Tiranga Pulao...Tricolor Pulao...!!

                                  Tiranga Pulao.....!!!!

Though our country, India gained independence on 15th August,1947 but before 1950 it was the colony of Britain. It was 26 th January, 1950 when indian people realized the actual sense of freedom from British Rule. 26 th January, Indian Constitution was officially enforced and India was declared as a sovereign ,secular and democratic nation. Dr Rajendra Prasad took the solemn oath as the first president of Independent India. 





The main Republic Day Celebration is held in the National Capital.,Delhi , at the Rajpath before the President Of India. Ceremonious parades take place, on this day which are performed as a tribute to India.

But now the question is , are we using our freedom in a right way nowadays? Are we, the common people staying safely in this country? I know, this is a food blog and I shouldn't go through all these controversial topics but I think even when are celebrating our 63rd anniversary of Indian Constitution we are still not independent in the actual sense.

Anyway, my daughter is only 4 years old and she only knows the colours of our National Flag and nothing else .I know at this age I can't make her understand what republic day means but just to help her to remember the day I made this Tiranga Pulao, specially for her, which in one hand would be nutritious, very interesting to look and on the other hand would help her to remember the date,26 th January, when mommy prepared this for her only.Though the basic idea was not mine. I saw it somewhere before but I made this completely in my own way.

It's a very simple yet delicious recipe.I would suggest ,try this on a very special day at your home and surprise your beloved ones.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• Long Grain Basmati Rice:2 cups
• Water:3 cups
• Ghee:3-4 Table Spoon
• Dry Fruits: Handful.
• French Beans: Chopped(1/2 cups)
• Garam Masala Powder: 3 tsp
• Powdered Sugar:1/2 cup(you may use normal sugar too)
• Salt:As per your taste
• Whole Garam Masala:3 Cinnamon Sticks,8-10 cloves,3-4 Cardamons
• 1/2 cups of frozen peas:Make a paste
• 1/2 cups of shredded carrots:Make a paste.

Process:

Process:

• Take the rice in a large microwave oven safe bowl,add 2-3 cups of water, two table spoon of oil,1/2 tsp of garam masala powder.
• Put it inside the microwave oven and heat it on full power upto 20 mins.
• It will boil the rice 70% .
• Remove the rice from the microwave and drain the excess water using a large stariner and now spread the rice over a flat large plate and let it dry for some time.
• One thing I must mention here that,to save time I used to make rice for polao in microwave,you easily make it in the normal way using gas oven.
• Now using a mixer grinder make a paste of the peas and keep it aside.Dont use much water for making the paste.
• In the similar way,make a paste of the carrot.
• Now divide your rice in three equal parts.
• It will be best if you can use three different pans or kadai for the preparation.
• In the first Kadai,add little ghee ,1/3 rd of the dry fruits(Raisin,Cashews),and 1/2 of the whole garam masala and saute it 2 minutes.
• When the aroma comes out add 2-3 table spoon of your carrot paste and mix very well.
• When the carrot paste becomes little dry add 1/3 rd of the rice.
• Stir it very carefully so that the grains of the rice ramain intact.
• You will see that the Rice grains soon take the colour of the carrot and will be of saffron colour or orange color.
• Now add little salt and sugar and taste to adjust.
• Sprinlkle little garam masala powder on it and give quick stir carefully and keep it aside .
• This is will make the saffron part of the tricolor polao.

• Now in the same pan or in a different pan,add little ghee,the whole garam masala and the dr fruits again and in the same way,after the aroma comes out add the peas paste.
• When the peas paste becomes little dry,add another portion of rice.
• Carefully stir it and soon the greenish grains of rice you will be able to see.
• Adjust sugar and salt.
• Sprinkle garam masala powder.
• In this way ,the green portion is also ready and keep it aside,

• Now it's time for the white rice.
• In the same way,in the same pan or in a different pan add little ghee,whole garam masala and the dry fruits.
• Afetr the aroma comes out add the french beans and fry it little.
• Now add the last portion of the rice.
• Stir it carefully for few minutes.
• Add little salt and sugar and adjust the sweetness and saltiness.
• Add the garam masala powder.
• Now the white rice is also ready and keep it aside.

• Now it's time to serve the rice.
• Take a clean and dry bowl.
• Add some amount of Saffron rice in it and to make the first layer press it little with a spoon.
• Now to make the second layer add the white rice,almost in the same amount and press it again.
• For the third layer add the peas rice and press it little.
• Now invert the bowl in the serving plate.
• Or it can be served in a flag shaped form,as I have shown in picture.
• The Pulao is simply delicious.
• Serve it with your favorite curry or salad.

                                           Enjoy Your Food....!!!

Kesariya Rasogolla...!!!

                                       

 

Like all other bengali people,I just love  to eat rasogolla to celebrate my every occasion,every special moment.And by the way,why am I writing only about the bengali people,I know very well even all the non bengalis also love to eat it.But here,in Mumbai,my experience of getting sweets is literally bad.They charge lot more than the usual price and yet the taste is not at all good,especially in case of rasogolla ,rasomalai etc.


Though I have a high chance of being Diabetic in my later life period due to my family history and our house physician  uncle used to warn me repeatedly but sometimes I just cant get rid of my "Sweet Tooth".What can  I do,bengali sweets are so good in taste that anybody can become addicted to it easily.:D


But here in Mumbai, Bengali sweets are not very easily available or what you get here are not so good as in Bengal. This is the reason for which I tried to start making sweets at home. This time I made rasogolla with the flavour of saffron. I must say, it is not less than any store bought rasogolla and even it can beat the taste of any famous sweet shop. Please don't think that I am praising myself  , try it once at home and you will also start  to love it.

The recipe of Saffron Rasogolla is as follows.


Ingredients:

• Full Cream Milk(I used full cream milk but low fat milk will be perfect too):1 lt
• Vinegar:2 table spoon
• Saffron:2-3 pinch(soaked them in a table spoon of warm milk)
• Water:4 1/2 Cups
• Sugar:1 1/2

Procedure:

• Boil the milk at low temperature.
• While boiling add the vinegar and stir it .
• Your milk will start to curdle and chena(chhana) will be formed after few minutes.
• When you will see a greenish diluted water which is easily separating  from chena,then it's done. 
• Now using a muslin cloth drain the water and wash the chena under the running tap water .If you are using lime juice to prepare chena,this wash will remove all the lemony taste or smell.
• Now tied the two ends of the muslin cloth tightly and let it drain all the excess water for atleast 15-20 minutes.And at this time you may put a heavy weight on thr muslin cloth for better draining.

• Now mash the chena using your palm on the kitchen slab or cuttlery board till it’s very smooth and creamy and  has absolutely no lumps.
• Remeber the mashing chena is the most important step of making rasogolla because the quality of this sweet depends on its smoothness ,sponginess.

• Add the Saffron milk while mashing the chena.
• The chena will turn into lovely yellow(saffron)color and the smell will be wonderful also.

• Now Divide the chena into equal parts. With your palm  give them nice and even ball shape
• The balls should have no cracks otherwise it may break off during boiling
• .It makes about 10 pieces of rasogolla of equal sizes.
• Keep one thing in mind that these ball will be double in size after boiling in sugar syrup.So prepare the balls in that respect.
•  Now make  sugar syrup using the sugar and water in the exact quantity mentioned. The syrup should not be thick and will be on the thinner side. This is very important.

• Then add the prepared balls in this syrup,cover it tightly with a lid and let it boil for 20 -25 mins.

• As the rasogollas  will be almost double in size after boiling ,choose a boiling pan of a big size so that after increased in size they can easily play around in the sugar syrup.

• Now remove the pan from heat.
• Your Rasgulla is ready.
• Serve it hot or chilled. 

                                          Enjoy Your Food...!!!


 

Cauliflower and Prawn Curry(Fulkopi diye Chingri r Jhol)

         

 Cauliflower and Prawn Curry(Fulkopi Diye Chingri r Jhol)...!!!!!

Prawns are always very special in my house,as we love to eat them,Basically it's rare to find people who dont love prawns,except those who are allergic to them.Prawns are something,which can increase the taste of any curry or preparation,in a magical way.Whenever,I see that any vegetable cant make enough good taste by itself,I used to add few fried prawns in them,believe me,the taste becomes ten times better.
Specially,the cauliflowers and prawns have a very close relation to each other.Maa used to cook this preparation more freqently in winter season,due to the easy availability of cauliflowers .The test is far better than the simple cauliflower curry.

Following her recipe I used to prepare it at my home.There is nothing difficult in this recipe.It's a simple and usual preparation.

Here is the recipe:

 Ingredients:

• Cauliflower:1 small
• Potato:1 large(diced)
• Medium Sized Prawns:250 gm
• Onion:1 large(thinely sliced)
• Ginger:1''(make paste)
• Garlic Cloves:4-5(paste)
• Tomato:2 small(chopped)
• Turmeric Powder:1 tsp
• Chilli powder:I used a pinch,you can use as per your choice.
• Salt/Sugar:As per taste
• Garam Masala Powder:1 tsp
• Whole Garam Masala:1 Cinnamon Stick,2-3 Cardamons,2-3 Cloves
• Bay Leaves:2-3
• Mustard oil:5-6 table spoon(any other veg oil/canola oil or white oil may also be used)
• Water:2cups

Preparation:

• Wash and peel the prawns,except the tail(if you want you may keep the heads also),and marinate them with little salt and turmeric powder.
• Add little oil in a kadai and lightly fry the prawns till nice pink in colour and keep them aside.

• Remove the florets of the cauliflower,wash them and fry them in little oil till yellow in a kadhai with little salt and turmeric powder.Keep aside.
• Do the same thing with the peeled and diced potatoes also.Fry them till golden brown in little oil in a kadai with salt and turmeric powder.Keep them aside.
• Now add little more mustard oil in your kadhai,add the whole garam masala  and the bay leaves.
• When the nice aroma comes out add little sugar,fry till brown.
• Add the garlic paste and saute 1-2 minutes.
• Add the chopped tomatoes.
• When the tomatoes become mushy add the onion slices.
• Mix very well.
• Add little salt,turmeric powder,chilly powder and mix well.

• After 2-3 minutes,add the ginger paste and coo kvery well until oil separates.
• Now add your fried potatoes and the cauliflower florets.

• Mix them with all the spices.
• Add water and cover and cook.
• After about 10 minutes,open the cover and check whether the potatoes and cauliflower florets become soft and boiled.
• Now add the fried prawns to the curry and cook few minutes until the prawns are done.
• Now adjust the gravy as per your desired consistancy.If you want to make your curry more liquid you may add little more water but must check salt and sugar again.
• Now,when your curry comes to your desired cosistancy turn off the flame.
• Sprinkle little garam masala powder and serve with hot rice.

                                                           Enjoy Your Food....!!!!!

 

Strawberry Souffle...!!!

                           Quick  Strawberry Souffle!!!

Before trying this preparation,actually I didnt have any idea about this.Though sometimes I heard about this and used to think that it might be a very difficult one and it's beyond my capacity.But it's look is so good ,that I many times thought to prepare it for my daughter.

 Few Days ago,in a food channel,I watched this recipe.It was Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khajana,and surprisingly I saw that this recipe is just nothing and with  only one or two easy steps anybody can make it.For this only few essential ingredients are required.

Immeadiately bought all of them and tried once.As this is a strawberry season, I prepared Straberry souffle.But with other fruits you can also try,only except Pine Apple,Kiwi,Watermelon etc,because those fruits contain large amount of water and therefore souffle will not set.


Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Condensed Milk: 1 tin
Strawberry Crush: 4 Table spoon
Strawberry Gelly Crystals:1 packet
Fresh Mint leaves.
Silicon Moulds/Glass bowls.

Process:

For Strawberry Crush:

 In a mixer grinder add 1 cup of powdered sugar,1 cup of water and 10-12 chopped strawberry and blend it well.Pour it in a bowl and keep aside.

For Souffle:

• Now take a big bowl and add the condensed Milk.
• Take an another large bowl and add some hot boiling water and then add the whole packet of strawberry jelly crystals and mix very well with a spoon or stirer.(Insturctions are written on the backside of the packet).
• Then pour this mixture into the condensed milk and whisk it contineously so that it can be mixed properly with the condensed milk and no lump can be formed.
• You dont need to add sugar as the condensed milk,itself has lots of sugar.
• Now add four table spoon of stawberry crush into it.
• Then pour this mixture in each of your silicon moulds or glass bowls.
• Put them in a plate and keep inside the refrigerator atleast for 6-7 hrs (dont worry,if it takes few more hours) so that the mixture can transformed into souffle.

• When the souffle will set,unmould  it carefully.
• To unmould loosen edges of the souffle or flan from the moulds with the tip of a knife.
• Top with plate and invert plate and mould. 
• Serve it with some mint leaves and eat immediately before they melt.
• No need to tell that it's superb in taste and my daughter enjoyed it very much.

                                 Enjoy Your Food..!!!


 

Amsatto Sandesh...Mango Milk Cakes...!!!

Amsatto Sandesh....Mango Milk Cakes...!!

Bengali Sweets are famous all over the world,even the word "mishti''(sweet) also.I can understand the feeling of all those bengali people,live far away from Bengal and have no way to get those easily.So,sometimes few of them try to prepare those at their own home.Poulami ,is one of my such friend and she has become just an Expert in this field.I wish I could prepare those sweets like her.Obviously,I have learned this preparation from her and made with just a very little variation.And the result was so good I just cant describe.I want to prepare this again and again and planned I will prepare this not only for my weekend guests but also want to surprise my relatives in Kolkata including my Mom also.:D

This is not a very difficult process ,very easily and with all the easily availble ingredients you can prepare at your home.

Here is the recipe:



Ingredients:

• Chhana/Chhena( Cottage Cheese): 200gm
• Mangobar( Amsatto):200 gm (1 packet)
• Condensed Milk:2 Table Spoon
• Full Cream milk:1 cup
• Heavy cream:1/2 cup.( those who cant get heavy cream in store can prepare it home also.)

This measurements will be equal to one cup of heavy cream.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter

Method:

Melt the butter.

Mix milk with butter & stir well. 
 

• One cup of powdered Sugar.
• Handful of Raisin
• Butter for greasing.

Process:

• Put all the ingredients in a mixer blender and blend them.
• Keep one thing in mind that,your mixture should not be grinded in such a way that,it becomes very sticky.
• Try to keep it little thick.
• Now grease a microwave safe bowl (little flat ,shallow bowl is preferable) with butter.
• Pour all the mixture into the bowl and out it inside your microwave.
• Set your microwave to full power and just heat it upto 8-10 mins.
• But be careful  and check in every 2 mins.
• It may be ready before the time I given,as different microwave has different temperature set up.
• Once it done,let it cool for some time.
• After that,cut it in your desired shapes.
• Garnish it with some raisin and small strip of mangobar or amsatto.
• The taste is amazing.

                                                             Enjoy Your Food..!!!

 

Mutton Rogan Josh...A Sunday Special Preparation...!!!!

                    Mutton Rogan Josh...!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Weekend means end of the work...!!!! weekend means time for relaxation and ofcourse it means food cravings!!!!!

I can remeber in my childhood,on Sundays, Maa always tried to do something different and very special for all of us,either for breakfast or for lunch,. And unlike the other weekdays she used to be more busy inside kitchen,on those days.

Nowadays, I do the same like Maa...Weekends are the more busy days for me as I  hardly get  a chance to relax.But anyway,I am lucky enough that my husband and even my four years old daughter very rarely order or demand for something.
But It's me,who cant overcome  the traditional thoughts to prepare A Special And Different  Sunday's Lunch.

On last  Sunday,after a lovely breakfast,I decided to break the trend and went for a mutton prepration( Mutton Rogan Josh) for my husband and daughter as they love to eat that though I dont,but there is an another satisfaction to prepare something for the beloved ones.

But I dont have any idea about that dish and therefore started to find recipes for it in "Google",the only way to solve your all problem nowadays..(LOL).Lots of recipes I found and cofused what should I follow.Finally I chose one and following that I prepared my desired dish and the result was so good I cant explain.My husband gave me the best compliment ever that he has ever tasted such a beautiful and tasty Rogan Josh.

Mutton Rogan Josh is the most famous Kashmiri dish and has thin gravy and a thick layer of oil on top.Quality of meat plays an important role in this dish. Select meat with a lot of fat.
 But here I want  to clear one thing that,as my husband and ofcourse my little one cant eat spicy or hot dishes I have restriced the use of kashmiri chillis in my dish,but you can use this ingredient as per your choice.

 This dish is best enjoyed with steaming hot boiled rice.



Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• Mutton:500gm

• Mustard Oil:5/6 tbsp
• Curd:1/2 cup
• Onion:2 finely chopped
• Ginger paste:1 1/2 tbsp
• Garlic paste:2 tbsp
• Kashmiri red chilly powder:As per your choice
• Garam masala powder:1 tsp
• Coriander powder:1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder:1/2 tsp
• Cumin powder:1 tsp
• Asafoetida:1tsp
• Cloves:4-6
• Green cardamom:4
• Cinnamon:2 stick
• Few threads of mace
• White cream:2-4 tbsp
• Salt

 

Process:

•  In a bowl, mix mutton with curd and a little salt and mustard oil and keep aside. for atleast half an hour.

    
                                                              Marination..

•  Heat oil in pressure cooker and put whole garam masala.
• When they start to crackle, put chopped onions and fry till they turn golden brown.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and fry again for about two minutes.
• Add all the masala powder and fry till the oil comes up.
• Now add mutton with the marinade paste and stir fry on a high flame for 2 minutes.
• Add water and little salt and cook with the lid closed till 2 whistles come out.
• Check whether the meat becomes tender and the gravy is medium thick in consistency.
•  Add cream and stir well and cook for about 5 more minutes.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with rice, pulao or roti.

                                        Enjoy Your Food....!!!