Egg Muffins

I often have bouts of high energy when I accomplish a lot of things during the day. On the other hand, there are days when I feel like doing nothing except reading and watching TV. On weekends my dream is to wake up to a cup of coffee with breakfast in bed. For some reason my husband did that for a year in our more-than-a-decade-long-relationship, not a day more, not a day less. In fact, in those days, I was stricter about our dietary choices because of his blood cholesterol level. I remember how he would reminisce about adding bacon in his omelette without giving it any thought in his pre-wife days. Strange thing is despite having bacon in the refrigerator these days, he seemed to have lost any interest in making a weekend breakfast. Guess I pushed him too hard 😄

However, I refuse to eat the same breakfast on weekends. So I want my weekends to feel different from weekdays. The only problem being the fact that I lose all energy by Friday night and wake up with no plans on Saturday. I then end up just rummaging through the pantry/refrigerator and make something with whatever I can find. One of these ad-hoc ideas were these egg muffins. They are quick, tasty and hassle-free.

Ingredients:
Eggs
Chopped onions
Chopped veggies of your choice, I used spring onions, bell pepper, green chillies, cilantro
Shredded Mozzarella
Salt, pepper

Recipe:
Lightly fry chopped onions, spring onions, bell peppers, green chilli, cilantro, shredded mozzarella with a pinch of salt or per taste
Bake for 20-25 mins, at 350. I used a 12 cup muffin pan. Fill 2/3rd of the cups leaving the muffins some room to rise

Perfect with Coffee!

Fish Roll

Fish roll is another popular fish snack. Sometime fish rolls are stuffed with leftover portions of a fish or minced meat. While in Kolkata, although we used to devour fish rolls from street food joints or snack corners, we were equally in love with my Dad's homemade fish rolls. Among some of his other delicious recipes, this one is something that I can have anytime, anywhere. However this summer, I thought of learning the recipe while my parents' visited us. This is the easier version. I watched him from a distance as he is very particular about the uniformity of each rolls. I have to admit, the end result was excellent. 

Ingredients:
White fish fillet cut in very thin slices (I took 2 Tilapia fillet)
Onion paste, quarter of a big onion
Ginger and garlic paste, each 1 tbsp
Lemon juice, 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 egg white
Flour 2 tbsp
Bread crumb, 1/2 cup to one cup




Recipe:
Marinate the fish with salt, pepper and lemon juice for 15 minutes
Now add onion, garlic and ginger paste to the fish and marinate for 2 hours or more
now with the help of a skewer carefully roll the fillets
Whisk the flour with water in a bowl
Now roll them on the bread crumbs
Dip the rolls in the egg white
Heat some oil to deep fry

Salmon Batter Fry

One of my friends recently invited us to a dinner at her place where she served fish batter fry, another delicacy from Kolkata. It reminded me of so many sweet memories. As a lover of deep fried food, I used to look forward to fish batter fry in weddings and receptions. Another place where it became a custom to have fish batter fry was the Kolkata International Book Fair. There was a company called Ben-fish that used to sell varieties of fish-snacks in the fair. Although, many would argue about the quality of their products or fish, I cherish those memories and miss standing in the long queue for one of those batter fries. 
Traditionally, batter fries are made from Bhetki fillets. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait to make them till I got some white fillets, therefore, I made them with the Salmon fillets that I had in the freezer.

 

Fish:
8 pieces (about 2"/3")
Marinate with salt, lemon juice

Batter:
4 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp gram flour
2 egg whites
2 tsp coarse ground cumin and coriander
2 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
2 tsp black pepper or to taste
Water as required

Recipe:
Heat oil for deep frying in a deep kadai or skillet
Dip the fish pieces one by one in the batter and deep fry until cooked
Serve with salads

Semolina and Coconut Pakora (suji-narkol bora)

In our childhood, I remember a lot of people used to snack after work, as in Kolkata most people are or at least were used to eating dinner very late like 9 or 10 at night. A lot of which included street food like shingara (samosas) or chop (fritters, patties). Because we eat dinner pretty early we don't get a lot of chance to snack except for weekends. This afternoon I had a dejavu of this particular snack that I was longing to have for a few days now. One of my grandmothers used to make it for evening snack. As we will have late dinner tonight because of my son's swimming class, I felt the urge to make this. Although, I seldom used to take a peek in the kitchen as a kid I somehow remember the taste and I believe I guessed the ingredients correct as it tasted exactly like it used to.

Ingredients:

1 cup Semolina

1/2 cup grated coconut (frozen ones will do just fine)

1 green chili chopped

Milk about 1/4th cup or as needed for the batter

2 tsp corn flour

Salt to taste

sugar to taste

Oil for shallow frying

Recipe:

• Mix semolina, coconut, corn flour, salt, sugar, chilies, with milk to make a thick batter
• Let the batter sit for half an hour until semolina absorbs some of the milk
• You can add a little milk if the batter looks too dry at this point, or a little semolina if it looks too runny
• Heat some oil in a flatter pan for shallow frying
• Fry the batter giving them a patty like shape
• Serve with tea

Kucho Machher Bora (Small Fish Fritters)

We consume pretty much last bit of a fish. Also, in Bengal, you can have fish of different sizes that you can cook in different ways like frying them whole, making a curry out of fish head, making a curry with vegetables, making kebabs or even making fritters with very small fishes or fish pastes. Since we don't get those familiar fishes here I tried these small fish fritters which unbelievably tasted pretty similar to the onion fritters that we get in the street food stalls in Calcutta. 

Ingredients:
Silver Fish 2 cups
1 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp vinegar
1 cup cilantro chopped
2/3 cup onion chopped
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 pinch ajinomoto
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1/4 cup black pepper ground or to taste
2 tsp red chili powder or to taste
1 cup mashed potato
Salt and sugar to taste
2 tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp rice flour
1 egg (optional)
Oil for frying

Recipe:

• Wash the silver fish, squeezing all the excess water
• Mix all of the above ingredients except rice flour and gram flour
• Add the flours at the end as needed to bring it to the right consistency, you might want to add more if you think your batter is too runny or less if manageable
• Add 1 egg if the batter looks too dry
• Heat about a cup of oil in a pan for deep frying
• Make small flattened balls with the fish mixture

Fry them on medium heat, making sure fish is cooked from inside

Bengali Style Fish Fry

This one snack I can eat anytime. Battered fried fish. In Kolkata, you can find varieties of Fish Fry, marinated, battered or fried differently, with different names like fish fry, fish roll, fish batter fry, fish kabiraji, fish chop etc.. Even recipes of Fish Fry can vary from restaurant to restaurant. I have made Fish fry in different ways. Here is one of them. I will post some other fried fish recipes soon.

Ingredients:
For the marinade
2 Basa or Tilapia fillet, cut into thin slices, about 6 pieces
1/2 cup ginger-garlic paste 
4 green chilies
2 tsp mustard oil
1 egg
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ajinomoto
1 tsp black pepper powder

For making the fish fry and frying
Bread crumb and gram flour (or flour if gram flour isn't available) mixed in a 2:1 ratio, enough to coat all the fish pieces
Oil for deep frying

Recipe:

• Mix all the ingredients above and marinate the fish for at least 5/6 hours
• Add about 1 tsp corn flour to thicken the marinade
• Take the fish pieces out keeping as much marinade as possible
• Coat the fish in the bread crumb-flour mix
• Keep the coated fish pieces in the fridge for about 2 hours
• Take it out of the fridge about one hour before frying, so it comes to room temperature. That way you will have less crumbs in the oil while frying
• Deep fry the coated fish
• Serve with salad  

Aloor Chop (Potato Patty)

Aloo'r chop is one of the quintessential bengali snack or street food. It will be hard to find a bengali who hadn't had aloo'r chop with tea and muri (murmura or puffed rice) during an evening chit chat session (or 'adda' as called in bengali). 

The concept of chop and muri was original to the north part of Kolkata, with chop or fried patties ranging from potato to vegetable, to banana flower, eggs, to mutton, to bread and so on. The patty is usually dipped in a batter and deep fried. for this particular recipe I made this a little healthy by adding some vegetables. 

Ingredients:
About 4 big potatoes
1 tsp mustard oil
3 tsp roasted spice blend (coriander, cumin, dried chili, roasted and blended)
1/2 onion chopped
1 1/2 tsp ginger chopped
2 chopped green chilis
1/2 cup cabbage thinly sliced
Salt to taste

For the batter

• 3 tbsp gram flour
• 3 tbsp rice flour
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt

Recipe:

• Preparing the potato
• Boil the potatoes and mash as finely as possible
• Heat some oil, and add the chopped onions and fry well until translucent
• Add the ginger and green chilis and fry
• Set the heat high, add the cabbage and fry until completely dry
• Add salt and the spices, stir to blend everything well
• Let it cool down and make small balls and then press a little to give it a flatter look

(You can add a little flour if you need to make the potato balls tighter)  

• Make the batter by mixing all the above mentioned ingredient. The batter needs to be very thick
• Heat some oil for deep frying
• Dip the potato balls in the batter and deep fry

Serve with muri or tea.

Lau'er Luchi (Bottle Gourd Puri)

Luchi is another delicacy from Bengal that no Bengali can live without. In Bengal Luchi is made with flour instead of wheat flour or mix of wheat and white flour like the rest of India. While I was thinking of making some variation of luchi to make it kind of healthier, I came up with this one mixed with bottle gourd. To my surprise it turned out very yummy. Hence sharing the recipe.

Ingredients:
About 3 cups flour and wheat (I took a combo of both about 1:1 in proportion)   
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1 tsp chaat masala or to taste
1/4th cup chopped onion
1/4th cup cilantro
1/2 tsp ginger
About 1 cup of bottle gourd shredded (I took 1/4th of a mid-sized bottle gourd)
Water for kneading
Oil for frying

Recipe:

• Mix all of the above ingredients except water
• Keep about a cup of flour aside and mix them bit by bit as you knead the dough
• Add water as you go, need very little water or the dough will be hard to manage
• Let the dough sit in the fridge for 30 mins or more
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan
• Make very little balls and try to roll them very thin
• Deep fry  
• Serve with Raita or Achaar

Egg Chicken Roll

Street food is a big part of Indian culture. The city I come from Kolkata, has a rich history of street food. The variety of food available roadside is mind-boggling, which can range from light fares for breakfast and snacks to full-fledged meals for lunch or dinner. One of my favorite snacks that is quintessentially Kolkatan is the egg roll. You will be amazed to see how many variations of this mouthwatering delicacy have been concocted. Starting from egg roll to egg chicken, double egg, double egg chicken, egg mutton, egg paneer and so on. Today, I am going to share the egg chicken roll recipe that is a slight variation from the original egg roll. Also, this is an easier and quicker method where I have used a few store bought items. 

Ingredients:
Kawan Paratha
Eggs beaten well with salt (2 eggs per 3 paratha)
Onion (thinly sliced)
Green Chili (chopped) 
Sheekh kebabs (I have used Mezban chicken Kebabs)

For the sauce:
Maggi hot and sweet tomato ketchup (can be bought from any Indian grocery store)

Maggi Tamarind sauce

Lemon

Black Salt & Black Pepper

Recipe:

• Cook the chicken kebabs for 7/8 minutes on medium heat
• Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients
• Fry the Parathas first, kawan parathas don't need additional oil. Set aside
• Add oil to the pan. Put 1/3rd of the beaten eggs
• Put one paratha on the egg before it's fried so egg sticks to the paratha
• turn the paratha stuck with the egg, fry till crisp
• Put one kebab, sauce and onion slices on the paratha
• Roll and serve