Beet Rice Pulao

Yellow,mellow ripened days
Sheltered in a golden coating
O’er the dreaming ,lightless haze,
White and dainty cloudlets floating
Winking at the blushing trees,
And the sombre,furrowed fallow;
Smiling at the airy ease
Of the southward flying swallow;
Sweet and smiling are thy ways
Beauteous ,golden Autumn days.
----------Will Carleton

While coming back to home , me and my daughter picked this leaf.I guess this is maple or may be tulip, anyone out there please clear my doubt….



Looks like I am addicted to Beetroot.First it was Beet Soya Subzi then Vegetable Cutlets ,then Beet Shake'er Chorchori and now Beet rice pulao.But trust me ,this has helped me a lot to bring out changes in our menu.I mean one pot meal are always easy to fix and great to eat.And when one picky eater also starts enjoying the dish ,then sure it’s a keeper recipe.Look at the dazzling colour it imparts to the mundane pulao.Tinge of red –orange reminds me about the fall season here.So a simple recipe to go with the season of fall.Presenting to you Beet Rice Pulao.

Beet Rice Pulao
Serves -3-4
1large cup of basmati rice
1 beet chopped finely
Vegetables of yor choice,I have used following
¼ cup of chopped mushroom
¼ cup of green peas
¼ cup of carrots chopped finely
¼ cup of beans chopped finely
3-4 cloves-long
2 cardamoms
1 inch cinnamon stick
Some cashews
½ tsp of red pepper powder
½ tsp of garam masala
3-4 tbs of cooking oil
1 tbs of sugar
Salt as per taste
Method
Cook the rice.
When still hot add in 1-2 tbs of butter and gently mix in.
In a separate pan, add oil, temper it with cloves,cardamom,cinnamon stick and cashews
Add in all the chopped vegetables, add in salt,sugar and red pepper powder and garam masala.
Stir fry the vegetables for few mintues,make sure they remain crunchy.
Transfer the cooked vegetables in to the rice ,making a layer of cooked rice and then cooked vegetables
When all the vegetables are used ,then cover the pot tight.
TIP-Serve with hard boiled eggs and spicy shrimp fry as sides.Vegetarian can have spicy stir/fry paneer tikka or tofu fry.

There are many good blogs which I like to read.From now on ,I will try to write about them and providing links for you .

This week I have two wonderful blogs to talk about -

a) Sudeshna’s Cook Like A Bong( http://bengalicuisine.net/ ) needs no introduction , as a home cook she has come up with her nice collection of Bengali recipes.If you want to know more about Bengali culture and cuisine then this is a good stop for you.

b) Another great blog by a stunning artist is Dithi's Deezden(http://deezden.blogspot.com/) .Her breath-taking creations makes me speechless sometimes.If you are into arts and crafts ,then this is a great place to hang in.
Watch out for more interesting links in coming weeks.

These are some of the goodies I made for deepavali, I will be sharing the recipes in coming weeks soon.

So, keep cooking good food and Happy Cooking

Honey Cake and Happy Deepawali

We look forward to every weekend now.Monday being the first working day seems fine for us as the freshness is still there just like fresh dews on green grass .By the time it’s Wednesday ,it seems one whole universe has passed and you are still standing in there,and on Friday it seems the day has no morning ,I mean you feel so worn out to get out of bed and then stop the alarm clock shrieking at you.It seems, even the poor alarm clock needs battery replacement.
But how should we replace our worn out /tired souls.Probably we cant as God has given each one a single soul for a lifetime.This soul is caged inside body,which gets tired by the usual ups and downs of our life.Once taken ,you need to nourish this soul,keeping in mind that body also needs replenishment.
Somewhere I read “Beauty is a thing for Joy”…..so when I started searching/looking for beauty or rather joy….I found there are many beautiful things .A fully blossmed flower, a laughing baby , snow clad mountains,ocean blue sea …wait What a Sea….hmmm….Ok then How about a Sea Aquarium.Viola!!
We went to sea aquarium near Thames River on last Saturday.This place is a magnificent way to relax and replenish your mind and soul.When we came back , our body was aching but the soul was refreshed n replenished ,ready to take on another working week.
And now , how about Honey cake and some sweets for the aching body ...Will they make you happy.

To be honest I haven't baked for almost 3 years now….so you can say it’s a comeback recipe.This recipe is adapted from my fav site .....… Here
Now the frosting is very easy, it’s the ready to roll one …as my little one was eager to put up the frosting so I asked her to whisk in some and apply all over it.She then insisted on having chocolate , so I finished it up with chocolate buttons on top.Happy to see the result, little one asked me to put up in my blog.
Seriously this cake is worth trying and it’s even good without frosting as told to me by hubby dear(he doesn’t like any frosting , too much of calories!!)
Now time to take out chairs and sit in a cosy environment and replenish your body and soul.With a good book in one hand and in other a slice of cake with a cup of coffee, what more you can ask for?









Honey cake
½ cup of white sugar (powdered)
½ cup of honey
¼ cup of vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp of grated orange zest
½ cup of orange juice
1-1/4 cup of all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp of baking powder
¼ tsp of baking soda
¼ tsp of salt
½ tsp of ground cinnamon


Method
Preheat oven at 175 deg C .
Now sieve in flour,add in baking powder, baking soda,salt and cinnamon powder
Now in a bowl,first mix in sugar and oil very well, add in honey slowly mixing all the way.
Add in egg one by one and keep mixing.
Now beat in flour altenately with ornage juice to the above sugar/honey/egg mixture,repeat this till all the juice and flour mixture is used up.
Prepare the cake pan ,I used a round 9 inch cake tin,TIP- this can also be made in 13*9 cake pan, for that just double the content.
Bake at 175 deg C for 40 mints,it may even take little less than 40 mints,depending on the baking oven you have.
Note-
I made it even without any orange zest, but if you are short of it you may consider adding lemon zest in place of orange zest.
You may drizzle some honey over the cake when it’s still hot, it will soon dry up making a,thin translucent crust sort.
You may use garam masala powder if you are short of cinnamon powder.
You may have it with warm cooked custard if you wish to.
Frosting as above is absolutely not necessay.The Cake is moist and very light by itself ,in fact it can be well paired with a cup of coffee.
I would even suggest you have it with vanilla flavoured ice-cream.

Below are some of the pics of sea aquarium.They were being mischievous with me so the pics are little shaky there.

and then it was sunset at river Thames........

This weekend it’s festival of light , so probably we will be staying at home, lighting diyas and candles minus the firecrackers.Hope you also enjoy with your loved ones ,sharing and making all the goodies.
If you want the recipe for the sweet then go ........Here


Wishing everybody a joyous and prosperous Deepawali.
Happy Diwali

Duporer Khabar- Pomfret Fish Curry

On this particular october morning,the view from my living room window is splendid.After a spell of gloomy rainy days ,its feels so wonderful to see the warmth of sun shining.
Autumn colours have started showing up here,a tinge of orange and yellow is what I look forward to in a particular fall season.But sometimes it gets little painful if you have a big backyard to clean up.
Days are becoming shorter in this part, usually sun comes out at 7.30 and it goes down early too.
My day starts at 5.30 in the morning and ends at 10 in the night.Well life suddenly has become little hectic with the additional work that needs to be done on your own here.In this trying and testing time I now recall how free I was at home, with my house maid doing all the honour .
Back to reality , daughter has started her school ........but I can see her little discomfort when she comes back from her school......she kept telling about her friends back in home.Somehow I feel our little children suffer most , out of these uncertain relocations.They become mute spectators and suffer most.That makes me even more ire about things here.Anyways life doesn’t mean always bed of rosses……..but I wish I can make it at least for my lil one.

Now to the recipe for spicy pomfret curry
I have heard so much about Goan Curry that I was so eager to try this .Yes ,this is greatly inspired by the Goan fish Curry and our own Bengali prawn malaicurry.The regions are different but somehow there is a marked similarity in the ingredients and upto the certain extent the method of preparation.
Coconut milk forms the base of this curry and together with some chopped onions/ginger/garlic and few dry red peppers ,adds a nice balance of sweetness and hotness.
And how far it’s authentic , that I don’t know ,but the dish was throughly enjoyed by my Lil one,which remained my biggest concern till now whenever I prepare anything.

I made it as part of my duporer Khabar , with it also made Shorshe darosh,Moonger dal.

Pomfret Coconut Curry
Silver pomfret -2
½ tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp of red pepper powder
1 medium size onion chopped
½ inch ginger chopped finely
2-3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaf
Coconut milk ½ cup or coconut cream paste 3-4 tsp
1 small tomato chopped
3-4 tbs of cooking oil/vegetable oil

Method
Clean the fish, cut open and take out gills etc..clear the gut with running water.I have used frozen fish that needs to be thawed before being cut and marinated.Make the fish to half,this helps in frying up the fish evenly.
Marinate it with salt and turmeric powder,keep aside.
Meanwhile chop onions,ginger and garlic and tomato.
Now heat up a deep bottom pan,add oil and fry the fish pieces to a nice brown colour.Take them out.
Now at this point, add some more oil, add in bay leaf, chopped onions/garlic/ginger and fry them very well ,till the colour changes.
Add in dry red pepper teared in between, turmeric powder, red pepper powder.
Fry this masala very well .Add in tomato(if you don’t like it ,there is no need of adding it)
Add in lilttle water and fried fish, let it simmer there for 4mints.
It’s time to add coconut milk. Add and let it simmer for some more time till the gravy thickens a bit.
Note-
I have used coconut paste for the above recipe,which is available here, just add in 3-4 tsp of the paste,that works fine ,and if you get fresh coconut milk ,nothing is better than that.
You may also like to see another recipe ,then visit here

Pomfret 'er Kalia

Happy Cooking Friends

Shobho Vijayadashmi and Reminiscence Of Durga Pujo

Away from home, I was kind of feeling very home-sick specially Durga pujo was near.Luckily this time Pujo schedule was conciding with weekend(good for hubby and even good for us) ,so no more asking him to arrange some days off ,although over these years I have become quite habitual of seeing him working from home despite him, taking pre-planned leave during one of Pujo days…….
On Saturady ,we went to Wembley Durga Pujo.This Pujo ,I had heard is orgainised by a family( that includes an extended family of friends).


Nirmal Mukherji and his family have been organising this Durga Pujo for the last 30 years now,this year it celebrated it’s 31 st year .
Hubby called at one of the numbers provided for contacts ,asking about the details for the venue and directions and response was so prompt.



“Aapniki dhake’er awaj shunte Parche na, bas chole ashon” meaning ,are you not listening to dhak/drum-beats , just hop in now”
That was just so simple and we came to the venue getting off from a route bus 79 from the Alperton tube station, walked 10 mints approx on London Road HA9 ,and soon we were in Denise Jackson Centre near Wembley Stadium.



The moment we enterd the centre,I can feel the barir Pujo atmoshpere there…..the crowd and the homely ambience ,there was a sense of familiarity despite we were coming there for the first time.
Women folks cutting and chopping vegetables in hurry , knives have taken place for Bonti,but the spirit remains the same,that reminded about how my ma,and kakimaas,jethimaas used to gather and talk endlessly while cutting and chopping the vegetables and fruits for bhog and phol prasad respectively, and our very own kaku, jethu’s would gather round the cooking area on ashtami /nabami to cook bhog for the entire community and their long adda sessions.

Meanwhile we(children ,girls specially) would be strictly told to gather dobbu( sacred grass) and flowers from neighbouring homes……….ah! things of the past remains so fresh n alive somewhere in our hearts………..
After the Pujo ,we offered pushpanjali , my Lil one also joined us in offering pushpanjali….
We waited patiently there for our turn of Bhog in a long queue.
While me and hubby caught up with little chit-chat ,our daughter started palying around with other little ones there.After the long wait ,our turn came and the wait was worth it ….Bhog Included ghee bhaat, Cholar dal,aloo phulkopir torkari ,chatney ,mishti and phol prasad.


That was just a wonderful experience and what more can I ask for.This gave me immense satisfaction as somehow I was able to feel the warmth of home there.


There was a sense of belonging despite unfamiliar faces there, a sense of achievement for everybody there,despite living in London and still carrying out the legacy of Puja with such fervor.
I was now leaving for my home feeling so contented ,a heart full of good memories of a barir Pujo in a foreign land.
And a sense of pride for our culture ,that we Probashi Bengali carry within us , what our fore-fathers tried to incorporate within us ,our culture and tradition and the sense of connecting to our roots.


I am leaving you with some of the snaps below.
Image Courtesy Shomeek Mukherji.

Wishing Everybody Shobho Vijayadashmi

Sharodiya Shubecha and Dupor'er Tiffin Khabaar/Lunch Box Recipe Series -8

I am missing the hustle-bustle of Kolkata during this time.If you are in Kolkata ,probably you would be enjoying shopping new clothes, shoes and accessories.Ladies busy shopping , their new tangai/jamdani/Dhakai or simple but elegant tant ‘er saree from Boro bazaar or near their locality.
Last minute phone calls to the tailoring master if they can hurry up stitching the clothes on time and even asking “eyita ki amra nabami din e porte parbo, dada ekto taratari shesh kore dile eyi ta amra at least nabami te porte parbo” meaning , can we wear this at least on nabami or the ninth day.
And pat will be coming up the answer a big “NO”…Disappointed ,they will have to look into their old attire if they can find some good matches for their new clothes or even a nice replacement for that matter.
Some adventurous souls will be even trying out new hairstyles to give them that extra edge over their peers.
I mean lot of spending and purchasing on the eve of this great festival and who could even say it is the recession period going on….But good for those poor little souls like tailoring master,Local shoe shop Owner and the local saree/merchandise shop owner,for they have been waiting for this bright period for a long time now.More you spend ,more the money runs in the market and recession will take back seat soon.Good for economy and even good for you.
I mean from young ones to old ones , all are busy planning their schedules about Pujo Panadal hopping ,keeping in mind the mad rush out to see some of the top Pujo pandals in and around Kolkata. Some even will be planning what they will be eating on ashtami or on nabami.Plenty of options if you have company and dont feel like cooking,just go out ,pandal hop and gorge on street food or even fancy a good restaurant and you will ,I bet throughly enjoy.
Some even going out of station to probably to Goa or any other place, for them this is the best time to go out of Kolkata and avoid this mad rush which they have become quite habitual of seeing this since their childhood.
That made me think about Probashi Bengali , how they will be thinking and spending their time away from such hustle-bustle.If they are lucky , they will gather and start/form a new community ,kind of a panel of eminent and enthusiastic Bengali's and even take on celebrating or rather organising Durga Puja in a short period of time.Some may even promise to organise Kali Pujo after it also.
Being away from home, I will be missing offering my ashatami Pushpanjali and the Bhog'er Khichuri , two most important thing for me during this day and the mystic of sandhi Pujo and the lovely drum beats by Dhakis.Makes me feel home-sick now.

Tommorow ,24 th is shashti (day for bodhon I guess) or sixth day , so we all will be wearing our new clothes ,Mothers like me will be observing shashti ,a fasting ritual for the well being of their children.The menu will be niramish meaning Vegetarian.
You may like to catch up with the details, how we spend out Pujo last year ,then visit here
happy Durga Puja
Puja On Ashtami and Nabami
Puja on shashti and saptami






I have tried to include a vegetarian menu this time for Duporer Khabaar, I must remind that this was saved as draft .Usually Rice is not eaten on Shashti fast. Torkari can be eaten with Porotha but not with Rice.Dont ask me big Y for this , this is what I have seen doing both ,ma and ma-in-law.They even don’t eat with these torkari/curry , a simple aloo(potato) bhaja with Porotha and a bowl of doi/yogurt works fine also.

Keeping in mind the niramish khabaar, The recipe menu , is Sheem Shorshe and Bean Borir Jhaal and a simple dal.
Lunch-Box Recipes
Sheem Shorshe(Hyacinth in mustard paste)
Sheem/Hyacinth 8-10
2tsp of turmeric powder
3-4 tsp of mustard powder
Salt as per taste
Cooking oil 4-5 tbs



Method
Clean cut the sheem from the tip on both sides
Now heat up a kadhai and add cooking oil(it would be great if you use mustard oil)
Now add in the cut sheem and fry it well.
Add in turmeric powder ,red pepper powder and salt ,sprinkle little bit of waterand cover
Let it cook for 5-7 mints till it turn out little soft
Meanwhile make a paste of mustard powder,little water,1 tbs of oil,little bit of salt,red pepper powder and very little turmeric powder just to give the colour.
Add this paste to the cooked sheem , take out in a serving bowl.
Making a paste out of fresh mustard seed
Please use coffee grinder for that ,add in 3-4 tsp of mustard seeds,1 garlic ,few cashews and dry grind it without addinng water,if you feel you may add in water slowly to the grinding mustard paste.
You may use little bit of yoghurt at the end also when you are ready to add the paste to the cooked sheem.This way the mustard paste wont turn bitter.
And of course there is the tradiional way of grinding in sheel/nora, which is absolutey has no comparison in terms of taste and authenticity.
Note – I have tried the recipe with Long Runner Beans also ,which is generally available here.

A simple mong dal and

Bean Begun diye Borir Jhaal(Bean/Potato/Brinjal Borir Jhal)
2 potatoes
About 200 gms of beans
Half a long brinjal/eggplant
1 cup of bori/badi/vadi
Tempering and flavouring
Mustard oil 3-4 tsp and some more to fry the bori (lentil dumpling)
1 tsp of panch phoron
2 bay leaf
1-2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of red pepper powder
Salt as per taste and lil bit of sugar
Method
Cut and chop all the veggies in equal size
Add oil in a kadhai, fry the bori to a nice brown colour at low stirring them well.Take out an d keep them to add in the gravy later.
Heat up a kadhai/saucepan and ,add oil ,temper it with panch phoron and 2 bay leaf.
Add potatoes,beans and fry them well.
Add in salt,turmeric powder,red pepper powder and lil bit of sugar
Coat the veggies well with them
Now add in 1 cup of warm water to it
Add in chopped brinjal pieces and fried bori to it.
Keep the flame at low, cover and cook till the potatoes are evenly cooked.

Happy Cooking Friends


Sharodiya Shubecha O Priti
Happy Durga Puja
You may like to catch up with Last year post then visit here
happy Durga Puja
Puja On Ashtami and Nabami
Puja on shashti and saptami