Gathi kochu aar aloo (Potato-Taro Curry)

There was a time when I couldn't think of eating taro let alone making it of my own volition. The home where I spent most of my childhood had some sort of taro plant in the backyard. We used to have taro made in different forms. I remember how my mother would highlight its rich mineral contents every time we had taro. However, nothing could have changed my dislike for taro until a few years ago a friend of mine made some taro curry for us. I can't say that was the best dish I have ever had, but it was definitely worth trying at home. Then I thought of how I could make it so different, that it would wipe off that nagging childhood taste. Why not make it a little chatpata (hot-and-sour-flavor) than the usual way indian vegetable curry dishes are made. I came up with this recipe that I made a few times since then and yaaayyy, we added one more vegetable to the list that our family now has on a regular basis.

Ingredients:
4 cubed taro
1 big potato, cubed similar to the size of taro
1/4th cup onion chopped (optional)
1 tsp amchur powder
green chili chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Oil for cooking
Salt and sugar to taste

Recipe:

• Heat some oil
• Fry onion if using, then add taro to the pan and fry for a minute
• Cover and cook the taro until soft
• Add potatoes, cook until done, you can sprinkle some water to make sure it doesn't get stuck to the bottom
• Add the amchur powder, salt and sugar to it
• Turn the gas off, add the chopped cilantro and green chillies and cover for 2 minutes
• Serve with hot rice

Khoya Paneer

After a long break, I finally got some time to write today. Life changed a bit during this time, making my days busier. After making paneer for dinner tonight I suddenly felt a compulsion of sharing this recipe with you all. I have never made paneer this way before. After last weekend's biryani I had some left over khoya with which I could have made some dessert but as I am fighting an eternal war against my carb-craving, I decided against it. Hence, came up with this recipe.

Ingredients:
Paneer cubes (1 nanak slab)
1/2 cup green peas 
2 slit whole green chillies
1-2 tsp ginger paste (I added 2 tsp, you can add less if you like)
1/2 tsp garam masala (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom)
Oil
Salt and sugar as needed

Recipe:

• Heat some oil in a kadai
• Fry the paneer lightly with some salt. Keep aside
• Add ginger paste to the oil and saute well while sprinkling some water from time time
• Add the chilies
• Add the green peas
• Add the paneer back to the kadai
• Add salt, sugar and the garam masala
• Add about 1/4th cup water. Cover and cook for couple of minutes
• Your paneer should be ready to serve

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

Mutton Biryani

Biryani, originally a Persian food, is believed to have arrived in India with or before the Mughals. The current Biryanis we get in India has a lot of Mughal influence. Typically there are three types of biryanis from the taste perspective in India at this time, Awadhi (somewhat light and infused with exotic spices), Hyderabadi (spicier), and the Bangladeshi Biryani (infused with cow milk ghee and special biryani essence). 

I have seen my mom and aunts cook biryani differently, all trying to manage recipes from different chefs to beat each other. I got my recipe from a chef that made biryani at our place in India on some occasion. I remember that guy didn't eat anything since morning in an effort to keep his smell and taste buds unsullied. So far, I have used the ingredients per my taste, and never really measured them. Here I have tried to give a rough estimate, please use the spices per your discretion. Here is the recipe for you. 

Ingredients:
Mutton about 2.5 lbs
1/4th cup ghee+oil
1 big onion
2 tbsp garlic juice
2 tbsp ginger juice
Salt per taste
1 tbsp red chili powder or to taste
2 tsp mace
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp rose water
1 tsp kewra water
1/2 tsp biryani essence
2 tsp garam masala (made with cinnamon and cardamom, without cloves)
6 potatoes halved 
Salt and red chili powder for boiling the potatoes
5/6 strings of saffron soaked in 1/4th cup milk warmed
5 cups basmati rice, 1/4th cups salt to boil the rice
1/4th cup yogurt
1/4th cup khoya
5 boiled eggs cut in halves

Ingredients for the biryani spice (this wasn't part of the original recipe, you can do this if you like your biryani a little spicier)
1 tsp mace
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sha-jeera or caraway seed powder

Preparing the Meat

1. Heat some ghee + oil
2. Add sliced onions and fry till brown
3. Add some water to this fried onion
4. Add garlic juice + ginger juice to this
5. Then add the meat to this water
6. Put some salt and red chilli powder
7. Cook the meat till tender (meat can be seen just above the water)
8. Add powdered mace, nutmeg, garam masala (without cloves), rose water, kewra water and biryani essence to the meat

Preparing the Potato

1. Boil some water
2. Add salt and red chilli powder
3. Add halved potatoes to it
4. Boil till the potatoes are fully cooked

Preparing the Rice

1. Boil the rice till half-cooked in salted water

Dum

1. Add this rice to the meat (Rice must be half-cooked)
2. Sprinkle yogurt, milk
3. Add biryani spice
4. Sprinkle ghee and khoya
5. Add some of the mutton gravy on top to keep the biryani from drying out in the oven, keep the rest for later use
6. Cover the bowl
7. Keep it on low heat for some time or put it in the oven at 350F for about 4/5 hours or longer

  

Mixed Vegetable with Mustard

Last night while I was looking to make some vegetables, I found a bit of everything in the fridge without anything standing out. That's when I thought of making mixed vegetables but a little bit differently than I usually do. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Potatoes cubed

1 1/2 cup of each of the following vegetables, diced- pumpkin, ridged gourd, parval or pointed gourd (you can add as many variety as you want)

1 tbsp ginger paste

4 green chilies

1/2 cup sliced onion

1 tbsp yoghurt

1 tsp poppy seeds

2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp paanch phoron

Salt per taste

2 tsp turmeric powder

Oil as required

Recipe:

• Make a paste of poppy seeds, mustard seeds and the yogurt
• Heat the oil, add paanch phoron
• After it starts spluttering add the ginger paste to saute
• Add green chilies
• Add potatoes, add salt and turmeric, fry lightly, cover and cook for 2 minutes
• Add vegetables one by one in order of time required to cook the veggies, longer to shorter. Keep adding salt and turmeric as needed
• Add the yogurt- poppy seed- mustard paste when the vegetables are 80% done
• Cover and cook for 3/4 minutes
• You can add ghee if you like

Prawn Malaikari

Another bengali recipe that is very commonly cooked and enjoyed is chingrir malaikari (Prawns cooked in coconut milk). Malai means thickened milk. For this recipe we use thick coconut milk. Cooking prawns in coconut milk or with grated coconut is commonly seen around coastal areas in India, where both are found aplenty. Like biryani, every bengali household have their own signature malaikari recipes. I got my recipe from my aunt.




Ingredients:
Prawns about 1lb. Unlike today, I usually like to use prawns with head-on
Mustard oil + ghee
3-4 tbsp onion paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
2-4 green chilies paste
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp yogurt
Salt and sugar per taste

                                            
 Recipe:

• Marinate the prawns with salt and yogurt
• Heat some oil and ghee
• Fry the prawns lightly and take them out 
• Add the onion paste to the oil, saute until completely cooked and oil comes out to the side of the pan
• Add ginger and chili paste and saute well 
• Add the rest of the marinade
• Now keep adding the coconut milk as you saute
• Add the prawns
• Cover and cook on low heat for 2/3 minutes

Chipotle Lamb Chops

I am so glad to have the BBQ days back again. Speaking of BBQ, one dish that I can't live without is Lamb chops. I believe the variations you can make with lamb chops, make it so widely appreciated. What I love about Lamb chops are that you can make it light or spicy or classic or asian style. The one I am going to share today is made with chipotle spices.

Ingredients:
Lamb Chops about 8
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp chipotle mix (I used Los Chileros chipotle rub and mix)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste (check if your chipotle mix has salt in it)

Recipe:
Make a marinade with all the above ingredients
Marinate the lamb pieces anywhere between 1-8 hours
Cook until brown on both sides on medium to high heat (lambs can get very dry if cooked for a long time)
Serve with grilled vegetables or salad