Panch Misali Chorchori - Bengali Mixed Vegetable Medley

Our Sunday lunches are usually both simple and complex at the same time. I try to do something closer to homey food. Something either I have grown up with or probably something closer to the MIL's cooking. Winter has been really hard this year and this weekend we wanted something simple and satisfying. I cooked a light Dal, some fish and then this chorchori. A chorchori is the Bengali word for a mishmash or medley of vegetables, both frugal and healthy at the same time.

The general concept with these dishes is to get a balanced palate of recipes. There really are no rules with Panch (5) mishali (mixed) medley. So I made mine with what I had available and added some boris (dried lentil nuggets) that my aunt had brought with her this time round from Kolkatta. These work much like croutons and add crunch to a recipe but are much more nutritious. I also added about 1 cup of cauliflower stems and tender leaves along with the cauliflower and was very pleased to see the results.

The kids are growing up, every time I stop and focus they surprise me with their latest milestone. Aadi is learning about money in school and informed me looking at a nickel that the picture was Jefferson's who lived in Monticello. Even when he makes such pronouncements, it sometimes is rather hard for us to keep a straight face. He also has been trying to play hangiman with us (this is his version of Hangman) learnt of course in an attempt to keep up with big sis!

Panch Mishali Chorchori - Bengali Mixed Vegetable Medley

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

6 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon panch phoron (Bengali 5-spice mix)

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 medium sized eggplant, cut into small pieces (skin on)

3 taros (arbi or kochu), peeled and diced

1 cup chopped cauliflower

1 cup of tender cauliflower, stalks and leaves

1/2 cup green peas (frozen)

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

2-3 dried red chilies

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup oil (this is used for frying the boris, not used completely)

1/2 cup boris

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the mustard oil and add the panchphoron and wait till the seeds crackle. Add the ginger and the eggplants and cover and cook for 5 minutes.

2. Remove the cover, at this point the eggplants should be sweaty and fairly soft.

3. Add in the taro and cover and cook for three minutes.

4. Add in the cauliflower, cauliflower stalks, green peas, turmeric, salt and the red chili powder and stir well.

5. Mix in the dried red chilies and the water and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes.

6. In the meantime heat the plain oil and add the boris and fry till crisp.

7. Stir in the boris and the cilantro if using and mix well.

Bengali Stir fried carrots and beans with caramelized onions

This past weekend was wonderful, we had friends over, sneaking in the last spurt of summer before school and the somewhat faster pace of things hit. What was especially fun was, that most of the food with the exception of some shrimp and tofu were all from the backyard. The menu was simple -fresh cucumber dip, a tomato eggplant and mushroom curry, lentils with spinach, grilled shrimp (in a chili mint marinade) and tofu (soy honey glaze and this stir fry. For whatever reason, I have not done a lot with beans, just not too sure why, but this year we seem to have a bean bonanza.

This simple saute is colorful and would complement almost all meals. What is nice is that people picked on it just by itself like a warm salad. This recipe is close to a weeknight dish that my mother often made, except she used potatoes instead of the turnips and cut the vegetables smaller. I have used a combination of the yellow wax beans and the green beans to offer a nice contrast of colors.

Stir fried carrots, turnips and beans with caramelized onions

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

3 tablespoons oil (mustard or olive)

1 teaspoon panch phoron (Bengali 5-spice mixture)

1 red onion, cut into a fine dice

2 pods garlic, minced

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

2 turnips, peels and cut lengthwise into 1-inch pieces

3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into length wise pieces

2 pounds green and yellow beans, trimmed and either left whole or cut into halves

(not the intent here is to have some symmetry between the vegetables in terms of sizes)

2 green finger chillies, trimmed and slit

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Method of preparation

1. Heat the oil and add in the panch-phoron and wait for the seeds to crackle.

2. Add in the onion, garlic and ginger and reduce the heat and cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring the mixture frequently. At this point the onions should wilt, soften and begin to turn softly golden in the edges.

3. Add in the turnips and the carrots and mix well and cover for 5 minutes.

4. Add in the beans, chillies, sugar and salt and mix well. Cover the mixture and cook on low for another 10 minutes, the vegetables should be reasonably soft but retain just a little crunch.

5. Check the seasonings and stir in the lemon juice and serve.

Almost bengali tomato chutney...

Well, if people feel that they are getting deluged with recipes and blog posts, there is actually a reason. I am actually grounded from several things, including work all because of my bum shoulder... This is a crazy problem that I have been dealing with for the past over 2 years and now it has come to a head - I have 101 restrictions, including having to leave work. Is cooking and bloggin allowed, dunno about blogging -part of the don't ask don't tell policy... Well until the dr finds out, shall catch up on all those post that I wanted too...

Today as a part of class, I made this really lovely tomato chutney, well, what I really love about was,//with /really low effort, it tasted much like my mom's...

I offered it with papads, bengali wedding style and what is rare is later, I feasted on the chutney with roasted (er microwaved papads)...

So, how did I make this,

Bengali Tomato Chutney

Cook Time: 25 minutes
Makes 1 cup chutney

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
1.5 teaspoons panch phoron
1 tablespoon diced ginger
1-2 dried red chili
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 small can diced tomato
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Papads or pappadums for serving

Method of Preparations

1. Heat the oil and add the panch phoron and wait till the mixture crackles.
2. Add in the ginger and the red chili and saute lightly.
3. Add in the salt and the canned tomato mixture.
4. Add in the raisins and the sugar and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, till the mixture is thick and fairly sticky.
5. While the chutney is cooking, cook the papads by microwaving on  for 1.5 minutes.
6. Cool the chutney slightly and serve with the papads.

Just in time - Cumin Garlic Rice

Contrary to what we might believe, even on a busy night a simple homey meal, cheers and comforts like nothing else.

I tend to reach out for my favorite spices, my parent grains and work by simle instinct. Simple basic flavors in my world are - cumin, olive oil, clarified butter (just a drizzle), steaming white basmati. The meal pretty much cooks by itself while I shower.

A simple meal of rice and lentils never fails to cheer or revive, Dal- Bhaat (bengali) as I say it or Dal Chawal (Hindi) as my husband know it is the eternal simple basic food that we know and take for granted - just like water, home, love and safety.

The past week has brought us sad news with all the devastation in Haiti. Even when this little island nation was not part of one's consciousness, you cannot help realize that world is a sadder place this week. I met a new co-worker who had lost a lot of family and cannot reach anyone. The instant simple impact of loss was so sudden and real.

A calm meal like this is probably just perfect on any occasion.

Garlic Cumin Rice

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 cup white basmati rice, washed and drained
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
1/2 cup green peas (frozen)
1/2 cup frozen corn

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and the ghee and add the cumin seeds and the garlic.
2. Let this cook for 1-2 minutes until your senses are enveloped in the wonderful scent of toasted cumin and garlic.
3. Add the red chili powder and the rice and mix through.
4. Gently stir in the water and green peas and the corn.
5. Bring to a simmer and cover and cook for 16-17 minutes.
6. At this point the water should have evaporates, the rice should have absorbed all of the water and the peas and corn should be clinging around the surface.
7. Leave the rice on the heat for about 10 minutes.
8. Fluff the rice gently and to mix in the flavors and serve.

Red Lentils with Swiss Chard and Nigella seeds

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

3/4 cup red lentils (masuur dal)
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)
1 cup chopped swiss chard
1 tablespoon ghee
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils, water, turmeric, salt, ginger, swiss chard in a pot and cook for 15-20 minutes.
2. The lentils soften, turn yellow and then melt into a beautiful mush, yellow with soft flecks of green.
3. Heat the ghee and add the nigella seeds and cumin seeds and cook till the seeds sizzle.
4. Pour over the lentils and serve with the rice as desired.

Cauliflower Lentils and Turkey Chops

I had a really nice thanksgiving. Exhausting but just perfect, I woke up in the morning and cooked till I practically dropped, the myriad flavors washing away some of the annoyance that I have been feeling over the past few days - the flavors and colors quietly healing my senses. I had woken up in the morning wondering whether I could give thanks with the usual gusto and gradually as I basted the turkey, mashed the potatoes, chopped the zucchini, seasoned the stuffing a pure feeling of comfort emerged. I looked at the simple peace of my household - Dad and the two children running around and was deeply overwhelmed with gratitude. This grew and filled me with pure joy as our friends arrived. Everyone ate, talked and drank. I had a large constituency staying overnight who wanted Indian food before they left - so this is where some of the leftover turkey was used. We had this with rice and creamy lentils with cauliflower.

Turkey Chops or Cutlets

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Makes 25 medium sized cutlets

Ingredients

2-3 medium sized russet potatoes boiled and peeled
2 cups leftover turkey meat (no skin)
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon amchur powder
2-3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup water
Plain breadcrumbs
Oil for frying

Method of Preparation

1. Mash the potatoes in a bowl and set aside
2. Pulse the turkey in a food processor.
3. Mix the turkey with the potatoes, green chillies, red chili powder, salt, amchur powder, cilantro into a smooth mixture.
4. Shape into medium sized balls and flatten slightly.
5. Mix the flour with the water into a thick paste.
6. Dip the balls into the flour paste and then coat with breadcrumbs.
7. After you have completed coating all the balls, place in a freezer for 5-10 minutes.
8. Heat the oil and fry the cutlets till golden brown.


Moong Lentils with cauliflower

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 -30 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 cup yellow moong dal
1 teaspoon turmeric
1teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups water
1 cup cauliflower floretts
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils, turmeric, salt and sugar and the water in a pressure cooker.
2. Add in the onion and cook for 10 minutes under pressure.

3. Cool and whip till smooth.

4. Add in the cauliflower and milk and simmer for another 10 minutes.

5. Mix in the butter and cilantro and enjoy with rice.

Just realized that Deepta has essentially started teaching herself piano, she plays the ode to joy pretty well, OMG- time for another activity!

A simple fish curry

It has been busy the past few weeks with all kinds of things going on. I have also been somewhat under weather - nasty cough and flu. I get particularly sad when this extends to the weekends.

Folks, some weeks I live for the weekends, it really is rough when I hack and cough into my precious saturday sleeping.

I made a simple fish curry earlier in the week, with acorn squash the only little time I spent was in browning the onions.

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 -2 green chillies, slit
1 cup finely cubed acrorn squash
1 teaspoon salt
1 lbs fish (I used tilapia - rubbed in turmeric and salt)
1 lemon
1/3 cup water
1-2 teaspoons cilantro

Method of preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin and nigella seeds.
2. Add in the ginger and the onion and cook on medium heat stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until the onion is soft, wilted and nicely golden on the edges.
3. Stir in the cumin powder, coriander powder, chilies and the fish in a single layer and cook for 2-3 mintues.
4. Turn once, cut the lemon, lemon the seeds and squeeze the lime juice and add the water and simmer for about 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the cilantro and eat with rice.


In the meantime, we went to watch the NYC marathon, yes, dear brother was running! Kids did the subway - as you can see very excited.

Fall brightens the sky and the view and we look on to another week.

Simply Wonderful Chickpeas

It is not very often you get lucky by sheer chance. This week is begining to get a little hectic, I was planning to make sweets to take over to Albany, this weekend. We are going up to be with my husband's family and celebrate Diwali as well as meet up with the new baby in the family. This is becoming a little crazier, since they are doing Diwali at Aadi's school, a lovely idea except I am the mommy who is supposed to bring traditional treats.

I have been making a lot of khoya (evaporated solid milk) which is the base for almonst everything. In the midst of this, I had a pressure cooker on the stove cooking chickpeas. Well, this time round the pressure cooked for at least 15 minutes longer that usual - surprise, the resulting soft, melt in your mouth creamy chickpeas were too die for. I have cooked other beans such as kidney beans to such softness, but chickpeas retain a nice earthy bite even when cooked to extra softness.

It has been a while before I have been so thrilled with the results of a recipe that I cooked up in three basic steps and certainly hope that I can replicate again.

Simply Wonderful Chickpeas

Cook Time: 1 hour (mostly pressure-cooking the chickpeas)

Serves: 4

Ingredients

3/4 cup white chickpeas

4 cups of water

1.5 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 -2 whole red chillies crushed

Lots of fresh lemon or lime juice

1/3 cup of chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Cook the chickpeas in a pressure cooker for a good 45 minutes, with the water, salt and turmeric.

2. Cool the chickpeas, remove the lid add the ginger, garlic and tomatoes and cook till all the water has evaporated (this really should not take long).

3. Heat the oil add the cumin and mustard and wait till the mustard pops add in the whole chilies and cook for 20 seconds. Pour this over the chickpeas.

4. Add in the lemon juice and stir in the chopped cilantro.

Pui Chingri Chorchori - Malabar Spinach and vegetable medley with Shrimps

Eastern India where I grew up incorporates a variety of greens and vegetable medleys in the cooking. Actually, now that I think about it, there are several regional combinations of vegetables across India. These combinations other than providing a good way to balance out your vegetables are very economical and a great way to mix and match vegetables of the season.

This summer, my contribution to our garden project was to transport a tiny piece of my childhood to our backyard. I read in this wonderful blog, about how easy it was to grow this green.

Early in summer, when I had gotten a bunch of Malabar spinach from Jackson Heights, Queens I saved a stalk or two and kept these stalks in water.

Sure enough, it began to root and ten we placed it in our backyard and Pui or Malabar Spinach came to our backyard. The plant is a climber, therby actually needing very little room to grow.
Well, it looked so pretty, I really did not want to use it, but it is begining to get cold and the leaves are turning yellow, going through the usual rites of season change. I cooked this up as a chorchori - that as mentioned earlier is a bengali melange of vegetables. I added little shrimps to it. This is actually also a classic way of adding protein to balance out the meal.

Pui Chingri Chorchori - Malabar Spinach with mixed vegetables and shrimp

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mustard oil

1 teaspoon panchphoron

3-4 dried red chillies

1 cup white daikon radish or red radish (cubed)

1 small potato cubed

1/3 medium cauliflower,

1 small eggplant cut into small pieces

1 inch piece ginger

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

2-3 cups chopped malabar spinach

1/2 cup green peas ( thawed)

1.5 teaspoon salt

1/2 quarter lbs shelled shrimp

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Method of Preparation

1. Heat all but 1 teaspoon of the oil and add in the panchphoron and cook till the spice crackles.

2. Add in the radish, potato, cauliflower and eggplant and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot and cook for about 7-10 minutes

3. In the meantime, grind the ginger, fennel, cumin and coriander into a paste.

4. Remove the cover and stir well, the vegetables should be fairly soft at this point and have released some moisture.

5. Add in the spice paste, and the greens. Add the greens slowly, letting them wilt, you can add a little water if the mixture appears to dry, but you do not want this to get too wet. Add in 1 teaspoon of the salt and the peas and cover the mixture.

6. Smear the shrimp with the remaining oil, salt and the turmeric.

7. Place in the microwave and cook for 1 minutes.

8. Stir the green and vegetables well, the spinach should be nice and soft as should the eggplant.

9. Mix in the shrimp and the sugar and serve with rice and dal.

Durga Puja

This year, I shall actually try to do a festival series on the blog. This series is really for my little daughter. She went to the Durga Puja in Stamford, CT this weekend and now wants the entire lowdown!

The next two months are really festive season all across Indian - with a multitude of festivals, Durga Puja, Navratri, Eid, Diwali. I wish I knew all about each one of these in detail, but I think I know enough to cover most of them. Actually one of the benefits of growing up in a secular country like India, there really is no dirth of festivals.

Simply speaking the story of Durga is the eternal commemoration of the victory of good over evil.

The demon Mahishashura was rewarded by Shiva with a boon that he would not be killed by any man. He took advantage of this and continued to terrorize people. The gods fed up of this, created the goddess Durga, who epitomizes the power of the woman. She is a 10-armed mother goddess who rides a lion. She is show with her 4-children who come to earth with their mother and also in turn merit their own festivals. Durga is shown as slaying Mahishasura thus symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.

While this is technically a ten-day festival commencing with Mahalaya, most of the religious festivities take place during the last five days of the festivals. There are different religious offers, most notably prayers including pushanjali (floral
There are food offerings most popularly the myriad number of sweets.

However possibly what I miss is the incredible transformation that takes place in the city of Kolkatta during these days - the city gets caught up in a week long carnival where Mardi Gras meets Christmas with a very Indian flavor. There are makeshift pavelions created in every nook and corned with different variations of Durga, there are food stalls, balloon stands and the city forgets to sleep!

To bring back just a little memory of this period, I made Sondesh probably the closest to Indian Cheesecake make with fresh paneer. Here is how I made it

Sondesh - Indian Cheesecake

Prep/Cook Time 2 hours (1.5 hours for the cheese to drain)

Make 12 lime sized sondesh balls

Ingredients

1/2 gallon 2% milk

4 cardamoms

1 cup yogurt

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon rose-water

To garnish

Crasins

Powdered pistachios

Method of Preparation

1. Bring the milk slowly to a boil and gently stir in the yogurt. In less than a minute the milk separates into paneer and whey.

2. Turn the heat off, drain the solids into a cheesecloth, tie and hand the cheesecloth for about 1.5 hours to let the water drain out.

3. Remove from the cheese cloth and place into your food-processor with the sugar and process for about 2 minutes. The cheese actually begins to gather into a ball at this point.

4. Place in a heavy bottomed (preferably non-stick) pan and cook on low heat for about 6-7 minutes. The mixture begin separating form the pan at this point. Let this cool.

5. Shape into balls, top with a craisin and dust with pistachios and serve.

White lentils with beetgreens

When you work with beets, you also get plenty of beet greens. And when life gives you beet greens - make lentils. I have to confess, for some strange reason over the past several weeks I have been finding several unusual uses for lentils. It just is not something I would think of using in a Pasta sauce. Don't get me wrong, lentils fuel the engine of this house. It is one of the sure work foods with my kids and actually for that matter the "man and his family". Lentils for an Indian child is much like the rice and beans in a spanish household. I tried them this time with white lentils (urad dal).

Beetgreens while having a mild taste do have a stunningly pretty appearance. I loved pulling these out of the soil, cleaning them and enjoying the colors while I worked with them. Lentils are always a comforting dish for me to cook, I love the quite simplicity of the end product.

Urad Dal with Beetgreens and Garlic

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3/4 cup white lentils (urad dal)

2 tomatoes (coarsely chopped)

2 cups of chopped beet greens

2 cups of water

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon finely diced garlic

2 dried red chillies

1 lime

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils in a pressure cooker and turn on the heat. Lightly dry roast the lentils till they are very lightly browned.

2. Add the tomatoes, beet greens, water, turmeric and salt and cook under pressure for about 15 minutes.

3. Cool and remove the pressure.

4. Heat the ghee and the oil and add the cumin and the garlic and cook till the garlic is lightly browned. Add in the red chillies and cook for about 10 more seconds.

5. Pour this seasoned oil over the lentils and mix lightly. Squeeze in the lime juice and enjoy.

I am sending this entry to two events, the monthly my legume love affair hosted by the well seasoned cook and the chard challenge at daily musings.

Rich and slow cooked chicken curry

This chicken curry is a little on the fussy side for a weeknight dinner, but yet all it took to produce a nice intense flavor is a little extra cooking time, some additional stirring and just a little more oil. Sometimes, I realize that time and a little extra patience is what makes good food memorable.

I did not make any luchis (puffed Indian bread), but this is what I would have liked with this curry, but did make some light lemon basmati rice. We had our friend Anju over and we enjoyed this with the rice and simple lentil creation that I shall share later. We were up late, drinking good wine, talking about good times. I did pay for this later through mugs of bad coffee at work, but sometimes we all need a break from the mundane.

Rich and Slow Cooked Chicken Curry

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients

2-3 cloves garlic

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled

1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

2-3 green serrano chillies

2 tomatoes

1 bunch (about 1 cup) cilantro leaves and tender stems

2-3 cardamoms

3-4 cloves

1 large piece cinnamon

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 dried red chili

4-5 tablespoons oil

1 cup chicken stock

2 lbs skinned chicken (I would recommend dark meat on the bone)

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

Extra cilantro for garnishing

Method of Preparation

1. Grind the garlic, ginger, onion, green chillies, tomato and cilantro into a relative smooth puree.

2. Dry grind the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and red chili and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and add spice mixture and cook lightly. Add in the tomato puree and cook for a good 15 minutes, stirring as needed until the mixture is fairly dry and begining to get fried.

4. Add the stock if needed to let the mixture get well browned but not burnt.

5. Add in the chicken and salt and continue cooking on medium heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The chicken should be brown and well coated with the spice mixture.

6. Stir in the remaining stock and simmer the chicken for about 10 minutes. The chicken should be nice and soft and there should be a good thick sauce.

7. Garnish with the cilantro and garam masala and serve.

Lemon Rice

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 teaspoon oil or ghee

2-3 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup basmati rice

1 teaspoon salt

1 lime

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil or ghee and add in the bay leaves and turmeric and cook for a few seconds.

2. Quickly add in the garlic and cook till the garlic is fragrant.

3. Add in the rice and the salt with 1 and 3/4 cups of water and bring the water to a simmer.

4. Squeeze in the lime juice. Cover and cook for 18 minutes at this point the rice should be a pale yellow mixture and the water should be absorbed.

5. Turn off the heat and leave the rice undistured for at least 5 minutes.

6. Remove the cover, fluff and serve.

You Say Tomaayto...

The tomatoes in our garden are begining to make their appearance as are the "friendly squirrels. This esplains why some of these beauties have been picked a little before they have been vine-ripened. We do eat a lot of tomatoes, but I have been having a little difficulty keeping up with the harvest.
Also while some of these tomatoes are being put away in paper bags to ripen, I am also getting a few tomatoes that are slightly damaged and green. These would spoil if I actually did not use them right away, so I tried making this jam. It is really very close to a bengali chutney in the light tempering but it is then a jam, thick and sweet. I used lemon juice actually lime juice to add a little bit of tartness, and I think we were very happy having this with some bread and cheese.

Spiced Tomato Jam

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Makes 1.5 cups of Jam

Ingredients

1 teaspoon ghee

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 dried red chillies

1 large red tomato (firm) (coarsely chopped)

3 green tomatoes (coarsely chopped)
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/4 cups of sugar

1 large stick cinnamon

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the ghee and add in the fennel seeds, when they being to sizzle add in the red chillies.

2. Add in the tomatoes and the lime juice followed by the sugar.

3. Cook on low heat until the sugar is melted, stirring frequently.

4. Add in the cinnamon and cook till the mixture is fairly thick, this takes about 30 minutes. The mixture should be thick and soft like a thick jam.

This would be lovely on thick bread!

Dal and Cauliflower Bhartha - Summer 2009!

What makes Summer 2009 different, I honestly am not sure and yet it is different. Possibly because I have actually learnt to appreciate little things through my children's eyes - I do hope that I do not ever lose that perspective.

Small things make a big difference in their worlds, they are also content most days! For example, the highlight of Aadi's world today was to see me use a new pair of cat clippers on Benji! Anshul has been happy with the garden project, I am so happy to finally have more tomatoes than I can use, even if this is transient it is not a mean feat in our household, we are practically addicted to tomatoes!

Well, I have also learnt to love blueberries! For some reason, I restricted my summer berry love to just raspberries and strawberries, thus far!

The other night, I made this very simple bhartha, where I actually substituted cauliflower for potatoes. I was curious to see how this would turn out and in the process realized how important mustard oil is too me. No, I do not use it everyday or for every meal, but I guess when I need it it is an essential. I do not really even have pictures to post of this

A bharta is a puree, usually of eggplant or potatoes. This particular variety is the bengali variety, which does include lentils and usually is made with starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, taro and of course potatoes. I made this with red lentils (masuur dal) and cauliflower and loved it!

Kofi and mushur daler bhorta - Dal and Cauliflower Puree

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

2/3 cup of red lentils

1 small potato, peeled and cut into quarters

1/2 a head of medium cauliflower

1 clove of garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 tomato, quartered

1-2 tablespoons mustard oil

1/2 red onion, very finely diced

2 green chillies, finely chopped

2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils, potato, cauliflower, garlic, salt, turmeric and tomato in a pressure cooker. Add 1/3 cup of water.

2. Bring the pressure cooker to full pressure and cook for 3 minutes. Cool naturally and remove the pressure.

3. What you should see is a well steamed caulflower with spices clinging to it, a wilted tomato and soft flaky lentils that are fairly dry.

4. With a firm hand and a wooden spoon, mix the vegetables and lentils into a smooth puree.

5. Mix in the other ingredients and enjoy as a side dish or even a dip or spread.

An event, backyard cooking and more...

Anshul's summer project is begining to bear fruit - more vegetables to be precise, but we are really proliferated with lovely green spinach, red beets and yet new big tomatoes. I am a little tired tonight to post the garden pictures, but promise to do this over the weekend!

This particular recipe is the begining of what I shall be calling backyard cooking, recipes inspired by what I can find in my backyard - in this instance the tomato and the cilantro are from the backyard. The rest of the recipe just came together.


Butternut Squash and Zucchini Curry

The recipe has lots of lemony notes that are a perfect contrast to the sweet butternut squash used here. I have also added crumbled paneer (I made this a couple of days back) for some richness and body. The recipe is gently tempered with mustard seeds, that makes a lovely nutty contrast to the onions and garlic scapes that are used to form the base of this rather simple homestyle dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mustard or extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 medium sized red onion, peeled and cut into a dice
1/2 cup finely chopped garlic scapes
1 large tomato, cut into a dice
1 zuchini, cut into a large dice (basically the size here is in between a cube and a dice)
2 cups, diced butternut squash (this can be pumpkin)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder (optional)
3/4 cup crumbled paneer
1 lime or lemon, halved and seeded
3/4 cup chopped cilantro


Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the mustard and nigella seeds and cook for about 30 seconds until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
2. Add in the onion and garlic scapes and saute on low heat for 3-4 minutes until the onion is wilted and transluscent.
3. Add in the tomato and cook for another 3-4 minutes until soft.
4. Stir in the zuchini and butternut squash with the salt, turmeric and chili powder (if using this) and the paneer, mix well, cover and cook for 7 minutes till the vegetables are soft.
5. Squeeze in the lemon or lime juice and the cilantro. Remove from heat and serve.

If you like this kind of cooking, please check in through next week. The Westchester bloggers are doing a blogathon to promote the local farmers markets. You can see the blogs in the, "In the neighbourhood section of my blog. If you are a food blogger in Westchester, please join the Westchester Food Bloggers group on Facebook to join the fun!

Green Love

The summer project this year in our household is our little edible garden. This is the first time, we have invested a little tome to pay attention to the tiny little spot that we had at the back of our little backyard. It is interesting as with anything natural even though we planted everything together we are seeing the results in batches. We have lots of spinach, I personally love spinach so my husband planted tons of it. I think I need to think before I ask in future. At least 2-3 evenings I recieve two large colanders filled with bright green spinach, washed and picked through by the man. Earlier this week

I tried something different, with the spinach. I actually cooked this in a fairly thick sauce. I first made the sauce and then folded the spinach into the base. The results were interesting. The most pronounced flavor here is the fennel.

Spinach in a fennel tomato sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 small red onion, cut into a coarse dice

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

2 cloves of garlic, grated

1 large tomato cut into a dice
1 large stick cinnamon

2 green serrano chillies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups of washed fresh spinach leaves

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add in the fennel and cumin seeds and wait for them to sizzle.

2. Into this mixture add in the red onion, ginger, garlic and mix well. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft and just begining to turn golden.

3. Add in the tomato, cinnamon and the chillies and salt and cook this mixture for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. At this point, you sould have a fairly smooth gravy, with the onions soft and melted into the sauce.

4. Fold in the spinach leaves and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the spinach is just cooked through.

This dish is as homey and comforting as the no frills picture. It tastes pretty good even at room temperature.

Bengali Risoto - Mushoor Daler Kichuri

I am not trying to make a homestyle dish sexy by calling it risotto, its just last night while making the recipe I was pretty surprised at the how similar the process, instructions and texture are. Everytime I make Khichuri I keep hearing my mother's voice telling me to keep stirring and make sure that is it creamy but not overcooked. Sounds familiar? Yes, much like any risotto, the rice hear is different, technique similar, ingredients somewhat healthier and this could make a vegan dish if you so wish. The other day I came across fresh green peas so I had to make this dish. Fresh green peas can be used for all recipes but in my opinion they make the most impact in a rice dish.

Bengali Risoto - Mushoor Daler Kichuri

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 cup of mushoor dal (red split lentils)

8 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

3/4 cup rice (I use the kalajeera variety)

1 potato, peeled at cut into eights

1 cup cauliflower florettes

1/2 cup green peas (preferably frozen)

For the tempering

2-3 tbsp oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tomato, cut into a dice

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils in a pot with 3 cups of water, salt, turmeric and chili powder. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the temperature and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. The lentils should be only partially cooked.

2. Add in the rice, potatoes and cauliflower and the peas (only if fresh) and another cup of water. Continue cooking stirring occasionally adding the remaining water as needed. The objective is to reach a stage where the lentils are a smooth yellow puree and the rice is soft but not mushy. This takes about 25 minutes.

3. Add in any remaining water and the frozen peas if using frozen peas. Cover the pot and turn off the heat, this allows the gentle completion of the cooking process.

4. Heat the oil and add the onions and let these cook onlow-medium heat, stirring ever so occasionally, continue this until the onions begin to turn lightly golden brown (takes a good 10 minutes).

5. Stir in the cumin seeds and the tomatoes and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and then mix this into the lentil rice (khichuri) mixture.

6. Place the entire khichuri on the fire for a couple of minutes and serve immediately.

This and that for the little one's birthday whims - Spicy Sweet Potato Fry Medley

What fasinates my daughter is unusual food, it is less that she wants to eat is as much as hear about the possibilities. She cannot handle a lot of spicy chili peppers but loves smelling fresh herbs and is a little nutty about lemon and lime. More often than not, once I complete a dish I have gotten programmed to adding chopped minced green chillies as a garnish or folding it towards the end. What I did with these potatoes was a shoestring crisp creation, drizzled with fresh lime juice and spinkled with some crushed roasted peanuts for crunch, they were so good..., now I had bought five of these potatoes, I have to figure out what to do with them.



Spicy Sweet Potato Fry Toss

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes
1/3 cup good olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tbsp grated garlic
2 tsp salt
1 fresh lime
2 green chillies, minced
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp roasted powdered peanuts
1 tsp grated fresh coconut (optional)

Method of Preparation

1. Cut the sweet potatoes into thin matchstick/shoestring fry sized pieces.
2. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and ginger and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes.
4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
5. Spread the sweet potatoes in a baking sheet without crowding them, do this in batches if needed.
6. Drizzle the oil over the potatoes taking care to fish out the cumin, ginger and garlic.
7. Cook for 13 minutes, turn and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Bring out of the oven and toss with the salt and squeeze the lime juice over the fries.
9. Toss lightly with the remaining ingredients and enjoy!

5-Spice Cauliflower

Another weeknight wonder, this dish needs a little time to bring out its flavors and cook through but another close to nature homestyle dish.
Tastes great with any kind of Indian bread, nice parathas would hit the spot but it also tastes good with rice and dal.

5-Spice Cauliflower

Serves 4

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp mustard oil
1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
2-3 whole green chillies, slit
A pinch of asafetida (hing)
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florretts
1.5 tsp salt

Method of Preparation
1. Heat the oil and add the nigella seeds and ginger.
2. After a few seconds, wait for the seeds to sizzle.
3. Add the turmeric, green chillli, asafetida and the cauliflower and salt.
4. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently till the cauliflower is well browned in spots.
5. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes till the cauliflower is soft. Serve immediately!

Bhaja Moonger Dal - Roasted Moong Dal with Corn and Spinach

In my house, getting the kids to eat healthy is a lesser challenge than being able to find something that works for everyone. Since the focus had always been substance over form, the kids pretty much eat most things, but have a very low spice tollerance. Simple dishes like this dal however are good options for both the little ones and the grown-ups too. Cooked in a jiffy in a pressure cooker, this dal is later tempered with panch phoron and then for us, tempered again with crushed red pepper. Served with plain rice either brown or white, this makes a lovely soothing meal on a busy cold day.

I have added some ground corn to this, the corn can be added whole but I felt that processing this in a food process with tomatoes and cilantro helped it blend better into the very smooth buttery texture of the dal.

Bhaja Moonger Dal - Roasted Moong Dal with Corn and Spinach

Serve 4-6 people

Ingredients

1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 tomato
1 piece (about 1/2 inch) peeled ginger
3/4 cup frozen or fresh chopped spinach
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp panch phoron
1 lime
2 -3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Optional tempering
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Roast the lentils in the base of a pressure cooker. This is done by placing the lentils on the dry pressure cooker and cooking them until lightly browned and fragrant.

2. In the meantime, place the corn, tomato and ginger in a food processor until almost a paste.

3 Place the corn, in the pot with the lentils, add 2 cups water, spinach, salt and turmeric and cook under pressure for 7 minutes.

4. Cook throughly and mix well.

5. Heat the ghee and add the panch phoron and cook till this crackles and pour over the dal.

6. Mix well, squeeze the lime juice and stir in the cilantro.

7. If using the optional tempering, roast the crushed red pepper in the oil and pour over the dal.

Dals are a perfect way to mix an assortment of vegetables into our diet. This particular entry being sent to Sharmi, for her cooking for kids event.

Khichuri - A different blend!

Please tell me that there were others who had no idea until late last week that there was a rice crisis brewing! Look, I am kind of priding myself on the fact that I have been pretty good with reducing the refrined, beautiful, unblemished rice in my diet and have switched to other variations of carbs, hence the ignorance!

Well, anyhow, a couple of weekends back, I go to my local indian store, which has become just so much better than anything I could dream of a couple of months back, and find this somewhat small unassuming pack of pretty pink rice call Rose Matta, liked the looks brought it home, I figures how wrong could you go with 2 lbs. of rice. Looked up this discovery some more and here is what I found,

Jugalbandi gave me an insight into a lot of interesting rices including my new discovery, of course Mahanandi, and finally yet another blog that convinced me, Go Rosematta!

So, not quite sure what to do, I decided to do an bengali-style khichuri. A khichuri is a lentil-rice combination, no matter how you slice it, what makes a khichuri a bengali one, in my opinion is the spicing!

So, this is what I did!

Gota Moong Kichuri - Whole mung kichuri with RoseMatta Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tbsp oil

1 onion thinly sliced

1 tsp cumin-coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp red chili powder

3/4 cup green moong dal ( with the skin on)

1/2 cup rose mata rice

1 large potato, cut into 8ths

1 tomato, quartered

1 cup cauliflower, florettes

1 tbsp ghee

2-3 bay leaves

2-3 whole green chillies

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the onions with the cumin-coriander and turmeric and saute for 5 minutes.

2. Add in the salt, chili powder, rice and dal and mix in for 2 minutes.

3. Add in the potato, cauliflower, tomato and stir well.

4. Add 1.5 cups water and cook under pressure for 15 minutes.

5. Cool for 1o minutes and check and adjust for seasonings.

6. Heat the ghee and lightly cook the bay leaves and chillies.

7. Serve hot and enjoy a much healthier and new cheaper khichuri!