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. 

Khichu with Rice flour / Savoury porridge with Rice flour

 "How to make kechu with 2 cups of rice flour"

This was one of the search lines that  showed up on my blog.
At first, I was intrigued ... thought maybe it meant 'kichu'. But how would anyone make kichu , that too with rice flour?
A query on my fb page also did not yield any result. Except for one blogger friend who mentioned it is "khichu" and a kind of rice porridge. No recipe.
So I called up Mummy, my mother in law.
Being a Rajasthani, she'd surely know.

"Woh hum Saajaa banate hain na beta, bilkul wahi cheez hai. Buss, yeh chawal ke atte se banti hai", she said.
Sajaa!!! Of course!
It has been ages since I made Saja last. So had almost forgotten about it.
But does it have the same ingredients?
"Haan, wahi jeera, hing , mirchaa aur tel".
Hmmm ...

I was not too satisfied. Sounded too easy.
So searched the net. And found two kinds of recipes.
One, with hing, like Mummy said. Another with garlic.
One recipe mentioned boiling the garlic paste. Another mentioned frying it and adding as a tempering before serving.
I know how to make with hing since I am used to making the Sajaa.
So decided on the latter one ... fried garlic being one of my favourite things in food.
That I had run out of hing was just a coincidence.

 The Khichu is made from different kinds of flour like the rice, makke ka atta ( corn meal ), jowar and bajri flour. Some temper it after making it; others temper the oil first and then add the flour to the boiling water.
Both ways are equally good.
The texture is soft and smooth and it has a good hint of spice due to the red chilli powder and green chillies.
I added a little lemon juice and that brought out the flavours all the more.
I also added some baking powder for some softness ... I don't add it when making the sajaa but was unsure of how the rice flour would behave.

This was quick to make and made for a good breakfast, just as the Saajaa does.

Need :

Rice flour - Half cup
Water - 3 cups ( use the same cup )
Garlic - chopped , around 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Soda bi carb - a pinch
Baking powder - ½ tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Lemon juice - 3 tsp 
Fresh coriander leaves

How to :

Heat around 2 tbsp oil in a pan.
Add the garlic and fry on low heat till it turns just brown.
Turn off heat and add the chopped green chillies. Stir well. 
Keep aside.

Take a deep kadahi or pan.
Pour in the water + red chilli powder + salt + soda bi carb + baking powder + 2 tbsp oil.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Add the lemon juice and boil on low heat for around a minute.
Add the rice flour slowly, stirring all the while.
Mix in the rice flour well, making sure there are no lumps.
Keep stirring till all water is soaked up and the rice flour is well cooked.
Make sure to hold a cover to shield yourself as the paste will tend to bubble up and burst.
It should take around 3 to 4 minutes for the whole thing to cook well and dry up.  

You can see the texture of the insde in this photo.

"Sajaa!!! Nana ji banate thhey!"
This was what B said after tasting a spoonful.
And I knew I was on the right track.

Serve the Khichu  hot with a sprinkle of fresh coriander leaves and the fried garlic and a little oil from the same.
Enjoy !!!

Bhapa Pithe / Coconut Stuffed Sweet Idlis

I remember the first time I made this, my ex-neighbour loved it so much she practically announced it to everybody she came across or knew.

I make this coconut mixture very frequently ... and use this to make laddoos or to stuff any kind of pithe ( cooked sweetmeat made of lentils & rice) .

So once while making idlis I thought of stuffing them with this filling .... a new sweet for my hubby. And the juicy, sweet filling was such a good foil to the usual bland idlis ... I have been making these regularly ever since .... whenever am making idlis .... sweet idlis are made too.
I have used jaggery for the filling ..... if you want you can use sugar too.

There is a Bengali pithe called the Bhapa ( steamed ) pithe that is made this way.

I don't know why the colour did not turn too dark ... the snaps would have looked even better. But the sweetness was perfect .... too much jaggery may have turned it slightly bitter.

Need :

For the idlis : Idli batter, a little cooking oil.

For the filling : Grated coconut, crushed elaichi / cardamom, jaggery.

How to : Heat a non stick kadhai/vessel. Put in the grated coconut with the jaggery and elaichi and cook well. Add a little water if you feel the need to melt the jaggery.
Take an idli stand. Apply a little cooking oil to the moulds.

Pour in a little batter. Place a spoonful of the filling on it. Now cover it with another spoonful of batter.

Steam like regular idlis.
Done ! :-)

Enjoy folks! And have a great Sunday! :-)