Shukto

I gave my best try to create a Bangla cuisine, though I haven't lived in Bengal. A traditional Bengali meal consists of six dishes (each dish of each taste bud). After researching here and there all over the cyber world and my personal treasure of Indian recipes, I confirmed that a bitter dish is eaten first and at last is sweet which is quite 'sweet' after tingling with the taste buds. What I love about Bengali cuisine is fish and sweets. The very mention of my favourites make me drool now.

Coming back to the point, Shukto is a Bengali dish which contains bittergourd and other mixed veggies. The veggies shouldn't be cooked in such a way that they're mushy. This reminds me of aviyal. It should be eaten in the afternoons with rice only, and that too during summers. The reason? Very simple. It causes indigestion if consumed at night.

Personally speaking, I recommend bitter gourd lovers all over the world to enjoy this dish. It gets your digestive enzymes rushin' and gushin' in the stomach when you're having a meal at a Bengali restaurant.

Ingredients:
Bittergourd/uchche - 1
Beans - 8
Drum stick - 1
Green plantain - 1
Potato - 1 (medium)
Radish - 1/2
Pointed gourd/parwal - 2
Brinjals - 2
Ginger - 1 tbsp. (finely grated or paste)
Panch phoron - 1 tsp.
Bay leaves - 2 (small)
Asafoetida - 1/4 pinch
Milk - 2 tbsp.
Mustard oil
Salt (to taste)
Sugar (to taste)
Bori/wadi/sun-dried lentil dumplings - 2 (optional)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Poppy seeds/posto - 2 tbsp.

Method:
Soak poppyseeds and mustard seeds in warm water for a few hours ( I soaked overnight). Grind them into a paste. Keep aside.
Dice all the veggies. Cut the drumstick into 1.5 inch long.
Heat the oil and fry the bittergourd and wadi (if using and I didn't use) till golden brown colour each separately.
In a pan, add mustard oil and temper with panch phoron, bay leaves and asafoetida.
Now add the hard vegetables and then the tender ones. Saute till lightly brown.
Mix ginger and mustard-poppy seeds paste with vegetables.
Now add the fried bitter gourd and mix.
Add salt and required water.
Cover and cook in low flame. Don't allow the vegetables to become mushy.
When the vegetables are cooked, add 2 tbsp. of milk and sugar. Mix well.
Add the wadis finally and mix.
Enjoy with rice for lunch.
Bon Appetit!
Sent off to "Flavours of Bengal" hosted by Priya and started by Nayna.

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Kofta Pulao/Pulav

My kids were very very bored. This weekend I planned to make Malai Kofta to cheer them up. I suddenly changed my mind. There were some fenugreek leaves left in the refigerator.  After quick thinking, I prepared this kofta pulao.

Kofta Pulao/Pulav with Paneer Makhani (You can see the paneer drowned in the gravy)

Ingredients:
For Kofta:
Potatoes - 3 (boiled)
Paneer/Cottage cheese- 1/2 cup
Fenugreek leaves -1/2 cup
Roasted and powdered cumin - 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder (Kashmiri) - 1/2 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Cornflour/cornstarch - 1 to 1.5 tbsp.

Method:
Pat dry the paneer and grate. Grate or mash the potatoes without any lumps.
Pat dry the fenugreek leaves and chop.
In a bowl mix paneer, potatoes, fenugreek leaves, red chilli powder, cumin powder, corn flour and salt.
Prepare equal-sized balls.
Preheat the oven at 180°C.
Sprinkle a little oil on each ball. Bake them till they become golden brown (Turn the koftas on all sides in between carefully).
Once they are done, remove and keep aside.

For pulav/pulao:
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 1.5 cups
Onions - 2 (sliced thinly)
Ginger-garlic (minced) - 1 tsp.
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Green cardamom - 4
Cloves - 3
Roasted and powdered cumin - 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder (Kashmiri) - 1/2 tsp.
Mushrooms - 10 (sliced)
Green chillies - 2 (slit)
Curd - 2 tbsp.
Oil
Salt (to taste)

Method:
Wash rice till the water runs clear. Soak the rice in 3 cups of water. Cover and keep aside.
Heat oil and add green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, sliced onions and green chillies.
Saute onions till translucent. Add ginger-garlic and saute till the raw smell goes away.
Add mushrooms and saute.
Add the powders and curd and saute.
Add the rice along with water and salt as required. Cover with a lid and cook.
When the water is absorbed, remove the lid. Cover the pan with aluminium foil and then place the lid.
Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until the rice is tender.
Remove from heat. Mix the baked koftas with pulav and serve immediately with any side dish.

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Beetroot Vadai/Vada

Ingredients:
Arhar dal/Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup
Chana dal - 1/2 cup
Beetroot (medium) - 1 (grated)
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Red chillies - 3 (or as per taste)
Curry leaves - few (chopped)
Salt (to taste)
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp.
Oil (for deep frying)

Method:
Soak arhar dal and chana dal for 1 1/2 hours.
Discard the water and grind the dals ( sprinkling little water) along with red chillies and fennel seeds  in a food processor.
Add the remaining ingredients except oil and mix well.
Shape the batter into small patties and deep fry them in medium-hot oil till golden brown.
Place them on an absorbent paper.
Serve and enjoy!!

Sent off to CBB Series#2-Chettinad Special.

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Jhal Muri

Jhal Muri is a West Bengal version of Bhel Puri.  Jhal in Bengai language means 'spicy' and muri, of course puffed rice.

Ingredients:
Puffed rice/pori/murmura - 2.5 cups
Onion (medium size) - 1 (chopped)
Tomatoes (small and deseeded) - 1 (chopped)
Cucumber (large size) - 1/4 chopped
Green chilli - 1 (chopped)
Coriander leaves - few (chopped)
Peanuts (roasted, unsalted and skinned) - 2 tbsp.
Sprouted whole kala chana (brown chickpeas) - 1/4 cup.
Pickle oil -2 tbsp (taken from a pickle containing mustard oil)
Jhal Muri masala - 2 tbsp.
Fresh coconut - to garnish (diced)

Method:
If you don't have pickles containing mustard oil, heat 2 tbsp. of mustard oil in a pan to smoking point.
Remove from heat.
Carefully add 1/2 tsp. of mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp. of fenugreek seeds and 1/4 tsp. of fennel seeds.
Then add 1/4 tsp. red chilli powder (kashmiri) and a small pinch of asafoetida powder.
Let it sit for an hour, strain and keep aside the oil.
For jhal muri masala:
Mix together 1 tbsp. of roasted  cumin powder, 1/4 tsp. of red chilli powder (Kashmiri), 1 tsp. of chaat masala,a small pinch of  white pepper powder and black salt. Keep aside.
In a large bowl, combine onions, sprouted black chana, cucumber, tomatoes, green chillies, peanuts and coriander leaves and toss.
Add the mustard oil and jhal muri masala and toss.
Finally mix the puffed rice.
Garnish with chopped coconut.
Serve and consume immediately.
Recipe Source: Sanjeev Kapoor
Sent off to "Flavours of Bengal" hosted by Priya and started by Nayna.

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Erra Kaaram Dosa

When Pratibha published this recipe a week ago, I had the burning desire to try it out. The photos also made my interest grow. I tried this recipe last weekend. Everybody in my home liked it. We had this for breakfast for two days.

Dosa:
Ingredients:
Sona Masoori Rice - 4 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Poha - 1 cup
Moong dal, Tuvar dal, chana dal - 1 cup (each 1/3 cup)
Fenugreek/Methi seeds - 1 tsp.
Salt (to taste)

Erra kaaram chutney (red chutney):
Ingredients:
Onions - 2 (diced)
Garlic - 2 big pods
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (I used Kashmiri) or 3-4 red chillies
Tamarind pulp - 1.5 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Sesame oil/ghee - 1 tbsp.
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp.

Chutney dal powder:
Ingredients:
Pottukadalai/chutney dal - 1/3 cup
Garlic - 1 big pod
Salt (to taste)

Method:
Wash and soak dals, rice and methi seeds for 8 hours. Soak poha before 1 hour of grinding.
Grind into a smooth batter in a wet grinder.
Mix salt and ferment overnight or for 8 hours.

For erra kaaram chutney:
Grind onions, garlic, red chilli powder, tamarind pulp and salt into a smooth paste. If you don't like the raw smell of this chutney, saute all the given ingredients for chutney in oil and grind. Temper the mustard seeds and mix with chutney.

For chutney dal powder/podi:
In a dry jar add dal, garlic & salt and powder them.

For dosa:
Take a ladleful of batter and spread on a medium-hot tawa and sprinkle oil on the sides. Cook on both sides. Place the dosa on the plate and spread the red chutney all over the dosa and sprinkle chutney dal powder, ghee (optional). Serve immediately with chutney or without chutney.
Continue this process with the remaining batter.

Sent off to "Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday" event.

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Spinach Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
Spinach (medium size) - 1 (chopped with stems)
Onions (small) - 2 (chopped)
Garlic - 8 pods
Dry red chillies - 2 (broken into half)
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Urad dal - 1 tsp.
Chana dal - 2 tsp.
Salt (to taste)
Oil (as required)

Method:
Heat oil and add mustard,cumin seeds and dals and temper them. Add onion, garlic and dry red chillies and saute till the onions turn translucent.
Add chopped spinach and continue to saute.
While sauting, the spinach will wilt and release its juice. Continue the process till the stems are well cooked.
Now sprinkle required salt and saute, followed by sprinkling grated coconut and till dry.
Enjoy as a side dish with rice or chapathi.

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