Completing 13 years of Food blogging with Kosha Mangsho and Porota

13 years back, I started a blog.
Named its Kichukhonn.
Wrote poetry in it.
And then, one day,  discovered the word of food blogging.
Was hooked right away ..... complete with line and sinker.
Renamed the blog as Kitchene Kichukhonn.
And started my affair with food.

Rather, journaling my affair with food. 

Just a few years  into marriage, never having cooked or watched anyone cook earlier, staying in a different culture away from home, marrying into yet another different culture and finding nothing in common when it came to food ..... I was desperate to make all efforts to cook a decent meal. 

With the two of us having completely different food habits, I tried to cook to please both our palates and soul.
Was not easy.

B wouldn't eat anything with paanch phoron and I gagged every time I smelled hing.
Rotis for B and rice for me. And so on.
Most importantly, vegetarian food for B and non-vegetarian for me.

I was at my wits end.

Calls to both sides of the family ended in more confusion.
And inputs from both cousins just drove me to tears. 

Until I took things into my hands and started to cook from my heart. 

I would decide how I felt like eating a particular vegetable as or what tempering I would prefer for a particular dal. 
Or how to make Maggi in different ways. 😀

Slowly, the baby steps turned into confident ones. And both of us started to like what we cooked. Then friends validated. And then family. I decided to keep a tab on my recipes, that were often made right there in the kitchen, while cooking.

And that is how my food blog came into being.

Slowly, along the way, came bloggers who encouraged, shared and egged on each other. 

And what a beautiful world and friends I discovered!
Beautiful, warm people with hearts as big as the world.
And some of them are still with me.

Life happened along the way and every moment, good or bad, every turn, got reflected on my blog.

It was my second home and my blogger friends and readers, my family.

Thank you everyone for all your love and for staying with me and Kitchene Kichukhonn for all these years. 

I made a Kosha mangsho, grabbing whatever little chance life gives these days to celebrate or be happy. Slow cooked it on the stove ..... stirring it from time to time, checking for moisture, salt and spice level. Took me a good 2 hours and above. 
But was worth every effort. 
I was especially overjoyed to see that dark colour that every authentic Bengali kosha mangsho has.

B made his special Aloo dopyaza. 
I don't know the recipe. 

And we enjoyed them with parathas made with maida and ghee, since I am off oils now. 

Rounded off with mangoes (later).

Let me know if you want the recipe of the Kosha mangsho ... I will update the post. 
Feeling too lazy right now. 

Take care all. And stay safe. 

Another closer look. 
See how flaky the parathas are?! 😇😇

 

Homemade Pao buns or Ladi Pao

I started baking bread last year, during the lockdown. 

Regulars on my blog will know that I used bake a lot once upon a time. But that was limited to only cakes and an occasional savoury dish. 
But never bread. Except for the No knead bread. Which is actually so easy that I hardly think of it as baking bread. More of a cake, actually. 

Anyway, during lockdown, instagram was full of posts on homemade breads. 
So I turned to my old blogger friend Finla of My Kitchen Treasures, an avid and expert baker and she guided me with her recipes and tips. 
And I set off on this bread baking spree. 

I was so happily caught up in it that I baked quite a few kinds of breads including the Foccacia and also stuffed buns, but never actually set up a proper place and click proper photos. 
But bread baking is that addictive ..... once the warm buns or bread or rolls come out of the oven, you just cannot resist them. 
So inspite having all the good intentions of making posts, I never actually got 'round to .... just for the lack of proper photos. 

But now I am on a gluten free as well as oilfree diet and don't know when I will bake bread again. 
So making these posts .... with whatever photos I have. 
Hope they help you. 

Need : 

Maida / apf - 250 gm  

Milk - 3 tbsp 

Sugar - 1 tbsp 

Dry yeast - 1 tbsp 

 Salt - a little 

Baking powder - 1 tsp 

Cooking oil - 1 tsp 

Enough butter to brush the buns 

Warm milk, just enough to be able to keep your finger in it. 

Add the sugar and the yeast. 

Keep covered for 10 mins, till it starts to froth. 

If it does not froth, discard and make a fresh batch. 

In a bowl, mix the maida, salt and baking powder. 
Add the milk with the yeast. 

Bring everything together into a soft dough. 

If needed, add a little more milk. 

Apply oil to the dough and keep in a oiled, large bowl. 

Cover tightly. 

Keep in a warm place, for 1and a half hour to double up. 

After the dough has doubled up, lightly punch it back and let out the air. 

Divide into small balls and rest for another 15 to 20 minutes, covered with a damp towel. 

After 20 mins, they will rise again. 
Shape them into rounds, brush them with a little milk and place them in an oven tray closely. 
Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes. 

Do check in between and brush with milk once. 

Baking time will depend on the type of your oven. 

After they are done, give a brush of butter generously and cover immediately with a damp cloth. 

Let them sit and cool down completely. 
This will be difficult ..... we ate them warm .... just out of the oven. 
Heavenly yumm  😇😇

Do give that brush of butter after it is done. 
Do keep covered with a damp cloth till it cools down completely .... it keeps the bread soft. 

Another close look. 

We enjoyed the buns / pav from this batch with some bhaji . 

 

I will try to post all the recipes for all the kinds of bread I hace baked so far ..... especially the stuffed ones. 
Till then ..... take care, wear a mask and stay home.

Pav Bhaji or Pao bhaji ....... both made at home , from scratch

When I made these beautiful pao breads some time back, B wanted to have Pav  bhaji .
So I made some. .

But with so many chores and other things to deal with, including ‘I don’t feel like doing anything today’ too, I spread out the preparation into a couple of days.
After I made the bread, I had to wait for sometime for the already cooked food in the fridge to get used up.

Meanwhile, I boiled the vegetables ( I used potatoes, cauliflower, green peas, tomatoes, carrots and some frencjh beans .... you can use whatever you have at hand ) and stored them.
I peeled garlic and stored them ( I do that anyway ) .
And then one fine day, brought out everything.

Heated the bread with a smear of butter .... B wanted the inside as is .... soft ... and not fry with butter.
Mashed the vegetables and tempered them with chopped garlic, chopped green chillies, turmeric and red chilli powder and store bought pav bhaji masala 
Added salt and sugar. 
Simmered till the extra moisture dried up and the mash turned thickish. .
.
Served with chopped onions, lemon and coriander leaves sprinkled.
And of course, a big blob of butter. .
Yummm 😋 .
.

Contrary to how rich it looks, homemade pao bhaji is actually very healthy as well as nutritious.
A great way of eating a lot of vegetables together, this bhaji was made with just one teaspoon of cooking oil.
I have eaten pao bhaji outside only once in my life.
One taste and I have never touched it again.
Not when eating out.
For me, the homecooked version is way better, much more tastier. 

Here is a look of the Ladi Pav that I had baked earlier. 

It is super yummyhot,  just out of the oven , with a good smear of butter.

A closer look! 😊
Tempting, eh?