Railway Mutton Curry

This is my hundredth blogpost and contains a very special recipe ‘The Railway Mutton Curry’. The recipe is special in the sense that it’s not the typical Bengali mutton curry we generally make on Sundays. Moreover, this mutton curry brings to mind the train journeys of childhood, the immense fun, awesome food, the call of the hawkers, making new friends on each journey, beautifully green countryside strewn with paddy fields, quivering ponds and mud huts,  you may say, as a whole the journeys were celebrations in themselves.

Railway Mutton Curry

Pao Bhaji~Street Food (Mumbai)

Mumbai is a city garlanded with innumerable, iridescent food stalls, an ever bustling city always on the move where street food has thrived over decades and has become so famous that now Mumbai can’t be thought of without its street food. Among the array of vendors or hawkers that line up the streets of Mumbai the ones selling pao bhaji or vada pao are where the vehicle are brought to a halt for a quick nosh. I never fail to miss these whenever I make a trip to the city. Hygiene can’t be an issue whenever you are on tour especially if you have street food on your mind. So closing my eyes to it I gorge on the steaming plate of mashed, curried vegetables served with a generous scoop of Amul butter on top and pao buns or soft fluffy rolls smeared with butter at the side. Yes today I’m talking about the Mumbai Pao Bhaji….

Pao Bhaji

Restaurant Style Kadai Paneer

Kadai Paneer (cottage cheese) is a north Indian delicacy and a very popular one, amongst the most ordered dishes in restaurants. Living for over a decade in north India, I have tasted this several times in various eatouts and I’m sure most of you have and love this tasty dish as I do. I tried this recipe at home on the request of my son. And believe me it truly tasted as the one from any renowned Punjabi outlet if not better. Everyone was super happy with the dinner.

Restaurant Style Kadai Paneer

Milk Pulao With Prawns (Chingri Maacher Dudh Polao)

This is another exotic rice dish I found blog worthy. It is stunning enough to adorn a party table as well as a quiet private lunch with your family. The brilliance in aroma, taste and texture was quite amazing, difficult to put in words until you have tasted it. This is the season of fresh prawns as you know it. All of them will vanish from the market in a month or two with the rise in temperature. So I’m trying to make the most of the hay time cooking the prawn dishes I have on my mind. Those who are allergic to prawns or looking for a vegetarian option can cook it with the seasonal veggies like cauliflower, carrots, peas etc. Will give that recipe another time.

Milk Pulao With Prawns

Dum Aloo Amritsari

Dum Aloo Amritsari is a dish I learnt from one of my neighbours in Amritsar during my two years stay there. A lovely dish, sits pretty on the table as a side dish either with pulao or any Indian bread. Superb in taste and color this dish is essentially Punjabi with a thick gravy of tomatoes and needless to say is slightly on the oily side. So don’t count your calories in this carb platter, there is no harm in indulging in the richness of taste once in a while.

Dum Aloo Amritsari

Chicken Kosha (Spicy Bhuna Chicken)

How about an awesome chicken dish today after two consecutive postings of vegetarian dishes? Chicken Kosha is a Bong culinary treasure that has caught up with the rest of the world as has its mutton counterpart. It’s a favorite any day especially if you have luchi/puris or paranthas (Indian Flat Breads) on your mind as the choice of bread. Delectable is the least you can say about this dish! It is rich in color, texture and flavor, even a great dish to enchant the entire spread if you are hosting a lunch or dinner.

Chicken Kosha

Steamed Paneer/Cottage Cheese

Until now I had tried mustard with fish and prawns preparations only. Was thinking of using this flavour with paneer for a long time. We are accustomed to have paneer with roti/parantha/ naan/ pulao. But how about a paneer dish which can be savoured with steamed rice also. When you are tied with some other works and either thinking of ordering from outside or a lunch or dinner that cooks fast, this dish serves you just right. Cooks in a jiffy, the total preparation time is hardly ten minutes.

Steamed Paneer

Chatpata Baigan (Spicy Eggplants/Brinjals/Aubergines)

Cooking vegetarian dishes particularly with a variety each day is something I find very difficult. No dish can be repeated immediately the day after because my son would raise his eyebrows and ask, “Maa, didn’t you make the same dish yesterday?” I try to innovate my veg dishes continuously to avoid facing this question.

Chatpata Baigan

Doi Golda (Lobsters In Rich Creamy Yogurt Sauce)

Sunday is the day of making a special dish for lunch. Sonny awaits with expectations of something new, different and delicious. He suggested a few days back, “Maa  why don’t you make a special prawn dish this Sunday?” I pondered, yes has been a while I made a prawn dish. Went to the market in the morning to try my luck in getting some fresh large prawns for lunch. Had come across an awesome prawn recipe quite a few days back and was dying to give it a try. But the fish market disappointed me. Couldn’t find any large prawn, only some stale small ones lying with one vendor. Suddenly something caught my eye. At one corner was a boy about fifteen years of age, selling some minnows along with some fresh medium sized fresh water lobsters or Indian scampi heaped at one side. Walked up to him and after a good bargain bagged a kilo of those lobsters. Though my recipe needed tiger prawns, I couldn’t resist buying them to see how things turn out.

Doi Golda

Vegetable Biryani

You generally associate a plate of aromatic, scrumptious Biryani with either chicken or mutton. I also did the same until I made it!! This was the first time I was trying Vegetable Biryani, and believe you me it was super delectable! Somewhat different from the usual chicken or mutton Biryani that you always have, but the difference is very satisfying. You need to have some fresh veggies at hand and some aromatic Basmati rice to give birth to this simply lovable dish.

Vegetable Biryani