Chicken Rezala Kolkata Style

This is one delicacy which transports me to my younger days in Kolkata. The recipe was first brought by the Mughals to Bengal but never travelled much outside it. A Bong dish with a royal color is how it can be described best. The taste of chicken rezala in Aminia is something I never got out of even after staying away from my city for over a decade. The vivid memory of those frequent visits either with Maa Baba or friends to one of my favorite eatouts in Kolkata makes me nostalgic...homesick. The juicy, succulent melt-in-mouth chicken pieces with every morsel and the rich flavour of ghee, dry red chillies, peppercorns, mitha atar/rose water/kewra water mingled with a taste of cashew nuts and poppy seeds made the dish just out of the world. It was savoured with either biryani or rumali roti, gave a feeling of divinity to the palate. Trying to recreate that taste in my kitchen was daunting but I took the challenge and was amazed at the result. Sharing with you the recipe of that delectable Kolkata style chicken rezala......

Chicken Rezala Kolkata Style

Chicken Rezala Kolkata Style

Chicken Rezala Kolkata Style

Chicken Rezala Kolkata Style

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken pieces
• 4 onions pasted
• 11/2 inch ginger pasted
• 1 tblspn freshly crushed white peppercorns
• 1 tblspn black peppercorns
• 4-5 whole dry red chillies
• 100 gms cashew paste
• 50 gms poppy seeds/ khus khus/ posto paste
• 200 gms yogurt/dahi
• 5-6 green cardamoms
• 4-5 cinnamon sticks
• 4-5 cloves
• 4-5 tblspoons rose water
• 2 tblspns ghee/clarified butter
• White oil as per requirement
• Salt n sugar to taste

Chicken Rezala Kolkata Style

Procedure:

Soak poppy seeds and cashew nuts for half an hour in water and make a smooth paste in the mixie. Wash the chicken pieces well and marinate them with yogurt, poppy seeds paste, cashew nuts paste, ginger paste, white pepper powder and 1 tblspn rose water for  at least 1 hour. Now heat oil and ghee together in a wok and add the whole garam masalas, red chillies, black peppercorns and wait for them to crackle. Then add the onion paste and fry till the oil separates. Add the marinated chicken and continue frying for 10 minutes. When the chicken starts turning light brown add the seasoning and warm water. Cover and cook till the chicken gets tender. Switch off the flame and add the remaining rose water. Mix well, cover and give it some standing time. Serve with biryani or rumalis......

Murighonto (Fish Head Cooked With Gobindobhog Rice And Potatoes)

Murighonto is a unique and traditional Bong dish,  in which Rohu or Katla fish head or Muro/Muri as the name suggests is cooked with Gobindobhog rice and potatoes, a true delight for the fish lovers anywhere. Brilliantly rich in taste and flavour this dish which was once so frequent in Ma and Grandma's kitchen seldom finds a place in the lunch or dinner spread in today's life. I have tried to bring back that classic dish in my kitchen which is fast losing ground to give my son a taste of the flavours of the past....Hope you all will love this true Bong delicacy....

Murighonto

Murighonto

Murighonto

Murighonto

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 Rohu/Katla fish head ( the fish must weigh 2kgs or above)
• 2 potatoes cut in cubes
• 100 gms Gobindobhog rice
• 2 onions chopped
• 2 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 red tomato chopped
• 3-4 cardamoms
• 2-3 sticks of cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp deghi mirch powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2-3 green chillies
• Mustard oil as per requirement
• 1 tblspn ghee/ clarified butter
• Salt n sugar to taste

Murighonto

Procedure:

Wash and clean the fish head well and smear with turmeric and salt. Keep for 5 minutes. Wash gobindobhog rice and cook it till half done. DO NOT STRAIN THE WATER. Heat mustard oil in a karahi and fry the fish head well till it turns golden brown on both sides. Take it out and in the same oil fry the potatoes and take out. Break the fried fish head to smaller pieces and keep aside. Add oil if you need to and splutter the whole garam masalas and bay leaves in it. Add the chopped onions and fry till golden, add the ginger garlic paste, saute, add tomatoes, turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and sugar and fry for a while. Add the pieces of fish head, the gobindobhog rice with water, potatoes and cook on medium flame till the fish head is cooked and the water absorbed. Top it up with ghee, green chillies and serve.....

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chilli Flavoured Rice

Made this burnt garlic and dried whole red chilli flavoured rice yesterday, a quick simple yet delish and nutritious dish. I have constantly been searching for some recipe which will alleviate the torture of staying for long in the kitchen when this heatwave continues unabated and came across this easy peasy one. I added some soyabean nuggets and red bell peppers to augment the nutritional value and color. Hope you all will like the dish and try it your way......

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

         

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

                       

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grained aromatic basmati rice
• 8-10 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 onions chopped
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 3 whole dried red chillies roughly torn to small pieces
• 1 cup nutri-nuggets( soyabean nuggets) can be substitued by boiled shredded chicken also if you want a non-veg variation
• White oil as per requirement
• Salt n sugar to taste

Burnt Garlic and Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

Procedure:

Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for 10-15 minutes. Soak soya nuggets in hot water with some salt for 10-15 minutes. In the mean time heat oil in a wok and add chopped garlic and red chillies. Wait until the color of the garlic changes to deep brown. Now add the onions and fry till golden. Add the red bell peppers, saute for a few minutes, add rice, salt and sugar. Add two cups of water, cover with a lid and cook it on low flame. When the rice is almost done, add the nuggets squeezing out the excess water. Mix it in the rice and let it get cooked for another 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and give it some standing time before serving. Goes really well with Daal Pancharatna or any yellow daal tadka or any chicken/mutton dishes....and if you are in no mood to cook anything more just enjoy it just like this.....

Shukto

If the oppressive summer and India's political scenario have left you high and dry, here's a perfect dish to  cool down your system..... SHUKTO. This is also a traditional Bengali delicacy a regular in my kitchen in the summers, acts as a safeguard against the excruciating heat. Generally the dish needs raw plantain and drumsticks, but I chose to make it this time with bottle gourd (lau). It's such a comfort dish and extremely delish too...Try out this recipe and you will surely love it...

Shukto

     

Shukto

                              

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 250 gms bitter gourd (karela) chopped
• 300 gms bottle gourd (lau/lauki/ghiya) cut in cubes
• 2 potatoes sliced
• 1 brinjal cut in cubes
• 12-13 baris (cone shaped dried lentil dumplings)
• 1 inch ginger paste
• 1 tsp panch phoron
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 tblspns mustard paste
• 2 bay leaves/tej patta
• 2 whole red chillies
• Salt n sugar to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement
• 1 tblspn ghee/ clarified butter 

Shukto

Procedure:

Soak 2 tblspns black mustard seeds and 2 tblspns yellow mustard seeds in water with 2 green chillies and salt for 1 hour and make a smooth paste. Heat oil in a karahi, fry the baris and take out, add panch phoron, mustard seeds. tej patta and red chillies in the same oil. Wait for the splutter and add chopped karela, fry and then add potatoes, continue frying until the potatoes become light golden. Now add the ginger paste, bottle gourd and brinjal cubes, fry for some time. Add seasoning, mustard paste and water, bring to a boil and let the whole thing get cooked covered on medium heat. Now add the fried baris and let it simmer for sometime more. Turn off the heat, sprinkle ghee on top and serve with steamed rice.

Rui Shorshe Posto ( Rohu Fish In Mustard N Poppy Seeds Paste)

For the fish lovers all over the world Rui Shorshe Posto is a delicacy to die for. Its a classic Bong cuisine accompanied with the attributes of great texture, a distinctive tangy taste of mustard and a flavour of kaalo jeere (nigella seeds) which make the dish most agreeable to the palate. Here's the way I made it......

Rui Shorshe Posto

Rui Shorshe Posto

Rui Shorshe Posto

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms Rohu/Rui fish
• 1 tblspn black mustard seeds
• 1 tblspn yellow mustard seeds
• 2 tblspns poppy seeds/ posto/khus-khus
• 2 small onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp kaalo jeere/ kalonji/ nigella seeds
• 4-5 green chillies
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

Rui Shorshe Posto

Procedure:

Soak the mustard seeds, poppy seeds in water with 2 green chillies and some salt for 40-45 minutes. Now make a smooth paste of them and keep aside. Wash the pieces of fish clean and smear them with turmeric powder and salt. Heat mustard oil in a karahi and fry fish till golden brown on both sides. Take them out and in the remaining oil add kaalo jeere and slit green chillies. Wait for the splutter before adding onions. Fry the onions golden, add all the powdered masalas and salt. Add the fried fish pieces, the mustard-poppy seeds paste along with a cup of water. When the gravy thickens turn the heat off and sprinkle 1 tsp mustard oil on the top. Serve hot with steamed rice....heavenly.

Daal Pancharatna (Five Jewels of Lentils) Microwave Cooked

Considering the innumerable positivities of microwave cooking and all your likes of my previous microwave cooked post, I decided on making Dal Pancharatna in microwave and was amazed at the flavour it emanated after cooking. Though it took me some more time than making in the pressure cooker, I was most happy with the result because of its delightful taste. For all those who prefer cooking in the microwave do try out this simple and easy recipe....

Daal Pancharatna

Daal Panchratna

Daal Pacharatna

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 5 types of daal (pulses/lentils) of equal quantities. I used 50 gms each of Laal Masoor, Moong (yellow), Chana( split chickpeas), Toor/Arhar, Urad(dhuli)
• 2 onions chopped
• 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 medium sized tomato chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
• 3 green chillies chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric powder/haldi
• 1 tsp deghi mirch powder
• 1 tblspn white oil
• 2 tblspn ghee/clarifed butter
• Salt n sugar to taste

Daal Pancharatna

Procedure:

Soak Arhar daal, Chana daal n Urad daal for 3 hrs in warm water. This is because the more you soak the lesser time it will take to cook. Soak Moong n Masoor for half an hour. Now boil the lentils with turmeric and salt in a covered micro-safe bowl at 100% power for 30-35 minutes. Take it out. Now in a separate bowl heat oil and ghee together at 100% power for 1 minute. Add cumin seeds, chopped onions, ginger, garlic. Cook for 2-3minutes at 100% power. Stir in between. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes at 100% power. Now pour the content in the bowl with boiled dal/lentils, add red mirch powder and green chillies and again cook for 2 minutes at 100% power covered with lid. Your aromatic Dal Pancharatna is ready to be served with steamed rice or fulkas/paranthas/naan.....Enjoy!!

Steamed Shrimps ( Kuncho Chingri Bhape)

This is a fingerlickingly delicious Bong dish, can be done with jumbo prawns or medium sized prawns also but this time I chose to use shrimps to see how it turns out to be and the result was just too good. Generally this dish needs mustard paste but I use khus khus/ posto/ poppy seeds paste with it to give an extra edge....try this out.. its really simple and cooks within minutes...

Kuncho Chingri Bhape

Kuncho Chingri Bhape

Kuncho Chingri Bhape

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms shrimps cleaned and washed in hot water
• 2 tblspns black mustard seeds
• 2 tblspns yellow mustard seeds
• 3 tblspns Khus-Khus/ Posto/poppy seeds
• 5-6 green chillies
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 3 tblspns mustard oil
• Salt to taste

Kuncho Chingri Bhape

Procedure:

First soak mustard seeds, poppy seeds/posto, 3 green chillies, and salt in a container for 1 hour in 1/2 cup water. Now make a smooth paste of these ingredients. In an air tight steel container put the shrimps, mustard/ poppy seeds paste, mustard oil, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, 3-4 green chillies and a little bit of water. Mix them all, tightly close the lid. Place the container in a large bowl with water and cover the bowl. Check that the water level must be below the lid of the container with the shrimps. Let it get cooked in steam for 7-8 minutes on high flame... your kuncho chingri bhape is ready to be savoured with steamed rice.

Cottage Cheese in Spinach (Paalak Paneer)

Here's a very easy version of Paalak Paneer microwave cooked. Since Paalak is now available more or less throughout the year I decided on making this delicious yet healthy/nutritious dish in microwave to escape the heat in the kitchen. It takes very little time and oil and that's why I cook paneer or mushroom dishes mostly in the microwave.

Paalak Paneer

Palaak Paneer

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 350 gms Paneer/cottage cheese cut in cubes
• 750gms spinach/paalak
• 2 onions
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 tomato paste
• 1 green chilli
• Whole garam masala ( cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves)
• Salt n sugar to taste
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 2 tblspns white oil
• 1 tblspn ghee(optional)

Paalak Paneer

Procedure:

First boil spinach in a a micro-safe bowl at full power for 5-6 minutes , wash with cold water, drain and make a smooth paste with 2 cardamoms, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and 1 green chilli. Now make a paste of onions, ginger and garlic. Heat oil at full power for 2 minutes and add the onion ginger garlic paste and microwave for 3 minutes at 100% power. Add tomato paste stir and cook for another 2 minutes at full power. Now add seasoning, black pepper powder and spinach paste and microwave for another 3-4 minutes. Stir in between. Now add the paneer cubes, mix in the gravy and again microwave for 2 minutes. Sprinkle some ghee on the top if you want and serve hot with fulkas or paranthas/naan. Enjoy....