Sada Aloor Tarkari and Luchi .... a Bengali's favourite breakfast

Winter mornings. 
Hustle and bustle in the dining room.
And in the kitchen at the far end of the verandah. 

House helps all around ... busy with chores. 
Some running to and from the kitchen. 

A full dining table. Everybody talking. 
Kids at their own small one. Freshly washed faces and smelling of sweet cold creams. 

Bundled up in woolens. 

Dadu at the head of the table. 
Nodding to something one of the kakus has just said. 

Jethu and Bapi discussing who will go to the farmlands next. 

Kansar plates being laid on the table by a kakima. 
Jethima  ladling out steaming hot Shada Aloor chorchori onto the plates. 

A help keeps a small bowl of freshly plucked green chillies in the centre of the table. 

And then comes that big jhuri  from the kitchen ... filled with pristine white and super hot Luchis. 
So hot that Jethima  has to blow on her fingers after picking up one and dropping it on a plate everytime. 

Thamma goes around the table pouring fresh notun gur  into small bowls kept beside the plates.

And soon a hush settles in. 

Everybody quietly savours the simple, beautiful food. 

We kids poked holes into the puffed up, hot luchis, letting the steam escape first. 
Then the upper layer would be broken off and stuffed into  mouths, closed eyes savour it melting away. 

While I do make this shada aloor tarkari often, I have never posted it here. 

This time, we are having a very cold winter.
And by a stroke of luck, I got some very good Patali gur as well as jhola gur from a Bengali shop here. 

So decided that this is the perfect time to make a post. 

Need : 

Potatoes, preferably the new ones  - cut into cubes 

Nigella seeds / Kalo jeere 

Green chillies 

Oil / Ghee to cook 

Salt 

How to : 

Heat oil or ghee. 

Add the nigella seeds and green chillies. 

Add the potatoes and add water immediately. 

Add salt, cover and cook till they are fully done. 

Serve hot with luchis. 

Another look. 

Stay safe. Stay warm. 
Enjoy winter with good food. 
Stay happy. 

 

Bok phool bhaja or Agasti flower fritters

Growing up, I was used to the Bok phool tree on the bank of our pond. Just behind one of the red cement chairs on either side of the cemented area from where the steps descended into the waters of our huge, deep, dark pond. 

It flowered well but I had never given it much attention except for when I would sometimes sit on the steps on a quiet late winter afternoon and watch the busy black ants hurrying along its branches. 
There was another one too, but it was at the back of the house, just on the border of the kola bagaan or the banana plantation. 
All that interested me was the bok phul bhaja that we got at times on our lunch plate. 
Hot and crisp on the outside, fresh and sweet tasting inside. 

Cut to many years later when I was married for sometime and was wading through the nuances of cooking, juggling between vegetarian north indian cooking for the man and the bengali dishes for me. 
We did not get too many familiar 'Bengali vegetables' at the time and getting Bok phul was beyond my dreams. And I slowly started to forget all about it. 

Until one day I came upon it all of a sudden at a local vegetables shop. 
I was ecstatic and happily bought half a kilo!! Thing who  knows when I will get them again. 
A call to Ma and I knew how to clean and fry them. 
Immediately made some and enjoyed them for lunch, keeping some for B aside. 
They were a lot and I packed half of them and took them to my new friend who had just moved to the city from Kolkata.

And after that, many more years passed and I never got to see the Bok phul in the markets again. 
And along with the Kumro phul, the Bok phul also stayed in my memories and yearnings. 

Until last week. 
We had gone vegetables shopping and as we came near the shop that keeps 'Bengali vegetables', I saw the round cane basket filled with these beautiful white flowers. 
And shouted "Stop, stop!" to a much flustered B.
And was out of the car even before it had come to a complete stop. 
Very irresponsible ... I know.
But I was beyond myself with happiness. 

I did not wait and immediately fried some for lunch. 
I had got some Lau shaak too and the menu formed right there in my mind. 
You have seen the plate in my last post here. 

I decided to make a post too. Just for posteriority. 

Need : 

Bok phool / Agasti phula / Hadgyacha phool - 1 small bowlful
Besan / Gram flour - 5 tbsp 

Rice flour - 1 tbsp 

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 

Kalo jeere / Nigella seeds - ½ tsp 

Baking powder - a pinch 

Water to make a paste 

Salt - to taste 
Oil to deep fry 

How to : 

Clean the flowers by first removing the stamen carefully. 
Very gently place the flowers in salted water for around 15 minutes. 
Rinse them in plain water ..... they are very delicate, so you need to be real gentle here ...  and place them on a cotton kitchen towel. 

Make a slightly thin slurry with the rest of the ingredients, except for the oil. 
It should not be too thick. 

Heat oil. 
Dip the flowers in it to coat them completely and let in gently into the hot oil. 
Fry till golden brown on both sides. 
Remove and drain extra oil on paper napkins. 
Serve hot with a meal or as a snack with tea. 

 I still have some of the flowers left and am going to come up with something different the next time. 
Till then, stay tuned. 

Take care and stay safe. 

Posto diye Lau shaak or Bottle gourd leaves cooked with poppy seeds paste

Among the very few vegetarian food that I would eat when young,  was the shaak or green leafy vegetables . 
We used to have different kinds of shaak everyday on our lunch plate. Among the other compulsory things on the plate like a little Ucche or anything bitter, some Bhaate / boiled and mashed, a piece of lemon, etc. there would be a small pile a leafy vegetable everyday. 
And no, we could not skip it and move on to the rest of the sides like chenchra or chorchori or the main jhols of fish or meat. 
We had to wade through the bitter and the leafy things first. 

The kind of shaak would be varied too. 
One day it would be the Notey and the Kolmi on the other. Sometimes we would get the Gima, a favourite of mine with its slightly bitter taste. 
Then there would be the Shushni shaak, Paat shaak, Palong  and Methi in winters, and lots more. 
Staying away from home in a place where we do not see more than 3 or 4 varieties, I have started to even forget the names. 

The leaves of creepers would be used too. Kumro pata / pumpkin leaves, Lau pata / bottle gourd leaves, Ucche pata / bitter gourd leaves .... and so on. 
The bigger leaves like the former two would be used to paturis / wraps and also for making mixed veg dishes or chorchoris. 
The smaller ones would be used for a stir fry or to make Boras / deep fried dumplings. 

My favourite, however, is the way Ma cooked the Lau pata .... with posto or poppy seeds. And I loved it best when she added some jackfruit seeds too. 
Quick to cook, she would often cook it last, just before we sat down for lunch. 
When she brought the bowl of the steaming hot dish to the table,  I would take a deep breath of that sweet aroma of posto. 
And would take helpings after helpings, ignoring any meat or fish on the table that day. 
I loved to chew on the sweet, soft dnaata slowly, savouring the juicy bits of joints with a happiness that no meat or bone would be able to give. 

I got some Lau pata a few days back and soaked some posto immediately, having this dish in mind. 
And so made it for lunch. 

Need : 

Lau pata / Bottle gourd leaves 

Potatoes - cut into small cubes 

Chopped onion
Grated Ginger
Green chillies, broken 

Bori - I used my home made ones 

Poppy seeds paste 

Paanch phoron / Bengali five spice (a mix of fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, celery seeds. mustard seeds ) 

Oil  ( I use ghee ) 

How to : 

Soak poppy seeds and make a paste with very little water. 

Soak the leaves in salt water and wash well. 
Chop roughly and keep aside. 

Heat oil / ghee in a kadahi. 
Lightly fry the boris and keep aside. 

Heat oil / ghee. 

Add the paanch phoron .

Add the green chillies and the sliced onion. 

Fry and add the potatoes. Stir fry till half done. 

Now add the chopped leaves and cover. 

It will release water. After it has wilted, give a mix and add the boris, a little salt and the poppy seed paste. 

Mix well and cook till water is absorbed and everything is done. 

It will not be completely dry. 

Serve steaming hot. 
Here is a look of my lunch plate. 

Can you guess the fry on the side? 
More on it later. 

Till then, take care and stay safe. 
Do mask up and stay away from crowded places. 

 

Khichuri with a spicy tempering to soothe the throat

Both I and B are on the way to recovery from a longish bout of cold and sniffles. 

While we are resting as much as possible staying warm, I have been cooking very light and nutritious food for ourselves too. 

Though they are not too different from our regular daily food, I did try to keep some things out and included a few things more.
Like I upped our intake of garlic ... it aids digestion and also provides warmth to the body ... a necessity in this cold winter weather. I have also increased B's intake of lentils for that extra protein.
Today, however, I wanted to deviate for a change and wanted to eat no vegetables.

 And I wanted to eat aloo bhaja .

I told myself that it is ok to indulge my tired body with some loving carbs.

So made a khichuri which is slightly different from the usual way I make khichuri  .

Not the typical Bengali  khichuri . 

How to make this beautiful khichdi...

I toasted 1 cup of yellow moong dal till fragrant.
Added  ½ cup of rice to it and washed it well. 

 Put it in a pressure cooker along with enough water, a little salt, grated coconut, turmeric powder, a blob of ghee and some crushed ginger. 

No need to grate it .... I just gave a big thwack with a pestle 😄

Cooked it for two whistles on low.

Heated ghee in a pan and added a little jeera and lots of chopped garlic and some chilli flakes and a pinch of salt.

Poured it over the khichadi . 

Stir fried some potatoes with kalo jeere / nigella seeds and dry chilli, in a smear of ghee. 

We savoured this beautiful meal that soothed our bodies with warmth as it went down.
I could visualise the nutrition spreading through my body and fill it with strength.

B went for a second helping too.
And just before he finished, mentioned "I feel as if someone has just given me a long, warm hug ".

And I knew all will be well.

When I was clicking photos, the sun shifted and lit up my plate with an ethereal light. 

Stay warm . Stay safe.

Eat well. Eat happy.

 

Homemade Chicken roll for breakfast

Hello! Hello! 
Wish you a very happy new year 2022! 
I know it is a little late but January is still on and so I guess is valid. 😊
With so many posts waiting to see the light of the day here, I was wondering which one to start the year with. 
And then zeroed in on this Chicken roll or chicken kathi kabab or whatever you may choose to call it. 

The first time I bit into a chicken roll was when I was very young. A new restaurant had opened in our little town and Ma took me there for my first experience of a chicken roll. 

I remember the crisp paratha, rolled, with bits of dark coloured meat and white slices of onions peeping at the end. One bite and I fell in love with the flavours.

The paratha was sweetish, the pieces of meat had a flavour of garlic and there came some ketchup in the following bites. The crunch of the onions brought everything together. 

My next rendezvous with the chicken roll was when I was visiting my mamabari and one of the elder cousin dadas took us to a street side shop. He was studying engineering then and we young ones looked up to him as he had seen more cities than us and had so much to say. 
He taught us how to tear the wrapping paper from the roll as ate it, while expertly guiding us across the road, yapping all importantly all the while. 
I don't remember much about that particular roll. 

Then I came to Pune and was introduced to the very famous Kapila's kathi kebab on Dhole Patil road. 

As students, we would go there in the evening, get one roll each and sit on the steps of a bank adjacent to it and chat the evening away. 
I have eaten a lot many rolls henceforth in life, but nothing comes close to Kapila's kathi kebab. Ever. 
And in all these years, their masala and taste hasn't changed even an iota. 

I still go for one once in a while .... and go back in years and get flooded with memories from all those years back. 

Now I make rolls at home.
The last time I made some chicken meat balls a few days back. If you have seen my stories on insta, you will know. I baked them in the oven and it was way quicker and easier than pan frying them. 

 I have given up deep frying them ages ago. These turn out beautifully juicy inside and crisp outside.
I make a big batch and freeze them for later use.
They are so versatile and can be added to a variety of dishes. 

I also love to munch on them as snacks too. 😊

Today I treated myself to a chicken roll for breakfast . Made some soft squarish parathas that I have grown up seeing Ma make .... a result of her growing up in Delhi. 

Reheated some kabobs in the oven and crushed them lightly on the porotas .

Stir fried some onions and green chillies on the tawa as the rollwala from the street would do.

A sprinkle of dry masala spices, some drops chilli sauce and our chicken kathi roll / kathi kebab  was good to go.

With the beautiful weather outside, with the clouds hanging low on the hills beyond and a light spray of rain, I loved this little treat to myself, relaxing with my current read .... yes, I read while eating 😄

 Here's wishing you all a wonderful new year again. 
Stay safe. Stay healthy. 
And may this year bring you all the happiness and freedom that have been kept away from us by the dreadful pandemic. 
Much love 💝