STEAMED SWEET YOGURT (MISHTI DOI)

Mishti dahi is a delicacy for all the Bengalis.

 I have been outside Kolkata for the last 22 years and people living outside Kolkata...who've tasted it once keep craving for it. 

Around two weeks back a good friend of mine, gave me a really easy recipe for this dessert & I decided to give it go today but with few alterations of mine...& it was a great success. So dear friends...please do try it...its just delicious :)

These are the ingredients I have used...400gms of curd, 1 tin of milkmaid, 1 glass of evaporated milk, powdered sugar and a pinch of saffron ,bowl of Cashew Nuts

 This is the Hung Curd I prepared...

Procedure:-
-Prepare hung curd from 400gms of  yogurt.
-Mix the powdered sugar with this hung curd.
-Take a bowl and mix the sweetened hung curd, milk and condensed milk.
-Take another bowl and coat it with butter and pour the whole mixture...
-Cover it with a cling film and place it  inside the pressure cooker without the whistle.
-Close the lid of the cooker and steam it for half an hour.
-Lastly...cool it and put it in d refrigerator for 3 to4 hrs before serving.
-Garnish with some pistachio , cashew nut and saffron.

The end product should look like this...In Bengali we also call it BHAPA DOI !!

इस तरह दिखना चाहिए (hahaha)!!

 ~ENJOY~

Pabda Maach er Tel Jhal (Bengali Fish)

Pabda fish is a delicacy in Indian culture.....  Wikipedia: Pabda maach (Pabda ompok)

We Bengalis use 2 terms for fish curries...."jhol" and "jhal" !!

"Jhal" is prepared with a paste of mustard seeds. And "jhol" is made with cumin seeds and ginger paste (not too spicy) or we can also make it very spicy with onions, garlic, & tomatoes etc.... 

This curry is tasty & a bit spicy but you don't have to cut any vegetable for this...no onion, no tomatoes...nothing :-D It is called "Pabda-maach-er-jhal"

What you will  need is.
1/2 tsp of kalonji (nigella seeds) , 2 green chillies, 1 tsp of haldi (turmeric) powder; 1 tsp of chilli powder; Salt according to taste and some sugar-very little (optional).

Procedure:-
Coat the pabda fishes with salt, turmeric and chilly powder.
Heat some oil in a pan and fry the pabda fishes that we just coated.

Note: The oil should be really hot for frying or else the fishes might break while frying.

Keep the fishes aside.
If there isn't enough oil in the pan add some more mustard oil in the pan and heat it. Add the kalonji and green chilly.
When the seeds starts spluttering in the oil add the turmeric and chilly powder along with salt & stir them for a few seconds and add water.
Stir it well and let it boil for sometime.
Then add the fried fish to it and boil for another 5 mins.
I added 1 small spoon of sugar but it's optional...garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with hot steaming rice. It's Yummmmmy.

~Enjoy~

Stuffed ladies finger (Masala bhindi)

Hi everybody! This is my recipe for "spicy ladies finger"....hahaha I know it sounds kind of sexy :-P

Here's what I did:

First: Dry roast the following masalas (spices).... 

White til (white sesame seeds)-1 tbsp

 Peanuts

Some fenugreek seeds,

Coriander seeds,

Cumin seeds,

Cardamom- 5-6

An inch of cinnamon bark,

Cloves

Little asafoetida (a pinch)

Dry mango powder- 1 tsp

Dry red chillies (4-5)

Saunf (fennel seeds)- 1tsp

Black pepper

To the spices now add turmeric powder, salt & sugar 

Now grind all the spices that we just roasted in a grinder....Mix it with 2 tsp of  white oil and keep it aside The stuffing for the ladies finger (bhindi)  is ready now.

  

Now slit the bhindi ( ladies finger) like it's shown in the picture (from the centre vertically)  and  fill it with the stuffing of spices you have just prepared...

Then Take a pan & put some oil and start frying the stuffed ladies fingers in batches...

Cook it in slow flame so that it does not get burned and gets fried properly from all sides ( I fried them in shallow oil)

I cooked this batch of bhindi in the microwave to give you a demo that if you are too health conscious u can cook it in the microwave also. Brush the utensil (plate) with a little oil and micro it for 10 mins in High.

I would definitely say that the fried ones tasted better.

Creamy Egg Curry

This is a delicious dish that I learnt from a school friend of mine,

And I realised OMG it's so easy to make and so tasty too...So my dear friends please do try it out as it hardly takes any time...And we all love quick cooking....don't we?

Ingredients

• 5 boiled eggs- cut it into halfs, 
• 3 onions (ground into a paste)
• 5-6 green chillies - made into a paste,
• 1 tsp of ginger & garlic paste,
• 1 tsp of cumin powder,
• 1 tsp of white pepper powder,
• 1 tsp of garam masala powder,
• 1 cup of milk,
• Dried fenugreek leaves (fried/roasted) -Kasuri methi
• 4-5 pistachios.

Procedure:-

Take refined oil in a pan.

Fry the onion and chilli paste till brown, Then add 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste to it and fry it further till the oil separates and is seen on the top.

Then turn off the heat & add a cup of milk and stir well so that no lumps are formed. (temperature should be lower)

Once the milk is dissolved then turn on the heat and cook in low flame from now on.

Now add the cumin powder, pepper powder and garam masala powder. Cook it for 5 minutes

Then put the eggs into the pan upside down and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. We need all the spices to be taken up by the eggs.

Now open the lid and turn all the eggs upside down again so the yolk side is up ( sunny side up) 

At this point of time you can add some warm water (if you want more gravy)

Add salt & Sugar according to your taste.

Throughout the cooking time stir the dish very carefully so that the eggs don't break!!
Garnish it with fried fenugreek leaves and some pista on the top before serving. You can also use coriander leaves instead of fenugreek leaves if you like.

~Enjoy~ 

PS:-
 Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) that I used:

If you have any queries,  please leave a comment here or on my Facebook page.

Pakistani Chicken Curry

Hello everyone ! 

This is a recipe that I learnt from my aunt long time ago when we were in Lucknow....she was from Lahore and had some authentic dishes up her sleeve.We had learnt so much from her. I dedicate this dish in her memory. Love you Salima aunty! <3

Procedure:-

1st step: Marinate  500 gms of chicken with hung curd-100 gms, 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste, little turmeric powder, Kashmiri lal powder- 2 tbsp, salt and sugar... 

2nd step: Make a paste of garlic (10-15 pods), 10 cashews, 1 tsp of melon seeds, 10 pistachios, 2 tsp of poppy seeds....keep it aside for future use.

3rd step: Marinate the chicken for 5 hrs or overnight and keep it in the fridge.

4th step: In a pan I added ghee. You can use refined butter too. Then add whole garam masala ( black cumin seeds, cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom,clove & bay leaf,).

When they start spluttering add 3 medium sized onions which are finely ground into a paste, when it's almost done add the marinated chicken into it. Add salt and sugar according to your taste. Now fry it very well and cover it with a lid and let it cook in medium flame for almost 20 mins...no need to add water.

Now take off the lid and add the paste that we made in the first step.

If required add some Kashmiri lal powder for a reddish colour & cook till the oil starts separating.

~Enjoy~

Turn off the gas/heat and add 2 tsps of  fresh dairy cream from the top to give it the ultimate taste!!

Enjoy with naan (white flat bread)..
Hope you all will like this! 

PS:
Naan-Indian flat bread  What is naan? <<Check it out!

Paneer (cottage cheese/Tofu) & Peas Curry

This dish is popularly known as "matar paneer" (or) tofu with green peas!

Main ingredients are.....

1) Paneer or cottage cheese- 400 gms
2) Green peas or matar-150 gms
3) Tomato puree one small packet
4) onion -one big
5) ginger & garlic paste 2 tsp
6)1 tsp of garam masala powder
7) I tsp of ghee and white oil to cook.

Procedure:

First grind the onions in the mixer and keep it aside...if you are using fresh tomato then grind 5 tomatoes to a paste and keep it aside.
Then put some oil in the pan and add 1 tbsp of cumin seeds and a pinch of asafoetida..when smell starts coming add d onion paste and fry till golden brown..then add the ginger garlic paste and tomato puree and fry it further till the oil starts coming up (on the top of the pan)

Whirling the pan.....add 1 tsp each of turmeric powder and chilly powder ( preferably kashmiri mirchi for adding the colour) ......
Fry for them all together for 1 min and add the green peas to the pan.
Then add 2 cups of water...let it boil and let the consistency become a bit thicker...
When it's a bit thicker then add the cottage cheese (paneer/tofu) pieces...let the curry and the paneer boil for another 1 min...before putting the whole thing in the serving dish add garam masala and ghee from top and stir well...add sugar and salt according to your taste buds.

Tips....(Optional) you can also fry the paneer or cottage cheese before adding them to the tomato paste...garnishing with coriander leaves.

                                                                  ~Enjoy~

PS:-

This is the kashmiri mirch i used-

This is paneer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paneer

This is garam masala:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garam_masala

Chaal Potol( rice parwar)

                                  What is this dish about? ....Potol/parwal- Trichosanthes dioica

These are the main ingredients of this dish.you have to cut it into half and fry it properly and keep it aside.

        

                  

Other ingredients which are required .... Handful of gobindobhog rice or small grain rice, 2 onions, one big tomato, bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.,haldi(turmeric) and Mirchi powder according to your taste , little cashew and raisin, & white oil and 1 tsp of ghee.

Procedure.....fry the rice and potol and keep it aside. Then in oil add 2 bay leafs and fry the onions brown add haldi powder , 1 tsp of chilly powder and 1 tsp each of dhania(corriender) and jeera (cumin)powder. Then add the tomato pieces and fry further. Then addsome sugar   and   Salt accordingly . When the paste is almost done add the fried rice and add 2 cups of boiled water. Cover the pan. When almost done add the fried parwal   and cook further till it gets little dried up. Lastly add all d grinded garammasala with 1 tsp of ghee. From top add fried cashew and raisins.

It should look like this... Enjoy this with rice , nun or roti😀

Omurice with an Indian touch

 Hey guys!! As you already know that I had made omurice before (the authentic Japanese omollette rice meal) here: http://aspectflife.blogspot.in/2014/05/omurice.html

I felt like making the indian version of omurice this time...with chicken kheema.

This is what I did:-

1.Take some oil in a pan & fry 3-4 onions for 10 mins.

2.Then add some garlic cloves diced and crushed ginger & fry it furthur

3.Add fresh tomato paste made from 5 tomatoes. Cook it until the old separates and the tomato has a thicker consistency.

4.Take 250gms of chicken kheema (or) ground meat (I have used kheema instead of diced chicken pieces). 

5.Add a bowl of green peas (frozen/fresh)  and the kheema to the pan and cook until the paste is a thick gravy & less watery.

6.Meanwhile as that is getting cooked. Prepare an egg batter from 4 eggs in a bowl & keep it aside.

7.Keep this chicken filling ready along with some boiled rice.

8.Take a pan, add some butter and start by putting the cooked rice & the chicken filling.

9.Add 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup.

10.Add chilli sauce and soya sauce to to add flavour.

11. Take another pan and add vegetable oil.

12. After the oil is hot, pour the egg batter into the pan ( how much ever covers the pan) 

13. Cook it nice and creamy. Don't worry it will not be uncercooked. It should look something like this.

14. Then add the chicken and rice filling that we prepared before in the centre of the omollette. And wrap from both sides.

15. After wrapping cover the pan with a plate and and turn over the pan. 

It's done! Top it off with some tomato ketchup. And serve it hot!

                    ^_^ Please do try it! ~ENJOY~

Palak(Spinach) chicken

 Hi friends!!

Recently I posted about how to make Anda palak (spinach with egg). I had quite a lot of spinach curry/ spinach paste left over from that dish. So I thought why to waste a so much spinach! & decided to put it to good use...

This is what I did :

I took 500 gms of boneless chicken . Marinated it with hung curd salt and paprika powder for 1 hr. Took a pan added 2 tbsp of butter and fried these marinated chicken with few flakes of garlic chopped nicely. Cooked on slow flame till oil separates. Approximately about 30 mins.. Then added the leftover spinach paste and it's done. 

I didn't add further onion or ginger garlic paste as it already had enough when I prepared the egg spinach. While serving I added 2-3 tsp of fresh Dairy cream.

Its tastes great if eaten with naan, roti or paratha (Indian flattened bread)

                      ~Enjoy~

Chocoholic Mocha Surprise

Ingredients:-

Milk, Nescafé coffee powder, sugar (or diet sugar) chocolate powder, vanilla icecream & ice cubes.

Procedure:-

Shake all the ingredients above really well in the shaker (the Nescafé sipper in the pic) And shake your waist while mixing all these ingredients just like how the actress does it in the advertisement. 

Now pour it in nice long glasses (as there will be a lot of foam) 

Just before serving add 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream on top of each coffee glass.& it's done!!

^_^ Trust me it's yummy in this scorching heat ! 

                      ~Enjoy~

Eggs in ; Spinach(andapalak)

Ingredients: 

-4 bundles of spinach

-1 bundle of corriander

-2 tbsp of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves )

-4-5 green chillies

-Boiled eggs

-one onion chopped

-1tbsp of ginger-garlic paste

-A pinch of garam masala powder

-1 tsp of ghee and salt according to your taste.  

Method: Boil the spinach, corriander and green chilly . Then add just a small cup of water to it as the leaves itself contain a lot of water in them. (If you want you can also Boil the eggs along with these just to save gas...;-)

Put these aside and let it cool for sometime. Meanwhile fry the eggs and keep them aside. Ater they cool down to room temparature churn these in the mixer grinder and make it into a paste.

Take a separate pan add 1 tbsp of ghee or butter and fry chopped onion and gingergarlic paste ...when the colour of onion changes add kasuri methi ..now add the paste and let it boil till the required consistency is acquired..lastly add the garammasala. Then add the fried eggs in the end. Serve it with roti, naan or paratha. (Indian bread)

~Enjoy.🍀

If you have any questions or any queries. Please leave it in the comment box or on my Facebook page.