Prawn Butter Masala (Amritsari)

#Pujo Special 2 –Prawn Butter Masala(Amritsari)
 

Here’s another exquisite dish specially to infuse variety into your palate. This is a real quickie can be dished within 15 minutes roughly but doesn’t compromise with the taste and flavour. So take some time out of your pandal hopping and serve this stunner as Ashtami lunch….The recipe…

Prawn Butter Masala

Prawn Butter Masala

Prawn Butter Masala

Prawn Butter Masala

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms medium to large prawns deveined and cleaned with warm water
• 2-3 onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 2 tblspns cashew paste
• 150 gms yogurt beaten to a creamy consistency
• 3 green cardamoms
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves
• 1/2 tsp kashmiri red mirch powder
• A pinch of turmeric powder
• 2 -3 tblspns butter
• 2 tblspns fresh cream
• Salt n sugar as per taste

Procedure:

Marinate the prawns with a little turmeric and salt. Heat 2 tblspns butter in a skillet and sauté the prawns for 2 minutes and take out. Add the rest of butter in the same skillet and splutter whole garam masalas. Add the chopped onions and fry till translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste, sauté. Now add the cashew paste, salt, sugar keep stirring. Lower the flame and slowly add the whipped yogurt. Add Kashmiri red chilli powder and the prawns. Mix them well and let the prawns simmer for 4-5 minutes. Top it up with some fresh cream and your dish is ready to be served. Goes well with pulao/ steamed rice/ naans/ paranthas….

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

#Pujo Special 1- Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Durga Puja is round the corner. Amidst this festivity, to escalate the celebrations, here’s an outstanding chicken dish to delight your family for Saptami lunch. Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry has created a sensation in the Bong culinary world. An unbelievably easy dish needing only coarsely chopped basic spices and mustard oil, but scores with its amazingly simple rustic flavor. This dish is quintessentially Bangladeshi as it originated from the Muslim boatmen who used to row the mighty Padma overnight to take the passengers from Goalondo, a small town in Bangladesh and a major transportation hub to travel in the eastern parts of Bengal and Assam, to Narayanganj. Passengers had no other options to travel to Dhaka except the waterways because there was no railway track from Goalondo. This chicken curry was cooked by the boatmen on the steamer with whatever the available basic spices yet the freshest ingredients, gradually became popular with the passengers also who in turn have taken the recipe to the world and made it famous. Try this dish to taste what the Bengali gastronomic world is raving about.

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Recipe:

Ingredients:

·        1 kg Chicken

·        6-7 onions coarsely chopped

·        10-12 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped

·        1 ½ inch ginger coarsely chopped/grated

·        1 tsp turmeric

·        8-9 coarsely chopped dry whole red chillies

·        5-6 slit green chillies

·        ½ cup mustard oil

·        Salt n sugar to taste

Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry

Procedure:

Now it needs just two steps:

Step 1:

Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

After marination it would look like this

Step 2:

Heat a skillet and pour the marinated chicken, cover with a lid and cook on low flame until the chicken is tender. Stir in between just once. Serve Goalondo Steamer Chicken Curry with steamed rice….bliss

Chicken Kofta Curry ( Chicken Meatball Curry)

Chicken Meatball Curry or Chicken Kofta Curry as we often call it tastes best with pulao or fried rice. Though the love affair between these two is on since the time of the Nawabs you can give it a different color with lachha paranthas or naans also, but I personally prefer koftas with pulao. And above all good food completely changes the mood at the homefront with beautiful aroma wafting from the kitchen causing your tastebuds to tickle, you feel to be in for a special day. Try this awesome dish and see for yourself…..

Chicken Meatball Curry

Chicken Meatball Curry

Chicken Meatball Curry

Chicken Meatball Curry

Chicken Meatball Curry

Chicken Meatball Curry

Recipe:

Ingredients (for the meatballs/koftas):
 

• 500 gms Chicken Keema (minced chicken)
• 5-6 cloves of garlic chopped
• ½ inch ginger cut in small bits
• Coriander leaves finely chopped
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 tsp shahi garam masala powder
• Salt n sugar to taste

Ingredients (for the curry/sauce):

• 3 onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 big tomato pasted or pureed
• 4 dry whole red chillies ( to be pasted along with the tomato with a little white vinegar)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• Some chopped spring onions
• Salt n sugar to taste
• White oil as per requirement

Procedure:

How to make the meatballs?

First take the ingredients for the meatballs and grind them together into a fine paste in the mixie. Now take some of the ground chicken at a time and roll it into a ball shape with both hands. When all the chicken meatballs are made, put them in the refrigerator for 2 hrs to set properly. Heat oil in a skillet and fry the meatballs light brown taking proper care not to break them. Take out and keep aside.

How to make the gravy?

Now, for the gravy, add more oil if needed to the existing one remaining in the skillet. Add the chopped onions and fry them golden. Add the ginger garlic paste, sauté. Add the tomato and red chilli paste keep stirring. Add the seasoning, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, stir for 2 minutes and add a cup of water. Bring to a boil and add the fried meatballs to the gravy. Cover with a lid and let it get cooked for sometime on medium flame until the meatballs are nicely done and the gravy thickens. Serve garnished with chopped spring onions or chopped coriander leaves whichever you prefer.....

Prawn Balchao ~ A Goan Delicacy

Sunday had put me in the mood for something Goan. Had luckily come across a recipe book with Goan cuisines and was dying to try a dish from it. Much similar in food habits to the Bongs the Goan staple diet includes fish and rice. But their cuisine amalgamates both Hindu and Portuguese flavours beautifully. Prawn Balchao is one such dish with the Portuguese flavour and is one of the obvious dishes that come to mind when speaking of Goa. The condiments required are more or less readily available in all Bong kitchens so didn’t have to buy anything special for this dish. It’s a very easy recipe and is lip-smacking enough to be gobbled up in a second and preferably should be savored with plain steamed rice for the gastronomic pleasure. The recipe…

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Prawn Balchao

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms medium sized prawns deveined and cleaned with warm water
• 2 onions chopped
• 8-9 pods of garlic
• 8-9 whole dry red chillies
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 3 tsp whole jeera/cumin seeds
• 1/3 cup white vinegar or malt vinegar (whichever you prefer, I used white vinegar)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 big tomato chopped
• Salt to taste
• White oil as per requirement

Procedure:

Soak ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies in vinegar with some salt for 45 minutes. Now make a smooth paste in the mixie.Your Balchao masala is ready. Smear some salt on the prawns. Heat oil in a skillet and sauté the prawns for 2 minutes. Take them out and in the same oil add the onions, when golden add the tomatoes. When the tomatoes are well fried add the Balchao masala. Add salt and sugar. Keep stirring for1 minute and add the prawns. Add a little warm water and let the prawns simmer for 5-7 minutes before turning off the flame. Serve with plain hot rice…..and ENJOY!!

Maacher Matha Diye Bhaja Moong Daal (Yellow Lentils With Rohu/Katla Fish Head)

Maacher Matha Diye Bhaja Moong Daal (Yellow lentils with Rohu/Katla fish head) is a classic Bong delicacy, another priceless recipe I got from my Maa. Sharing with you this glorious recipe which is so popular with all Bongs around the world…..

Maacher Matha Diye Bhaja Moong Daal

Maacher Matha Diye Bhaja Moong Daal

Maacher Matha Diye Bhaja Moong Daal

Maacher Matha Diye Bhaja Moong Daal

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 Rohu/Katla fish head halved from the middle vertically
• 2 onions pasted
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 11/2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 red tomato pasted
• 250 gms dhuli Moong daal/ yellow lentils
• 3-4 green cardamom
• 11/2 inch cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 bay leaf/tej patta
• 2 whole dry red chillies
• 2 green chillies slit
• 1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
• Salt n Sugar to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

Procedure:

Dry roast the moong daal in a karahi until light brownish, wash and pressure cook upto 3 whistles with some turmeric powder and a little salt. Wash and clean the fish head well and smear with turmeric and salt. In the same karahi heat oil and fry the fish head brown on both sides. Take out and temper the same oil with whole garam masalas, whole dry red chillies, bay leaf and cumin seeds. Add the onion, ginger garlic paste and sauté for a few minutes. Add the tomato paste, the powdered masalas, slit green chillies and adjust the seasoning carefully as some salt is already added to the boiled lentils. Keep stirring the masalas, add the daal. Break the fish head into smaller pieces and add it to the daal. Let them simmer for 7-8 minutes until the fish head gets cooked with the daal. Keep stirring in between. Serve hot with steamed rice…..

Bhetki Maacher Pulao ( Barramundi/Sea Bass Fish Pulao)

Barramundi Fish/Sea Bass Pulao or Bhetki Maacher Pulao is a recipe I tried for the first time. Though I have made Hilsa Fish Pulao before I was quite apprehensive about the outcome because Bhetki has a completely different flavour. I gave it a shot and the experiment came out to be astonishingly successful. This is such a brilliant, delectable, flavourful recipe that I’m not sure to have tasted something like this for quite sometime. You all will love it. Here’s the recipe…..

Bhetki Maacher Pulao

Bhetki Maacher Pulao

Bhetki Maacher Pulao

Bhetki Maacher Pulao

Bhetki Maacher Pulao

Bhetki Maacher Pulao

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms Bhetki/ Barramundi fish pieces
• 2 cups of long grained aromatic Basmati rice
• 4 onions thinly sliced
• 2 large capsicums/green bell pepper chopped
• 4-5 green chillies chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 green cardamoms
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 8-10 black peppercorns
• 12-14 cashew nuts
• 15 raisins
• A pinch of yellow food color
• 3 tsp of cornflour powder
• Salt n sugar to taste
• White oil as per requirement

Procedure:
 

First wash the rice and boil it till 80% done. Spread on a flat dish and let it cool. Wash the fish pieces and smear them with cornstarch and salt. Heat oil in a thick bottomed skillet and fry the fish golden brown take out and keep aside. Now pour some more oil if needed and add the whole garam masalas and peppercorns. Wait for the splutter and add the onions. Fry until golden brown. Now take out some of the fried onions for garnish. Add the green bell pepper and fry. Add the cashew and raisins and sauté for a few minutes more before adding the rice. In the mean time take a pinch of yellow food color and stir it with 2 tablespoons of water. Keep aside. Now add the rice, salt and sugar and the food color. Mix all of them really well. Add the fish pieces, cover them with rice. Now put a lid on the top and let it get cooked for 5-7 minutes on low flame. Turn Off the heat. Remove the lid and again stir the contents very delicately so as not to break the fish pieces. Sprinkle the fried onions and again cover it to give some standing time before serving……

Chilli Pancakes With Veggies

These are extremely tasty Chilli Pancakes With Veggies. Very filling, can be an ideal breakfast, snacks or even a full meal because it takes care of your hunger pang perfectly. It’s so simple to dish out and requires minimum oil. Generally kids are fussy about vegetable on their plate. It takes care of this problem too. Will surely make your kid happy when he opens the tiffin box in school. Here’s the recipe…..

Chilli Pancakes With Veggies

Chilli Pancakes With Veggies

Chilli Pancakes With Veggies

Chilli Pancakes With Veggies

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 large cup all purpose flour/maida
• 1/3 cup semolina/sooji
• ½ cup grated carrots
• ½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper/ capsicum
• 2 onions finely chopped
• ½ inch ginger grated
• ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 2 tblspns finely chopped green chillies
• 2 tblspns chopped coriander leaves/ cilantro
• Salt n sugar to taste
• White oil as per requirement

Chilli Pancakes With Veggies

Procedure:

Mix maida and sooji with water gently so that no lumps are formed and the batter is smooth. Don’t make the consistency too thick or it will not spread out in the pan. Now add all the chopped veggies, chilli powder, salt and sugar, mix well. Heat a non stick frying pan and add ½ tsp oil. Add the batter to the pan, gently spread out in the pan, lower the heat and let one side get cooked before flipping to the other side. When both sides get cooked perfectly with a tinge of golden brown, remove onto the serving plate, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and tomato ketchup.

Rajma Chawal (Kidney Beans With Steamed Rice)

Rajma Chawal (Kidney Beans With Steamed Rice) is one of the staple dishes in North India and after living here for more than a decade it has become my soul food too. Delicious, filling and easy to make this dish is always a winner at my home. Here’s the recipe…

Rajma Chawal

Rajma Chawal

Rajma Chawal

Rajma Chawal

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 300 gms Rajma/Kidney Beans soaked overnight in water (for atleast 10-12 hrs)
• 4 medium sized onions pasted
• 6-7 big cloves of garlic pasted
• 11/2 inch ginger pasted
• 2 red tomatoes pasted
• 1 tsp green chilli paste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• Salt and sugar to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and splutter cumin seeds/ jeera. Add the onion, ginger garlic, chilli paste and fry for 5 minutes. Now add the tomato paste and continue frying. Add the powdered masalas, salt and sugar. Fry well till the oil separates. Add  rajma and  3 cups of water. Close the lid and let the whistle come for 15 minutes on medium heat. Turn off the flame and let the steam escape fully before opening the lid. Check the seasoning and serve with steamed rice and salad or dry roasted papad....

Pui Chingrir Ghonto (Prawns-potato-pumpkin And Malabar Spinach Mishmash)

Sunday Means special dishes and Pui Chingrir Ghonto ( Prawns-potato-pumpkin and malabar spinach mishmash) is another classic Bong dish I prepared this time. Pui shaak also known as Basella leaves or Malabar Spinach tastes more delicious with either prawns or Hilsa head than its vegeterian version. Served on a bed of steamed rice its a killer of a dish. You just have to make it to believe.....here's the recipe...

Pui Chingrir Ghonto

Pui Chingrir Ghonto

Pui Chingrir Ghonto

Pui Chingrir Ghonto

Pui Chingrir Ghonto

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Malabar spinach
• 500 gms medium sized prawns with head and deveined
• 2 large potatoes diced
• 300 gms red pumpkin diced
• 2 onions chopped
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp deghi red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp paanch phoron/ five spices(fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, cumin seeds or wild celery seeds)
• 1-2 dry whole red chillies
• Salt and sugar to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

Pui Chingrir Ghonto

Procedure:

First wash and chop Malabar spinach and keep aside. Wash clean the prawns in warm water and smear with some turmeric and salt. Heat oil in a karahi and saute the prawns for 2 minutes and take out. Now in the same oil splutter paanch phoron and dry red chillies. Now add the onions, ginger garlic paste and fry for a few minutes before adding the potatoes. Fry the potatoes well and add the pumpkin, continue to stir. Add all the powdered masalas , salt and sugar. Mix and add the Malabar spinach. Cover and cook until the potatoes and Malabar spinach are almost done. Add the prawns, stir well and cook for 5 minutes more covered. Turn off the heat. Serve hot on a bed of steamed rice.....