get settled over here.

Let’s hope, I will try to update this space more often. With spring blossoms on full vigour and Holi festival coming up near, thought this will be a nice beginning for this space.

I had lamb mince and wanted to make some kebabs. This recipe was an impromptu attempt on my part and glad it turned out nice. I have used store bought spice mix just to enhance the flavour more. But if you genuinely want to make it from scratch, then I would suggest to grind all the spices in home. Otherwise in this busy world, I guess the store bought spice packets are very handy.These were like melt in mouths kebabs and also I have tried to use less oil to pan fry them.

Now to the recipe

Pan/Tava fried Mutton Shami Kebab

Recipe requirements

• Lamb/Mutton mince/ keema- 400gms
• Chana dal – 1 and ½ cup
• 1 big purple onion
• 3-4 big garlic cloves
• 1 medium size tomato
• 5-6 green chillies
• Spices and seasoning
• 3 tsp of coriander powder
• 2 tsp of cumin powder
•  2 tsp of garam masala
• 3 tsp of tandoori masala
• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder
•  2-3 tsp of red pepper powder
• 2-3 tsp of freshly grounded black pepper
• 1 tsp of salt or as per taste
•  2-3 tbs of cooking oil for pan frying

Method

• Wash the lentils and put it in pressure cooker. Add about 1 cup of water. Let it simmer on high flame, skim out the froth form the lentils.
• Now add in 400 Gms of lamb mince or mutton keema.Add in 1 cup of water.
• Chop onion, garlic and tomatoes and add them with the dal and mince.
• Add salt, red pepper powder, coriander powder, tandoori powder, and cumin powder. Check the water content, it should come up to the level of the mixture properly but shouldn’t be more than the content, otherwise the lentils will be soggy and that is what we don’t want.
• Let it cook for 2 whistles. Lower the flame and let it simmer for 7-10 mints. Put off the flame and let the pressure subside. Open the lid and let it cool.
• Take out the mince+ lentil mixture in a big mixing bowl. Squeeze out excess liquid with your hands.
• Now add rest of the spices- cinnamon powder, garam masala and freshly grounded black pepper powder. Adjust salt and hotness if required with red pepper powder. Add in finely chopped green chillies. Knead and mix the mixture very well.
• Refrigerate the mixture for about an hour so that the mixture gets firmer and it will be easy to shape up patties.
• Put a non-stick tava/skillet on flame at medium flame.
• Drop about a tsp of oil .Take out the lamb mince mixture and shape them into patties. This much mixture, I end up making about 17-18 shami kababs.
• Tava fry them for about 3-4 mints at medium flame or they turn and have a nice dark brown crust.
• Take out and serve.

Wish you all a very Happy Holi.

Mutton- Biryani - A home-cook's version

We are into full blown summer days in the northern hemisphere, and with that, parks are all gearing up for summer family day outs here, well I can’t say that about India though. But, as it seems, evenings are cooler over there, and with evening breeze, it tends to lower down the temperature as well. Although, it was a traumatic experience for them past month, with the recent earthquakes, that rattled the northern parts of country, Delhi and Kolkata were not untouched either. My heart goes out to those living outside their homes in Nepal, living under that constant threat and a future, where everything is blurred. Even with all these new generation gizmo and gadgets, when it comes to Mother Nature, we still haven’t got what it takes to take full control of her, or maybe we won’t be able to do so in hundred years. We are way behind, the right approach for this matter would be to start a much synchronised disaster management. Peace and prayers for all of them.

 

 

I haven’t updated the blog, so thought of shedding some hibernation fat, and updating the blog with a delicious recipe post. As the recipe post says, “Mutton biryani”, I do feel it doesn’t matter, how it is made, every time it tastes delicious. Now I won’t be going in to the details of various types of biryanis, their method and minor culinary inputs, for a home-cook like me, I really don’t get into the business of all the nuisances of those fine- prints. Give me any day, light fluffy biryanis with delicate flavours and am a happy soul, and even so, my family members.

 Now to the preparation part

Mutton Biryani

Recipe Requirements

(Serves – 3-4 )

700 Gms of lamb /Goat Mutton

1 large onion

4-5 fat cloves garlic

½ inch ginger root

 1 tsp of lemon juice

 2-3 medium size potatoes (optional)

For seasonings

1 tsp of red pepper powder

 ½ tsp of freshly crushed black pepper

1 tsp of freshly grounded coriander powder

¼ tsp of cumin powder
½ tsp of nutmeg powder
½ tsp of cinnamon powder
½ tsp of cardamom powder
1 tsp of garlic powder
½ tsp of ginger powder

 Half cup of thick yogurt

1 tsp of salt or as per taste+ ¼ tsp of salt for cooking rice

Whole spices
 3-4 cloves
4-5 cardamoms
2 black cardamom
 2, ¼ inch cinnamon sticks
 two pinches of nutmeg

Three- four generous pinches of saffron soaked in quarter cup of lukewarm milk
 1tsp of kewda essence
 2 cups of high quality basmati rice
 ¼ cup of cooking oil for mutton preparation+ 5 tsp of cooking oil required in other stages of cooking.

Method

Mix all the dry seasonings to make a dry masala powder to make biryani. This forms the "base masala" for our biryani.

Now add in yogurt, gently mixing it with a spoon. Adjust salt and add in lemon juice.A wet marinade is ready for the mutton pieces. 

I have used diced and boneless lamb pieces, a cut from leg side for this biryani. You can use any portions and also with bones. Goat mutton is what I use, when we are in India.

Now marinate lamb pieces with the spiced yogurt mixture. Keep aside for 1 hr, or better if you have time then marinate for 3-4 hrs, keeping it refrigerated.

 Cooking the rice for biryani

Now wash rice in running water. And soak them for about 15-20 mints.

Heat up a big pot/pan, we use “dekchi” to make mutton biryani back in home- India. Old fashioned- aluminium “handi” also works best. How, ever any heavy bottomed pan, big enough to hold the entire lamb and rice mixture works well also.

And since we will be doing a quick oven-bake, a big oven –proof casserole works fine as well.
Cook rice, till it’s partially cooked- to be precise- ¾ cooked rice grains, turns nice fluffy in biryani. Bring a large pot with water to boil, add in 1 tsp of cooking oil and few pinches of salt, same as like we do cooking for pasta. This way rice grains won’t stick with each other much.
We do not need nice-puffed up, thoroughly cooked rice grains. Don’t worry these will be cooked through well, at the time of assembling or layering up the biryani. So, drain out rice-starch. Now add in about 2 tsp of cooking oil, gently toss the rice grains and take out in a large plate. Allow rice grains to cool.
Now we will make a small cloth bag of whole spices- crushed cloves, cardamoms, black cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. Tie this with thread tightly.

Cooking the mutton/lamb for biryani

 In a blender, make a smooth paste of onion/ginger/garlic with 2 tsp of cooking oil.
Take a big fry pan, add in cooking oil.
Now add in onion/ginger /garlic paste. Let it stir/fry for about 8-10 mints. Add in salt.
Now add in the marinated lamb pieces. Keep on stir/fry for 20-25 mints, splashing water as required.
Add in half cup of warm water, cover the lid and let it cook for about 30 mints further. Since, we have used boneless lamb pieces, it will require less time as compared to lamb pieces with the bones. And also use potato cubes now, but this is purely optional, one can skip it, if doesn’t want to include potatoes, (this is a Bengali way of making biryani, adding potatoes)

Layering/assembling the biryani

In an oven-proof casserole, first spread a layer of rice, then layer the cooked mutton pieces, use the gravy as well. The gravy will tend to be semi-dry, so that rice incorporates well the flavour, without turning soggy further.
Now sprinkle kewda essence, or saffron –milk water. Place the small, whole –masala bag- “masala-potli” over the rice-layer .Repeat the layering of rice with cooked lamb pieces, until the whole of the rice is used up. Top this with any left-over rice. Sprinkle saffron-milk water. You may also add in fried onions in between the layers.

Cover with a foil, and transfer this to the pre-heated oven. Bake it for 10-15 mints at 180 deg C. Alternately one can also, cook it up on stove-top as well. Seal the dekchi / handi or pan with flour dough and cook it at low flame for 15-20 mints.

Take it off, from the cooking, and let sit for 2-3 hrs, before you open out the dough seal.” Dum –style “cooking is required for a light fluffy biryanis.

Since I prefer, oven baking method, now about oven- bake method.

To finish off biryani –making, after you have taken it out from the oven, cover the entire casserole with a cotton towel, so that the heat doesn’t escape much, this will cook the rest of the partially cooked rice. Allow at least 2-3 hrs for the aromas to blend in well.
At the time of serving, just pop it in microwave, preferably covered, to reheat or put them in oven for about 10 mints. Serve and enjoy with a raita preparation and some salad.

Happy Cooking Friends

Lobia Keema Curry- Black Eyed Beans cooked with Lamb Mince

We saw season’s first snow today, excited? Yes, you can presume as such .And who doesn’t like snow, but then if the snow starts melting, it’s another story altogether.While it’s snowing heavily far across Atlantic Ocean in US, we are happy and contended to get about an inch of snow here.Well, I wouldn’t even dare to think 10 inches of snow, as that would ring an alarm bell for me.As of now, update is, it’s melting away, oh! Things of joy don’t last for ever, it always is short-lived, but the memory that it creates always resonate.

With this cold and grey weather, we really crave to eat some spicy food, and lobia- keema curry is one such dish.As our family struggled with seasonal flu and cough, this hot and spicy preparation was well appreciated by my folks.There is of course a vegetarian version, and that will be to skip lamb mince all together, or may be adding up soya mince- vegetarian option for meat mince.But if you like non-vegetarian meals, then this is very appetizing.You can even make this  curry in bulk and store in batches in fridge, but try to consume within 2-3 days.And trust me, next day , when the flavours are well incorporated, this turns out more flavourful.

Well it does remind of Mexican Chilli, although I haven’t included other vegetables or cheese or kidney beans or pinto beans, in to this curry.This is a spicy preparation, if you are making it for little kids, reduce the red pepper powder.Actually I have used red bird-eyes chili pepper / Thai chili for this preparation, which is considered one fo the hot peppers, so you can guess the hotness of this curry.

Lobia Keema Curry – Black Eyed Beans lamb Mince Curry

Recipe requirements (serves 3-4)

• About 500 Gms of cooked lobia/ black eyed beans or use 1 pre-packed tin of black eye beans
• 500 Gms of lamb mince/ mutton keema

For the gravy

•  1 large tomato
• 2 medium size purple onions
• 3-4 fat pods of garlic
• ½ inch ginger root

For the seasonings

•  ¾ tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of red pepper powder
•  ¾ tsp of Kashmiri red pepper powder
• 1 heaped tsp of coriander powder
•  ¾ tsp of cumin powder
• 3/4  tsp of cinnamon powder
•  ¾ tsp of nutmeg powder
• ½ tsp of cardamom powder
• 2-3 Red bird’s eye chily slit in between
• Salt as per taste
• Pinch of asafetida
• ¼ cup of cooking oil
• Method

Prepare Black eyed Beans- lobia

• Soak about 2 -3 cups of dry lobia/black eyed beans in ample water for about 6-7 hrs. You can even soak them in warm water for 2-3 hrs in case you are running short of time. Or even use pre- packed tins. I have used approx 2 – 3 cups of cooked lobia for this curry (1 can serves well for 3-4 people). You can even use 2 tins to increase more beans in the curry.
• Now pressure cook  black eyed beans/lobia  for one whistle at high, lower the flame and let it cook further for about 10-12 mints. Open once the pressure subsides. Reserve this for later use.

Now prepare the keema- lamb mince

• Chop finely all the ingredients- onion, ginger, garlic and tomato. If you don’t like chopping then, wet grind those in a mixer adding little bit of cooking oil. I have even added some of the dry masala ingredients while making the onion+ginger+garlic paste, so add turmeric powder, red pepper powder, kashmiri red pepper powder, cumin-coriander powder to make a smooth paste.
• Now heat up a large vessel enough to hold keema, lobia and the gravy. Add in cooking oil. Add in pinch of asafetida, and then add in the prepared masala paste. Add in slit bird eye chili.Adjust salt.
• Now let it stir/fry it further for about 9-10 mints at medium high flame, splash some water if the paste starts to stick on the base. Once the paste has turned dark in color and the oil starts separating out, add in lamb mince.
• Keep on stir/fry the lamb mince for about 10-15 mints. Add in cinnamon powder+nutmeg powder+cardamom powder. You can even use garam masala as well. Splash little water if it tends to become very dry.
• Now add in about 2 cups of lukewarm water and the cooked beans with all the water if any left after pressure cooking it.
• Cover the vessel and let it cook slowly for about 1 hr at low flame. Alternately you can put the entire thing in a pressure cooker. Let one whistle at high and then lower the flame, so that it can cook on it’s own for about 10 mints. Open once the pressure subsides.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
• Enjoy with rotis or rice. I had it with cooked couscous and cherry –avocado salad.

Note-

Bird eye chilly adds the hotness to this curry, skip it if you do not like very hot and spicy curry.The same recipe goes well with rajma- red kidney beans as well.

Happy Cooking friends

Lamb Korma With Garlic Naan

As the winter sets in firmly, we do need to fire up our energies to overcome the cold weather here. And what could be better than eating a lamb korma preparation. For this lamb preparation, I have used white poppy seed paste in place of blanched almonds, which of course is a way of incorporating nuts to get that rich gravy based curries such as kormas.A chicken shahi korma was made earlier -Here which of course was made with blanched almonds and yogurt.

 I have made this korma little high on hotness note, which is, not what milder kormas are known over here. The Awadhi kormas are known for the right balance of hotness and spices, taking a clue from there, this is what we have made. Now, I would leave it just like that, without proclaiming it as “authentic” or “traditional” lamb korma. I have made garlic naan as well to dip into the juicy korma.

Lamb Korma – our way

Recipe requirements

• 1 kg of lamb/mutton
• 5 medium size onions
• 6-7 fat cloves of garlic
• 3-4 green chilies
• 30 Gms of white poppy seeds or 3-4 heaped tbs of poppy seeds roughly
• About an inch of fresh ginger

Seasonings

• 2 tsp of red pepper powder
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder
• 3-4 tsp of cumin+coriander powder
• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp of nutmeg powder
• 1 tsp of salt or as required
• ½ cup of plain cooking oil- corn oil etc

Whole spices used at tempering- all slightly crushed

• 3-4 black cardamoms
• 5-6 green cardamoms
• 6-7 cloves
• About 1 tbs of whole black pepper corn

Other ingredients 

• ½ cup of yogurt
• 2 tbs of cream
• Twp generous pinch of saffron soaked in water
• 2 tsp of kewra water

Method

• I have used leg steak and rib pieces for this preparation. You can use shoulder side as well. And we will cut into bite size pieces. Marinate these pieces with yogurt, salt and red pepper powder. Keep it marinating for about 2 hrs.
• First wet grind poppy seeds in a grinder.Add in roughly chopped onions, green chillies, garlic and ginger.
• Heat up a saucepan/kadai and add in corn oil. Now add in crushed whole cloves, black cardamom, green cardamoms, peppercorns.Let it crackle a little bit.
• Now add in the prepared paste of onions+green chillies+ginger+garlic +white poppy seeds.
• In a small bowl of water- mix in turmeric powder, cumin+coriander powder, cinnamon, nutmeg powders and salt. Add this paste in to the saucepan. Keep on stir/fry another 8-10 mints at med-high flame.
• When the masala paste dries up and the oil separates out by the sides. Add in marinating lamb pieces to the above. Now keep on braising the lamb pieces for about 15-20 mints.
• Now transfer this to a pressure cooker. Add in 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil. Lock the lid and cook till one whistle. Now lower the flame and let it cook for 10-15 mints.Alternately you can cook slowly on a stove-top, allow at least an hour to cook the lamb well.
• Stop cooking it further, open, once the pressure subsides. If you want semi-dry gravy, then you can scoop out the cooked lamb pieces and let the gravy come to a semi dry form, and then again transfer the cooked lamb pieces to the gravy and mix well.
• At the time of switching off the flame, add in kewra water, saffron water and cream, mix in well. Cover and let it rest for a while. If you want to serve it at the dinner time, make ahead in morning so that flavors incorporates well. At the time of serving, pop in to the preheated oven and heat it again or reheat over stovetop.And if you have left-overs, it tastes even better the next day.

Garlic Naan- Home-Made 

Recipe requirements

• 1 cup of whole wheat flour/atta
• 1 cup of self raising flour
• 3-4 tbs of cooking oil
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 4-5 cloves garlic chopped coarsely
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tsp of kalo jeerey/kalaunji/nigella seeds
• 1 tsp of active dry yeast
• ½ cup of whole milk
• ¼ tsp of salt or as per taste
• ½ tsp of dried herbs

Method

• In a big mixing bowl, mix in whole wheat flour and self raising flour. Mix in salt+sugar+garlic powder.
• Add in active dry yeast and nigella seeds to the above. Mix in well all the dry ingredients.
• Add in half cup of water to the whole milk and make it lukewarm.
• Add in cooking oil to the dry ingredients mixture.Rub it evenly all through.
• Now add in lukewarm diluted whole milk as required to knead into smooth dough.
• Once the dough starts to collect well, knead it again well. Cover it with a cotton towel and let it rest for about 2-3 hrs or till the dough has risen up well preferably in a moist and warm place.
• When the dough has raised well. Divide it into 7-8 portions.
• Take one portions, put in chopped garlic and dried herbs.
• Now roll in to tear shape or eliptical shape or what ever way you prefer pressing down chopped garlic and dried herb onto the unbaked naan.
• Preheat an oven at about 200 deg C. Place those unbaked naan on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
• Bake it for 10 mints. Take out, flip the naan and again transfer to bake it further 5 mints at same temperature.
• When all the naans are baked similarly, put them in a serving bowl; preferably keep it cover so that it remains hot and soft. Serve and enjoy it with lamb korma.

Happy Cooking Friends

Lamb meat cooked with Liver, New potatoes and Green peas

I have heard about some fruits being used as meat tenderizer like kiwi, pineapple or green papaya. Personally I have never used them so far, and the ones who read this blog regularly you know that well. So, I never knew if it is going to work in favor for this recipe or not. I was little apprehensive before I made this lamb and lamb liver semi dry /“sukha” fried curry, but to be honest it is one of the best recipes made so far, for lamb meat. I had some unripe kiwi lying in the fruit basket and I was wondering how should I fix it, other than kiwi pie or kiwi cheesecake, so came up with this recipe with lamb meat.

The tanginess of kiwi gelled very much with spices,lamb steak and lamb liver pieces and top it all the flavour new potatoes and "hara matar" –green peas have imparted, we knew it this was heading into a delicious preparation. Addition of curry patta and coconut powder added that southern Indian rustic touch, and then addition of black peppercorn did the hammering trick. You can say pepper mutton is dressed up even more to yield a new flavor, something kind of an add-on and it looks like it’s a match made in heaven- sorry a match made in my kitchen – an idea can change a life or in this case a recipe.

Here is recipe for lamb steak piece with lamb liver,potatoes and green peas my humble first attempt at including kiwi in everyday Indian cooking. And yes the lamb steak pieces were cooked little early. This is a ‘sukha”/dry preparation enough to have it with roti…..


Lamb meat cooked with lamb liver, new potatoes, Kiwi and green peas-Mutton aur Kaleji aloo matar (When north meets up with south-jab they met)
Recipe requirements( measurements are approx) 

• 3 lamb steaks- roughly about 400 Gms
• Lamb liver- about 200 Gms
• 1 large cup of green peas fresh or frozen what ever is available
• 2 large purple onions
• 4-5 fat clove of garlic
• 1 inch ginger root
• About a handful of curry leaves/curry patta
• ½ cup of coconut powder
• 2-3 medium size new potatoes (as this is in season now) cut into big chunks or use baby new potatoes
• ½ cup of yogurt
• 1 kiwi or 2 kiwi fruits

For tempering and Seasonings

• 2 -3 cloves
• 2-3 small green cardamoms
• 10-12 black peppercorn
• 1 tsp of red pepper powder
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder
• 2 tsp of freshly crushed black peppercorn
• 2 tsp of coriander powder
• ¼ tsp of cumin powder
• 1 tsp of cardamom powder
• ½ tsp of cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp of salt or as per taste
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 7-8 tbs of mustard oil

Method
1.-.Make a marinade sauce with – yogurt+red pepper powder+salt+half of the quantity of mustard oil and finely chopped kiwi ( take the skin off) . Now rub this sauce over lamb steak pieces very well and keep it aside for 1-2 hrs.If you wish you can cut steak pieces further into small portions. If you are fine with the crunch of tiny kiwi seeds then add the whole kiwi or you may take out the pith and discard all the seeds and in that case I do think please use two kiwi fruits.

2.-You can skip yogurt at this time and add on later when all the spices have blended well with lamb pieces...It would be nice if you can do the marination overnight if using lamb meat with bones or any other red-meat.
3.-Grate ginger after peeling off the skin and do the same with garlic. We have used grated garlic and ginger rather than paste for this recipe. Chop onion very finely. Grating garlic and ginger releases fresh juices which adds up to the flavor and more the stir/fry is less hard working.

4.-Now heat up mustard oil in a big enough pan/kadai etc and fry the potatoes so that they just start turning barely brown. Take out and drain. Now that oil itself, temper this with cloves, green cardamom, pepper corn, ginger and garlic. Add in curry patta.When garlic+ginger has turned towards little brownish, add in finely chopped onions. Add in sugar and keep on stir/fry it.

5.-Add in dry spice ingredients- turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and fresh crushed black peppercorn. Keep on stir/fry till onions shrinks and becomes evenly fried and reddish-brown. I have used home-made and grounded coriander powder and cumin powder, and cardamom +cinnamon powder not the ready-made spice packets.

6.-Now add the marinated lamb steak pieces. Add in green peas. Add in half a cup of water. Mix and stir well. Add in coconut powder, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder and let it bhuno/stir/fry for 15-20 mints.
7.-Add in lamb liver pieces. Now cover this and put the flame to medium- low. After about 20-25 mints check if it’s not stuck at the base and if required splash some more water or add quarter cup of warm water.
Lamb liver pieces are cooked by this time but the lamb steak pieces will generally require little more cooking, after about 10-15 mints switch off the flame and let it sit there. If you do not want to eat overly cooked liver pieces then add them in later stages of this preparation. Usually this gets cooked in 15-20 mints at med-low flame.

8.-Let it rest for a while before you dig into it, as resting period helps in soaking up the flavor more. I try to make this in the morning if we are having it as dinner or at least 3-4 hrs before our dinner is served. And next day it’s even more flavourful.Serve and enjoy.

If you have left-over if any, then mix in with cooked rice, it gels well with it and gives you instant lamb pilaf, or boil some pasta any shape, mix it and you have a quick Indian spice inspired pasta recipe.

Happy Cooking Friends

Niramish Mangsho- Lamb curry without Onion and Garlic

The story of lamb mutton that was cooked without onion and garlic.
It has never occurred to me that mutton I mean “mangsho” can also be cooked like a “niramish” preparation until few of my fellow food bloggers mentioned in their food blogs. There was even a time while living in Kolkata, I happen to hear an interesting mention on one of those radio FM channels, where you get to hear new filmy songs. The Radio jockey, as usual was so enthusiastic that every word seemed to be more than epitome of perfection. It was like ringing a bell in my ear, he said loud and clear – a famous cine artist makes “manghsor chorchori”, and I don’t know on which I should smile first – that artist cooking or mangsho being made into a mushy chorchori.No, don’t take me wrong I really admire his acting skills, very few are gifted persons like Charlie Chaplin, who can make us laugh even when they feel miserable and that is not every one’s cup of tea. How I wish my daughter can also see those old Bengali movies in which he was a major part. Although I must confess, deep down I am even inclined to try “mangshor chorchori” as well, such is the effect of this recipe for "niramish mangsho".

 I was also having a conversation with a Bengali friend over here, she also referred to some of her family sources, that there is definitely a recipe for “proshadi mangsho” which is made in many Bengali homes. This whole conversation was very intriguing, and it started a sudden urge or more profoundly a “craving” to have “proshadi mangsho” or “Niramish mangsho “in comfort of my home. A recipe which is up till now, was totally elusive to me.
 It was on my mind, how can one, makes red –meat in a “niramish” way and also sometimes may call it “prashadi mangsho” .Two things that never went well with me either. But then I do have heard about “boli protha” animal sacrifices on Kali Puja or Durga Puja,an age –old traditions, and a tradition which something personally don’t give me much happiness. Anyhow, I think it has stopped for good and may be the origin of this recipe, is somewhere related to this practice.
After having many judgmental thoughts and having sleepless nights...Err last one is exaggeration, here is a mutton recipe where for the very first time I have not used onion or garlic, and which makes it a “niramish” way of making food. When I started cooking this recipe, I was not sure where it will end up,as I have never tasted “niramish mangsho” myself. So, I told my husband and daughter that don’t expect this time it’s going to be a restaurant quality meat preparation, to which they gave me astonishing glances. But then thankfully this turned out nice and even got a mention over here. The recipe I referred to can be found here.

The basic thing as I have always seen my mother and my ma-in-law doing for “niramish” preparation of vegetables is using ada-dhone-bata or ada-jeerey bata- translation- ginger-coriander wet paste or cumin-ginger wet paste or most of the times using both coriander+cumin powder.
.

Since the gravy turns out very spicy so the usual “jhal” , but then it still has ample gravy making it more like “jhol”.I don’t know if there is a term in between – a kind of hybrid of “jhal” and “jhol” .But if it do really exists, I want to use that term which makes it -Niramish mangshor jhaal-jhol.

My thakuma/grandmother used to tell me that Tulsi leaves are very sacred. If you add tulsi leaves to any preparation, the sacred quotient automatically gets adhered to it; makes it ‘shud-dho”. Since this is a niramish way of making mangsho, I wished to use Tulsi leaves, but then we don’t get Tulsi leaves over here, as an alternative I used dried basil leaves, not up to the mark but still it was worth it. And I am really intrigued about the use of Tulsi leaves in ‘niramish mangsho”..
Almonds, cardamom and hing lift up the simplicity of ‘proshadi mangsho” or “niramish mangsho” up to the next level………read on for the recipe now

Niramish Mangshor Jhal-Jhol- Lamb mutton cooked without onion and garlic
Recipe requirements (Recipe adapted from Cooking and Recipes-Ushnish Da)

• 500-600 gm of lamb meat or mutton
• 2 inch fresh ginger root
• 3-5 hot green chilies
• 18-20 blanched almonds
• 1 cup of yogurt
• 1 tsp of crushed chilly flakes
• 2-3 tbs of desiccated coconut or fresh scraped coconut
• 3-4 big Tulsi leaves or 1 tsp of dried basil leaves (as an alternative)
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• 6-7 heaped tbs of whole coriander seeds
• 15 green cardamoms
• Two generous pinch of hing/asafetida
•  1-2 potatoes cut into half
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• 4-5 bay leaves or tej patta
• 4-5 whole black peppers
• 3-4 cloves- lobongo
• 1 small strand of mace- javitri
• 1 black cardamom –boro elaich
•  5-6 tbs of mustard oil or any other cooking oil
• 1 tsp of desi ghee 

Method

1. Dry roast coriander seeds over low flame. Then dry grind roasted coriander seeds and green cardamoms together to make fresh coriander+cardamom powder.
2. Soak almond in warm water for 10-15 mints. Many times we keep the skin of almonds, however if you don’t like then peel off the skin.
3. Now wet grind fresh ginger roots, green chilies (resrve one green chilly to be used later on),  coconut, tulsi leaves and almond with 2 tbs of yogurt and 1 tsp of mustard oil. I used dried basil leaves as a substitute of Tulsi leaves.
4. In a mixing bowl, add in curd/yogurt, crushed red chilly flakes, salt, lemon juice. Coat this paste well over lamb pieces.
5. Use half of the wet masala paste to coat the marinated pieces of lamb well. Add in about 2 tsp of coriander+cardamom powder now mixing it well. I have used lamb cutlets for this recipe which were roughly 300-400 gms leaving behind lots of gravy. Alternately use more mutton to get a semi dry gravy kind of “makha-makha “in Bengali. Please reserve left-over cardamom and coriander powder in an air tight container to be used later on in other preparations.
6. Keep lamb pieces marinating for about 1-2 hrs.
7. Now heat up pressure cooker as that is what I have used to make this jhal-jhol. Alternately you may make it over stove-top for about 45-50 mints depending on the kind and the cut of mutton. Lamb takes less time to cook as compared to mutton pieces. Similarly goat mutton takes more time especially if this is “khasir mangsho”.
8. After the pressure cooker has heated up well, add in mustard oil and let it come to smoking point.Add in big chunks of potatoes and fry well.take them out.You can even make niramish jhol with ghee or other cooking oil, what ever suits; you can go ahead with it.
9. Now add in bay leaf, whole black pepper, crushed mace, cloves,cardamom, let it crackle a bit.Add one green chilly slit in between. Add in sugar and asfoetida.Stir/fry for 1 mint.
10. Now add in the left-over wet paste of fresh ginger roots, almonds, coconut and Tulsi leaves.Add in 1 tsp of coriander+cardamom powder and turmeric powder.
11. Keep on frying the wet paste till oil separates out about 7-10 mints at med-high flame.
12. Now add marinated lamb pieces and keep on stir/fry for about 10-15 mints. Adjust salt and sugar to this if required.
13. Now add in about 3-4 large cups of water to it. Let it come to one rapid boil at high flame.
14. Cover with lid and put to pressure cook it. One whistle at high flame and then lower the flame let it cook further 10-15 mints.
15. Take the pressure cooker off, and let the pressure subside. Lastly add in about half a tsp of coriander+cardamom powder and 1 tsp of ghee to it. You may add finely chopped Tulsi leaves to it as garnishing.
16. Cover the lid again and let it rest for 3-4 hrs before you serve it. Mishti Pulao or plain ghee-bhaat goes very well with this mutton curry.

Note-
Please use freshly churned spices for best result. There are other ways of making niramish mangsho- .You may refer here- and here.
Please adjust spice levels according to personal levels and use this above recipe as mere guidelines. I don’t claim this recipe to be traditional either.The gravy is very spicy and rich in texture, unlike a 'patla jhol" .....
If you want to make vegetables or meat niramish way and like "patla jhol" then this is archived post for that-
Niramish Jhol with Vegetables

Happy Cooking Friends 

Lamb Curry

I guess it happens with most of you, when you are on a self proclaimed break from food blogging and even though you cook full time, you don’t really feel to update the blog here. And it has been the same story here,as I am fumbling with words here to start up a simple blog post about a gem of a recipe-lamb curry.

Although the everyday cook, yeah that’s me was not resting, for her it was just like any other normal day puttering  around in the kitchen, cooking food and sharing them. Sometimes was doing alteration work on some of the clothes or was working on an unfinished knitting project. Here I made a cool and funky jhola bag out of my old jeans, now my daughter likes it very much. When ever we go out in park, she likes carrying it. I don’t yet have a sewing machine as we frequently move and travel, so I did the alteration then sewing all by hand which was little tiring but it gave me great satisfaction. You can even make these types of “jhola bag” with your old saree or silk clothes as well. You can even stitch some patch-work over each side, or put some bead work, just like the ones I put in a straight line or some decorating accessories- like the single flower over each small pouch on each side.

There are plenty of ways one can possibly think to re-cycle old clothes. One way is to make kitchen towels and coasters as well.Now to cooking.

This lamb curry that you see now was made about two-three weeks ago. Then, again made it yesterday, so thought of sharing the recipe here. One interesting fact I just wanted to share here, in our traditional joint family, there were separate saucepan /kadai for cooking non veg items and veg items even the cutting knife or the traditional Bengali “bonti” were also separate and kept separate at a distance, if accidentally someone put them together, they have to clean it again. Once the vegetarian items were cooked first, then it was the turn of non-veg items to be cooked. Over a period of time, this practice is lost some where, I don’t really notice this practice in every nuclear family that we have today especially in metroes. But as per rule I still have separate cutting knives for vegetables and non –vegetables and I strictly don’t inter-change them. After cutting and chopping the meat, fish or chicken, I wash them with warm water, dry them up and then store. These are some basic rules but it is good for hygiene purpose etc.

I have never cooked lamb meat here in abroad, perhaps was due to the fact it has an overpowering smell, but we were really craving mutton the goat ones, so I gave up my inhibitions about lamb. So, the recipe has been made with mint leaves and for the first time used kewda essence just to over-power the lamb smell, but I tell you even if you don’t add two of these ingredients, lamb meat when cooked with all the spice on slow heat gives excellent result, almost just like the ones I made back home with goat mutton.

The recipe is just like Kosha-mangsho,I guess with mangsho/meat nothing can go wrong even with few spices.

Without adding much to the intro here, let me write the recipe now

Lamb curry
Recipe requirements (serves2-3)
About half a kg of portions from lamb leg bones off
5-6 cloves
1-2 cardamoms
2 heaped tsp of coriander powder
¾ tsp of cumin powder
2-3 tsp of extra hot red pepper powder
1 heaped tsp of meat masala
1 tsp of turmeric powder
1 twig mint leaves or about 8-9 leaves chopped roughly
8-10 whole black pepper
½ inch cinnamon stick
1 flower of mace-outer covering of nutmeg
3-4 tej patta
4-6 heaped tbs of yogurt
1 tsp of salt or as per taste
3-4 medium size purple onions
5-7 garlic pods
½ inch ginger root
½ cup of cooking oil/sada tel or mustard oil
½ cup finely chopped coriander leaves
2-3 heaped tsp of grounded or dried pomegranate seeds/anar dana
1 tsp of sugar or to taste
Few tsp of kewda essence (optional)
Method

• Cut the lamb leg portions into small pieces. Wash and clean the knife well and store. (Small pre-cut pieces are already available in supermarkets or from the neighborhood butcher shop)
• Now if required trim off the fat layer otherwise keep them if you like.
• Marinate lamb pieces with yogurt, half of red pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt. Keep it aside for 1-2 hrs.
• Now chop onions, garlic and ginger finely...If you like then you may make a masala paste of onion, ginger and garlic to be used to fry it with marinated lamb pieces.
• Heat up a deep bottomed pan/kadai/dekchi.Add in mustard oil; let it come to smoking point.
• Add in whole garam masala- cloves, crushed cardamoms, mace, whole black pepper and tej patta.Stir it for 1 mint till they start to crackle up. Now add in 1 tsp of sugar. Let it caramelize well.
• Now add in finely chopped garlic, ginger. Fry them well till they reach well charred stage or until a nice garlic smell hits your nose.
• Now add in finely chopped onions. Keep on frying the onions, about 6-7 mints at med-high flame or till they turn nice little brownish in colour.
• Add in all the dry powder ingredients- turmeric, red pepper, coriander-cumin, meat masala.Add in about 2-3 tbs of water. Mix and stir well so that all gets well incorporated.
• Add in marinated pieces of lamb with all the left-over marinade sauce. Keep on frying this for 6-7 mints or till they are well coated with the spices.
• Add in finely chopped mint and coriander leaves.
• Now keep on stir/frying or–“koshano” in Bengali for 15-20 mints at medium to medium-high flame, sprinkling little bit of warm water when ever you feel the spices is sticking to the base of the pan.
• This process of stir/fry should be done at medium flame to medium-low flame, to avoid rush in as this stir/fry process/”koshano” imparts that flavor which is required for these types of rich gravies especially mutton and lamb preparation.
• If the oil starts to separate out and the lamb gravy with all those aromatic spices turns dark in colour and little bit dry-about further 10-15 mints , transfer this entire gravy with lamb pieces to the pressure cooker.
• Add in grounded anar dana as well.If you have dried anar dana that will also work out fine.This is a new ingredient that I have used for making lamb curry and liked it very much because this gives a nice touch of sourness not over-powering the exact texture of the gravy.
• Add about 1 to 1 and half small teacup of water to it for thick gravy. If you wish to have a little runny gravy more like a “jhol”– then add in 3-4 large teacups of water. We like gravy which is not that runny, “makha-makha” in Bengali. Put the lid on, and at high flame let it go for one whistle. Put it to simmer for about 10-12 mints at low flame. Stop the flame and let it sit there for a while. Open the cover, once the pressure subsides.
• Open the lid-sprinkle half tsp of kewda essence and some cardamom powder. Stir and mix well and transfer the entire content to a serving bowl.(Most of you who do not like the essence, there is no need to add it, in fact when I made it again I skipped adding mint leaves and kewda essence, and I hardly can notice the aroma,-lamb meat all gelled quite well with other spices)
• Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

Note-

• I have added fried potato pieces as well as to us mangsho with out potato is unimaginable, however I have left to mention in the recipe procedure as some of you may not like it.
• Again used Shaan brand meat-masala.Any other meat masala can also work. Just thought of pairing meat masala along with home –made grounded coriander –cumin powder, and that worked very well, taking the levels high and I was not all disappointed.Please adjust the spice level according to your taste-bud.
• Personally I don’t use Kashmiri red powder in any of our meat preparations, which is only used for the colour, whatever the colour you see up there is due to the koshano process-stir/fry which requires little patience as well and the caramelisation of sugar.
• The recipe can well be adjusted with chicken or turkey. If you have any left-over gravy, then use this base gravy to make a quick rajma-or chick pea curry or cook rice in this gravy. They turn out absolutely delicious, or a biryani recipe can never go wrong with it.
• A quick tip- Use this left-over gravy with the cooked pasta – any paste shape goes well- we prefer spaghetti - giving the pasta a nice aromatic spicy Indian blend. Trust me this has worked great as pasta sauce as well on many weekend night dinner for us.

And recently liked a series on BBC by Rick Stein on India and the food that people generally like to eat.You can now even catch up with the series if you wish on Youtube. We have been to north Cornwall, so I can understand when he tries to remember everything with his hometown Padstow's fishing community and to that of Mumbai fish market or a Chennai fish village.A great series to understand that curry is just a tag , just to generalize but in reality, varieties are countless.

Wish you all a blissful period of Ramadan.

Happy Cooking Friends

Mutton Liver,Kala Chana and Sweet corn Torkari/Sabzi

Now that holiday season is over, and everything is back to its normal routine as it used to be before the start of the winter holidays, suddenly I feel,I have many things to work on which includes updating this blog also.

I haven’ taken off the Christmas decorations yet, will do it once the Sankranti/Lohri is over, still trying hard to cling on to festive spirit here, even though the holiday season is over for most of us I guess.

We were eating out during this holiday period many times, something which we do not practice.Now I don’t know who started the saying or even if it has any relevance in today's context -“What ever you tend to do in the initial days of a brand new year, it gets repeated again or may be circumstances makes way to happen things accordingly. Putting into this assumption, although I would really wish this shouldn't happen,as I can not see what stores for us in future. And that’s when new year good wishes and prayers comes in, and are counted on, even if they come little late by your side. It’s better to be late than never. So, even I am late, Here I go again-Wish you and yours a very happy new year-a year filled with peace,prosperity,health,love and harmony.

This space also needs some attention. Well everybody is trying to catch some sort of attention, so why leave the blog and its author alone. And grabbing attention is not an offense unless one intends to do with a good heart, assuming these days’ people do have hearts which rules over their mind.

Anyhow this liver,Kala Chana and sweet corn recipe was saved in drafts since last year. And even I do have cooked meals everyday during this holiday period, but I didn’t find time to go –click-click. As for that you don’t need to rush, but we were always on a go most of the time.Brunch meals were made every holiday morning –aloo paratha, upma, chivda poha,scrambled eggs with cheese, tomato –onion, Chocó chip muffin, chocolate muffin, banana pancake, Black-forest cake and Christmas cake were relished but sorry friends no pics to validate here. And little snack- or light lunch was eaten outside. Dinner was assembled quickly with wraps and salads, and with some left-over from morning, fresh chopped or grated vegetables were integral part of those wraps and salads inspired by Moroccan,  Italian and Indian cuisine-carrots/cabbage/onion/cucumber/sweet corn/lettuce were frequently used vegetables- and occasionally some chicken tikka take-away from M&S which were juicy and delicious.

This was brief account of what we were eating during this holiday period. 

But even with all that, I really liked when we had a full Bengali menu on last Sunday with-  Bhaja mung’er dal, aloo-bori bhaja, Shukto, chicken kosha, plum-raisin-tomato chutney and then after eating, rather relishing all this, we dozed off. Evening was spent sipping a cup of coffee and watching”Scooby-Dooby Doo- “-most of the time it’s only cartoon movies playing here and you have guessed it right. And then one fine day we were out for a movie- “Tinker Bell and the secret of the Wings”......Don’t know what made us happier - to see the cartoon movie or seeing a glowing, smiling face sitting just beside us, may be perhaps the latter. 

Whatever, holidays were spent the way it should be- "with no rules and resolutions."

Don’t know if it’s just me, but I have a very bad record as far as keeping or sticking to New Year resolutions, like the bad child of a class. And will never try to make it straight out even, will take things as it will keep coming to us.

After all these blabbering, now to the recipe of Mutton liver sweet-corn,Black gram stir/fry.

Kaleji-Mutton Liver Sweet corn and Kala Chana sabzi

Recipe requirements( serves-4)

• About 200-250 Gms of mutton liver or chicken liver
• 1 cup of frozen sweet corn
• 1 cup of cooked Kala Chana-Black Gram
• 2 green chilly
• 1 tsp of grated ginger
• 2 tsp of grated garlic
• 1 medium size tomato
• 1 medium size potato
• 1 cup of chopped coriander leaves
• Seasoning and flavoring
• ½ tsp of cumin seeds
• 2 tej patta
• 2 tsp of coriander powder
• ½ tsp of cumin powder
• 2 tsp of red pepper powder
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of salt
• ½ sp of garam masala
• 1/2 tsp of ghee

Method

• Wash and clean liver pieces.Chicken liver cooks fast as compared to mutton liver or lamb liver. Rub little bit of salt and turmeric powder. Keep aside.
• Now add in cooking oil to hot saucepan, add in cumin seeds and tej patta or bay leaf, and let it splutter.
• Add in ginger and garlic.Add in small potato cubes.Stir fry them for 3-4 mints.
• Now add in liver pieces, cooked Kala Chana ( can use canned ones as well ) and frozen sweet corn.
• Keep on stir fry for 4-5 mints.
• Add in dry ingredients-turmeric, coriander, cumin, red pepper powder and adjust with salt.
• Now add in chopped green chilies and coriander leaves. I have not added this time though.
• Add in chopped tomatoes and half cup of lukewarm water.
• Now cover it and cook till liver are done –about 15-20 mints for lamb liver or mutton liver and 10 -12 mints for chicken liver. Add in ghee and garam masala and mix well all.Freshly churned garam masala is more flavorful.
• Transfer to serving bowl.
• Garnish with some cheddar cheese bits or shavings.

Note

• This recipe is well adjusted for green peas as well. Add in frozen green peas or broccoli florets for the touch of more veggies to this liver stir/fry preparation or "sabzi"" as we like to call in Hindi, and "torkari" as in Bengali. 

Happy Cooking Friends

M'ete'er Amish Khichuri- Lamb Kaleji/Liver Khichari

We anticipate each weekend so to unwind our self little bit during that period; And who does not, right? So, many plans are chalked out for the outings, get together etc, which we will be perhaps doing during a particular weekend. And then when finally you reach that end, everything goes kaput with severe weather conditions and rain lashing all over,disappointment strikes hard. This weekend it was rainy, cold and gray most of the time and coming to think of it, it doesn't put a nice picture unless one is tuned to the weather, which over a period of time we do have become, but a warm sunny day is far better than gray,cold and rainy day.”Rain –Rain go away, come another day” is all that is now playing in my mind.

Anyhow whenever gray weather retorts to our vicinity, we like to make warm and comforting one pot meals to slightly jazz up our rather mundane day. And this maete’r Amish khichuri- liver khichari  was perfect way to warm up our rather cold,rainy and gray afternoon that day.

Lamb liver or chicken liver or mutton liver is one nice addition in this khichuri recipe and also is a great source of iron . Although we know khichuri ranna is a "niramish" affair, but whenever we tend to add onions and garlic the equation do get changed. And even more change is observed when one tends to make it with meat/mutton or chicken.

Lamb liver or mutton liver ,needs little extra time to cook as compared to chicken liver; whatever is available,it can be used in this recipe.Many a times I do like to add cooked chicken pieces as well. Now over these years I am little skeptical of eating lamb meat here in abroad, but someday will definitely try cooking "Amish khichuri" with lamb meat, for the time being its lamb liver khichuri or M’aete’r Amish khichuri for all of you.

M'eate ‘r Amish khichuri- Lamb Liver Khichuri 

Recipe requirements (Serves 3-4)

• ¾ cup of mong dal
• ¼ cup of rice
• 1 tomato
• 1 cup of frozen green peas
• 2 tsp of grated ginger
• For seasoning and phoron/tempering
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp of red pepper powder
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 3 cloves
• Few strands of mace
• 2 cardamoms
• 2 star anise
• 2-3 tej patta or bay leaf
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• 2-3 dry red pepper
• 3-4 tbs of mustad oil
• For the preparation of kaleji/m’aete/liver
• About 200 Gms of kaleji/liver/m’aete-mutton or lamb or chicken liver whichever is available
• 1 purple onion chopped finely
• 2-3 garlics finely chopped
• 2 tsp of grated ginger
• 1 tomato
• 1 tsp of red pepper powder
• ½ tsp of turmeric powder
• ¾ tsp of salt
• 2 tsp of coriander powder
• 1 tsp of cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
• 1/2 tsp of garam masala
•  2 -3 tbs of Mustard oil
•  2 tbs of ghee at the time of serving

Method

• Put a saucepan on medium heat, fry mong dal for 5-6 mints or till they turn golden to light brown in colour. Wash them well in water. Wash and soak the rice in water.
• Add about 4-5 large cups of water in a big cooking pot/dekchi/handi/or big flat bottom saucepan. Add in bhaja mong dal. Let it come to a boil; discard the white froth forming now. Let it simmer at medium flame/gas/hob mark 6 or 7.Add in rice half way through. Personally I tend to add just after 5-6 mints mong dal is cooked.
• Now add in turmeric powder, red pepper powder, salt and sugar. Let it cook at medium flame for 7- 8 mints.
• Meanwhile we will prepare the lamb/mutton or chicken  kaleji/liver/m'aete.
• Heat up a saucepan, add in mustard oil, and temper/phoron  it with chopped onions, ginger and garlic. Add in chopped tomato- add in turmeric powder, red pepper powder, cumin powder and coriander powder,cardamom powder, garam masala and salt.Add in liver pieces.
• Let it cook covered for 7-8 mints or the liver has just turned soft, overcooking liver may turn it out rubbery, so check in between.
• Now to temper/phoron the khichuri/khichdi.
• In a heated saucepan, add in mustard oil, 1 tsp of cumin seeds,dry red pepper, tej patta, cloves, mace, cardamom,star anise and grated ginger. Fry them at medium-high flame for 3-4 mints. Now add in chopped tomato. Cook till tomatoes turn mash able and oil coming out by sides.
• Add this tempering to the simmering pot of khichuri.Add in frozen green peas.
• Cover it and let it cook further for 8-10 mints. Check if the dal-rice can be mashed well by taking few tsp of khichuri in a bowl. Stop the flame and let it remain covered. Adjust the seasoning by tasting, if required salt or sugar then add in now.
• Now if you like little runny khichuri or with gravy,then you may like to add in lukewarm 1 or 2 cups of water also.
• Many a times I do like to add in half cut potatoes in to the pot of simmering khichuri, this way they turn out soft and then take them out and mash it well with ghee and red chilly flakes or green chilies.This way, our side-dish is ready as well.
• Add cooked m'aete/liver to the cooked khichuri and mix well. Keep it covered and let it simmer for 3-4 mints.Serve and enjoy.

.
Note-Vegetarians can use cauliflower and green peas or sweet corn.And many times I do tend to add in cooked chicken pieces as well.If you like lamb meat, then cooked lamb meat can also added in place of lamb liver or chicken liver pieces.

Happy Cooking 

Bajra/Millet flour-Spring Onion Paratha, Mete'r Jhal(Goat Liver Spicy Preparation), Aloo Phulkopi Koraishutir Torkari( Aloo/Gobhi/Matar Ki Sabzi) and Boondi Raita

Last week we were relishing this South Indian Platter. Now it’s time to head towards northern part of India.
This is a mixed platter – aloo gobhi ki sabzi  or aloo phulkopr torkari in Bengali, and Met'er jhal or Spicy goat liver preparation accompanied by bajra da paratha- Millet Flour paratha with green spring onions and last but not the least is boondi raita.A complete satisfying meal in itself.
So let’s hop on to this delectable platter.




Aloo- gobhi ki sabzi - Aloo phulkopir Torkari – one quintessential Bengali preparation with cauliflower. This is the niramish way of preparing the phulkopir torkari with ginger and cumin tempering.

Aloo- Gobhi matar Ki sabzi- Aloo Phulkopi koraishuti'r torkari - Potato /cauliflowers stir/fry

Recipe requirements (serves3-4)
 Half portion cauliflower head
 2 medium size potatoes
1 cup of fresh green peas
1 inch ginger root
Seasonings
1 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp of hot red pepper powder
4 tsp of dhania/coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
 ½ tsp of cumin seeds
2-3 bay leaves
1 large juicy tomato
Salt as per taste
3-4 tbs of cooking oil
Method
Take out the green peas from fresh pods.This time my daughter also helped me, de-shelling green peas.

Take out small cauliflower florets from the dense middle part with the help of your hand. Wash them in water and make them dry with the help of kitchen towel, otherwise small florets will splutter oil while frying.
Now chop potatoes in cubes- in Bengali we call it chop like”dumo-dumo”.
Grate the ginger with the help of mandolin/kadokus.
Heat up a saucepan, add cooking oil, and temper it with cumin seeds and bay leaf. Add in grated ginger.
Now add in potato and cauliflower florets. Keep on frying them for 4-5 mints at med- high flame.
Now add in all the dry moshla- turmeric powder, red pepper powder, coriander-cumin powder and salt.
Sprinkle little bit of water so that the moshla/dry masala don’t get burnt.
Add in finely chopped tomato.Add in fresh green peas. Put the flame to medium and keep on frying the masala.
Soon you will see vegetables’ releasing water and the masala/moshla is evenly coated all over the chopped vegetable.
Cover the saucepan and put the flame to low-med. Keep on cooking further 6-7 mints or till the potatoes and cauliflower is cooked but hasn’t turn soggy.
At the time of taking it off, sprinkle freshly churned garam masala ( please find recipe below ) and ghee and sprinkle little bit of sugar.

Mete’r Jhal (Goat liver stir/fry- a spicy preparation)
Recipe requirements (serves- 3-4 people) another recipe- Mutton Liver Preparation
About 250 Gms of goat liver
2 medium size white onions
3 fat clove of garlic
2 tsp of grated ginger
1 medium size tomato
Seasoning
½ tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of red pepper powder
3-4 green chilies
2 tsp of coriander powder
Fresh garam masala
Salt as per taste
3-4 tbs of cooking oil
Method
Wash the goat liver well in water. Drain the water as much you can from the liver pieces.
Now heat up a saucepan, add cooking oil, and temper it with cumin seeds.
Add in chopped garlic, grated ginger and onions. Keep the frying for 4 mints or till the rawness is gone.
Add in the liver pieces. Add in all dry masala powder- turmeric powder, red pepper powder, coriander powder and salt. Sprinkle little bit of water.
Prepare the garam masala- dry roast – 2 cardamoms, 3 cloves, half inch cinnamon and 1 large black cardamom over iron skillet, when they start becoming slightly brown. Take them off from the flame and with the help of the roller, crush them coarsely. Reserve this to add at the end.
Now add in chopped tomato. Cover the pan and cook the liver with all the masala for about 8-10 mints roughly.No need o add water, as the juice will come out from tomato and onions.
Now add in freshly prepared garam masala.Cover the pan and let the liver absorb the flavor.

Bajra/Millet flour and spring onion paratha
Recipe requirements
2 cups of whole wheat flour/atta
1 large cup of bajra/millet flour
½ tsp of salt
2 tbs of buttermilk (not mandatory)
2 tsp of kitchen king masala
Pinch of hing ( asfoetida)
½ tsp of red pepper powder
2 cups of chopped spring onions
Method
Mix in all the dry ingredients- bajra flour, whole wheat flour, red pepper powder, salt, kitchen king masala, hing.Make a well in the centre, add in buttermilk or use plain water as per requirements.
Knead well all the above into dough. Now divide the dough into small portions.
Generously put/sprinkle flour on the working area, now start rolling the small portions into small disc to large disc shape, in between sprinkling generous amount of flour.Bajra dough tends to become soft easily , so it's essential to sprinkle generous amount of flour while rolling the dough.
Put the iron skillet to heat, now place the rolled disc over the iron skillet, and toast them well both the sides.
Smear 1 tsp of cooking oil and little bit more on both the sides. Keep on pressing with spatula to cook the paratha evenly.
Serve along with aloo-gobhi sabzi and liver spicy stir/fry.

Boondi Raita
Recipe requirements
1 cup of ready-made boondi
2 cups of Greek yogurt
½ cup of water (just to dilute the thick yogurt)
1 tsp of cumin powder
½ tsp of red pepper powder
½ tsp of salt
chopped coriander leaves (optional)
Method
Mix the entire above very well and keep refridgerated. Serve chilled along with the North-Indian platter.

Sending above picture to Susan's,  Black and White Wednesday , guest hosted at Divine Food and Art.

And to  Cooking With Whole Grains, guest hosted here on Spice and Curry, initiated by Priya's Versatile Recipes.

Sending this across to Jagruti's Know Your Flour Series- Millet, guest hosted by Torview.

and to Cooking With Seeds( CWS) an event by Priya's Versatile Recipe ,this month theme is-  Rye-Millet and guest hosted at Briciole.

Happy Cooking Friends