Khichudi Bhog, Labra, Payesh and Chutney on a Navami Morning

Hello Readers, I am back like more than a year after. Different commitments on personal and professional fronts kept me away from my blog which I missed so much. And what can be a better time to be back other than our very dear Durga Pujas.

Just as Mahalaya was approaching the smell in the air also started changing. Especially in the mornings, one could distinctly smell the Shiuli, the signature smell of Durga Puja mornings. The place where I stay has a few Shiuli Trees on the way and passing them brings back a lot of childhood memories. During the Durga Pujas as a kid I visited my maternal grandparents house. We had a Shiuli tree in the garden. My dida used to wake very early in the morning and gather the flowers fallen on the ground for doing prayers. That earthy smell of morning mist and Shiuli is something I can only talk about but one has to experience it to understand.

This time around Durga Puja is happening on all weekdays. Hence I decided to take two days off on Ashtami and Navami. Pushpanjali, Pandal Hopping and Pet Puja was the main agenda for the days. Yesterday I went for the Ashtami Pushpanjali at Apte Road. Its a Puja hosted by the Bengali Association. The Puja used to happen in Siddhi Garden on Raja Mantri Road till last year which was considerably closer to my place. But for some reason this time they shifted base to the Central Park Hotel grounds which is pretty far from my place. By chance I noticed the change in venue, when it came in paper but many were not so lucky and ended up clueless after reaching Siddhi Gardens. Hence I felt the attendance was quite less as well at the pandal. Plus the previous location seemed better in terms of ambiance and space. I felt overall look was also lackluster unlike last year. Post pushpanjali I had luchi and cholar daal at the stall and it was super! Breaking the fast with such a scrumptious dish makes your day really.

Top: Congress Bhavan , Bottom : Apte Road

The other Puja I went to was of Congress Bhavan. Its also a very old Puja in Pune. And the pratima of Ma Durga over there was really very beautiful. She was decked in my favourite colours red and gold.  Stayed there for a while and then got some misti doi and fish fry as parcel and came back home.

Fish Fry & Misti Doi

Fortunately I was home before a heavy downpour started in the afternoon. This has been a lingering problem this puja. The rains are playing a spoilt sport this time every single day. Infact we had a dust storm today followed by a heavy downpour in the afternoon. I had plans of visiting otehr pandals in the city today but considering the weather I changed my mind and impromptu decided to make a full blown Bhog on Navami. Fortunately for me the main ingredients were all avilable in the pantry, a few of the vegetables I had to get from the market. It took me whole morning to prepare and make each of them but it was super fun and the final product was so awesome that I wish I could pat myself on the back.

Bhoger Khichudi is very special to every Bengali. It not only has the flavours of spices but the aroma of dhuno, which makes it taste awesome. Now when you prepare at home the aroma of dhuno apart everything else can be mimicked. I had made many mooger daaler khichudi before but this particular recipe that I found on the net today really came out awesome! I just added a little things here and there differently from the recipe. See the original recipe here.

Niramish Moong Daal Khichudi

Preparation Time: 30 minutes  
Cooking Time:  1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 4
Cuisine: Bengali

Ingredients:

• Sona Moong Daal/ Unpolished Moong Daal - 1 cup
• Gobindobhog Rice / Kolam Rice - 1 cup
• Fresh Ginger paste- 2 1/2 tbsp
• Green Chillies - 3
• Potato - 2 medium , diced
• Cauliflower - 1 small, Cut into medium sized florets
• Fresh Coconut - half cup cut into small pieces
• Green Peas - 3/4 cup or as per preference
• Raisins - handful, soaked for 5 minutes in water
• Cumin Powder  - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder - 2 tbsp
• Everest Sahi Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
• Ghee (clarified butter) - 2 tbsp
• Mustard Oil for frying
• Sugar as per taste
• Salt - as per taste

Procedure
1. Wash the rice and keep aside

2. Heat a heavy bottomed kadhai and add the daal to it. Dry roast it  till some of the daal gets a light bown/pink color, while stirring continuously with a spatula. You need to continuously stir it because unattended daal might burn which will impact the taste. Wash the roasted daal in cold water. Transfer the washed daal into the same kadhai and add 4 cups of water. On medium head cover and cook the daal till its half cooked.

3. Once the daal is half cooked add the washed rice and cook them together till rice is half 3/4th cooked. Add more water if required.

4. I used frozen peas here. So thaw the peas for half an hour by putting them in water. If using fresh peas, just peel and keep them aside.

5. Take another wok and fry the cauliflower florets, peas and diced potato. Keep aside

6. Add some ghee in the wok and fry the coconut pieces till edges are lightly brown. Then in leftover ghee toss the raisins for 1 minute. Keep this aside as well.

7. Now add 2 tbsp of mustard oil and let it heat. Toss in split green chillies and add the ginger paste, turmeric, cumin powder, salt and sugar. Saute for a few minutes lowering the flame so that raw smell of ginger is gone. Add a little water to make it a paste. Add the fried cauliflower, potato, peas, raisin and coconut and fold in.

8. Add this masala to the almost cooked rice and daal. Fold in. If you feel more turmeric is required add now. I also added 1 tsp of raw ginger paste at this stage to enhance the flavour. Let it cook for a while till everything is cooked nicely. Make sure you stir occasionally so that the khichudi doesn't stick to the base of the wok. 

9. When the khichudi is almost done, add the garam masala and top it off with a generous amount of ghee. Fold everything in and let it rest. Put the lid on so that the flavours are properly infused.

Enjoy your khichudi hot!

Labrar Torkari (Vegetable Medley)

Preparation Time: 20 minutes  
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 4
Cuisine: Bengali

Ingredients:

• Potato - 2 medium, each cut into four pieces
• Sweet Potato - 4, diced
• Pumpkin - 100 gm, diced
• Brinjal - 2 medium, diced
• Borboti (yard long beans) - 12, cut into 1 inch pieces
• Fresh Ginger paste - 1 tsp
• Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Kalonji - 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds or Methi dana - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Dried Red Chilli - 1
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Mustard Oil - 1 tsp
• Sugar as per taste
• Salt - a pinch

Procedure
1. Cut the vegetables as mentioned and keep them in water for 15-20 minutes.

2. Heat a heavy bottomed kadhai and add mustard oil. Fry all the vegetables in the following order - Potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, brinjal. Add a little salt while frying, to get them cooked quickly. And keep them aside. Then fry the borboti separately so that you can control the color. Keep aside.

Note: Frying the vegetables separately will give the dish a better taste

3. Heat a heavy bottomed kadhai and add mustard oil. When it is smoking add all the whole spices and red chilli. When the spices are fragrant add the ginger paste and fry for 30 seconds. Add the fried vegetables to it. Add turmeric, salt and sugar and fold everything in. Fry for a while till the raw smell of ginger is gone. 

4. Now add 1 and 1/2 cup cups of water and cover the pan. Let the vegetables get cooked properly. Give it an occasional stir so that the vegetables doesnt stick to the pan.

5. When the vegetables are tender, open the lid and dry any excess water till the vegetables reach its desired consistency.

Gobindobhog Chaler Payesh (Rice Kheer)

Preparation Time: 5 minutes  
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Cuisine: Bengali

Ingredients:

• Gobindo bhog chal - 5 tsp
• Full cream milk - 400 gm
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Raisins - handful
• Nolen gur (optional) 2 tbsp
• Sugar - 2 1/2 tsp

Procedure
1. Wash and keep the rice soaked in water for 30 minutes

2. Heat a heavy bottomed kadhai and add the full cream milk. Add the bay leaf. Let it come to a boil and then add the soaked rice. Reduce the flame to medium. Keep stirring it continuously so that layer doesnt form on the milk.

3. When the milk is reduced to half add the sugar. Keep coking it till the rice is cooked completely.

4. Meanwhile grate the gur and make a paste of it with water and keep aside.

5. When the payesh is almost done, switch off the flame and add the gur to it. Fold in. Make sure you add the gur only after heat is switched off else the milk might curdle.

Let it rest for a while. Serve the payesh hot or cold with the bhog.

Tomato Chutney

Click here to see the recipe ->

Serve everything piping hot. Add a dash of ghee to the khichudi before serving and have fried papads on the side.

Wish you all a happy Durga Puja!