How to describe a true Bangali? Everyone would have a different perspective. The knack towards art and culture. Glorifying the Bong heroes. The fight over East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. The love for Uttam Kumar. Whatever they say, nobody can deny the fact that we Bengalis are fond of food, be that the street food from Dalhousie Square, the puchka of Vivekananda park, the mach bhaat (fish and rice) in a lazy afternoon or the rasogolla and the misti doi (sweet yogurt) from K.C. Das.
Warm white rice with a generous dollop of butter and mashed potatoes with a omelette or rather a mumlet (that’s what we call omelet) as breakfast before going to school is the staple diet for every growing Bong child.

However far we go, the smell of fried onions with boiled potato, the very Bengali version of the English mashed potato will drive the Bong back home.

Alu chokha, as it is so fondly called is an easy way of putting up a Bong delicacy. A disclaimer to those who are on diet, this recipe is all about taste and carbs.

Serves 2
Preparation time:  5 mins
Cooking time: 7 min

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
3-4 dry red chillies, cut to small pieces
1 tablespoon mustard oil
Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Boil the potatoes well
• Mash those with a masher, fork or just with your fingers
• Heat the oil  in a wok or frying pan, throw in the onions and dry red chillies and fry till the onions are caramelized
• Add the potatoes, season with salt
• Toss for a minute
• Serve it with warm rice with butter or ghee

Hot Tips – You can also put a little bit of salt while boiling the potatoes, and while boiling make sure the potatoes don’t get over boiled and turns gooey.

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When I was young I have seen my mom and grandmother cook every bit and pieces of vegetables, starting from the stems of some plants growing in the back yard to the roots of others. Not to miss the peels of few vegetables, the gourd being in the top of the list.

Chhechki, as this preparation is popularly known in Bengal is a boiled down version of stir fries. Chechki is a very authentic Bengali recipe and is made from different vegetables – from radish to beet and carrots and from stems of plantain plants to pumpkin. This chechki  that I prepared a couple of days ago was with gourd peels with a subtle concoction of spices – whole mustard and poppy to titillate your taste buds. Peels for food may sound a bit weird, but a stir fry of juliened gourd peels miraculously tastes like elixir.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size potato
• Peel of 1 gourd
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 2/3 chili
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 – 3 tablespoon mustard oil or oil of choice
• 7 – 8 bori (vodi)
• ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Julienne the gourd peels and chop the potato in to thin 1” size pieces
• Heat little oil in a wok and fry the boris till they turn slightly brownish, keep aside
• Pour in rest of the oil in the wok, throw in the mustard seeds
• Add the gourd peels and potato as the mustard seeds start spluttering
• Add salt, turmeric powder and chili. Cook till the vegetables are half done
• Put in the poppy seeds and cook till the veggies are fully cooked
• Take out of flame and garnish with the fried bodis
• Serve hot with warm rice

Hot Tips – Chhechki is mainly served with warm rice as the first side dish during lunch.

Further Reading – Chanchra, Kacha Kalar Kofta

Kolkata is raging with heat waves. Not a drop of rain since a little shower last week. The mercury is rising every day, and it has become quite a tough job to keep the body cool. Choosing a meal that would keep the body in good health and also pamper your taste buds is definitely hard.

A healthy diet is very important to keep up with this heat, and to make the food least spicy is another crucial step. Alike winter summers to have its own set of vegetables flooding the markets. I love the small raw pumpkins during this time of the year. The only preparation I have ever tasted with green pumpkin though is this one. The fresh and green taste of the cilantros along with the softness of the green pumpkin makes this simple preparation a good treat. This particular recipe was inherited by mom from her mom.

If you know any other recipes of raw pumpkin please do let us know.

Ingredients:

• Raw Pumpkin (Kacha Kumro): 1 medium size, 300-400gms approx
• Potatoes (Alu): 2/3, cut into 2” squares
• Coriander leaf (Dhane pata):
• Nigella (Kalo jeera): 1 teaspoon
• Ginger paste (Ada bata): 1 ½ tablespoon
• Turmeric powder (Halud guro): ½ teaspoon
• Green chili (Kancha lanka): 3/ 4
• Mustard oil (Sarser tel): 2 ½ tablespoon
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Cut the pumpkin in 2” size square without peeling the coat
• Heat oil in a wok, and throw in the nigella seeds
• Add the potatoes and green pumpkin, cook covered without pouring water, add salt
• Once the pumpkin is half cooked put turmeric powder, ginger paste and the coriander paste
• Cook uncovered, pour some water if required
• Take out of flame and serve hot with rice

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This is a guest post by Soma Chowdhury. She is pursuing her MS from Louisiana State University. This post talks about a Bengali recipe, albeit with a twist from Soma. We thank her for the contributing here. Today being International Women’s Day, we dedicate today’s post to all our women readers.

Men, your turn will come too.

Women's Day

In the United States, almost everything is available throughout the year. Very few things are seasonal. I remember my Mom waiting for winter when she had a greater choice of vegetables to cook.

Back in India, winter is so colorful with lots of greens, oranges, reds and many more. The cauliflowers, cabbages, new baby potatoes, carrots, ripe-juicy oranges used to taste extra good during winter. During my childhood all these were only ones available during winter in my small town (though you can find them in the vegetable market anytime of the year now but they don’t taste as fresh as the winter time).

I cooked new baby potatoes as a winter vegetable for the monthly mingle as I love these potatoes. They taste so good, even you can eat them boiled with only salt and pepper sprinkled on them. There are many recipes on dum aloo in India; I think every household has their own recipe.

My Mom cooks several kinds too. In Bengali culture, anything cooked with onion or garlic becomes “non-veg”, so there are a lot of recipes without them and they are considered to be “complete veg” or “niramish”. It might sound a little strange, but that’s how it is.

This is my own recipe, modified from my mom’s recipes. My mother used to cook “niramish alur dom” (vegetarian potato curry) on Saturdays (as we ate veg on every Saturday) or during some religious festivals. Hope you will like the humble yet tasty recipe. The spices are approximate, you can modify them according to your taste.

What you need:

1. 2 lbs baby potato, boiled and peeled
2. One big, ripe tomato chopped
3. One/two tablespoon of yogurt (depending on how sour you want it)
4. Ginger/cumin/coriander (GCC) paste two tablespoon
5. Red chili powder (add according to taste)
6. Salt
7. Green peas (half a cup)
8. Few green chilies
9. Oil
10. One teaspoon turmeric
11. One teaspoon whole cumin seeds
12. A pinch of garam masala (optional)
13. A handful of cilantro leaves
14. One cup of water

Natun Alur Dom

How to cook Natun Alur Dom

1. Apply salt and turmeric powder to the cooked potatoes. Heat oil in a pan and fry the potatoes until the outside is a little brownish. Don’t overcook them, they will start breaking. Remove them from the oil.
2. In the remaining oil, add the cumin seeds and let them splutter.
3. Add the GCC paste, turmeric and chili powder, sauté for few minutes and then add the chopped tomatoes. Sauté until the tomatoes are completely mushy and the spice paste starts coming out of the pan.
4. Add luke-warm water and salt and boil until the tomato loses its raw taste.
5. Let the gravy thicken and then add the potatoes. Mix the potato with the gravy. Again, do not mix them vigorously, then might break.
6. Add the green peas, garam masala and chopped cilantro.
7. Cover for few minutes and serve hot with puri or chapattis. It tastes better the next day as the potatoes absorb the flavor from the gravy.

Further Reading: Potato recipes at Cook Like a Bong – Chal diye Alur Dom, Alu Posto, Alu Bhindi Bhaja

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If you’re a bachelor, chances are that you like spending the minimum amount of time in the kitchen. If that’s the case, this paneer recipe is just for you. [Here’re some more quick Indian recipes - Microwave Fried rice and Breakfast with egg series].

For this preparation, I bought fresh paneer from sweet shop. You can also use the packaged paneer or even try making some paneer (chana, chenna) at home.

Easy way of making Paneer at home

Boil a liter of milk, and pour 4 tablespoons of lime juice in it. Separate the curd from the whey. Put the curd in a soft cloth, preferably muslin and drain out the excess water.

While the cheese is inside the cloth, place it over a perforated metal can or box and place a heavy weight over it so that the cheese gets firmer and any extra water gets drained out. The more you press it, the harder it becomes.

How to make Paneer Bhurji (Paneer Jhuri Bhaja)

Ingredients:

• Indian cheese (paneer): 300gms
• Potato (Aalu): 2 medium sizes
• Green peas (Matar, Mator shuti): ½ cup
• Tomato (Tamatar): 1 small, coarsely chopped
• Turmeric powder (Haldi Powder, Halud guro): ½ teaspoon
• Chili powder (Lal Mirch Powder, Lal lankar guro): ¾ teaspoon
• Green chili (Hari Mirch, Kancha lanka): 2 -3 (optional)
• Ginger paste (Adrakh paste, Ada bata): 1 tablespoon
• Sunflower oil (Sada tel): 3 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Slice the potatoes into thin two inch long pieces, wash and drain out the water
• Grate the paneer in a grater. Alternately if you are using fresh curd cheese then just press with your palm to make it fluffy
• Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, and throw in the potatoes
• As the potatoes get half cooked, add all the spices, tomato, peas and mix well
• Cook for 2-3 mins more and pour in the grated paneer
• Mix and cook for 2-3min more
• Take out of flame and serve with roti, paratha or rice and dal

How to make Paneer Bhurji in Microwave

You can make the same paneer bhurji in microwave as well. Put in 2 tablespoons of oil and potatoes and cook covered for 4 min in microwave high (100%). Mix all the spices, tomato, peas and cook uncovered in microwave high for 2mins. Add the grated paneer and cook uncovered in microwave high for 3 more minutes.

Further Reading – Bengali Style Matar Paneer, How to make paneer

Personal Note: Kalyan had been doing a lot of cooking these days. Thanks to his cook, who has gone back to his native for a fortnight, or probably a little more. Office, cooking, phone calls from home and time for his girl friend – takes away a lot of time, leaving almost nothing for his own personal leisure. So, I thought of suggesting him a quick and easy recipe for dinner. I could have done it just by getting him a call or personal mail. But, I’m sure there are hundreds of bachelors or even spinsters who frantically search for some quick and easy recipes for beginners.

You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or  Subscribe in a reader

Diwali is just round the corner, and we are counting on the days for the D-day. To me Diwali means a lot of crackers, the smell of burnt fireworks around, new clothes and above all a family get together along with a very heavy dinner. I am sure you all have almost the same feeling about this day. Diwali is more of a North Indian festival, celebrated in most parts of the Northern and Western states of the country. Sourthern parts of the country also celebrate this day to mark the empowering of Lord Krishna over the demon Narakasura. Here in Bengal, Diwali is differently termed and Kali Puja is held during this time of the year. Some people also celebrate this day by worshipping Lakshmi and Ganesh. Durga Puja has gone passed a few weeks back, and Kali Puja marks the end of Hindu festivities for the year.

Goddess Kali is another incarnation of the goddess Durga. According to Hindu mythology, she is the goddess of war. Kali is associated with corpses and war. The most primitive mention of the goddess dates back to the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas. She is called as Goddess Ratri (night in Bengali), and the Veda regards Ratri as the supreme force in the universe. The goddess is considered to have been born from the brow of Devi Durga during one of the wars with the demons. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved in the killing spree that she got carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment, and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common image of Kali shows her in her mêlée mood, standing with one foot on Shiva’s chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out.

The darkness of the new moon night brings about a different spell to the worshipping of the goddess. Kali Puja is generally held at night and continues till dawn. Above all these worship, to me the home coming of all the family members and enjoying themselves together is what matters most. It is the time of celebration. I had been busy all weekend making diyas to gift to my friends and relatives. Here are some of the samples, more of diya making in the following posts.

Today I prepared this alu dum and thought it would just be right choice to put up in our blog for the upcoming festivals. I used baby potatoes for this, you are unable to get those, don’t worry use the large sized potatoes cut into quarters.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

• Peel off the potatoes and half boil them
• Grind the soaked rice to a rough paste
• Heat oil in a wok and fry the boiled potatoes till the upper layer changes color
• Take the potatoes out of flame and keep aside
• In the left out oil put in the whole cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, bay leaf, sugar and sauté
• Put in the potatoes and mix well with the whole spices
• In a small bowl assemble cumin powder, chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger paste and add 3-4 tablespoons of water to make a runny paste, add this to the potatoes  along with the grinded rice and stir well to mix the spices well with the potatoes
• Sprinkle salt and add 11/2 -2 cups of water and cook covered for 8-10 mins, or till the potatoes are cooked entirely
• Pour the clarified butter and garam masala and take out of flame
• Serve hot with paratha or roti

Further Reading – Baby Potato Curry, Bong Mom’s Dum Alu

Hot Tips –  Dum aloo goes best with luchi in a fine Sunday morning.

Sending the recipe To Priya’s event Diwali 2009 Contest and Diwali Dhamaka hosted by Purva in her blog.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or  Subscribe in a reader

The herbal concoction of the seeds is also beneficial in treating all kinds of nervous disorders. Apart from consuming poppy seeds in its raw form or toasted on bagels and sweet breads, a paste made from the seeds can be used as a poultice in obtaining relief from swellings and joint pains.  Finely ground powder made from poppy seeds can also be consumed to treat insomnia and diarrhea. Apart from adding flavor to food, poppy fields also present an added advantage of providing health benefits to the human body. It also supplies essential enzymes and fatty acids as a form of nutrition. In ancient days, athletes would consume or blend of poppy seeds with honey entwined to ensure strength and good health. The oil derived from poppy seeds is used in various cosmetic preparations for the head and skin as balms and conditioners.

Ingredients:

Potato (Alu): 4 medium sizes

Poppy seeds (Posto): 3 tablespoons

Nigella seeds (Kalo jeera): 1 teaspoon

Green chili (kancha lanka): 3

Turmeric powder (Halud guro): ½ teaspoon

Mustard oil (Sarser tel): 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Make a soft fine paste of the poppy seeds and keep aside
• Cut the potatoes into small square pieces
• Heat oil in a wok over low flame, add the nigella seeds
• Throw in the potatoes along with the turmeric powder, green chilies and salt
• Pour in about a cup of water and let the potatoes get half cooked
• Add the poppy seed paste and cook till the potatoes are well cooked
• Pour in water if necessary

Take out of flame and serve with rice or chapattis.

Check for more updates on this blog, till then Happy Cooking and Happy Eating

After coming to Bangalore I had never seen banana flowers sold in the market. The last time when I went to my nearby supermarket, there was a whole rack of banana flowers being sold. I just couldn’t help myself and brought one of them back home. My mom cooks it in many ways. I started thinking of which one would be most simple and easy to cook. She puts in gram seeds (chola), even small pakoras made of lentils. But due to lack of time, I cooked it with potato and nothing else. As you all know Bengalis just can’t live without potatoes, so that was a simple choice for me.

The preparation turned out petty well and all my friends who came home that day had only one thing to say, “You made me remember my mom”. I remembered watching Ratatouille, when the food critic too remembered his mom having had the dish. That is always the best part of cooking an authentic dish from Bengal.

Mocha (Banana flower)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Banana Flower (Mocha): 1 medium size

Potato (Alu): 2 medium sizes

Turmeric Powder (Halud Guro): ½ teaspoon

Chili Powder (Lanka Guro): 1 teaspoon

Cumin Powder (Jeera Guro): 1 teaspoon

Garam Masala Powder: ½ teaspoon

Clarified Butter (Ghee): 1 teaspoon

Mustard oil (Sarser Tel): 1 tablespoon

Preparation:

• Take out each flower from the inflorescence and cut off the anther from it.
• Chop the flowers very finely
• Put all the chopped flowers in a deep pan and pour in water till it is fully under water
• Get it to boil and drain of the water, keep the chopped flowers aside.
• Heat the oil in a wok and fry the potatoes till tender. Take out the potatoes and keep separately.
• To the left over oil add the spices except ghee and garam masala, fry for 30 seconds.
• Throw in the boiled flowers and mix the spices well with it.
• Add the potatoes and pour in some water for the vegetables to get cooked constantly.
• Simmer the flame and stir it often so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Add extra water if it is not cooked properly
• Just before taking it out of the flame sprinkle garam masala powder and ghee; mix well.

You can add some soaked gram seeds, frying them along with the potatoes, also pakoras made of lentils is a good addition to this preparation. Click on pakoras to know how to make them. Mochar tarkari tastes best with steamed rice.

Look for more update on this blog, till the Happy Cooking and Happy Eating.

Sending this to Lore’s Original Recipes – Monthly Round-Up Event.

And, here it goes to Herbs and Flowers – Banana Blossom event hosted by SaffromStreaks and the brainchild of PJ of  Seduce Your Taste Bud.

Everyday after coming back from office, it’s always a pain staking job to think what to cook for dinner. Last night I was only left out with a piece of pumpkin and some potatoes. In my flat I don’t have a mixer grinder so couldn’t think of experimenting any other curries with that pumpkin. I took to cooking a simple potato pumpkin curry.

This preparation uses a masala that is a widely used spice in Bengali cuisine. As the name suggests (“Five Spices”), panch phoron is a combination of 5 spices, namely mustard seeds (sarse), fennel (mouri), nigella (kalo jeera), cumin (jeera) and fenugreek seeds (methi), you canknow more at Wiki.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin (Kumro): 100gms
• Potato (Alu): 2 medium sizes
• Onion (Peyaj): 1 small
• Green chili (Kacha Lanka): 2
• Turmeric powder (Halud Guro): ½ teaspoon
• Mustard oil (Sarser Tel): 1 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

• Heat the oil in a wok
• Sauté the onions in the heated oil and throw in the panch phoron
• Stir for 30 seconds before adding the vegetables
• Put in turmeric powder, salt and the chilies
• Stir for 2 -3 minutes, and add ½ cup of water for the vegetables to get cooked properly
• As the vegetables get cooked properly, take out from flame and serve with roti, paratha or rice

Check for more updates on this blog, till then Happy Cooking and Happy Eating

I just could not leave out her request and so thought of posting this dish for her.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

String beans (Barboti): 100gms

Potato (Aalu): 4 medium sizes

Nigella seeds(Kalo jeera): ½ teaspoon

Mustard oil (Sarser Tel): 1 teaspoon

Turmeric Powder (Halud Guro): ½ teaspoon

Green Chili (Kancha Lanka): 2

Preparation:

• Slice the strings beans into one inch sizes and the potato into small square pieces
• Take oil in a wok and let it heat
• Throw in the nigella seeds as the oil gets heated
• Add the potatoes and strings beans along with the turmeric powder and salt
• Toss the vegetables for a minute so that the oil and spices get mixed
• Fry for 2-3 minutes
• Pour in 1 cup of water and let it cook with stirring twice or thrice
• As the vegetables get cooked take out of flame

Serve with roti, paratha or with steamed rice. It tastes good with anything. Check for more updates here on this blog, till then Happy Cooking, Happy Eating.

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