Paneer Burger

On our last grocery trip, I saw B pick up two fat buns from our local baker. 
"I want a burger", he said. 

"Great! I have just soaked some soya nuggets ... will make some thick patties." 
He kept quiet. And then I noticed a big pack of paneer too. 

He hates hates soya nuggets while I try to sneak it into his food for the protein boost. 😊

"So how to do plan to add the paneer to the burger? Grate?", I keep on. 
"I haven't decided on it, yet". 

Today, he wanted his burgers for lunch. 

"I want a stir fry with lots of onions and garlic, some tomatoes for moisture and small pieces of paneer. 

And I want  Italian flavours. I will add the olives last. " 

So I made this stir fried Paneer with vegetables for the burger. 

Need : 

Thickly sliced onions 
Sliced capsicums 

Paneer cut into small pieces 
Boiled potato cut into small pieces

Chopped garlic
Mixed Italian herbs - Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Celery etc. 

Olive oil

Red chilli flakes 

Salt

Sugar 

How to : 

Heat a little olive oil and add the garlic and the potatoes. 

Add a little salt and fry on high for a while. 

Now add the paneer and the rest of the ingredients. 
Stir fry on high heat till everything comes together. 

Heat the buns on a flat heavy pan .... I kept the base for a longish while so that it crisped up. 

Cut them in half but not all the way. 
Stuff with the filling and serve immediately. 

We are not eating deep fried right now ... so there was no potatoes chips on the side. 

( Guess it is high time I got that air fryer ..... what say? ) 

And also no soft drinks too. 

But B did make some Pomegranate juice for me. 

Lunch was good. A change from our regular meals was welcome since the weather has started to turn really hot these days. 

Take care all. 

Ps: B forgot to add his favourite olives after all. 😉

Chicken Hakka Noodles

 ( I had made this post on my instagram page around two months back but never got around to posting it here. The weather is not exactly as described , right now. ) 


After four days of gloriously bright sunshine , a clear blue sky and crisp, cold breeze, the day started dull and gloomy and foggy again.

Though it is difficult to call this city's weather gloomy. Even cloudy foggy days are beautiful. I woke up late as I slept very late last night ... was at the fag end of a book and just didn't want to keep it away ... and even though I woke at my regular 6 am, seeing the weather outside, promptly buried myself back into the covers.
Skipped breakfast and just sipped on the hot kadha that I make everyday.
While both of us agreed that such a weather calls for some spicy, deep fried food, we decided we won't indulge in any.
But we did not want the regular meals of rice or roti too.

I had ordered vegetables yesterday and since had almost everything I needed, we zeroed in on some quick stir fried Hakka noodles .
I sliced the vegetables and brought out some frozen pieces of chicken that I had saved from an earlier stew.
Made B's vegetarian version first and then made mine.

Stir fried the shredded chicken with chopped ginger and garlic, green chillies and threw in the vegetables.
After tossing them together, added boiled noodles , a little vinegar, sliced onions and spring onions greens.
Added some crushed black pepper and mixed everything well.
I did not add any sauce as I have given up eating packaged products.
Would have loved some soy and chilli sauce with it😊.

Turned out great.
The noodles were perfectly al dente, the vegetables held their crunch since I cooked them on high heat and just for a little while .... never cover and cook vegetables for Chinese food ... nothing is worse than soft, sagging vegetables in a stir fry.... and the green chillies had the right zing for balance.
.

 Vegetarians can add paneer , tofu or soya chunks for the protein content. 
Or else, just the vegetables work fine too. 

Enjoy!! 

Soupy noodles with vegetables and Chilli oil

The last few days have been very cloudy.
Not the huge, 'raring to go' kind of cumulus; but the quiet , grey ones. Slowly spreading across the sky, overcasting the city with quiet deliberation. The air has turned colder ... well it was cool all these days, but now it is positively colder.
The ghee in the kitchen has solidified.
And we have taken out the light Jaipuri covers to snuggle under.
So that is a sign.

I decided to make noodles  for lunch a few days back but B wanted something hot and soupy to sip on.
So I made this noodles soup that my youngest maasi used to make and I have grown up eating.

How to : 

Boil the noodles till they are half done.
Drain them and keep aside. 

Stir fry chopped garlic, ginger, carrots, green chilli and add some water.
You may use vegetable or chicken stock too. 

Bring to a boil.

Add salt and a little vinegar.
I added lots of crushed black pepper too .... you can add according to your liking. 

Add in the boiled noodles and a little of the water the noodles were boiled in. 

Serve topped with chilli garlic oil. 

For the Garlic chilli oil, I fried lots of chopped garlic in hot oil. 
Added chilli flakes at the end and removed from heat. 
Done! 

It makes for a great topping on any plain dish. 

 You can add pieces of chicken too , while stir frying the vegetables. 
Or drop in beaten eggs when it is boiling and make it an egg drop soup. 

Whatever way, it makes for a great hot meal. 
Perfect for any cold weather ..... damp oor otherwise. 

Enjoy!! 

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. 

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. 

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.






 

 

Chickpeas Fried Rice / Chole Pulao - a spicy plateful to warm your heart when it is pouring outside

No, I did not speak all too soon.
The weather has indeed taken a turn and for the good too.
While the temperatures have continued to dip, the breeze has been steady and is only growing stronger.
I had a bout of sneezing and sniffling yesterday, a result of my carelessness ... I had the window open, the fan on and the ac on too ... yeah, kill me for that ... one of these days, and was punished accordingly.
And promptly too.
The whole of yesterday was spent at trying to sneeze with the lowest possible noise ... yet the more the day wore on, the more the volume increased.
Not to mention my groans.
Cold and flu make me cranky. And if there is someone, anyone, in the vicinity, I become very restless.
Tried to lie down and watch the telly but to no good. The choicest of idiotic movies were on. Listening to music was another pain ... my sneezes would not allow me to listen in peace.
Spent a whole miserable morning before I gulped an antihistamine.
That took care of me and I was in dreamland for the rest of the afternoon and the better part of the evening.
B made a hot dinner of Aloo baingan ki sabzi   , with a little gravy to help my sore throat, along with  plain parathas.
And then I slept again.

Woke up early to a dark, cloudy sky and rain.
That quiet, silent but non stop drizzle that Pune is so loved for.
Looked out and saw the droplets dripping down the leaves and the railings of my balcony.
Snuggled back into the razai again.
But sleep eluded and thoughts turned to breakfast.
And what would a good Bong have for breakfast on a beautiful, rainy morning?
Luchi!, of course.
So while B took his morning call, I quickly  set the shaada aloor chorchori on one burner and kneaded the maida.
Soon we were sitting at the table, looking out of the windows and watching the trees sway, enjoying our breakfast of luchi torkari.
I did post a photo of my plate on the blog's page on facebook.
There is a video too, on my personal page.
Someday I will do a post on how to make that perfect phulko luchi, for sure.

But today, while I am still drowsy ... thanks to Avil, I thought I will give my weekly grocery shopping a miss and just watch the clouds.
And make this post.

I had made this Chana pulao just last week. It was a hurried day and I had some leftover rice as well as boiled chickpeas in the fridge.
Decided to throw in them together and come up with a one pot meal.
A plain raita and some salad on the side and a quick lunch was ready within 15 minutes.

Here is the recipe.

Need :

Chickpeas - big cup, 1 pressure cooked with a little salt
Rice - 1 big cup, cooked
Onions - 2, medium, chopped
Garlic - 6, chopped
Green chillies - chopped
Turmeric / Haldi powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Dry mango / Amchur powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp (you can skip it if you are vegan)
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

How to :

Heat oil in a kadahi / wok.

Add the chopped garlic and fry till they turn light brown.

Add the onions and fry till they turn pink.

Now add the green chillies + the boiled and drained chickpeas (make sure you do not add any water ), haldi powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder, amchur powder, salt and sugar.

Mix everything well and fry for a while.

Now add the rice and adjust salt.

Add a little more garam masala ( or a pinch of biryani masala will also work fine. I used the Punjabi garam masala that I got from Amritsar ) and mix well.

Add ghee and lemon juice, give a good mix and cover.

Let it stand for around 2 minutes before you switch off heat.

Serve hot with raita and salad on the side.

The raita is just fresh home made curd beaten well with a pinch of black salt and sprinkled with roasted jeera/cumin powder + red chilli powder.

This turns out to be a wonderful one pot meal, especially if you have dryish leftover rice.
Mine was slightly mushy as my rice was a little well cooked.
No change in the flavours though.
And personally I feel well cooked rice soaks up flavours better than just done rice, especially for pulaos like this .... won't work with a biryani though.


Enjoy!!!

Mooli ki kadhi with no fry pakodas ... a desi vegetable soup for a desi winter lunch

 Hello! Bonjour!!!

Yes, it is me alright.
You know me, so you can ignore the greetings and be just plain happy, like I am right now, to be back on Kitchen-e-Kichu Khonn again.
And that greetings is my hangover from my recent visit to the Big Apple, via France.
Yes, I am just back from a longish vacation, all rested and raring to cook, eat, click and post again.

I had sincerely wanted to make a post or two initially, but after landing in New York, I was so caught up with the sightseeing and eating out and of course sleeping in, when the weather did not permit ... which was a rare one day, I thought I would give myself a proper break.
That way I could focus on the present .... and what a lovely present it was.

The weather was gorgeous and everybody said that I was lucky winter was arriving late this year.
I caught the fall, the fall colours and fell in love a thousand times in one day.
I walked like I have never walked before, taking in the sights and smells and the people and the highrises.
I ate like I had never ate before.
Even though American cuisine is mostly limited to meat,cheese and deep fried stuff, and a lot of salads too, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of vegetarian things on the menus of almost all restaurants.
Feta cheese and spinach ruled the roost but at least there were vegetarian stuff available.
B said the scenario has changed only recently. Earlier he used to have a tough time surviving here as a vegetarian.

I ate at some very good Indian restaurants too.
And can happily say that the quality as well as the taste and flavours are far better than what we get here in India. The Sarson ka saag and makke ki roti that we had one night, prepared by a Punjabi lady, ( you will get the whole story on Country roads later ) belonged to another level altogether.
Even better than what we had eaten in Amritsar.

And no, this is not a glitzy eyed, impressed desi speaking.
The food quality is really good out there.
Maybe because of the standards set; maybe because of the high price. Whatever the reason, I loved eating Indian food in the US of A.

 You will, of course, get to hear all about my trip soon. On my travel blog.
As soon as I sort out my house, my sleep timings, my eating timings and the thousands of photographs too.
I am still jet lagged and am moving around like a zombie.
After sleeping non stop for two days, I dragged myself to the kitchen and made some Chicken jhol and roti ... just to tempt myself to eat.
Today, I made this super simple kadhi with some vegetables thrown and had it for lunch.
Right now, quick, simple one pot meals or one dish meals are my saviours.

So thought of sharing this with you, along with my come back hello!.
Spicy, tangy and extremely light, this kadhi is perfect to slurp on during the winter. Pair it with steaming hot rice and you have one of the most perfect comfort meals ready.

If you have made my Bhindi ki kadhi, you will know how easy this is to make.
I love pakodas or the lentil dumplings in a kadhi, since they are the classic combination.
But I do not deep fry them.
Instead, I just add the dumplings directly into the boiling kadhi.
Works great.
And healthy too.

Need :

 For the kadhi - you will find the ingredients and step by step photos here 

 Radish or Mooli - cut into thin cubes
Okra or Bhindi - cut into small pieces
Fresh green chilli - 2, broken
Whole coriander seeds - ¼ tsp
Whole methi seeds - ¼ tsp
Hing - ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch 
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( not Kashmiri chilli powder )
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste


For the Pakodas -

Besan or Gram flour
Red chilli powder
Crushed black pepper
Jeera or cumin seeds
Turmeric powder
Salt
Water

How to :

Prepare the kadhi mix.

Make the pakora mix by mixing everything together.

In a heavy bottom kadahi, heat oil.

Add the coriander seeds, methi seeds and the hing.
Add the green chillies.

Add the bhindi and fry well on high heat.
Add turmeric and fry till it is no longer slimy.

Add the radish and fry well.
Add salt.
Cover and cook for a while.

Remove cover and add the kadhi mixture.
Add a little more water and adjust salt.

Cover and bring to a simmer on low heat.

Remove cover, raise heat and when it starts to boil, make small dumplings from the pakoda mix and drop into the boiling kadhi.

Lower heat , cover and cook for a while.
Do remember to stir in between to help the pakodas to float up.

Cook till the kadhi thickens to desired consistency.

Sprinkle homemade red chilli powder and chopped fresh coriander leaves. 

Serve hot with steaming hot rice.

A healthy, spicy, tangy and soul comforting meal is ready!! 

I will leave you today with a first glimpse of the beautiful Fall colours of the USA that greeted me even before I landed there.
Beautiful!! .... na?!

C'ya all again ... soon!!

Burnt garlic noodles with stir fried vegetables

( Non vegetarians can add slices of chicken, sausage or eggs to this too. )

Durga came and left.
Lokkhi came and left.
I was so caught up with a thousand things that I hardly opened the laptop. I was away from facebook too .... I did a small customary post for Bijoya, though.
And now, life is filled with numerous chores that need to be done before Diwali.

Pujo went well this time.
I was more relaxed, actually went out with B, visited pandals, offered pushpanjali and had bhog too.
Ate from the food stalls a couple of times ... would have loved to eat more but my tummy drew the line.
I did share a couple of photos on my Kitchen-e-Kichu Khonn's page on face book.

Anyway, here I am, when realisation struck that I have not wished you all, my readers a Subho Bijoya!
I know it is a little late in the day but do accept my good wishes on Bijoya.
May the good always prevail in your lives.

Amongst other things, which included a short trip out of town for a few days, I am also swamped with a lot of knitting projects right now.
Recently completed this top ... so sharing a shot with you. Do let me know what you think of it.
I will make a fresh post along with the pattern in my other blog in a few days.

Coming to today's recipe, I had made this quick noodles stir fry on one of our busy, rainy days.

I usually make Chinese for dinner ... which is why I can never make a post on them.
But this was made for a light lunch and so got to see the light of the day.

Unless I am making Hakka noodles, I love a little garlic in my noodles. In this recipe, I tossed the noodles in burnt garlic. And the flavour that burnt garlic gives is awesome.
I love the slight hint of sweetness from them after they have caramelised well.

As for the vegetables on the side, they are not actually dry. I added a little sauce to give them some body and bring everything together in harmony.

Quick to make, light on the tummy.

This is a perfect one in all dish.

 Need :

Noodles
Cooking oil
Vegetables - cut in slants
( I had baby corn, zucchini, yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, cauliflower florets, purple cabbage ,mushrooms )
Onions - cut into thick rings
Garlic - minced well
Ginger - chopped well  
Green chillies - chopped
Chilli flakes
Chilli vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Corn flour
Sugar
Salt

How to : 

Boil the noodles in enough salted water.
Drain just before they are completely cooked and hold under running water to cool completely.
This will give you the perfect al dente noodles .... not over cooked and mushy.
Mix in a spoonful of white oil and toss well.
Keep aside.

In a kadahi, heat oil on low heat.

Add ginger + garlic + green chillies + the rest of the vegetables and fry on high heat.
 Keep stirring all the while.
Add thickly sliced onions + crushed black pepper powder + salt.

Mix corn flour in a little water + a little sugar .
Pour over the vegetables and fry well till dryish.

In a kadahi, heat a little cooking oil.
Let in the minced garlic and a little sugar.
Fry well on low heat till they turn completely brown.

Add in the noodles, salt and chilli vinegar.
Raise heat and toss well vigourously.

Sprinkle the chilli flakes and remove from heat.

To serve, lay the noodles on a plate and pour the vegetables over it. 
This is best eaten hot off the wok.

Enjoy!!

Egg fried rice

On the weekend, B and I were at one of our favourite places to grab a bite ... the Yogi Tree at Koregaon park. This place has been our go to when we need a good meal or a light breakfast.
Or spend a quiet evening, chatting over a cuppa.

Earlier, this place used to be very quiet and serene. People, mostly the ones from abroad, sit around with something to eat or drink and with a paper or a book. Away from the noisy main road, the mornings are especially beautiful here ... with the  morning sun streaming in through the few casurinas that dot the courtyard.

Of late, as more and more people came to know about this, it is not as serene anymore. People come in droves, shout and laugh and talk loudly, yell at the servers and demand numerous changes to their menus, etc. etc.
It is because of this noisy crowd that we have almost stopped going there in the mornings. But when in need of a quick homely dinner, we do go down and take a table inside. The fluffy hot rotis, the beautiful dal and very light on spices sabzi satisfies us hugely. And lulls us to a quiet peace .... makes us ready to face another mad week the next day.

This weekend, as we sat waiting for our lunch to arrive, I noticed a group of young men in a table outside. There must have been around 8 or 9 of them .... all well dressed in casuals except two who were in formals. Chatting and laughing a lot.
A couple more joined them later and there was a lot of handshakes, hugs and back slapping and laughing. They arranged chairs and adjusted their seating.

"Must be meeting after a long time", I thought.
I was watching their bonhomie and thought of my college days and my friends .... almost all of whom are now settled in different cities.

And as I sat there watching them, something struck me odd.
And then I knew what it was!
There was no noise or sound coming from them.
All that laughing and talking would have surely created a cacophony by now .... yet, it was very quiet everywhere.
I did notice that they were moving their hands a lot when talking but all that gesticulating did not strike odd to me until I realised that they could not speak or hear!!
They were talking through their hands!

I watched them, totally mersmerised now. Luckily they were outside in the sun, and hence could not see me gawking rudely at them.
The server came and took their orders. They communicated with a lot of smiles.
Then they went back to chatting again.

And I watched them .... with just a little hint of jealousy.
Nobody could know what they were talking or joking about.
They were so happy in their own world.
And somewhere deep inside me, I secretly wished I could be a part of their quiet, peaceful world.

Today's recipe is quick, stir fried rice that I rustled up one day for lunch. I usually make Chinese dishes for dinner, which is why I cannot click any photos and hence hardly get to make a post on them here.
But since this was for lunch, I quickly clicked a few photos.

There is not much to making this fried rice. I follow Kylie Kwong when it comes to Chinese cuisine.
I love her simple, quick dishes with light and fresh ingredients.
I make this fried the same way she had made once on her show.

She had used just spring onions and eggs but I do throw in lots of vegetables to make this a complete,  one pot meal.  Some left over cooked rice from the fridge, a couple of eggs and some of your favourite vegetables ... and you are good to go.

 Need :

Leftover cooked rice - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Chopped ginger - 1 tsp
Chopped garlic - 1 tsp
Chopped vegetables - I used baby corn, red capsicum, onions, green chillies, green peas, etc.
Chilli vinegar - 2 tsp
Fresh ground pepper - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Cooking oil - 2 tsp

How to :

Beat the eggs with salt + a little chilli vinegar.

Heat oil.
Add eggs and scramble.
Remove while still soft.

Add chopped garlic + ginger + baby corn+ red capsicum + onions to the oil.
Toss well on high heat.

Add left over rice + salt + a pinch of sugar.
Add the eggs.
Toss well on high heat.

Do not lower heat and keep tossing well.

I add a dash of chilli vinegar and soy too. You may or may not.
Add freshly crushed black pepper.

Sprinkle green chillies and serve hot.

Done!
Quick and easy.

Enjoy!!

Stir fried Macaroni with vegetables and chicken sausage

The only thing that I do not make with macaroni is the very famous mac and cheese.
The reason? Well ... I do not have any reason.
Maybe because I do not like the white sauce.
Maybe because I do not like cheese.
Maybe. I don't know.
But then ... maybe that is not such a solid reason after all because B loves cheese. And I do cook a lot of things that B likes and I do not.
So there.

But what I do make with macaroni is a variety of other things.
Sometimes a cold salad.
Sometimes add some to a soup. And sometimes the stew.
Sometimes with roasted vegetables.
And at other times, this stir fry that can be eaten as a warm salad too.
It is quick to make and makes for a very filling meal.

It was one of those late evenings when I was dead tired and did not want to cook anything for dinner.
B suggested ordering out but I was not interested in that too.
Suggestions and options went to and fro .... from me stuck on the sofa with my knitting for most of the evening and B, stuck in the chair in front of the idiot box.
I was getting hungry and we were reaching nowhere.
And the noise from the juvenile movie on god-knows-what-kind-species-are-these was getting on my nerves already.

So decided to take matters to my hands ... which was exactly what B knew would come to.

 Walked into the kitchen and made this in 10 minutes flat ... because I had boiled macaroni in the fridge.
And sprouts ready on the counter.
Chopped up a few vegetables and stir fried everything together.
Chopped and fried myself some  chicken sausages too.
And dinner was ready even before those godzilla like creatures on the telly could burn a complete city down.

These photographs are from the phone .... again.
Impromptu meals like these are sometimes so good and flavourful that I am tempted to share it here.
So please do bear with the snaps.

Need :

Boiled Macaroni - 1 cup
Carrots - 1 medium, chopped into very small pieces
Cauliflower - 6 to 7 florets, chopped
Green peas - 5 tbsp
Capsicum - 1 medium, chopped
Moong dal sprouts - 8 tbsp
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped
Mixed Italian herbs - 1 tsp
Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Black pepper powder - to taste
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Cooking oil  - 1 tbsp
Chicken sausages - thawed and chopped 

You can use any vegetables of your choice.
You can use scrambles eggs too.
Or chicken cubes.

How to :

 Heat oil in an open kadahi or wok.

Add the garlic + onions.

Raise heat and add all the vegetables.

Stir fry for a while.

Add the sprouts.

Add the salt + lemon juice + sugar + Italian herbs(crushed) + chilli flakes + pepper powder.

Toss well.

In another pan fry the chopped sausages and add to the macaroni.

Remove from heat and serve hot. 

This was perfect for a rainy night dinner.
After the telly was switched off.

I love to douse this with some ketchup sometimes. Just sometimes.
Else it is good as is.
Do eat it hot ... just off the wok. 
Enjoy!!

Ilish er Muri Ghonto / Hilsa head cooked with rice and spices

"There she goes again! She and her Ilish!"

I know, I know. I have a little too many Ilish recipes on my blog.
But then, I am sure you are not complaining. Or are you?
Come monsoons and I do buy at least one Hilsa fish to satiate my cravings for it. After all, I wait patiently the whole year through and never make do with the false ones, from the shores of Gujarat or Andhra, that make their way into the markets through out the year.
And my fishwala never disappoints me too.
"Aapke liye sirf Kalkatta Hilsa", he says.

And when I get that more than one kilo of divinely smelling fish home, I have to rustle up all the recipes I know with the Ilish.
The head, the tail, the petis, the gadas,  the roe ... all have different recipes to go into.
And I make full use of them.
Resulting in a happy me, with a zen like smile on my face, that you can get to see only on a cat after it leaves a kitchen that has just seen fish cooked.
And some good Ilish posts.
And a grumpy B, who has to suffer through these 2 months of monsoons when I get the Ilish home.

But this year, I haven't brought an Ilish home; not yet.
I had a couple of recipes lying around from last to last year and hence making some posts.
The last one and this. I don't think I have anymore.
And I don't think I will be cooking the Ilish this time.
Will go to my current favourite Assamese restaurant when I get the craving.

Of late, I have seen a number of people coming over here, browse through and then only too soon I see a post on their blogs.
Most of them think they are savvy enough to make changes to the recipe by adding a spoonful of an unnecessary ingredient just to make it look different. Like adding jeera to a recipe that has mustard seeds as tempering is so out and out foolish.
And sometimes a shoddy photograph along with one of mine.
I am assuming that they are new bloggers but at times there are older bloggers too.
All I say to them is dear ones, do be a little original.
I know these recipes are common but there can be a whole bunch of changes in them from family to family.
Like picking up my Thamma's recipe and saying it is your cook's recipe is just not done.

And as for plagiarism of ideas, I really have nothing to say.
Have long given up hope of seeing any light in these blokes' brains.

Coming to today's recipe,  I had made a light Ilish er jhol with cumin and ginger paste.
Remember?  If not, it is here.


So I had this masala left and wanted to use it with the Ilish head this time.
Did not want an ambol or tauk.
So decided on the muri ghonto.

I had never made muri ghonto with anything other than the Rui or the Katla head. So this was going to be new.  It does not have any onion or garlic and hence can be called a Niramish muri ghonto too. 

The fact that Ilish has a lot more and much finer bones in the head did not deter me at all.
My Dadu, Ma's father, was well known for his ability to chew and finish off all the bones of  the Ilish head. 
And as his grand daughter, the least I could do was to try it once.


 Need :

For the Jeera paste : -
Jeera / Cumin seeds - around 5 tbsp, soak for around 3 hours
Ginger - 1 and ½" piece
Whole red chillies - 4 (if you like spicy then use around 6 or 7)
Tomato - 2 medium sized

Other ingredients : -

Ilish head - 1 , cleaned and marinated with a little turmeric powder+salt
Tej pata / Bay leaves - 2
Rice - 1 cup, washed and soaked ( I used Basmati )
Cooking oil - 2 + 2 tbsp ( I use Mustard oil )
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Whole red chillies - 2, broken
Lemon juice - 4 tbsp
Bhaja moshla - 1 tbsp
The jeera paste - 3 tbsp 
Salt - to taste
Water - 2 cups

How to : 

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a heavy kadahi / wok.
Lightly fry the fish head, break into pieces and keep aside.


In another kadahi / wok, heat 2 tbsp oil + ghee.

Add the bay leaves + whole red chillies + the jeera paste.

Stir well and keep frying till oil starts to leave the sides.

Add the rice and lightly fry.

Raise heat, add the fish head pieces + turmeric powder + lemon juice + salt + water.

Cover and cook till rice is just done.

Remove cover, sprinkle the bhaja moshla all over, give a light toss and cover.

Switch off heat after 5 minutes and let it stand for another 5 minutes.

Done!

I like to keep the rice grains fluffy and separated though traditionally the muri ghonto is slightly sticky.
You can add chopped potatoes to it too.

I love it just as it is.
As a whole meal, if I do not have guests.

Rustle up a salad or a raita and you are good to go.
Enjoy!!


Here is a list of my Ilish / Hilsa recipes to enjoy in this monsoon. 

Phodni cha Bhaat / Stir fried left over rice

A few months back, February to be precise, my blog post "Savoury Poda Pithe" was selected as one of the top twelve food blog posts in India by Baggout.
I was happy. But was hesitant to go all out and shout from the roof tops. And promptly forgot all about it.
The days rolled on. I had guests.
I had the in laws visiting.
I had guests.
I went home on a short vacation.
I had guests.
And so on.
And suddenly remembered yesterday.
Went back to check if they still had my post with them or have given up and decided that somebody else cooks better.
Nah ... the post was right there.
Checked the mail and saw there was an offer and a choice of adding a badge to the blog too.
No forcing down the throat; unlike other sites.
So I decided I will put it up.
And so there is this badge proudly displayed.
While my readers and friends have always been happy to try out my recipes and given positive feedback, this little acknowledgement was welcome.
This is the first time, out side of the blogging world, that someone has taken note of Kitchen e Kichu Khonn.
And that made me happy.

 I have been posting way too many non vegetarian dishes of late. I wonder why. Since it is the vegetarian food that is cooked almost everyday in my house. Non vegetarian is rare.
No; wait. Not rare actually. Not any more.
But since it is mostly fish that I cook for my lunch, I guess I have been clicking to many photos in my enthusiasm to share them on Fb.
While the more varied vegetable dishes go unnoticed.
Another reason might be that B has his lunch earlier than me. So after I am done with the veggie stuff, I shift them to the dining table and get to work on the non vegetarian things.
By the time I am done, B has had his lunch and I am left with only the fish / poultry to click, if at all I have the energy left by then.

Hence decided to post a pure vegetarian recipe today.
Hunted around in my folders and came to this Phodni cha bhaat that I had cooked on a lazy day for lunch.
I was introduced to this as a Maharashtrian speciality but later came to know that Bengalis make it too. Only they call it Bhaja bhaat.
I don't know much since I never ate this back at home during my childhood.

Exactly three snaps, that too with the phone.
But I really want to share this wonderful, quick fix meal or snack with left over rice.
With the minimum of ingredients and the shortest of time, you have a beautifully flavoured, slightly spicy, tempered rice.

Need :

Cooked rice (left over rice kept in the fridge works best) - 2 cups
Rai / Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Jeera / Cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Haldi / Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Red chilli powder - ½ tsp
Onion - 1, chopped
Fresh green chillies - 1, chopped
Curry leaves - 1 small sprig
Peanuts - 2 tbsp (optional)
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste

How to :

Bring the rice out of the refrigerator and keep it in room temperature while you make the preparations.

Fluff it well, separate it well and add haldi , red chilli powder , salt and sugar.
Keep aside.

Heat an open faced, heavy bottomed pan well.

Add the oil.

Add the rai, jeera and the curry leaves.

Add the onions and the green chillies and fry till the onions turn pink.

Add the peanuts and fry some more.

Now add the rice.

Gently and lightly stir it well for everything to mix together.

Cover for only around a minute, on low heat.

Remove cover, give a good toss.

Serve hot with curd or raita or pickles and roasted papad.

This is a great way to use up left over rice.
Makes for a very filling snack or even a meal.

Enjoy!!


Other recipes with Left over rice -here.