Got bored of regular cabbage curry, hence tried this. Too tasty a dish, goes best with plain rice. However, this can be used as a dip or spread it onto your bread, or else roll it with tawa roti for a quick lunch.
Ingredients
Cabbage - 1 cup
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Garlic - 1 tsp, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped
Green chilli - as per taste
Salt
Turmeric
Coriander powder
Sugar - a pinch
Mustard oil
Steam the cabbage in microwave. Then grind it with some green chillies and keep aside.
In a pan, heat mustard oil. Then add slitted green chilli with a pinch of kalojire / kalonji seeds. Next goes the garlic slices.
Add ginger paste and after 30 seconds, add chopped tomatoes. Stir till the tomatoes are cooked. Then add the salt, turmeric and coriander powder.
Then add the ground cabbage with a pinch of salt and mix well with the masalas.
Fry till the water evaporates and oil starts coming out of the sides. Sprinkle some sugar and adjust seasoning.
Can't find an equivalent English name for this dish. You can faintly term it as Ilish Pulao, but for a true Bengali, the 'Ilish Bhate' is the most appropriate name. It is a one pot meal where aromatic gobindobhog rice is slow cooked with ilish machh and some masalas. In the process, fishes are cooked in steam and remain very juicy and soft.
Ingredients
Hilsa fish - 4 pieces
Gobindabhog rice - 1 cup
Green chilli - as per taste
Kalojire / kalonji seeds - 1 tsp
salt
turmeric
Cumin powder - a pinch
Mustard oil
Marinade the fish with salt, turmeric and cumin powder for 15 minutes. Wash the rice and keep aside.
Heat mustard oil in a pan, then fry the fishes for 30 seconds each side. Keep aside.
In the same oil add kalonji seeds with slitted green chilli, let it splutter.
Next add the rice. Fry for 4-5 minutes. Then add salt and turmeric and mix well. Fry till the rice becomes white and opaque.
Add a cup of hot water and cook with the lid on. When rice is 80% done, remove the lid and add the fried fish carefully.
Cover the fishes with rice from the sides and cook again with the lid on. Sprinkle some water, if required.
Cook till the rice is cooked through and water is evaporated completely. Keep covered for 10 minutes. Serve hot.
Paturi is a very popular recipe in Bengal, mostly done with Bhetki or Hilsa. The fresh fish pieces are marinated with spices, then wrapped in banana leaf. Finally the wraps are steamed / smoked on a tawa. It can be done using aluminium foil too, but the smell imparted by smoky banana leaves are the unique to this recipe.
Ingredients
Bhetki Fillet - 6-8 pieces
Mustard paste - 2 tbsp
Poppy seed paste - 1 tbsp
Fresh coconut - 2 tbsp
Salt
Turmeric
Lemon juice
Green chilli paste
Banana leaves
Marinate the fishes with salt, turmeric and lemon juice for 15 minutes. Then add all the masala paste with a spoonful of mustard oil and mix thoroughly.
Keep aside for 30 minutes. Cut the banana leaves into 6X6 inch size and roast in microwave for a minute. The leaves will become soft and managable and you will be able to fold it. Place one banana leaf on to a plate. Place one piece of fish onto it with the masalas..
Fold the leaf properly and tie with a string so that the parcel does not open up while cooking. Do it for all the pieces.
Place a tawa on the heat, and smear some oil. Now place the fish parcels onto the tawa and cook over low heat with the lid on.
After 10 minutes, flip the parcels to the other side and cook again for 10 minutes over low heat. The banana leaves should be burnt by then.
Remove from heat and keep warm. Donot remove the wrap. Let the person unwrap the parcel while eating.
Magur is a kind of Catfish which is considered very healthy in Bengal. This fish can be had as a simple jhol or soup, or can be made as a spicy preparation in a curd gravy, like this one.
Ingredients
Catfish - 6-7 pieces
Potato - 1, sliced
Onion Paste - 2 tbsp
Chopped onion - 1
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Hung curd - 2 tbsp
Cashew nut paste - 1 tsp
Green chilli - as per taste
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric, salt
Mustard oil
Wash the fishes thoroughly. Then rub salt and turmeric and keep aside. Fry after 15 minutes.
In the same oil, fry the potatoes too and keep aside.
Heat some more oil in the same pan and add panch foron ( Bengali five spice) with slitted chillis. Let them splutter.
Next goes chopped onion. Fry till golden brown. Then add onion paste, ginger garlic paste and fry till done. Next add all the ground masalas with salt and mix well.
Fry the masalas with sprinkle of water. Add 2 cups of hot water and let it boil.
Carefully add the fried fish and potato and cook with a lid over medium heat. When fishes and potatoes are cooked add the curd and cashew paste and mix well.
Adjust the seasoning, then remove from heat. Add some slitted green chilli and keep covered for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and serve with plain rice.
Tried this delicious mushroom curry from the net and boy, it was awesome. Made some changes here and there with adjustment of quantity of tomato and of course my bong soul compelled me to sprinkle a pinch of sugar while frying the onions and the end result is a mildly tangy spicy curry.
Ingredients
mushroom - 1 cup, chopped
capsicum - 1, chopped
Onion - 1, chopped
Tomatoes - 1 big, pureed
Cumin powder
Red chilli powder
Coriander Power
Garam masala powder
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Kasuri Methi - 2 tsp
Oil
Coriander leaves
Salt, turmeric, sugar
Clean mushroom, slice and keep aside. Heat the oil, add cumin. Allow it to crackle, then add red chillies and fry for a minute. Add onions and fry.
Add ginger garlic paste and saute till onions turn slightly brown. Then add the tomato puree and fry for 3 - 4 mins till the raw smell disappears.
Then add the chopped green chilli, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and salt - mix well and fry for few mins.
Next add the capsicum, saute well - but retain its crunchiness. Sprinkle a little water if it's very thick. Add the mushroom and mix gently until well combined.
Simmer for 10 mins and keep the dish covered so that the mushroom gets cooked, becomes soft and is blended with the gravy.
Once the mushroom gets soft, simmer for 2 mins, then add kasoori methi soaked in water.
Adjust the seasoning with a sprinkle of sugar if you like. Garnish with Coriander leaves.
Goes well with chapattis. We had it with plain rice and dal.
Ingredients
