Egg Chilli

Every Saturday , if I am at home, my  son expects that I will cook something special for him. This has started long back, when he was in nursery school, he used to come home from school, and whatever I cook, I used to feed him with a story. That was a quality time for me with my son after a hectic week and we both used to enjoy this session a lot. It has become such a ritual that till today, when he is all grown up ( he is in class VIII now) , he still expects some special dish I cook for him for Saturday lunch. 
 I made this egg chilli for him today, it is tangy, spicy , just the kind of food he likes, and at the same time can be cooked very easily too.

Ingredients

• Eggs- 4 (boiled)
• Onions- 3, chopped
• Red chilli powder- 1 tsp
• Cumin powder- 1 tsp
• Green chillies- 2
• Garlic Paste 1 tsp
• Cornflour - 2 tsp
• Tomato- 1
• Coriander leaves: To garnish
• White Oil
• Salt, turmeric powder as required
• Sugar - a pinch

 Shell the boiled eggs, cut into half, Sprinkle some salt and turmeric powder and keep aside. 

Chop the onions, green chillies and coriander leaves finely and keep ready. Prepare a batter with the cornflour, chilli power,  turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt. Coat each egg half with this mixture thinly and shallow fry in a pan. This is to ensure that the yolk is secured in its place.

In the same oil sauté the onions, green chillies and garlic paste until pinkish in colour.

 Add kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric powder and chopped tomato and fry well. You may need to add 2 tbsp water into the mixture to avoid sticking to the pan.

Add salt and sugar according to taste, along with the fried eggs. Mix gently and cook covered for a couple of minutes till the gravy thickens.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot. 

Burhani - Spicy yogurt Drink

A biriyani is incomplete in my household if it is not accompanied by Burhani. Traditionally Burhani is a wedding drink served along with Biriyani in mushlim community and it is basically a spicy lassi. Extremely easy to make, you can make it in a ziffy, just gather the ingredients and whiz through your mixer grinder, and a refreshing drink is done in no time.

Ingredients

• Curd - 2 Cups
• Chilled Water - 2 cups
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Green Chilli - 2
• int Leaves - a bunch
• Roasted Cuin Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 2 tsp
• Black Salt - 1/4 tsp

In a blender combine all the above ingredients. Blend well and get  a thick milk shake type texture.Pour out in a jug. chill in the refrigerator for an hour & serve chilled in individual glasses decorating it with few mint leaves.

Adjust the amount of sugar & salt as per your taste but the proportion of sugar should always be double the salt.

Serve with Kolkata Style Mutton Biriyani.

Sweet and Spicy Green Mango Chuney

A staple in Bengali household, this is a wonderful way to end a traditional meal specially during summer. This is a must in my family whenever there is a get together and I get lots of compliment for this.  The secret of its taste lies on the dry masala powder I sprinkle at the top. We love our chutneys a bit hot as well as sweet, so while making the dry powder, I sometimes roast a dry red chilli along with the masalas, grind them and sprinkle them at the top. Sometimes I add some raisins as well, which gives an extra kick to the tastebud.

Ingredients

• 2 medium green mangoes
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tspn panchforan
• 2 dry red chilies
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1/4th tsp whole jeera (cumin) seed
• Raisin - 1 tbsp

Cut the green mangoes with the skin into boat shapes.

Heat up oil in a pan, mix in 1/2 tsp panch phoron and the dry red chillies. When they start to crackle, mix in the mangoes with salt and a pinch of turmeric. Mix in warm water. Let it boil for some time till the mangoes are soft, but not mushy.

Remember, not to add the sugar till the mango is soft, otherwise, it will not allow the mango to get cooked. Add the sugar and mix well. Let the sugar dissolve and then start boiling. Adjust the seasoning.

Remove from heat and let it cool. Roast 1/4 tsp whole jeera seed and remaining panchforon on the tawa and grind it to a powder. Sprinkle over the chutney and let it cool completely.

Dhoniya Pomfret

This is a signature dish of my mom-In-Law, she cooks it mainly with 'Bhola Bhetki' fish, since I don't like that fish, I use pomfret. She usually use a herb which grows in abundance in her garden during winter. I really don't know the name of this herb, she refers to it as 'Deshi Dhonepata', but I donot find any resemblance with dhone pata or coriander leaves except the smell and taste. I also never find this herb anywhere else other than in her garden. Nevertheless, I use our regular coriander / cilantro leaves with a extra dash of garlic which she does not use.  The tampering with Kalojire / Kalonji seed is also very important here, it gives the dish a distinct kick along with the cilantro leaves and garlic.  

Ingredients

• Pomfret Fish - 3
• Coriander Leaves - a bunch
• Garlic - 5 cloves
• Green Chilli - 5
• Kalojire / Kalonji Seeds - 1 tsp
• Salt, turmeric, red chilli powder - as required
• Mustard Oil for cooking

Cut 4 - 5 deep slits on both sides of the fish. Marinate the fish with salt, turmeric and red chilli powder for 15 minutes.

Make a fine paste of coriander leaves, green chilli and garlic. you can use the stems of the leaves as well. Add or reduce the green chilli according to our taste.
Fr the marinated fish lightly on both sides. 

In the same pan, add some more oil, ( forget dieting friends !! ;-) ) when it is hot, add the kalojire / kalonji seeds with a green chilli. Let it splutter.

Now add the coriander garlic paste with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Fry well.

Stir continuously over low heat till the paste changes color and the raw smell is gone. By this time, oil should come out of the masalas as well.

Add the fried fishes and mix with masalas. Add half cup of hot water and stir carefully not to break the fishes.

 Let it boil covered for 10 minutes over low heat. By this time, your fish should be cooked through and gravy will be reduced. Check for seasoning.

When oil comes out on the sides, remove from heat. Serve with plain rice.

Shapla r Bora

I have learnt this recipe from my  maid who is from Bangladesh. I used to see this Shaplas in our local market, but never dare to buy it, since I didnot know how to cook them. Once I was talking to my maid casually and mentioned the abundance of Shapla in the market and she immediately told me why don't you bring a bunch, it makes a perfect snack. So, next weekend, it featured in my grocery bag and here is the outcome. I must admit, the preparation of the vegetable is a bit tedious job, which would not happen unless she does it for me. But afterwards, the recipe is very easy, simply arrange them in a bamboo stick, make a batter of your choice and deep fry. It is really yummy. we had it with rice and dal, you can serve it as evening snack as well with a hot cup of tea.

Ingredients:

• Shapla - a bunch
• Besan - 2 tbsp
• Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
• Salt as required
• Kalojire or Kalonji seeds - a pinch
• Oil for deep frying

Remove the flower and the outer layer of the stems of shapla. Cut into fingers. Take 5-6 pieces together and pierce a bamboo stick through the middle. Soak the in salted water for 15 minutes.

Make a batter by mixing Besan / Gram flour and rice flour with water. Add salt, finely chopped green chilli and kalojire / kalonji seeds. Let it sit for 15 minutes. 

Heat oil in Pan. Now dip the shapla sticks into the batter and carefull place the in the hot oil. Deep fr till it becomes golden brown.

Serve with tomato sauce.

Salam-E-Murg

It is the birthday of my dear Hubby and he loves chicken in any form. Naturally it is my duty to feed him some chicken dishes on his Big day, which he never had before. While searching the net for some unique recipe,, I came across Poulamee's Salam-E-Murg, and the name struck me instantly. It is more or less a regular chicken recipe, the uniqueness lies on the roasted veggies that is getting added at the end of cooking. The unique aroma of roasted veggies, getting mixed with chicken gives this regular chicken dish a much desired kick.

Ingredient

• Chicken - 1 kg
• Onion - 2,
• Tomato - 1
• Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
• Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
• Curd - 1 heaped tbsp
• Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
• Black pepper Powder - 1 tsp
• Salt, turmeric - as required
• Sugar - 1 tsp

To Grill Veggies:

• Capsicum - 1
• Tomato - 1,
• Onion - 1 
• Salt, pepper, Red Chilli Powder
• Tandoori masala - 1 tsp
• Curd - 1 tbsp
• Olive oil for brushing

To grill veggies, cut the capsicum, tomato and onion into big chunks. Marinate them with salt, pepper, kashmiri chilli powder, tandoori masala and curd for 30 minutes.

Marinate the chicken pieces with curd, salt, turmeric and black pepper for 30 minutes.

Make a paste of ginger, garlic, onion, tomato and all spices and keep aside.
Roast the marinated veggies for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degree. Add few drops of olive oil onto the veggies just before roasting. Remove from oven when you get nice aroma.

Add some oil in a pan and fry the marinated chicken pieces till golden brown.

In the same oil, fry the curry paste made earlier till oil comes out of it. 

Add the fried chicken pieces and mix well with the masala. Add a cup of hot water and let it cook for 10 minutes over low heat or till the chicken is tender.

Add the grilled veggies and mix well with the gravy.

Cook for 2 more minutes before removing from the heat. Adjust the seasoning. You may need to adjust the water quantity based on your gravy requirement. Sprinkle some coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Chicken Soup

Happy Soupy Saturday friends !!!! It is a peaceful Saturday evening, there is nip in the air,, all 3 of us get proper rest after an eventful hectic week.. so it is time to do some leisurely cooking !! I was so occupied with office for the last couple of weeks that I have missed many  activities that is going on in my 'Kolkata Food Bloggers' Group. One of them was 'Know your Kolkata Food Blogger's' event, where it was the turn of my virtual friend Sarani. As usual, I don't know her personally, only thing that I know about her is, she blogs from   'Back to Basics', which is a collection of beautiful recipes. What I like the most about her blog is, majority of the recipes can be done very quickly, ideal for me, who do not have enough time to spend in the kitchen. Apart from that, Sarani is mother of Soh, a cute and adorable li'l boy,,and she has a great photography sense, that's all I know about her. Anyway, since I couldnot be able to try her recipe during scheduled time,  so decided to do something today. She has this simple yet  flavorful chicken soup in her blog, which immediately caught my attention. It has loads of vegetables, chicken, noodles with a hint of garlic, which all of us liked very much. Obviously done some modification here n there to suite availability of ingredients here, but the basics remain the same. It is a meal by itself, I just added a plate of fried fish along with this soup and had a fulfilling dinner. All of us were very happy after the dinner, that indicates, how yummy it was. Enough said, here goes the recipe. The original recipe is available here too.

 Ingredients

• Chicken pieces- 6
• Onion - 2, cut into chunks
• Carrot - 2,
• Raw Papaya - 1/2
• Beans - 10-12
• Spinach - a bunch
• Noodles - 1/2 pack
• Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
• Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
• Bayleaves - 2
• Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt n Pepper - as per taste

Dice the carrot and papaya, cut the beans half lengthwise. Pressure cook the tough vegetables along with the chicken and 4 glasses of water. I have added 1 tsp garlic paste, 1 tsp green chilli paste and 1 bay leaf as well.

Remove the chicken from the broth and shred into strips. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Add bay leaf and black peppercorn. Then add the onion slices and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken with remaining garlic paste and a pinch of salt and stir fry quickly.

Now add the spinach leaves and fold into the onion, chicken mixture.

When spinach is wilted, add the boiled vegetables along with the broth. You may need to add one more glass of water at this stage.

When the soup is boiling, check for seasoning. Add boiled noodles and mix carefully.

Serve with lots of black pepper. Serve hot. Can have it with crisp toast.