Nepali Bhutwa~ An Exquisite Mutton Dish From Nepal

What about celebrating the coming holidays with an absolutely awesome mutton dish? This is one of the best mutton dishes I have tasted in a long time. It’s flavourful, incredibly delectable, goes equally well with roti/parantha or even rice/pulao. I came across this interesting dish in one of the food groups that I am a member of. It requires an exotic herb called Timur, difficult to get hold of in the regular grocery stores, but if not available you can cook without it, the mutton will taste delish anyways.  Timur is a kind of pepper available in Nepal/China also known as Sichuan/Szechwan pepper used mostly in the Nepali, Tibetan or Chinese dishes.

 

Nepali Bhutwa

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

Stuffed Potato/ Aloo

This is a rather uncommon dish because you generally come across stuffed capsicum/simla mirch, stuffed lady finger/vindi/okra, stuffed chillies/ hari mirch, stuffed tomato, stuffed karela/bitter gourd and our oh-so-good Bong delicacy stuffed pointed gourd/potol/parwal famously called ‘Potoler Dolma’. But have you ever met with stuffed potato/aloo?. 

Stuffed Potatoes

Vegetable Croquettes/Chops

Vegetable Croquette or Bhegitabil chop as we Bongs lovingly call it is a recent request from a very dear friend. She wanted a very easy and simple recipe. So Reshmi the simplest way to make this delectable, all time favourite snack is here for you. Though I knew the main ingredients but always have this habit of calling up Maa to ensure them. I followed the process she told me over the phone. Beetroot, carrots and potatoes are the vegetables generally used for the stuffing, but you can add other veggies like beans, peas if you desire. These crispy, delish croquettes are a delightful nosh with a cup of tea in the winter evenings with the obvious accompaniment of Bong Adda….

Vegetable Croquettes

Rajasthani Jungli Laal Maas (Red Meat)

Hi Friends!!! How are you all doing? After a long time, finally managed to shake off the lethargy that bugged me for several months and return to blogging. Have cooked quite a few dishes in this stretch but most of the time either forgot to take pictures or was too indolent to write up a recipe and post. Here’s one of them that I cooked on the day of Kali pujo/Diwali which tasted absolutely brilliant. It’s an authentic Rajasthani dish…the popular Laal Maas or Red Meat.

Rajasthani Laal Maas

The Authentic Bengali Malpua

We shifted to our new house about twelve days back. This is my first post here since I managed to get the broadband connection yesterday only after much follow up. There are several other works piled up, setting up of a new house is so much trouble and labour. Carton full of clothes, books, other household items etc. are lying around but nothing can keep me off my passion, cooking and blogging for long.

Authentic Bong Malpua

Kolkatar Singara ~ Samosa Bong Style

The Bengali New Year or Poila Boishakh is just round the corner and this is a special recipe for the special occasion. Also it will complete one year of my blog. This is the first one in the series. ‘Kolkatar Singara’…. does this stir up any pleasant memory in your mind? Well, it does for me. A Bong at heart I can never erase these wonderful gastronomic experiences in Kolkata during my younger days there. Singara is a Bong name for samosas, a triangular Indian pastry with mainly savoury stuffing of spiced potatoes, peas etc., but the flavour is strictly Bengali. The stuffing, taste, texture everything is just out of the world, a class apart, incomparable with any samosas I have tasted after that.

Alu-Phulkopir Singara