Egg Cutlet - Bangali'r Dim er Chop

Last year, sometimes during September-October, I took part in an interesting event, "Know Your Blogger" organised by "Kolkata Food Bloggers", where every week, a member of the group became the star of the week, and we rest had recreated one of the star's recipe in our kitchen and posted it in our blog, with a writeup and link to the blog. In line with the same, we are organising the event again this year and all the participants are quite excited this time too. 
To start with, the star of this week is Sarani Tarafder. Though I could not meet her personally, I am a big fan of her, because of her look, her photography, her 'kahani' behind the photographs, and of course, because of her cooking. Those who don't know, She blogs from  Cocoawind, a lovely blog with easy and quick recipes ( I like that the most). 
I have recreated her 'Dim er Chop' or Bengali Style Egg Cutlet last week on my Son's Birthday and it was well accepted by his friends. I cannot comment how tasty it was though, since  I myself could not taste a single bite of it, all disappeared in front of those hungry monsters, ( :-) ) but got the feedback from them that it was yummy!!  So, better luck next time!!!

You may visit Sarani's blog here to get access to those lovely and tasty recipes.

Ingredients

• Hard boiled eggs - 8, 
• medium potataoes - 12
• Onion - 4, chopped
• Garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
• Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
• Green chilies- as per taste,chopped
• Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
• Dry Masala Powder - 1 tsp
• Cornflour - 4 tbs 
• Crushed Cornflakes - for coating
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Peel the boiled eggs and cut into quarters. Boil the potatoes and mash them with a pinch of salt.

Add a spoonful of oil to the pan and add chopped onions with a pinch of salt and sugar. Fry till golden. 

Add the ginger garlic paste and fry a little. Then add chopped green chilli ( I added a load of it!!), cumin powder, salt and fry till the mixture become brownish.

To this add the boiled potatoes and cook till the masala gets nicely incorporated in the potatoes. Take it off the heat and sprinkle the dry masala powder. Let it cool. 

Now, using a knife cut the eggs into quarters and season with salt and pepper. Then wrap the quarters in the mashed potato mix - these will look like mini bolsters. Make a batter of cornflour with water but it should be of very thin consistency. 

Dunk each bolster into the cornflour batter and dredge it the crushed cornflakes. Sarani has used breadcrumbs but I didnot have the stock so used the corn flakes instead.

Deep fry the bolsters till they turn a nice golden brown. 

Serve hot.

Sending this to  Kolkata Food Bloggers event Know Your Blogger 2014 !!

Chingri Jhal - Bengali Style Prawn Masala

Some quick dish, best enjoyed with plain rice.

Ingredients

• Prawns - 500 gms
• Onion - 1, chopped
• Onion Paste - 2 tbsp
• Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
• Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped
• Green chilli paste - as required
• Bay leaf - 2
• Salt, Turmeric, Kshmiri Chill powder - as required
• Sugar - a pinch

Marinate the cleaned prawns with slat and turmeric for 15 minutes. Add mustard oil to the pan, when it is hot, saute the prawns for 1 minute and keep aside.

In the same oil, add bay leaf, when color changes, add chopped onion and fry a little with a pinch of salt and sugar. When the color changes, add onion paste, and ginger paste and fry well. Add the green chilli paste and chopped garlic and mix well.

Add all the dry masalas, sprinkle some water and continue frying till water evaporates and oil comes out of the masalas.

I have added some extra green chilli too, which are chopped roughly.

Add the sauteed prawns to the fried masala and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add a cup of hot water. Adjust the salt.

Boil for some time till oil comes out on the surface. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar if you like.

Sprinkle some garam masala powder and your chingri jhal is ready!!!

Bottlegourd Greens with Pine Nut and Garlic

Got the idea from a website where spinach was used for this dish. I had a bunch of fresh 'Lau Shak' or bottle gourd greens in my pantry. Tried this way and it was pretty good !! Will try it with spinach too.

Ingredients

• Bottle Gourd Greens - a bunch, 
• Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped
• Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
• Pine Nuts - 1 tbsp
• Olive Oil
• Salt

I took the leafy greens only and washed them thoroughly. Then torn them roughly and soaked in water for some time. Add the leaves in a pan with a pinch of salt and steam it till the leaves are wilted.

Don't add any water, let them get cooked on their own juice.

Add olive oil in a heated pan. Then toast the pine nuts till golden brown.

When pine nuts are nicely browned, add chopped garlic and stir quickly for 30 seconds.

Next, stir in the wilted greens with the green chilli paste and mix thoroughly. Stir well.

Season well and serve as a side dish.

Chingri Posto - Prawns in Poppy Seed Gravy

We have a family recipe of Aloo Posto which is much loved dish in my family. This time I cooked it the same way but added some sauteed prawns and a new dish is born.

Ingredients

• Prawns - 300 gms
• Potato - 2, cubed
• Poppy Seed Paste - 3 tbsp
• Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
• Salt, Turmeric
• Mustard Oil

Lightl saute the prawns with a pinch of salt and turmeric and keep aside.

Add some more mustard oil in the same pan. Add the potato cubes with a pinch of salt and turmeric and stir for 2-3 minutes. Next add 1/2 cup of water and let it boil. When potatoes are almost cooked, add the sauteed prawns and mix well.

Add the poppy seed paste and green chilli paste in half cup of water and add the runny mixture into the pan.

Boil for 1 minute. Adjust the seasoning and then remove from heat. Add a spoonful of mustard oil at the end and keep covered on a standing time of 15 minutes. Serve with plain rice.

Til Patol - Parwal with Sesame Seed

Got bored of regular Patol recipe, so experimented a bit with some 'til bata' or sesame seed paste while cooking patol and the outcome is amazing. 

Ingredients

• Patol or Parwal - 10
• Onion - 1, chopped
• Sesame seed paste - 1 tbsp
• Curd - 1 tbsp
• Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
• Green chilli paste - as per taste
• Salt, sugar, Turmeric
• Kalo jeera / Kalonji seeds - a pinch
• Mustard Oil
• Garam masala powder - a pinch
• Coriander leaves for garnishing

Wash and scrub the patol thoroughly. Make a slit at both ends. Lightly fry the patol with a pinch of salt and turmeric and keep aside.

Add kalo jeera / kalonji seeds in oil. Then add the chopped onion and fry a little.

Make a mixture of sesame seed paste, curd, green chilli paste and ginger paste with half cup of water and then add it on top of fried onions.

Fry the masala till oil separates. Then add a cup of hot water and add the parwals. Let it get cooked.

When parwals are almost cooked, add a spoonful of sugar. adjust the salt, if required. When gravy thickens, sprinkle garam masala powder and remove from heat.

Enjoy with plain rice.

Chicken Stew with Curd

A very easy recipe, light on stomach, but a burst of flavors. 

Ingredients

• Chicken - 1 Kg
• Curd - 100 gm
• Onion - 2, chopped
• Garlic - chopped, 1 tbsp
• Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
• Potato - , halved
• Raw Papaya - 2 slices
• Salt
• Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
• Dry Red Chilli - 2 - 3
• Garam masala - Cardamom, cloves, cinnamon
• Bay leaves
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder - a fat pinch

Clean and wash the chicken. Marinate with ginger paste, garlic, green chilli paste and curd. Add salt too.

Marinate for an hour or so.

Heat a little oil and lightly saute the potato and raw papaya with a pinch of salt. Keep aside.

In the same oil ( add a bit, if required) add the bayleaf and whole garam masala and let it splutter. Add chopped onion with a pinch of salt and sugar and fry till golden brown.

Add the marinated chicken and mix well. Add chopped red chilli too.

Stir occasionally for a minute, then add 2 cups of water. add more, if you want it soupy. add the fried potato and papaya too.

Cook covered over low heat till the chicken and vegetables are cooked.  Adjust the seasoning. Switch off the heat and sprinkle garam masala powder.

Add a spoonful of ghee if you want some extra flavor. Keep covered for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy this super healthy chicken dish with tawa roti.