Kucho Nimki / Flour Fritters

 This post will be morbid ...  I need emotional catharsis.
If you don't want to brood, stay away.

Things have been happening in my life.

A lot more and a lot quickly than I'd ever wanted.

After months of suffering ill health and a trauma, I thought a lot of rest will heal me ... 

both physically and emotionally.

But no, nyet, nada.

The days I came back from home after the surgeries to this city, I saw my cousin sister ill.

Very ill.

In the ICU.

The whole family and friends came down.

I was surrounded with people ... way too many people.

And in that hustle and bustle I saw a quivering life slowly ebb away.

Very quietly.

N didi is ... was ... my second cousin.

And has been ... I still can't talk of her in the past tense ... in this city almost the same many years
that I've been.

I came as a student.

She came with her husband's job.

And her home was my haven from college and hostel.

Almost every weekend was spent at her place.

I want to eat non veg, I want my clothes washed and ironed, I just want to be with family ... 

I am at N didi's.
Even my friends loved to be at her place ... getting pampered with wonderful food and love. 

  She had never let it be known that she has been ill.

A diabetic, she has always been careless with her health.

And nobody around her bothered to be strict with her ... except for a casual criticism.

N didi would always laugh that away.

The last 2 years her health started to decline rapidly.

And I got to witness the kind of suffering the human body has to go through if not taken care of properly.

And after 2 excruciating months in the ICU, she passed away.

Quietly, painfully.

Leaving behind a void in her home, that is being futilely tried to be filled with her laughing photographs.

  N didi loved food. Loved to eat. And to cook and feed.

Her last lines to me, before they shut her up with the ventilator pipe down her throat, were ... 

"Amar jonne ektu patla patla luchi ar aloor torkari anbi?"

("Will you get some soft luchi and aloo ki sabzi for me?")

Inspite of my numerous requests, the docs did not allow.

And I still have not been able to eat luchi till date.

I do not know why I wanted to write about N didi here.
It is not only about emotional purging.
I had learnt a lot of the ways of cooking from her.
She never taught me how to cook, or ever discuss a recipe with me.
But she cooked beautifully.
And always answered my questions with patience.
That is ... if I asked, she taught me. Never ever tried to force me into the kitchen.

After I got married, N didi was just the person to call up when stuck in the kitchen.
She never gave me recipes, but always guided me through disasters.
When a phoron burnt, when the cooker refused to behave, when there was too much salt in a dish ....
also when I couldn't handle a maid ...
it was she who rescued me with advice.

It was she who taught me to make Rosogollas.
And yet, except a fleeting mention here, I do not think I've ever thanked her.
And she never expected me to.

 This Durga Puja was celebrated by the family with a heavy heart. The only consolation we fell back on was 

N didi is pain free at last.

After coming back from my trip home, I tried to keep myself busy.

I tried to do house work, cook, laugh, go on trips, made FB my second home ...
... anything to get those painful days out of my mind.

And I tried to keep up with tradition.

Made some sweets and these salty Kucho Nimkis for Bijoya.

Need

Maida / Refined flour - 1 big sized cup

Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

Kalonji - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Water - to knead

Cooking oil - to deep fry
I did not use any baking powder or soda ... you can if you want to.

How to

Knead everything into a firm dough. Do not make it too soft.

Roll out thick rotis and cut them diagonally both ways to get the diamond shaped pieces.

Heat the cooking oil in a cast iron or heavy bottomed kadahi.

Deep fry the nimkis in batches.

Remove on a kitchen towel or paper napkins to remove excess oil.

Cool and store in air tight containers.

Try to remove them just as they are turning just golden brown ... if you wait for too long, they'll turn dark.

 Serve with a hot cup of tea.

Or traditionally ... with sweets and ghugni for Bijoya.

Enjoy!!

Kachkola Khosar Chatni / Plantain Peels Chutney

 

 

Hi everybody!

Here's wishing you a very happy festive season!

Hope you all had a wonderful Diwali.
I did try my best to have one.

And did not judge my success on how many savories or sweets I got to make this time.

 We strung little lights all over the house, had friends over and savoured whatever little I could dish up myself.

And decided Diwali is all about having people who love you around you.

I actually did not disappoint myself on the kitchen front.

I did make the very popular Rajastani kachori, went ahead and made a fusion by pairing it with the very Bengali Cholar Dal.

And a spicy rassewali Aloo.

Also had made plain Luchis or Puris.

On the sweet front had Chawal ki Kheer or Chaler Payesh.

And then greed struck.

I snitched some break time from the busy schedule and was going through my reader when Bong Mom's new post caught my eye.

Could not help making those wonderful Besan ke Laddoos ... they looked so tempting.

But more than that the very quick way of making them caught me.

I made them after dinner! ... they are so quick to make.

And tasted awesome! :-)

They are a great life saver , like my Instant Moong Dal Halwa.
Thanks Sandeepa for that. 

In between my trip back home for Durga Puja, coming back, getting caught up with cleaning for Diwali, I did cook and eat too.

But hardly got the time to click and frame a post to share.

But there are times when new things do come up in the kitchen that I so want to share.

Like this chutney.

Made from fresh raw bananas/plantains' peels, this is a great thing to go with any parathas ... especially parathas made with left overs  or Methi parathas.

And you can vary the taste and flavours with the spices of you choice.

Healthy, tasty, ... perfect!

Need

Fresh  raw bananas / Plantains

A few cloves of garlic ( depends on how much peels you have or how strong you like )

A piece of ginger

A small lump of Tamarind ( I used Kokum, you can use lemon juice too )

Salt

Sugar

Some whole jeera

Some whole Black pepper

1 or 2 fresh Green chillies

How to 

Take out thick peels from the plantains.

Take some water in a microwave safe bowl and add some salt and the peels.

 Run in the MW on full power for 1 minute.

Remove and cool.

Put in all ingredients with the peels in a mixer and make a paste.

Adjust seasoning. 

And yes, it is completely oil free.

Serve this tasty dose of iron and fibre with parathas or fritters.

Enjoy !!

You can change the spices to add different flavours to this chutney.

Murir Moa / Sweetened Puffed Rice Laddoos

 Shubho Bijoya!!

After a long time, I was home for Durga Pujo.

Much as I had a wonderful time enjoying the familiar sights, smells and catching up on a lot that I had missed out on the last few years on Pujo,

I was equally disheartened to see huge changes.

The place of my childhood had changed. So have the people.

And the way of life.

To me ... everything.

Tried my best to find some semblance to my childhood ... guess I was wrong to do that.

I was only disappointed.

On the brighter side, I got to meet a lot of friends that I had lost touch with.

And many relatives I hadn't seen for a longish time.

Also, being and adult during Pujo has its advantages.

You can sit at the pujo bari the whole evening with friends, doing nothing but pure adda, 

catching up, comparing dresses and saris, 

laughing at silly bygone jokes or just pure gossiping .... while the evening stretched into late night.

Nobody will rush you ... that it is getting late ... you have to go home.

Or setting out pandal hopping with friends ... or enjoying street food, 

especially phuchka and jhal muri every single evening.

No ... I don't have much to complain on that.

Just wish that our elders did not age so quickly.

 Now I am back, with a heart full of memories and a phone full of new numbers.

I do not get to make too many things for Bijoya ... a time of celebrating the victory of good over evil.

The reason is Diwali ... which is always just round the corner.

It is for Diwali that I make all the goodies.

But this time I could not resist making a few things.

Maybe it is the visit home that made me crave for all things associated with my childhood.

So was very tempted at trying to make the Muri(puffed rice)r Moa. 

Dida always used to make the best murir moas.

While mine turned out perfect in taste, I failed miserably in making them as perfect rounds.

My hand too is partly to blame.

But am not complaining.

Making them is no joke ... so am glad I tried at least once.

Need

Puffed rice - 2 cupfuls

Jaggery  - a little more than 1 cup  ( I used powdered )

Black pepper - 1 tbsp freshly crushed

Coconut - very thinly sliced

Ghee - around 3 tbsp

Water - ½ cup

How to

Heat around 2 tbsp ghee in a thick bottomed pan or kadahi.

Stir fry the coconut slices on low heat till they are crisp and brown.

Remove.

Put in the jaggery and the water into the pan and keep boiling till the jaggery is completely dissolved and the water starts to dry up.

Wait till it becomes thickish ... then add the black pepper powder, 

the coconut slices and the puffed rice.

Keep tossing and stirring till everything is coated well.

Remove from heat and wait till it cools down halfway.

Now apply some ghee on your palms and take small scoops of the mixture and press with both hands to make round laddoos.

( Remember ... they will not bind if they are too hot or too cold. )

Cool well before storing.

The coconut gives a different feel and is enjoyable when you get a piece in a bite.
And the black pepper gives a beautiful flavour, especially when combined with jaggery.

These stay well for more than a week in airtight jars. 
If you stay in a place that is humid, throw in a few handfuls of plain muri or puffed rice in the jar along with the moas.
It helps to absorb moisture and to keep them crisp.

Enjoy !