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.

Dal-Saag (Lentils cooked with Amaranth leaves)

There are days when, I can only think of comfort foods and dal –roti is one such recipe which never gets ruled out and we never get bored out of it either. Dal- saag is adding up more greens to those ‘’everyday dal recipes’’. I have used up green amaranth leaves with chana dal+ masoor dal. Many use spinach , some even use beetroot greens. Choose whatever you wish to, bottom line is, this is a great way of incorporating greens in one’s diet-plan.

This is how we make Dal-saag – our comfort food.

Dal-Saag (Lentils cooked with Amaranth leaves)

Recipe requirements

•  2 cups of chana dal ( Yellow split pea lentil)
• ¼ cup of masoor dal ( orange lentil ) 
• 1 bunch of amaranth leaves or 800 gm of amaranth leaves -stems discarded

For tempering and seasonings

• ½ tsp. of turmeric powder
•  1 tsp of red pepper powder
•  1 tsp of coriander powder
• ¼ tsp of cumin powder
•  1 tsp of salt or as per taste
• 1/2  tsp of sugar
• 3-4 dry red chillies
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• 2-3 fat cloves of garlic
• 1 medium size tomato
• Pinch of hing
• 4-5 tbs of mustard oil
• 2 tsp of ghee

Method

• Soak chana and masoor dal for about 2-3 hrs in a vessel with water.
• Put cleaned dals in pressure cooker.Add in 2-3 cups of water.Let it come to one boil, Remove /skim off the white foam that is forming now. Close the pressure cooker, by securing the lid with whistle.
• Now pressure cook both dals together for 2 whistles with ample water. Let the pressure subside and then open the lid. Add more water if it turns out semi- dry. Add in turmeric powder, red pepper powder, salt and sugar. Mix well and keep aside.
• Now heat up a fry pan, add in mustard oil. Let it come to smoking point.Now do the Tarka/tempering.
• Add in cumin seeds, dry red chillies and hing. Add in chopped garlic and tomato. Add dry spices- coriander+cumin powder.
• Stir/fry all for about 3-4 mints at med-high flame or till oil separates out.
• Clean Amaranth leaves in water.Take out tender shoots and healthy looking leaves from the bunch, discard stems..
• Blanch amaranth leaves separately. Add the leaves to the cooked dals ( Lentils). Let it simmer for about 8-10 mints.
• Add the tempering/tarka to the above cooked dals with greens.
• Let it slowly simmer for about 4-5 mints. Add ghee at the end. Serve and enjoy with roti or rice whatever way you prefer.

Tip- You can add in some toasted cashews to the above dal or Paneer cubes as well.

Happy Cooking and have a great week ahead.....

Ranga Aloor Pantua- রাঙ্গা আলুর পান্তুয়া and Happy Makar Sankranti

A new year 2017 and I am here, with my first blog post of the year. Hope you all had fantastic New Year celebrations.

We visited our home city Kolkata during these holiday break. And that requires a separate post I reserve for some other day.

I will share a dessert recipe to start off New Year blog post-‘ Ranga aloor pantua ‘- sweet potato dessert, is one such traditional Bengali sweet recipe. I have blogged about the recipe way back in past as well. Here- back in 2009 . This post is however a recipe which is re-visited and with couple of additions. 
This recipe is simple, as it doesn’t have coconut stuffing which makes it similar to ‘Ranga Aloor Pithe’. Since we are observing ‘Poush-Parbon’ these couple of days, I thought it would be appropriate to write about Ranga Aloor Pantua- pantua as like Gulab Jamuns in Hindi.

Sankranti celebration is a big affair in every Bengali home- some, even extending it to 3 –days celebrations. Each day is marked with various types of Puley/pithe being made. I have blogged many recipes for Sankranti …
This archived blog-post has all those traditional recipes which one can make during these period.

To the recipe

Ranga Aloor Pantua- Sweet Potato Gulab Jamun- রাঙ্গা  আলুর পান্তুয়া 

Recipe requirements

10-12 purple sweet potato

¼ cup of plain flour

2 pinch of baking soda

1 and ½ tsp of cinnamon powder

3 cups of granulated sugar

2 cups of water

½ tsp of cardamom powder

Cooking oil for deep fry 

Method

• Put a large saucepan with water and sugar on cooking.Add in cardamom powder. The water content should be reduced to half and the syrup will be slightly thick like to coat well the pantuas = gulab Jamuns.
• Now pressure cook sweet potatoes. Take out , peel off the skin and let it cool a bit , so that you can work it through but don’t let it go cold otherwise it will be hard to mash up well.It would be nice if the mixture is lump free and smooth.
• Now in a big mixing bowl, take the sweet potato pulp/mash, add in cinnamon powder.
• Now mix in plain flour and pinches of baking soda, add flour to above mashed sweet potatoes, mixing in very well. Make small balls out of the dough.Be gentle in shaping these balls.
• Put a heavy bottomed pan/kadai or deep frying pan to flames. Add in cooking oil, enough to deep fry these cute small balls.
• Deep fry them for about 5-7 mints at medium-low flames or till they turn into nice brown in colour. Do not hurry this process otherwise they won’t cook well.
• Transfer them all over kitchen towels, so that they absorb extra oil.
• Now dunk them in sugar syrup and let the sugar syrup simmer slowly at low flame for couple of more minutes. Switch off the flame and cover.

Let it rest for about an hour. Serve and enjoy these delicious pantuas.

Some more Sankranti recipes

Till and Badam ki Mithai

Choshir payesh-on-sankranti

Dudh- Puli pithe

Again wish you all a very Happy  Makar Sankranti, Lohri, Pongal and Bihu.

Happy Cooking 

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

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

Chayote Diye Cholar Dal- Chayote cooked with Chana dal /Yellow Lentil

Days are getting longer and we now have the liberty of some extra bright hours, so that we can do some other pending activities. There was always a feeling of hurry or rush to go back home, finish doing daily chores as early as it was possible and then curl up inside our comfy warm bed and cover up ourselves with blankets, as it was most of the time during winter season. But here comes spring season , and brings with it ,nice sun-shine intermittently with  little warmer periods and of course long day hours , voila people now have some time to do things which they have been putting up on pending daily chores list.

I don’t know, what makes me happier, seeing the hand-washed clothes drying up on drying lines or their lavender fresh fragrance waft through inside our living room in the back-drop of sun rays streaming through windows. Spring season is perhaps time to say – hey! Come on life is calling on you, go live your life the way you want it to be.

This recipe that I am now going to write is about a kind of "squash" not technically appropriate but it belongs to the same family and is a fruit.I recently started using this fruit in many ways. Chayote/ or Mirliton- Creole/Cajun cuisine or Chow-Chow in Tamil Nadu  / Sayongte- in Thai food  / or Labu Siam- in Indonesian cuisine , etc   is a small wonder fruit, add it in simple stir/fry recipes or in dal and they turn out soft and flavorful. They do really resemble quite like bottle gourd/Lauki/Lao, as they tend to go soft after being cooked.However I am not sure if they can be eaten raw as in salads or not.

Here is a dal-lentil recipe with chayote and cholar dal. Actually made this dal for dinner, but I guess it can very well be paired with warm cooked rice and with any bhaja – like begun bhaja or aloo bhaja.

Now to the recipe

Chayote diye Cholar dal- Chana Dal cooked with Chayote

Recipe requirements

• About a 1 and half cup of cholar dal/chana dal
• 1 chayote squash
• ½ cup of frozen green peas (optional)
• Seasonings
• ¾ tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• ¼ tsp of red pepper powder
• 3-4 green chilies
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds or panch phoron
• 2 tej patta or bay leaves

Method

• Wash and clean the lentils in several changes of water.Cut open the chayote into half, take out the stone and then make cube pieces out of it.
• Now you can pressure cook lentils for 2-3 whistles or cook slowly simmering over a pot. Due to time crunch I always do pressure cook the lentils. Put the lentils in pressure cooker; add enough water to wholly submerge the lentils. Put the lentils on a quick boil at high flame; discard any white forth if formed. Now lock the lid and then put it to pressure cook. After 3- 4 whistles or one whistle at high and then put it to simmer slowly for 15-20 mints. Open the lid when pressure subsides; add about a cup of water if it has turned sticky or mushy.
• Now prepare the tempering part
• Heat up a saucepan; add in cooking oil, temper – phoron -it with cumin seeds,tej patta and green chillies. Now add in cubed pieces of Chayote and fry well. Cover it with lid. After 5-7 mints Chayote will cook and will tend to go soft. Now transfer this phoron to the cooked dal.Let it simmers slowly for about 7-10 mints at medium flame or until all is well incorporated.If you wish to add frozen green peas then add in at this time while it’s being slowly simmering.

This recipe is quite similar to Lao diye moong dal – bottle gourd cooked with moong lentils, except this time the dal is cholar dal and is with Chayote- a squash easily available here in abroad.And tell me how you like to make chayote.

Happy Cooking Friends

Vegetarian Dhanshak - A Parsi Dal with vegetables

It never occurred to me that someday I would be cooking up “dhanshak” in my kitchen, but then life is as such –“unpredictable”. I was watching  this YouTube video, which has nothing to do with cooking, so when the lead actress- a Parsi girl by herself, showed her “lunch dabba –Tiffin” it had dhanshak and rice. Since then, my mind was pushing me hard to cook dhanshak with whatever ingredients I had in my pantry. But I waited, waited till I got this ready-made dhanshak masala powder packet in Indian grocery super-market here in UK.Now, imagine a Bengali woman cooking up a Parsi recipe and that too in a "phoren" land, globalization has introduced many new features in to our home, and with it many new “zara hat ke” recipes.

But, somehow I felt a strong urge to pen it down , type it down, as this was quite a surprise for me. And I didn’t want to loose any account of it or wake up someday and realize that I have completely forgotten about dhanshak recipe, the one I cooked, so a hurried post that you see now. I felt like if I read it some three years down from now on and try to recall what was going on my mind while cooking up dhanshak, it should sense all genuine, what ingredients were missing, what should have been part of cooking dhanshak recipe or how it was received at the dinner table by my folks. You know in-depth analysis of everything, but then you may ask why I should bog you down with my ramblings. I think ramblings are eternal part of any recipe that is being cooked up in any kitchen I guess. That says “adda” and Bengali two inseparable entities, what goes in a Parsi home that is not known to me as I have no Parsi friends over here, oye! I don’t even have any in India as well. My sole source of hope was the internet, and with so many recipes out in net, I could not just decide, the correct way of cooking up traditional dhanshak recipe; it all looked very hotched-potched to me like cobwebs, but even cobwebs have some patterns.

So, I took the “traditional cook “part out of the cooking board and made her sleep for a while, and meanwhile the “experimental cook” took the baton and proceeded for the time being. I happen to zeroed down these two – one is authentic as it sounds as it comes from another Bengali who is married to a Parsi Mamas Dal at Finely Chopped and another is a name one can reckon with – Khana-Khazana-Dhanshak recipe…with these two recipes as my guide in this unknown territory that I was about to venture out, in a deep ocean and I was left dabbling, trying to paddle up before it’s too late.

Whatever, my introduction to Parsi cuisine or for that matter Parsi Culture and nice people, was only through Bollywood movies or may be up to an extent Freddie Mercury-Queen fame or Zubin Mehta.Yes, you read it right; a faint image comes to my mind whenever I try to capture a Parsi way of life- Pearl Padamasee –“Nargis”making a cup of tea for her onscreen husband Ashok Kumar –“Homi” and then the brewing tussle between their children. Khatta_Meetha_(1978_film)” was epic- Who needs Oscars anyway, just dig into old archive of Bollywood movies, there are many such decent stories. See even the name of Bollywood movie has something to do with eating- “khatta” means sour, “mitha” means sweet .When they sang "Thoda hai Thodi Ki Zaroorat Hai".. 

I thought, that is how one’s life should be, but for every people that “thoda part” is different. you know for some “thoda means—“thoda!!" and for some this thoda means - "thoda!!"…..

Isn’t it same for the red pepper powder or salt in our day-today cooking—my "thoda" can be little different from your "thoda" or vice versa…

If a Parsi bhai/bahan is reading this recipe, then please do not judge on the grounds of recipes or cooking styles that you all are familiar with or might have seen your mother or grandmother cooking up. This Bengali lady is trying to capitalize the ingredients that are now readily available near her neck of the woods for that matter and believe her when she says she adores dal/chawal, that includes dearly dhanshak as well. Now somebody would even question the significance of dhanshak in a Bengali kitchen. But this is not Navroz/Nowruz as the Parsi New Year I guess has still some time- may be in the month of March but official holiday as I happen to check is in the month of August.

Anyhow,if you really care to know,then traditional dhanshak as customary is served in funeral get-to gathers.

But please, as I said I have put the traditional cook to sleep and the experimental cook has taken over, and this recipe is what my folks liked. Although I would welcome all suggestions to improve this recipe and constructive criticism is always welcome but be kind to it .I know you all will be.

Now to the vegetarian dhanshak recipe made in our apartment kitchen

Dhanshak- Vegetarian way 

Recipe requirements

• 1 cup of masoor dal/pink lentils or red lentils 
• ½ cup of toor dal/arhar ki dal/yellow split pigeon pea lentil 
• 1 small brinjal/eggplant/aubergine
• 2 cups of pumpkin cube pieces-1*1 inch cubes
• ½ cup of bottle gourd pieces or any squash-1*1 inch cubes
• Roughly about ½ cup of fenugreek leaves 
• 1 medium size potato
• 1 medium size onion
• 1 inch ginger root
• 3-4 fat clove garlics
• 2 tsp of red pepper powder(adjust heat as per personal preference)
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• 3 -4 tsp dhanshak masala
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 3-4 tbs of mustard oil or any cooking oil
• 2 tsp of ghee

Method

• Wash and clean the dals/lentils - masoor, toor dal and then soak them in water for about 1hr.Clean the dals/lentils well in several changes of water. Many times other dal/lentils are also used in addition to toor dal.But Toor dal or arhar ki dal as we know it by common name is the base lentil for dhanshak and in addition to this masoor dal is also used.
• Now add in ample water in a pressure cooker, to fully submerge the lentils and at least up to the mark up three fingers up the level for lentils. Now add in all the chopped vegetables- pumpkin, brinjal, bottle gourd, potatoes etc .Check the water level if it’s still above three finger mark, if not then add in about 2 cups of water. When I say cups- I mean tea cups, not large coffee mugs.
• Secure the lid and pressure cook it for two-three whistles. Now let the pressure subside.
• Meanwhile we will prepare the tadka/phoron/tempering
• Heat up a fry pan, add in cooking oil, and add in finely chopped onions, ginger and garlic. Many times I do grate them with the help of mandolin.
• Now fry them well for about 5-7 mints or till the rawness of onion, ginger and garlic fades away.
• Add in finely chopped fenugreek leaves and tomatoes now.
• Adjust with seasonings- turmeric powder, red pepper powder, salt, sugar and dhanshak masala.I always use ready-made dhanshak masala powder available here. Although if you can, then go ahead with the basic masala for dhanshak recipe. I use Mangal brand dhanshak masala.
• Add this fried masala with the cooked dal.Actually before adding the fried masala, check if the cooked dal needs to be made little thin, as with all the vegetables and lentils and that too pressure cooked, turns it very thick. Add enough water to make normal gravy like consistency, and then add the above fried dhanshak masala.Add in finely chopped coriander leaves as well. Adjust salt and sugar if required.
• Let it simmer for 5-7 mints or till the entire things gets well mixed up. Add in ghee. Actually dhanshak without ghee is unimaginable.
• This is the very basic way of making vegetarian dhanshak, but dhanshak with meat is the traditional way of preparing Parsi dhanshak .You may add in small cube size pieces of mutton, when frying onion, ginger and garlic and let it cook with the dhanshak masala.Then transfer this cooked mutton with all the fried dhanshak masala to the lvegetables, lentils and pressure cook it for three-four whistles.

This entire process can alternately be done on a slow-cooker.

Note

The dhanshak recipes that are served in many restaurants here in abroad, add many other unnecessary things like –pineapple, spinach etc.Now I am not sure if traditional dhanshak recipe calls for it. However when ever I made it , I always skip these fruits and vegetables- basic vegetables as to my knowledge,that goes in to dhanshak recipe are- pumpkin/butter nut squash, brinjal, fenugreek leaves, bottle gourd and sometimes potatoes as this add up to the volume of gravy. The lentils that go in to making this dal are toor dal/arhar ki dal and masoor dal.And a compulsory accompaniment is Brown rice, if you like eating it. 

For more reference of Dhanshak - 

Mamas Dal at Finely Chopped ...

Khana-Khazana-Dhanshak recipe...

Happy Cooking Friends

Kanch Kolar Kofta Curry- Green Bananas Kofta Curry

Last time when I was doing the vegetable grocery, I had purchased some green bananas as well.Usually we make a simple"patla jhol"- recipe with green bananas and few chunks of brinjal and potato thrown in , sometimes even ridge gourd/jhinge or add green bananas in charchari and Shukto.But past couple of months we have been wishing to make kanch kolar kofta curry.And it has never occurred to me that this recipe has not been part of the blog so far, until I clicked at the recipe box,although have made kanch kolar kofta curry many times but surprisingly never mentioned it here.So, this time I made sure to click pictures and write recipe before I forget again.

I don’t have to re-iterate the benefits of green vegetables, everybody these days are aware about it.Steamed and boiled green bananas mashed with some green chillies and mustard oil; tastes absolutely tasty with warm cooked rice.Some even make a very delectable kosha bata- like here at Cooking and Recipes and here at Bongmom Cookbook....

Koftas in general are like many other introductions to Bengali cuisine due to the influence of Mughals in the region.And I think, many other recipes of koftas are quite staple in many Bengali homes, like this lao-kofta curry, which is another frequent in our home.Non –vegetarian keema kofta curry is another preparation with minced chicken or meat.Although we as family, don’t eat red meat any more, so most of the time keema kofta curry that we make is only of chicken mince.

Anyhow this post is about a vegetarian recipe for "green bananas koftas" and believe me this preparation is also a crowd puller in case you are struggling to fix a menu for your vegetarian friends.

Now to the recipe

Kanch Kolar Kofta Curry

Recipe requirements

*For the koftas-vegetarian fried balls*

• 4-5 green bananas
• 2 medium size potatoes
• 3-4 heaped tbs of besan/gram flour
• 1 tsp of freshly churned cumin powder or you may use home-made masala powder , recipe listed below
• ½ tsp of garam masala
• Salt as per taste -I added 1/2 tsp of salt

*For the wet masala paste to be used in as base for gravy*

• 2 medium size purple onions
• 4-5 fat garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger roots
• 1 medium size tomato or 7-8 cherry tomatoes

Grind all the above with about a 2-3 tbs of water and 1 tbs of mustard oil

*For Tempering/phoron*

• 2-3 tej patta
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 crushed cardamom
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 3-4 tbs of mustard oil
• about half cup of oil to deep fry the koftas

Seasonings for the gravy

• 2 tsp of red pepper powder(adjust heat as per personal preference)
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• 3-4 tsp of freshly prepared masala powder
• 1 tsp of salt for the gravy

Now the recipe for freshly prepared masala powder

• 3-4 tbs of coriander seeds
• 3-4 whole dry red pepper
• 2 tbs of cumin seeds
• 1 tbs of fennel
• 1tsp of fenugreek
• 2-3 cardamom
• 2 black cardamom
• 2-3 cinnamon

#Roast above whole seeds  for couple of mints and then dry grind them very finely. Use this as base masala for other vegetable based gravy if you have left-over.#

Method

• First make all the masala powder necessary to make kanch kolar kofta curry/green banana fried balls in gravy.
• Toast some cumin seeds separately and then grind them finely. Reserve this to be used in fried vegetable balls.
• Then roast –4 tbs of coriander,1 tbs of fennel,1 tsp of fenugreek, 2 tbs of cumin,4-5 dry red pepper,3 cardamom, 2 cinnamon and 1 black cardamom for 2-3 mints at med flame. Then dry grind those in mixer or wet grind them over sheel/nora-shil/batta.But if you wet grind them over shil-nora then reserve it in fridge with some oil added so that next time you may use this left-over paste.Use within 2-3 days of storage.Generally I always dry grind them and store in air-tight containers.
• There will be left-over of this freshly prepared masala, reserve in air tight containers to be used later on.

• Now to making of koftas-
• Wash green bananas. Put to pressure cook them or boil them along with potatoes. One whistle and then take it off. Let it cool off properly, and open the lid. Take out boiled green bananas and potataoes. Take off the skin and add the freshly prepared cumin powder and 2-3 tsp of home-made masala powder..
• Add in besan/gram flour and mash the boiled green bananas and potatoes well with the seasonings-cumin powder+fresh masala powder, mentioned. 
• Now divide this into small portions to be made into round balls, roll them round with the help of your palms. P.S.- many times these small balls are dipped in to besan batter and then deep fried. I generally don’t do that.
• Now heat up a fry pan, add in mustard oil. Let it heat up properly, add in 2-3 small balls at a time and deep fry them. Keep on doing the same and fry rest of the small balls/koftas
• If the oil is left, use it for making the gravy, add in little bit of more cooking oil if required.
• Add in tej patta, and sugar, let the sugar melt and caramelize for about a mint or two.
• Add in cloves and crushed cardamom.
• Add in the freshly made wet masala paste now. Keep on stir /fry it. Add in dry seasonings- red pepper powder, turmeric powder, salt and home-made fresh powder. Add in finely chopped tomato and splash bit of water. Keep on stir/fry for 4-5 mints at med-high flame. Then splash more water as it will tend to go dry. If you see some oil coming out by sides, then the masala is ready , otherwise keep on stir/fry till the masala paste turns somewhat dark in colour.The entire stir/fry process will take about 10-14 mints at medium flame.
• Add in 3-4 cups of water now. Cover and let it simmer for 8-10 mints. At the last phase of making the gravy add in fried vegetable balls/kanch kola kofta now and cover. Let it cook for a minute or two. Do not over cook them they will tend to break and go soggy. Take off and let it rest.Don't forget to add about 1tsp of ghee and 1/2 tsp of garam masala at the end if you need more flavour, I don't add them these days any more.
•  At the time of serving garnish with cream, ginger julienne  and coriander leaves. Koftas tends to soak up gravy way too fast, so add ample water at the time of making the gravy. Anyhow mine always turns little bit ‘makho-makho” which we tend to like more than runny gravy for kanch kolar kofta curry.

Note

If you are not into making as such fresh home powders for the kofta curry, then any regular spice packet powders can also be used. But believe me the key to a favorable kanch kolar kofta curry is the freshly churned spices in home, no matter how much time it requires to grind them all , but it's all worth it at the end.

Happy Cooking Friends

Dudh Puli Pithe and it snowed

When I started cooking as an everyday cook, I know that’s a long story, won’t go into details, there are many setbacks to discuss here, but keeping in mind the determination, I never gave up even if I failed in making-um cooking many things. Oh! And failures do make us realize that we are human after all not machine.

Anyhow, I have seen how earnestly my Ma would be making various puli pithe during poush Sankranti and some times even after it was way over, even though she has spent her entire life being a “probashi Bengali”. After my marriage, I even noticed in my shashur-bari, how earnestly my Ma-in-law, a WB born and brought up lady would be preparing her menu plans for these 4-5 days, starting from payesh and ending on various puli pithe, malpua, shoro chakhli etc. One thing which is common at both the end is the urge to keep traditions alive and to pass it on to next generations.

Now to be honest I can sustain without these high calorie sweet things and this goes alike with my DD and DH.But since it’s about keeping the traditions alive and trying to connect with ones roots, here I am in a foreign land making all these puli and pithe during Poush-Parbon.Prior to Poush Sankranti , may be two days ago, my ma-in-law told me to make some sweets-payesh, bhaja pithe and savoury shoro chakhli , for she also gave me a rough estimate and recipe procedure for making them.

I thought perhaps may be, we picked up where we last dropped it ,and the very next day I was into making payesh, dudh puli, bhaja pithe and patishapta.I have never made dudh puli myself, this is the first time that I have to don the cap. I was bit nervous and excited both, and I am bound to feel that, but I felt satisfied that somehow I was able to pull it off well. Seeing and sensing the satisfied faces at the dinning table, my enthusiasm was revived and then I also soaked some mong dal and brown rice to make shoro chakhli, and then next day on poush Sankranti, wet grinded them and made shoro chakhli for dinner.

Shoro chakhli as you know all is quite similar with pessarattu as both are made with mong dal - whole/green ones and the yellow ones both and also don’t require fermentation time. One can grind them,mix the batter and start making shoro chakhli straight ahead just like dosa.I have used brown rice this time instead of plain rice or basmati rice.

Here is bhaja pithe and shoro chakhli.How to make shoro chakhli, here is the recipe......

Then there were some patishapta and bhaja pithe to get along with it as well.

Dudh puli or the rice flour dumpling cooked in milk , is a very de-glamorized sweet, plain thickened milk and rice flour Mexican empanadas sorry I mean sheddo puli dunked into it, but one bite into it, and all the flavors of cooked coconut-noton gur/jaggery-rice-thickened milk gets bursting in.Add in saffron to the thickened milk, and  it elevates the flavor two step upwards.

Here is how we made puli pithe- one batch, I deep fried them and stored in air tight containers to be relished with it’s own pace and the other batch I happened to steam cook them to make dudh puli with it.

now to the recipe

Dudh puli pithe- Rice flour dumplings in milk

Recipe requirements

For the dough to make shells

• 1 cup of rice flour
• ¼ cup of all purpose flour/Maida
• ¼ cup of fine semolina
• Two pinch of baking soda
• ½ tsp of fennel seeds
• ½ tsp of sugar

For the filling/pur

• 2 cups of coconut- fresh or desiccated coconut
• Gur/jaggery – about 60 -80 gm or as per taste 

For the dudh- milk

• 4-5 cups of whole milks
• Few strands of saffron
• ½ tsp of cardamom powder

Method

• In a microwave safe bowl- add in about a cup of water and the jaggery pieces.
• Cook in microwave at full power for 2 mints.Take out and mix well with a spoon. Repeat till all the jaggery is dissolved and you get liquid jaggery.You can even use liquid notun gur/jaggery or sugar what ever is available to you.
• Now add in fresh scarped coconut or desiccated coconut. Put the entire content again in microwave and cook at full power for 2 mints. Take out and mix well with a spoon.repeat this 3- 4 times till the mixture becomes somewhat semi-dry. Add in 2 tsp of ghee to this and again put into microwave for 1 mint. When the gur/jaggery mixture starts collecting well and has become somewhat dry, stop microwaving. You can even do this on stove-top, I found working in microwave is easy and less time consuming.
• Now warm up a cup of water. Mix the dry ingredients- rice flour, flour/Maida, semolina/sooji.Add in pinch of baking soda. Add in fennel seeds. And knead the dry mixture ingredients into semi soft dough with the lukewarm water and splash of cooking oil.This time though I skipped oil all together.
• Divide the dough into equal portions or small balls.this much will yield 14-16 puli pithe approx. Cover with a damp cloth so that it doesn't get dry. Roll each ball slightly with the help of rolling pin to about a 6-7 cm disc just like you will roll luchi with some oil...Be careful and do this with gentle hands as the dough is soft, it may rupture.I happen to deep fry half batch and rest of them were steam cooked.
• Now scoop a tbs of coconut-jaggery mixture or the “narkol pak “-in between and fold the sides to seal it well. Now be creative and make different shapes if you wish to do so. I have made them like Chandrapuli /crescent shape just like gujiya or pyarki.
• Steam and cook them for about 15- 20 mints. I have done a post on how to make sheddo puli.At that time made it with grounded rice but luckily this time though had fresh supply of rice flour so that made great change to the texture of the shell for puli pithe.
• Meanwhile put 4-5 cups of whole milk to boil. Reduce the flame and let it simmer till it reduces to half or becomes little bit thick, but not thick as in khoya.Add in ½ tsp of cardamom powder and few saffron strands.
• Transfer the steamed/sheddo puli to this thick milk. Cook further 2-3 mints. Stop the cooking and let it covered. Let puli pithe rest in the thickened milk and absorb the flavor of saffron and cardamom for about 1-2 hr. Dudh puli is ready.
• If you wish you many even chill and refrigerate or relish it straight now. But trust me the next day, the flavor is enhanced and puli is much softer. I don’t get noton gur/nolen gur/khejur gur here easily. That was the last stock I had, and in case you can find Sri Lankan Palm jaggery –that tastes quite similar to noton gur if I am not wrong.

Other poush parbon recipes

Noton Gur'er Payesh

Patishapta

sheddo puli 

And here are some of the snow pictures…

We were out in snow........

Snow art in the car park- the zig-zag cuts made by cars while steering along in the car park.

"Har ek dali, har-ek patta,

Barf se gili, har-ek zarra,

Kuch dhowan, kuch khawab

Kuch hosh, aur Kuch madhoshi

Aur hai ek lamhe ka tahrav ".........

"Woh Kagaj Ki kashti , Woh barish ka Pani" ......only difference is  -walking in the snow with snow sledge..This kid was having a great day out in snow..........

and with sibling - Let me take you for a joy ride in snow..........

Enjoy snow if you are under it's radar,stay warm and protected....

Happy Cooking Friends......