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.

Fish and Seafood

Gandal patar bora ar macher patla jhol

8:16 PM

Fritters made of skunk vine (Paederia Foetida Linn) and light fish curry with the leaf paste

Uff dida ki baje gandho ei patatar, dur karo dur karo. (Oh Grandma what are these leaves? smell so bad. throw them away.),  I curled my nose and looked away in disdain.

Dida who was sitting on the floor and chopping a small bunch of the smelly leaves looked up and smiled. Tomar jonyoi ranna hochhe Didibhai. Khelei dekhbe atodiner jwor pet kharap kamon thik hoe jay. (It is being cooked for you dear, a great herb for your stomach ailments).

That made my heart skip a bit. After weeklong suffering of diarrhea and surviving on a meager diet of Barley water and thin arrowroot biscuit I was finally allowed to have a proper lunch today. I was waiting for the meal since morning and was dreaming of some fish curry with steaming hot rice or at least a meal of dal, alubhate, and machbhaja (Rice, mashed potato, and fried fish).

But not this. I shook my head in denial, tears welled up in my eyes and I ran away from that kitchen. 

Bengali

Lau shak die Macher Morich Pora Jhol (Fish curry with bottle gourd stems)

4:34 AM


"Maa, what are you cooking today?"
I asked her while sitting on the dining table chair with a heavy thump.
She was cooking in my open kitchen with the sunlight reflecting on her sweaty face. It was 9 in the morning and I could see most of her cooking was done.
Which clearly disappointed me.
Pregnancy made me crave crazy things and on the last leg of that journey, Maa was there to indulge me and I was greedy enough to set the menu every morning. That day was different though. I could hardly sleep the night before and thought have missed my opportunity.

Bengali

Macher Tel die Jhinge khosar bhorta

9:16 PM


The time sure is tough and at times heartbreaking. While we all stay home to fight this deadly virus, thousands of migrant workers started their journey to reach home. Just think of their plight. No work, no money and no assurance whether there would be any food the day after. The kids as young as 3-4 years old are there too and together they are walking, carrying their belongings to reach home which is 700-800 Kms away. 

Bengali

Mourola Macher Bati Charchari

9:18 PM


It's been almost 10 days that I haven't stepped out of the house. 9th day without any househelp and 4th day of the nationwide lockdown. But I am not complaining. Rather I find ourselves fortunate to have a roof over our head, food on our table and the opportunity to work from home when we need it the most.

Bengali

Shutki mach or Bengali style dried fish curry

6:23 PM


'Aj Shutki Mach banachhi. (today am making dried fish curry)' she called out as we opened the gate to leave. Maa looked back and Dida waved smiling from ear to ear.

I had no clue what it was but could understand it must have been something very good as maa scrambled to gather her things after finishing classes in the college.

I was around 4 then. Often accompanied maa to her Mastergrad classes. While she studied, I was left in charge of her other batch mates or often in the common room where the professors indulged me in stories and toffees. I was a  talkative kid and Maa was adored for who she was and also for how she strived to get her degree even after three kids.

Bengali

Moshla pora Mach Paturi /Spiced fish grilled in Banana leaf

6:59 PM


It's amazing how the human mind works. It's a mystery in itself the way it associates smells, colours, visuals and brings back the memory of some distant time you never even remember existed. but the most unsettling part is it's not always clear. sometimes it comes back in a flavour here, in a voice there Not that we ever complain but at times when you cannot put a finger on what it is, it could become really unsettling. As I always say giving tangible forms to memories is not possible and sometimes the memory is so faint that you do not even dare to try too hard. 

Bengali

Makhon shim er bhorta, Spicy Sword bean paste

6:23 PM


Food has a universal language. It runs as a common thread through all the realm of boundaries, ethnicities, religions and languages, and no matter where you are, a shared table never fails to bring people closer. Every time you offer food to someone, you show that you care without actually uttering the words. 

My mother ran a successful Handicraft business (Read Bengal's very own Kantha). Her work required her to travel to remote villages where the rural women/ housewives did the embroidery. most of them uneducated and hardly ever have gone outside that small village. Maa had a wonderful relationship with them. They would come and sit on the floor, talk, laugh, share stories and anecdotes from their daily lives, They often would ask for maa's suggestions on many of their daily woes, and maa who was a mentor for them always took very good care of them.

Bengali

Chingri Die Patoler Dolma

9:50 PM


On hot summer mornings when the Sun would go up and try to scorch us all alive, She would prevent us from going out.

'Kalo hoye jabi, tor maa ke takhon ki bolbo" (you will tan, what will I answer to your mother'), was her argument. An utter lie, as Maa would be the last person to worry about her kids turning a few shades darker in the sun. But there was no winning over Dida.

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.

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