Palak Dal / Spinach cooked with lentils

December. Already!
Last year this time I was on unfamiliar soils. Trying my best ... well not exactly my best but try I did ... to settle in. More than the new people, the climate got me.
I just could not get over the crisp, cool and wonderfully pleasant weather I had left behind.
People soothed me ... I'll get used to it ... they said.
I tried to believe them.
But my heart did not. Believe, I mean. Did not even try to.
And it was not helping me at all.

After coming back, every day has thumbed it's nose to me ... proving me right  and making me realise all over again what I had missed.
Not that I am complaining. With this wonderful weather I can take 10 thumbs, or noses, on, happily.

One thing that I missed here the whole year through was the rains .... except in the rainy season.
It never rained to surprise you.
And how I wished for a December or January rain ... the light drizzle of this little hilly city, that will catch me with surprise and make us shiver with the intensified cold.
Nah ... never got one.
Till now.

The last two weeks, it has rained intermittently.
On and off.
Just when we set off for the long drive promised by B on our anniversary day ... it rained.
Clean and sprightly droplets, happy and sparkling in the late afternoon sun.
We had just stepped out of the restaurant after lunch and were heading towards the expressway.
I was savouring every moment and sight ... given that I was actually being able to sit in the car and go for a drive was making me doubly thankful.
And the rain was a bonus.
And like a good bonus, it lasted till we had our fill. And then the late evening sun burst out of the clouds, gave us a picturesque goodbye and went to rest behind the Khandala hills.
And still left some vibrant colours spread across the sky till darkness took over.

It rained last night ... again. The blissful sound of pouring made us switch off the telly and rush to the balcony.
It was raining in earnest. And the trees were covered with fog.
We stood there ... taking in the cold air and the spray on our faces.
B suggested coffee. But I suggested just standing there ... I knew it would only for sometime .. then all that will be left will be the clean air and the fog enveloping us.
We stood there for a long time.
And got up this morning to a beautiful, fog enveloped morning.
And yes, there is a very light drizzle too.
I cannot do without the sun ... but, just for today, I wish that the sun gets a day off. :-)

I make this dal with Palak / Spinach very often ... most of the times for dinner, which is why I had never made a post on this. Right ... for the lack of good photographs.
Paired with hot, fluffy rotis and some salad on the side, this make for a good, wholesome meal.
I had learnt the adding of  fried garlic as garnish when I learnt to make this ... so had sprinkled some on the top too.
Else, just the addition of garlic while cooking is enough.


Need :

Palak / Spinach - 1 bunch
Chana dal / Bengal gram - 1 cup
Garlic - 6 to 8 cloves
Jeera / cumin seeds - ½ tsp
Haldi / turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Ginger -  1", grated
Green chillies - 2
Ghee - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Whole red chilli - 1
Water - around 3 cups

How to :

Pick, wash and chop the palak.
Wash and soak the chana dal for around 20 mins.
Slice the garlic into roundels. 


Cook the chana dal in a pressure cooker with the grated ginger + green chillies + salt + haldi powder, for 2 whistles on low heat.

Heat 1 tsp ghee in a small pan.
Add the garlic slices and stir fry till brown.
Add the whole red chilli and remove from heat.

In the same ghee ( add some more if needed ), add jeera and the chopped palak.
Add red chiili powder and a little salt.
Fry for a while, till the palak releases water.
When slightly dryish, add the boiled dal and give a good stir.
Add water and salt, if necessary.

Add the roasted jeera powder and bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer for a while, covered.

Serve the dal steaming hot with the fried garlic and chilli sprinkled on top.
Goes great with rotis as well as rice.
A perfect dish for a fog enveloped winter evening.

Enjoy!!

Rui Macher Jhol with winter vegetables .... and Dhone paata

Bad photos; good recipe.

The addition of fresh coriander leaves to a dish always brings a wave of nostalgia.It reminds me of winter.
Winters of my chilhood. When the morning ritual of buying fresh vegetables was happily taken up by the men of the family ... which was otherwise only another daily chore and most of the times passed on to the helping hands in the house ... at least during the rest of the months of the year.
Except of course the Ilish buying season. 

As soon as the big, fat, cloth bag was set down on the verandah in front of the kitchen, it would promptly fall on its face and fresh carrots, radishes, cauliflowers, spinach, green peas etc. would tumble out.
Thamma would pick and check every vegetable and discuss the quality and price ... turning a cabbage around, breaking a carrot with a snap or shelling a pea and munching on the pods to check for sweetness.

And among all these will be a big bunch of the coriander leaf. Or the Dhone pata.

The addition of the dhone paata would mean winter has arrived ... officially.
We would find the leaves added to almost every dish then.
Sometimes floating on the dals; sometimes mashed into the Aloo bhate ( boiled potato mash)  or the Begun pora (roasted brinjal mash ).
Salads would have liberal sprinkles of it.
A chutney was also made of it.
And sometimes was added to the jhols ... especially the Maacher jhol.

 The freshness and the distinct flavour of the leaves gives every dish a different level.
While I personally am not very fond of this particular leaf, I do add it to dishes and have marveled at the different outcomes.
When added to a dish that banks heavily on just ginger, the outcome is awesome.
Add it to a simple dal and enjoy a whole new flavour. I sometimes cook the leaves along with the dals instead of just sprinkling them as garnish ... the taste has always been different ... depending on the temperings ... and wonderfully flavourful.

I have been cooking fish a lot less lately than I did earlier. And right now I do not even remember when I had cooked fish last. But looking through the photographs, I found a few that I had clicked in a hurry the last time I had cooked the Rohu fish with vegetables.
Since winter is now here and the veggies are fresh and easily available, I thought I might as well make a post. The photos do not do justice .... the dish was much better.

This recipe has the onion+ginger+garlic paste ... very rare in my dishes.
If you want to make it lighter, skip the paste and just add the roasted jeera powder. Makes a wonderfully light, soupy and healthy jhol.

Need :

Rohu fish pieces - 4 
Onion - 1 medium sized
Ginger - around 1 inch
Garlic - 6 to 8 cloves
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Winter vegetables - fresh Cauliflower, Sheem, Brinjal, etc. ... cut into medium sized pieces
Potato - 1, cut into cubes
Haldi/Turmeric powder
Kalonji/Kalo jeere/Nigella seeds - half tsp
Whole dry red chillies - 2 pieces
Roasted Jeera/Cumin powder
Mustard oil
Fresh Coriander leaves - chopped

How to :

Heat around 4 tbsp of mustard oil in a kadahi or wok ( I used an iron kadahi )

When smoking hot, release in the fish pieces very carefully and cover.
Fry on low heat, turning them a couple of times.
Remove from the oil and keep aside.

Make a paste of the onion+ginger+garlic+tomato.

Heat around 1 tbsp of mustard oil in a fresh kadahi and  fry the cauliflower florets, potato pieces on high heat for a while.When the sides start to turn brown add the sheem, give a good stir, lower heat, remove from the kadahi and keep aside.
No need to cook them thoroughly.

In the same kadahi heat a little more mustard oil, or use the same oil if any left, and add some kalonji and dry red chillies.
Add the onion+ginger+garlic+tomato paste and fry well, till the rawness is gone.

Add the haldi powder, the red chilli powder and the jeera powder.
Add the fried vegetables, water and salt.
Cover and cook till the vegetables are done.

Remove cover, add the fish pieces and replace cover. Let it simmer for a few more minutes.
Remove from heat, sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and cover again.
Let it stand, covered, for around 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Serve hot with steamed rice ... with a sprinkle of fresh lemon juice and a fresh green chilli on the side.

Enjoy!!

Writing has become difficult for me ... again.
My hand refuses to keep up with my thoughts ... hence the clumsy writing and sentence framings.
I hope you, kind readers will bear with me ... as always ...  for a few more posts .... which hopefully I will get to make anyway.
I can assure you of the recipes however ... and hope you will not be disappointed.

Rawa Upma

( Vegans just skip the ghee )

Upma! pooh!
Why make a post on Upma, of all things? What does it take to make an Upma after all?! Some rawa, some vegetables thrown in, a dollop of ghee maybe ... nothing special or out of this world ... right?
Wrong.
Ask me.
My answer would be patience ... the time would span a good number of years; some memories ... wrack the brain to remember all kinds of upma I have ever tasted;  prayers ... every time I tried making this one dish I have prayed to the almighty real faithfully, and of course keeping my fingers crossed every time ... fingers and toes and everything.

Yeah ... making an Upma has been the biggest challenges I have ever faced ever since I started to cook. I can cook up a good Rajasthani spread or a good full course Bengali meal without a frown on my brows. But when it came to making the upma I got the jitters, the butterflies, the hibijis ... and still come up with something that would resemble a coagulated something.
Yet I would keep at it ... just because I love the darned dish so much. 

Jethima would make us upma some days as an evening snack, when we were young. She was a wonderful cook but the upma was definitely not her forte. I remember it was so oily it would happily slide down our throats ... if you discount the one stray thick slice of onion that one unlucky kid would end up with.
Ma has always gloated on her version of the less oil and fluffy version. Honestly, it used to be so dry it used to turn into a lump in our mouths ... that we kids could neither swallow nor throw up.
I wonder if the elders ever got 'round to wonder why we kids always demanded a little of the evening tea ... which we were never allowed to have ... on the evenings we were served the upma.

But I did not stop at trying to make that perfect upma, even if  it kept eluding me.

Recently, however, I have found that the texture is getting better and better.
And that is when I decided that I can put it on my blog now.

This is my version ... the way I make it these days. It is moist without being lumpy.
Most you must be experts at making this ... if you have any tips, please do share them with me.

Need :
Rawa / Sooji - A little more than ½ katori ( or a small sized coffee mug )
Vermicelli ( I use the pre-roasted ones) - ¼ katori
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - ½tsp
Onion - 1 medium
Ginger - 1 tsp, , chopped
Green chillies - chopped
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Carrots - chopped into very small pieces
Cauliflower - chopped into very small pieces
Green peas
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste
Water - 1 and ½ katoris
(Use the same katori that you have used to measure the rawa)

How to:
Dry roast the rawa/sooji  till the 'just before brown' stage, in a thick bottomed open pan.
Remove from heat and stir in the vermicelli and stir around for a while in the same pan, but away from
the heat.

Heat the water on another burner or in the microwave oven.

Heat oil+ghee in a kadahi.
Add mustard seeds, curry leaves.
When they start to splutter, add the urad dal.
Next add the onions+ginger+green chillies.
Fry on low heat. Add a little salt ... just for these three.

When the onions turn translucent, add the vegetables.
Add some more salt ... just for the vegetables.
Cover and cook till the vegetables are done.
Remove cover and add the tomatoes. Stir and cover.
Cook till the tomatoes are done.

Now add the rawa+vermicelli to the vegetables.
Add salt to taste and sugar. Fry well on low heat for a good while... the rawa should soak up the ghee
and also the moisture from the vegetables.

Add the hot water and keep stirring well.
Toss and turn till all water is soaked up.
Give some more turns with the spatula, cover and let it rest for ... say ... 3 minutes.

Remove cover and fluff it up with a fork.

Serve hot.
Enjoy!!

This is my 270th post.
I have tried hard to keep Kichu Khonn going on, inspite of all the setbacks I have faced so far.
It has been possible only because of your love and encouragement. I have had to take many breaks, but each time was deluged with affectionate and encouraging mails and messages.
I have never felt alone ... even when I could not open my blog or FB.
I do not count the number of posts now ... the fact that I can make a post at all and you, my dear readers coming back here to write in, is reward enough for me.

Thank you all for your love and support.
I and Kichu Khonn hope that you will stay by us, as always.
Much love to all of you.