Kankrol er pur..

Kankrol or kantola is a common summer vegetable in India. This spiny green vegetable is aptly translates to teasel gourd for their spiny appearance. Though not as widely used as other vegetables, teasel gourd is full of health benefit and tastes good too. The egg shaped vegetable is mildly bitter in taste and prepared in different ways, from crispy fried to stir fried dry curries. As a kid we used to call it the sweeter version of bitter gourd, as the spiny outer part resembles bitter gourd but tastes much less bitter. Ma makes a simple kankrol bhaja (fried teasel gourd) with it. She cuts the teasel gourd into thin roundels and fries them till crispy, I still love to have my Kankrol bhaja that way along with steamed rice and dal.

Plantain Kofta Curry..

As summer steps in to our life with all the heat, humidity and all my favorite vegetables vanish from the market, the biggest concern becomes what to cook. I think that's an eternal question for all who are in charge of the kitchen. Though summer has its own bounty of offering in terms of seasonal vegetables, the long stretch of summer we experience in this part of the world makes you run out of choice to cook something new. Add to this in a sub-tropical country like ours everyday household work turns tiresome and difficult, specially working in front of the oven in the kitchen.

Sojne phool (Moringa flowers)...

Moringa is a seasonal flower with many health benefits and immunity boosting components. Moringa trees are very common in India and all the parts of the tree from leaf, pods, flowers are used as food. In a Bengali household the pods (drumsticks) are eaten throughout the year and it is more like a ritual to eat moringa flowers or Sojne phool (as we call it in Bengali) during the on set of Spring. As a kid when I used to question about eating those flowers, my parents have always answered that eating moringa flowers prevent chicken pox. I don't know whether it is scientifically proven or not but as I grow up I also follow the same routine of having moringa flowers during this time of the year. And I'm quite fond of this seasonal flower and wait for this bounty of nature which is only available for a very limited time period.

Postor Bora..

What is food? something we take when we feel hungry? or something we can't resist even if we are full? or as my nine year old is prompting me " Ma, food is something we need to take for growth and energy" (her science class influence of course).

I think food is beyond and above all these definitions. It's not only calms down the hungry rat rumbling inside our stomach but much more than that. Food is something that satisfies our soul, it's a memory that lingers throughout our life, a taste from childhood, an aroma that triggers thousands emotions, that evokes the memory of someone very close to you, making them and the moment immortal.

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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Sunehera chicken...

Friday evenings are usually time to relax and unwind for me and my family. The fact that you do not need to set the alarm clocks for next morning is such a relief. I guess it is the same for everyone too.

Unwinding to me is  usually either putting my feet up and getting lost in books or fiddling around in the kitchen to try to put together something special for me and my family. This Friday, it was a chicken curry with some homemade naan bread.

I didn't follow any particular recipe while making this dish, just went along with my instinct. The chicken was marinated for 9 hrs in the refrigerator. The marination I used was a basic one, just onion, garlic, ginger, yogurt mix. To bring in a nice color and flavor I added few strands of saffron.

While marinating the chicken I wasn't really sure about the gravy but wanted something creamy that can go along the naan I was planning to serve it with. My little one really liked the end result- soft and succulent chicken in a lightly sweet  creamy golden curry.

I didn't even think of posting this recipe, but the little one in my house as well as the man insisted that I must post this recipe as it tasted so good. And since this wasn't very planned, I ended up with only a single image for the final dish. Because of the beautiful creamy texture and golden color I named the dish 'Sunehera' chicken, sunehera means golden in Hindi. You can try this at home and let me know whether the name justifies the dish.

Things needed to make Sunehera Chicken:

• Chicken: 500 gm

For marination:

• Lime juice: 1 tbsp
• Salt: 2 tsp
• Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
• Yogurt: 1/2 cup
• Ginger paste: 1 tbsp
• Garlic paste: 1 tbsp
• Onion paste: 3 tbsp
• Kashmiri red chili powder: 1 tsp
• Saffron: few strands

For gravy:

• Thinly sliced onion: 2 cups
• Cinnamon stick: 1 stick
• Green cardamom: 3-4
• Dry red chili: 3-4
• Coriander powder: 2 tsp
• Red chili powder: 3 tsp
• Green cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon powder: 1/2 tsp
• Almond paste: 3 tbsp
• Poppy paste: 2 tbsp
• Saffron (soaked in warm water): few strands
• Salt to taste
• Honey to taste
• Oil and ghee to cook

Steps of making Sunehera Chicken:

1. Clean and wash the chicken pieces. I used chicken with bone, can be done with boneless chicken pieces too. Pat dry with kitchen towel. In a bowl mix all the ingredients for marination, marinate the chicken pieces for minimum 2 hrs, better if marinated overnight in the refrigerator.

2. Slice onion as thin as possible, heat oil in a kadhai (Indian wok), when the oil is hot fry the onion slices to brown. Drain excess oil and transfer in a bowl.

3. In a kadhai or pan add ghee, when hot add cinnamon stick, whole green cardamom, dry red chili, cook for 1 min. Add the fried onion. Keep a few to garnish.

4. Shake off the excess marination and add the chicken, cook over high heat for 4-5 min. As the chicken changes color, add the remaining marinade and coriander powder, red chili powder, mix well. Cover and cook over medium flame till oil separates. Add  cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, mix well. If needed add salt.

5. Add a little hot water and let it boil. Reduce the flame to low, add almond paste and poppy seed paste, mix well. Cover and cook for 10 min. Add honey, saffron soaked water, mix well. transfer into a serving bowl, garnish with fried onion and slivered almonds. Serve with some naan or roti.

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Chandresta's Bahari begun posto and the secret what keeps me going

I started my blog to share my love and passion for cooking, the desire to learn and understand food photography came along the way. To share what you love, is like sharing a part of you. Every single recipe in my blog is close to my heart. The photographs I click during and after cooking, which is not  always as easy as it seems, are extremely precious to me. 

This more than a year of blogging, making connections with fellow foodies, blog readers and like minded bloggers has helped me to learn a lot of new things, both about cooking and  food photography, and there is still so much to learn and discover. 

Being a full time mother, I sometimes find it hard to manage time to click and post. Sometimes recipes pile up as drafts patiently waiting to be published. If you ask me what keeps me going, my answer would be 'my readers'. Their endless support and encouragement is the fuel that drives me. It's indeed rewarding when someone leaves a comment on my blog or on my Facebook page, telling me how much they have liked the recipe. I feel delighted every time when someone shares the  photograph of the food they have cooked following a recipe on my blog. It feels great to know that someone out there finds my recipes good enough to try for their friends and  family.

If you visit my Facebook page then you must have noticed I share all the pics my readers send to me. I have a special album  'Cooked By You' for this purpose. Last month I found that there were 99 pics in that album. So, eager to know who's going to be the 100th one, I announced I am one short of a century. To my surprise within 5 minutes I received three photos. I was so happy to see those. Today I'm going to specially mention about those three contributors-Krishnasharana, Chandresta and Soma. Again thanks to all my readers for your continuous support and encouragement.

First, I would love to mention about my friend and co-blogger Krishnasharana Jana of From a girl's mind. She always encourages me with her warm words and surprises me with her awesome creations. She has a great collection of crafts, jewelry, travel experiences and of course food on her blog. Here is a little introduction about Krishnasharana, in her own words......

"Who am I? It is very difficult question to me to answer. Currently, I can say that, I’m a stay at home mom with an over energized 5 year old son, who always keeps me on toe. Six long years back I was a software engineer, who only knew about career, nothing else. But a person can change her/ him along with time and situation. Now I cannot imagine to going back to corporate sector again leaving my little one. Though the corporate sector beacons me, still I’m not thinking about that.

I’m a person who cannot sit back idle. I always need something to do. So, my childhood hobby (crafting) has come to rescue me in my stay at home days. Sometimes, I when could sense that I’m getting overpowered by my hobbies, I try to stop me from doing anything for few days. Apart from my hobbies, I’ve found another interesting thing, cooking. I love to try to new dishes almost every day.

Now if you ask me why I’ve started a blog, the answer will make you laugh. It is really a funny. In the year 2010, suddenly I wanted to learn American English. My husband then took all the pain to find one institute to fulfill my wish. It was two months course; I really, really enjoyed that. I’m really blessed that I got Mr. J as my teacher. Throughout the course he encouraged me to write stories. He told me that I’m a good story teller. I know that he told me, only to encourage me in writing. However, his encouragement intrigued me to take writing. On fine afternoon while I was just writing a simple story about our Valentine’s Day celebration in 2011, I opened a blog, to write my feelings. First, I thought to write only my travel stories, but later I felt that through only travel stories I couldn’t express myself. So, one after another I've opened topics in my blog. This is the story how my blog was born." 

Here is a glimpse of her blog, do visit for great craft ideas and awesome baking stuff. I'm sure you all are going to like her space. Do visit http://from-a-girls-mind.blogspot.com/

On this joyful note, for a change I thought of cooking a dish following recipe from my readers. So I asked Chandresta and Soma to send me their favorite recipe. Both of them sent me two great recipes. Today I will post the easy yet delicious recipe Chandresta Maity sent me. My next post will be Soma's recipe.

The recipe Chandresta sent me is very simple and quick but believe me it's finger licking good. She calls it 'Bahari Begun Posto' that is eggplant with poppy seed paste. She cooked the dish, clicked a photo and sent me the recipe. Thanks for all your effort Chandresta. I made just a few minor changes, instead of red chilies I used green chilies and garnished it with some fresh coriander.

Things needed to make Bahari Begun Posto:

• Eggplant: 1 large
• Onion (grated): 1/2 cup
• Ginger paste: 1 tsp
• Poppy seed paste: 1/4 cup
• Green chilies: 2-3
• Cumin powder
• Turmeric powder
• Kashmiri red chili powder
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• Fresh coriander to garnish
• Oil to cook (preferably mustard oil)

Steps of making Bahari Begun Posto:

1. Cut the eggplant lengthwise. You can keep the stem of the eggplant if you like to.

2. Smear turmeric powder and salt to the eggplant pieces and leave them on a colander for 20 min.

3. Heat oil in a pan or kadhai and fry the eggplant till done. Take out and keep aside. Make sure you are using a big enough pan to accommodate the eggplant pieces, do not break them while frying.

4. In the same pan add more oil, add grated onion and ginger paste, cook till brown.

5. In a small bowl mix, turmeric powder, red chili powder (if using), kashmiri red chili powder and cumin powder with little water. Add the spice mix to the pan. Add salt and sugar, mix well, cook for 4-5 min.

6. Add the poppy seed paste. I make a paste of green chili and poppy seed. If you are using red chili powder then you may not use green chilies. Or if you like you dish to be super hot use both.

7. Mix well, and let the gravy thickens. Switch off the heat.

8. Arrange the fried eggplants on a serving plate. Pour the gravy on the fried eggplant pieces. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander. Serve with steamed rice and dal.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!

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.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!

Dim Posto...(egg with poppy seed paste)

Posto (white poppy seed) is a very popular ingredient in Bengali kitchen. It is widely used in Indian cuisine also. Bengalis have special bond with posto, be it a simple posto bata (poppy seed paste), posto bora (poppy seed cakes), alu posto(potota and poppy seed)...the list is endless. Posto is also used as thickening agent in curries, or in garnishing. Sometimes the seeds are used directly to dishes to give a crunchy texture to the dish.

Today I made an egg curry with poppy seed paste, Dim Posto. I learnt this dish from my friend and neighbor Ronita. The recipe is simple, but the magic of poppy paste and egg makes it special.

Updated on 27.7.17

While making this family favorite dish Dim Posto or egg with poppy seed paste for lunch I thought of taking pictures and update this old post. Whenever I look back to my old clicks I always feel to re-shoot them. It's really surprising to see how much I have learnt regarding photography during this last five years. The old images were taken five years back, when started the journey of food blogging. I was completely unaware of  styling, framing, arrangement, angle or anything about food photography then. I had a point and shoot camera (I still have that) and clicked without any plan,  to document the process of preparation of the particular dish. And resulted into these fan shaped egg in a yellowish curry and I'm literally laughing loud seeing those green chili crowns on the egg slices. Really!!!! was that me? Now when I put the old and new images side by side I feel proud of my self learning process, the achievement I have made through the last five years without any professional training. I hope after five years when I'll look back to these new set of images I'll have more knowledge to improve this also.

The ingredients needed for this dish are very simple, the key players are the hard boiled eggs, onions and white poppy seed paste. White poppy seed paste is a widely used ingredient in Bengali cuisine. The golden fried onion along with poppy seed paste and egg and spicy green chilies together is a winning combination. And as eggs need little time to cook the dish gets ready in no time.

To get golden hue on the egg, smear the egg with salt, turmeric powder and little red chili powder and shallow fry them in hot oil. After frying the egg it can cut into slices or halves, so it get all the flavors of the curry, or the egg can be kept whole with few incisions on the white part.

It is a dry curry, so do not add too much water while cooking and try to use mustard oil to bring the authentic Bengali taste.

Things needed to make Dim-posto:

• Hard boiled eggs: 4
• White poppy seed (paste): 1/3 cup
• Onion(thinly sliced): 1 cup 
• Green chilies: 7-8
• Kalojire: 1/4 tsp
• Mustard oil: 3 tbsp + 1 tsp extra
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Red chili powder: 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste

Steps of making Dim-posto:

1.Peel the boiled eggs and rub with a little salt, red chili powder and turmeric powder.

2. Heat mustard oil in a kadai, when the oil is hot add the eggs and fry them till golden brown. Take out the eggs, prick them with toothpick or cut them into half and keep aside.

3. In the same oil add kalojire/kalonji, as the seeds spatter add thinly sliced onions. cover and cook till the onion changes color to red.

4. Now add turmeric powder, red chili powder, and white poppy seed paste. Mix well. Cook for 5-6 min or till oil start to release.

5. Add the hard boiled eggs, chopped green chilies, salt and sugar.

6. Cook in high heat for 2-3 min, if needed sprinkle some water. Stir in between. You can make it dry or you can add little water to make some gravy, it depends on your preference.

7. Switch off the heat. Sprinkle the extra mustard oil, serve with steamed rice.

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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.