Kheer Komla - Orange Milk Pudding

Had some guests at home, and served this Orange milk pudding as dessert. This is quite a traditional recipe where milk is thickened over low heat and then sugar is mixed to it. When it is cold, orange segments are added to it carefully. The result is a brilliant and you can enjoy it the Bengali way with some luchi and Aloor dom.
Though due to paucity of time, I have used condensed milk along with regular milk and added just 2-3 spoonful of sugar. It also depends on how sweet your oranges are. You have to be very careful, if the orange is sour, the kheer will curdle leaving you disheartened.

Ingredients

• Milk - 500 ml ( Preferably whole milk)
• Condensed Milk - 1 Can
• Sugar - As required
• Oranges - 4, segmented
• Ghee - 1 tsp

In a large Kadai, add the milk and condensed milk and mix well. Now put the kadai on gas and reduce the flame to the minimum. Add the spoonful of ghee too.

Boil the milk continuously for 30 minutes with a stiring here and there so that it doesnot stick to the bottom of the pan. You will notice that the milk is getting thickened. When it is almost done, add the sugar, if required. Stir again. 

Remove from it. Cool it completely.

When the milk is getting thickened, carefully remove the pulps of the oranges discarding the seeds, piths etc. Keep it refrigerated.

Place the kheer on the serving bowl, spoon the orange pulp onto it and serve immediately. Yum !!!!

Neem Jhol

'Neem Jhol' is a light mixed vegetable stew with the goodness of 'Neem Pata' or or young Neem leaves. This is a must in my household during Spring as part of weekend lunch. Young Neem leaves play a significant role in Bengal cuisine during this time of the season as it is known to have many medicinal benefits and handles the evils of season change. The light stew will also essentially contain 'Sojne Data' or moringa or drumstick, another healthy veggies to tackle the season change nuisances along with Bori or dry lentil balls. The dish will have a bitter sweet taste with a rich aroma of Ghee or clarified butter. Best enjoyed as the first course of meal with plain white rice. 

Ingredients

• Brinjal -1
• Green Papaya - 1/2 
• Sweet potato - 4
• Sojne data or drumstick - 100 gm
• Bori or dried lentil balls - 1 small bowl
• Tender Neem leaves - 1/2 bowl
• Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Mustard paste - 1 heaped tbsp
• Ghee - 2 tbsp, bay leaf - 2-3
• Salt, sugar

 Cut all the vegetables in approximately same size and saute them with a pinch of salt in white oil. Keep aside.

Lightly saute the bori in little oil till golden brown and keep aside.

In the same pan, roast the tender neem leaves till crunchy. Keep aside.

In a bowl, mix cumin and coriander powder, ginger paste and mustard paste. Add a cup of water and mix well.

In a deep pan or karai, heat the ghee and add two three bay leaves. Now add the masala water and let it boil.

Add the sauteed veggies into it and cook covered over low heat.

When veggies are almost cooked, add salt and the fried bori. Mix carefully and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

When water is reduced and veggies cooked well, add the fried neem leaves and give it a good stir.
Check the salt. Next goes the sugar. Switch off the heat and add a good dollop of ghee at the end. Keep covered for 10 minutes.
Enjoy with rice.

Kochu pata Chingri - Prawns with Colocasia leaves

We have this Bangladeshi restaurant in Kolkata named Kasturi where we have tasted this delicious dish for the first time. Here the prawns are cooked with kochu pata or young colocasia leaves with coconut and mustard paste. Flavor of Mustard oil is very dominant in this dish and you have to be really really careful about the leaves, since colocasia leaves may give you an itchy throat. In a nutshell, a dish not for the faint hearted.  

Ingredients

• Colocasia / Kochu leaves - finely chopped, 2 cups
• Green chilli and mustard paste - 3 tbsp
• Prawns - 200 gm, cleaned and deveined
• Desiccated coconut - 2 tbsp
• Coconut milk - 1 cup
• Salt, turmeric
• Mustard oil - 4-5 tbsp, more, if required

Boil the colocasia leaves in hot water and then discard the water. This is a mandatory step to omit the itchiness of the throat. Now pour mustard oil in a pan. Lightly fry the prawns with a pinch of salt and turmeric and keep aside.

Remove the prawns, then in the same oil add the mustard paste, sugar, salt and turmeric, Fry quickly.

Now add chopped leaves which were steamed in the hot water.

Stir it to mix with the masalas, then add the fried prawns.

Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, then add the coconut milk and desiccated coconut.

Cover and cook till the milk dries up and oil starts coming out the sides. Adjust the seasoning. Switch off the heat and then pour one or two tbsp of mustard oil more over it. Keep covered for some time. Sprinkle some more desiccated coconut and serve with plain rice.
You may add some more chopped green chillies, if you can handle the heat. Enjoy !!

Kancha lonka dhonepata Murgi - Chicken with coriendar leaves and green chilli

For better experience, visit the new and revamped site :

https://jayatisfoodjourney.com/2017/04/01/kancha-lonka-dhonepata-murgi-chicken/


Learned this new technique to cook chicken from my friend Pritha. When I was planning our SUnday lunch, hubby asked for some dhonepata murgi, which prompts me to search the net for a recipe and voila,, Pritha's recipe came in front. I was so happy since I have followed her other recipes and those were superb hit. She really explains the steps so meticulously that you can be rest assured, the outcome would be fantastic.
This kachalonka dhonepata murgi or chicken cooked in paste of coriandar leaves and green chilli is a recent addition to many of the Bengali eateries in Kolkata. So we can safely say, enjoy restaurant style food at the comfort of your home.

Ingredients:

• Chicken, cut into medium sized pieces-1 kg
• Green Chillies - as per tolerance level
• Coriander leaves - 1 cup
• Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
• Ginger paste - 2 tbsp
• Onion 2 to make a paste
• Onion - chopped - 1/2 cup
• Tomato - 1
• Mustard oil - as per need
• Whole garam masala, bay leaf
• Salt, to taste
• Sugar: 1 tbsp
• Ghee: 1 tbsp

Make a paste of green chillies, coriander, tomato, 2 onions, 1 tbsp each of ginger and garlic paste,  mustard oil and a little bit of salt and marinade the chicken pieces with it for 2-3 hours.

Heat a heavy-bottomed non-stick pan and add oil. Once it is hot, add the bayleaf and whole garam masala and stir till they release aroma.

Now add the chopped onion, remaining ginger and garlic paste and saute for two minutes. Add salt and sugar and continue to saute till oil is released. Now add the chicken pieces with marinade and stir for 5-6 minutes till the raw color is gone. 

Cook covered for 10 more minutes over low heat till the water comes out of chicken dries up and oil starts coming out.
Add a cup of warm water and cook till the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Now increase the heat till the gravy thickens an if you want a little bit of gravy, but I personally prefer it on the drier side. Allow to cook for another 2-5 minutes on high heat till the gravy thickens.

Adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle the ghee, give a final stir and serve hot with rice or roti.

Lau Shak Posto Bharta

The original recipe was 'Lau patay posto bhate' i.e. poppy seed paste is wrapped  in bottlegourd leaf and then steamed in boiling rice. Don't remember from where did I collected the recipe, most probably it is from a facebook forum. However, I have modified the recipe a bit and added my touch to make it a bharta. It is yummy to the core, if you are a bharta lover like me. I can have bharta anytime with a plate of rice and donot need any fancy stuff afterwards.

Ingredients

• Lau pata or tender Bottle gourd leaf - 7-8
• Posto or poppy seed - 4 tbsp
• Green chilli - as per tolerance level, I have used 4
• Desiccated coconut - 1 tbsp
• Onion - 1, chopped
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Salt, Sugar, 
• Mustard oil - a must

Wash and clean the bottle gourd leaves. Make a fine paste of poppy seed along with green chilli and a pinch of salt. Add a spoonful of mustard oil along with desiccated coconut and mix well.

Take a dollop and place it onto clean bottle gourd leaf. Wrap it and secure with a tooth pick. Do it for all leaves.

Place the leaves in a steamer / double boiler and steam it or microwave it for 3 minutes.

Let it cool down a bit. Then remove the toothpick and grind the whole thing in a mixer grinder. Make sure it doesnot become a fine paste, should remain a bit granulated.

In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of mustard oil. When it is hot, add the chopped onion and fry till golden brown.

Next add the garlic paste and fry a bit. Next add the ground mixture and start frying. 

cook till the water evaporates and oil starts coming out of the sides. Adjust the salt and sprinkle a pinch of sugar. You may omit the sugar if you want.


Enjoy with hot rice and a green chilli.

Bangladeshi Chicken Korma

Last week we were so busy to catch up with various other aspects of domestic life that the main activity of the weekend was ignored completely. I am talking about our weekly shopping spree. Being a working woman with a considerable commuting time, I cannot focus on household chores mid week, hence weekend is the time, when I need to take care of all the buys, from alpin to elephant, you know what I mean. To come back to the topic, since the shopping was the least priority item last week, one important aspects of the weekend was missing, and that was chicken. I think I have mentioned this in my previous post too, that my son is mad about chicken. He can have chicken anytime of the day, in any form. And that major ingredient was missing from his plate for a full week, so imagine the kind of nagging I have gone through the whole week specially from him for not having chicken for such a long period and blah blah.. 
So this is the chicken dish I made specially for him, this week. The name suggests it is a korma cooked in Bangladeshi style, I really donot know how authentic it is since I never been to Bangladesh yet. I picked up the recipe from this link. It was really yummy and we enjoyed every bit of it.

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 1 kg, cut into regular pieces
• Chopped onion - 1 cup
• Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
• Ginger paste - 2 teaspoons
• Green chilli paste - as per tolerance level
• Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - ½ teaspoon
• Cinnamon stick - 1
• Cardamon - 5 to 6
• Milk - 2 tablespoons
• Plain yogurt - 75 gms
• Bay leaf - 1
• Kewra water- 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - as per taste
• Salt - as needed
• White Oil and ghee - ¼ cup
• Raisins - few

Clean and rinse the chicken pieces. Marinate the chicken with the ginger, garlic, coriander powder and salt.

 

Heat oil and ghee in a pan. Add bayleaf, cardamom and cinnamon and fry for 30 seconds. 

Next goes the onbions. Fry them for 2-3 minutes with a pinch of salt and sugar. I always add sugar during frying of onions, since it gives a nice color.

Add in the chicken pieces and stir for about 5-6 minutes over medium heat.

Once the water starts to dry up, add the curd mixed with water.

Cover the pan and keep over low heat. After about 10-12 minutes, remove the cover and add in the milk and kewra water. Stir some more and cover. You may add the kashmiri chilli powder dissolved is a tbsp of water at this stage. It will give a nice rich color.

Once the gravy thickens, and the chicken is cooked, mix in the sugar and raisins.
Turn off the heat and keep the pan covered for another 5 minutes to let flavor blend in.
Serve hot.