Ok,, this is the season changing time in Bengal, and like most of the Bengalis I have also got my dose of viral attack. Yes, I was down with some sore throat, body ache and all those symptoms, you know what I mean. Now this is not the forum to discuss illness, right ?? I know, but I have all these and was looking for something comforting but hassle free and quick and hot and delicious and I end up with this espresso Hot Chocolate.
Ingredients
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons Nutella, depending on how sweet you like
1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all 3 ingredients and whisk until smooth and frothy. Pour into your favorite mug and enjoy!!! I had some rusks with it and liked the combination very much !!!
A super easy way to enjoy your salad with the perfect punch of protein.
Ingredients
Chicken - 250 gms
Colored Pepper - 3
Lettuce Leaves - 4
Blue Cheese Salad Dressing - 2 tbsp
Hung Curd - 1 tbsp
Salt and Pepper to taste
Boil the chicken and shred the meat from the bones. Discard the bone. Add the blue cheese dressing, curd, salt and pepper. Mix well and let it sit for 15 minutes.
Cut the peppers into long strips. Tear the lettuce leaves roughly.
Arrange the lettuce on the serving plate. Put the pepper strips. Sprinkle salt and pepper as desired. Now hip the chicken filling at the centre of the greens. Serve cold.
Potato is bad?? Is potato good?? It is a continuous debate that is happening all over the world. But tell me, during winter, when the farmer's market is flooded with these little cute baby potatoes, can you just remain aloof and give it a miss?? I can't, that's why I took some, boiled them, mixed with chopped onion, ripe juicy tomatoes and enjoyed thoroughly as a light snack !!
Ingredients
Potatoes - 4 medium
Tomatoes - 3 medium sized firm
Onion - 1 large
Coriander leaves - a handful
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Rock salt as per taste
Chat Masala - as per taste
extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp
Green chili - 1, finely chopped
Boil the potatoes, peel and cube them in bite sized pieces. Chop the tomatoes, onions and coriander leaves.
Mix the vegetables and potato with the extra virgin olive oil , chat masala, rock salt, lemon juice , herbs and green chili. Enjoy your lip smacking snack. You may always increase the number of chilies used depending on your taste.
We being the most fish loving state of India acquired the name "Machh-e Bhat-e Bangali" which means, "Bengali by fish and rice". Among the variety of fish we eat, Chital maach or Clown Knife fish is a delicacy in Bengal and I was told that the best breed of this oily fish travels all the way from river Brahmaputra. I am yet to get one from Brahmaputra but whatever we get here is so far quite good to my pallet. Now there is a catch here. The fish is very boney, where its oily belly portion contains all the big bones and the back portion is full of small bones, which makes it almost impossible to eat. So clever Bengalis innovated two different ways to eat this delicious fish. The 'peti' or belly is cooked separately in the form of a curry and the boney back portion is cooked in a completely different way. Here I am sharing a traditional recipe of how to cook the Belly or 'Peti' portion of the fish.
Ingredients
Chital Peti - 6
Potato - 2, cut lengthwise
Onion - 3, chopped
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Green Chilli paste - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 2,
Whole garam masala - 3, each
Cashew nut - a handful, soak and make a paste
Curd - 2 tbsp
Mustard Oil
Salt, Turmeric
Kashmiri chilli powder
Wash and fry the Chital peti , with turmeric and salt .
Make a paste of ginger, garlic, cumin and onions. Pour mustard oil in a pan, when hot , add 1/2 tsp of sugar, stir till caramelise, then add cumin and bay-leaf along with the whole garam masala. Saute and then add the paste of masalas. green chilli paste, kashmiri chili powder, turmeric and salt, saute on low flame. Add the curd and cashew paste and saute till the masalas are done and oil gets released from the sides. Add sliced potatoes to the masalas and let it get coated well.
Add 2 cups of hot water and increase the flame. Once the gravy starts boiling add the fried fish. Let it cook for 10 minutes over low heat or till the potatoes are cooked. When the curry attains the desired consistency add some ghee and remove from heat. Sprinkle chopped coriander and serve with plain rice.
Marinated the fish with dried parsley and garlic,, then shallow fry it in olive oil and serve with delicious tomato-cucumber salsa,, This is what all I could serve my hubby as Valentine Dinner today after coming back from work.
Ingredients:
Basa fish fillets - 4
Olive oil for frying
Dried Parsley - 2 tbsp
Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
White vinegar - 2 tbsp
salt and pepper to taste
cucumber - 1 small
tomato - 1 large
vinegar - 1 tbsp
dash of tabasco
salt to taste
Marinate the fish with garlic paste, parsley, salt and pepper and vinegar and keep it in the fridge overnight.
Shallow fry in olive oil, till done.
To prepare the Tomato-cucumber relish chop the cucumber and tomatoes into small chunks. Marinate for about three hours in vinegar, a dash of tabasco and salt to taste.
Other than fish dishes, what is the next non-veg item that features more frequently in Bengali Household? Yes, the ever famous 'Dim er jhol' or Egg Curry. We, bengalis just love it !! And when it is cooked with potatoes, green peas and garam masala, it becomes 'Dim er Dalna'. Now again, there is huge difference in flavor when you are using Duck Egg instead of Chicken Egg. 'Ha(n)s er Dim er dalna' or Duck Egg Curry is a delicacy in Bengal and it is a feast for us when I cook it. Now here is a twist to my usual Duck Egg Curry. While cooking, I have added some dried Rosemary and Parsley and these herbs gave a completely different dimension to our popular Egg Curry.
Ingredients:
Duck Eggs - 3, boiled
Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1, chopped
Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Medium Tomato - 1, chopped finely
Green chilies - 3
Dry rosemary - 1 tbsp
Dry parsley - 1 tsp
Kashmiri chili powder- ½ tsp
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
bay leaves - 2-3
Salt and Sugar to taste
Cut slit to the eggs longitudinally, slit the green chilies at the mouth. Heat oil, put the bay leaves and the green chilies, fry a little. Put the chopped onion and the garlic paste.Fry well until the onion is translucent. Add half the ginger paste and stir.
Fry little and then add the eggs and stir well to fry well.
Hubby brought some lamb,,so what to do with it !! Never ever cooked lamb, so thinking hard, searching the net, getting quite a number of recipes, but I was not sure about the outcome. I was looking for something very Indian, rather very very Bengali, so that my first time cooking is not a disaster. Suddenly it clicked, I have a very own Bengali recipe of mutton where it is cooked with potato and cauliflower. So I replaced mutton with lamb and it is done.
Marinate the lamb with salt, turmeric and half of curd for minimum 30 minutes, more,the better.
Fry the cauliflower florets and potatoes with salt and turmeric and keep aside.
Add some more oil in to the pan and add chopped onions. When it is brown, add the onion paste and fry well. Now add the marinated lamb, garlic paste, half of the ginger paste, green chilli paste and fry well.
Add the remaining curd, coriander powder, kashmiri chilli powder, salt and sugar and stir. When the water dries up, add 2 cups of hot water and pressure cook till lamb is tender. Add the fried potatoes for the last two whistles.
Clean the pan and heat it again. Add 1 tbsp of ghee and sprinkle whole cumin seeds and bayleaves to it. When you get the aroma, add the tender lamb and potato along with the gravy. Add the cauliflower too. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Adjust the seasoning.
Remove from heat when cauliflower is tender. Don't overcook the vegetables. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice.
Ingredients
