Whole mung bean curry..

Dal or lentil along with rice and roti is an usual affair in every Indian kitchen. A wide variety of lentils are consumed and preparations vary from region to region. My family is no exception, almost everyday or the other I prepare dal. To make sure it doesn't get boring I use all the different varieties of lentils I know and also try to prepare them in different ways to bring variations in the menu. I already have different recipes involving lentils on my blog, here is another one to add to the list. This time, I have made a whole mung bean curry.

Pressure cooker chicken curry...

I prefer to spend the weekends either relaxing with my family or just to have some precious me time. Doing nothing and sitting with a cup of coffee or tea is such a bliss, a rare thing that happens but I look for those priceless moments. Throughout the week following a routine is so tedious, and repeating the mandatory chores is so irksome. So I make it point to switch off the alarm on my phone for the weekends,though the body clock always betrays me and I end up tossing and turning on my bed at 5 in the morning while the man and the kid sleep peacefully. I mostly tip toe around the house and sip the hot cup of tea alone and enjoy the perfect me time. Yes we do go out, meet family members, party with friends but also enjoy the rejuvenating lazy weekends.

No recipe chicken curry...

Chicken curry is the most frequently cooked dish in my kitchen. Mostly I follow the recipe I have learnt from my mom. Sometimes I try my hand on restaurant style dishes. But last Sunday I was not in a mood to follow any recipes, that's the reason I call it a 'no recipe' chicken curry. I just kept on cooking from my mind. I slow cooked the chicken and did not add any extra water. I let the chicken cook in it's own water and at the end added a handful of fresh coriander to give the dish a special touch. The end result was a scrumptious bowl of chicken curry, loved by all in my family. So before I forget what I put in that curry let me share it with you all.

Things needed to make the chicken curry:

• Chicken on bones ( a whole chicken cut into 12-14 pieces)
• Onion (very thinly sliced): 2 cups
• Garlic: 7-8 cloves
• Tomato: 1 (large)
• Ginger (grated): 2 tbsp
• Green chili: 2-3
• Green cardamom: 2-3
• Cinnamon: 1 stick
• Cloves: 4-5
• Shah jeera or Black Cumin: 1 tsp
• Black peppercorns: 10-12
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Kashmiri red chili powder: 1tsp
• Cumin powder: 2tsp
• Garam masala powder: 1tsp
• Coriander leaves: 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Potato: cubed and fried (optional)
• Mustard oil or olive oil to cook

Steps of making the chicken curry:

1. Clean and wash the chicken pieces.

2. Make a paste of garlic, ginger, tomato and green chili, keep aside.

3. In a large heavy bottom pan or kadhai heat 3 table spoons of oil. I used mustard oil, that gives a different taste to the dish. Olive oil can also be used. When the oil is hot add the sugar and let it caramelize. This will give the curry a nice color.

4. Add the whole spices, as the cloves splutter add thinly sliced onion. Fry the onion till brown.

5. Add the chicken pieces, cook the chicken with the onion over high heat for 7-8 min. Keep turning the chicken pieces.

6. Reduce heat add the ginger-garlic-tomato paste. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 min.

7. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, kashmiri red chili powder, salt, mix well. Cover and cook over low medium heat for 40-45 min. Keep stirring in between. The chicken will cook in it's own water. I did not add any extra water. Check the salt, adjust accordingly. If you like your curry to be spicy add stilted green chilies. Add garam masala powder and chopped fresh coriander. Serve hot with rice or roti.

Note: If you want to add potato to this curry, peel and cube the potato and fry them. Add the fried potato pieces 10 min before the curry is done.

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Black eyed bean salad and my submission for BWW#118

Few days back while cleaning the pantry shelves I found these black eyed beans. I'm not a big fan of these beans. Once in a while I use them to make mixed dal. But for some reason looking at the half filled jar of these black and white beans, I found them very interesting and clicked some pics of these not so loved beans. And to be honest whatever the bean may taste like, I found them to be very camera friendly and photogenic. The first shot  below was clicked in daylight, using a Nikon D600 and 105mm lens. I used a homemade reflector (aluminium foil wrapped over a hard board) to lit up the front.

After I clicked the first one I thought of changing the mood of the pic and placed a black cloth as a background, the second image appeared very dramatic. I changed the saturation of the second pic to make it black and white, the following image is my submission for Black and White Wednesday event. This event was initially started by Susan of Well Seasoned Cook and now being managed by Cinzia of Cindystar. This week it's being hosted by Sreevalli of Ammaji Kitchen. Thank you Sreevalli.

Black eyed beans are called lobia in India. I remember my mother used to cook a simple dish with these beans. But I was never fond of that curry. I made a quick and healthy salad. You can have this as a healthy lunch or serve with crackers as a snack.

It is a very easy and quick salad. Either you can use dried beans or canned beans. If you are using dried beans, them soak them overnight in enough water. Rinse well and cook before making the salad or any other dishes. I used simple ingredients, onion, tomato, cucumber etc for the salad. And made an easy vinaigrette flavored with parsley and garlic.

Things needed to make Black eyed beans salad:

• Cooked or canned black eyed beans: 1 cup
• Red onion (diced): 1/4 cup
• Tomato/ cherry tomato: 1/3 cup
• Cucumber (diced): 1/3 cup
• EVOO: 3 tbsp
• Apple cider vinegar: 1 tbsp
• Garlic (minced): 1 tsp
• Parsley: 1 tsp
• Honey: 1/2 tbsp
• Chili flakes: 1-2 tsp
• Black pepper powder to taste
• Salt to taste
• Feta cheese (optional)
• Crackers to serve (optional)

Steps of making Black eyed beans salad:

1. If you are using canned black eyed beans, then drain and keep the beans aside. If you are using dried beans, then the beans are need to be soaked in enough water for atleast 8 hrs or over night. After proper soaking drain and wash the beans and cook. This cooked beans can be used in various ways.

2. In a bowl add EVOO, vinegar, honey, chili flakes, salt, black pepper, parsley, garlic, mix well. Add cooked beans and other ingredients, mix well. Serve immediately.

I used dried parsley, you can use fresh, in that case increase the amount to 1 tablespoon. I used cheery tomato, you can use any of your choice.

Serving suggestion: Sprinkle feta cheese on the salad and serve with some multi-grain cracker.

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Prawn curry with potato and cauliflower..

It's been two weeks since we welcomed the new year, surprisingly this is my first post of the year. It was not that I was out of town or not cooking or sick, I did make some finger-licking Indian curries as well as some simple salads and baked a few things during this "no show" phase. The truth is I was just lazy to pick up my camera to click the food I cooked. Hope to make that up in the coming days.

Today it's all about my favorite seafood, prawns, and that too paired with another favorite of mine, cauliflower. Earlier I posted a recipe on this combo, though that was with shrimps (Shrimp and cauliflower curry). Usually I cook prawn curry without garlic, for a change, this time I added a little onion and garlic to enhance the taste a bit more.

While working with prawn or shrimp, keep in mind not to overcook them. Or else they will turn hard and chewy.

I used fresh large prawns for the curry and kept the heads for more flavor. You can use frozen prawns too. Being a Bengali it's very difficult to ignore potatoes in a curry, so added that too. But seriously potatoes give a nice thickness and texture to the gravy.

And about cauliflower all I have to say is, I love this vegetable. For this particular curry fry the cauliflower florets till brown spots appear on them, cook over high heat and make sure the cauliflower retains its crunchiness.

Things needed to make Prawn Curry: 

• Prawns: 6-8
• Potato: 1 (medium)
• Cauliflower: 1 (small)
• Onion (grated): 3 tbsp
• Garlic (paste): 1/2 tsp
• Ginger (paste): 2 tsp
• Tomato: 1 (large)
• Cumin powder: 2 tsp
• Red chili powder: 2-3 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
• Ghee/clarified butter: 2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• Oil to cook (preferably mustard oil)

Steps of making Prawn Curry:

1. Clean and wash the prawn, smear with little turmeric and salt. Keep aside.

2. In a pan heat oil (3 tablespoon), when the oil is hot fry the prawn for 1 min, turning the sides, take out and keep aside.

3. Peel, wash and cube the potatoes. Fry the cubed potatoes till nicely brown, keep aside. Use the same pan used for frying the prawns.

4. Cut the cauliflower into medium size florets to match the cubed potatoes. Fry the cauliflower florets till brown spots appear on them, keep aside.

5. If needed add more oil to the pan, when the oil is hot add the grated onion and cook till turns brown. Add garlic paste, cook for a minute. Add ginger paste and cook for 2 min. Add chopped tomato, sprinkle little salt, cover and cook till the tomato is done.

6. Add cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, few teaspoons of water, cook till oil separates from the spices. Add a cup of warm water, salt and sugar. As the water boils add fried potatoes, cover and cook till potatoes are done. Add fried cauliflower florets and fried prawns, cook for 2-3 min. Add ghee (clarified butter) and garam masala powder. Switch off heat, keep the pan covered for 5-6 min, serve hot with steamed rice.

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Pizza margherita with no cook pizza sauce

I always find it really difficult to click  food photographs while two pairs of eyes are following me and silently asking when the food will be served. It is the one of the reason I avoid clicking my food during dinner time apart from the fact that I am much more comfortable shooting in day light.

Usually I cook and click when nobody is at home, I keep myself busy with my ingredients, camera, light and of course cooking. It's easy when I bake a cake or stir up a curry, those can be served later. But when it comes to food like pizza, which needs to go directly to the plate from the oven, I feel hesitant whether to click first or to serve. And the fun part is if I don't click before I serve the food, both the man and the little one will give me a curious look. And often I have been asked why didn't you click what you cooked?

This time things worked for me and my new personal pizza pan set saved me from my click or serve dilemma. I found these great 7 inch personal pizza pans from Home Goods. It's a good place to collect props for your food photography. Sometimes you get lucky and find something very useful like a set of four 7 inch personal pizza pans I got. Two of the pizza went straight to plate and two for my camera, end of the day a happy me.

So, it was the basic of all pizza, the margherita pizza for our dinner, and that too with a no cook pizza sauce. A quick easy one but loaded with flavors and "yammmy" as my little one says.

Things needed to make Pizza Margherita:

• A recipe for pizza dough  click here.
• No cook pizza sauce (recipe follows)
• Tomato slices
• Fresh mozzarella
• Fresh basil leaves
• Olive oil

Things needed to make no cook pizza sauce:

(adapted from finecooking.com and thekitchn.com)

• Tomato: 600 gm
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Fresh basil: 1 tbsp
• Olive oil: 2 tbsp
• Honey: 1 tbsp
• Chili flakes: 1-2 tsp (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper powder for seasoning

Steps of making no cook pizza sauce:

1. Use fully ripe tomatoes or canned tomatoes for best result. If using whole tomatoes, dice the tomatoes and discard the seeds. Chop fresh basil.

2. Put all the ingredients for sauce in a blender and blend to a smooth paste, do not add any extra water. Check seasoning and adjust accordingly. I added a teaspoon of chili flakes to spice up the sauce, it is optional.

Assembling the Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 475 F.

2. After punching down the dough, divide the dough into two equal halves. If you are using a 14 inch round pizza pan then work with one half. You can keep the other half for future use. Wrap the dough with cling film and store in refrigerator, for 2-3 days. Or you can divide the dough into 4 parts, as I did, for 4 personal 7 inch pizzas.

3. Dust the pizza pan (you can also use baking sheet) with flour or cornmeal, spread the dough on the pan evenly. Brush dough with olive oil. Cover the dough with a cling wrap and let it rise for 30 min at room temperature.

4. After 30 min the dough will rise again, spread the tomato sauce, arrange sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella and basil. As tomato releases water, after slicing the tomato shake off all the seeds and excess juice.

5. Cook the pizza in the middle rack for 15-20 min (if using a 14 inch pan), or for 10-12 min (if using a 7 inch pan) in the preheated oven. When the cheese bubbles up and few brown spots appear the pizza is done. Garnish with some fresh basil and serve hot.

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Spicy fish curry...puNti macher jhal

I definitely love to experiment with different cuisines, but when it comes to soul food, it is always fish curry and rice for me,  that's a confession of a hardcore Bong. The list of fishes cooked in a Bengali kitchen is quite long, from exotic Hilsa to small  fresh water fishes like PuNti, Mourola etc.. Yes, you may not get these fresh where I live now, but the local Asian supermarket  which I consider a treasure trove, many a times helps to resolve the craving for my soul food. It has endless varieties of both fresh as well as vacuum sealed fresh water fishes. Whenever I go to the Asian supermarket, I look around the fish section. Looking for something that  looks familiar, I  then reach out to our ever reliable  friend google to find out more about the fish and then accordingly go for it. I have not been disappointed till now.

I found this packet of small fish in the local Asian Supermarket. It was labeled 'Mud Carp' shipped from Vietnam. The fishes looked like my all time favorite puNti mach. I tried my luck and bought one packet. After cooking the fishes I was delighted. It was exactly like the puNti I know. I made some crispy fried fishes to go with steamed rice and dal and I also made a spicy dry curry.

For the crispy fry, you need to clean up the fish first. Scale the fish, cut the fins and clean the intestine (the belly part). The fishes  being small, it  does take a bit of time. After cleaning, wash the fishes well, smear with some salt and turmeric powder and keep aside for 30 min.

Heat oil (preferably mustard oil) in a deep pan or kadhai. When the oil is hot, fry the fishes. Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry till both sides are golden brown. Serve hot with some rice and dal.

I also made a spicy dry curry with these small fishes, a favorite of mine. We call it macher jhal in Bengali. It is a dry spicy curry. Macher jhal can be made in various different ways, with mustard paste, or with onion and tomato. I went for the onion-tomato way this time. And of course I used the mud carp for this. You can use any fish, carp, tilapia, swai, anchovies, cod, perch, prawns etc.

Things need to make macher jhal or spicy dry curry with fish:

• Fried small fish: 2 cups
• Onion: 3/4 cup
• Tomato: 1 large
• Coriander powder: 1 tbsp
• Red chili powder: 1-2 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Dry red chilies: 2-3
• Green chilies: 3-4
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• Mustard oil
• Fresh coriander to garnish

Steps of making macher jhal or spicy dry curry with fish:

1. In a pan heat mustard oil, when the oil is hot add dry red chilies. Add finely chopped onions and cook till evenly brown.

2. Add tomato, sprinkle little salt, cover and cook till tomatoes are done.

3. In a bowl mix turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder with few teaspoons of water. Add the spice mix. Cook till oil separates.

4. Add the fried fish, salt, sugar, green chilies, and little water (1/4 cup). Cover and cook for 5-6 min. Uncover and reduce the gravy. Sprinkle chopped fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice.

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Paneer Butter Masala

I'm back from the vacation. Had a great time with my family, enjoyed my stay in the busiest city in the US. Now it's time for some blogging.

When your  vacation plan involves too many things to  see/visit within a short span of time, you always end up feeling the need for another vacation at the end of it. Our vacation this time was one of those. And on return, you find yourself with too many chores, loads of laundry that one need to finish. Moreover, you hardly have the supplies to cook something elaborate. Usually before going for any vacation I always make sure that I have stored some fish, meat, eggs and paneer in the refrigerator, so that the need to rush to the groceries isn't there and you can put together a quick meal using these.

For my Friday dinner, I chose the easiest of them all, Paneer, and made paneer butter masala, quick, easy and yummy..

Paneer butter masala or paneer makhani is a popular North Indian dish, a perfect blend of mild spiciness and creaminess. The tomato based gravy brings a vibrant red color and tangy taste to the dish. I love to wipe off the last drop of gravy with roti or naan or bread. It is very similar to butter chicken, but much quicker as paneer is the main ingredient.

Things needed to make Paneer Butter Masala:

• Paneer: 100 gm
• Tomato: 3 large
• Garlic: 1 tbsp
• Ginger: 1 tbsp (divided)
• Green chilies: 1-2
• Mace: a floret
• Green Cardamom: 2-3
• Bay leaves: 2
• Kashmiri red chili powder: 2 tsp
• Kasuri methi: 1 tbsp
• Garam masala powder: 1tsp
• Honey: 2-3 tbsp
• Fresh cream: 4-5 tsbp
• Salt to taste
• Butter: 4-5 tbsp

Steps of making Paneer Butter Masala:

1. Cut paneer into long thin slices. For the best result use homemade paneer.

2. In a large flat pan heat butter (1/2 tbsp), as the butter melts fry the the paneer pieces till surface brown. Do not overcook the paneer. Boil water in a large deep pan with cover, add a teaspoon of salt to the water. Take it out the fried paneer and dip in hot water for 15-20 min. This helps to keep the paneer soft.

3. To prepare the gravy, cut tomatoes into quarters. Heat a tablespoon of butter in the same pan used for frying the paneer.

4. As the butter melts, add mace, bay leaves and green cardamom, cook for 1-2 min. Add the tomato and garlic, cook till the tomatoes are done. Let this cool down. Discard the bay leaves, and make a smooth puree of the tomato, strain and discard any seeds or pieces of mace.

5. Drain the paneer and keep aside.

6. In a pan or kadhai, heat 2 table spoon of butter, as the butter melts add julienned ginger and green chilies, cook for 1 min, add the tomato puree, salt, kashmiri red chili and cook over low heat for 10-12 min. If the gravy looks too thick add few tablespoons of hot water. Add honey, mix well. Add the fried paneer, kasuri methi, garam masala powder and mix gently. Add fresh cream and cook for 5 min over low heat.  Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy with some bread or roti or naan.

Paneer Butter Masala / Paneer Makhani
Serves 3
Ingredients:
Paneer: 100 gm
Tomato: 3 large
Garlic: 1 tbsp
Ginger: 1 tbsp (divided)
Green chilies: 1-2
Mace: a floret
Green Cardamom: 2-3
Bay leaves: 2
Kashmiri red chili powder: 2 tsp
Kasuri methi: 1 tbsp
Garam masala powder: 1tsp
Honey: 2-3 tbsp
Fresh cream: 4-5 tsbp
Salt to taste
Butter: 4-5 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Shallow fry the paneer and dip them in hot water.

2. In a pan heat butter, add mace, bay leaves, cardamom, tomato, garlic and cook till tomatoes are done.

3. Let cool down and make a smooth paste.

4. In a pan heat butter, add the giger, green chili, tomato puree, cook for 10-12 min.

5. Add Kashmiri red chili, honey, and salt if needed add little water.

6. Drain the fried paneer and add to the gravy, add kasuri methi, garam masala, fresh cream, cook for 5 min. Serve hot.

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Spicy egg curry...

I was not in a mood for cooking anything elaborate, but again I'm not a dal-chawal person, so made my favorite Egg Curry, the Bengali way. It is quick, easy and yummy. We call it Dim Kosha in Bengali. Hard boiled eggs in an onion and tomato based thick gravy with loads of garlic and chilies. I am always a big fan of any egg dishes, boiled, poached, fried, omelet, curries...all are welcome.

This egg curry needs only a few basic ingredients, but first thing first, to make this curry you need to make hard boiled eggs. Now what's the big deal about that? Here comes a confession, there was a time when, everytime I used to make hard boiled eggs they used to crack. And even if they didn't crack, I found it difficult to peel them smoothly. With time I found few simple techniques that make the egg job much easier. The most common reason why eggs crack is temperature, we store eggs in refrigerator and if you put the cold eggs in hot water they will definitely crack. So take a deep pan filled with cold water, dip the uncooked eggs in the pan and heat over low heat. After 5-6 min, increase the heat to medium-high and let it boil, keep it boiling for 6-8 min. Remove from heat, transfer the eggs into cold water. Crack the eggs and peel. I'm sure you will be thrilled to get perfectly done eggs without any mess. Make sure you are using good quality fresh eggs. Store eggs in the egg carton or the egg counter on the fridge with the pointed end down.

So here is the spicy egg curry (dim kosha)I made for my lunch today.

Things needed to make Egg curry:

• Hard boiled eggs: 6
• Onion: 3 cups
• Garlic: 3 tbsp
• Tomato: 2
• Cumin powder: 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 2 tsp
• Red chili powder: 2 tbsp
• Kashmiri red chili powder: 1 tsp
• Green chilies: 3-4
• Salt to taste
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Oil to cook

Steps of making Egg curry:

1. Boil eggs, peel them, smear with little salt and turmeric powder, keep aside. I like to prick the boiled eggs with a toothpick or fork, to ensure the eggs get all the flavors from the curry.
2. In a deep pan or kadhai heat a tablespoon of oil, preferably mustard oil. When the oil is hot fry the boiled eggs over high heat till the surface takes a nice brown color. Take out and keep aside.
3. In the same pan, add more oil (3 tablespoon), when the oil is hot fry the sliced onion to red. Make sure the onions are very thinly sliced.
4. As the onion takes a red color add the garlic. I like my garlic to be crushed than paste and I use my garlic crusher for this. You can use garlic paste or grated garlic whichever suits you. Mix the garlic and cook for 2-3 min.
5. Add chopped tomatoes. Discard all the seeds from the tomatoes and chop them fine. Add a pinch of salt, mix well, cover and cook for 5-6 min or till tomatoes are done.
6. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, kashmiri red chili powder and mix well. Cover and cook over low heat till oil separates.
7. Add 1/4 cup of hot water, salt and sugar as per taste and the eggs, mix well. Cover and cook for 4-5 min. Add green chilies. Serve hot with steamed rice or paratha or bread.

Spicy Egg Curry (Bengali style)

(Serves: 3-4)

Ingredients

Hard boiled eggs: 6

Onion (very thinly sliced): 3 cups

Garlic (crushed): 3 tbsp

Tomato (finely chopped, desseded): 2

Cumin powder: 2 tsp

Turmeric powder: 2 tsp

Red chili powder: 2 tbsp

Kashmiri red chili powder: 1 tsp

Green chilies: 3-4

Salt to taste

Sugar: 1 tsp

Oil to cook (preferably mustard oil)

Procedure:

1. Smear the hard boiled eggs with salt and turmeric powder, fry them and keep aside.

2. Fry the onions to red.

3. Add crushed garlic, cook for 2-3 min.

4. Add tomatoes, salt, cook till tomatoes are done.

5. Add dry spice powder, cook till oil separates.

6. Add water, egg, salt, sugar, cook for 5-6 min.

7. Add green chilies and serve hot.

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