PreeOccupied

Baba’s Baghdadi Mutton

2012-02-07T14:36:00.001-05:00

Red onion is great. If you minus the lingering onion-breath and the tears it makes you shed when peeling and cutting. Growing up in Patna, every year the price of red onion would sky rocket during winters.

We are an onion-loving family! We love onions in everything. Raw, cooked, crisp-fried, or dunked in hearty stews. Onion inflation was a sore point in my Mum’s kitchen, like any middleclass housewife on budget cooking. Its another story though that that budget included gourmet meals pretty much every day.

One day in the middle of the onion price-rise, my Mum would announce – No onions from now in salads or jhalmuri. Its 80 rupees a kilo.

So?

In spite of her I-am-the-Tiger-Mom approach towards onions, we would still find slices of them in our salad or a good amount of it in her Mutton Do Pyaza. I still wonder why she even bothered with that onion embargo, with that feeble willpower when it came to serving onions to her family.

I don’t have my Mother’s Mutton Do Pyaza recipe today.
But what I do have is a simple, full of character goat meat dish. My Father-in-law’s actually. Its not one of those flashy recipes, where you can’t lay your hands on half the ingredients mentioned. It is basic, hearty and once you can crack it, you will be the most clever cook in town. And I am talking to kitchen virgins here who think cooking mutton is the most difficult thing.

To make good mutton, that fall-off-the-bones kind is the best thing I have learned in (slow) cooking. So here it is, Baba’s Baghdadi Mutton. Any relation with Iraq and this dish is highly doubtful. Just enjoy the name and the recipe.

Ingredients for Baba’s Baghdadi Mutton are:

500 grams goat meat, bone in, cut into two inch pieces (no lean meat please, get meat with good marbling. I usually get the shoulder portion of a baby goat)
1 very large red onion, slivered thinly
300 grams plain yogurt
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 heaped tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
7-8 whole dry red chillies (I usually add about 20 since my husband and I have a high heat quotient, so adjust the heat accordingly, play safe if kids are eating)
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable or canola oil
Salt

For starters, get a large bowl, and marinate together the mutton, sliced red onions, yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, black pepper and the dry red chillies. Keep refrigerated overnight or on the counter for at least 5-6 hours.

Warm (not heat) oil in a thick pan, use the pressure (cooker) pan if you want to. Add the marinated mutton and coat well with the oil. Cover and cook, mixing and moving the mutton and spices for the next 40-50 minutes on low-medium heat.

You will see the mutton release its natural fat and juices as it comes close to being completely cooked. Add salt and a little water if needed. Move it around well. Do a taste test and remove from heat.

Serve the Baghdadi Mutton with a big garden salad (don’t forget the onions!) and phulkas/chapatis/ruti.

This is probably the quickest and easiest mutton dishes I have made. But no less tasty for that. Very few ingredients, simple flavours and takes you to a different direction of cooking mutton – with so little oil! Go try.

Ek Baati Maacher Jhol, Bowlful of Winter Goodness

2012-01-23T14:21:00.001-05:00

I love winter vegetables because they show how the simplest of ingredients can evolve into something with a life of their own.

Mothers in many Bengali homes have over years used vegetables in their fish curries to add that hint of “health” to the meals they cook. And also dispel any myths doing the rounds that all our lunch and dinners are made of phish and rice only.

This maacher jhol (runny fish curry) is a classic dish in my family. Seasonal vegetables are cut and diced to be cooked in a rather runny mixture of spices to get all the flavours rocking and rolling together. Finally shallow-fried pieces of fresh water fish would be dunked in the end to create what I call is a marriage made in heaven.

There is no one way of making this jhol. Once you have made it a few times, your intuition will kick in and you will be able to make it with perfection and precision every time.

I have used vegetables like cauliflower, potato, green beans, whole sugar peas for today’s recipe. You can use Oriental eggplant, green banana, potol, or even sojne data when available.

Traditionally, a jhol like this is made of fish with bones (you can use rohu, tilapia, catla, pabda, or even bata). However, today I have made this with boneless-skinless Tilapia fillets. Just for the ease of eating when the husband and I take turns to have our dinner because of the way Little Miss N is programmed - to wail just when we sit down to eat. I have a feeling its also a camouflaged complain about what she is missing culinary-wise. That insipid bottle of formula can make anyone cranky!

Ingredients for Maacher Jhol are:

4-5 pieces of shallow-fried pieces of white fish
5-6 large cauliflower flowerets
1 large potato, cut into wedges
Handful of green beans, strings removed and cut into halves
Handful of whole sugar peas, strings removed
1 large ripe tomato, coarsely cut
Few green chillies, half made into a paste, others slit lengthwise
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander
2-3 tablespoons yellow mustard powder (I freshly dry grind mine when I am making this jhol)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
Mustard oil
Salt

Once you have fried the fish, keep it aside.

In the same oil, sauté the potato and cauliflowers, till they get lightly browned on the edges.

In the remaining oil, add the greens, mix around in high heat for a couple of minutes and remove.

Now make a runny mixture with the freshly ground yellow mustard seeds, green chilli paste, turmeric, red chilli powder, and salt. Mix well and strain.

You can skip the straining step, but I do it to enjoy the taste of mustard, even without the sharpness it can add to a dish.

In a large, open-face pan, heat 1-2 tablespoons mustard oil and add the tomatoes and green chillies. Let them soften a bit before you press the tomatoes down with the back of the spatula to get all the juices out.

Now add the runny jhol into the pan. Let it come to a rumbling boil. Start by adding the hardiest vegetables for the maacher jhol first and follow with the green beans and sugar peas which take the least time to cook. Make sure the potato is half cooked before you add the next set of vegetables. I like to keep some crunch to my cauliflower and greens.

Slide in the fried fish pieces and cook them in the jhol for about 4-5 minutes. Check seasoning, add salt if needed. Turn heat off and add chopped coriander to the maacher jhol.

Serve this maacher jhol with plain rice. Squirt a wedge of lemon (or Gondhoraj Lebu) on the jhol-bhaat to take it to the next level.

Nooks and Corners of My Desi Home

2012-01-20T15:52:00.001-05:00

Soma Chaudhuri’s Methi-Murg Kebab, Not Just Another Chicken Kebab!

2012-01-17T13:16:00.001-05:00

So Soma sent me her famous Methi-Murg Kebab one day. Nothing would be simpler to knock out than this chicken kebab recipe of hers.
Apparently, she stumbled onto this recipe in a tandoori cookbook many years ago in Calcutta. Since then she has played with the ingredients, and given it a Soma-touch!

And this is something I made up of her Methi-Murg Kebab.

I have to admit, I did tweak Soma’s recipe a bit. I thought of playing around the idea of adding some yogurt in the marinade would make the kebabs more moist. Soma’s Methi-Murg Kebabs taste delicious and look really beautiful on a massive platter in the middle of a table. And the leftovers, if any can sneak into your pita/tortilla/paratha with some greens the next day for a take-to-work lunch!

Ingredients for Methi-Murg Kebabs are:

3 chicken breasts, cut in two-inch pieces
Half cup plain yogurt
3-4 tablespoons plain cream cheese
1 heaped tablespoon ginger paste
1 heaped tablespoon garlic paste
1 heaped teaspoon green chilli paste
Juice of one large lemon
Half teaspoon red chilli powder
2 tablespoons kasturi methi leaves, crushed
2 tablespoons besan
Bell pepper squares for skewering with the kebabs later
1 egg beaten, for basting
Salt
Oil

Make a marinade with the yogurt, cream cheese, lemon juice, ginger-garlic-green chilli, red chilli, kasturi methi and salt. Make sure you break down the cream cheese to mix well with the rest of the ingredients.

Now add the chicken pieces, and coat the marinade well. Keep covered in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours.

There are two steps to making this kebab. Heat a pan until really hot. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil and add the besan, quickly stirring and reducing the heat to low-medium so that we don’t burn the besan. After about 2-3 minutes of stirring the besan in the oil, dunk the marinated chicken into it (with the marinade). Cook the chicken on high for 10-12 minutes or until half-cooked, moving continuously and coating the chicken well with the besan and its marinade. Remove and let it cool for you to handle it.

Add the green (or red/yellow/orange) bell peppers to the half-cooked chicken and let it sit for 10 minutes. When you are ready to cook, heat a grill pan or you can even do this in a gas tandoor or broil.

Skewer the chicken and bell peppers alternately to go on the grill. If you are using bamboo skewers, make sure you soak them in water for sometime to prevent them from cracking under the heat. I use metal skewers, because I want mine to see me through the rest of my life!

Baste the skewered chicken and bell peppers lavishly with the beaten egg. Your grill pan should be really hot before you drizzle some oil on it.

Place each skewer gently on your grill pan and let it cook on each side for 3-4 minutes.

Turn and baste with the egg and some more oil, till you get a beautiful char on all sides.

Remove the kebabs from the pan and serve with salad, onion rings, and green chutney on the side. Preferably on that lovely platter you have been keeping away to serve a star dish.

Holiday Bling…

2011-12-15T16:50:00.001-05:00

…from my dining table.

And a homegrown tangerine dropped in too to join the party.

Silver, green, purple may not be the traditional Holiday colors! But then, I was never a stickler for traditions. Not when I have a few colors bursting to be shown off this December.

My Notes on Anaarkali Butter Chicken (ABC)

2011-11-28T10:09:00.004-05:00

My Blog has taught me to measure things when I post my recipe. But weighing and measuring 45 grams of green chillies is really not my thing! Plus I do know how to use my eyes and my ever useful “pinch”.

The ABC Team has a sample recipe on their site, which I have shared on my post too. But here it is once again. (http://www.anaarkali.in/Butter-Chicken/anaarkali_sample_recipe.pdf)

From this sample recipe, I have adapted my own version of ABC. I have eaten Butter Chicken at the best places in Delhi, but I’d say this one tops my butter chicken barometer. And it’s only the sample recipe! So I am eager to taste the real thing – maybe someday.

· To begin with, I don’t follow the two-step marinating process mentioned in the sample recipe; instead I marinate my chicken breasts all at one go. And it’s fine.

· Here is what I do – choose chicken breasts for this recipe. (Bone in/boneless; whatever you prefer. I love some bone in my butter chicken, it lends a whole lot of flavour.)

· Score the breasts and marinate them in –> ginger – garlic paste, green chilli paste, plain yogurt, cheese spread (I use Cheeze Whiz here), lemon juice, mace powder, white pepper powder, garam masala powder (ground cinnamon, cloves and green cardamoms in equal quantities), honey and salt.

· I leave my marinated chicken for at least six-eight hours in the fridge.

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). If you don’t have an oven, a gas tandoor is your best option.

· Keep chicken on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Pour in the marinade too.

· Drizzle some olive oil (or vegetable or canola oil) on the chicken; and bake for 25-30 minutes.

· When the chicken is good to be handled with your hands, cut bite-size pieces of it. Keep aside.

· Now you can start on the gravy/sauce.

· Take a large, thick-bottom pan and melt some butter (I use unsalted here). Make sure you don’t burn/smoke the butter.

· Now add ginger-garlic paste and move it around in the butter on low-medium heat.

· Continue adding the ingredients in the order that they are mentioned in the sample recipe.

· I have started leaving out the black olives/kalamata in my version of ABC; I believe it’s just a frill and not really needed.

· When you are making this recipe, do choose the brand of ingredients which are available in your country.

· For the Dabur Homemade Tomato Puree, I use the Unico brand of tomato paste here.

· I have made ABC with both pinenuts and cashews, and I feel pinenuts make it creamier and richer in taste.

Let me know if you have any questions. For pictures of this delectable and simply out of the world Butter Chicken, please lick here. Sorry I meant *click.

My Green Tangdi Kebab

2011-11-19T11:06:00.001-05:00

Mera Wala Pink!

2011-11-11T13:40:00.001-05:00

Have a happy weekend. Don’t let a gloomy Fall day make you

Khada Masala Mutton

2011-11-02T12:31:00.002-04:00

I made this experimental mutton curry for dinner last night. In between changing diapers, burping baby, feeding and singing lullabies till my voice turned into nothing but a hoarse.

So write down the recipe quickly. I have a very demanding two-month-old who wants me to do her a pony tail!

Ingredients for Khada Masala Mutton are:

Baby goat meat, 500 grams, bone in
1 medium size red onion, finely chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon of chopped ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
20-25 black peppercorns
About 10 dry red chillies
1 medium stick of cinnamon
2 + 2 black and green cardamoms
4-5 cloves
2 bay
2-3 tablespoons mustard oil
Salt

Coarsely pound together cumin, coriander, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamoms and cloves.

Heat the oil in a pressure pan. Add the onions, bay and dry red chillies. Sauté on medium heat till the onions start turning a light brown. Now add the coarsely crushed dry spices. Continue sautéing them on medium – low heat mixing them well with the onions. After about 5-7 minutes, add the meat pieces. Make sure there is no moisture in the meat. That way they will take a long time to brown and will also release water. We don’t want that.

Give the meat about 15-20 minutes of medium-low heat to get a gorgeous brown color on it. Add the turmeric powder and salt mid-way of the frying process.

Once the meat looks nicely seared, add enough water to cover the pieces of meat. Pressure cook till meat is done. It took me four whistles to get my meat to become tender. The Khada Masala Mutton does not need any garnish. We don’t want to drown the natural aroma of the spices we have added. Serve with roti or parathas. Make sure you include lots of fresh salad to your meal too.

Mutton Stew

2011-10-30T14:03:00.001-04:00

This mutton stew is sure to keep you warm in the upcoming winter. Its got a rustic character to it because of the way the ingredients are cut. I love this stew with some freshly baked bread or Kaiser roll.

The earthy flavours of this Mutton Stew make it a household favourite of ours. I add big pieces of goat meat, whole baby potatoes and shallots and chunks of carrots for it to cook slowly and some of it to disintegrate into the liquid creating a great balance of the natural sweetness from the ingredients.

You can make this stew with chicken, but goat meat beats the chicken variation any day!

Ingredients for Mutton Stew are:

500 grams baby goat meat, cut into 4 inch pieces, fat and bone in (you can add a couple of pieces of liver too)
7-8 baby potatoes
1 large carrot, cut into big chunks
6-7 shallots or baby onions, peeled
1 medium size tomato, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons atta/whole wheat flour + extra if needed
15-20 whole black peppercorns + extra black pepper powder for seasoning
2 black cardamoms
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons canola/vegetable oil
Salt

Heat the oil and the butter in a pan or pressure cooker. Add the meat pieces and sear them on both sides on high heat. Make sure you do not crowd or cover the pan, that way the meat will not sear and will start releasing moisture. The idea behind searing the meat is that it will trap all the juices and flavour right inside the meat without releasing them.

Remove the meat from the pan and keep aside. In the same oil, add the black cardamoms, bay and peppercorns. Sauté for a minute and toss in the potatoes, onion (or shallots) carrot and garlic.
Mix everything together without moving them around too much. Let them brown a bit on all sides.

Now add the atta or the whole wheat flour directly to the vegetables and lower the heat. Mix well. This will create a rue for the stew which will help to thicken it when it cooks.

Add the seared meat to the vegetables. Give it a good mix and add salt and enough water to cover all the vegetables and meat. Now add the chopped tomatoes.

Pressure cook till the meat is done. I let 3-4 whistles go off for my stew. (If the liquid of the stew is still too runny, add some more atta mixed in a little water and add to the stew.) Season with black pepper powder and serve hot with your favourite bread.

Dimer Dalna, Bengali Egg Curry

2011-10-28T16:38:00.001-04:00

The Dimer Dalna is every Bengali mother’s answer to those nights when her pantry and fridge are gaping emptiness. That’s when all she can think of is doling out a quick egg curry to maintain that non-bhej dinner tradition at home. The Dimer Dalna is also a preferred quick something by the cash-strapped bachelor who has called his Mother and painstakingly written down the recipe of Dimer Dalna for those days and nights towards the end of the month.

Dimer Dalna has immense possibilities. It can pass off as a non-vegetarian dish and even fool a hard core fish-eating Bengali. And may I add that a simple meal of Dimer Dalna-bhaat after a day of rich and heaBy Bong eating is like manna from heaven.

Ingredients for Dimer Dalna/ Bengali Egg Curry are:

6 hard boiled eggs (two per person; chicken eggs are mostly used, but if you find duck's eggs {haasher deem} during winters, try them too)
3 boiled potatoes, peeled and halved
1 medium size red onion, very finely chopped
1 large ripe tomato (the riper the better), coarsely chopped
Half cup green peas
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
Handful of freshly chopped coriander, stems and leaves
1+1 teaspoons turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon finely ground garam masala powder (cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms)
2 bay leaves
3-4 tablespoons Mustard or Canola oil
Sugar
Salt

Heat mustard oil in a pressure pan, add the eggs and half teaspoon turmeric powder. Fry the eggs on high heat till they get coated with the turmeric powder and get a light brown color on the outside. Remove with a slotted spoon. In the same oil, add the halved potatoes, add half teaspoon turmeric powder, coat well on the potatoes, till they get light brown, remove and keep with the eggs.

To the oil, add the bay leaves, sauté for a few seconds and add the chopped red onion.

To get a good color on your onions, you can add a pinch of sugar, let it caramelize and then add the onions. Fry the onions till they get lightly browned. Now add the ginger-garlic paste, the remaining turmeric, red chili, cumin and coriander, salt and a little pinch of sugar. Cook covered for about 4-5 minutes. Now add the coarsely chopped tomato. Mash the tomatoes with the back of your spatula to release all its juices. Cook covered for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Now add the green peas and a cup of water to this mixture and cook on medium heat, covered for 4-5 minutes, till the raw taste of the ingredients is gone.

Check the seasoning, and adjust at this point. Now add the eggs and potatoes, mix well with the rest of the ingredients, taking care not to break the eggs. Cover the pan, and cook till you have a thick gravy. You can also cook this mixture in a pressure cooker and have one whistle go off after you have added the eggs and potatoes.

Turn the heat off and add the garam masala powder and freshly chopped coriander.

Serve with plain rice or chapati.

P.S. A very useful tip of making egg curry is by adding the eggs and potatoes in a leftover gravy of chicken curry. Try it, it never fails you.

Garage Sale Purchase

2011-10-22T23:26:00.001-04:00

So we were going downtown when I saw this garage sale in the neighbourhood.

I screamed: S-T-O-P-T-H-E-C-A-R!!! The husband screeched our black beauty to a halt.

And there I was greedily eyeing everything from the junk called Garrrrrage Sale in front of this oldish house.

And I spotted these!

Wooden masks from Mexico lying on the dusty porch. Blasphemous.

And guess how much I paid for them?! Five bucks each. Well, it was a great deal considering I did not even have to use my charm!

Koraishutir Kochuri

2011-10-21T14:57:00.006-04:00

India spoils you! Even my Argentinian friend who lived there only for a couple of years agrees.

Its people power is immense. Right now, apart from my immediate family, I miss almost everybody from my everyday life back home. From the domestic help and cook, to the go-to Auntyji next door whose door I would knock shamelessly for a bowl of sugar. Last evening I ran out of sugar while making the filling for Koraishutir Kochuri. What I had thought to be a bag of sugar in my pantry turned out to be all-purpose flour. Now if you are a Bengali, you’d know that sugar is very important for the Koraishutir pur.

Obviously since I am toting a baby these days, I couldn’t just slip into my sneakers, plug my music on and go to the supermarket on a rainy evening to get it. Instead I had to patiently wait for the husband to bring me a bag of sugar on his way back from work. Which meant waiting for a couple of hours more and also the probability that he might forget in spite of two emails and a text message; and might I add, a follow up call to check if he had received those pieces of communication.

Had I been in India, I would have used the easiest (read reliable) route to getting a bowl of the coveted sugar.

I would have either called my grocery-wala saying – Raju Bhaiya, ek kilo chini bhijwa do. And add an urgent – Jaldi!. Or walked across to my neighbour’s and said – Aunty, I ran out of sugar. Thoda sa milega kya? And Auntyji would only be too glad to fill the bowl with the white stuff and hand it over to me. She would even offer to babysit while I cooked. Later as a thank you gesture, I would send her hot Koraishutir Kochuri!

Transactions and deals like this are common in friendly, urban India I grew up in. Here I don’t really know who my next door neighbour is. He is an elderly gentleman who nods a polite hello whenever we see him in the hallway. We have never exchanged a word beyond that. And I am pretty sure he wouldn’t appreciate if I knocked on his door begging for a bowl of sugar. Maybe I should make the first move and call him over for some Kochuri and Alur Dom. I wonder if he would ask for the recipe too!

Ingredients for Koraishutir Kochuri are:

500 grams fresh (or frozen) green peas (shelled and coarsely ground)
2 inch ginger (paste)
2 teaspoon red chili powder
2 teaspoon turmeric powder
Pinch of asafoetida
Sugar
Salt
2-3 tablespoons mustard oil
1 cup Maida – Atta combination
Vegetable/Canola oil for deep frying

Heat mustard oil in a wok, add a pinch of asafoetida. Add the green peas paste, ginger paste, dry spices and salt and sugar.

Keep stirring and frying the ingredients till the peas mixture soaks all the oil, moisture and is good enough to make small balls. From a bright peas-y green, it will turn into a moss green color.

Let the mixture cool down till you are able to handle it with your hands. I sometimes make my peas filling a day before I am making the Kochuri, it saves up a lot of time on the day I am actually making it.

Knead maida-atta with some water, one tablespoon vegetable oil and a pinch of salt. Keep aside covered with a lid or a moist tea cloth for an hour. Give it a quick knead again. The dough should feel like a baby’s bottom under your fingers. Heat one cup of vegetable oil in a thick bottom wok.

Make small balls of the dough and roll them out into discs. Fill in the peas mixture (about one tablespoon in each) and round the dough between the palms of your hand. Roll them again as you would make puris.

Let the oil heat up before you slide the Kochuris in. Give both sides a minute each before turning. Use a spider to take them out of the oil. Drain each Kochuri on paper towels to get that excess oil out.

Because the Kochuris are filled in, they wouldn’t always fluff up like a luchi/puri.

But mine did! Go figure.

Doi Maach

2011-09-24T17:19:00.002-04:00

New beginnings in Bengali homes usually feature fish! It’s tradition.

So after a hiatus of three months I am back to writing a new post. Let me clarify, I was never out of action (from the kitchen), but what I cooked in the last three months was nothing to write about!

For those who are wondering about my inadequacy at updating a Blog which has evolved as a way of life for me, I have news! I gave birth to a beautiful (Yes, I am biased!) girl about a month ago. She is exactly 27 days old today, and already has a way with her eyes. She uses them to blackmail her parents. I have a feeling she will pout, purr and use other girlie ammunitions for extraction in the future. Just like her Mommy does.

So while my daughter takes her baby naps, I sneak into the kitchen and do a much-asked dish – the Doi Maach. Bengali for fish (it’s always Rohu) cooked in yogurt. This is a traditional Bengali dish which has found its way to weddings and occasional feasts. It often stands out for its silken texture and a balanced sweet, savoury and sour taste. And if you are lucky, you might even find plump raisins in the gravy!

Essentially pieces of raw fish are introduced in the yogurt sauce once its cooked. However, many who do not like the idea of “raw” fish prefer to lightly fry the pieces of fish before they are dunked in the sauce. It’s also important that you choose the right pieces of fish – preferably the gada or the pieces from the back of the Rohu. Ask your fish monger and he will know!

Ingredients for Doi Maach are:

5-6 gada pieces of Rohu fish
6-7 tablespoons plain yogurt, whisked with half a cup of room temperature water
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons ginger paste
Half tablespoon garlic paste
10-12 raisins
2 bay leaves
2-3 black cardamoms
2-3 green cardamoms
1-2 sticks cinnamon
4-5 cloves
2 tablespoons ghee
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 heaped teaspoon red chili powder
Sugar
Salt

Heat ghee in a thick pan and add the whole spices – cardamoms, bay, cinnamon, cloves with the onions. Sauté till the onions are transparent. Add the raisins at this stage.

Now add the ginger, garlic, red chili powder and turmeric and cook everything till lightly coloured. All on low-medium heat.

Turn the heat to the lowest gas mark and gradually add the yogurt. Make sure you continuously mix the ingredients as you add the yogurt.

It takes about 15-20 minutes of slow cooking, the pan covered all the time to cook the sauce.
You will know when you see the oil bubbling at the sides of the pan. That’s when you know that the gravy is ready. Season with sugar and salt and gently slide in the pieces of fish. Make sure you are using an open-face pan to give you enough room to move around the fish.

It takes about 8-10 minutes for the fish to cook through in the sauce. Do a last taste test and see if the Doi Maach has the right balance of taste. Remove from heat. Its best served with plain white rice.

Every Woman has a Silver Lining…

2011-06-14T22:57:00.002-04:00

…some also have trinkets in silver!

Alu Chorchori Memories

2011-04-28T18:19:00.002-04:00

My Mother was brought up by her Grandmother. Mum called her “Didumoni”. The next generation of kids called her “Nani”. The rest of the world called her “Maiji”.

Nani always wore a white tanter sari with black or navy blue border, a thick gold chain around her wrinkled neck, two gold bangles, one in each blissfully fair arm, the blue veins of which had started showing by the time I was a pre-teen, and the house keys in a silver keychain tightly gripped in her trembling but strong hands. I remember Nani always on her wheelchair. She passed on when she was 94.

Having a great grand mother living in the same city as we did meant I got to see a lot of Bengali traditions growing up. Like this Alu Chorchori which when literally translated means a potato mishmash! The Alu Chorchori was always cooked in an aluminum karahi (wok) in Nani’s home, and served in a Kansa bowl. I don’t have a Kansa bowl here, but what I do have is a virgin aluminum kodai which is good for any slow cooking because of its heavy base.

My Mum carried forward a lot of traditional recipes she learnt from her Grandmother, and since then passed them on to my little sister and me. Though I cannot vouch for my sister’s cooking! Last I know, she had ordered pizza for dinner.

This Alu Chorchori was made in our home on a lazy Sunday morning when all of us had the time and the tummy to eat it with Phulko Luchi and some Sandesh. By the time we finished breakfast, Mum would already be prepping up for a Mishti Pulao and Mangsho lunch. Those were the days…

And this is a night. When the husband and I return from work, and I am left to wonder what’d be for dinner. He has more important things to worry about - like why Pepe got the red card in yesterday’s Real Madrid Vs. Barca game.

Ingredients for Shada Alur Chorchori with Koraishuti are:

4-5 medium size white potatoes
1 cup green peas
3-4 green chilies
1 teaspoon Nigella seeds
3-4 tablespoons mustard oil
Salt

Halve the potatoes and cut them into thick slices. Slit the green chilies. Heat the mustard oil in a thick bottom pan. Add the Nigella seeds and the green chilies in no particular order. Let them sauté for a minute before you add the sliced potatoes.

Mix everything well, cooking on medium-high all the time for about 3-4 minutes.

I used frozen peas tonight, but if you can get fresh green peas, please use that.

Add the green peas to the sautéing potatoes and give it a good stir. Season with salt, reduce the heat and cover for 2-3 minutes.

Uncover and add a cup of water. Crank up the heat and cook the potatoes till they are done. Its okay to overcook a chorchori.

Enjoy Nani’s Shada Alu and Green Peas Chorchori with some hot, fluffy Luchi and Mishti any time of the day. Or night.

Kancha Lonka Murgi, Green Chili Chicken Curry

2011-04-23T10:59:00.001-04:00

This had to be documented as a blog post since so many of you have already liked it on Facebook. There is no childhood memory or a hand-me-down tale to be narrated today. It was the Poila Boishakh lunch pictures from Finely Chopped and my own greed which led to the re-creation of an experimental recipe which sure is for keeps.

Ingredients for Kancha Lonka Murgi are:

6-8 medium size skinless chicken pieces, bone in
1 large red onion, finely chopped
8-10 green chilies, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon green chili paste
2 tablespoons ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 black cardamoms
2 bay
4-5 tablespoons mustard oil /use canola or vegetable if you don't have mustard
Salt

Heat the oil until almost smoking and add the onions, bay and black cardamom to sauté till the onions are lightly browned. (I used a pressure pan to make this dish. You can use a thick-bottom pan or karahi / kodai to do so.)

Now add the slit green chilies and mix well with the onions. Keep the heat on medium lest you burn the onions. Give the chilies about 4-5 minutes to release their deep zingy flavor.

Add the cleaned chicken pieces and coat them well with the onions and chilies. Make sure you lightly brown the chicken on medium heat.

Now add the wet and dry spices except the salt, cover and cook the chicken on medium heat. Scrape off any spices/masala which stick to the bottom of the pan. This should take about 10-12 minutes.

You will notice the chicken and spices releasing oil at the sides of your pan/karahi, lower the heat and check if the chicken is done. Now add the salt and cover again for 8-10 minutes on low heat. Do a taste test and garnish with a couple of more green chilies. Take the Kancha Lonka Chicken off the heat. The dish should not have a runny gravy. In Bengali we say - makha makha. (Or is it makho makho?)

Serve this chicken dish with ruti/chapati/phulka or parathas.

Kancha Lonka in Bengali means "green chilies" and Murgi is "chicken".

That’s an absolutely stunning Kancha Lonka Murgi for you.

Mete Chorchori, Quick Liver Stir-fry, the Bengali Way

2011-04-10T10:54:00.002-04:00

I was a very thin kid. I have photographic evidence to prove it. Like most mother’s of the previous generation, mine too thought that a chubby kid is a healthy kid. Mine, a first-time mother at 25 took things in her own hands and started with a project of her own – liver juice for her toddler (me). She thought she could transform a scrawny kid and add blobs of protoplasm by feeding me spoonfuls of raw liver juice. Liver – a storehouse of nutrients is indeed good when it comes to proteins, vitamins and also packed with saturated fat.

But then raw liver juice revolted with my highly developed palate (at three years), and I would vehemently refuse to have it. Not surprisingly, what did go down well with me was this spicier version of Mete Chorchori for adults.

This is the first time in many years that I have cooked liver. And mostly out of taste memory of how my Mother does it. It was too late to call India and wake Mum up. So I went ahead and did it sans her long-distance help.

Ingredients for Mete Chorchori are:

300 grams liver (I only use kid goat’s)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
5-6 baby potatoes, peeled (use 1-2 regular, cubed if you don’t have them)
1 tablespoon green chili paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
Half tablespoon black pepper powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Half teaspoon garam masala, coarsely ground (I used cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg)
1-2 bay leaves
3-4 tablespoons mustard oil
Salt

Cut the liver into bite-size pieces. My butcher had thrown in a heart too, which you can see in this picture.

In a bowl, mix together the liver pieces, green chili, ginger and garlic paste, turmeric, and a couple of tablespoons of mustard oil. Keep for an hour.

Heat the remaining oil in a thick pan and sauté the potatoes till they are lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon.

In the same oil, throw in the bay, coarsely ground garam masala and the chopped onions.
On medium heat, sauté the onions till they are golden-brown. With the spatula you are cooking, line the onions to the sides and expose the pan’s base. Now add the marinated liver and turn the heat up to high.

Its important you cook the liver on high heat so that it gets browned nicely. Keep stirring continuously so that the wet spices do not stick to the pan. Once the liver is lightly browned, introduce the potatoes.

Add the black pepper powder and keep frying everything.

Towards the end, I did cover the pan to turned the heat on low to cook the potatoes. This should be done for about five minutes. Add salt and check the taste. Remove from heat.

The Mete Chorchori is now ready to be eaten with phulko ruti or paratha.

Masala Lamb Chops or Chaanp as They Say it Back Home

2011-04-07T21:25:00.002-04:00

This is version 1.1 of my recipe and I am sure it is the final cut. It was so good, I smacked my plate clean and bit and licked the rib bones, till my husband had to take them away from me. Albeit with some force. I know. I know, there is something very unattractive about calling your own recipe “perfect”. But there is no turning back from here.

And you will know why!

So the next time you are at your butcher shop or at the supermarket, make sure you get a rack of kid lamb or baby goat and ask your butcher to make you chops, equal slices of the ribs. Do not remove the fat.

The cooking time is shockingly short for this recipe if you have marinated your chops/chaanp for about 24 hours. The Masala Chaanp will make a great appetizer with a big pitcher of beer during the upcoming IPL season. Or you can remain sober and serve it for dinner with some sides and salads to spike up a boring evening.

Ingredients for Masala Lamb Chops/ Chaanp

500 grams lamb/ goat chops
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh green chili paste
1 tablespoon minced fresh coriander (leaves and stem)
Juice of one lemon
Half tablespoons coriander powder
Half teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
Quarter teaspoon clove powder
1 + 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
Salt

Mix everything, except the oil, in a large bowl. If your hands are sensitive to green chilies, make your husband do all the mixing!

Make sure the marinade covers the chops well. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Make sure you keep the bowl out on your kitchen counter at least an hour before you cook the chops. Drizzle one tablespoon of oil and coat the meat well.

Heat your grill pan till its smoking hot. Brush some oil on the pan. Give it a couple of minutes to heat up.

Line the chops on the grill pan and let them sizzle and seduce your senses. Little by little drizzle drops of oil on the chops.
After about 5-6 minutes, turn the chops. By now you would have got nice char marks on the meat. Baste the chops with the leftover marinade and few more drops of oil. Keep the flame on high all this time.
Give the chops 7-8 minutes on medium heat on each side to cook them through. Poke a little fork into one of the chops to see if the juices run clear.

Squirt some lemon juice on the lamb chops and serve hot. Savor the taste of freshness on a bone. It doesn’t get better than this.

Well, isn't that a welcome platter?

Maacher Muro Diye Mugger Daal

2011-03-14T12:52:00.002-04:00

We are not a family of werewolves. We are Bengalis. A community which is known to eat fish in all its forms and with all its parts. Including the coveted head.

Maacher Muro with Mugger Daal is a big fish head (usually Rohu or Katla) cooked with yellow mung dal. Its a wedding and special occasion tradition.

My father taught me how to work my way into a fish head. The process is meticulous and requires some patience. The eyes and the brain of the fish are the most sought after. They say those are the best parts of the fish head, good for eyesight and the brain. That explains all the Bongs out there with exponentially celestial cerebral equity. Its the fish head, I tell you!

This recipe is my Mother’s of course, and I have re-created it in my kitchen out of greed. That insatiable desire to dunk my hand into a bowl of dal and fish out (pun definitely not intended) a big piece of the head.

Just as the Muro Diye Mugger Daal is here, brimming with flavors and the taste like that from an outside world, I am reminded of a little story my Father always loves to narrate. How he never got a chance to eat the Maacher Muro in his wedding feast. Reason? He was too shy to break into the big fish head when my Mum’s relatives laid out the feast for the new groom. And some benign lady apparently in some kind of hurry, thought it was wise not to embarrass the notun bor with a fish head and took the big Rohu muro away while my Father looked at it longingly. This happened exactly 36 years ago, but the vividness with which he re-tells this incident is still fresh and funny!

Ingredients for Maacher Muro Diye Mugger Daal are:

For the fish head:

1 big fish head (Rohu or Katla) cut into half, cleaned and washed
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Quarter cup mustard oil
Salt

Smear the head with the turmeric and salt. Heat the oil until smoking and fry the fish head – about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep.

For the dal:

1 cup yellow mung dal
2 tablespoons ginger paste
4-5 green chilies, slit lengthwise
1 teaspoon heaped red chili powder
1 teaspoon heaped turmeric powder
3-4 bay leaves
2-3 black cardamoms
2-3 green cardamoms
1 stick of cinnamon
5-6 cloves
3-4 tablespoons desi ghee
Sugar
Salt

In a pressure pan, dry roast the dal till golden brown. Do this on low-medium heat and babysit the dal so that it doesn’t burn. Remove and keep aside.

In the same pan, heat the ghee and add the bay, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves and the green chilies. Sauté for a couple of minutes and add the dry-roasted dal.

Mix the dal well with the whole spices and the ghee. Add the ginger paste, turmeric and red chili powder.

On medium heat, mix together all the ingredients. Add the fried fish head and mix again. Let this cook for about 3-4 minutes till the fish head starts disintegrating into the dal and spices.

Use your spatula to give the fish head a helping hand. Add two – three cups of water and simmer. Season with sugar and salt.

Cook the dal till done, but not mushy. I would say about 15-20 minutes, covered all the time. If you see the water drying up too soon, add some more.

This dal will not be runny and have a thick consistency, more so because of the fish head added to it. The head would have now broken down quite a bit and you will see it mixed well with the dal and spices. Do a taste test and add sugar and salt if needed.

The Maacher Muro Diye Mugger Daal usually starts a lot of meals. Serve it with rice, crispy alu bhaja, and a wedge of Gondho Lebu and you will have a meal fit for a queen or a king! Follow it up with this or this. A meal like this usually ends with a bowl of chilled Payesh.

Jamie’s Whole-roasted Chicken with Homemade Barbecue Sauce

2011-02-13T13:54:00.001-05:00

The star of this recipe is the barbecue sauce that Jamie quickly puts together. I just copied him using some of my own measurements. Just the sauce is so awesome that it got my taste buds going as it filled my hands and the home with the most fantastic smells.

The idea of using fresh, gutsy, woody herbs and spices and aromatic ingredients are a great olfactory turn on for me.

Ingredients for Jamie’s Whole-roasted Chicken with Homemade Barbecue Sauce are:

1 whole chicken, skin on, without giblets (about 1.5 kg)

With a pair of kitchen shears, remove the backbone of the chicken and “open (the bird) down like a book”. Score the chicken on its legs, thighs and breasts.

For the dry spice mix:
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
10-12 black peppercorns
4-5 cloves
2 teaspoons salt

In a mortal and pestle, bash all the dry spices till coarse and keep.
For the sauce:
3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
4-5 fresh bay
1 pod of garlic
2-3 red chilies
Half cup Balsamic vinegar (I did not have it at home and used regular vinegar)
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
Juice of one orange
Zest of one orange
Three-fourth cup tomato ketchup (Jamie used organic)
2 tablespoons canola oil

On a chopping board, put together the rosemary, thyme, garlic cloves, red chilies and orange zest. Chop everything in together and into each other!

In a baking dish, toss in the chopped fresh herbs, etc., the dry ground spices, fresh bay, tomato ketchup, vinegar, orange juice, and smoked paprika.

Mix all the ingredients well. Lay the chicken on the sauce and massage the sauce into the chicken. Make sure you cover all the nooks and corners. Jamie does not marinade the chicken, I however kept my bird in the barbecue sauce for an hour. If you have more time, I suggest marinating for 5-6 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Start with the chicken face down in the baking sheet. Drizzle a little oil on the chicken and toss it in the oven for one hour 30 minutes. Turn the chicken once mid-way of cooking.

Its not possible for us to do an outdoor barbecue in this weather. But on a clear, summer day, I am going to do what Jamie did! Barbecue the bird on an outdoor grill with this heavenly sauce.
This chicken is one of the most “simple, honest and bloody good” things I have eaten in a long, long time.

P.S. If you have not seen this TED talk by Jamie, please do.

Pôddar Ilish Paturi in the Microwave

2011-02-11T20:23:00.001-05:00

Apparently the best and the most precious Ilish (Hilsa) comes from the river Padma of Bangladesh. Pôdda is the Bengali name for the same river.

When I moved to Canada, I wasn’t quite surprised that I got to eat better Ilish here than in India (Bihar and Delhi). Obviously the best produce of any country is exported to the western countries. Plus the Ilish we get here from the Bangladeshi store in Danforth is straight from Padma rather than the Rupnarayan River in Kolaghat.

The best quality of Ilish is known by its silver skin, which almost scintillates to your touch. Its scales are softer compared to a Rohu or Katla, two other voraciously consumed river fish by the Bengalis.

A fresh Ilish’s taste is the avatar of butter. Silken and oily, Ilish has a distinct taste, probably from the freshwater plankton it feeds on. You don’t have to be an Ilish connoisseur to quickly separate a fresh from a not-so-fresh Ilish. The latter will become chewy and also not have its deep and distinct flavor.

I do not know what exactly the word “Paturi” means. But the connotation is “steamed” or bhapa. Traditionally, Paturi is made by wrapping the fish in fresh banana leaves and steaming it. Though I do get to eat the best quality Ilish in Canada, I am not quite close to finding banana leaves (or a tree!) in layers of snow outside. Thus I am forced to settle with something that every city-dweller has convenient access to. The microwave.

Oh, a rather important thing about Ilish, please do not “thoroughly” wash Ilish. You will just wash off all its flavor and taste. Ideally the scales of the fish are first removed, then the whole fish is washed and cut. But if you get your fish monger to cut the fish for you, bring it home and only lightly wash the pieces.

Ingredients for Ilish Maacher Paturi are:

4-6 slices of Ilish
Half teaspoon + 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
4-5 heaped tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon khus khus/posto/poppy seeds
2.5 tablespoons plain yogurt
5 + 7-8 green chilies
5-6 tablespoons mustard oil
Salt

Grind to a smooth paste the mustard seeds, poppy seeds, half teaspoon turmeric powder and 4-5 green chilies. Use little water to wet grind. What I do is, first dry grind the mustard and poppy seeds and then introduce the green chilies with very little water to get the smooth consistency.

Arrange the slices of fish in a shallow microwaveable glass dish.

Slobber the spice mixture on the fish. Add the yogurt, slice lengthwise the remaining green chilies and add them too. Top the fish pieces up with a teaspoon of turmeric powder, salt and drizzle the mustard oil. With a small spatula, evenly coat everything onto the fish pieces.

I start with a spatula but usually end up using my hand to get the spices on both sides of the fish.

Cover with a cling wrap and keep for at least 10 minutes. Microwave the fish for 10 minutes.

Serve the Ilish Maacher Paturi with steaming plain white rice.

Gota Sheddho Revisited

2011-02-07T12:17:00.001-05:00

I am a fourth generation Bengali to grow up in Bihar. I also went to a convent school. Such socio-cultural dynamics are not strange or unheard of in India. But they clearly contribute largely in raising a sufficiently confused young girl.

Tomorrow is Saraswati Puja in India. Growing up, it meant an extra holiday in school. I do not remember myself doing any prayer ritual on this day; although something that lingers on from this day is the taste of Gotta Sheddho, literally translated from Bengali as “whole boiled”.

I am told, Gota Sheddho is a Ghoti thing, where Grandmothers and Mothers cook at least five types of whole vegetables with lentils on the day of Saraswati Puja, and eat it the next day, when its cooled down. The day of Sheetal Shasti.

Saraswati Puja in the part of Bihar I lived in, meant young boys and men setting up pandals in the neighborhood and praying to the Goddess of Knowledge. It often translated into muted nuisance where the more boisterous boys would visit every home in the neighborhood to collect donations or chanda, which sadly was more forced than voluntary. These were also the boys who probably never went to school. So their association with “learning and knowledge” remained questionable.

But I do not want to undermine the credibility of their efforts in making arrangements for just one day only (though “celebrations” often stretched to a week). Loud music - most often the raunchiest songs of that year made a perfect set up to tease and torment scared girls who ventured out on the streets that day. Another reason for me to stay in and prepare for the final exams coming up the next month. Though traditionally, its a pen and paper down day in India for all students.

But watching young girls and boys in their finest dresses made a great celebration from home. Some girls as young as 12 or 13 would wear saris.

On this day, it is traditional to wear the color yellow (or mustard yellow) to welcome the Spring/Basant season in India. My memories of girls wearing yellow cotton saris, their hairs washed and smelling of Head & Shoulders, making a wet patch of damp at the back of their blouses where their hair ended are quite vivid. Each girl giggling, walking nervously in their little heels when they saw a group of boys coming their way. This day also made for a great desi, pre-Valentine’s Day celebration. All in the name of knowledge!

With all the Saraswati Puja gung-ho around me, I would shift between bending over the cast iron railings of our terrace to people watch, run to the kitchen to see how Mum was making Gota Sheddho and sprint back to a very visible spot where people could see me “studying”. Clearly I was the only one who was not letting the Goddess of Knowledge down.

Now back to the taste of tradition – Gota Sheddho. There is no one recipe for this vegetarian stew, packed with hearty vegetables. Each family pretty much does it their own way. I will of course share how its made in my family. I had previously made Gota Sheddho on a regular day and the recipe is here.

Ingredients for Gota Sheddho are:

Half cup whole urad dal
Half cup whole green moong
2 small sweet potatoes (either whole or cut into quarters)
Handful of whole green peas, remove the stringy part
Handful of broad beans/sheem, remove the stringy part
6-7 small eggplants
Few green chilies, slit
1 1/2 tablespoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoon mustard oil
Sugar
Salt

Wash the two dals and begin to boil them in a pressure cooker or a thick bottom saucepan – for about 25-30 minutes.

When the lentils get to a rolling boil, add vegetables, ginger, green chilies, turmeric powder, salt and sugar and pressure cook on medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables and dals are cooked. Just when you think all the vegetables and dals and well cooked but not too mushy, drizzle the mustard oil, remove from heat.

The Gota Sheddho is the right balance of sweet and savory, so do a test taste and adjust accordingly.

Fresh Salsa Salad

2011-02-01T17:57:00.002-05:00

This is a Mexican-inspired salad which is an all-time favorite of ours. Its quick and simple to make and most often you will find all the ingredients at home, except of course jalapeño peppers.

If you don’t have jalapeños, use any hot green chilies.

Ingredients for Fresh Salsa Salad are:

2 firm red tomatoes
2 jalapeño peppers
1 medium red onion
1 medium cucumber
Juice of one lime
Handful of cilantro/coriander
1 teaspoon cumin powder
Half teaspoon black pepper powder
Salt

Remove the seeds from the jalapeños and chop them finely. All the other vegetables also need to be chopped as finely as you can.

Mix everything in a large bowl. Toss in the spices and seasoning and add freshly squeezed lime juice.
If you are making this salad to serve later, do not add salt. Add it just before you serve. Its best to serve this salad chilled.

I will serve this tonight with grilled Tilapia fillets.

Koraishutir Ghugni

2011-01-31T13:41:00.001-05:00

I haven't yet made Koraishutir Kochuri this season. Which means I have to make my peas offering with a peas-y alternative.

This is a green peas ghugni, something which can pass off an evening snack or as a brunch with phulko luchi.

Ingredients for Koraishutir/Green Peas Ghugni are:

500 grams shelled peas (frozen or fresh)
2 medium size potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger paste
2 medium ripe red tomatoes, chopped
Half teaspoon cumin seed
Half teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Half teaspoon black pepper powder
1 small stick of cinnamon
1 cardamom
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
Half cup fried onions, crushed
2-3 tablespoons mustard oil
Sugar
Salt

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the cubes of potatoes till they are lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

In the remaining oil, add the cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Immediately add the chopped onions.

On a low heat-medium heat, sauté the onions till they are lightly red in color. Add the ginger, tomatoes, red chili powder, black pepper powder, turmeric, garam masala powder, salt and half a spoon of sugar. Sweat the onions with the spices and tomatoes till they are cooked. Keep it covered. This should take about 6-8 minutes.

Once this mixture is cooked, add the green peas and the sautéed potatoes.

Add half a cup of water, cover and cook the peas for 5-6 minutes. The peas and potato will release some moisture of their own, make sure you don’t overcook them and make them mushy.

Now add the crushed fried onions to the ghugni and mix well. Do a taste check and see if it has the right balance of everything.

Have the Green Peas Ghugni on its own as a snack or team it up with some luchi or parotha. Some of you may even like to top it with some muri/puffed rice and enjoy it with some hot chai.