Sweet Tangy Tomato Chutney ( From Bengali Kitchen )

 

Hi Everyone,

This yummy Tomato Chutney is a must have side dish in all the bengali homes. The addition of panch phoron spices (mustard, cumin, fennel seeds, nigella seeds and fenugreek) makes it irresistably tasty. Also the addition of aampapad is very imporant and please do not skip it if possible. Instead of aam papad you can add dried mango slices or Mango Sath ( आंब्याचे साठ) .

Jhalmuri (Bhel)

 

#SweetnSpicyAromas

#jhalmuri #bhelrecipe #murmurarecipe #chaatrecipes A popular puffed rice (Kurmura/ Murmura ) based street food chaat recipe from Bengali / Kolkata cuisine.

You can call it a distant cousin of our very own Bambaiiyya style Chowpatty Bhel puri.

Jhalmuri is a very healthy chaat with varieties of veggies going in it and the mustard oil gives it a very unique taste and flavour.

So a personal request not to skip or substitute the mustard oil with anything else .

Try it once and you will definitely get hooked to this humble yet mouth watering healthy snack recipe.

Tomato chutney (Bengali style)

This sweet sour and spicy tomato chutney is very easy to make and eqally tasty . 

It goes well with almost anything . 

Rice , khichdi , roti , puries or even bread . 

Just try it and enjoy it . 

Ingredients - 

half kg - tomatoes 

8/10 - dates (seeded & chopped) 

2 tbsp - black currants 

10/12 pieces - aam papad / ambe saath ( dried mango pulp will also do ) 

1 tsp each - mustard seeds , cumin , fenugreek seeds , kalounji , fennel seeds ( this is called paanchphoran )

1 tbsp - chilly powder 

1 & 1/2 cup - jaggery 

2 tbsp - oil 

salt to taste 

Method - 

Cut tomatoes into big pieces . 

Heat oil in a pan and add the paanchphoran masala into it . 

When the seeds splutter add cut tomato pieces and stir well . 

Cover with lid and half cook for 5 minutes . 

Now add black currents , chopped dates and aam papad , chilly powder , jaggery and salt .

 

Mix everything well and add a cup of water .

Cook till mixture starts becoming semi-thick . 

Switch off the gas as when cooled the chutney becomes thick . 

When chutney completely cools down fill it in a glass bottle and store in fridge .

This chutney stays well for almost two months if stored properly . 

Chettinad Vegetable Biryani - ( Indian Cooking Challenge )

This month for the Indian Cooking Challenge   an event started by  Srivalli  we are making a very popular vegetable biryani from Chettinad . Chettinad cuisine is very spicy and yummy . The biryani is very delicious and has lovely flavour.

Ingredients :


2/3.....................bay leaves
2 " ....................cinnamon
3 .......................cardamoms
4 ......................cloves
1.....................star anise
2 tbsp..............ghee
2 cups .....................mix vegetables( carrots, peas, beans , cauliflower )
2 cups ....................rice
3 ............................onion ( chopped )
2 ..........................tomatoes ( chopped )
2 tbsp................. chilly garlic ginger paste
1 tsp......................chilly powder
1 tsp........................turmerice powder
1 tsp......................coriander powder
3 tbsp ...................pudina leaves ( chopped)
3 tbsp..................coriander leaves ( chopped )
2 tbsp....................cashewnuts
2 tbsp...................ghee
salt
3 1/2 cups ...............water

Method : 

Wash the rice and soak it in water for 1/2 an hour.

In a cooker add 2 tbsp ghee and fry cashewnuts till golden and keep aside.

Add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and star anise and saute for 1 minute.

Add onions and saute till golden and then add ginger garlic chilly paste and again saute.

Add chopped mint and coriander leaves  and chopped vegetables.

Stir for 5 minutes and then add tomatoes, all powders and mix well.

Strain out all the water from rice and add rice to the cooker.

Stir well add salt and add 3 1/2 cups water.

Cover with a lid and cook for ten minutes .

Now add 2 tbsp ghee and sprinkle cashewnuts .

Again cover the lid and now pressure cook till 3 to 4 whistles .

Mix well and serve with pickle, curd and raita.

Rasgullas ( Bengali Sweet )

I am very very happy to post this recipe of rasgullas today. Because after many attempts of trial and error I finally managed to make these spongy rasgullas exactly the way I love them.

 Actually I am a die hard fan of bengali sweets . And rasgullas being the base of many bengali sweets like chum chum, rasmalai , malai sandwich etc wanted to make them desperately.

For this recipe I surfed the net and went through  so many different  recipes with so many tips . Then finally gathered all the information and gave it a try once again keeping my fingers crossed this time and here I was with these soft juicy cuties.

 I have given each step in detail keeping in mind all my failed attempts. Hope the tips and details help you all and you succeed in making them in the first attempt itself.

Sending this entry to Viji's    sys-w-series-december  where my ingredient for this month is sugar .

Also sending it for lets-brunch-on-sundays-event by priya and veena  as they are a perfect low calorie dessert for sundays.

Ingredients :

1 litre ......................full fat cow's milk
1/2 tsp......................citric acid ( can use 2 tbsp lemon juice instead )
1 cup ...................sugar
4 cups ................water
1/2 tsp................cardamom powder
2 to 3 drops ......rose essence ( optional)

Method :

Dissolve the citric acid crystals in 1/4 cup water.

Boil the milk and when it starts boiling add the citric acid solution 1 spoon at a time.

After adding each spoon stir the milk properly.

When the milk starts curdling immediately stop adding the citric acid solution.





It hardly took me 2 spoons of diluted citric acid solution for the milk to curdle.

Switch off the gas and immediately add lots of ice cube in the vessel. (15 to 20 )

This brings down the temperature of milk immiediately  and  stops the further curdling .






This makes the rasgullas spongy and prevents them from becoming rubbery on cooling .

Now take a muslin cloth and pour this curdled mixture in it along with ice cubes.

Let the water drain out and also wash the mixture thoroughly with fresh cold water.






This removes the sourness of citric acid or lemon juice if any.

Now tie the muslin cloth and hang it for 2 hours to drain out all the water.

Take the curdled mixture which now should resemble a white soft ball .






Knead it with your hands for almost 8 to 10 minutes till it becomes very soft.

The mixture should become soft and fluffy like butter.

This is again very important for the sponginess .






Now make small balls of the mixture ensuring that there are no cracks.







Take sugar ,water and cardamom powder in a pressure cooker and let it boil.

When the water starts boiling add the balls very gently and pressure cook the rasgullas for 1 whistle.







Let the pressure drop by itself and then only open the cooker.

The rasgullas would have swollen to almost double the size.







Take them in a vessel add rose essence and chill them till you serve.

Chennar Jalepi ( Paneer Jalebi For The SNC Challenge)

Who doesn't love bengali sweets... Rosogolla, malai sandwich , rasmalai Oh just the mention makes my mouth water. I have never been able to resist bengali sweets . So when these yummy chenna jalebis were suggested by   Chandrani  of Cuisine Delights for the  SNC Challenge  this month  I was very delighted. This is the best part of being a member of this group started by Divya  . Here we get a chance to make such lovely and varied dishes.

But these jalebis were different from the typical begali sweets make of paneer . Here it included frying the paneer and so I was excited to try out this dish. It turned out to be a super successful dessert with all the family members asking for more. Sadly I had used only 1 litre milk and had to promise to make them again soon in future.

Thanks Divya and Chandrani for giving me this chance to make such a yummy treat.

Ingredients :

1 litre..................milk
1.......................lemon
2 tsp.................maida
a pinch..............baking soda
1 cup...............sugar
1/2 cup water
5 - 6 strands..........saffron
1/2 tsp...................cardamom powder
few....................crushed cardamoms

Method :

Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan , when it starts boiling add the juice of lemon and stir it.
The milk will curdle and the whey will be separated.
Put the curdled milk in a muslin cloth and hang it for 15 minutes to drain out excess water.
Now in the meanwhile make sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water till thick.
Now to this home made chenna add maida, soda and cardamom powder.
Knead very well for 10 minutes till the dough is very soft and smooth.
Now make small balls, roll them and shape them like a pretzel.
Deep fry them in ghee or oil.
Fry them very carefully as they are very soft and may break if not handled delicately.
Dip them in the prepared sugar syrup .
The fried jalebis will absorb the syrup and swell .
Sprinkle some crushed cardomom on top.
They taste better if chilled .

Dhokar Dalna ( SNC Challenge )

Dhokar Dalna a Traditional begali dish was our SNC  challenge for May 2013. Those who are unaware  SNC challenge is a very interesting event started by Divya Pramil of  You Too Can Cook . In this there are two groups Northern Group and the Southern Group. Every month one member of each team challenges the other team with a recipe . This month it was  Nabanita Das of eshoboshoaahare who challenged us (the southern team)  with Dhokar Dalna and Roha of hyderabadicuisinerecipes who challenged the northern team with Qubani Ka Meetha . Both are lovely challenges .

I made Dhokar Dalna according to Nabanitas instructions and the dish was wonderful. Immensely enjoyed making it and everyone at home was full of praises .


Ingredients :

For the Lentil cakes :

1 cup ..................Chana daal
1/4 cup...............fresh grated coconut
1tsp...................ginger
1/4 tsp................asefoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp...............onion seeds (kalounji)
2.....................green chillies
1/4 tsp.............baking soda
1 tbsp...............oil
salt
oil for deep frying




                                                                          Method :

                                                          Soak chana daal for 2 to 3 hour.
                                        Except hing and oil grind everything with very little water.
                                Now heat oil in a non stick pan add hing and add the ground mixture .

                                          Go on stirring it till it starts leaving the sides of the pan .
                                          Now grease a plate and spread this mix on the plate.
                                                   After 10 minutes cut it into square shapes.

For the Gravy :

2 ....................potatoes ( peeled and cubed)
2....................tomatoes (chopped finely )
2 tbsp..............cashew
1 tbsp................raisins
2 cups ...............coconut milk
1/2 cup...............fresh grated coconut
1/2 tsp..................grated ginger
1tsp.....................cumin seeds
2......................bay leaves
1/4 tsp...............asefoetida (hing)
2.......................green chillies slit
1 tbsp..............( clove, cardamom and cinnamon powder)
1 n 1/2  tsp......chilly powder
1tsp...................turmeric powder
2 tbsp...............oil
salt


                                                                    Method :

                                         Deep fry the potatoes till golden brown and keep aside.
                                            Also deep fry the dhokar squares till golden brown.

                          Now heat oil and add hing, cumin, bay leaves , slit chillies and grated ginger.
                         Stir for 2 minutes and add chopped tomatoes and haldi, chilly pd, and masala pd.
                                                               Saute till oil separates.
                        Now add the coconut and coconut milk along with ground cashew raisin paste.
                                           Saute for 2 minutes and add the fried potato cubes.
                             Add water if needed as the gravy should be semi thick in consistency.
                        While serving again heat the gravy and add the dhokas and serve immediately .



Note : Do not add the dhokas and boil the gravy. The dhokas may break and melt in the gravy.
Also dont add dhokas in advance as they may soak up all the liquid and become too soft and the gravy
will dry up.

 Linking this to :  SNC Challenge  at eshoboshoaahare

Beetroot Malpuas ( Potluck Party Cyber Style)

Hello Everyone ,

Potluck party cyber style is a brain child of Jagruti and is a rocking cyber party group where we all make a dish and post it on the 10th of every month. But the real fun begins when we all make one more dish belonging to our fellow group blogger and post it on 28th . This ensures that we get to actually taste at least one dish make by others.

This month I made ginger-melon-punch for the party and for the second part I got to make these wonderful Beetroot malpuas originally made by sutapa of Indian cuisine .  Needless to say that I thoroughly enjoyed making them and they turned out to be cute little delicacies.

Ingredients :

For the malpuas :

1..............................beetroot (boiled)
1 cup.......................maida
1/4 cup...................mava
1/2 tsp...................saunf (fennel seeds crushed)
1/2 tsp...................saunf (fennel seeds  sabut )
2 to 3 tbsp...............milk


For the sugar syrup :

1 cup......................sugar
1 cup......................water
4 to 5 drops ..........rose essence


For the garnish :

3 to 4.....................cardamoms
4 to 5 ....................Almonds
4 to 5 ...................Pistachio
1 tbsp.................sweet condensed milk (I used Milkmaid)
2 tbsp................instant milk powder ( I used Nestle )
1 1/2 tsp............milk
2 cups ..................Ghee for frying


Method :

Boil beetroot , remove the skin and grind it to very smooth paste.
Add the maida and mawa and saunf  to beetroot and make a smooth thick batter ( like that of meduwada).
Make sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water for 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove from the gas and add the rose essence to the syrup.
Now heat ghee in a kadai and drop small spoonfuls of the batter in the ghee.
It will immediately puff up .
Keep the gas low and fry till done.
Drop these fried malpuas in the warm sugar syrup.
Let the malpuas soak up the syrup.
Serve them garnished with rabdi and almond , pistachio slivers.

Instant Rabdi :

Mix the condense milk, milk powder and milk well to form a smooth thick rabdi like consistency.
Add to it the crushed cardomoms and your instant rabdi is ready.

Linking this entry to  Jagrutis cooking odyssey

Malai Prawns

This is one dish which will always remain very near and dear my heart. Because this is the dish I prepared along with fried rice and daal fry when my fiancee ( now my husband ) visited my house , the first time after our marriage was fixed. Since I wanted to try something new , I made this dish that day ( 18 years back)  and he was full of praises.

This is my own version of malai prawns and since I made it first time , I have not made any changes in the original recipe as my family likes it the same way. This is a semi dry dish and goes very well with parathas as well as daal chawal. As the name suggests the most important ingredient in this dish is fresh cream which lends it a very rich flavour along with other ingredients.

Ingredients :

1 bowl.................shelled and deveined prawns
1 cup......................... potato cubes
2...........................onions very finely chopped
1/2 cup..................fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
2 tsp.......................Garam masala ( cloves , cinnamon and cardamom Pd)
1 1/2 tsp....................chilly powder
1 tsp....................turmeric powder
salt
2 to 3 tbsp................fresh cream
2 to 3  tbsp.....................ghee

Method :

Clean and remove the shells of the prawns.
Also remove the thick black thread from the shelled prawns.
Wash the prawns thoroughly and add salt, turmeric, garam masala, chilly powder.
Also add fresh cream .
Mix everything well and marinate the prawns for at least 2 hours.
Heat ghee and add onions and saute till golden.
Now add potato cubes and cook them till almost done.
Remove potatoes and keep them aside .
Now add the marinated prawns in the same kadhai .
Let the prawns cook for 5 to 10 minutes.
Add little water if needed.
Don't overcook as it makes the prawns rubbery .
Add potatoes, coriander and cook for 2 to 3 minutes and remove from fire.


This entry  goes to following events 



ep-series-garlic-or-turmeric @ spicenflavors

innovative-recipes-2013 @ lemonkurry

jagruti 's event  @  divyasculinaryjourney

Lavang Latika

This is a popular bengali sweet . It is very tasty and has a melt in the mouth texture. It has a mawa filling inside and outsides are coated with sugar syrup.

Ingredients :

For the cover
1 cup maida
4 tbsp ghee

For the filling
5 tbsp mawa
1 tbsp sugar
2tbsp almond slivers
1 tsp cardamom powder
5 to 6 saffron strands soaked in 1 tbsp hot milk

For frying
Ghee

For Sugar Syrup
2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Method :

The Cover :

Make a stiff dough with maida , ghee and cold water .
Cover it with a wet cloth and keep it aside for some time.

The filling :

Crumble mawa and add sugar, almond, cardamom and mix it well.
In the end add saffron milk and again mix well and keep aside.

How to Do :

Roll out a puri from the dough and keep some filling in the middle.
First fold both sides of puri as in masala dosa.
Then again fold from other two ends and shape it like a square.
Seal the over lapping ends with a clove.
Deep fry in ghee .
In the meanwhile make a sticky sugar syrup of 2 string consistency.
Add the fried sweets in the syrup and stir for just a minute .
Let the syrup coat well on the sweet.
Take out the lavang latika and keep it on a plate.
The syrup coat will harden within five minute.
The sweet it ready to be served and enjoyed.
It can be stored for 4 to 5 days due to the mawa filling.



Sumee's festive-feast
 Jagruti' s eventcelebrate-navratri/diwali
 Cook's joy for  diwali-bash
 kids-delight-healthy
 christmas-event-giveaway
Sangeetha's Show me your hits @  Divya's

lets-cook-21-potluck @ tickling palates 

Daal Phelani (bengali chana dal)

A delicious bengali chana daal . Raisins and cashew make all the difference.

Ingredients:

Chana dal soaked for 6 hours - 1cup

jeera -1 tsp

velchi-1tsp

dalchin-1 tsp

bay leaf - 2

haldi-1/2 tsp

dhania pd -1 tsp

chillipd - 1/2 tsp

raisins - 20-25
coriander leaves

ghee, salt , sugar

Method :

Boil chana dal in cooker with vechi, dalchin and bay leaf till soft but the daal shout be intact. 

In a Kadhai heat ghee , add raisins and cashews and keep aside.
In the same ghee add jeera, 2 red chillies, daal and all remaing ingredients and cook well.
Dont make it too watery it sould be thick in consistency.
Add raisins and cashews fried in ghee and sprinkle coriander leaves.