Baking Supplies n Kolkata

Shapla Chingrir Torkari

9:13 PM

Water Lily stem and Shrimp curry

I have written about water lily or Shapla (Nymphaeaceae) in two other posts with two different recipes (Shaplar Bhyala and Shaplar ghanto) before. Today while writing this recipe I decided to include the write-up that I posted on my Facebook page a few days back. It for a change was in Bengali where I wanted to describe how monsoon is experienced in rural Bengal. For people who do not read Bengali I have included a small English write-up in the same line. Hope you will enjoy it. 

The recipe today is very simple but with a spectacular flavour that with every morsel will remind you of monsoon. Just a few pantry staples and a handful of shrimps that are easily available in this season. That is the merit of regional cooking, celebrating the seasonal flavours while retaining all it's goodness.

Bengali

Niramish Dimer Dalna, Bengali Faux Egg Curry

3:06 AM

Niramish dimer dalna, Egg prepared with cottage cheese and chana dal
A Bengali delicacy

 Today is Jamaishoshti, a special day dedicated solely to the son-in-laws in a Bengali family. A day when the parent in-laws spoil and shower their jamai with love, blessings, gifts, and an elaborate feast with almost a never-ending list of dishes.

Jamai Shoshti falls on the sixth day of the bright fortnight on the Bengali month of Jaisthya. In this case, Shasti does not only refer to the sixth day, Rather it also mentions the Hindu folk goddess Maa Shasti- The deity of reproduction, saviour, and bestower of children. She is worshipped by every mother wishing to ensure the protection of their children and every woman waiting to conceive. The goddess is embodied as a motherly figure riding a cat and nursing up to eight babies. Though every month of the year has a devoted day to pray to maa Shoshti, the month Jaisthyo is marked only for the son-in-laws.

Now The Bengali word Jamai is associated with many other notions, like jamai ador, Jamai thakano proshno (Question to befool the son in law) and even a proverb

Curry

Paneer Masala

9:22 PM


It's funny how with just a change of time makes things feel precious to us. The other day the husband came home feeling triumphant with a block of our favourite paneer. I am not much of a paneer lover yet the sight of new ingredients made us happy. Though not on her usual track, life sure has found a new normal to carry on.

Bengali

Hansher Dimer Kosha (Spicy duck egg curry)

5:54 PM


'Maa see Robin eggs" squeaked my little 5 years old. a second later the brother too joined in the excited jumping.
and even before we could realize they gathered around the old man who was sitting on the pavement selling those light blue eggs. Something that we haven't seen ever before. We enquired about it and was very surprised to know that these are duck eggs. How the markets in Kolkata never ceases to surprise me. 

Bengali

Chingri macher Dhokar Dalna

9:11 PM


Who you do not depend entirely on your family tree or upbringing. but there are certain traits that you are born with, some times inexplicable but that's what makes us unique. Often as parents, we ignore the early signs of what a person is passionate about and what makes them happy. and most often than not as a person you do not understand where your happiness lies. Blessed are those who at least gets to find it in their lifetime but my heart goes out to all those who never get an opportunity to find out their inner soul.

Bengali

Kajli macher Jhol

9:45 PM



I have never believed in cooking separately for the kids and once they crossed the age of 18 months they have been eating the regular food. But there were adjustments. Like no chilies, less spices, less oil, and absolutely no small fish.

Being a Bengali our meals are never complete without a dish or two of fish. But since we always encouraged the kids to eat on their own we had to omit these small river water fishes from our menu. Glad that this phase is almost over. The little girl now is enjoying the small fish curries with equal gusto and is often demanding for her share of mourola mach bhaja (crisp fried Indian anchovies). 

Curry

Authentic Punjabi Sarson ka Saag

9:51 AM


I never thought I would post this recipe as I have never cooked it before this day. But somedays you just do the unthinkable. because some recipes are perfected over generations and all you need to do is to follow the path and keep the trust.

Though I never made it but over the years I had gathered enough tips and tricks to make it from various TV shows and my blogger buddy, Amrita. I especially loved Amrita's stories when she went to her ancestral home in Punjab and documented this recipe. The biggest tip was to use the stems or the dathal as they say in the local dialect. 

The recipe I followed belongs to Bobby Chinn's flavour cafe Asia which I noted down in my diary many years ago. I just love how he is so down to earth takes on everything with his great sense of humour. The dish was made in a remote village alongside a mustard field. The recipe I believe is as authentic as it can get, made in a Handi and slow cooked for hours with pure ingredients, patience and love.

Curry

Mutton Do Pyaja (Goat meat with two types of onions)

9:01 AM


Now that winter is here t and we find reasons to veer towards the richer spicier gravies, let me present to you this rich, spicy, soul satisfying dish called Mutton Dopiyaja or dopyaja. Do piyaja literally means with two types of onions. Traditionally fried onion or birista and fresh onion are used to create a thick brownish gravy. But in my recipe, I have used onions thrice. The third variant is those whole small purple onions, which I cook along with the mutton and by the time the dish is ready the whole onion becomes soft and jammy, a delightful addition to the succulent meat and spicy gravy.

Bengali

Pat shaker jhol (Mulukhiyah)

8:37 PM


I am not sure if I could interchangeably use the term Mulukhiyah for Pat shaker jhol, but the ingredients, cooking process and taste is so uncannily similar that after some serious thought I decided to do so.

Mulukhiyah is an Egyptian dish which I first saw on a beautiful program on BBC called a Cook Abroad. It was one of those off the beaten path food shows where real food of different countries were showcased with the history behind it. On the Egypt episode the presenter Dave Myers (Hairy bikers fame) travelled to the Nile valley and prepared this dish at a farmer's place. I was truly taken aback to see the cooking process. Exactly how maa cooked Nalte shaker jhol. In Egypt they call it 'Asharifa' meaning the noble one. This nutrient rich dish was even mentioned in ancient Egyptian cuisine that dates back to thousands of years. 

Now if you have ever eaten or dealt with Nalte or Paat Shaak (scientific name Corchorus olitorius) then you know how slimy this is. For this reason this green is mostly cooked as a bawra or fritter or is just stir fried with spices. My Mother who was an artist and was running her own handicraft business discovered and learnt this from the many rural women worked in her workshop. In rural parts of Birbhum district these are always cooked as a green soupy dish. We were told that the Muslims of this region prefered to cook it with meat but the Hindu families cooked it just by boiling and tempering it with lots of garlic and chilies...just the way it is done in Egypt.

Bengali

Jukti phool er shukto

10:05 PM


Jukti phool or Sneeze wort flower is a comparatively new ingredient in my kitchen. I first discovered it in my local vegetable market 3 years back. To be honest I was fascinated with how pretty these green flowers were but the vegetable vendor warned me about it's bitterness. Following his suggestion I cooked a simple stir fry of it with Potatoes and simple seasoning at that time and loved every morsel of it mixed with steamed rice. The flower though look delicate has quite a bite to it and holds their shpe well even after cooking.

Cut to today's time, just last week I found them again and the seller told me to make Shukto with it. Which is a classic example of using any bitter vegetable in a Bengali household. Shukto, the iconic bitter gourd curry is a perfect example of balance. It's salty, sweet, bitter, pungent and slightly spicy yet mellow at the same time. It is eaten as the first course in a proper Bengali sit down lunch.

Bengali

Kopi Dantar Charchari (Cauliflower stalks curry)

3:00 AM


Often while I take my clients on market trips in Kolkata I tell them how thrift and foraging have always been a part of Bengali cuisine. But 'Always' is a big time span and I never was sure if this trend really existed in our style of cooking and if not,  then when and why this desire of using scraps and peels of veggies and other ingredients came into existence.

Because of the fertile Gangetic plain Bengal always was the land of abundance and had a huge repertoire of plant based recipes.  The narratives in the MAngal Kavya written during the time between 13th and 18th century has many citation of its rich heritage of vegetarian cooking. Later the Vaishnvaites and widows developed it further. Sometimes out of need and sometimes out of their mastery they created dishes that were as good and sometimes better than their non veg counter part. 

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