Merry Christmas 2020!

Growing up in a Catholic convent, Christmas of my childhood meant more than just holidays. We would spend days practising hymns, to be sung in our little school chapel.

We would spend a considerable time putting up the Nativity scene, stringing decorations, setting up a small, artificial fir tree, and decorate it with shiny rounds, streamers and top it with the silver star.

The chapel stood just beside the convent where our Sisters stayed. And so we would get sniffs of the cakes, biscuits and other goodies being baked.

Once in a while, we would be rewarded with sweets or slices of warm bread and jam and a slice of cake on other days.

Since it would be our exam time too, we used to find it very difficult to contain our excitement. The holidays started after exams but on Christmas Day, we would go to school.

Mother Superior and a Father from the local church would preside over the prayers for the school and all of us .
The school choir would bring in the joyful day with the beautiful hymns. And after that goodies were distributed.

There would be happy, shiny faces all around. Even the strictest Sister would be smiling. We would be in our civil dresses .
School seemed different to us on Christmas Day.

Always .

After a mandatory visit to the playground and making sure we swung on every swing, made use of the merry-go-round and the see saw one last time, we would troop back to our much exasperated, waiting parents for the trip home. 

Shrieks of "Haaaaappy holidaaaays " would reverberate the school grounds and to the hills beyond as we separated from our friends for a fortnight long holidays.

Back home, Ma would have her cakes and roast chicken ready.

And her famous winter salad ( I will be making a post on it soon). 

As this difficult year nears its end, we look forward to happier days and pray that the year ahead will be just as beautiful as the days of our childhood. To be able for us to make happy memories again.

I baked these two cakes this morning. 

One, a simple vanilla and orange zest added golden delicious delight.

The other, with the added very subtle flavours of coffee and spices.

You will find all my recipes of my cakes on the label 'Cakes' on the right column under labels. 

Merry Christmas and may God bless you all! 

❤️

Multigrain Parathas with vegetables .... a fulfilling and wholesome winter breakfast

Winter is such a beautiful season. 

Sporting, giving and forgiving.

You can cook and eat to your heart's content. 

There is a bountiful of fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers.

The fields overflow with crops , ready to be harvested.

The granaries soon fill with the fresh new rice, new date palm jaggery and wheat and corn .... every part of the country has its own kind of crops. 

The tilted sun turns soft and has the right warmth for the making of boris / wadis. And some winter pickles. Mostly with fresh winter vegetables. And some fruits like the amla / amloki and the ber / kul. 

Kitchens start humming with active elderly ladies of the house busy churning out sweetmeats / pithe / pithas.
Afternoon siestas are replaced with groups sitting out in the soft sunlight and chatting, while the hands would be busy knitting or peeling sweet, fresh green peas.
And endless rounds of the very spicy adrakwali chai / ada chaa / ginger tea. 

All these beautiful thoughts and memories played in my mind as I prepared today's breakfast.

Winter grains, winter vegetables, soya granules, homemade punjabi garam masala, lots of garlic and green chillies went into this delicious paratha sitting on my plate.
Slathered with my homemade ghee and tawa fried till crisp. 

The flours that I used are whole wheat, corn and millet. 
The vegetables are cabbage, green peas and leftover boiled rajma. 
I also added some turmeric powder. 

Kneaded with very little water. 
Rolled out thickish parathas and tawa fried them with ghee till golden brown on both sides. 

In the absence of some fresh white butter, I topped it with a chunk of my favourite Amul butter. 

A full meal by itself.

Time saver.

Highly nutritious.

And loaded with the warmth of my memories from my home and all the beautiful places that I have visited in winter. 

Do you love winter too?

What is your favourite winter dish? 

This pairs very well with any pickle or curd on the side. 

Also with all kinds of chutneys. 

I enjoyed them with my Bengali Tomato chaatni while B opted for my Garlic chutney. 

What would you like to enjoy this with?

Care to share some suggestions? 

Chicken curry .... light, soupy and flavourful , perfect for winter meals

Ps : This was made sometime during the monsoons and has been sitting in my drafts all the while. 

I have given the story alongwith that led to the making of this curry. 

The very vegetarian, very Rajasthani husband cooked this beautiful chicken curry for me today. .

I woke up with a stiff back, body ache and painful hands. All that strain and working with water yesterday and sleeping with the a/c on last night has shown fruit. And has immobilised me completely. With the knowledge that it will be very difficult to get to my ortho or my physiotherapist, we decided that I take a break today. So while I stayed put with my heating pad and book, B took over the kitchen. .
.
.
I washed and prepped the chicken and asked him what should I marinate it with.
Drew a blank.
“Vinegar or curd?”.
“Vinegar. But very little.”
“Do you want big pieces or small pieces?”
Blank.
“What are you planning to cook ... a gravy? Or dry?”
“Hmm ... gravy. But dryish.”
“What will you be cooking in? Pressure cooker or kadahi?”
“Pressure cooker.”
So I gave him the pieces marinated with a little vinegar. .

After that I had  no idea how he made it.
But the moment the cooker let out the first whistle, I breathed in deep and knew I was in for a treat.
And a treat it indeed was.
I quickly make some mishti bhaat / basanti polau  for myself and happily put it in the background of the photo because that chicken curry / murgir jhol deserves all the limelight. .

It was light, perfect balance of salt and sugar and nothing overwhelming. Soothing, comforting, beautiful jhol.
Soft succulent pieces.
I realised it would go great with both plain rice as well as rotis.
I haven’t asked him the recipe but have asked him to make it again sometime.
It felt so good to have a homecooked chicken curry that I have not cooked myself.
Things like this makes the lockdown life bearable .

The recipe is ridiculously simple. 
I kept asking what else .... but this  is all ,  he says. 😊

Need : 

Chicken pieces 
Sliced onions

Ginger garlic paste 

Curd

Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder
Crushed black cardamom

Crushed black pepper 

Bay leaves

Salt

Sugar

Lemon juice 

Halved potato

Cooking oil  ( I use mustard oil ) 

How to : 

Mix everything together except the oil. 

Cover and keep aside for at least half an hour. 

Dump everything in a pressure cooker and cook for two whistles on low. 

Adjust gravy consistency with water as per your requirement. 

Serve steaming hot. 

I love to top with with some ghee and some more lemon juice and sip on it when the weather turns cold. 

This pairs beautifully with plain rice, rotis, parathas, mishti bhaat or even plain bread. 

That is what I love about it most .... its versatility. 

Enjoy!! 

Ps : I have been getting too many spam comments and at my wits end. 

If you are here, can you please help me out and tell me if you are able to see the captcha ??
Please share your commenting experience so that I can make the necessary changes. 

Thank you. 

 

Masala Pav and Misal ..... quick cooking meals during the tough days of lockdown

The one thing that this lockdown has taught us, among others, is the value of time. 
As well as 'me time'. 
Which is possible only when we ration our time in the kitchen, while putting a proper balanced meal on our plates .... a huge necessity these days for good health and immunity. 

Life has been overwhelming of sorts these days. Even if we did not have much of house helps all our married lives, except for when I am down ill, it is with time .... and age .... that I am realising the need for one in our lives now. 

All the following of precautions, loads of laundry every time we go out .... which we have kept to the barest of minimum , not getting to buy the produce and things we are used to and having to make do with whatever is available online or at the nearest shop .... the list is endless, has been eating into my time, leaving me with little left to do what I love to. 
Or even to just plain rest.

All through the summer and the monsoons, I had to rack my brains to be able to put a full meal on the table using a limited number of vegetables. We had no options other than the bottle gourd, the okra, eggplants once in a while and potatoes. 

Monsoons, we avoid all leafy vegetables, and so were again confined to the above few and then some more. 

So I turned to legumes. 
Soaked, un soaked, sprouted, ground into a batter, fried dumplings, dosas / pancakes ..... numerous ways to use them. And way more healthy too. 
Sprouted Moong beans are a favourite of mine.
I use  them in salads, in stir fries, in khichadis, .... in almost everything. 

And since we both love Maharashtrian food, the Misal is also a regular at home. 
Usually B makes the misal .... see my insta stories. 
But this time I made it .... albeit using the same masala that he had used ( I had frozen the extra ). 

And paired it with some gorgeous Masala Pav .... the recipe I got from a friend.  The masala is so good ... I have already made it thrice ... and tastes great when paired with bread. Especially a day old bread, crisped up in the oven. 

Since I made a lot of changes to the original recipe ..... purely based on the availabilty of things in my pantry, I am writing down the recipe here. 

Also, although I have been baking a lot of bread and Pao during this lockdown ( again on my insta feed ), I have never got around to posting any here on the blog .... something I am going to correct soon, .... I have used store bought pavs this time. 

The Masala : 

Need : 

Tomatoes  - 3 medium sized 

Onions - 1 medium sized 

Garlic - 10 to 15 cloves 

Green chillies - 5 to 6 

Toasted Peanuts - half a cup 

Ginger - 1" 

Curry leaves 

Red chilli powder 

Turmeric powder

Jeera powder 

Salt - to taste 

Sugar - to taste 
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp 

How to : 

Make a coarse paste of everything except the powders and oil. 

Heat oil. 

Add the paste and cook till all moisture dries up. 

Store in an airtight bottle in the fridge. 

To assemble .... 

Heat butter in a flat pan. 

Slather the pavs with the masala and fry them on the pan till crisp on both sides. 

These are great as is with tea or with some bhaji on the side. 

The Misal : 

Need : 

Mung bean sprouts - 1 cup 

Chopped potatoes - half cup 

Chopped onions - 2 tbsp 

Ginger garlic paste - I used one cube of my homemade ones 

Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder

Cumin / Jeera seeds - 1 pinch 

Salt - to taste 

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp 

How to : 

Heat oil. 

Add the jeera. 
Once it starts to splutter, add the  onions. 

Fry well and then add the ginger garlic paste. 

Add the powder masalas and the chopped potatoes and moong sprouts. 

Mix well and add enough water for a gravy. 

Cover and cook till done. 

Serve hot. 

Ideally it should be served with a topping of chopped onions, green chillies , any farsan or mixture, chopped coriander leaves and a good squeeze of lime juice. 


Like this one that B had made. 😊

He declared that his was better than mine. 
Well .... if one can judge by the looks, what do you think??  😉

Enjoy!! 

Stay home. Stay safe. 

Happy Diwali!

 Wish you a very happy Diwali !

May the Festival of Lights light up your life with much brightness and joy!!

Stay safe. Stay happy. 

❤️

Prawn Masala Fry and Prawn Rice ...... cooking a meal under thirty minutes

Yesterday I made a post on my instagram feed on one of my current knitting projects, as I was getting a lot of messages to share my works in progress. 
And I wrote about how this year has been for all of us. 
And could not help contemplating on it the whole day. 

I realised what I had written was just the tip of the iceberg. Given insta's limited word allowance per post, I am not always satisfied with writing there. Which is why I have almost stopped writing a good post. The hurried feel does not suit me. 

I like to write in a way that the reader gets the essence and the feel of not only the photo but also the setting , the prelude as well as the interlude and conclusion. 

So while I did mention how we all found out some hobby to hold on to for comfort in this difficult year, I felt a there is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. 
Like how we learnt to manage our days and to divide time among work and family and chores in a more balanced way.

How we learnt the real meaning of division of labour. 

And how to make the division of chores interesting .... focussing not only on the jobs getting done but also on  how to give the other person a break too. 

And the most important thing we learnt was how to manage the kitchen in the shortest possible time, how to cook up a nutritious meal for the family without getting exhausted and above all, how to come up with quick cooking ideas with the most basics of ingredients. 
And at the same time ensure that it is tasty to please every palate sitting at the dining table. 

No mean feat I must say. 

For me, it has been a long, difficult year when it comes to eating restaurant kind of food. 

Not that we used to eat out regularly. But I had a surgery last year towards the fag end of August and was on monitored food for almost 6 months. And just as we started to eat out a little .... we must have eaten out for exactly three times .... lockdown happened. 

And now it has been 8 months that I have been craving for some good Chinese food. Or a good Vada Pao. And Phuchka too. 

I have made every one of these at home too. And even more like baking breads, pavs, focaccia , cakes .... and so on. But it requires big work. Lots of effort. And at the end I feel so exhausted that actually enjoying the food becomes an effort too. 

So I have turned to cooking some spicy and masaledar food for myself recently. 

Any change to the tastebuds is welcome now. 

Recently, my fishmonger got me some very fresh and good sized prawns. 

They were so fresh that I wanted to keep the sweet taste with just a smattering of spices. 

And so made this beautiful fry. The coating was of spices and the inside held the juicy, sweet meat that was so good when bitten into. 

For the Masala Prwan Fry : 
 
Need : 

Prawns - 6 to 8 pieces, cleaned and deveined 

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp 
Jeera powder - 1 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Lemon juice - 1 tsp 

Rice flour - 2 tbsp 

Salt - to taste 
Oil - to stir fry 

How to : 

Marinate the prawns with the rest of the ingredients except for the oil. 

Keep aside for 15 minutes. 

Heat oil. 

Let in the prawns one by one and fry till done. 

Serve immediately. 

For  the Prawn Rice : 

Need : 

Leftover Rice 
Whole garam masalas 
Chopped green chillies 
Salt to taste 

How to : 

In the same oil that the prawns have been fried, add the garam masalas
and the green chillies. 

Let in the rice and toss well. 

Add salt and adjust the rest of the seasonings. 

Remove and serve hot. 

Enjoy!! 


Here is my link to the post on Instagram where the write up is even better. 
I am going crazy trying to keep track and coordinate my writings at both places. 
Hope to sort out the time management soon so that I can write the same post and thoughts in both places as well as share the links too. 

Kala Chana / Pindi chole with Missi Roti - rustic food to welcome winter with

 

It is funny the way this meal ended up being made.
The cold, damp weather got the better of me and I spent the morning just lounging and surfing the tv.
Moving through channels on YouTube, I ended up watching way too many videos on villages and their local food.
Starting from Uttarakhand, to Rajasthan and  Punjab.... I watched people rustling up beautiful, rustic and delicious food in minutes. With whatever local things were available.

By the time it was noon, I knew I could not eat anything other than some hot, freshly made food.
So giving up my plan for using up leftovers,
I quickly kneaded makke ka atta/ corn meal with lots of garlic chives , from my little garden,
and freshly pounded ginger garlic and green chillies.

Made thick rotis and applied my fragrant, homemade ghee on them while still very hot.

.

The boiled kala chana / black chickpeas was tempered with chopped onions ,  green chillies and tomatoes.
I used half whole ones and the other half crushed.
Set it to boil and absorb the flavours while I made the rotis.
I did not add any masala other than chopped coriander leaves.
Tasted awesome.

Some sliced juicy onions and a big green chilli completed our meal. 
Impulsive cooking does give great results. 😊

This is a hurried post. 
Will try to put in some writing in the next one. 
Till then ..... 

Enjoy!!

Ps: Are you following me on Instagram? 
There are a lot of recipes and photos and news that I share almost daily there. 
S do follow to stay updated with recent happenings in my kitchen and in life. 😊

Fried rice and Chilli chicken ... a Bengali's favourite classic combo meal

I cooked this for lunch last Sunday. 
And the way it turned out to be, immediately decided it should be on the blog. 

I have been missing eating out for a while now. Not that we used to eat out very frequently, before the pandemic shut the whole world up at home, but yes, once in a while we did.

Or at least  had the freedom and the option to go out and grab a bite when not feeling like cooking or stepping into the kitchen. 

Now, however, life has been revolving around the three meals and snacks the whole day.

Not to mention the boredom of the familiar tastes and masalas . 

And Chinese food being my favourite, it is there that I was hit the most.

I do cook chinese food at home ..... mostly for dinners. But that is limited to just stir fried vegetables, hakka noodles and my quick, cheat's  Chilli Chicken. 

This time, however, my intense craving for Chinese food made me decide to whip up a meal.

And in detail .... no short cuts. 

Easier said than done. 

Chinese food has one elaborate thing for sure .... and that is prepping. 

Cooking the actual dish does not take much time .... just throw in a little of this, a little of that, toss, toss, toss .... and done!
But the prepping .... boy! ..... takes up all the time you have and also exhausts you. 

I realised I had bitten off more than I can chew by the time I was halfway and neck deep into the prep work. And I thanked the good gods for providing me the sense to eat a heavy breakfast that morning. 
The greater part of my problem is cooking two kinds of food .... vegetarian and non vegetarian. 

And keeping everything apart so that nothing touches each other, planning to use the oil for deep frying for the vegetarian part first and then use it for non vegetarian ..... and so on.

These are the little things that require constant alertness and are really stressful and exhausting. 

I had leftover rice in the fridge. 

I had marinated chicken in the freezer. 

I had a block of paneer in the fridge.

B assured me he would chop the vegetables. 

And so I dived headlong into cooking lunch. 

For the Chilli Chicken : 

I make the Chilli chicken the way I have grown up eating .... with lots of green chillies nad no capsicums. You may add them if you like though. 

Need : 

Chicken pieces - 250 gms, marinated with ginger garlic paste, soy sauce and a little vinegar 

Cooking oil , enough for deep frying

Corn flour  - 1 tbsp

Maida / Apf - 3 tbsp

Rice flour - 1 tsp 

Diced onions 

Chopped green chillies 

Minced garlic

Minced ginger

Salt - to taste 

Sugar - to taste 

How to : 

Mix the flours with the marinated chicken. 

Heat oil and deep fry the pieces.  Keep aside. 

In a wok, heat a little oil. 

Add  garlic and ginger. Then add the green chillies and the diced onion. 

Stir fry on high heat and add the chicken pieces, soy sauce, vinegar and salt. 

Toss on high heat till everything comes together. 

For the  Vegetable Fried Rice  : 

Need : 

Leftover rice 

Cooking oil

Chopped vegetables like carrots, green peas, french beans, cauliflower

Chopped onions
Chopped green chillies

Minced garlic

Minced ginger

Soy sauce

A little vinegar

Black pepper powder

Salt

Sugar

How to : 

Heat oil in a seasoned iron wok. 

Add chopped garlic and ginger. Toss.

Add chopped onion and green chillies. 

Add the vegetables and toss on high heat.

Add the rice and the rest of the ingredients and toss on high heat till everything comes together. 
Serve hot. 

 
And now .... as promised on my last post .... the winner of the giveaway of the beautiful book by Sandeepa Bongmom, Those Delicious Letters . 

I made chits and drew out the name of  ..... 
Julie of Savoury Delights !!!!! 

Congratulatoins Julie!!! 
Do drop me an email with your full address and phone number so that I can ship the book to you. 


My next post is going to be on another classic ..... so stay tuned folks! 

Stay safe. Stay at home. 💓


You can find my other recipes on Chinese food here. 

Khichuri and its companions .... for Durga puja 2020

 

Durga Puja came and went by.

Today is Nabami. Only one more day left.. 

The only festival Bengalis all over the world look forward to. 

The festive feelings, the enthusiasm, the excitement of wearing new clothes, meeting friends and families, spending time at the pujo pandals, the crowd, the reverberating dhaaks and the conch shells, the fragrance of incense and flowers, the rustle of new fabrics, silks and cotton, the aroma of bhog / prasad as well as the food being made at the stalls .... all spell Durga puja. 

All ended. All snuffed out. 

Just by one deadly pandemic. 

One life taking pandemic. 

So many people could not go home to be with their families. 

So many parents spent the days alone, at home. 

The whole world has been shut up at home. 

As if it has been covered with a dark, heavy blanket. 

As if rejoicing is banned. As if breathing is illegal. 

My heart went out especially to those Bengalis who craved just one chance to see the face of the goddess. Just one time. 
To offer pushpanjali / obeisance with flowers. 

To be able to live just for one moment the festive feel. 

Due to safety measures, most places have not organised the celebrations of Durga puja. 

And whichever few have, they have set restrictions and have not allowed anybody other than members to attend the functions. 

And the cry of despair on the social network pages has been heart rending ..... everybody asking for one place where they can get a glimpse of the goddess or offer puja. At least for a few moments. 

Having said that, I must mention the excellent arrangements the organisations have made for regular live streaming of all the activities for people to watch from the safety of their home. 

From Pushpanjali to aarti to cultural programs .... everything. 

And people have been most sensible in doing that .... staying at home and creating happiness for themselves in their own way. 

Memories of pujo in my childhood flood me today. 

Getting ready early, wearing the dress that has been the result of months of agonising on designs and fabric and discussions with Didi and the rest of the brood, going to the pujo mandap with Dadu with a trail of helpers carrying the pujor dali / offerings, while the rest of the ladies of the family and Thamma would come later. 

And then, lunch! 

Ashtami lunch would be Luchi, Cholar dal, labra and chaatni. And papor bhaja / papad.

And of course a sweet. 

We cousins would sit in the long verandah, in a line. Fresh banana leaves would be placed in front of us and Kakimas would serve the food. 

But the luchi was always served by Thamma. 

Carrying an open, oval shaped jhuri filled with hot, fluffy luchis, she would pick out each grandchild's favourite and place it on the leaf. 

I loved fluffy ones. Didi loved both the fluffy as well as the flat ones, the youngest one loved the crisp browned ones .... and so on. 
The Cholar dal would be thick, sweetish with generous bits of fried coconut in it. We kids loved to trouble whoever was serving to fish out more coconut pieces for us. 😀 
And we loved to break a piece of the papad and scoop up some chaatni with it and stuff our mouths. 

The savoury crisp crushing inside our mouths, mixed with the syrupy sweetness of the chaatni would make us go mmmmmmm. 

Days gone by a little too soon.

Sigh. 😞

I had orders for the traditional Khichuri plate for lunch. 

People who did not go to the pandals and wanted to enjoy the regular, traditional bhoger khichuri had placed  orders with me. 

I made the regular accompaniments that go with it. And offered it as prosad / bhog in our mandir at home. And then sent out the batches. 

Tried my best to give a festive feel to my loyal clients through my homecooked food. 

May the divine goddess give us the shakti / strength to fight every demon of ill intentions in the world. 

As well as within us. 

May Durga keep us and the whole world in her care. 

Happy Dussera!! 

Ps : I will declare the winner of my giveaway in my next post. 

Sorry for the delay. 

Laccha paratha and Egg curry ... with Punjabi dhaba like flavours

I had made this meal quite a long time back. Maybe a few months. I did post on Instagram but wanted to make a post here too. 

Given that I do not cook rich food regularly, I had wanted to keep a track of this recipe. 

And more so because I cook as I go .... I never ever follow a recipe. I just can't. 

I cook as my heart guides me.

Whatever it calls out for, I add to the food.

And so, more often than not, I forget my own recipes.

I have trying to increase the protein content of B's food intake. He is a vegetarian but can eat eggs once in a while. That  too only omelettes. 

So I decided , for a change , to cook some Egg curry for him. 

And disguise the flavours of boiled egg in a rich, spicy gravy that would be fragrant with spices too. 

And since I have a decent variety of punjabi flavoured masalas and spices in my kitchen, I decided to make a punjabi styled gravy. 

Having said that, I must mention that dhaba food, for me , has always been the Dimer torka ( another recipe that I have always wanted to make a post on ) and country chicken curry with fresh, handmade rotis . 

On our travels all over Odisha, the highlight would be when Bapi would decide to stop for a meal. 

Once we pulled over at the selected dhaba beside the highway, we would sit on the charpais  / rope cots laid out under a huge, old tree .... sometimes the banyan, neem or at other times the peepal or mango. 

We never needed a menu. 

Bapi would ask for fresh chicken curry. And Dimer torka.

And I would always ask for an omelette. 

I loved tearing off a piece of the super hot roti, loaded with dry flour, dust it off and tear a piece of the omelette, dip it in the torka and eat it. 

There was something about the  heavy, afternoon breeze under the trees, the smoking hot fresh food in front of us and Bapi lying on the charpai, looking up at the sky, that makes it one of my best childhood memories. And it wasn't any wonder I never remembered the rest of our journey ever, after that kind of a meal. I would always fall asleep. ☺☺

Coming back to my meal and recipe, I made Laccha parathas to go with the egg curry. 

I have tried making Laccha parathas earlier too ... but this time the layers were better and so good enough for me to make a post. 

I have recently learnt a new technique and will be posting it soon. 


For the Laccha Parathas : 

Need : 

Maida / APF 
Oil - for kneading and frying 
Salt 
Curd 
Water 

How to : 

Mix everything together, except water. 
Use the water, a little at a time and knead a smooth dough. 
Cover and keep aside for at least an hour. 

Cut medium sized balls out of the  dough. 

Roll out a thin roti. 

Apply oil and some dry flour all over. 

Roll it up like a pipe. 

Roll it up again sideways to make a ball. 

Flatten it and roll out a roti again. Do not apply too much pressure. 

Fry on a hot tawa till brown and crisp on both sides. 

 
For the Egg curry 

I cooked the masala twice ... a technique I do not use much. But the gravy comes out very smooth and is perfect for occasional times.

Need : 

Boiled eggs  - 4, shelled and fried in a little oil with turmeric powder

Onions - sliced - 1 medium

Garlic cloves  -  6 to 8 

Black cardamom - 1 
Green cardamom - 1 

Onions chopped - 1 

Tomatoes - 3 medium 

Mustard oil - 2 tbsp 

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 

Red chillies - 3 , broken 
Everest Kitchen King powder - 1 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 

Kasuri methi - a little 

Salt - to taste 

Sugar - to taste 

Ghee - 1 tbsp

How to : 

Heat mustard oil. 

Add  cumin seeds, red chilli, sliced onions, garlic cloves,  black cardamom and tomatoes with some salt.
Cover and cook till soft and done.

Cool and blend smooth in a mixie.

Heat oil in another kadahi.

Add green cardamom, jeera and chopped onions. 

Fry  till the onions turned soft and pink.

Add the blended paste, kitchen king powder, red chilli powder, a little sugar, salt and kasuri methi and a little water.

Simmer, add the eggs and cover.

Let it cook for some more time and the flavours to get together. 

Top with a spoonful of ghee before removing from heat. 

Done ✅ 

Enjoy!! 

Hope you have taken part in my giveaway of this fabulous book. 

Hurry!!

Bengali Fish Chop ..... fish croquettes

With the first signs of winter setting in, the nights have cooler recently .
The perfect time for my muscle problems to set in. Trying to slow me down.
I am trying hard to keep pulling on.
Durga puja is just around the corner. We know it won't be the same this year. As before. 

The careful will stay in.
The lucky ones, who are with their family, will stay in.
But those who are alone, far away from home, might want to venture out to visit the pandals.
The loneliness and nostalgia will overwhelm them and they would want to out just once. 

To get that pujo pujo feel.
To hear the dhaaks reverberating.
The conch shells blowing.
The air heavy with dhuno and incense.

To look up at the glowing face of the mother goddess.
Eyes asking if all will be well again.
And hearts praying to keep the dear ones back home, safe.
And looking for that assurance that the next year, Pujo will be like what it was in the past years.
Asking for the faith and strength to move on to the next year with positive determination. 


This year, the pandemic has taken too much from us. 
Lives, hopes, dreams, jobs, normal life. 

Laughter, carefree happiness, joy, smiles. 
The assurance of presence, a warm hug, sharing a meal together, sharing a precious moment together. 
All snatched away. 

My thoughts turn to Bapi (dad) who would look forward to pujo just because I would be home.
He would start reminding me to book the tickets trom as early as two months before pujo.
Today,  there is nobody to call me home urgently. 
With the same overpowering, unconditional love.
Guess I have grown up.
And grown apart.
Guess that is life.

I had made these Maacher chops or Fish chops a long time back and had posted on Instagram. 
And had wanted to share it on the blog too. 

But then, as usual, it took me this long to be able to sit down for that. 

As I started to write about this much loved snack that Bengalis would enjoy at the food stalls, during Durga pujo, I decided that a write up about pujo would be apt to accompany these beautiful fish chops. 

So I picked up what I had written yesterday on my Insta and paired it with the chops here. 
I think both the food and the nostalgia will go well. 

I will take you to the recipe now. 
And hope that you will create them in your kitchen this pujo and enjoy .

And let it transport you to the pujo pandels where the smells of hot oil and deep fried food would be wafting all around. 

Just close your eye, be there in spirit and munch on a Fish chop. 

And stay home, to stay safe. 

Aasche bochor abaar hobe. 

I have used the Rui mach / Rohu fish. You may the use the bhetki too. 
There were some tail pieces that I usually use to make a makha / mash or a fish kheema .  
Also I fry them since I don’t like the smell of boiled fish.

Need : 

Pieces of fried fish , deboned - 1 cup

Boiled potatoes - 1 medium 

Chopped onions - 1 medium 

Chopped ginger - 1 tsp 
Chopped raisins - 1 tbsp 

Paste of garlic and green chillies - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 

Bengali garam masala powder - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Sugar - to taste

Cornflour - to make a slurry 

Breadcrumbs 
Mustard oil 

How to : 

Mash the deboned fish with the boiled potatoes. 

Heat 2 tsp oil and add the chopped onions, the garlic chilli paste and fry well. 

Add turmeric and red chilli powder, salt and the mashed fish and salt and sugar.

Fry well. 

Add the chopped raisins and the garam masala.

Mix everything well. 

Remove from heat and cool. 

Make a slurry with the cornflour and water.

Make small balls from the fish mixture .... you can give them any shape you want to .... dip them in the cornflour slurry and coat them with breadcrumbs. 

Place all of them on a plate and keep in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

 Heat enough  oil and deep fry them in batches. 

Done ✅ 
Enjoy! 

 PS : 

Hope you have checked out my giveaway for a wonderful book by Sandeepa aka Bongmomcookbook, on my blog. 

Last date is 20th of October. 

Do hurry!

Pineapple Chicken .... recipe for a quick, light and tangy chicken cooked with pineapples

It has been a beautiful morning. 
After the deluge of two days, back to back, it is all warm, sunny and bright all around. 
Just when we thought monsoon is over, it started to rain in earnest again. 
Humid, suffocating days vanished and gave way to torrential rains. Huge pellets of water drops, shooting down like arrows, with a roar and the dark sky rumbled ceaselessly. 
It turned hazy and gray all around and the distant buildings and trees were lost to the vision. 
The trees stood still, accepting the beating of rain. Drinking in quietly. 
The leaves however were happy, shiny and all bright and quivering under the pure water. 

The dry earth drank  to its fill. The little stream by our house started to run again .... dark muddy water happily gurgling and rushing forth with white froth lacing. 
The birds did not come to my balcony for a drink. I could see them sitting on the branches .... near their  nests. The crows and the eagles were soaked through and looked different. 
The Bulbuls were restless and did come out to prance around for a while before diving back into the thickets. The sparrows are nowhere around too. 

Today, everybody was back on my balcony. 
Chirping, cawing and even screeching out to me ... demanding their share of biscuits and my breakfast. 
The water bowl was full with the fresh rainwater ... I did not change it. 
B had cleaned the balcony of all dirt and mud from the plant pots yesterday, as I stood in the rain to soak in the coolness, after I finished with the chores. ( Yes yes, I have already written about this on my instagram post ) . 
So it was good to spend the morning in the balcony. 

I have a  chair in the small space to our balcony and often sit there to take in some fresh breeze, in between my work.
Today, that breeze seemed so fresh, heavy with the damp smell of rains and of freshly beaten green, that it took me back to my Dadu's house back home. 
I could smell the water laden, cooling breeze coming from across the huge pond, carrying with it the smell of damp grass and leaves, along with the fragrance of the flowers of the old Jamrul tree. 

I could see Thamma sitting at the khirki duar ( one of the side entrances to the house ), with her back to me, looking out at the pond and its dark, calm waters that had a very light ripple on the surface, made by the breeze. Her long hair, only slightly white, spread all over her back. Once in a while, she would run her fingers through them .... to help them dry sooner. 

And I realise, that with time, I am slowly turning into my Thamma. 
As I sit in my chair, loving the breeze on me, looking out to the small forest and the stream, I realise this is my khirki duar.
My little door to the world I love to look at. 
And am grateful for that. 
You see, I have always wanted to be like Thamma. 

Coming back, I had cooked this beautiful, quick dish of chicken with pineapple, a few weeks back. 
I loved it so much that I wanted to make a post here .... for my own self to come back to the recipe when I needed to. 

*  I had marinated the chicken pieces before freezing them ... which helped it to cook faster I guess. 
If you are making it fresh, then do keep it marinated for at least an hour. 

* I had some leftover rice, so added it for the carb content and make a full meal. 
You may or may not. 


Need : 

To marinate : 

Chicken pieces - cut into bite sized pieces ( I use the thigh pieces) 
Grated ginger
Grated garlic
Vinegar - a little
Soy sauce 
Honey 
Oil
Salt
Sugar

Mix everything together and keep aside for an hour. 

Other ingredients : 

Pineapple pieces
Onion cut into cubes
Chopped green chillies 
Chopped ginger
Red chilli flakes 
Crushed black pepper 
Oil
Salt


How to : 


Heat oil in a pan. 

Add  the pineapple pieces and toss well. 
Sprinkle some red chilli flakes on them and keep aside. 

Now add the chicken pieces on high heat and sear them well. 
Toss, cover and cook till they are done. 
Remember not to overcook. 

Now raise heat, add the rest of the ingredients and toss well. 
If using rice, add now. 

Add the pineapple pieces.
Mix everything together. 

Serve hot.  

Enjoy!! 

Eat healthy. Eat to your fill. 
And stay safe.


Here is a little reminder about the giveaway I am doing.
Hop over to know the details.






 

 

Those Delicious Letters .... a beautiful book by Bongmom Sandeepa and a Giveaway

After the resounding success of her first book, Sandeepa , or Bongmom, as she is best known , is back with her second book. 
And this time it is a novel. 

And what a beautiful read it makes for!

Two parallel stories woven beautifully together, with regular smatterings of traditional recipes, that are her forte and the real show stoppers.
The story is well plotted and has a beautiful mystery, in the form of a love story from a bygone era,that holds it all together till the end.

Moving through years, seasons and the roller coaster of daily life,
it depicts the determination of a lady who decides to make a name for herself and find an identity of her own.
And in the process, discovers herself.
And the relationships with the people in her life, with a fresh new realisation.
The story is simple, sweet and the characters lovable in their own places.

This book will touch your heart if you are living far away from the city and the home you have grown up in.
If you have loved the food that was cooked in your family and miss it when nostalgia takes over.
If you have experienced homecomings that awash you with warmth and revived memories.
And also if you love to read a book that is simple and yet is captivating at the same time.

Sandeepa is known for her lucid style of writing, with a tempering of humour, that makes her so popular.
And this book, is indeed in one word, delicious.
A must read.
Relish!

I was thrilled to get a copy from her.
Took a little time to read it.
Because it indeed deserves a slow read.
The undulating story, meandering through different characters, places, relationships, recipes and feelings makes you soak them in and takes you back home.
And makes you sit back, close your eyes and savour in the sweetness of the story. 

Just as I was happy and excited when I got her first book in my hands, I cherish this one too. 
Seeing it sitting with my other favourite authors is a sight I love. 😊

And I want to share that same happiness with all of you, my dear readers,  too. 
So I am giving away one  fresh copy right here .... on my blog. 

To win it, all you have to do is - 

1.  Leave your name and email id in the comments. 
2. Write in for how long have you been following my blog Kitchen e Kichukhonn
3.  Let me know if you prefer single dishes or full meal plates on my blog.  
4. Follow Kitchenekichukhonn as well as Bongmom on Instagram. 

Hurry!
Your  chance to win  a copy of the very delightful "Those Delicious Letters" is on till 20th of October. 
Give yourself a gift  this festive season ... now!!! 

Those Delicious Letters is  also available on Flipkart , Amazon and Kindle too.