Dum Aloo ~ Without Onion And Garlic

Dum Aloo Bong Style when offered to deity as bhog during puja/festival is cooked without onion and garlic but is one of the front runners in taste and flavour amongst all the vegetarian dishes. The beauty of the dish lies in the fact that it’s cooked sans onion and garlic which aids the bursting of flavours of various spices like cumin seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, asafoetida, whole red chillies, ginger etc in every mouthful. The dish pairs brilliantly with luchi/puri, pulao, jeera rice, roti/parantha. Cook this Bengali ‘Aloor Dum’ whether festival or no festival, occasion or no occasion and see the beauty of simplicity in the dish. It’s a very easy and quick dish, no hazards, no exotic ingredients but an amazing result in three simple steps. The cooking medium should essentially be mustard oil and nothing else.

Aloo Posto (Potatoes In Poppy Seeds/Khus Khus Paste)

Today I’m posting a dish which can be called the soul-food of Bengal. 'Aloo Posto' or Potatoes in Khuskhus/Poppy Seeds Paste is some thing with which I’m sure every Bong can connect with. Whichever part of the world may a Bong live in, he/she is bound to have a soft corner for ‘Aloo Posto’. A Bengali platter is never complete without it. It’s one of the easiest and simplest of dishes that I know of but the taste …can any vegetarian dish beat it in taste? It’s without onion and garlic, requires the minimum of ingredients but those who haven’t tasted it must make it today to fall in love with the quintessentially Bong ‘Aloo Posto’.

ATypical Bong Platter of Aloo Posto, Masoor Dal(Lentils), Plain Rice

#Summer Cooler Recipe 4 ~ Kancha Aamer Chutney/Kacche Aam ki Chutney (Raw Mango Chutney)

Summer Cooler Recipe 4:

‘Knacha Aamer Chutney’ or raw mango chutney is an all time Bong favourite. A lunch or dinner accompanied with a fingerlickingly delicious chutney specially on Sundays is what we call a Bong signature meal. Our family is no exception to this. Whatever delicacies may I cook, a chutney/aumbol/tok  and mishti doi must mark the end of our Bong meal. I am sure most of you love raw mango chutney too. So here I am with the recipe of raw mango chutney the Bong way…..

#Summer Cooler Recipe 3 ~ Melt-In-Mouth Lauki Muttar (Bottle Gourd With Green Peas)

Summer Cooler Recipe 3
 

This is the third in this series of summer cooler recipes that is becoming quite regular in my kitchen nowadays. It is another healthy, easy and fit for summer recipe yet extremely delicious to make you addicted to it. It’s flavourful, melt-in-mouth, without onion and garlic and cooks so fast, a perfect dish to provide you respite from this gruelling heat, at the same time being easy on your stomach. Bottle gourd/Lauki and muttar/peas are combined with some flavourful whole spices and pressure cooked to give a brilliant result. Try it out today….

#Summer Cooler Recipe 2: Seem Baingan (Flat Beans With Brinjal/Aubergine)

Summer Cooler Recipe 2

This is the second in the series of summer cooler recipes that I have been posting. It is a very simple and easy-to-cook recipe ready in 7-10 minutes saving you the trouble of staying in the kitchen for long hours in this heat. This is a vegan recipe with the least number of ingredients and without onion and garlic. The dish is healthy as well as delicious slightly on the sweeter side and can be relished with either roti/ Indian bread or rice.

# Summer Cooler Recipe 1: Flavourful Dahiwale Aloo (Baby Potatoes In Flavourful Yogurt Gravy)

Summer Cooler Recipe 1

Summer is truly a testing time for me. In Delhi’s inexorable heat I prefer to cook something that’s not too spicy, light on the stomach, fast to cook, yet not compromising on the taste. As the availability of variations in veggies is limited I innovate something with whatever at hand. The other day I had some small/baby potatoes lying in the kitchen and some fresh dahi/yogurt in the fridge. Made Dahiwale Aloo putting together some more ingredients that were readily available in the kitchen. Very easy to cook and extremely delicious, this recipe is a must try in the summers.

Tomato Khajur Aampaapad Chutney (Khejur Aamshottor Chutney)

During the winter months this is a must accompaniment with lunch at home specially in the weekends. Though much loved for its perfect combination of sweet and sour taste with an extra bit of tickle for your tongue because of the addition of dry red chilli, it’s pretty easy to make and gets ready in a jiffy. The zing attributed to the dish comes mainly from two ingredients dates/ khajur and aam paapad or aamshotto, the Bong name given to dried leather of mango pulp and sugar syrup. I always have a stock of aamshotto handy in my fridge for this chutney and for those depressing times to eat just like that. Often having just a slice of aamshotto uplifts my mood. So whenever I chance to go to C.R.Park I pick up quite a few of them.

 

Tomato Khajur Aampaapad Chutney

Sukha Chatpata Aloo (Spicy Dry Potatoes Sans Onion And Garlic)

What do you do when you have nothing in the refrigerator to treat a surprise guest at your place? Yes, if you have only a few potatoes lying somewhere in the kitchen, you can serve a delightful meal with hot pooris and sukha chatpata aloo. I thought this post would be all the more apt with the Navaratras on because this delicious spicy potato is sans onion and garlic. It requires minimum time and fewer ingredients, everything that is readily available in the kitchen and is totally hassle free.

Sukha Chatpata Aloo

Jhaalmuri/Masalamuri ~ Street Food Of Kolkata

This is one nostalgic and very special write up for me as it’s about street food of Kolkata and is quintessentially Bengali. My love for the city I was born in has increased over the past decade considerably enough as I stay away and miss all the vibe, festivities, warmth, adda, Book Fair and of course the food that the city is about. My vehement desire for the incredible ‘biryani’, ‘champ’, chinese, ‘fuchka’, ‘jhalmuri’, rolls, ‘chop’(croquettes), cutlet, ‘kochuri’, ‘fulkopir singara’(cauliflower samosa), ‘sandesh’, ‘roshogolla’, and so much more…(the list is endless), finds an escape through my writing. That’s all I have, I pen down my love for the city whenever I get time and recreate the Kolkata delicacies in my kitchen which gives some solace whatsoever now and then.

Jhaalmuri

Restaurant Style Yellow Dal Fry

Dal (Lentils) is the most common dish in the Indian kitchen. Cooking the same old dal  everyday becomes somewhat a boring affair. So why not infuse something to make it not only interesting to cook but to eat as well?  Restaurant style yellow dal fry is that dish which will give you the flavour you are looking for in your mundane dal. Gives both the taste and texture, the dal cooked in this way will be loved by your family and make this bright yellow dal as a side dish while hosting a party as well to liven up your party table.

Restaurant Style Yellow Dal Fry

Crunchy Cabbage ~ A Microwave Recipe

Today my post is dedicated to all the working moms who in spite of putting in nine to ten hours a day in office cooks for her family just because she cares. She knows that home cooked food is best for her child even though her heart is crying out for ordering something from outside, to skip cooking for the day, arrange for something to eat quickly and go off to bed, she is just too exhausted at the end of the day. This post goes out to that twenty-first century smart working woman who manages her job inside and outside with equal proficiency.

Crunchy Cabbage

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

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

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

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

Begun Poraa (Bong Style Baingan/Eggplant Bharta)

Today I’ll share with you the easiest recipe of all in this ‘GO GREEN’ series, perhaps easier than tossing up a salad or stuffs like that for yourself in which at least you have got to chop the veggies or fruits that go into your salad. But this one is the fastest  because you just roast the eggplants well on all the sides, peel the burnt skin , mash it and eat, and yes the tangy flavour of raw mustard oil and freshly chopped coriander fill up your senses and being paired with hot fulkas conjure up a brilliant meal for you.

Begun Poraa

This is ‘Bong style Baigan Bharta’ that I’m talking of and my mother’s recipe too. ‘Begun Poraa’ is the Bengali term for it ('Poraa' means burnt in Bengali) as the main element should be the burnt smell and those of you who haven’t tasted Baigan Bharta in this way must make it today to see for yourself.

This is how I made it in just two simple steps and with minimum ingredients…..

Chana Dal Palak (Split Yellow Chickpeas With Spinach) In the Microwave

In the pursuit of my 'Go Green' drive specially in the season of the abundance of fresh greens available Chana dal palak is one dish which is a must try. Chana dal palak (split yellow chickpeas with spinach) cooks fast and perfect in the microwave. That’s the reason I always prefer micro to pressure cooker cooking for this particular dish. Try this and see how easily it cooks with all the flavors mingled just right…

Chana Dal Palak

Nimona

This is another winter speciality, a vegetarian dish taught by my mother. We use green peas in a number ways in our dishes. This dish makes use of green peas paste to culminate into a brilliant preparation called ‘Nimona’. We Bongs call it ‘Namuna’, though the process may vary from UP or more precisely Lucknowi style ‘Nimona’ but the taste is as awesome in whichever way you choose to make it.

Nimona