Fish in mustard sauce...

Fishes are an integral part of the daily diet of people of Bengal. The geographical attributes of Bengal is the reason behind fish being the part of the cuisine. Being a state with many rivers running through it, multiple fresh water ponds and lakes along with a  long coastal region, fishes are available in abundance. So from ages we Bengalis' are eating various kind of fishes and now it's a  part of tradition and most of us can't think about a meal without fish. Today I'm sharing a quintessential Bengali dish and an all time favorite in my family, Sorse bata diye pabda mach, which translates to Pabda fish in mustard sauce.

Niramish potoler dolma...

Potol or Parwal (pointed gourd) is a common summer vegetable in India. It's a love or hate vegetable. Either you like it or you don't. I fall in the first category. Whether it is fried and served with dal and rice or curried with some potato or prepared with some poppy seed paste(potol posto) I love them all. There are several other way pointed gourd is cooked in a Bengali household. One of the popular preparations is Dolma, stuffed pointed gourd with fish or minced meat. The non vegetarian version is very popular. I remember the day after my marriage ceremony I tasted some awesome fish stuffed pointed gourd, specially prepared for me and my husband. I had a concept that potoler dolma or stuffed pointed gourd can only be made with non-vegetarian stuffing. But I was wrong. The vegetarian version tastes as good as the non-vegetarian one, if not more.

It was a baby shower party of my cousin, their family has a custom of preparing everything vegetarian for  this occasion. There were several delicious dishes, but for me the stuffed pointed gourd was the show stopper. So this time I tried to recreate that in my kitchen. I do not know the exact recipe, I relied on my memory of what I ate that day and prepared this niramish potoler dolma. And it came out finger licking good.

The dish a bit complicated and time consuming, as one need to scrape the pointed gourd, prepare the stuffing, stuff it, fry it and dunk it in the gravy. The recipe involves several steps, but the end result is so good that I'm sure you won't mind. First of all try find out some extra large pointed gourd, that will make easier to scrape the core. To scrape the inside of the pointed gourd cut only a small part from each ends and with the back of a spoon scrape out the soft core of the vegetable only from one side, keep the other side sealed. Do not throw away the scraping, I added it to the coconut and poppy seed stuffing I made . But if you find the seeds are too hard then discard it.

As I mentioned, I made a coconut and poppy seed stuffing for this dish, I also added the scraping of the pointed gourd in my stuffing, blended well with some salt, sugar and green chilies. Make sure the stuffing is not watery. While making the paste in a food processor or grinder add as little water as possible. And also make sure not to over stuff the pointed gourds, or else the stuffing will come out while frying.

Things needed to make Niramish Potoler Dolma:

• Potol (pointed gourd): 10-12

For the stuffing:

• Coconut (freshly grated): 1 cup
• Poppy seed paste: 1/4 cup
• Green chilies: 2-3
• Salt to tatse
• Sugar: 1 tbsp

For the gravy:

• Coconut (freshly scraped): 1/4 cup
• Poppy seed: 3 tbsp
• Black mustard: 2 tbsp
• Yogurt: 100 gm
• Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
• Red chili powder: 1 tsp
• Sugar: 2 tbsp
• Kalojire/kalonji/onion seed: 1 tsp
• Dry red chili: 2-3
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil to cook
• Green chilies (slit lengthwise to garnish): 2-3

Steps of making Niramish potoler dolma:

1. Wash the pointed gourd(potol) very well. Pat them dry. With the help of knife scrape the outer dark green skin. Do not peel the skin. Cut a small part from each ends. Using back of the spoon scrape out the inner soft core from one side. Keep the other side sealed. Rub little salt to the pointed gourds and keep aside.

2. In a bowl mix little water and yogurt and blend it well till smooth, keep aside. Make a paste of coconut, poppy seed, black mustard, green chilies for the gravy, keep aside.

3. Make a smooth paste of freshly scraped coconut, poppy seed, green chilies, salt and sugar. Make sure the paste is not watery. Add very little water, only few teaspoons while making the paste. Keep

4. Stuff the pointed gourd with the coconut stuffing. Do not over stuff.

5. In a kadhai or deep pan heat mustard oil, fry the stuffed pointed gourd till nicely browned. Keep aside.

6. In a fresh kadhai or pan heat mustard oil, when the oil is hot add onion seeds and dry red chilies. As the seeds splutter add the yogurt, and the paste made for the gravy, cook over low heat for 5-6 min, or till oil separates. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt, sugar, mix well. Add the fried stuffed pointed gourd, add little water, let it boil, cover and cook for 5-6 min. switch off the heat. Transfer it to a serving bowl.

7. Sprinkle mustard oil, garnish with slit green chilies, serve with rice.

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Doi ilish...

The sun hiding behind the clouds, thunderstorms, the aroma of rain drenched earth and the pitter patter of raindrops on the window...Monsoon, the relief from the scorching heat of summer is a much awaited season in India. Monsoon is extremely important to people of this subcontinent, it irrigates and sustains the crops, it nourishes the greens around us, fills up the water bodies.

To be very honest, sometimes I do not enjoy rain much. I complain about the puddles of water on the road during daily commute, I get irritated with water logged streets and overdose of rain, but monsoon has it's own charm. And being a foodie I relate everything to food, and Monsoon is no exception. The cooling rain and a lazy afternoon with some crispy pakoras and a cup of hot tea is nothing but bliss.  

The reason I can overlook all the negative sides of this season is a fish, the Hilsa, the fish no Bengali can resist. Hilsa and monsoon are synonymous to me. As mangoes are to summer, hilsa are to monsoon. The silver shiny fish is the king of all. Taste, texture, flavor nothing compares to it. So for this monsoon special event I made a very simple but traditional hilsa recipe, doi ilish,  i.e. hilsa cooked in a yogurt and mustard gravy.

The ingredients are very simple and easily available. Fresher the fish, tastier will be the dish. The recipe calls for black mustard paste. To make black mustard paste, soak the mustard seeds for at least an hour in water and grind with a pinch of salt and green chilies.

Things needed to make Doi Ilish:

• Hilsa fish cut into steaks: 4-6
• Yogurt: 100 gm
• Black mustard paste: 1/4 cup
• Green chilies: 4-5
• Kalojire/ onion seed: 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil to cook

Steps of making Doi Ilish:

1. Beat the yogurt with a little water and keep aside.

2. Smear the fish pieces with salt and turmeric powder, let it rest for 15-20 min.

3. In a kadhai or Indian wok, heat mustard oil (3 tablespoon), when the oil is hot, fry the fish for 1 min on each side. Take out from pan and keep aside. Do not overcook,

4. In the same oil add kalojire (onion seed/kalonji), green chilies, as it splatters add the yogurt. Cook over low heat for 4-5 min. Add the mustard paste and the fish pieces, add salt. Cover and cook for 10 min.

This post will be part of the the Monsoon special event  of  Kolkata food bloggers.

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Prawn Paturi for Elephants and the coconut trees...

I have made a bunch of new friends during last one year while blogging. The like-minded foodie friends, who thinks about how to plate the dish while they cut the vegetables and spend hours to click a simple homemade cake and are always looking for some new props to enhance the food photo. But above all encouraging each other all the time. Meena from elephants and the coconut trees is one of them. Though I have not met her personally, but she is always there to support me. So when she asked for a guest post on her space I said yes without any hesitation. She has wonderful recipes in her blog from day to day regular simple dishes to exotic biryani.

I wanted to make something traditional for this special post. So here is a Bengali speciality, Paturi for you all. Paturi is a palate tantalizing dish, where the fish is marinated with mustard-green chili paste and wrapped in banana leaf and cooked. The banana leaf imparts an exotic flavor to the fish, and the pungency of mustard paste and mustard oil give it a different dimension.

I used fresh large prawns. I kept the head and tail intact for more flavor. I added coconut paste along with mustard and poppy paste to accompany the sweet taste of prawn. Paturi can be made from different fishes, Bhetki or Bekti is the first choice for the Bongs while making paturi. But one can use hilsa, rohu, prawns, or other small fishes as well to make paturi. For vegetarian option one can try fresh paneer and vegetables. Whatever you are using do make sure to add Mustard oil to the marination, a must ingredient for any paturi.

Now it over to Meena's blog Elephants and the coconut trees for this must do prawn recipe. You will need some steaming hot rice to enjoy this Bong delicacy. Meena has sent this cute little thank you card to me. Thank you Meena.

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Potol Posto with a coconut twist

Potol or pointed gourd is a summer vegetable in common in eastern and northern India. It is called 'Parwal' in Hindi. Potol can be cooked in various ways, from fried, grilled, curried or even one can make the famous sweet 'Parwal ke Mithai' or 'Misti Potol', where the vegetable is stuffed with condensed milk and nuts. Today I'm making a simple potol curry with coconut, poppy seed and mustard seed paste. I have seen my mother cooking potol either with poppy seed paste (potol-posto) or mustard seed paste (sorse-potol), even sometimes with yogurt (doi-potol). For the first time I tried incorporating all the ingredients together and the end result was finger licking good.