Lobia Curry - Black Eye Bean Curry

With some heavy showers coming down in recent past hours, weather in Kolkata is pleasant and brings a great relief from scorching summer heat. Well that’s what you wish when summer heat makes life rather erratic in this part of the world.
With this pleasant weather here, leaves swaying to the cozy south wind, and birds chirping, getting drenched and quenching their thirst, nature breathed fresh at last.

A day old flowers shaken by gutsy south wind and fallen off from their mother branches.

Trees and plants doused with shower, even the children’s park swing seemed to be at ease,enjoying this pleasant weather.

Do you know this fruit below ?

 
Many tiny ripples like hot popping popcorns in this big temporary puddle formed due to heavy drizzle.And the wind roaring again with  great humming sound ,telling it's not over yet dear.

Fallen leaves and the flowers by the sides of this temporary puddle make a splendid view.

I generally like to warm up to my day watching all the activities from a small window in our room ,with a cup of tea. And today it was raining and windy, a pleasant change to scorching summer heat.

 I couldn’t stop myself from clicking above pictures. Hubby dear was getting ready for his office as usual,without even asking anything ,told me"I do hope this is for your blog,isn't!!" .Well he left the room with a witty smile on his face.
And the little one who has two more days left ,before her school starts again after her month long summer vacation ,was slightly awaken perhaps due to the roaring sound of the gutsy wind.
She opened her eyes just for a second and gave a smile and then again wrapped herself up with the sheet well, cozying up to the warmth of the sheet.And covering  her face well with the sheet ,she said ”I want to sleep more.”And I thought ah! Innocent, sweet, childhood days are best phase of one's life.
Parent-in-laws were engrossed with their little chit-chat in the adjacent room. Their chit-chat revolves around weather and their grand-daughter, were also seemed to be enjoying this pleasent weather as well.
The clock echoed 8 ‘o clock and I was kind of awaken from this bliss, realized that it’s now time to prepare our breakfast.

With this change in weather, I thought perhaps I should also start updating my little blog here.
I can’t recall when I made this lobhia curry or black eye bean curry. But it was saved in my draft so here it is.

A very delicious preparation and even if you have any left-over, you may very well be able to have it with muri/puffed rice as breakfast.

Lobhia curry/black eyed pea curry
Recipe requirements
Black eye pea- about 1 -1/2 cup
2 medium size onions
5-6 garlic medium size clove
½ inch ginger chopped finely
1 tomato
Seasonings
1 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp of red pepper powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
2 tsp of coriander powder
Salt as per taste
Pinch of sugar
Tempering
2-3 tbs of cooking oil
2 cloves
1 cardamom
¼ inch cinnamon stick
2 tej patta or bay leaf

Method

• Wash the beans very well in water and then soak them overnight in water. If you forget to soak them the other night. Soak them in warm water for 4-5 hrs.
• Chop all onions, garlic and ginger very finely. Chop tomato.
• Meanwhile put the black eye beans to pressure cook. These beans tend to cook quickly. One whistle at high and lower the flame, cook for 8-10 mints. Open when pressure subsides; add in extra warm water in case it has become dry. Adding cold water will stop the over-cooking in case you see soggy beans after pressure cooking, just like you would generally do in cooking the pasta.
• Heat up a saucepan, add oil and then add in cloves, cardamom, tej patta, cinnamon stick. Fry all in a low flame.
• Now add in ginger/garlic. Fry well for 3-4 mints. Add in onions, fry well for 3-4 mints.
• Now add in the dry ingredients-turmeric, cumin, coriander, red pepper powder and salt with little bit of water. Add in chopped tomato.
• Fry well the masala for 10-15 mints at med-low flame, sprinkling little bit of water .Add this prepared masala to the pressure cooked beans.
• Mix well and cook till the masala incorporates well. Add in butter or cream later at the time of serving.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.Happy Cooking Friends

Updated
Sending this to MLLA-36.A brainchild of Susan at Well Seasoned Cook, now being hosted for this month at Served With Love by Aqua. Hop on to those above links to know more.

Bori Sojne Data Diye Pona Mach'er Jhal

The kind of peak summers we have these days makes you profusely sweat it out in kitchen or even while you are out. Schools have closed for their summer vacations here and kids have loads of homework to do. But then what’s new about it, may be “poribortener hawa” or the colour green, right?

We recently bought a Casio keyboard to play some tunes and the kid in my house seems to enjoy it so far. Even the elder kids are anticipating their turns as well. There have been some kids going to summer camps from our housing complex. I am still hesitant in sending out my kid in this hot weather here. Somehow I can’t imagine spending hefty sums on these so called summer camps. There are most probably hundred other ways to keep kids busy rather than make them spend time in summer camps.
On rare occasions I have the privilege of cooking these days. It’s not that I don’t wish to but too many cooks can spoil even a simple soup. Right? So, I don’t have much to post here except sometimes this or that. So, one Sunday for lunch made these fish curry with wadis and drumsticks.Sojne data, bori, aloo and begun (brinjal) is a combination that goes well with fish specially the pona mach or katla mach.

Ok now to to the recipe

Fish curry with sojne data and bori
Recipe requirements
2-3 drumsticks ( sojne data) cut itno3 inch long pieces
2 medium size potato cut into long pieces
Half brinjal if it’s long enough cut into slices
(Potato, drumsticks and brinjal slices should be equal in length, can call them thick
Juliennes –roughly 1/2 * 3 inch juliennes)
About 6-7 urad dal boris roughly
Some oil to fry the boris
Seasonings
1 tsp of holod/turmeric powder
2 tsp of shokno lonka goron/red pepper powder
½ tsp of dhone goron/coriander powder
Salt as per taste
For tempering the gravy
1 tsp of panch phoron or 1 tsp of jeerey/cumin seeds
1-2 tej patta/ or bay leaves
About 2-3 tbs of cooking oil

Method
Cut all the vegetables into thick juliennes.
Heat up a saucepan, add oil little bit first fry the wadis/bori slowly turning nice crisp and brown.
Add more oil as all the oil will be used up while frying the wadis/bori
Temper the oil with panch phoron, tej patta at low flame.
Add the potato, fry well.
Now add in sojne data/drumsticks.
Add the dry ingredients-turmeric, red pepper powder and coriander powder and salt.
Mix well and splash some water over the fried vegetables.
Now add in about 2 cups of water.
Add in brinjal pieces and fried bori.
Adjust seasoning after tasting at this point.
Cover and let it cook for about 7-9 mints at med-low flame.Take out in serving bowl and have it with steaming hot rice.
TIP- bori or wadis tends to soak up gravy like a sponge, so it’s better to add enough water at the time making of gravy. If you don’t want runny gravy then restrict the use of water otherwise use generously. I do often add 3-4 green chilies, so that later adults can eat spicy version.
If you are preparing for kids then you may skip red pepper powder and green chilly and may use black pepper powder/golmorich goron.This gravy is good specially in this hot weather here.

Enjoy the weekend and Happy Cooking.

Wheat Bulgur Pilaf with Chick Peas and Runner Beans

I have a little fascination for glorious sunsets.

Sunset view from our apartment window in London.

Lovely memories.

And sunset at Thames river.

When most of the food blogging world is talking about wheat Bulgar and each day you can see many recipes floating out in internet. This recipe is nothing special, but a very quick fix meal idea but has many good health benefits. In case you want to quick fix a meal after a hard day at work or running around for your family then this wholesome healthy meal can be ready in jiffy. This saves your time in kitchen and you can utilize that time unwinding yourselves with your loved ones.

Wheat bulgur is excellent for a vegetarian meal. It has more fiber, protein and vitamins than rice.
Wheat bulgur which is available in most of the grocery shop abroad are parboiled and dried and it takes very less time to cook also probably because the bran has been removed.
Wheat bulgur is an essential part of meditarean cuisine especially in tabbouleh and Kibeh.Tabboueleh you all know is a salad preparation with lemon juice, chick peas, olive oil and probably mint or cilantro/coriander leaves.Kibbeh is a kind of croquette stuffed with minced meat and deep fried. No, I am yet to make kibbeh.
The texture of the end product resembles quite a lot like couscous.
The wheat bulgur used in this recipe is coarse variety; you can get fine and medium variety as well. Whatever left-over you have you can well incorporate into this pilaf. However fresh ingredients add more flavor to it.

(This recipe was saved in my draft for a long time)

Wheat bulgur pilaf with chick peas and runner beans
Serves-2
Recipe requirements
1 large cup of cooked wheat bulgur
1 cup of cooked chick peas
1 cup of chopped runner beans
½ cup of cooked green chana
1 potato cubed, slightly pre-boiled
1 onion
2 garlic pods
2-3 tsp of ginger chopped
Tempering and seasoning
2 tbs of cooking oil
2 dry red pepper
½ tsp of mustard seeds
Method

• Cook wheat bulgur according to package directions.
• Now heat up a saucepan, add cooking oil, and temper it with mustard seeds. (Tempering with mustard seeds is optional)
• Add in chopped onions, ginger, and garlic and fry it well till the onions turn reddish-brown.
• Now add in cubed potato, runner beans. Stir/fry the vegetables well for 4-5 mints.
• Now add in cooked chick peas, green chana .Add in chopped tomato if you wish to add.
• Add in the seasonings-red pepper powder, little bit of turmeric powder and salt.
• Cover it and cook till all the above are cooked well.
• Now slowly starts mixing this cooked mixture with the cooked wheat bulgur.
• Sprinkle some lemon juice over it (optional)
• Serve warm .A healthy wholesome meal ready in probably 15 -20 mints.

Note-

1. You may wish then add in some garam masala as well.
2. Chopped green chilies add extra heat to the dish.
3. Sprouts like moong, green chana can also be added.
4. A side dish of spinach sautéed with butter can also be served with this wheat bulgur pilaf.

Happy Cooking Friends

Choto Aloor Dom

 While we the people in Bengal are getting ready to the next assembly polls soon here. Politics and election is the buzz word here for the time being.Second on the list is Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL matches.

We are now in the midst of Kaal Bouishaki as I am typing this post.And if you have read this old post , then perhaps you would be interested to know that there are many stake holders still. We finally managed to get one kancha Aam thanks to a driver who works for someone else (read Mrs. A) but likes to do these small chores for us. People are just running here and there with old jute bags to collect Kancha Aam falling under this mango tree like “Indro Debotar vardaan”.As if everybody is a budding cricketer eyeing to catch the ball err the mango to secure a place in some cricket playing team for which they wish to play. Our housing complex is soon going to host it’s own league matches quite similar to the T-20 format .Well Hubby dear seems to be interested, lets see how many turn out on the D-day.

The other day while coming back to home I was struck in traffic due to the “michil” blocking the road to promote their party worker probably who is contesting as an election candidate for the first time. Things which were part of quintessential Bengal politics still remains the same, no matter who is leading or lagging behind.
I was traveling in a shared auto and the auto driver reluctantly asked white-clad Sergeant if he can cut pass through the “michil”, a firm negative reply and stern look, do you need any more?? And then I had one of the most adventurous and breath taking auto no bumpy ride ever. My kidney jumping in place of my heart and my heart most probably in my gullet if not in mouth. After stopping I pinched myself to see if I am still alive. Well yeah otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this post. Right?

                                          ( One of the many unknown By-Lanes in night )
                                  
Kolkata has many narrow lanes and by lanes which runs almost interconnecting two main roads. These interconnections are like spiders web so much entangled and criss-crossed if you know your way out well then it’s your good luck and you will hit the main road otherwise you will be left rotating in a never ending loop. What makes these by-lanes even more fascinating is the activity that goes with it.Nitai kaku reading Khabore’r kagoj while sipping his cup of “Cha “ with thin arrow root’er biscuit and Kakima feeding left-over rotis to Bholai.Well Bholai is a mere “feti Kokor” and in case if you are interested to know more about him,then you should befriend Kakimaa first.

And then there will be our own Runa Didi holding his 12 year old son Ronny’s hand , giving him continuous instructions what he should or shouldn’t be doing in school. She would be seen often buying some fresh ras bhora langcha from Babul Da’s Sweets shop.She will then make promises for great rewards after school if he can score at least 90 in “Onkko” if not 120 out of 100.As far as his son is concerned, he has his own brain but is dysfunctional for the time being. Wait some more years down the line and he will be seen having a gala time in a multiplex with his school friends dumping his school classes for a recent Hindi flick , a much better way to utilize refresh one’s brain I guess.

                                        ( Traffic on main road.The boy in picture came to us,asking to give him parking fee for our car, which we did give him and he was happy posing for us.)


And then there will be our Jhonto da, with one hand working to fix his correcting glasses and the other balancing the handle of his bicycle. You can figure out well he is trying to juggle both –Love and life. He will try to cut and pass through the auto to catch up with Bela didi who is now getting late to catch the next bus which will be dropping her near her college. Well and then there will be Ganesh’er “Modi Khana” or grocery shop where you can see heaps of different varieties of rice and lentils being put on sale in huge jute bags.Ganesh will be seen sometimes scratching his bulging tummy ,slightly lifting his “genji” perhaps due to the sweat which gets accumulated in this hot and humid weather. There is a pedestal fan which is of no use but is there as he got that old pedestal fan as a gift from his in-laws. Some men are really gentlemen or perhaps they are tailored.

Well these are few real life characters; Malgudi Days still is kept alive in these lanes and by lanes of Kolkata. May God bless them all for providing me so much to write about them.I will try to update more in coming post about them.

Now to the recipe part which I almost forgot.Choto Aloo or puti aloo or baby potatoes when made into thick gravy, they give a nice texture and flavour.A Bengali Aloor Dom when made with these baby potatoes adds a different touch to this traditional recipe. When accompanied with freshly deep fried luchi this traditional recipe is a crowd pleaser.

Choto Aloor dom
Recipe requirements
Baby potatoes-about 15-18
Onions-2 medium size
Ginger-half inch
Garlic-3-4 fat cloves
3 tbs of cooking oil
Seasoning
1 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp of red pepper powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
2 tsp of coriander powder
Gota garam moshla/whole garam masala-
2 -4 cloves
1 cardamom
Half inch cinnamon stick
3 green chillies
1 medium size tomato
Salt and sugar as per taste
Method

• Wash the baby potatoes well in water to get rid of dirt and mud.
• Now heat up a saucepan/kadai.
• Add cooking oil preferably mustard oil. Add gota garam moshla/whole garam masala like-clove, cardamom, cinnamon etc.
• Fry the baby potatoes very well. Take out in a separate bowl.
• Add ginger, garlic and onion, fry very well. If you wish you may use the onion/ginger/garlic paste.Add green chillies.
• Now add the dry seasoning-turmeric powder, red pepper powder, cumin and coriander powder, salt and sugar. Add a bit of water also.
• Fry very well with baby potatoes the above masala.
• Add chopped tomato.
• Now add about 1 cup of warm water. Cover it and let it cook slowly for about 10-15 mints or till the potatoes are done. Serve with chopped coriander leaves optional.

Happy Cooking Friends

Keema Kofta Curry - and Poila Baishak 'er Shubecha

 

There is a big correlation between Boisakh mash and Bengal. We the people in Bengal, outside Bengal and even abroad are all gearing up ,Today is Poila Boisakh – our happy new year and then followed by the birth date of Rabindra Nath Tagore on Pachishe Baishak.Baishak Mash is very much happening and is season of festival of sorts for all of us.With Nabaratri finished few days back, we had all sorts of Shahstis.The day before yesterday was Neel shashti.This is just our personal preference where we abstain ourselves from non-veg food for these five days. But Poila Baishak to every Bengali means good indulging food and cooking up storms in kitchen even tornado too as in many cases.

 

So, wish all of you a very happy Poila Baishak.Noton bacho’rer onek shubecha sobaike.

 

 

 

Amidst chaotic commotion where we live now, as lot of construction work is going on full swing for the upcoming metro lines, I do think there is upto an extent a bit of madness about poila boisakh here. All shops, sweet shops, jewellery shops are well decked up, even have sales offer going on. Does “Chaitra Sale” ring some bells in your ears and shine in your eyes. Well then it’s good but wait till you really can cash in the deals available now.I am brave enough but can’t imagine myself in the crowd to get the best deals in Chaitra sale, jostling and hitting each other, knocking on legs and then grabbing the deals. Well last part was exaggeration on my part much to your satisfaction.
But then even if I care enough to get Noksha bala or Choor in Chaitra sale or some other best deals, well is it that much worth it.

 

Few days ago we went to Esplanade; it used to be the heart of city, lungs that I can not say.There used to be an air of superiority about Esplanade and New market Shopping till a decade ago but in recent days ,there has been a paradigm shift and most of us end up shopping in Gariahat or close to our vicinity.

The hustle bustle in Esplanade,and the commotion there will leave a newbee somewhat disoriented but the veterans still like the idea of spending time or shopping there.Everybody seemed to be so much in habit of doing something if not nothing. And then the different voices of hawkers to seek your attention.

 

 

 

 

 

While coming back from there, our yellow taxi stopped at one of the traffic signal. Usually I like to half open the taxi window to breathe in some fresh air.But that day the window on my side was wide open. A hawker selling baby corn started pestering me to buy one packet of baby corn...And then something unusual happened.I started bargaining, and the initial price of Rs 60 per packet was reduced to Rs 30 per packet.Hubby dear sitting beside me and my daughter was smiling as if telling me you know well what you are doing.
Then the voice”Didi aap logon ka hi sahara hai varna hum to bas ….” Sentence was not completed and after that what followed was a long pause from both sides. Here a complete stranger selling me a packet of baby corn was making me feel lumps in my throat. And then the traffic signal went green from red. I left behind me a saga of emotions or perhaps I was carrying small bit of that emotion inside me. That made me think do these people really care about Poila Baishak or is it just another day for them.Do they have a luxary to spend fortunes on new clothes, food and outings. When we are so pre-occupied with the nitty-gritty of poila baishak for them I guess it is just another day. Another day looking to earn something.
My eagerness to get whatever best deals in Chaitra sale was over powered by that bundle of emotions I was carrying back home from that baby corn selling hawker.
Now you will be asking what I did with the baby corn. I made vegetable pulao with beans, carrots and baby corn cooked in with Sita-Saal rice, a variety of par boiled rice quite similar to Basmati rice. The rice is very fragrant and long grain rice which gives a nice texture to the pulao.My in-laws particularly liked the baby corn pulao.No, I haven’t taken pictures as we all were busy relishing it.

 

But yes we have this keema kofta curry to go with that vegetable pulao.

 

 

This is how we made keema kofta curry

Keema Kofta Curry-Meatballs in Spicy Gravy

Recipe requirements

• Chicken mince-250 Gms
• For the kofta/meatballs
• 2 fat garlic cloves
• Half inch ginger
• 1 onion
• About 4-5 almonds soaked in water and peeled
• 2 slices of bread sides cut
• 1 potato boiled
• ½ cup of besan/chick pea flour
• 2 tsp of ground red pepper
• 2 tsp of ground coriander
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 tsp of black pepper powder
• 2 tsp of garam masala(better if prepared freshly)
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• Half cup of yogurt
• Half cup of cooking oil to fry the kofta

Making of Kofta/meatballs

• In a mixer-grinder- make a smooth paste of onion/ginger/garlic.
• Now on a medium low flame stir-fry the chicken mince/keema for 6-8 mints or till they change colour.Add about half a tsp of lemon juice and stir it well. Take out the mince in a big mixing bowl.
• Let the mince cool a little bit.
• Add in boiled potato, bread slices and besan.Adjust the amount of besan or bread slices. The idea is to make meatballs or kofta that can shape well and can hold up while deep frying otherwise they might break while deep frying.
• Add the prepared paste of onion/ginger/garlic.
• Add all the dry grounded masala-coriander, cumin, red pepper, black pepper, garam masala powder.
• Freshly prepared masala adds to the flavor of these kofta/meatballs.
• Add in half cup of yogurt also.
• To prepare fresh masala grounded-
• Toast some 2tsp of coriander, 1tsp of cumin seeds, about 8 whole black pepper, 2cloves, 2 cardamom, and half inch cinnamon over low flame for 4-5 mints. Let it cool and then dry grind them in mixer with 2-3 dry red pepper (add as per your preference of tolerating heat and spice).
• Now in a deep bottom pan, add oil, and let it heat up well.
• Make small balls from the entire mixture. This much of the dough will make at least 15 kofta/meatballs.
• Drop slowly in hot oil and deep fry them. Take out and drain. You can relish these meatballs as is or if you wish you may use up as filling in pita bread or wrap in tortillas. You may serve them with hummus as well.

Now to the making of gravy

• Grind 2 onions, 3 fat garlic cloves, half inch ginger, and 4-5 almonds together.
• Put a saucepan over a medium flame.
• Add in about 3-4 tbs of cooking oil
• Now add in the above prepared paste.
• Deep fry the freshly prepared masala for 6-7 mints.
• Add in 1 tomato chopped finely.
• Add in dry grounded masala like- 1tsp of cumin powder, 2 tsp of coriander powder, 1 tsp of turmeric powder, 2 tsp of red pepper powder, and 1 tsp of garam masala.Add in salt as per taste. Add about quarter cup of water also.
• Keep on stir/frying the prepared paste for another 5-7 mints or till the oil comes out by the sides.
• Now add in 1 cup of water and lower the flame.
• Let it cook for 7-8 mints at medium low flame.
• When the gravy turns to become little thick. Stop the flame and add the deep fried kofta/meatballs. Cover it and after half an hour serve it roti or pulao or whatever way you like to relish.

 

 

 

 

If you are thinking to cook up a tornado in your kitchen, then perhaps you would like to see these old recipes

• Kasha Mangsho
• Ilish Mach'er Rokomari
• Bhetki Phulkopi
• Topse Mach'er Bhaja
• Chicken Yakhni Pulao
• Chingri Mach'er Pulao
• Luchi and Aloor Dom 
• Sandesh 
• Kalakand
• Darbesh
• Mishti Doi  

 

 

And Wish all the readers,Well wishers and Friends Shubho Nababarsho

Happy Cooking