I came back ....

... to say "Thank you."

A humble, grateful and sincere "Thank you."

... to say that I'm overwhelmed.
With the love that you have given me.
The support that you have always been.

For your constant presence in my darkest hours.
For your kind words and gestures during my most painful times.

For every email, every comment here, every message on FB.
For every heart warming word.
For every line that made me a little more stronger.

For trying your best to make me laugh.
For every effort to shift my focus away from the bad to the good to come.

Even when you have been caught up with busy days with jobs,
family, your blogs and a thousand other things,
you have not let go of my hand.

You have taken time to mail me, to leave lines here, to keep in touch constantly,
knowing full well I could not even reply back.

Am touched at your selflessness.
And very, very grateful.

It is your encouragement that has made me decide that I cannot let this year go by
with silence on Kichu Khon.


I came back ...
.... to say how much you and your friendship mean to me.
And how much your efforts are appreciated.

... to say that I'll start blogging again.

I do not know what you see in me, my writings or my blog.
I do not understand why you trust me and my recipes so much.

And I'll henceforth never try to.

You want me to blog.
I'll blog.
I'll write, I'll post.


Thank you again, everyone.
My blog friends & my readers.
Thank you for everything.

Au Revoir

Sorry for the abrupt post dear folks.
And the abrupt good bye.

I may not post again in the near future.
I do hope to be back someday ... but am hoping against hope.

So many things left unsaid.
So many things left unshared.
So many thanks not said.

Before I disappear I want to thank everybody who has one time or the other mentioned Kichu Khon and me on their blogs.
Who have trusted me and my recipes and tried them.
And have written warm and glowing words about them, me and my blog.

I do not want any one of you to worry unnecessarily ... so am explaining that it is not due to any bad comments or anything else that am stopping.
The reasons are purely personal.

Take care dear friends.
This blog has been heaven to me ... letting me be myself.

And all of you have been life to me ... each one a breath of pure air.
Loving me, accepting me, allowing me to be myself.

I'll miss everyone of you and your wonderful spaces and hearts.

Do take care.
Life can be very untrue to us.
I just wish all of you love and happiness.

Warm hugs
Sharmila

Kumror Chokka / Pumpkin with Potatoes

( Vegans can skip the ghee. )

Too many things on my mind these days ... and too many things to get done.
So in no mood to ramble ... yeah, can hear that sigh of relief from you guys. :-)
So straight to my recipe today.

But before that can't resist mentioning that I did get the first Ilish or Hilsa of the season
and had a great leisurely lunch last afternoon ...
... read had enough time on my hands to sit back and
pick through the fine bones
and munch on some great Ilish maach bhaja ...
and lick my plate clean while savouring the Ilish maacher ambol.

Also made some Chorchori with the maatha and
my very own home grown pui ...
yes I did chop off a few stems and leaves.
Was great! :-)

Still have a few pieces left ... am trying out all my Ilish recipes that I posted last year.

Today's recipe is a simple veggie dish that I make very often.

This is my way of making the Kumro (pumpkin) r Chokka or Kumror Chakka ...
... fuss free and not too much of spices.
I do not know why it is known by this name ... so do not ask me.

I like to throw in some kala chana / bengal gram ... so soak a few if am planning to do this dish.
If you are making it impromptu and do not have them ... no problem at all.

And this is one of those rare Bengali dishes in which I use Hing ... am not too fond of the thing ... so usually use it only in the Rajasthani dishes.

But it does give a wonderful flavour to this otherwise simple dish.

You can use coriander and jeera powder with this too ...
I did not.
And I did not use the bay leaf / tej patta to as I had
run out of it.

Need :

Kumro / Kaddu / Pumpkin - cut into medium biggish cubes
Potatoes - cut into a little smaller size than the pumpkin
( can use boiled ones too )
Kala chana / Whole Bengal gram - soaked overnight
( better if you can boil them with a pinch of salt ... just run it in the MW at 60% for 10 mins )
Whole Jeera / Cumin seeds
Grated or paste of fresh ginger
Haldi / Turmeric powder
Hing / Asafeotida
Whole dry red chillies
Oil to cook ( I use mustard oil )
Salt to taste
Ghee

How to :

Heat oil in a deep kadahi / wok.

Add the jeera, hing and the dry red chillies.

Add the ginger paste and stir for just a little while.

Add the potatoes and stir well ... till the sides turn brownish.

Now add the pumpkin, haldi and salt.

Cover and cook till the vegetables are well done.
If needed add a little water so they do not burn.

When the vegetables are done, remove cover and throw in the boiled kala chana.

Give a good stir to mix everything well.

Cover for some more time ( take care not to burn ).

Serve hot.
Top it with a little ghee just before serving.

This dish should be slightly mushy, which the pumpkin will turn to anyway and will get the natural sweetness of the pumpkin.

Goes great with luchi/puri, rotis or parathas.
Or even with dal and rice too.

If you do want some spices in it, you can sprinkle some garam masala or roasted jeera powder on the top before serving.

Enjoy !!