Bengali

Mocha Chingrir Daal

10:49 AM



I am cooking a lot these days and by ‘a lot’ I mean almost twice daily. My MIL is visiting and we also have a few guests over here. It feels like am in the kitchen for the whole day because apart from the main meals I also have to prepare food for my son. Though I love to cook but this much cooking is quite tiring. But the thing that’s paining me most is good foods are prepared but I hardly get any chance to take the picture. Cause am sure they are not aware of this special human species called food bloggers, who set the table, click the pictures and then with a happy grin eat the cold food. Jokes apart but seriously I can’t risk my image in front of my MIL and take pictures when she is around. So though several elaborate Bengali dishes are prepared no pictures have been taken.


This recipe of ‘mocha chingrir daal’ or ‘Bengal gram daal cooked with banana flower and prawns’ was made a couple of weeks back. Well mocha or banana flower is a vegetarian delicacy for Bengalis. We Bengalis actually banana trees and never waste a single part of it. Like bananas are eaten both in raw and ripe form and not even the peels are wasted. Then the flower is cooked to achieve traditional delicacies like mochar ghanto(banana flower curry) or mochar chop (banana flower fritters) etc. the inside portion of the stem is called thor and is again cooked as curry or with lentils. Thor is said to have high content of iron and the juice us used to treat kidney stones and high blood pressure. The leaves are used for cooking a beautifully flavored fish dish called paturi where the fish is steamed with spices wrapped in banana leaves.


I am a self-proclaimed mocha lover. I can finish my whole meal only with a bowl full of delicious mochar ghanto. I even love the Mocha petals. As kids we used to decorate the petals with flowers and float them as boats. Especially in monsoons when the street side drains would overflow, we have spent hours following them. The only thing that restrains me from cooking mocha is the difficulty in cleaning and preparing it. One has to clean each floret by picking out the stick and the transparent petal from it. Then you have to chop it finely and have to boil it with salt and turmeric before its ready to be cooked as a vegetable. But trust me the end result will be finger licking good and will make up for all the hard work and patience. I always cook it in big portions to get more for my hard work and this recipe is a complete meal when served with rice, roti, paratha or luchi (puri).




This is the banana flower or our Mocha with all the petals and florets.

Now let me explain how to clean the mocha. First rub your hand with a few drops of mustard oil Otherwise you will end up having black stains on your hand. Be very careful with your clothes cause the Mocha or thor stains does not go away easily.


This is how a single floret will look like.Take out this stick… And the transparent petal and you are ready to chop it.

Be patient and repeat for all the florets. Now take 7-8 florets as bunch and chop them as finely as possible. Soak them in water. Wash and boil them with salt and turmeric. Don’t over boil, It should be soft with a little crunch. Drain the water and you are ready to go.
Mocha Chingri’r Daal

Ingredients:
Mocha: 1 cup boiled
Bengal gram daal: 11/2 cups
Prawns: 10 pieces small sized
Grated coconut: 1/3 cup
Ginger paste: 2 teaspoon
Cumin and coriander powder: 1 teaspoon each
Vegetable oil: 3 teaspoon
Garam masala powder: 1/3 teaspoon
Ghee or clarified butter: 1 spoon (optional)
Salt
Turmeric
Sugar
For tempering:
Bay leaf: 1 piece
Whole cumin: 1 teaspoon; I used shajeera , normal cumin will also work.
1-2 pieces each of whole cardamom, clove and cinnamon
Green chilies: 2 pieces, chopped


Method: soak the Bengal gram for 30 mnts, wash and strain the water. Boil it with salt and turmeric till soft but not mushy.

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the prawns lightly with salt and turmeric. Keep them aside.

In the same oil put all the tempering items. When the aroma rises add the ginger cumin paste and turmeric. Give it a stir.

When oil starts separating from the spices add the drained banana flower and salt. Mix everything together, cover and let it cook on low heat for 5-8 minutes. Stir in-between to avoid sticking at the bottom.


Once the juice dries up add the prawn and the grated coconut. Mix and cook uncovered for 2 minutes.


Tip in the boiled Daal and stir to mix everything together. Add a cup of warm water and check the seasoning. Cover and let it cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in between.


Once it reaches a thick consistency sprinkle the garam masala powder and ghee. serve hot.

we had ours with some carrot and spinach paratha.

am sending this to Think Spice:Think Turmeric event this time hosted by Sudeshna of Cook like a bong. This great event is a brainchild of lovely Sunita, who has inspired a lot like us.

Bread Paratha etc

Rajma Paratha

2:08 AM



The Diwali celebration always holds a special place in my life, as this is the only festival that all Inidans celebrate together. But this Diwali was very special in itself. This is Baby Hrishan’s first Diwali. Though he is too small to understand and enjoy the celebration but he still liked the fire works. No, not those noisy crackers but the beautiful sparkles, flowerpots and parachutes. In bangalore people start the celebration a week before. As soon as dark approaches you get to see the sky alight with lights and colours. It’s a nice site only if the noise was missing.

This diwali I dint prepare any sweet dish. My family and friends will never believe this satement. But that’s true. Actually I was so busy in cleaning all the dirts that accumulated in my absense I forgot to plan anything. (Well that’s not the reason of not making sweets. better nobody asks me why I munch on a handful of grapes when I crave sweets), It only hit my mind when Maa called up in the morning. Thought of making something quick yet tasty.

I soaked some Kidney benas or rajma the night before to make Rajma masala, the only recipe I know with Rajma. so planned to make Rajma Paratha. Both hubby and me like stuffed paratha. It’s easy and does not require much accompaniment. Mostly a bowl of raita makes it complete. But cooking the Filling, kneading the dough, stuffing, rolling frying is quite some tiring work. One of my North Indina friend has introduced me to this type of stuffed paratha where you cook the stuffing and knead everything together. I find it very easy and these parathas make theor way to our dinner table quite often.

This Rajma paratha came out looking and tasting really nice. Hubby liked it very much and asked when am I going to make it next. As it was the Diwali eve so I made some Shahi Dum Alu and salad.
Here is the recipe.


Rajma Paratha (Kidney Beans stuffed Indian Flat Bread)


JFI: Rajma hosted by Divya. Indira of Mahanandi started this.



Ingredients:
Kidney beans: 2/3 cup
Whole-wheat flour or atta: 2 and 1/2 cups
Onion: 1 medium
Ginger garlic paste: 1 teaspoon
Tomato: 1 small
Ajwain (aniseed): ½ teaspoon
Green chillies: 2
Curd: 2/3 cup
Oil: 3 teaspoon and extra for frying
Coriander leaves
Salt: to taste

Method: first you need to prepare the kidney beans. If you are using canned ones then just wash them and you are ready to go. Otherwise wash and soak the beans at least for 8 hrs. Then pressure-cook it with salt for 7-8 whistles. Drain and keep aside.
Chop the onion and chillies and keep aside.
Whisk the curd with 1-cup water and keep covered.

Heat the oil and add the green chillies and onion. Once lightly browned add the ginger garlic paste, salt. After 2-3 minutes add the chopped tomatoes. Once the tomatoes get cooked and the whole masala becomes like paste add the rajma. Give it a good mix so the rajmas are coated with the spices.

With the back of your spatula mash the whole thing. Cook for 5-7 minutes till its dry. Let it cool.

Take the flour, ajwain, coriander leaves and the cooked rajma in a big bowl. Mix it and then according to need keep on adding the ghol or the curd mixture. Knead and make soft dough.

Divide it in 9-10 equal portions and dust with flour.

Roll the portions into discs. It would be thicker than normal roti.

Heat a pan and place one paratha on it. Cook till brown spots appear on each side.

Add little oil and cook till light brown in colour. Make the rest of the parathas and keep them covered or wrap in foil.

Serve hot with any side dish of your choice or simple curd raita or pickle.


Am sending this stack of parathas to

Bengali

Jhinge Begun die Ilish Macher Jhal (Hilsa with Veggies in a Light Mustard Gravy)

6:55 AM

I always make it a point to bring some fish whenever am flying from Kolkata. Hubby says that mostly the fish we get here are also flown from Kolkata and are stored in ice. These obviously are not fresh and lack the taste that tickles the Bengali taste bud. This time Baba bought some Ganga’r Ilish (Hilsa caught from the Ganges) and Galda Chingri (Prawns). Maa had cleaned and cut them in small pieces and lightly fried them with a pinch of turmeric and salt and put them in the freezer. By the time we started for the airport the fish was frozen and remained that way till we reached our place in Bangalore.

Now the fish loving Bengalis undoubtedly believe that the Hilsa from the Rivers Ganges and Padma tastes best in the lot. Now Padma falls in Bangladesh and the imported price of these fish sometimes make news. so the easily available ones come from Ganges. The fish I brought this time were caught near Raichak (a place near kolkata).

Now like all Bengali curries fish curries also come in a variety of gravies like jhol (onion, ginger, cumin paste), jhal (mustard paste), Kalia (Red gravy with garam masala), Tak (tamarind or dried mango gravy), malaikari (coconut, mustard) etc etc. all these have an unique flavor and taste of its own depending on the fish. Last weekend I made patla jhol (Light gravy) with begun (Brinjal) and Jhinge (Ridgegourd). This is how my family loves their Ilish on normal days. On special days Ilish is cooked in more elaborated ways like Ilisher jhal (in thick gravy), Ilish Paturi (Hilsa cooked with spices in bayleaves), Doi Ilish (with curd and spices) etc. Hubby loves this dish and while eating he didn’t touch other side curries. Guess that only means good.

One thing about Hilsa is that it should be cleaned before cutting otherwise the very smell of it gets lost.
This Dish is light and could be cooked in a jiffy. Compared to the other Hilsa recipes this is quite healthy.

Now the recipe-


Jhinge Begun die Ilish Macher Jhal


Ingredients:
Hilsa: 4 pieces

Potato: 1 small
Ridge gourd: ½ or 5-6 medium sized chunks
Begun (Brinjal): ½ of a medium sized
Mustard paste: 3 teaspoon
Mustrad oil: 6 teaspoon
Kalojeere (Kalounji or nigella seeds): a pinch
Green chilies: 4-5 or as per taste
Salt
Turmeric

Method:
One request: It is told that hilsa shouid always be cooked in mustard oil. That brings out the best flavor. So please for all Hilsa recipes don’t substitute the oil.

Peel the potato and cut in medium sized chunks.
Peel potato and slice them as shown in picture.
Cut the brinjal in the same manner.

Lightly fry the hilsa pieces with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Keep them aside.

Mix the mustard paste with ½ cup water and keep aside.

Veggies here don’t get cooked easily so I lightly sautéed them again with a little salt and turmeric. My Maa never does that. She fries the vegetables while cooking the gravy.

Reserve a spoonful of mustard oil and heat the rest. Once it reaches the smoking point lower the heat and add the nigella seeds and slitted green chilies. Once the aroma rises add the mustard paste. Give it a boil and add the veggies, salt and turmeric. Cover and let it cook on medium heat.

After 7-8 minutes check if the vegetables are cooked add the Hilsa. Mix with a light hand not to break the fish pieces.

Check the seasoning and put the reserved mustard oil.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Events Awards Interview

Light Veg n Lentil Soup

10:08 AM



Ever since we came back from Santiniketan, due to the weather difference Baby H is not keeping well. So this Saturday we thought of visiting his doctor. The doctor leaves quite far away from our place and was late on that very day. We had to wait for almost 2 hours. By the time we were done it was already dark outside. Our stomachs were growling and we thought of stopping somewhere to get some quick bites but with the Diwali shopping rush it was impossible to do so. When we reached home it was Son’s bedtime. We put him to sleep and quickly decided to make something warm and filling.


Both of us love soup especially in this weather when the days are warm but evening air has a slight nip in it. My front yard green patch has already got some baby spinach so thought of making a light soup. The whole wheat Dinner rolls are store bought but were a great accompaniment to it. his dish is quite versatile, in itself you can have it for evening snack and with bread you have a satisfying meal.

One Request: Please don’t go by the look and give it a try. Its light, quick yet flavorful and is completely guilt free.
In a pan put beans,tomato, capsicum, carrot, coriander roots, veg stock cube, and lentil. Reserve 2-3 mushrooms and add the rest. I like to add them at a later stage to keep their crunch and get extra flavor. Add the water, salt and half of the crushed peppercorn. Cover and let it cook on a low flame for 10 minutes.


Light Veg n Lentil Soup


Ingredients:
Mushrooms: 7-8 no.s cut in chunks
I have button and wood mushrooms. I used both.
French beans: chopped ¼ cup
Tomato: one small cut in chunks
Capsicum: ½ cut in small pieces
Carrot: 1 small, chopped
Coriander roots: one handful
Onion: half chopped
Spinach: ½ cup cut in big pieces
Vegetable stock cube: ½ pack. I used Maggi veg cube.
Masoor dal (Red lentil): boiled 1/3 cup
Pepper corns: 1 tablespoon
Water: 1 liter
Salt to taste

Method:
Open the lid and add the spinach leaves. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes uncovered. This way the green colour of the spinach remains intact.

Mash the tomatoes with the back of your spatula. Check the seasoning and put off the Gas.

Now in another pan heat 2 teaspoon of vegetable oil. Fry the chopped onions and reserved mushrooms for a couple of minute. add rest of the peppercorns and mix everything together.

Transfer the soup in it and give it a boil.

Serve hot with toasted breads or rolls.

This bowl of healthy and flavorful soup goes to grow your own, this time hosted by the inventor herself, the wonderful Andrea Meyers.

It also goes to WYF: A light meal at Simple Indian Food:an easy cooking blog.

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