Sandwich Bread

This is my first ever try to make a simple bread , but I was quite afraid of it till today morning. Somehow I had this feeling that baking is not my cup of tea. Even if I try hard, I will surely goof-up. Then I came across my friend Rakhee's blog, where she has explained the step by step bread making process, and I have instantly decided to give it a try. The end result was fabulous, though I am not fully satisfied with the outer crust, which I think should have been a bit softer, but at least for a 1st time baker, this can be ignored. I will surely try other varieties she has put in in her blog later. 

Ingredients

• All purpose flour / Maida - 3 cups
• Dry Active Yeast - 1 heaped tsp
• Sugar - 1 heaped tbsp
• Olive Oil - 1 tbsp + extra for greasing
• Salt - a fat pinch
• Warm water - as required

Dissolve the sugar in half cup of lukewarm water. Then add the dry yeast to it and keep in a warm place. I have kept it in the microwave. It will become frothy in 15-20 minutes.

Mix the salt in the flour. Add the dissolved yeast with water to the flour gradually to form a soft dough. You may need to add some more warm water.

Keep the dough loosely covered in a warm place for 30-35 minutes. It will become almost double in size.

Knead the dough for 5 - 7 minutes till it springs back when you are pressing it down. Add the olive oil to the dough too. Now make a log shape of the smooth dough and place it inside a greased loaf tin.

Keep it in the warm dry place to rise again. It will almost touch the rim of the tin.

Preheat the oven to 200 degree C for 10 minutes. Make multiple slashes onto the surface of the dough using a knife.

Bake the dough for 30-35 minutes. Remove carefully from the tin. It should be evenly brown at the bottom and make a hollow sound when tapped. If not, then bake it for 10 more minutes. Mine was perfect by 35 minutes of baking.

 Brush with butter/milk. Cool to room temperature. Slice and enjoy!!

Andhra Style Brinjal Curry

We, the moms and wives have always put our family's food choices the priority while cooking or selecting menus, right?? I do the same and I am happily depriving myself of some simple food items, just because dear hubby and son doesn't like it. So last week, when I saw these cute little baby eggplants, I initially ignored them, since neither hubby, nor my son is fond of brinjals. then I came back, picked up 5-6 cuties just for me and back home made this spicy, tangy eggplant curry just for me!! Enjoyed every bit of it, I must say!!

Ingredients

• Baby eggplants - 6
• Onion - 1, sliced
• Tomato - 1, chopped
• Green chili - 2 -3
• Ginger paste - 1 heaped tsp
• Garlic paste - 1 heaped tsp
• Coconut powder - 1 heaped tbsp
• Kashmiri chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• mustard seeds - a pinch
• methi/fenugreek seeds - a pinch
• Dry red chili - 1
• Curry leaves - 5 -6
• Salt, turmeric
• Sugar as per taste

Wash and cut the eggplants in such a way that they are intact near the stem. 

Add salt and turmeric and fry over low heat till they are soft.

Heat some more oil, add the sliced onion and fry till golden brown with a pinch of salt and sugar. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for some time till the raw smell is gone. Add the chopped tomato and green chilli and continue frying till it is mashed.

Add the coriander powder, kashmiri chilli powder, salt and coconut powder and fry over low flame.

Now allow it to cool and make a fine paste using a blender.

Add 1 tbsp of oil in a clean pan, then add the mustard seeds, methi seeds, curry leaves and dry red chili. 

Add the ground masala and fry quickly. Then add half cup of warm water and mix well. I have added a pinch of sugar at this point. Adjust the seasoning too.

Cook over low heat till oil starts appearing at the top. Add the fried eggplant and mix carefully with the masala. Eggplant should not get mashed.

Remove from heat and keep covered for 10 - 15 minutes more. Serve with rice or roti. Yum!!!

Aam Katla - Fish with raw Mango

With mercury almost  touching 42 degree C in Kolkata, it is impossible to stay calm and cook something fancy. Made this fish curry with raw mango.. the sweet and tangy taste of the 'jhol' or thin curry is a delight on this hot and humid day.

Ingredients

• Katla Fish - 6 pieces
• Raw Mango - 1
• Mustard Powder - 1 tbsp
• Salt,Turmeric
• Panchforon / Bengali 5 spice - 1/2 tsp
• Whole Red Chilli - 1
• Green Chilli - as per taste
• Sugar - 1 tsp / as per taste
• Mustard Oil

Rub the fish pieces with salt and turmeric and fry till golden brown. Remove from oil and keep aside. Mix the mustard powder in 1/2 cup of water with a pinch of salt and keep it for 15 minutes. Remove the peel of the mango and slice it.

In the same pan, add some more oil, then add the panchforon / Bengali five spice and red chilli. Add one slit green chilli too.

When it splutters, add the sliced mango and stir fry with a pinch of salt and turmeric.

Add water and let it boil. When the mango softens, add the mustard paste.

Add the fried fish and let it simmer for 8-10 minutes till fishes are cooked.

Adjust the salt. Now add the sugar according to your taste. I like to have the curry a bit sweet and tangy so added almost 2 tsp of sugar. 

Add slit green chilli and keep covered for 10 minutes. Serve with plain rice. I prefer to mash the green chillis onto my rice while eating, the smell of green chilli, the sweetness of the sugar and the tangy taste of the mango creates a perfect harmony on my tastebuds.

Bori Kasundi

Bori is very famous in Bengal, and plays a very crucial role in many of the authentic Bengali dishes. These are nothing but sun dried pellets of various shapes and sizes and made of different types of lentils. Interestingly, they are used for different purposes, and you cannot substitute one with the other. For example, you can have fried musur dal er bori ( Bori made of red lentil) as a snack or as a side dish with rice and dal. Bengalis cannot think of 'Sukto' without Kalai Dal er Bori, you may have mixed vegetable with bori and so on. Now this bori can be cooked as a separate dish altogether, without mixing with other vegetables. I have already shared one 'Bori r Jhaal', which is a family recipe. This time I have tried this with 'Kasundi' or Bengali Mustard Sauce and it came out really well.  

Ingredients 

• Bori - 100 gms 

• Tomato - 1, chopped

• Kasundi or mustard sauce- 2 tbsp

• Panch phoron / Bengali five spice - a pinch

• Green chilies - 2, slit

• Mustard oil

• Salt and sugar to taste

• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

• Kashmiri Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the bori until they are golden. Keep aside.

In another pan heat about 2 tablespoons of mustard oil. When the oil is hot add the green chilies and panch phoron and let it splutter.

Add the chopped tomato and let it get mashed.  Add salt, sugar, turmeric and kashmiri chilli powder with a splash of water and fry quickly. Add 2 cups of water and let it boil. Then add the fried bori.
Once the bori softens, add the kasundi and mix well.

  Remove from heat after adjusting the seasoning. Serve with plain rice.

Kheer Kamla - Orange Milk Pudding

A traditional Bengali Sweet dish that is pretty easy to make. In Bengal, Orange is called 'Kamla lebu' and kheer resembles Pudding to some extent. This dish is basically sweet orange segments dunked into rich creamy thick milk. Quite sinful it is, but sometimes we must enjoy the sweet delights of life, is not it?? 

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• Whole Milk - 1 litre ( Sorry, no skimmed milk)
• Milkmaid / Condensed Milk - 1 can
• Oranges - 4
• Sugar - 1 tbsp / as required
• Ghee / clarified butter - 1 tbsp

Peel the orange, deseed and separate the segments. Make sure you have removed all the whites from it to get the pure fleshes only. Keep in refrigerated. 
Mix the milk, condensed milk and ghee or clarified butter and bring to a boil. ( Ghee helps in getting a smooth pudding and prevents it, to some extent, sticking to the side, so please don't omit this process). 

Now this is a long drawn procedure, You need to simmer and keep stirring the mixture from time to time. It will take a good  45 - 60 minutes to thicken the milk, but you need to stir for every 30 seconds to prevent sticking and get the smoothest kheer ever. It should be of a pouring batter consistency.

Check the sweetness of the kheer and add some sugar if required. Now chill the kheer completely, (it will become thicker as it chills, so adjust accordingly).

Refrigerate the kheer. While serving, add 1 tablespoon of chilled orange segment in individual bowl, then layer 2 tbsp of kheer, alternate for 2-3 layers. Add some orange segments at the top and serve.

Kachki Peyaji - Small fish fritters

We get these tiny silvery fishes in our local market, which are known as 'Kachki' fish. Quite expensive they are, but quite tasty as well. They can be cooked in a number of ways. You can fry them with some onions and green chilli and have it as a crunchy side dish. It makes very good bati chorchori too apart from regular 'Aloo Peyaj chorchori'. 
Got some very fresh one today and hubby dearest asked me to cook it soon to get the best of fresh taste. So decided to make fritters out of these kachki fish. Came out really well.

Ingredients

• Kachki Fish - 200 gms, cleaned
• Onion - 2, sliced
• Green Chilli - 2-3, chopped
• Tomato - 1, chopped
• Coriander leaves - a handful, chopped
• Besan / Gram flour, to bind
• Salt

Mix all the ingredients except Besan or Gram flour and marinate for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle some besan so that the ingredients are just bind together. Take a spoonful of the mixture and shallow fry till golden brown from both sides.

Serve hot as an accompaniment.