Wednesday, October 17, 2007

My First Nite Stay In Years

Well, R has been out of town and i being what I am, need someone around me...so like always, i called up my friends to have them over or invite myself over to their place...so while having a chat with one of my closest friend, she asked me to come and stay with her....and till the last moment i wasn't sure, coz i have never stayed at anyone's house except my parents since i married...but the thought was tempting, coz my friend is a great cook, has a lovely daughter, a very intellectual husband and i love her....so finally i managed to reach her home at around 8....was greeted by the cutest Little girl of the house and then the girlie chat session started and while we were talking she asked what do i want to eat and she insisted that the food will be home cooked and we wont order, so we thought and thought and the clock struck 9.30 and then her hubby walks in and looks happy to see me...he has been fond of my panju parathas and then he declared...''hey why dont we encash her visit today and have her make parathas''....i was quite but then i loved the thought and my friend wanted me to cook panju bharta...so i got excited coz here i was at a bong's house and guess what i will get to eat panju food...yipppeee....

so we started working while chatting...and finally at 11.30 the food was served...

All my friends have loved the bharta that I make, so i am gonna share the recipe with you...so here we go...

Ingredients:

2 large brinjals
2 large finely chopped onions
2 medium finely chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup peas
Chopped coriander leaves
2 green chillies - chopped
Salt
Red chille powder
Garam masala
oil

Grill the brinjals, peel, mash and keep aside.
In a kadai heat some oil, add chopped onions, let them fry for sometime till it becomes light brown, add the tomatoes and peas and keep it on low flame for 10-15 mins, keep stirring. After cooking the onions, tomatoes and peas, add chopped coriander, chilles and all the masalas. Stir it for a min or two and then add mashed grilled brinjals, mix it nicely and leave it on low flame for 4-5 mins. Serve hot with roties or parathas.

The bharta turned out to be nicer than i thought, but the stuffed parathas were better, or may be coz i love parathas....all of us had a hearty meal, stuffed ourselves and then went to do some pandal hopping since the pujos are here.

All in all a great exp and i feel i should get out my house more often and enjoy such lovely experiences.

Try the bharta and let me know how you liked it!!!! Cheers till then.

Monday, October 15, 2007

The bong in Me....Pujo time

I love to cook for the only man in my life and since i love him and he loves bong food for being a hardcore Bengali...i love to cook bong food for him...my everyday cooking includes a lot of bong stuff, but there are days when my love for R overflows in terms of food...so on this particular day i thought of cooking something very bong with the ingredients which i could find at home...so after a lot of net surfing and reading the cookbooks, i zeroed down on something called 'Karaichuttier Kachuri and Cholar dal Narkol diye'...sounds all technical but it isn't and since I couln't keep my panju side low...i made Kheer to satisfy the panju in me...so here it goes....

Ingredients:
For Kachori
- 1KG Peas
- Ginger
- Maida
- Atta
- Aniseed (saunf)
- Oil
- Water
- Ghee
- salt

Make a paste of peas, ginger, Saunf and salt. In a kadai, take some oil and put in the peas paste and cook on a low flame till the peas are cooked (it should not take more than 10 mins)
Knead a dough with maida and atta in equal proportion with water and some ghee. and once the dough is ready, tap a bit of oil on your hands and pat the dough, cover it a keep it aside for 15-20 mins.
Now, take some dough and stuff it with the peas filling, and roll it like a chappati, this will be thicker and might break, so you have to be a bit careful while rolling. once you have these chapatties/ Puries/ Kachoris ready, heat oil in a kadai till smoking hot and then you fry these kachories and Serve hot with Cholar dal.

Cholar Dal Narkol Diye
- 2 cups Chana dal
- Salt
- 1 tsp. Red chili powder
- 1 tsp. Cumin Powder
- 2-3 pinches Sugar
- 1 tsp. Coriander powder
- 2 tsp. Garam masala
- 1 tsp. Haldi
- 100gms Coconut - grated

Boil chana dal with all the masalas (keep 1 tsp. garam masala for tempering) in a pressure cooker till 3 big whistles. Once boiled, take some oil in a pan, let it heat, once hot enough, add 1 teaspoon garam masala and add it into the dal. Sprinkle grated coconut and serve hot with kachories.

Kheer
- 1 ltr. Milk (since i am on a diet, i used double tonned)
- 2 tablespoon rice
- Sugarfree / Sugar
- nuts
- Coconut

Boil milk, once boiled add rice and leave it on low flame till it comes down to half the quantity. Add nuts and let it boil for another 15 mons on low heat. once done, add grated coconut, sugarfree (as per taste) and either serve hot or cold and ENJOY !!!!

R showered me with his love and compliments and to top it all my Sis in law and friends joined in too....the way they ate, showed how good it was, by the end of the day, all the utensils will licked clean...and above all this R called up his mom and mentioned how nice he felt about the effort...Love him tons

Hence I create

Well, i have been thinking of writing my own blog for months now, esp. after interacting with my awfully talented neighbor The Singing Chef and got inspired, So…. today I said to myself…. let me just go ahead and put my thoughts down and put down my creations of so called edible food...

I have been on a low cal diet since Aug 16th 2007 and i must say it shows :)...i have been hooked onto this salad which i carry to office everyday along with my lunch...Hence I am putting down the recipe for you all to try and give your inputs for improvement and encouragement

Ingredients:-
- 1/2 cup Golden corn
- 10 -12 medium Mushrooms
- 1 Capsicum (small)
- 1/2 bell peppers (I used red and yellow)
- 10 -12 beans
- 1 Cucumber
- 2-3 tablespoon peas
- Vinegar
- 1 tsp. Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Sugar
- Lemon

Chop Bell peppers, capsicum, cucumber, mushrooms…all length wise. Take a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and sauté the mushrooms and keep aside. Boil corns, beans and peas, keep aside. Take a salad bowl and put all the veggies together. Sprinkle salt, pepper and sugar, add vinegar and toss.
Pack it in your lunch box and carry it with you. it gives a very nice and fresh feeling coz of the amount of colors and its yummm....I actually have one large bowl of this salad at 11 am everyday and then have lunch at around 1.30....and guess what I am hungry again :D

So….Enjoy and let me know how you like it.

Cheers!

P.S-> This is my first blog and I wasnt prepared to start it today...so no pictures.