Kofta Curry (bottle gourd)

Ingredients:

Bottle gourd                  1 (medium sized)

Onion                              2 (finely chopped)

Ginger                             1 inch (grated)

Green chillies                  2 (finely chopped)

Tomato                            1 (grated)

Turmeric Powder            1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder           1/2 tsp

Chilli Powder                    1/4 tsp

Cumin seed                       1 tsp

Gram Flour (besan)         1 cup (or as much wanted for making koftas)

Salt                                    according to taste

Oil                                     4 tbsp

Method:

1. Grate the bottle gourd and mix 1/2 tsp salt and keep aside for half an hour.

2. After half an hour strain water from the grated bottle gourd (otherwise too much of gram flour will be required.

3. Mix 1/4 amount of the finely chopped onion and green chilly and salt along with gram flour and grated & strained bottle gourd.

4. Make a dough with all these  ingredients, so that it binds well. Now make small and flat balls out of this dough and deep fry in oil. Keep the balls aside.

5. For preparing the curry put oil in a pan or kadhai. When the oil is hot, put cumin seed and then the rest of the finely chopped onion in it. As the onions turns golden brown put turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and salt (to taste).

6. After frying the masala for half a minute put grated ginger and tomoto in it. When the masala is fried and starts leaving oil, put required amount of water for making the curry.

7. As the gravy starts boiling, put the fried balls in it. Remove it from fire after 2 minutes.

8. Now the kofta curry is ready to be served.

Note: Do not over boil the curry, otherwise the balls will break.

Veg Paneer Capsicum

Ingredients

Paneer               250 grams

Capsicum          2

Onion                2

Carrot               1

Tomato             1 (chopped lengthwise like finger chips)

Tomato Sauce   1 tbs

Oil                      2 tbs

Salt                    according to taste

Method:

1. Put oil in pan or kadhai. Fry the onion and carrot till it is translucent.

2. Then add capsicum and stir fry till it is tender.

3. After this put tomato and salt. When the tomato slices get softer add paneer and tomato sauce.

4. Stir fry the whole mixture well to give a sweet and sour taste to the dish.

5. Remove from fire when done. The veg. preparation is ready to be served.

Kadhai Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken                                      1  kg

Onion(chopped)                       5

Green Chillies                           4

Ginger/Garlic Paste                  2 tbsp

Oil                                              4 tbsp

Curd(Yogurt)                             4 tbsp

Tomato                                      2 big – puree

Coriander Seeds                      4 tbsp (dry roasted and coarsely powdered)

Red Chillies                              4 (dry roasted and coarsely powdered)

Red Chilli Powder                    ½ tsp

Bay leaves                                 2

Garam Masala Powder            ½ tsp

Clove                                          2

Cinnamon                                  2 half inch pieces

Cardamom                                4

Fresh Cream                             100 grams

Salt                                            to taste

Follow these steps:

1. Marination: Smear the chicken pieces with ginger-garlic paste and curd and keep it overnight in refrigerator.

2. Add half tsp salt and 1/4 tsp red chilli powder into the marinated chicken and keep it for baking in an oven.

3. Side by side prepare the gravy. For this heat oil in pan. Put bay leaves and chopped onions and green chillies for frying until it turns golden brown.

4. Add rest of the salt and red chilli powder and tomato puree and fry until it leaves oil.

5. Add the baked chicken in the masala and stir fry for another 10 minutes.

6. Now, add fresh cream. If you want to increase the gravy you can add half cup milk with little water.

7. As the gravy starts boiling after 5 minutes remove it from stove.

8. Kadhai Chicken is ready to serve.

Tips:

1. You can make fine powder of Coriander seeds and Red chillies instead of coarse powder.

2. Fresh cream packet or home made fresh cream can be used. Either of them.

3. For roasting the chicken microwave or OTG, either of them can be used.

Here is a YouTube video demonstrating the recipe:

Milk And Egg Pudding

Ingredients:

Milk                                                               1 kg

Egg                                                                3

Sugar                                                            125 grams

Vanilla essence                                             ½ tsp

Cashew Nuts                                                6-8

Pudding recipe (Serves 8):

1. Put the milk to boil.

2. Keep stirring and let it condense till it is reduced to almost half the initial volume.

3. Add sugar and cashew nuts. Keep the flame on high for around 10 minutes, till the sugar melts.

4. Next, remove the pan from stove. Let the milk cool down.

5. After the milk cools down, add the whisked eggs and vanilla essence to it.

6. Coat the insides of a baking pan with ghee (clarified butter) or butter. Spread 1 tsp of sugar on the bottom of the pan.

7. Place the pan on high heat until the sugar caramelizes. As it turns golden brown, remove the pan from the fire. Let it cool down to room temperature.

8. Transfer the milk and eggs mixture into the cooled baking pan. Cover the pan.

9. Add water to a pressure cooker and place the covered pan into it. Turn the heat on high and steam for 10-15 minutes with the whistle removed.

10. After 10-15 minutes of steaming, open the cooker and check if the pudding looks raw (it has not solidified like Jell-o). If it hasn’t, then steam it for another 2-3 minutes.

6. Serve as a chilled dessert.

Tips:

• Do not put whisked eggs in hot condensed milk.
• Pudding can be steamed in pressure cooker or baked in microwave oven or oven.

Mutton Curry – Simple Bengali Style

Ingredients:

Mutton                                       ½  kg

Onion(chopped)                       4

Potatoes                                    4

Ginger/Garlic Paste                  1 tbsp

Mustard Oil(to marinate)         1 tbsp

Curd(Yogurt)                              2 tbsp

Tomato                                      1 big – puree (optional)

Coriander Powder                    ½ tsp

Cumin Powder                           1 tsp

Turmeric Powder                       1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder                      ½ tsp

Bay leaves                                  2

Garam Masala Powder              ½ tsp

Clove                                          2

Cinnamon                                  2 half inch pieces

Cardamom                                2

Oil                                              3 tbsp

Salt                                             to taste

Follow these steps:

1. Marination: Smear the mutton pieces with ginger-garlic paste, curd and mustard oil and keep it aside for 2 hours.

2. Heat oil in pan. Put bay leaves and chopped onions for frying until it turns golden brown.

3. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder. Stir for 2-3 minutes and then put marinated mutton to the pan. Stir cook for 10 minutes in high heat.

4. Add cut potatoes, tomato puree(optional) and salt. Stir fry all the ingredients for another 10-15 minutes until the oil leaves the curry.

5. Transfer the ingredients into the pressure pan and add garam masala.

6. Add water according to as much curry you want and cook for one whistle on high heat. After a whistle, take it off the heat.

7. Mutton curry is ready to serve.

Credit: Krishna di (Mumbai) for this recipe.

Tips:

1. Do not use onion paste, as it is difficult to fry uniformly. Use chopped onion only.

Here is a YouTube video demonstrating the recipe:

Payesh – Kheer

Ingredients:

Milk                                                                2 kg

Rice                                                                75 grams

Date palm jaggery                                        200 grams

Sugar                                                             50 grams (optional)

Payesh recipe (Serves 6):

1. Put the milk to boil.

2. As soon as it starts boiling, add washed rice to it.

3. Keep stirring and let it condense till it reduced to almost half the initial volume.

4. Add sugar. Keep the flame on high for around 10 minutes, till the sugar melts.

5. Next, remove the pan from fire. After the payesh cools down and becomes lukewarm, put the datepalm jaggery into it, which has been broken into small pieces beforehand.

6. Serve warm or as a chilled desert.

Tips:

• If you do not get Gobindobhog rice, then use any good quality short-grained rice such as Bishnubhog or Dubraj.
• Stir continuously so that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Jaggery must not be added when the milk is hot otherwise the milk will split.
• Jaggery can be melted in milk in a separate pan before adding into the main payesh.
• Cardamom, bay leaves or any other dry fruits need not be added, to retain the flavour of date jaggery.

• The following video will guide you through the steps. Hope you will enjoy a delicious dessert.

Tangra Fish – Mustard Seeds Flavoured

 

Fish is the dominant kind of protein in Bengali cuisine. Tangra fish is one more tasty and healthy fish from the catfish family.

Ingredients:

Tangra Fish (type of catfish)                     3 or 4

Onion (chopped)                                       1

Yellow Mustard seeds                               1 tbsp

Kala Jeera or Kalaunji                                ½ tsp

Green Chilli                                                2

Coriander leaves                                       for garnish

Tomato                                                       1 (small – puree)

Turmeric powder                                       ½ tsp

Salt                                                              to taste

Oil                                                                2 tbsp

Water                                                           1/4 cup

Follow these steps:

1. Marination: Smear the tangra fishes with turmeric powder and salt and keep it aside for 20 minutes.

2. Make a smooth paste of mustard seeds with a little water with 5 pinches of salt in it.

3. Heat oil in pan and fry the fishes for 5 minutes in medium heat. Take them out and keep them aside.

4. In the same oil, put kaala jeera (kalaunji), one sliced green chilli and chopped onion. Stir until the onion softens.

5. Add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Stir fry all the ingredients well until the oil leaves the curry.

6. Now, add the paste of mustard seed along with 1/4 cup of water to the curry. Mix well.

7. Add the fried fishes to the curry. Cover the pan. After 2-3 minutes, turn over the fishes and again keep the pan covered it for another 3 minutes.

7. Turn off the heat and garnish it with coriander leaves and green chillies.

8. Tangra Fish with Mustard is now ready. Serve with steamed rice.

Mint-flavoured Chicken Biryani Recipe

• This is a low-fat chicken biryani recipe which is easy and quick to prepare. The same preparation can also be done using red meat. Mint leaves are optional but recommended.
• Ingredients:
  1.  Chicken  – 1kg
  2.  Chopped onion – 5(big)
  3.  Mint leaves, Coriander leaves, Green chillies – half bowl each   (together made into fine paste)
  4.  Garlic, ginger – 2 tbsp (paste)
  5.  Yogurt – 1 bowl
  6.  Basmati Rice – 750 grams
  7.  Cardamom – 4-5
  8.  Cinnamon – 2 half inches pieces
  9.  Cloves – 2-3
  10. Bay leaves – 2
  11. Oil – 2 tbsp
  12. Ghee – 2 tbsp
  13. Salt according to taste
  14. Water – double the volume of rice
• The following video will guide you through the steps. Hope you have a delicious meal!

Dhokar Dalna Recipe

Today i am going to share the recipe for bengali style Dhokar Dalna. This is a delicious bengali recipe made from split bengal gram or chana dal.

The following are the ingredients needed for the same-

1. 1 and half cup split bengal gram (chana dal).
2. 2-3 green chillis
3. 3 inch ginger or 1 and half teaspoon ginger paste
4. Oil
5. Cumin seeds
6. 1 cup tomato puree
7. 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
8. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
9. 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
10. 1 teaspoon cumin seed powder
11. Salt
12. 5 Green cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon and 4-5 cloves grinded into a 1 teaspoon powder (bengali garam masala).

Next follow the following steps –

1. Soak 1 and half cup split bengal gram (chana dal) in water for 2 hours.
2. Coarse grind it with 2 green chillis and 1 inch of ginger or half teaspoon ginder paste.
   Note: Take care that the grinded dal is not too coarse  to ensure that they bind strongly later.
3. Put 2 teaspoon oil in pan.
4. Put the grinded split bengal gram mixture in the pan and put half teaspoon salt in it.
5. Fry it for 5 minutes.
6. Brush oil in a flat plate and spread the fried mixture over the plate evenly
7. Cut the mould spread over the plate in square pieces.
8. Carefully take out the pieces so that they don’t break.
9. Deep fry the pieces and keep them aside.
10. Put 4 teaspoon oil in pan.
11. Add cumin seeds in the oil when the oil is hot.
12. Add 1 cup tomato puree in the pan.
13. Next add 1 teaspoon ginger paste, 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder ,1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder ,1/2 teaspoon coriander powder ,1 teaspoon cumin seed powder ,Salt and 1 green cardamom, 1 cinnamon and 1 clove grinded into a 1 teaspoon powder (bengali garam masala).
14. Fry all the ingredients well until the water is absorbed and the mixture leaves oil.
15. Add 2 cups of water for curry.
16. When the water starts boiling add the fried pieces of split bengal gram (chana dal).
17. Turn off the stove after 2 mins.

Hope you enjoy eating a scrumptious meal of Dhokar Dalna! 🙂

 

Tomato Fish Recipe

Inspired from Bengali kitchen this is a delicious fish cuisine. This tomato fish recipe has been made using Catla fish.

You would need the following ingredients for the same-

1. Fish (800 g or 8-10 pieces)
2. 5-6 Tomatoes
3. 4-5 Onions
4. 1 teaspoon Ginger paste
5. Chilli powder
6. Turmeric powder
7. Cumin powder
8. Salt
9. A pinch of sugar
10. 4-5 green chillis
11. Kala jeera or Kalaunji

The following video will guide you through the steps. Hope you have a delicious Tomato Fish meal! 🙂