When you hear about papaya, the first thing comes to mind are the yellow bell shaped fruits with hundreds of dark black seeds. The ripe papaya seasoned with some red chili powder and salt is one of the most consumed roadside snacks of Bengal during the summer time. As for me, I walk a few feet away from wherever there is the yellow papaya, I am averse to the smell of ripe papaya.

Though I almost hate ripe papayas, but I’m in love with the raw green ones. The raw papaya has high amount of the papain enzyme. It is good for the skin as well as the heart. But, its most important benefit is it helps as a digestive enzyme. And, probably because of this the dida (grandmother from mom’s side) also used to put a few slices of papaya when she prepared mutton curry, to tenderize the meat.

The raw papaya is also used in other types of curries with potatoes, onions and garlic. But, my mom prepares it in a very different way. The grated papaya is mixed with grated coconut – this gives it a divine taste.

The winners for last month’s Saffron Road Food giveaway is Shailaja and Leo Martis.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Ever since I can remember I always used to have my meals while watching TV, and to tell you the truth even now I watch TV during lunch and dinner at home. Call it a good or a bad habit, watching TV while having food has grown into more than a habit, it has now almost become an addiction. The only difference that I have felt is the channels have changed during this time period. During my childhood it was Tom and Jerry show and then I graduated to watching comedy series. Right now, my meal time is scheduled for drama, crime thrillers.

One series, that was very close to heart was Popeye. This sailor who eats cans of spinach was one of my favorites cartoons while growing up. I love spinach and so does Popeye, so I was able to connect to him. A few days back when I was preparing this dal palang for dinner, I was thinking this handsome guy .

Spinach with its greeny leaves is one of the best sources of plant nutrition. It contains loads of soluble dietary fibers and is a very good for a weight reducing diet. Red lentil also has high calcium content and dietary fibers. So, this simple preparation of dal palang or dal palak, however you want to call it is great for a healthy diet.

Hot Tips- If you are knew to the kitchen, the best way to know if the dal is half cooked is to press one of the lentils with your thumb and if you feel a hard core, the dal is half cooked.

You can also try the moong dal version of dal palang from ecurry.

Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win 4 different simmer sauces from Saffron Road Food. Click the image to know the rules. Just 6 days to go.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Shrimps are quick and easy to prepare and auspiciously tasty. You can cook shrimps in less than 10 minutes and your family will be just happy to have it at the dinner table.

Shrimps have their own way of making a boring curry like lau-er tarkari (bottle gourd curry) or kumro boti into something with a wonderful taste and gives a different feel to the texture. And, when it comes to talking about shrimps how can chingrir malaikari (shrimps in sweet coconut gravy) be far behind. This sweet and thick authentic Bengali recipe is a pride of the Bengali kitchen. It cooks almost instantly, but is one of the most coveted recipes.

I had always been fond of shrimps and prawns, and the bhapa chingri (steamed praws) is one of my favorite recipes. One of my favorite bloggers, Pree of Preeoccupied posted a chingri bharta recipe yesterday and I couldn’t resist but cook it. It took me less than ten minutes to prepare it but it was an instant hit for the weekend lunch. Pree had not fried the onions and used it to garnish, but I thought of frying it, so you can try either way.

Hot Tips - This recipe is so easy to prepare, that it makes a good side dish for week night dinners. If you don’t have a grinder or the pulse mode in your grinder, don’y worry, just chop the shrimps coarsely with a chef’s knife.

Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win 4 different simmer sauces from Saffron Road Food. Click the image to know the rules. Just 9 days to go.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Poila Baisakh, Bengali new year is just a day to go. You all should have many plans for this new year. We at CLB though of celebrating it in our own way. A new recipe for Poila Baisakh. It is shared by Nusrat Azimuth Suborna of Myself Nusrat. Suborna is new to blogging, but you’ll have fun browsing through her blog with loads of appetizing food photographs. And, here’s her take on chicken korma in her own words.

Legendary ‘Chicken Korma’ is a Mughlai delicacy from Hyderabad, India. But my Bangladeshi Grandma has her own version. She would care a damn about korma rules. Because her version is ruled by magic

Grandma’s almighty-creamy-pillowy-lovely-light almost all-white ‘Chicken Korma’ shall live forever as a ‘Hall of Fame’ in our family

Making ‘Chicken Korma’ is an art that requires precision and skill (which I don’t have like my Grandma) and I guess, it would take me a light year to replicate her flavorful, tasty as well as visually appealing Korma. Keeping in mind that it’s humanly impossible to give it the exact same heavenly texture, exact same mild heat, exact same intense aroma, I gave it a try for the first time.

Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win 4 different simmer sauces from Saffron Road Food. Click the image to know the rules.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

“Ek cup garam jal haye jak” (Lets have a cup of hot water). Now, you must me wondering am I sick with a flu or what. Its nothing like that, “ek cup garam jal haye jak” is my father’s way of asking my mom for tea. Both my parents are a connoisseur of tea. They like their tea without sugar, without milk – just boiling water infused with the goodness of tea leaves.

Tea is such a thing that every person likes to have his/her in a different way. The most common being the dudh chai (milk tea). There are numerous other variations depending on taste, culture and the type tea available in the region.

I had some friends over for a tea party. It has started to grow warm in here, and I thought of preparing iced tea. Iced tea with its refreshing coolness is a welcome break during a warm afternoon.

Along with it there were different snacks – golgappa, churmur, and dahi vada. I served the snacks in the Stacko Food Stand provided by Gitadini. The Stacko with it single serving bowls is great for parties, and you can serves appetizers to desserts in each bowl. Its a great accent to a party table. The colorful bowl adds a vibrancy to the table, and also the single serving bowls is a good hygiene technique if you are hosting a party.

Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win 4 different simmer sauces from  Saffron Road Food. Click the image to know the rules.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Rogan josh is one of the most popular recipes of the Kashmiri cuisine, though its origin is from the Persian kitchen. It is mainly made with lamb or mutton, but nowadays even chicken or vegetarian versions are also available in the restaurants. This recipe is characterized by its brilliant red color. The Kashmiri red chili powder is mainly used to get this red color, but in traditional version of the recipe dried flowers or roots of Alkanet is also used and even saffron strands.

Saffron Road Food had sent me some of their simmer sauces to try out, and a rogan josh simmer sauce was one of them. The recipe was written in details, and was very easy to make. I made it with boneless chicken and put in some veggies – carrots, potatoes and bell pepper in it too. To make this rogan josh all I had to do was to fry the washed boneless chicken pieces in oil till they were soft, put in the thinly sliced vegetables and toss for 2-3 minutes. Then just added the simmer sauce and let it cook for 4-5 minutes more and that it restaurant style rogan josh was ready in less than 15 minutes.

Most simmer sauces from other companies, which I have tried contains their own signature smell, probably because of a particular ingredient in them, but the simmer sauces from Saffron Road Food was perfect and the finished product tasted just like it should taste if you had made it from scratch. They also have simmer sauces for Mororccan Tagine, Tikka Masala and Lemongrass Basil and they were equally good. These simmer sauces are perfect for bachelors, who have no idea where to start from in the kitchen and also for families for a busy week night or a lazy weekend.

I am very glad to announce that Saffron Road Food has agreed to sponsor this month’s giveaway. All the 4 simmer sauces can be yours. Just follow the rules below and two lucky winners will receive 4 different simmer sauces from Saffron Road Food.

Rules for the giveaway:

I will use a random number generator to choose two winners from those who have commented in this post.

Here’s my take on rogan josh.

  If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Spring is the time of colors. As the dry winter blows off, the dried out trees start to come back to life. The once bare branches start bearing tiny light green leaves, and some burst in blooms. Back in India, spring was almost similar to the advent of summer. As the winter faded off, the temperature rises abruptly, the blankets and warm woolen clothes are replaced by the pastel colored cotton dresses. While here in the US, spring has its own place. As, the snow melts, the squirrels come out of their hiding, and the trees burst with blooms of all colors.

Indian cuisine as opposed to the food from the Western world lack in the vibrancy of colors. Its probably because most of the dishes are curry based, and the blend of different ground spices turn everything to almost the same colors. Though, this is my opinion. What do you feel? So, I was thinking of some dish which brings our the vibrant colors of spring, and this basanti pulao came to mind.

Basanti, literally means a shade of yellow, it is the color of spring. The basanti pulao is slightly sweet in taste because of the use of sugar in it and so it goes well with very hot and spicy curries. Choose from chicken kasha or mutton kasha or a vegetarian alu dum as a side, and you’ll love this pulao.

Hot Tips – To bring out the yellow color you can used edible food color (sunset yellow), but use in very small amount.  You can also mix about 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder to 1 cup of rice and marinate for 30 minutes to get the color.

  If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

As my folks are getting ready for Holi tomorrow back in India, I’m all with memories of Holi, listening to Holi songs from Hindi movies on Youtube. During my college days, Holi started a day early for me. Playing Holi after college in the college grounds, and then walking back home (we were banned to board any bus/taxi after all those colors in our clothes). And, then there was the D-day – playing with colors started right after breakfast and continued almost till late evening. There was gulal and of course the “badure rang”, which stayed on the skin for at least the next 7 days.

After I shifted to the United States, Holi has been constricted to just a couple of hours on a weekend before or after the actual Holi date. Here, its just the colored powders. This time we went to celebrate Holi at UT Austin organized by HSA. It was a great few hours spent, with an awesome DJ playing all Hindi songs (it was an welcome break from the English songs playing DJs in the pubs). The air was filled with colors, and it felt great playing with thousands of people, of whom I only new a few.

(Some of the Holi photos are taken from Gagan Singh’s Holi album. Thanks, Gagan)

Festivals and food go hand in hand. Holi is the time for some awesome snacks and sweets. As the Holi in Bihar is an epic event, I thought of preparing some Bihari snacks for Holi. Litti is a very common Bihari recipe. It is made with sattu, and is very similar to the Rajasthai bati of dal-bati churma.

Litti tastes best with alu chokha and baingan bharta.

Hot Tips – Do not pour excess water to the filling, else it will become like a paste and wont taste good. Altenatively, the litti can be roasted in a barbecue grill or on a stove top using a tawa.

  If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Holi is one of largest and probably the most exhilarating festivals in India. Though a Hindu religious festival, Holi is played by almost all communities and it is the festival of colors. It is to celebrate the arrival of spring and also for the good harvest. People throw colored powder and water at each other, the entire country gets immersed in colors of joy.

It is the festival of colors. This year, Holi will be celebrated on March 27, 2013. So, to be a part of this colorful festival we ta Cook Like a Bong hosted Holi – The Festival of Colors event. The event was sponsored by CupoNation, and two lucky winners will get Flipkart gift vouchers worth 1000 and 500 INR.

How can an Indian festival go by without mentioning food. So, that here’s how I came up with the idea to host an event for food for Holi. The event theme was to prepare a dish inspired by the Holi festival and to portray the different colors in the plate. We received loads of recipes from many bloggers and non-bloggers from all over the world. You can see the entries below. Scroll down further to know who the lucky winners.

Click on each of the images to navigate to the recipe pages.

Jaleela Corn Carrot cabbage Gujiya

Jaleela Omani Halwa with Bread sandwich

Amrita Angoori Rasmalai

Bhagyashri puranpoli

Deepali Dal Makhani

Progna Chocolate pudding Final1

Nabanita Firni

Pramistha Paneer kheer(Paneer payasam)

Pramitha Apple Sandesh

Pramitha Carrot Beetroot halwa

Pramitha Corn Flour Halwa in microwave

Sharanya Green peas kachori with Dum Aloo

Sowmya Chickpea Halwa

Vijaylakshmi Biscuit Mushroom

Vijaylakshmi Eggless Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

Vijaylakshmi Green Peas Kachori with Spicy Dum Aloo

Vijaylakshmi White Peas Vada

Vinee Dhuska

Chandrani Tri Color Sandwich

Sharanya Tapioca Fry

Manjula Rajasthani mini ghevar topped with kesar rabdi

Pepper Pullapart garlic bread

Roha Hyderabadi Tala Hua Gosht

Shama Cheese veggie sandwich

Sharanya Beet soup

Sharanya Dahi Idli chaat

Sharanya Rajasthani Ghevar with kesar rabdi

Sharanya spinach pesto Pull Apart Bread

Jaleela Black and white sesame seeds gujiya

Manjula Straw and blue berries shrikand

Deepashri Kulfi

Sharanya Misal Pav

The post from non-blogger, Anu are here:

Bread Gulab Jamun

Dessert, Indian

  

Ingredients

• *Bread-6 slices(brown part removed)
• *milk-5 or 6 tablsp
• *cardamom-5
• *sugar-half cup
• *water-1 cup
• *almonds/cashews(optional)
• *oil

Directions

• >Mix bread and milk to a consistency so that u can roll balls from it...If U want U can make bread to small crumbs 1st.dough should not be soggy
• >make small balls,fry them in oil or ghee
• >Boil water,sugar and crushed cardamom till it become syrup(dont make it too thick,once it cools it will get more thicker)
• >remove syrup from heat,allow to cool,then add bread balls
• >atleast keep it for 1hr,or refrigerate,garnish with thinly sliced almonds

Print Recipe | Print Ingredients Only

Choco Cup Icecream

Dessert, Indian

  

Ingredients

• Disposable glass
• *chocolate
• *ice cream or whipping cream
• *nuts,biscut crumbs,fruits or wafers...

Directions

• Melt chocolate by double boiling or in oven
• Pour to glass and spread evenly with a brush or spoon
• Keep in freezer for at least 1 hr and make sure it is hardened enough before you take it out
• With a knife,carefully separate glass and chocolate,again keep in fridge
• By this time you can prepare filling, either ice cream or whipping cream
• Fill your cup with anything of UR choice(nuts or biscuit) and finally top it up with ice cream

Print Recipe | Print Ingredients Only

And, here are the winners for the Flipkart vouchers sponsored by  CupoNation.

1. Vijaylakshmi of Virunthu unna vaanga

2. Saraniya of Sara’s tasty buds

Both of you please send me an email to bengalicuisne[at]gmail[dot]com so that I can send you the vouchers.

 Thanks to all those who shared your wonderful recipes for this event.

  If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader

Fenugreek is one of the mostly grown herbs in India. The seeds are widely used as spices in whole or grounded in different North Indian dishes. But the fresh leaves with its distinctive taste and aroma is used in meat preparations like methi chicken. Another use of these fresh leaves is to make the well known methi paratha.

As the plants grow in winter, methi paratha is a common breakfast or dinner option for many. I love the bitter sweet taste of the leaves. The parathas taste great with just some mango pickle and curd. This is one of the easiest ways of preparing stuffed parota, and is less completed that the actually stiffed parathas like aloo paratha or gobi paratha. All you have to do is add the leaves to the flour and roll out into parathas.

When I first started making chapatis and parathas, I never got the perfect circular rotis, but don’t worry if your paratha looks like some country map, it will taste the same .

Hot Tips – If you partially cook the paratha before adding the oil, it takes less oil to make the paratha. If you want the parathas to be oily, just add oil first and then directly fry the parathas in it.

Don’t forget to send in your entries to Holi event and Giveaway and get a chance to win vouchers from Flipkart sponsored by CupoNation.

  If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or Subscribe in a reader