Sorshe Posto Ilish - Hilsa in Mustard Poppy Seed Gravy

Hilsa season has started again post Saraswati Puja and this is what I have prepared today for lunch. This is kind of a bhapa / steamed recipe and tastes heavenly with plain rice.

Ingredients:

• Hilsa Fillet - 7-8
• Mustard paste - 2 tbsp
• PoppySeed paste - 1 tbsp
• Green chilli paste - as per taste
• Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
• Curd - 2 tsp
• Salt, Turmeric
• Mustard oil
• Kalonji Seeds / kalo jeere - a pinch

Marinate the fishes with all ingredients except oil and kalonji seeds for 30 - 45 minutes.

In a pan, add mustard oil. When it is hot, add the kalonji seeds and let it splutter. Carefully place the fish onto the oil. flipping after 30 seconds.

Add water to the remaining marinades and pour the masala water onto the fish.

Cook covered with a heavy lid and over a very low frame till oil comes out.

Garnish with green chili and serve with plain rice.

Hansh er Dim er Dalna - Duck Egg Curry

A typical Bengali Delicacy - Hansh er Dim or Duck Egg is cooked in a onion tomato based gravy. You must use Mustard oil in this recipe to get  the authentic Bengali flavor.

Ingredients:

• Duck Egg - 6
• Baby Potatoes - 6-8
• Onion - 3, chopped
• Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
• Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
• Tomato - 2, chopped
• dry coconut - 2 tsp
• coriander powder - 1 tsp
• green chilli - as per taste
• kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• salt, turmeric, sugar 
• Mustard oil

Boil and peel the eggs. Smear salt, turmeric and kashmiri chilli powder and fry till golden brown.

Fry the baby potatoes too.

Fry half of the chopped onions, when they are almost brown, add the dry coconut and saute still brown. Make a paste with few tsp of water and keep aside.

In the same pan, add some more oil, then add garlic paste. After 30 seconds add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt and fry till golden brown. Add the ginger paste and fry till the raw smell is gone.

Add the chopped tomatoes and chopped green chilli and fry till the tomatoes are mashed.

Add all the ground masalas with a splash of water and fry till oil separates.

Add the fried potatoes and eggs and mix well with the masalas. 

Add the onion paste and fry well again till oil separates. Then add a 2 cups of hot water and boil till the potatoes are cooked. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves. Adjust the seasoning.

Serve with plain rice.

Spicy and Tangy Winter Veggies

The goodness of colorful winter veggies is served in this spicy tomato coated dish. The beetroot lends a sweet taste to the dish, You may use your choice of vegetables though. Very healthy recipe and can be made very quickly.

Ingredients

• Beans - 100 gm
• Beetroot - 1
• Potato - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Coriander leaves for garnishing
• Dried red chilli - 2-3
• Panchforon / Bengali 5 spice - 1/2 tsp
• Green chilli - as per taste
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt, Sugar
• Oil
• Ghee - 1 tsp

Cut all the vegetables longitudinally and they should be roughly of same size. 
Heat oil in a pan. I have used a non stick pan and hated just a tsp of oil. Next add the panchforon and dried red chilli to the oil and let it splutter.

Add all the vegetables ( except the tomato) with a pinch of salt and turmeric and flip through.

Stir fry the vegetable with a sprinkle of water, if required. for 3-4 minutes. Puree the tomato with a green chilli and add it to the vegetable. Also add the cumin, coriander powder and mix well with the vegetable. 

When the tomato puree dries up, add a splash of water and cook covered over medium heat till the vegetable are cooked. 
Adjust the salt and sprinkle a pinch of sugar, if you like. Remove from heat and add a spoonful of ghee. Keep covered.

Serve with roti / paratha or toasted bread!!

Aloo Dhonepata Posto

Another version of Aloo Posto is here where the posto or poppy seed is ground with a handful of fresh coriander leaves to give a new dimension to the ever popular aloo posto. We prefer to have aloo posto with a bit of gravy, however the traditional aloo posto is a dry dish usually served with rice and kolai dal.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 4, diced
• Onion - 1, chopped
• Poppy seeds - 3 tbsp
• Coriander leaves: a handful
• Green chillies - as per taste
• Nigella seeds/kalo jeere: 1/2 tsp
• Mustard oil: 2 tbsp
• Salt, turmeric, sugar

Soak the poppy seeds in water. Then make a paste of it along with the coriander leaves and green chillies adding a little bit of water. Set aside.

In a non-stick kadhai, add mustard oil. Once oil heats up add the nigella seeds, and 2 green chillies slit longitudinally. Stir for 45 seconds before adding the potato cubes. Sprinkle some salt and turmeric and cook the potatoes covered on medium heat for 10 minutes. 

In the last 3-4 minutes, add the onions. 

Add the poppy seed-coriander-green chilli paste and coat the potatoes and onions well with that. 

 Add a cup of water. Cook for another 5-7 minutes. In between check seasoning and add salt if required. Add a pinch of sugar to balance the taste.

When potatoes are cooked, remove from heat and add a spoonful of raw mustard oil. This is a very important step to get the authentic taste of aloo posto. 

Serve hot with plain rice.

Chicken DakBanglow

In the Bengali Food Blogger community, almost everybody has a version of Chicken Dakbanglow Recipe. Off late,  I was ignoring it for some time since the photographs seen so far was not so appealing to me. This Sunday, when it comes to cook the Chicken dish for Sunday Lunch, ( which must be of Indian Origin, must go well with rice etc. etc.) I have decided to give it a try and boy, it was awesome. I could not imagine the simplest of ingredients available in all Bengali household can yield this result. A must try. 
Note: Since we had it with rice, I keep some gravy but if you are planning to have it with Roti, please reduce the water and make a thick gravy. It should be equally good!!!

Ingredients

• Chicken - 1 kg
• Potatoes - small  -6,
• Eggs - 3
• Onion - 4, chopped
• Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
• Ginger Paste - 2 tsp
• Tomato - 1, chopped
• Curd - 2 tbsp
• Green Chilli Paste - as per taste
• Salt, sugar, Turmeric, Kashmiri red chilli powder
• Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Nutmeg powder - a pinch
• Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Marinate the chicken and baby potatoes with salt, turmeric, curd and green chilli paste. 

Hard boil and peel the eggs. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and fry the eggs till golden.

In the same pan, fry the potatoes till golden brown and keep aside.

Add some more oil to the same pan. Add a spoonful of ghee to it. Now add bayleaf, cinnamon and cloves and let it splutter. Then add the ginger galic paste and fry till the raw smell is gone.

Add chopped onion and fry till golden brown. I sprinkle a pinch of salt and sugar while frying the onions. It lends a beautiful color to the gravy.
Puree the tomato and add it to the pan. Continue frying till oil comes out of the masala.

Add turmeric and kashmiri red chilli powder with a splash of water and mix well.

When masala is well fried, add the marinated chicken and mix well.

Cook covered over low heat stirring occasionally. Add the fried potaoes in the midway.

Add a cup of hot water depending on gravy requirement and continue cooking till the chicken is almost done. Add the eggs. Adjust the seasoning.

When chicken and potatoes are cooked, remove from heat. Sprinkle nutmeg powder and keep covered for 10 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice or roti.