Eastern Aroma

Presto Pasta – in Creamy Mustard Sauce

2010-03-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I go through the phases in which get hooked on something and have to eat it day in and out, more often than not a visit to Café Leopold does that to me…then for days I crave for the rich creamy taste – but then I cant have the creamy sauces for the sake of my ever-growing waist, so it’s a double whammy! To make something at home, I searched and searched and then adapted a recipe from Heart and Hearth to suit my Bengali sensibilities.

The Pasta – in Creamy Mustard Sauce

1 pack pasta around 300 gms (Macaroni, Fuseli, whole wheat...just any pasta u fancy) cooked al-dente

1.5 cup milk

2 tbsp English mustard sauce

1 packet button mushrooms, chopped

½ broccolis (for that green velvety colour and crunch)

2 stalk green onion, coarsely chopped

Salt and white pepper to taste

1 tbsp Cheddar (or any sharp cheese as a topping)

1 tbsp coarsely chopped parsley (as a garnish)

Method

1. Thaw broccoli, then stir fry the mushrooms and broccoli in a cooking pan until slightly browned and cooked yet crunchy.

2. Sauté the green onion until softened. Add in half of the stir fried button mushrooms. Turn off the heat and add the milk and sauce is thick and bubbly. Mix the Cheese till it melts.

3. Sprinkle salt and white pepper as per your liking

4. Serve hot and sprinkle the chopped parsley on top.

The pasta sauce is tangy and bursting with flavors of mushroom and fresh parsley. The original recipe calls for bacon bits on top – so if you want add fried bits of meat/seafood on top for added flavor. Being a vegetarian, I omitted that part. For Xtra zing you can add more of the mustard sauce!

An evening at Colaba :: Café Leopold :: Mumbai

2010-03-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

When it comes to picking one place out of the hoards we have in Mumbai, I can think of only one – Café Leopold. warm, buzzin, welcoming, forever crowded and always celebratory….Ahh..the foods’ delicious too…Though I don’t like too many variations with my beer, crisp toasted peanuts, fried baby corn and french fries would be my regulars (yeah I’m so boring at times!), somehow a wide selection and happy faces compel me to order for a variant here. Whenever we visit Leopold we order for a pitcher , the regular accompaniments’, the chef’s special and wait for magic to happen on our table . This time we ordered for fried eggs, stir fried veggies with extra broccoli and cheese (yumm!), pasta carbonara and dinner rolls. Once the food arrives there is always competition to eat – which makes me a super failure at taking food pics, will the empty dishes do any good?...

The penalty we pay for visiting Cafe Leopold is having to endure an insanely full tummy, and a velvety creamy pasta taste stuck the lips – if you too like us favour pasta over the rest .

Meal for two with beer : 700

India's first Ice bar :: 21 Fahrenheit :: Mumbai

2010-03-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

India's first Ice bar :: 21 Fahrenheit :: Mumbai

Visiting an all ice bar was had its own charm for my 20 something brother. We were looking for an apt place to celebrate my husband’s new job – in a new city, and the place had to match our spirits. With that intent the 21 Fa hrenheit was voted for. Needless to add – my brother was super excited.

A first of its kind in the country, the place boasted of an all ice bar at -6degree C , with special winter coats , gloves and boots for the pubbers. Along with the ice bar – which was a bit of a put off in January we opted for the pan Asian open kitchen restaurant and the food did not disappoint us. Albeit steeply priced and lesser than the usual portion size (which indeed was a dampener), the food was cooked to perfection.

The complimentary appetizer was a treat to the eyes. The bite size assorted fries were teeny morsels, much too less to whet the appetite of three hungry Diners, nevertheless it was fun to nibble on the free food. We ordered the Teppanyaki grilled vegetable which was served with a choice of delectable sauces, the sweet n sour peanut dip being the best, the dish was indeed one of the finest accompaniment to the Chilled beer and frozen Margarita.

Devoid of music and steeping prices prompted us to leave a bit sooner than expected! All I can say – that the place is good for one time experience and have a swig or two, would not recommend it for a full fledged dining experience.

Dinner for two with one drink: 1700

A journey into the heart of Chandni Chowk :: Parathewali Gali :: New Delhi

2010-03-30T01:43:00.000-07:00

A visit to the Chandni Chowk is must to feel the pulse of Delhi , Walking through its narrow arteries on a summery Saturday noon – and you sense that siesta is the last thing on the minds of the busy traders. You stop here, you gaze at the goodies, and you give a stunned stare, hardly any onlookers. Perhaps most people have on the 'end of the day moolah earned blinders' and don't have that kind of time to bother. Perhaps Darwin’s theory of adaptation is at work here – where people become accustomed to being crowded by people, all over, all day. All said and done—its fun. A different experience.

We went there to participate in a friends wedding trousseau shopping, and the reward for all that hard work was of course food. Naturally, the last stop to our Chandni chowk sojourn had to be parathe wali gali. So much has already been written and talked about the ubiquitous parathas, and I can hardly do justice to the paeans. All I can say is the parathas are no-where near to the regular ones we are used to having. It’s a savoury sin, deep fried roundels of well rolled out kneaded flour , stuffed with your choice of stuffing. And Voila! What a choice they offer – from dry fruit stuffing the bitter karela they have it all. The serve the parathas with one curried vegetable and one dry vegetable, plus a sweet chutney. In case you can stomach more—order for a sweet lassi from the shop next door. The waiters will happily oblige you with lassi at your table. That day we ordered – matar + methi + paneer +alu + gobhi parathas all served with unlimited serving of the veggies, and for sweets we pre-purchased the famous Jalebi. What more can one ask for. We just digged in!

The Parathas were cooked right in front of us – the cooks displayed an amazing cookery feat which involved a combination of swiftness, care, clout, innovation, sincerity and many other things that we totally undermine when it comes to an age-old job of just cooking and serving …and we all agree, its much more than that.

Meal for two : 150 Rs

An evening at YOKO :: Mumbai

2010-03-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

Back after a long haul. Agree that I love cooking, a hundred times more than gorging on what is served to me without moving a limb. Perhaps, I’m a behind the scene person… nevertheless a recent visit to Yoko in Mumbai left me asking for more! more of their delectable food. Our order was the usual: Steak Sizzler with Mushroom, cream and cheese, one noodle sizzler, a side of baked bean on bread, egg club sandwich, all washed down by refreshingly cold ice tea. It was just another day of eating out and we weren’t expecting something unusual , BUT it turned out to be olfactory treat, our gastronomic indulgence began the moment the food was laid before us. The ‘sizzle’ beckoned us to taste food; the uprising smoke almost fired up the anticipation…and then we slowed ourselves down to appreciate the charred aroma of the juicy steak, veiled by crisp fries and sautéed spinach and so much more.

The smokey environment was initially a bit of put off, especially emanating from a non-smoking non drinking family restaurant, however no-one was complaining. From the moment you sit down to place your order – the smelling taste is put to action. Food aside, the beverage section is sparsely populated with choices, although full justice has been done to the listings. This is one of the few restaurants where the peach Ice tea smells and tastes of real Peaches.

Dessert – we could not make it to that far …just order the main course, and I promise that you'll be richly rewarded - just like we were.

Approx price for meal for two - 700.

No Bake Chocolate Pie

2008-12-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while we all face scenarios wherein we have to cater to guests which puts our patience and skill of cooking to test. So it goes, yesterday it was mine and hubby’s turn. We thought of individually catering to the tastes of 6 different guests, and all of them with own dietary needs and requests, and an uneven age group ranging from four to forty!

Initially it felt more like the doing the 'science of maths' than the 'art of cooking'-> taking headcount, scribbling down the menu and the process involved tedious arithmetic of adding and subtracting, buying ingredients after taking the existing stock into account and finally getting down to business of cooking -> multiplying the recipes meant for two to cater eight! Who says cooking is a dumb housewives job! My mind is still droned in all these numbers. However, the numbers cant surely take into account the sounds of laughter orchestrated with the tinkling of glasses which filled our house yesterday , the fussy four year old’s enchantment with ‘gems’ on her dessert and the happy burp of the filed tummy. Feels incredible! So I gather, its art after all.

Yesterday we tried tons of new recipes, and some were truly a HIT and surprisingly they took so little time to make, here is one of my personal favourites adapted from Aayis Recipe.

No bake Chocolate Pie

With guest list which comprises of anyone under 5: chocolate is a must , or so my instincts told me and the smile on my little guests face confirmed my doubts.

So here is the easy no bake choclate pie recipe, which is sure to bring a smile on your little ones face too.

Ingredients:
3 packs of Parle G (or any glucose biscuit)
2 heaped tbsp cocoa powder (sugarless)
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 tsp instant coffee
1 cup fresh cream
1/2 cup warm milk
1 cup granulated sugar
Sugar dust/Gems for sprinkling on top

Method:
If you are using glucose biscuit, try and fetch a rectangular or square large bottomed pie vessel to keep up with the shape of the biscuit. Line the pie dish with 2 layers of biscuits and soak them with 1/4 cup milk.

In a separate bowl, mix sugar, chocolate chips vanilla and cream. Mix slowly to get a uniform mixture. Add sugar as per your taste. Drizzle this mixture on the soaked biscuits. Top it with a biscuit line up again. Repeat the process.

Serve chilled, not frozen. .

Eating in Vs Eating out: Easy Vegetarian Soup

2008-10-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Eating out is more of hobby for most people these days, and then after relentless pursuing of this hobby for years it becomes a habit. I used to belong to one of these ‘eating out bandwagons’ till I almost caved in to the agony of bad taste and started cooking. I have had months when I would eat out at least 25 days, its Grosse, unhealthy, and ridiculously expensive…not that I have actually spent my whole bank balance on those eat out sessions – it used to be mostly apples, fresh juice , lassi, fruit platter from the juice corner and a vegetarian sandwich from the deli counter…but now as I look back, I know that I’m really sick of the salad sandwich at the deli section, salad (in my sandwich) meant roundels of raw cucumber, onion and tomato, sprinkled with some salt and oregano spice, trapped between two innocuous slices of brown bread. Trust me, if was like swallowing torture, by the time I would finish the slices would have gotten damp and the vegetables limp. The cheese grilled was no better either; it used to be nice when hot but then again, If I were to be a few minutes late, chewing would be a struggle. It got so Cheeeewy that even my molars hurt. Not to mention, the effect it had on my waistline. My jeans’ refused to hold my belly and butt together and if did force them to obey me, ‘POP’ would go my buttons! So I knew I had to stop.

So, yeah, I've been making a lot of soups lately – best part is you slurp on it as a warm starter and freeze the leftover(if any!), and later use it to add flavour and nutrition to curried dishes for an elaborate meal. It's easy to portion out.

Today I used Bottle gourd. For me everyday it’s a different vegetable for a different flavour, but I used bottle gourd all the more due to its health benefits , which I came to know courtesy Baba Ramdev and his sermons regarding Lauki. Cooking becomes all the more better if it promises to add that extra dash of vitality to your and your family’s health. Isn’t it?

What I used:

Ingredients:

1 small bottle gourd (lauki) or 2 large cups chopped in large chunks.

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp garlic (freshly pounded or roughly chopped)

1 onion

2 tomatoes

Salt and green chillies to taste

2 tsp corn flour mixed in cold water

For garnishing: 1 onion fried, ½ cup roasted croutons and freshly chopped coriander leaves

Fill the pressure pan with a beer mug's worth of bottle gourd, 1 onion, tomato, green chillies, ginger, garlic into with 2 cups of water, cook until soft and mushy approx 4 whistles.

Cool and grind the above mixer along with all masalas and salt in the mixer. Now strain to remove all big seeds and ginger juliennes. Oh, don't run the blender for more than a minute.

Fry the onions till pink and add the above. Whisk the corn flour in water till its lump free and add to the boiling lauki soup, to thicken it. Stirring continuously. Remove from fire once you are happy with the consistency of the soup.

Pour in individual bowls and garnish with croutons and coriander. Serve piping hot! With a dollop of butter on top (if you pleaseJ).

Freeze the rest of the untarnished soup, and add it to thicken and spike your curries.

Baked Bengali Biryani

2008-10-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

I used to believe that Biryani’s have to be made in a cooker, or slow cooked for hours in a handi for the best taste effect , but I was recently thumped by a food show on NDTV titled ‘Cooking isn’t rocket science’ in which the host had an entirely different take on biryani, albeit an interesting one. She called it British Biryani, however, as I have taken a few liberties with the recipe , I think it just might as well have a new name to suit the Bengali twist and call it Baked Bengali Biryani.

Athough this recipe sounds English, this biryani involves all the nuances and experiences of a traditional one. Chopping all the vegetable, grinding of aromatic spices, soaking saffron in warm milk and releasing the fragrant aroma while the vegetables...really its just as good as the old fashioned one. If you come to think of it, Biryani is derived from the Persian word 'Birian' and In Farsi, Birian means 'Fried before Cooking'. Which I did , so it's not that much of a deviation—and serves the dual purpose of keeping the purist in me happy.

{What type of rice to make Biryani? (says India Curry)

Historically, long-grain brown rice was used in North India; while, short grain Zeera Samba rice was used in South India. In Bangladesh, puffed rice is used. Parboiled long grain rice has following advantages:

1) Long grain rice has low Amylopectin starch, making it less sticky.

2) Parboiling makes the starch gelatinized making it further less susceptible to being sticky.

3) The brownness of the rice is due to the bran on the rice. The bran gives the 'chewy' texture to the grain.

Most common rice used today, is white Basmati rice.}

Now lets begin the fun part, that is cooking it:

I used the following ingredients:

1) 2 cups basmati rice

2) 2 cups mixed vegetable (1 onion, 1 tomato,2-3 chopped carrots, 1/2 cup cauliflowere florets, 1 potato cubed,1 cup peas )

3) Spices for vegetables used : 1 cardamom large, 2-3 small cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon, 2-3 cloves,1/2 tsp mace powder(all of it crudely crushed, ground)

4) other spices: 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, coriander leaves,2 green chillies,4-5 stands saffron, 1/2 cup milk

5) 1 onion thinly sliced and fried till brown, 2-3 slivers lemon, for layering and flavour

6)2-3 hard boiled eggs(optional)

7) paneer grated (1/2 cup) or heavy cream 1/2 cup (optional)

8) oil for frying and lining the baking tray

Salt to taste

How I made it:

I usually make this biryani with vegetables and eggs. For diehard non-veggies, the vegetables can be mightily substituted with minced meat. This also can be made only with vegetables.

Method:

Pound the whole garam masalas(listed in nos 3) to a course powder using a mortar and pestle. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a low heat and fry the vegetanles. Chopped onions go in first , followed by cumin seeds, green chillies, ginger and garlic paste till well browned , now add to it the tomatoes and fry a little and add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds and fry 2 minutes.

Add salt and turmeric and fry for 5 minutes, and now add all the vegetables, starting with cauliflower, boiled cubed potato, carrot and cover the lid till done for approx 8 minutes, now add the peas and cover for another two minutes. Once done, garnish with coriander and keep aside.

In a separate pan, heat the ghee, add bay leaf and fry the rice for about 3 minutes. Add water and cover . Cook for about 25 minutes or until soft. Lay out on a tray to dry a little.

Soak the saffron in warm milk .

Grease an ovenproof dish with butter, and then layer up the rice, for the second layer add the cooked vegetables, fried onion, lime and repeat - then pour over the saffron milk on top. Top it with grated paneer or some heavy cream.

Bake at 180 c for 15 minutes, careful that the rice does not stick to the side.

Top it with halved boiled eggs and serve immediately.

Serves : 4-5
Preparation time: 1hr.

The sounds of Diwali

2008-10-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

Sitting on my computer, early morning on the Diwali day , the sound of a few patakhas --mostly bombs bursted by over excited kids is the most reassuring, familiar, festival sound to me. It just takes me back to my chilhood days when I would join the gang of boys , and after lot of hankeing, pestering and courage gathering, they would 'allow' me to burn a few mirchi bombs. Although scared of all sorts of bomb sounds , I still did it just to show it off to my brother, who eight years younger to me would stand in one corner and clap hands at the brevity of his didi.

The patakha sound still reminds of the chaos in the evening with our house swamped with family friends and how my mother would panic in the kitchen. Which me left to do the menial task of serving the guests and setting the table etc. and my brother used to wait impatiently in the parking area to start the ceremony of bursting crackers. The smoky dizzying smell of the crackers, the smoke infused ghee laddus and nimkis, savoured in-between the baji-porano session and my brothers reluctance to let the day end ...I think i'm still cabapble of living each moment of those days minute by minute.

Today the only thing I can do to faintly match the sound of patakhas is the whistle of the pressure cooker, which I intend on playing in a overdrive mode, just to ensure that the festivity which almost began in the kichten in my childhood home may always remain. But strangely though, I had never been a cook , I was a food aficionado at best . Ma would insist that I learn something, but I would listen inattentively , lurking in the kitchen only to take one bite of that fresh hot pakora. Or assist with rounding the laddus just to pop in a few in my mouth on the pretext of them being craggy edged!

Cut to today, with a kitchen and a fussy eater as a husband -- to myself, I seem to have discovered the joys of cooking! the festive sounds are so resonant with the memories of the yesteryears than anything else. Reminding me of all-- that was Diwali.

Tangy Creamy Bhindi (Coconut-mustard Okra)

Mustard paste is a delicacy in almost every Bengali household.Mustard is typically hand grinded with a little salt and green chillies and added to potato/vegetables/fish, mixed with parboiled rice and eaten. Okra being a very versatile vegetable is very delicious when cooked into this mustard-coconut and curd paste, along with a typical south Indian tadka gives a fresh twist which makes it simply mmmm.

150 gms Okra(bindi)
1/2 cup set curd
1tbsp fresh Mustard paste
1 cup grated coconut
salt to taste
1tpsb mustard oil
2-3 slit green chillies
2-3 sprigs meethi neem(karipatta)

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard oil and then once its smoky add 1 tsp mustard seeds and let them pop, add leaves toss for a half a minute till the flavors come out and take care not to burn them.Now add the slit salted and green chillis and saute for a minute. Cook covered on medium flame for 10 minutes or until done and browned.

Now in a mixer add the mustard paste, or soaked remaining mustard seeds (if you are making a fresh paste). Grind mustard well until smooth.Add green chillies and salt and little water if required and grind again. Now add coconut and curd and a little water and make a smooth paste.

Now add the paste to the okra mixture with approx half cup of water. Bring to a boil and reduce flame and cover with lid. Let it cook for 5-6 mts till the gravy thickens slightly.Once cooked, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.

Pujor aahar -- Vegetarian Kobiraji Cutlet

2008-10-25T04:29:00.000-07:00

Durga Pujo to us Bangalis is as much about Ma Durgar Pujo as its about our little own Pet Pujo. Every Bangali worth his fetish for Pheesh , Phootball and Phoron, knows the role of food during these four days of Pujo...and of course the Bijoya days that follow. This year while vacationing with my family back in Lucknow, I gratefully realised that not much as changed since my growning up years. Bijoya Pronam is still followed by a plateful of mishti--that's a wide variety of assorted sweets , some home cooked and some store brought with narkel nadu (coconut laddu) making its presence felt in almost every household, ghooghni(chick peas dried curry), nonta(salty savories) and a signature dish to add as a suprise element. Now this signature dish is anything from a devilled eggs to kobiraji cutlet to a kid friendly version of the menu such as mini burgers. And the taste ah! it tastes all the more incredible, as its that time of the year when the bright october sun mixes warmly with mami and mashi' excited banter, and the mild smell of shiuli flowers add to the heady aroma of freshly fried cutlets. I dont know whether its my nostalgia speaking, but as I'm writing i feel that there is this tiny sadness clutching onto faint corner of my heart , as much miss those Pujo days , I also miss my mom's famous cutlets, this to me is 'wishful craving', this to me is also nostalgia, can anyone tell me why...?

2 cups boiled cholar dal (I'd use a pinch salt and haldi for boiling)
2 onions chopped fine
1 t ginger paste
1 pinch asafoetida(heeng)
1 tsp garam masala
1 chopped green chili
2 tomatoes, skinned and chopped alternatively can use 1.5 tsp aamchur powder
2 T ghee
2 eggs for coating
1/2 cup bread crumbs
ghee/oil for frying cutlets
1/2 t sugar
salt to taste

Add to the chana dal a pinch of turmeric and some salt. Place in a pressure pan with just enough water water and cook. Around 4 whistles or let it boil until the dal is cooked and quite soft. Let teh extra water remain.

Heat ghee in a pan. Add onion, ginger, turmeric , a pinch asafoetida and green chillies. Mix
well and fry 3 or 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and finally the boiled dal. Mix thoroughly, adding salt and sugar to taste. Add garam masala when the water dries off.

Remove from fire when the dal mixture has browned and appears well mixed. Cool.
Divide mixture into desired shape about quarter inch thick. Makes around 10.

Beat the eggs and now coat the cutlets in egg mixture, and finally roll in bread
crumbs .Heat ghee in frying pan and fry cutlets until well browned on both sides.

Serves 5, calories : 175-190/cutlet.

Bengali Ghugni(Yellow pea curry)

2008-06-19T02:09:00.000-07:00

I haven’t been on the blogging scene for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking or eating new stuff, sole reason of my absence was too much travel and then I got caught in the whirlwind of work. Travelling is terrific for the sensory as well as olfactory nerves (nose for the uninitiated!), but a week out of home and I was salivating for the known tastes. Indeed the recipe is a dear friend-Swati’s request, and the dish is Bangali ghooghi/ghugni (Bengali matar curry-sounds like a cross between Punjab and West Bengal!!) and though I’m not sure, but I think the ‘Bengali garam masala( five spice blend) may have been put on Earth for the sole purpose of rendering a terrific eastern aroma to this ghooghni... Yummmmm!

Bengali Ghugni

"Puritans" enjoy the ghooghni loaded with kheema (minced and fried red meat ) and greased with ghee. Only if their arteries could speak, they would have loved this Low cal Bengali vegetarian concoction!

What I used:

1 cup soaked and boiled peas
2tsp vegetable oil (this dish tastes better when the base mixture is sautéed in ghee, but then…)
1 potato(boiled and cubed)
2 onions (chopped fine)
1 tomato (de-skinned and chopped fine)
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp ginger paste
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 dry chilli
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp bengali garam masala powder
2 tbsp coconut scrapings
½ tsp black salt
green chillies
Salt to taste

How I did it:

Like the popular chole recipe, you need to soak dry peas overnight in water, pressure cook with a teaspoon of salt. Do not overboil. Heat oil in a pan, and add a bayleaf, cumin, and cinnamon. Sauté till it splutters.

Add the chopped onions and stir fry till light brown. Add tomato, ginger paste, green chillies. Stirring briskly for a minute. Now add turmeric powder, and salt. Lastly add the boiled dry peas, potatoes and grated fresh coconut and let it all boil for 5-10 minutes on low heat, or till the consistency is thick with flavours flowing into each other and ingredients well cooked. Sprinkle garam masala powder on top, stir and remove from heat.
Sprinkle lemon juice and Serve piping hot.

Serving suggestion: white rice /phulkas or just have it as a tea time snack with fried alu bhujias on top.

Calories per serving : 125(without the fried bhujias on top)

Vegetarian Mangshor Ghugni

Oh! What a contradiction, but yes a low calorie and healthier version of the trans fat loaded mangshor ghugni is here: so if you are the longing for the same pujor diner Mangshor Ghugni aar Luuchi, then here’s what you can do:

Keep the Ghughni recipe same as above, and to the above ingredients add 1 cup soaked, drained and refried soya granules. While you are adding the boiled peas to the masala paste add them as well. You can avoid the coconut here and top it with lime juice and shredded coriander leaves.

Add a huge dollop of hot ghee on top (if you must!)

Bengali garam masala

This is something my mother prepares in large batches and couriers to me. On pestering her for the recipe, she shared hers here:

Ingredients:

3 tblsp Black Pepper corns

1 tblsp whole Cloves (Lavang)

2-3 Cinnamon (Dalchini)

20 green bruised Cardamom pods (choti Elaichi)
6-7 brown bruised Cardamom pods (Badi Elaichi)

1 tbsp Shahi Cumin Seed (Jeera)

1tsp Jafran

How my mom does it:
Dry roast all ingredients in a dry pan and heat over a very low fire, shaking the pan time to time.When a beautiful fragrance stars enveloping your room, know its done. Allow to cool slightly, then grind finely in an electric grinder. Or grind using a mortar and pestle and fine sieve afterwards. Store it in an airtight container.

Pea and Spinach Rotis or Popeye Rotis

2008-06-11T03:46:00.000-07:00

Taking forward the Roti week which I have embarked upon, I present Spinach Rotis--a basic staple which becomes attractive due to its colourful mirrored self, uhm a welcome change for most, from dieters to kids who find it alluringly delicious, it’s a bonus as well—as it scores high on the satiety factor, is low in calories, nutrients dense and wholesome meal—, that’s true, this sort of change is nice, refreshing, nutritious, but then how exactly did I arrive at this vegetable Roti thing: it’s interesting… as a kid I hated spinach and it was pre Popeye times so my mother couldn’t even lure me with muscle dreams, but having a ‘u must clean your plate mom!’ my Spinach eating was a de-rigueur. Spinach and pea soups and vegetable stews were the main event. Between slurps of soup, on a wintry night the four of us would watch TV and think of the main course, hurrying through the flavoured watery soup, we would all build up a mountain of discards in an outsized family bowl. We'd always create a rumpus over those vegetable chunks (Eat them? toss on each others plate? Or re-toss them into something else?) a dilemma which my mother had to endure on most of these nippy nights when we had excess of leftovers on our family bowl. She then introduced the vegetable filled Rotis, everyday sweating over some new filling, some new twist, and some new drama. And that's how ma created excitement before the dinner was announced. These unfussy and relaxed dinners always left me with a light stomach and uplifted mood, which is why I still make these stuffed rotis and buy spinach bunches almost every week…nostalgia, what else.

Now if you don’t have readily available leftover stew or vegetables, and are awed by the near mythical properties of the humble Spinach, fret no more, you can still whip up a quick stuffing and make delicious Rotis. Variations are abound , all you need is have things readily available in your shelf like some fresh or frozen peas, tamarind, coconut for an Indian touch and mushrooms, beans and parsley for a western flavour. Just keep one thing in mind, that its best to cook the spinach right after you buy them –storing it makes its limp and lame…quite unappetizing to start with!

Ingredients:
1) ½ cup dried spinach (if making from a soup)/2 cups fresh spinach
2) ½ cup cook, boiled, mashed pea/1 cup fresh peas
3) 1 tsp tamarind paste
4) 1/2 tsp gur/jaggery
5) salt to taste

For the seasoning
6) 1 tsp oil
7) 1 sprig karipatta/sweet neem
8) 1 t mustard seeds
9) 1 pinch of asafetida
10) 1 tsp shredded ginger
11) 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
12) ¼ cup coconut
13)2-3 slit green/ red chilies

For the rotis
2 cups all purpose flour
1cup curd
Salt to taste

How I did it:
Cook the peas, till they are soft but not overdone, and dry the paste and add all the other masalas, namely from 1-5.
For the tempering, heat the oil, add mustard seeds and let it splutter, now add karipatta, green chilies, ginger, garlic, a pinch of asafetida and coconut. Dont let it brown too much
To the above mixture add spinach and peas. Spinach should be done quickly, but take some time to mix all of them into a homogeneous mixture. Lightly grind it in the mixer if you think its too grainy to be stuffed.
This mixture can be had on its own with steaming rice and some ghee.

For the rotis
Knead flour at knight with curds and salt, and cover with a wet cloth. Leave overnight. Refrigerate for an hour before rolling it out.
Stuff a spoonful of the above mixture and roll it on a flat rolling board. Take care so that the stuffing does not spill out. Fry or roast it one by one on hot pan.
Serve with sauce or chutney.
Tastes heavenly

Variations
Try using the taco shells and stuffing this mixture, and stir frying them. Have it with sour cream dip, Its yum!

Dal Bhara Ruti(Dal Stuffed Rotis)

2008-06-10T00:52:00.000-07:00

Today is a dark and gloomy day, the moment I entered office I felt damp coldness all over, it almost felt like I’m living in a cave for awhile. All I could think of was my Tiffin, I was looking for that comfortable and familiar aroma of home food.My Didu, my mother and all my aunts would make their own garam masala and add it to their recipes in specified proportions, and that would make all the difference to even the basic of meals. Everyday in my Tiffin I would find all kinds of food to match my mood and my ma’s budget. ... today I tried that similar trick. I tried a quick, easy, cheap and delicious meal, the perfect antidote for a depressive day like this, and I wanted to savour it before sharing with anyone... I realize, though, that I bartered quick meals with comfort food or maybe I’m not that big a foodie as I though I am. For today my comfort food lying quietly in my tiffin is -- stuffed chapattis, which I plan to team it up with hot coffee. Somehow, the dal and roti in all its avatars is comfort food for me…for bongs its usually dal –bhat aar alu bhate which works like magic, but talk of breakfast and you ought to have a quick fix version --so this is it for me, and the best part is, I make it with all the leftover dal with some dried condiments and herbs added.

The thought of comfort food was swirling in my mind since yesterday, after I finished about two stories from the book Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, where most of the stories revolve round the subtle nuances or relationships but as the story evolves, you can feel a faint mention of bong aromas, sometimes in the form of luchis , sometimes is alu bhaja or cutlets, their abhorrence towards anything English claiming its bland or more as an attempt to clutch on to the bong cultural remnants in faraway land. The protagonists of the stories carry a whiff of the Bong pride which seems to stand upright even in the in mad Howrah station rush. The stories touch the chord somewhere; I think it would for all Bengalis as it does to me.

Getting back to where I started, I would like to share this comfort breakfast recipe made from leftover Dal (or any cooked vegetable you might fancy).

Dal Stuffed Chappatis

Ingredients

11/2 cups leftover Dal (assuming its salted and seasoned with whatever you fancy)
2 cups Flour
1cup Milk (to knead the flour)
½ tsp Garam Masala
2-3 sprigs fresh coriander/mint /parsley
1tsp Ajwain
1 pinch Amchur powder
Salt to taste

What i did:
Knead the four as you would do for roti, with milk and water and salt to desire. Make it soft and pliable. To turn the Dal into a dough filing, by drying the Dal in slow fire, adding salt and chillies to taste, add coriander and garam masala and ajwain in the end. The filling should be dry enough to stuff inside the roti dough.

Now pluck small balls from the roti dough and fill it lemon sized Dal stuffing, and roll out neatly so that the filing does not spill out.

Now roast the rotis on a flat pan. Turn once done.its tastier if you add some ghee and fry , like you would do ti a paratha, but its just as good without it.

Eat it with aam chatni or pickle, it rocks!

PS : For Kids, you can roll it up with some aam chatni in the centre, and its acts as a wholesome snack, with carbohydrates, proteins, and goodness of a fruit trapped inside.

Sondesh

2008-06-09T04:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was off with my colleagues at a wildlife resort for 2 days , shouted screamed and yelled and did everything what calls for, but then I would intermittently retire to my room, do some reading and be back, ready for action …off late I have realized, that I need my better half by my side to complement the moody blues I have, the need to be alone and then with people in a cyclic order …sometimes I miss the lonely comfort of my single room apartment, where even the morning light has to put in a lot of effort to streak in, while I would lie in bed thinking the best way to take on the day via daydreams, those dreams have given way to the realities, not harsh but soft and gooey as a hot fudge with occasional ‘nuts’ thrown in for crunch and twist—do we call them ‘relatives’?:)

On my way back home, I spent about six hours in a bus, even though I was rendered motionless due to paucity of space, arbit thoughts kept dancing around my head all throughout…sometimes it took the shape of wire drawing on the back of paper napkins and at others I aimlessly kept flirting with ideas in my mind

Life was moving on wheels.

Today is Monday morning. Now at my office desk with rest of the people whirling past in a pleasantly fast pace, catching up with the days work, I can easily put aside the ‘dancing thoughts’, but I have an idea, its pleasant to watch the sudden burst of inspiration bubble, gathering the burst boils and culminating them once again, just like unused milk or scraps of cheese…which often makes way to something nice, hurried, but nonetheless savoured to bits.

That particular bit of food is what hubby made yesterday. Its sondesh. Fond memories of my childhood came flooding back at that first bite. Hubby has a way about him. The first thing I did after being back from my trip was to taste his labour of love. We had dinner post that. We watched ‘Friends’. Jut two days away from him—one look into his eyes it’ was hard to look away;) Eating the sondesh, watching friends, I thought how can I just have roller coaster days , may be my love to being completely alone has slowly made me hanker to be with him…two of us comprises ‘alone’ , thinking if its again possible to bookmark the moment. I know I cant, but I can indeed put the recipe of my hubby’s classic creation here—for all the bong husbands or husbands who have bong wives…to rekindle the romance….believe you it works like oysters for the bong belly:)

Sondesh

Tangy Cabbage Salad (bong style)

2008-06-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

One of my Bangalore summer favourites are the gingery, mustardy heady scents that brings to mind the aromas wafting from my mothers kitchen…theres a sweet pungency to the smell quite distinctive of bong cuisine…jumping out to you, say from a tightly closed box of heeng which could never be too tight not to allow any of its sharp smell to slip by, mixing heavily with a tumbler full of freshly grounded mustard and green chillies, some fried bori (dried lentil dumplings), finally blending with the monsoony smell of the freshly washed greens, some for the salad and some for the food.

Before I continue being nostalgic about my younger days, I should add that: salad is not a part of a regular bong kitchen-as I have never seen any paraphernalia associated with it in my granny’s kitchen-- ringed onions and cucumber or either one of these two would classify as a salad!! Salad is a concept drilled in me by my mom –a crusade she started to combat the lifestyle diseases my father was battling, and needless to say the battle is won. I agree that there is no foolproof way to safeguard your life, but prevention is the key .As far as the ‘prevention process’ is concerned, the first one was of course drilling the concept of healthy eating in my ‘battle hardened baba’s mind’ and the second one was to come up with new healthy salad infuses with strong bong intonations to the dinner table everyday. Her seasonings would sometimes be bong, and through her bong touchups I think she unknowingly introduced a new genre of bong cuisine-The healhy side of a bong belly-The Bong salad(s)

Here is the recipe from my mother’s Bong Salad recipe chest or you can say Diet bong food collection, what i call my mother’s Apollo stunt

PS (Apollo is a chain of health centre promoting healthy heart friendly food)

Tangy Cabbage salad (Mom’s special)

Ingredient:
1) 2-3 tbsp orange juice concentrate
2) ½ cup julienned mint leaves/parsley /coriander
3) 2 crispy sweet apples (grated)
4) ½ cup cabbage (chopped fine)
5) Rock salt(to taste)
6) ½ cup toasted, crisp and crushed –muri (rice crispies)
7) Toasted and crushed dried red chillies(to taste)
8) Toasted and crushed peanuts, a handful
9) 2 tsp lemon juice (preferabley gandharaj lebu)

Toss 1-4 ingredients and add lime and refrigerate. Just before serving add the rock salt, crushed peanuts and crushed muri …the mint in the salad makes it summary, so if you are trying it out when its not soo hot—then parsley/coriander will do a neat job.

You can have this meal on its own on in conjunction with your lunch or even as a mid meal snack. Muri is a traditional bong snack item, this salad just retails that part of it , making it more healthier and low calorie for the weight watchers.

Calories per serving-80 calories

If having as a standalone meal, compliment it with a tall glass of salted and spicy buttermilk/sweet lassi, to make turn it into a nutritionally balanced meal in itself

Quick Bong food

2008-06-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

Some days are just so busy, when you can’t care less for the healthy antioxidants in the food or the calories or even the masala proportions, and invariably these are the days which have to follow the Murphy’s Law to the T, talk of chaos aaaaargh!! Like yesterday, I was running late for work when I realised that the maid didn’t turn up, the electricity went out and whatever we had as a leftover is on verge of rotting…or so I was told. With age I think the nostrils flare-up at the sight of anything more than a day old, and I happen to be staying put with such two pairs of noses. Ah well! so life took a downward swing early in the morning and I needed to perk it up for my own sanity, what can be better than ‘Aromas from the east’ …Bong comfort food for the bong at heart all I needed to ensure, is that it better be super quick with an option of zanning it up with red chillies for those with red hot defiant tongues, and I’m ready to start—I better or else I miss my Monday morning meeting!!!

A couple of things before I start my quick cooking expedition is to make a mental note of inventory and list if things to prepare. So yesterday, I thought of making musurer dal(red lentils curry), Alu deem bhate (mashed potatoes with eggs) and Moon bean salad. Before I began scouting for rest of the masalas , I quickly used a pressure pan in which I put 1 cup Musurer Dal(red lentils) for softening with a pinch of salt and turmeric and two potatoes and eggs along with it for boiling. Remember only 2-3 whistles in a cooker/pressure pan, as you run the risk of mixing the egg shells with the Dal if you are not careful. For novice cooks, boiling the eggs separately is advisable.

Musurer dal(red lentils curry)

This is a Bengali quick boil Dal, especially a blessing for those frenzy days. All you need to do is

Ingredients:

1)1 cup Musurer dal/ red lentils
2) Salt to taste
3) Turmeric I tsp
4)2 green chillies
5) Ghee (clarified butter) optional
6) Coriander for garnishing
7)1 tsp cumin seeds

How I did It

As I said earlier, put 1 cup Dal with 3 cups water along with salt and turmeric in the pressure cooker, and you should be done in 2-3 whistles. Open the pan once the steam runs out and churn the Dal. Bengalis like it a little watery.

There are two options of having it, heat ghee(as much as you think you should ) I put 1 tsp for a cup of Dal serving three people, and once the you start seeing the flames splutter cumin seeds and green chillies, once they are fried , mix it with the pressure cooked and churned Dal. You will hear a hiss.

Option 2 calls for leaving the Dal as is, adding ghee and slit green chilly on top.(No cumin.) Depending on you likeability.

Alu deem bhate (mashed potatoes with eggs)

Here the pre boiled potatoes and eggs which I you put along with Musurer Dal for boiling in the cooker come in handy.

Ingredients:

1)3 boiled potatoes
2)3 boiled eggs
3) Green chillies to taste
3) 1/2cup milk
4) Mustard oil 2 tsp or any pickle oil 2 tsp
5) Coriander/parsley/chives (all or one depending on availability chopped fine)
6) Onion half (chopped fine)
7) 1 tsp cumin seeds (roast and ground)

How I did It

Mash all the above as finely as possible, use a food processor for larger quantities and lace it with mustard oil in the last leg of mashing up procedure! You are done.

Whole Green Moong salad

Now I had the soaked green Moong in the refrigerator, so no sweat. For this one needs to plan in advance as it’s quick to make but takes a long time to soak and soften. Overnight is a good time period, you can get a nice salad in the morning. As it goes, we use this little salad with our cocktail nights to hurried lunch cooking days like today. You also have the option of turning it into a western classing by stuffing the salad in tacos or go as desi as possible with zeera and lal mirch tadka(cumin and red chilly seasoning). What I did was:

Ingredients:
1) 2-21/2 cups of soaked green gram/moong beans/dal
2) 1tsp zeera/cumin seeds
3)1 finely chopped onion
3)1tsp finely chopped green chillies
4)1 pinch of heeng/Asafoetida
5) 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
6)Salt to taste
7) 1 tsp any vegetable oil

For the garnish

Finely chopped cucumber and coriander
Fresh coconut or chat masala (depending on what you like and what is available easily at home)
Lime Juice ~ 2-3 tsp

How I did it:

In a pan put the oil, once it’s hot add the zeera, ginger, heeng/Asafoetida, onion, green chilly. Once they start spluttering and onion is a little done then you can add the moong beans. If you feel its sticking to the pan because of less oil, add a little water and cover and cook. Check intermittently and stir. It will be done in 5-7 minutes.

Ps: The time taken to soften the moong will vary based on the time you have soaked the moong, the amount of water. Keep adding water till its soft for yoyr satisfaction. Continue this till the green gram/moong is soft (as you like it)and little damp with no visible water.

Garnish with coriander, chat masala, lime juice, chopped cucumber.

Enjoy it with Alu deem bhate (mashed potatoes with eggs) and Musurer dal(red lentil curry) and steaming hot rice. Perfect summer lunch for a bong belly:)

Diet Cocktails

2008-06-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Diet Cocktails

a moment of truth: I confess that i have been trying to diet unsuccessfully for quite a bit , sometimes during the week i succeed and when th eweekend comes and we go out, all the resolve goes out of the window with the first drink. All that follows is the french fries and chips and glucamole dipped tacos. Ahem, Well I thought, why not carry the resolve onto the weekend with some diet friendly drinks...the recipe courtesy goes to my dear friend Liz and fellow cocktail drinkers, and i realise that finding the ingrediets is quite a task in India(for eg Baja Bob's martini Mixes and Minute maid light juices ), but in the following series i will indeed add more to the cocktails page on home made exotic infusions, serve them up in your party and get busy receiving the calls for recipe from next day on...for now you can have a rollicking time slugging all the cocktails without blowing your diet up and damaging your waistline.

Cran-Orange Vodka Chiller Recipe

What you need:

1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 1/4 cups light cranberry juice cocktail (or light cran-raspberry juice cocktail)
1 shot Vodka
Preparation:
1. Pour the orange juice into an ice cube tray and freeze until solid (at least two hours). Meanwhile, chill cranberry juice cocktail in the refrigerator.
2. Pour about 3/4 cup of the cranberry juice cocktail into a clear glass, then add about five ice cubes.
3. Add Vodka
4. Repeat with remaining cranberry juice and ice cubes.

Do as directed and serve in a Martini glass. Drink up!

Cocktails:
3 servings

Calories down:
Per serving: 135 calories

Baja Bob's Pina Colada Mix

What you need
1)1 Baja bob’s Pina colada mix
2) ice cubes
3) 1 shot rum
4)1/2 tsp pineapple concentrate

Shake all the above in a cocktail mixer, and serve in a tall glass with a pineapple wedge.

Cocktail serving
1 serve

Calories down
Per serving:100 calories only(low fat , low carb)

Slim Aqua Martini
3/4th cup Minute Maid Light Mango Tropical
½ cup Baja Bob's Blue Raspberry Martini Mix
1 shot vodka

Shake all the above in a cocktail mixer, and serve in a Martini glass with a wedge of any tropical fruit, or stick a cubed mango to the stirrer.

Cocktail serving
1 serve

Calories down
Per serving:80 calories only (low fat , low carb)

Sparkling Tini!
300ml diet 7-Up Plus soda
1/4th cup Sugar-Free Raspberry Torani Syrup
1 shot vodka
Lots of crushed ice

Shake all the above in a cocktail mixer and pour over crushed ice. Serve with fresh floating raspberries on top!

Calories down
Per serving: 80 calories only (low fat , low carb)

Shake with ice. Pour into a cute martini glass. Drink up!

Malai Lassi

2008-06-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day of my cooking-blogging days ahead and I’m really excited, so much so that I really don’t know where to start, since I’ve ventured into sharing my experiences with food at large , I’ll begin the journey from home, where I grew up. Being from Lucknow – the city of Nawabs and, born to a mom who has treated her recipes as my siblings, I have a close connection with food…going back to my Lucknow days, I have to begin my culinary journey with Chowk(the epicenter of food@Lucknow).

The Chowk

Throughout northern India, the Chowk is the focal point of activity. The main markets are invariably sited around it, and every city has a little clock tower which marks its centre. Lucknow is no different; the Chowk is the birthplace of chaos, it is here that chaos originates, spirals, and proliferates through narrow arterial lanes and by-lanes till it reaches the newer quarters of the city, where its traditional character is diluted by the affluence of the city’s newer inhabitants.

Let me start my food voyage of discovery from the gate leading into its boisterous innards, “The Bada Darwaza” or big gate. The time should be almost four P.M—I blend into the chartreuse and ochre streets like a ghost, entirely ignored. Bumped into—sworn at for being an impediment to a rickshaw pullers progress—spat on accidentally, nevertheless completely invisible. Perplexed at the untruth of my existence, I stare into a barber’s mirror. My reflection lost amid the sea of faces. Reassured that I have my place reserved for me among the multitude I stand in line for a chilled glass of thick malai lassi, reassured that I am somewhere among them, I laugh and dance in front of the mirror and still wait patiently. To the others I still don’t exist. I enslave a few reflections in my camera; I shall post them here for you all to examine and interrogate them as to why our existences have ceased to matter in front of food.

Now my saying all this does not mean that chowk is a place for hungry scavangers and mild mannered like us will be spat upon, but this emphasizes the significance food holds for hungry growly stomachs at the end of a working day for labour class people. And IF food standard is anywhere to go by, Chowk food is lip smacking and simply delicious. For a vegetarian like me, the non-veg smell is a turnoff, and I wouldn’t be in Chowk if it weren’t for the pull off delicatessen sweets.

Malai Fruit Lassi

1 cup full fat curd/greek yogurt
1 cup medium ripe and sweet mango(preferably pureed) or any sweet tropical fruit
1/2 cup crushed ice
sugar to taste
rock salt 1 pinch
1/2 roasted and crushed cumin seeds

In a mixer put all the above ingredients and mix at medium speed for 3 mins or till sufficiently frothy .

Saffron Lassi(saffron yogurt shake)

Instead of fruit and cumin seeds,to the above list of ingredients add saffron to 1/4 cup warm water and soak for an hour, mix all the above. Pour in a tall broad rimmed glass, decorate glass with a mixture of salt and sugar (powdered ) and dip the glass rim, like the way you would for Margarita. Add a slice of lime and fresh garden mint.It will give a perfect nawabi aroma as well as a heady saffron twinge to flavour and taste.

Diet lassi(diet yogurt shake)

In the above list of ingredients replace full fat curd with skim milk curd/yogurt and take a low calorie fruit like peach or papaya.Mix it and flavour with pomegranate for a perfect burst of colour.

Chandni chowk wali lassi(The ubiquitous Punjabi lassi served in Chandni
Chowk-Delhi)

Go to chandni chowk and you cant miss the lassi in the parathe wali gali, for the price and flavour its like ambrosia!!
All you need to do is take the following
1 cup full fat curd/Greek yogurt
1 cup medium ripe and sweet mango(preferably pureed) or any sweet tropical fruit
1/2 cup crushed ice
sugar to taste
rock salt 1 pinch
1/2 roasted and crushed cumin seeds

And mix as for the malai wali lassi, as the topmost garnish add a huge spoonful of Cold Rabri(which is thick sweetened milk almost like a thick paper bundle) .yommm.