Poila Boishakh And Hubby's BIrthday Special Sweet..!!

Ranga Alur Pantua....Gulab Jamun With Sweet Potato...!!!

Poila Boishakh, the first day of the bengali new year(usually falls in mid-April every year) is a very auspicious day .It's a very special day for all the Bengalis all over the world. In our childhood hearing Rabindrasangeet,played by Kakumoni(my uncle) we used to wake up quite early in the morning  on that day. Maa and thamma( my granny) used to be very busy in the preparations of the Satyanarayan Puja. After bath, wearing new clothes I and my brother touched the feet of all the elder members of our family. All the neighbours and many relatives came to our house for the puja and they wished each other good wishes and exchanged sweets and pleasantries among each other.

Maa specially made Narkol Naru ( Coconut Laddu)and Payesh  ( Rice and milk Pudding) and Thamma made the amazing Ranga Alur Pantua( Gulab Jamun with Sweet Potato) on that Day. It's true that those were the Golden days of my life but now, after my marriage, I celebrate my Poila Boishakh very gorgeously, because it's my Husband's birthday too. So, after my marriage Poila Boishakh means a double celebration at my home.

After the puja and other rituals every year on this day ,I cook something special for him. This year I was remembering thamma( she is no more) very badly. So, I called Maa and while we were talking about her over phone Maa suggested me to prepare  "Ranga Alur Pantua" like her. She described me thoroughly the process. I thought by making this sweet I not only can give a sweet surprise to my hubby but also it would be a tribute to my granny on this auspicious day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the recipe of Rangla Alur Mishti...



Ingredients:
 

  

• Sweet Potatoes - 250 gms
•  Refined flour (maida) - 2-3 tbsp.
•  Semolina(suji):1 tsp
•  Water:11/2 Cup
•  Sugar - 1 cup
• Green cardamoms - 2-3
•  Oil/ghee: Enough for frying
•  Mawa: 3-4 tbsp.(I used home made mawa, To make  mawa, take 2-3 tbsp. of milk powder and make a soft dough with 2-3 tbsp. of milk, and on full power, heat it in the microwave oven for 30 sec to 1 min. But don't make it too tight.)

Process:

• At first wash and peel the potatoes very well. Then cut them in small cubes and with enough water boil them in gas oven or just take a microwave safe bowl with water and add the potato cubes into the bowl and then on full power heat it for 8-10 minutes. Most of the time to save time and avoid fuss I use microwave to boil anything literally quickly.
• Soak the semolina in 1 tbsp. of water and when it becomes very soft, add it to the boiled potato and smash.
• Add the flour and make a smooth, lump free beautiful ,soft yet firm dough. You may need1/2-1 tbsp. more flour .
• Now divide the dough into few small balls.
• Then press  each of the ball little and make a space and then add little khoya and a cardamom seed inside it and then close it and tightly roll between your palm to smooth the surface.
• Repeat the process for all the dough, keep them aside.
• Make the sugar syrup with the exact amount of sugar and water and boil the them until the sugar is completely dissolve into the water. Don't make a thick syrup. The sugar syrup will be thin. Keep the syrup little warm.
• Now put a deep bottomed vessel into the oven, add ghee or oil and heat it.
• Then add the previously made balls into the vessel and fry them in medium flame until they turn into nice red/dark brown in color.
• With a perforated ladle very carefully take them out from the kadhai one by one and directly dunk them into the warm sugar syrup.
• Let them to get soaked into the syrup for 20-25 mins.
• Take them out from the syrup and serve. The pantua made from the sweet potatoes are just soft like cotton and yummilicious.

 

                                 Enjoy Your Food...!!

  

  

  

                                  

 

Potato Smiley....!!..A Fun Food For Kids..!!

The Best way to feed your kids is to attract them to the foods you made . They are too young to understand the health benefits or goodness of food. They only enjoy those foods which are tasty and look attractive. I know, all the moms have a specific list of foods which they don't want to give their kids and very interestingly those are the kid's most favourite foods. I generally try to restrict my daughter from the frozen foods, specially the French fries, smileys  etc. etc. But, she loves them simply. So, I have found out an alternative way so that she can enjoy it.

Making French fries and potato smileys at home is not a big deal. The process is very simple and I can assure you that your little one will love it.


Here is the process of making Potato Smileys at home:

Ingredients:

• Potato: 2 (boiled and smashed)
• Salt: To taste
• Black Pepper Powder: 1/4 tsp.
• Freshly Prepared Breadcrumbs: 2tbsp
• Cheese (any, preferably processed cheese): 1/2 cup(grated)
• Corn Flour: 2-3 tbsp.( to bind the potato tightly, you may need more)
• White oil: Enough to fry

Process:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Boil, peel and mash potatoes very well.
• Add salt, grated cheese, bread crumbs and a little bit of corn flour for binding.
• Mix thoroughly. There should be no lumps and make patties of your desirable size.
• Use a cookie cutter to give them different shapes.
• With a knife or other sharp instrument make smiley faces on them.
• Keep them in fridge for sometimes.
• After 30 minutes to one hour take them out and sprinkle little corn flour on them, it will make them crispy.
• Directly deep fry them in hot oil.
• Serve with tomato ketchup or with your favourite dip.

                                                  Let Them Enjoy ...!!

Spicy Egg Curry( Kosha Dim)...!!

Spicy Egg Curry....Dim Kosha..!! Egg Masala..!!

According to a study, having eggs for breakfast is good for losing weight, as it keeps people satiated for a longer time.But the utmost egg addicted people like me,dont need any excuse to eat them at anytime of the day.:P
 My hubby and my four year old daughter equally love eggs. It's true that both of them never complain against anything I prepare for them but the eggs always bring a smile of satisfaction to their faces.Though I  prefer eggs mostly for breakfast but somewhere the typical Bengali mentality encourages me to cook eggs sometimes  for lunch or dinner also.

Anyway, due to the Bengali New Year celebration and my hubby's birthday ,I made loads of high calorie foods since last few days. So yesterday morning I wanted to go for something very simple. In these times, generally I prefer fruits and sandwiches but my egg craving nature had compelled me to prepare Spicy Egg Curry and Roti for my lunch.

Dim kosha (Spicy Egg Curry) is my very favourite item learned from my best ever teacher Maa. But she never used garlic in her egg/fish or veg preparations but this time I added few crushed garlic and made literally a very spicy and hot  Dim kosha. Ummmmm I simply love it.


Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• Eggs: 4 (hard )
• Tomato: 1 medium (chopped)
• Onion: 1 large(finely chopped/paste)
• Ginger paste: 1 tsp
• Garlic Cloves:4-5(crushed)
• Cumin Powder:1/2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder:1 tsp
• Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder: 2 tsp(as per your choice)
• Bay Leaves:1
• Green Chilli:2 (Optional)
• Salt: To taste
• Sugar:1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder:1 tsp
• Water:1/4 cup.
• Mustard Oil: 4-5 tbsp.

Process:

• Hard boil the eggs and deshell them .
• In a pan add little mustard powder and fry the boiled eggs with little turmeric powder and salt until golden yellow in color. Keep them aside.
• Now add rest of the mustard oil in the same pan.
• Add the sugar and caramelise it .
• Then add the crushed garlic,bay leaves and green chilli.
• Fry the garlic until little brown.
• Then add the chopped tomato and cook until the tomatoes become mushy
• Add the chopped onion,little salt,turmeric powder,kashmiri red chilli powder and the cumin powder.Mix very well and cook for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.
• Add the ginger paste and mix well.Cook until the oil starts to release from the sides.
• Now add the fried eggs into the mix.You may prick the fried eggs with a fork so that during cooking the masala can enter inside the eggs.
• On a gentle flame cook for another 3-4 mintues.
• Add the water and mix very well .
• Increase the flame little, adjust the gravy and taste the seasoning.
• Turn off the flame and sprinkle garam masala powder .
• Garnish with chopped cilantro or coriander leaves
• Serve with roti,rice or paratha.

                  

 
 
 

                       

                      Enjoy Your Food..!!
 

Chicken Korma...!!!

                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
                                    

On a lazy Sunday evening I found few chicken drumsticks in my deep fridge but couldn't decide what to do with them,as I didn't want to go for an usual preparation .The  other day ,in a magazine I read about some traditional  Mughlai  foods. The Muslim rulers were lovers of creamy dishes full of spices and nuts . Then I thought The Chicken Korma would be the best for our Sunday  dinner. Though I knew that Chicken Korma usually is made with the boneless pieces but I wanted to give a try to make the dish with those drumsticks and the result was just fantastic.

 

This Lush, Creamy and Spicy Chicken Korma was  brought to India by the Mughal emperors who conquered the land from the 16th to the 18th century. I should mention here that the word korma, refers to the style of cooking in which meat or vegetables are stewed in a yogurt sauce.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:


Chicken: 500 gm(boneless/boned)
Unsweetened Yoghurt:1/2 cup
Onion: 2 medium (Chopped)
Ginger : 1" (Paste)
Garlic:6 ( paste)
Tomato Puree:2 tsp
Turmeric Powder:1 tsp
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder:1tsp
Coriander Powder:1/2 tsp
Poppy Seed : 1tsp(paste)
Cashew:5-6(Chopped)
Rasin:8-10
Almond:2 tsp(Toasted and ground to powder)
Garam Masala Powder: 1 tsp
Heavy Cream:2-3 tbsp
Coconut Cream/Desiccated coconut:3-4 tbsp 
Water:1 cup
Oil/ghee:1/2 Cup
Salt:As per taste
Sugar: 1tsp
Cinnamon Stick:1
Cloves:3-4
Cardamom: 3-4



Process:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Beat the yoghurt and mix it with the chicken pieces along with turmeric  and salt.
• Set it aside for half an hour.
• Heat Ghee (or oil) in a large deep skillet.
• Add the cinnamon stick, cardamoms and the cloves.
• Cook for 1 min .When the aroma comes out add the onion and cook gently for about 4-5 mins until the onions are soft.
• Add ginger garlic paste, tomato puree  and cook for more 3-4 minutes.
• Then add turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder,salt and sugar cook for an additional 3 minutes (until aromatic) .
• Add the poppy seed paste.
• Add the chicken with the marinade and the coconut, mix until combined and when the oil starts to release add water .
• Then cover and cook on a gentle simmer until the chicken is tender.It may took a longer period if you are using boned chicken pieces.
• Add the heavy cream and the ground almonds and mix well.
• Sprinkle garam masala powder.
• Add the chopped cashews and raisins.
• Serve with rice or paratha garnishing with chopped cilantro/coriander leaves.                          

                    

        
                        Enjoy Your Food..!! 


 

Prawn Malaicurry ...!! Chingri Malaicurry..!!

Being An extreme Prawn Lover I use to celebrate my every special occasion with this Classic Bengali delicacy Chingri Malaicurry. It is a very famous and popular Bengali preparation served with Steaming hot Rice or Polao for lunch or dinner. This time I made it on my hubby's birthday on last Sunday. I must mention here that this is one of his most favourite dishes. 

Basically this is a mild spicy prawn preparation with little sweetness. It is called "Malai" because of the presence of coconut milk or cream.The curry gets its creaminess from the coconut milk.

Like many other preparations, I have learned to cook this from Maa,only. But during that time, she had to work hard to prepare this. At first she grated coconut and then cooked it for a while in boiling water and then drained the scrapped coconut with a muslin cloth and squeezed to get the coconut milk .OMG..!! I don't know, how she could manage everything. But nowadays ,life is so easy for us.We readily get the canned coconut milk, cream or powder and without any hard work can prepare this.

Here is the Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Prawns(medium to big): 500gm
• Onion : 2 Medium( paste or finely chopped)
• Ginger Paste: 11/2 tsp
• Garlic Paste: 2 tsp
• Tomato : 1 medium( chopped /pureed)
• Coconut Milk: 1/2 cup
• Poppy Seed Paste: 1 tsp ( Optional)
• Fresh Cream: 1-2 tbsp.(Optional)
• Cinnamon Stick:1
• Cloves: 3-4
• Green Cardamom: 2-3
• Bay Leaves: 1
• Turmeric Powder:1 tsp
• Salt: As per taste
• Sugar:1 tsp
• Kashmiri Chilli Powder: 1tsp
• Garam Masala Powder: 1 tsp (1/2 tsp pf ground cinnamon,cloves and cardamoms).
• Mustard Oil:2 tbsp.
• Ghee : 1tsp(Optional)
• Water: 1/4 to 1/2 cup(If required)

Process:

• Wash ,peel and de vein the prawns .Leave the tail.This time I got very fresh big size prawns and that's why I kept the heads intact too.
• Marinate them with little salt and turmeric powder and keep it for 2 mins.
• Then heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a pan and fry them very slightly and keep aside.
• Now heat the rest of the mustard oil in a deep bottomed vessel.
• Add the cinnamon stick,cloves, cardamom and the bay leaves and on medium heat fry them for a while.
• When the aroma comes out add the sugar and caramelize it.
• Then add the garlic paste and fry it till little brown.Add the tomatoes.Cook until the tomatoes become mushy and very soft.
• Add onion paste and sprinkle little salt.
• Cook for 3-4 minutes and then add the ginger paste and the mustard seeds paste.
• Add turmeric powder,red chilli powder accordingly and mix very well.
• Cook until the oil starts to release from side.
• Meanwhile mix the coconut milk with the heavy cream and whisk it very well with a spoon.
• Now add the prawns into the kadhai and mix them with the masala.
• Then add the coconut cream/milk.At this time you may  add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.It depends on the thickness of the coconut cream.
• Cover and cook until the gravy thickens and prawns are done.
• Now uncover and increase the flame little ,taste the seasoning and adjust the gravy.
• Turn off the flame.
• Heat 1 tsp of ghee in an another pan ,add the garam masala powder and cook for 1 min.
• Pour the ghee on the prawn malaicurry .
• Now your Prawn Malaicurry is ready to serve.
• Enjoy it with steaming hot rice or pulao.

                                                                       Enjoy Your Food...!!!

                       

Jalepi...Jilipi...!! The Spiral Shaped Indian Sweet..!!

It was the last day of our Bengali Year...!! Chaitro Sonkranti..!! And I was Missing my childhood days very badly remembering the "Charak Sankranti Mela"( The village fair held usually few days before the end of the Bengali year). The shopping, the food, the giant wheels, the smiles and the chatter of people...!! Other than enjoying different rides and shopping we simply loved to buy Jilipi,Papar bhaja(Jalebi,Papad,other Namkeens) and many other fair special foods. I know those foods contain  loads of calories but I cant resist myself by anyway, even after so many years.

Entering into the kitchen ,that day,I felt bored and didn't want to go for normal usual snacks which I regularly prepare. Suddenly thought it would be great if I could make some arrangements to prepare Jalebi/Jilipi at home. Few days ago I read atleast two to three different processes of making jilipi at home. Quickly chose one of them and started to make it. Though I was little worried, as I thought the spiral shape of jilipi is really difficult to make but it wasn't so bad at the end and tI must say the taste was very good.


Anyway, here is the way of preparing Jilipi/Jalebi at home.


Ingredients:

• Flour:1 Cup
• Rice Flour/ Semolina: 1 tsp
• Yoghurt:1/2 Cup
• Kesar/Saffron:2pinch
• Ghee/Oil: For Deep Frying.
• Ketchup Bottol for frying.
• Water: Sufficient.

For Making Sugar Syrup:

• Water : 2 Cups
• Sugar: 3 Cups
• Cardamom Powder: A pinch
• Saffron: Few Strands.

Process:

• In a large bowl, whisk flour, yogurt, rice flour and sufficient water to a smooth and pouring consistency batter.
• Cover and keep in a warm place to ferment for 24 hours.
• Beat the batter with your hands again for 15 minutes
• Make sure the batter is fermented, but do not over ferment. After fermenting batter will be little lacy.
• Cook sugar with 2 cups water in a deep non-stick pan on high heat, stirring continuously, till the sugar dissolves. 
• Sprinkle the cardamom powder and saffron strands on it.
• The syrup will be of one string consistency.
• Keep the syrup warm.
• Heat sufficient ghee/oil in a kadai on medium heat.
• Pour  the batter into the ketchup bottle. 
• Squeeze round spirals into the hot ghee/oil and deep fry, turning them over gently a few times, till they are evenly golden and crisp.
• Drain and soak in sugar syrup for 30 sec to 1 min only. 
•  Take them out of the syrup ,sprinkle little Kesar on them and serve hot.

                                          Enjoy Your Food...!!