30 June

Most of the time we throw out the peels of the vegetables and fruits we eat. It was during the lockdown last year that people started promoting the concept of 'no-waste' cooking where you are encouraged to use all the part of a fruit or vegetable to make food. But just ask your mother or grandma, and they will tell you their stories of how they used to incorporate the same concept in their cooking even without knowing that it will become a fad one day. I have seen my mom use the produces in its entirety to spin up many innovative dishes. It was mostly done when your pantry was running dry and you had to make do with whatever is available at hand. And as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, when one is trying to use everything in a produce there has to be some inventive cooking involved to give the peels, seeds etc. a unique flavor and taste which will be loved by everyone in the house.  Thus I grew up on recipes which were following no waste lifestyle always.

Did you know the peels has more fiber than the vegetable or fruit itself? That is why they keep you full for a longer time even if consumed in a small amount. They are healthy too.

I started making dishes out of vegetable peels a couple of years ago and discovered my love for them. More than the actual subzi, I ended up loving the dishes made form the various peels. Out of all the peels I feel the peel of a Bottle gourd is the most versatile because of its neutral taste and flavour. It blends well with any spice or seasoning. 

Bottle gourd or lau as we call in Bengali, is a summer staple in Bengal. But when you are staying out of Bengal, this is something you get round the year and of same quality. Many people hate the idea of having lau in any dish, but we never hear that complaint in Bengali dishes, maybe because Bengalis have invented beautiful dishes from this much hated vegetable and turned them into culinary wonders. I really love any Bengali dish made with bottle gourd. And it has been the same case from early childhood days. I loved it with mach (fish) or spinach or in the form of a fish curry or even stir fry.

Today I am going to talk about a very basic stir fry made out of the bottle gourd peels which is tasty and healthy at the same time. Pair it with steamed rice and choice of your daal and you are sorted.

Checkout other vegetarian recipes on my blog:

• Kochur Dom
• Potol Shorshe Posto Aam Diye
• Chola Shaak Ghonto
• Rajasthani Bharwa Bhindi
• Bharwa Karela

Cooking Equipment:

• Pan
• Sharp Knife
• Peeler

Procedure:

1. Peel the skin of the bottle gourd a little thick so that some flesh also is there with the skin.

Tip: Put the peels in a bowl of water the moment you peel them, it will prevent blackening of the peels due to oxidization in air.

2. Chop the peels into thin julienne (long strips) 

Tip: If you cut them long and thin the look of the preparation enhances.

3. Take a saucepan and fill it with water. Bring the water to a boil and add half a tsp of salt. Add the peels and  boil it for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and place under running room temperature water to stop the cooking process.

4.  Now heat a pan. Add mustard oil and let it get heated. Once hot fry the bori (lentil dumplings ) till they are crispy. Take them out and keep aside.

5. In the same pan while the oil is hot, temper the oil with dry red chili and Nigella seeds (Kalonjee). Allow it to sizzle for a few seconds and then add the blanched peels. 

6. Add turmeric, salt and sugar and give it a good stir. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Open the lid give it a stir and let it cook covered for another 3-5 minutes.

7. Now break the fried bori roughly and add it and grated fresh coconut to the pan. Give it a stir. Add about 1/4th cup of water and let the peels get cooked till a little tender. 

Note: If you want to make it spicy add a few slit green chilis or red chili powder and skip the sugar. But the recipe tastes awesome when sugar is added.

Serve it with steamed rice and daal. 

16 June

সবাইকে জামাইষষ্ঠীর শুভেচ্ছা ||

Today in Bengal, Jamai Shasti is being celebrated. Jamai means son-in-law and Shasti means the sixth day of shukla paksh according to the Hindu calendar. This festival is predominantly celebrated in West Bengal.

The legend behind this festival goes like this - there was once a very greedy woman who used to eat up everything cooked in the house. When asked, she blamed it on the cat. The cat being close to Goddess Shasti, complained to Her about this. In order to teach the woman a lesson, Goddess Shasti hid all the children of the woman. Being punished, the greedy woman performed rituals before the Goddess and prepared delicacies in order to please her. The Goddess was eventually satisfied and decided to return all her children. Since then all women started performing the Shasti puja for the welfare of their children.

Just like every other Bengali festival, food is the most important part of the festival. The mother-in-law cooks a lavish feast for the son-in-law. Non-Vegetarian dishes dominate the platter with fish taking the obvious centerstage. 

But on this occasion, I am going to talk about a very versatile recipe today. You can use practically anything to go with this recipe - eggs, fish, prawn, paneer or even vegetables. Among vegetables this works wonderfully well with Potol (Pointed Gourd). I have made this infinite number of times and even made it for my office colleagues who loved it like crazy, so I know this little family recipe is a winner.

Unlike other Bengali Egg curries which has potato, this particular recipe is made without any potatoes. Its a rich, flavorful, sweet and spicy curry which needs very little time to whip up and tastes out of the world. This recipe is curated by my mom and took me a lot of time to perfect. Though it has a super simple ingredient list and procedure, the key to making this curry is frying the onions in the optimum way. It transforms the taste of the dish totally, if you do not fry the onions correctly. The other important thing is addition of jeera powder. I had started cooking this curry when I went to US and didn't have much experience in cooking. My mom would explain and guide me with the recipes over skype and I used to try and create something edible in my kitchen. For the longest time I would not add that small pinch of Jeera powder and always ended up wondering why this curry didn't taste as tasty as my mom's version. Very recently, one day when I saw my mom making this curry I discovered that the magic ingredient was that small hint of Jeera powder. It made the flavors bolder in the curry. And when this is done with seafood it takes this to a very different level. So even if it is your mom, they rightly say, chef's don't always give away the whole trick to a dish! My mother used to say the same about my grandma, so I know it :D.

You can make this with poultry eggs as well, but hasher dim (duck eggs) really take the taste of this dish a notch up. Duck eggs are pretty much just like chicken eggs, except they are larger and richer. They're higher in fat and lower in water content. The taste is more richer and creamier. It is a family favorite for us. Unfortunately in Pune it is very difficult to get Duck Eggs where I stay. Now a days though BigBasket is having the option but it is like super super expensive. I remember last time I visited Kolkata, I had bought a dozen Duck eggs from a villager lady in the local market and it was Rs.12 per egg as compared to Rs 6 for a poultry egg. Here is it almost 3 times the price in BigBasket. But when you have a special occasion like Jamai Shasti, you feel all too generous and feel like going gourmet. 

So here it is a lovely rich Egg curry to make for all those dinner times when you want to relish a delicious egg curry without much hassel. The whole recipe gets done in half an hour's time and thats one more reason I love it so much.

Check out a few festive recipes for Jamai Shasti from my blog

• Kakrar Jhal || Crab Curry
• Bangladeshi Mutton Tehari
• Dhakai Morog Polao
• Dak Bungalow Chicken
• Morich Mutton
• Bread Malpua
• Fulkopir Malaikari with Paneer || Cauliflower with Cottage Cheese
• Macher Matha Diye Moong er Daal
• Narkel Diye Cholar Daal
• Gobindobhog Chaler Payesh

Ingredients :

• Wok
• Pressure cooker
• Knife

Procedure: 

1.  Boil the eggs. I used a pressure cooker for the same. Keep a bowl in the middle of the cooker. Fill some water in the cooker, till 1/4th bowl is immersed.  Wash the eggs and smear some mustard oil all over the eggs. Place these eggs in the bowl and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Let the pressure die out then open the lid and put the eggs into an ice bath. 

Tip: Applying mustard oil on the egg surface prevents it from cracking during boiling in a cooker.

2. Remove the shells and make a few cuts on the egg surface. Coat these eggs with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Shallow fry the eggs for a couple of minutes till it gets a little color on the surface. Keep aside.

3. Slice the onions and slit the green chilies.

4. Take a wok and heat refined oil. When hot temper it with whole jeera. When fragrant add the sliced onions. Cook on medium heat with cover on. Keep checking occasionally and add a dash of water if the onion starts sticking to the wok. Fry the onions till they are soft and oil separates.

Tip: Frying the onions is the key in this recipe. It should be fried till fully cooked and oil comes out.

Note: If you are using this recipe for vegetables like Potol (pointed gourd) or Paneer, then temper with 2 cardamom and 1/2 inch cinnamon bark. Replace refined oil with mustard oil.

5. Add the dry masalas now - red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric, jeera powder. Add the sugar and salt. Add the slit green chilis. Cook for 5 more minutes till the masalas are incorporated.

6. Add 2 cups of warm water and give it a good stir. Add the fried eggs. Cover and cook till done.

Serve warm with steamed white rice or Indian Flatbreads.

14 June

The monsoon is here and so is the craving for garma garam fritters with chai. Another good news is that the un-lockdown process has started. Fingers crossed that we do not have to see a third wave.

This time since mom is here with me, I have been trying out different kind of fritters which I always wanted to make - vegetable chop, daler bora, macher chop, chicken popcorn, beguni and the list goes on. It is so much fun to experiment with fritters because they don't usually go wrong even if you miss on a few ingredients. 

Before lockdown I used to buy fresh fish from a place enroute to my home form office. There was a fixed fish vendor from which I usually got my fishes. From the time lockdown started I have been getting my fish supply either from Fresh2Home or from Licious. While I left Licious provides more quality products, Fresh2Home has better variety. And due to which I had tried out all different varieties of fish which I probably had not tried in past decade. Some of the fishes like Koi was really amazing. Having Koi mach sitting in Pune was like an impossible dream before. 

For a couple of days I was seeing Kachki fish on the Fresh2Home seafood section. I deliberated whether I should get them but then parked the idea as I didn't know what to make with them. Then one day I came across this recipe on Sandeepa's (Bong Mom's Cookbook)  Instagram post. She had posted about Kachki Macher bora and I was really piqued. The immediate next step was to order the fishes ( which miraculously I got the very next day in their listing) and gather the ingredients.

These tiny  silver fishes are really delicate. I mean I have never worked with such delicate fishes in my life before. It was a breeze to clean them unlike other fishes. The boras itself got made within 30 minutes and I couldn't stop eating them right off the wok, they turned out that delicious!

While making bora or fritters at times we face a challenge that the ingredients don't bind well. Here is a quick tip for it, if it is a fish fritter especially, add an egg to it. Egg is a wonderful binder and also enhances the taste. This was the main difference in me and Sandeepa's recipe. 

You can also try the other fritter recipes

• Moringa Pakoda|| Drumstick Leaves Fritter
• Macher Dimer Bora || Fish Roe Fritters
• Bok Ful Bhaja || Hummingbird Flower Fritters

Check out a few of the dal recipes you can try this with

• Lau Data Diye Motor Daal
• Moong Daal Kalo Jire Diye
• Tetor Daal
• Aam Daal
• Kolai Daal 
• Masoor Daal
  

Ingredients :

• Wok
• Skillet
• Mixing Bowl

Procedure: 

1.  Clean the fish well in water. Keep in mind that these fishes are very delicate. Keep it in a strainer for all the water to drain off. Or you can also pat them dry gently with a kitchen towel. 

2. In a wok take the cleaned fish, 1 tsp of ginger paste, 1 tsp of garlic paste, 1 tsp of coriander powder and 1 tsp of red chili powder. Add about 1-2 cups of water, enough for the fish to get cooked. The fish will take about 10 minutes to cook covered. Open the lid and dry off any excess water. Now let the fish cool down a bit. 

Note: Do not add too much water. We only need to add enough water for the fish to get cooked in 10 minutes and dry off excess. 

3. Boil 1 potato and keep aside.

4. Take a mixing bowl. Take the boiled potato and mash it up completely. To the mashed potato add the minced garlic, chopped onion, spring onion, coriander, chopped green chili, red chili powder and give it a mix. 

5. Now add the cooked fish. Add rice flour, salt and break in one egg. Now with gently hands bring everything together. These fishes are very tender hence they would break easily so do not knead with force. Just press with the tip of your fingers to break them up while there are still some big pieces.

Tip: The rice flour would give it a crunch and the egg acts as a wonderful binder as well as taste enhancer. 

Note: Spring onions is optional here but very much recommended. I have seen Spring onion goes nicely with any kind of fish bhortas ( fish mash) or fish pakodas. 

6. Now with your hands make small balls or flat discs.

7. Heat Oil in a skillet and shallow fry the discs for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are done.

Serve it with rice and daal or have it like snacks with tea.

6 June

My birthday month is here! And just one day to for for my birthday. I am excited for another lockdown birthday.

Meanwhile the unlock process has started in Pune. It feels like a Deja vu from last year. After a long time I heard kids playing in the garden of our society. I really really wish to travel somewhere this year, once the wave dies down. It has been too long since I have been on the road or on the mountain. 

A small health update, I got my first vaccine shot last week. And no it was not through the cowin portal. My company had setup the vaccination drive across all its centers and Pune was the first location. The process was super smooth as it was handled by the admin team of our company. Jehangir Hospital facilitated the drive in our Hinjawadi campus. They were administering Covishield to us.  One entire floor was kept for the drive and there was separate section for men and women. After the shot, the doctor gave me a strip of Dolo 650 and asked me to have one tab immediately and rest only if fever is there. I took the medicine and for the next 30 minutes we had to wait in an observation room for any adverse side effects. It had a doctor stationed, refreshments and some beds in case someone felt sick. I had no symptoms whatsoever in those 30 minutes. The certificate of inoculation was immediately available on the cowin site. 

Here comes the main part. I did not have any symptoms apart from some pain in the arm where I got the jab for next 8 hours. Around 8 PM I started feeling a little lethargic and tired. I didn't feel an appetite as well during dinner time. Therefore I ate moderately that day. Post dinner the feeling of lethargy increased and I felt sleepy and heavy headed. I went to bed early and around 12 AM I felt severe chills and body pain. In sleep also I was shivering badly. There was mild shortness of breath. I took the Dolo and went back to bed. As I tried to sleep I noticed I was developing shooting headache. After trying to lie uncomfortably for 10-15 minutes I got up and noticed the headache was better if I sat or walked instead of lying. But the problem was that I was super feverish and it was taxing to walk around. So I went back to bed and tried lying down once again. It was almost over an hour after which I felt the fever subside, but the headache was a constant even the next day. I had nausea, appetite loss, fever the whole of next day. Appetite was heavily impacted. So much so that I had to take a leave from office as I was unable to sit for long. The symptoms started subsiding towards the evening and by 8 PM I was feeling much better. I felt hungry too. No fever came during the night of the second day. 

Third day, the fatigue remained and I was getting tired with a little talking. I kept it as a working day but was resting frequently. The pain in my left hand remained the entire 3rd and 4th day. By the end of 4th day I felt getting back to normal again. I think mine is one of those rare cases where all the side effects of the vaccine manifested. Research says the side effects are more prominent in the below 55 age group of people and especially women. Later I got to know from one of my colleague who already was infected with covid sometime back, that the side effect of the vaccine was much worse than when he had actually contracted covid. A couple of other team members also confirmed they had similar symptoms. That is my experience of getting jabbed for the first time. I cant say that I am not scared for the side effects when I take the second jab, but then it has to be done. Will update my experience of second jab when the time comes.

Meanwhile to perk up my mood over the last weekend after such a terrible two days of bedrest, I thought of going back to baking something easy. When I was visiting my aunt in Mumbai on the new years eve during 2018, she took me to a pretty café and we bought some chicken quiche for ourselves. Actually it was my cousin brother who wanted to have quiche in the first place and that's why we went and got. I had never had quiche before that, and not even heard about it. It looked to me like a savory tart. The first bite into it took me to a different level of ecstacy. I was in love with the gooey creamy center oozing with deliciousness and succulent chicken chunks. They were mini quiches, of the size of my palm. That memory had been with me for the longest time now. Quiche was something on my checklist of to do recipes. 

This time, with the second wave of lockdown I stumbled upon a brand Unroll which had the answer to my pastry cravings. They have a wonderful selection of products ranging from Bake Puff pastry Sheets, Short Crust pie pastry Sheets, Cinnamon Swirls, Garlic Baguette, Cheese Garlic Baguette and more. Its a boon, if you want to bake a super delicious pie or a pastry puff in no time which is also failureproof! They were generous enough to share with me two of their products - the puff pastry sheet and the shortcrust pastry sheet. The delivery was smooth even in times of restrictions and the delivery guy gave precise instruction to me how to keep it frozen till ready to use. I loved the delivery experience. The products are available in Bigbasket or you can directly order from selected stores.

With the beautiful shortcrust pastry I decided to make a quiche. My dream of recreating that memory was just about to be true. And since I wanted a loaded quiche, I added spinach, mushroom and onions along with the chicken pieces. It turned delicious beyond my imagination. Both me and my mom were head over heels with the result. The short crust pastry was just too good as a base.

I didn't face any challenge even if it was the first time I was working with frozen shortcrust pastry sheets. I kept the pastry sheets at room temperature for approximately 60 minutes till the time when gently pressed with hand it left a dent and I could easily unroll it. After you do it for the first time you will be at ease. Though the packet instructions say not to freeze back the remaining sheet, but I did and it doesn't cause any issue when you use it again later.  

If while thawing you accidently break the sheet, don't fret, just bring the piece together and roll on them with a rolling pin gently to seal any breakage. I faced a minor challenge while removing the paper from the frozen sheet. It got stuck with the dough. So I rested the dough in the refrigerator for 5-7 minutes and after that the paper came out clean from the dough easily.

Ingredients :

• Skillet
• Fork
• Brush
• Paring Knife
• Rolling base and pin
• Pie Mold

Recipe Video

Procedure: 

1.  Preheat oven to 180 Degree. 

Note: I made this in the convection mode of microwave at 200 degree.

2. If you have frozen pastry sheet then you need to thaw it as per the packet instructions. It can be thawed in the refrigerator overnight or in room temperature for minimum 40-50 minutes.

Tip: When you thaw it at room temperature, keep checking the pastry sheets every 15-20 minutes whether its ready or not. Gently press the ball of your finger in the middle of one of the sheets. f your finger leaves an indentation, the pastry is ready to be used. 

Note: To thaw in the microwave, remove 1 pastry sheet from the box and outer wrapping and wrap in a paper towel. Microwave on HIGH for 15 seconds.

3. Slice the mushrooms and onion.  Wash the spinach and drain the water. Chop the spinach into medium size. 

4. In a skillet, heat oil and butter. When hot, add chopped garlic and a pinch of salt . Sauté for a couple of minutes.

5. Add chopped onion and spinach. Sauté them till the spinach starts to sweat, for a about a couple of minutes. Squeeze the water from the spinach and keep aside. 

6. In the same pan add a knob of butter. Sauté the mushrooms till they sweat and caramelize a little. Take it off the flame and keep aside.

7. Slide the butter cube into the same pan. Once hot add the chicken pieces. Add salt and pepper powder. Fry on medium flame, till the chicken is done. Keep aside.

8.  Now in a large mixing bowl crack open two eggs and add 1.5 cups of fresh cream, 1/2 cup milk, salt and Italian seasoning. Whisk it to prepare a smooth sauce.

Prepare the tart base:

1. Roll the shortcrust pastry dough out on a well-floured work surface until it’s approximately 12-inches in diameter. Transfer it to a 9-inch glass deep pie dish. 

2. Using your fingers, press it firmly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Then fold/crimp/ roll over the overhanging dough. Prick the bottom and sides of the pie crust all over with a fork to prevent the crust from bubbling. Place a parchment paper on top of the pie base. Add some pie weights ( beans, rice, sugar etc.) on top. 

3. Transfer the pie crust to the pre-heated oven and bake for 15- 20 minutes, until par-baked.

Assembling the Quiche

1. Now add a layer of mozerella cheese on the par baked quiche shell. 

Note: It is recommended to use mozzarella to get the gooey texture, but if you do not have mozzarella use any cheese of your liking. You can also vary the amount of cheese.

2. Evenly add the sautéed spinach, chicken, mushrooms and onion on top of the cheese layer. 

3. Now pour the egg mixture to fill out all the gaps

4.  Now cover it with aluminum foil and bake in the pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the eggs are set and a knife inserted in center comes out clean. 

Let it cool before serving. Sprinkle a little more Italian seasoning and serve with a crisp green salad on the side or some wine.

2nd June

Yesterday we received a communication from office that the status quo of Work from Home will continue till September, which essentially means we need to stay put where we are. That actually made me happy. I never cribbed about not being able to go to office, work from home suited me so much better. I could sped time in between work looking at the mango orchard or the hills from my balcony, I could read about something interesting while taking breaks, plus being able to share all meals with the family - which I couldn't in the past 15 years. 

Staying at home also means you keep getting hungry in between. While in office, the cafeteria would be visited only during the stipulated hours but at home, you feel like snacking on something or the other. So during the past one year I had to try out different in between snacking options which were light and yet interesting. I developed a liking for raw peanuts, which were filling and healthy. Even 4-5 peanuts would hold me up for a good amount of time. Then there was the option of frozen desserts, at times when I felt like grabbing something sweet. Instead of polishing off a bar of dark chocolate. I trained myself to snack on these relatively less calorie sweet delights. Once you get used to them, you will start liking them a lot. Especially during the summertime, nothing beats a quick frozen snack.

On the occasion of World Milk Day I decided to make a super easy and interesting recipe. This frozen yogurt bark studded with fruit is a fun treat for kids and adults alike. It takes minutes to prepare and is ready within 2-4 hours of freezing. You can then break into pieces and store in a ziplock bag for an instant frozen snack.

You can experiment with different flavor combination. The best thing about these barks is that any flavor combination tastes good.  The recipe is so easy, you can even let your kids make these.

Checkout some other sweets and frozen dessert from my page

• Frozen Yoghurt Granola Cups

• Mojito Poscicle

• Tea Infused Caramel Custard

Ingredients :

• Rimmed Baking sheet or freezer safe tray
• Parchment Paper
• Spatula
• Mixing Bowl

Procedure: 

1.  In a medium bowl, add yogurt, red velvet emulco/flavoring and honey. Mix together to combine.

Note: Emulco is concentrated flavoring in paste form which often comes with food coloring too. It is my go to method of adding color of flavor these days. If you do not have an Emulco use flavor and color separately. You can use any flavoring of your choice in this recipe.

2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with Parchment paper.

3. Pour the yoghurt mixture on the parchment paper. Using a spatula or knife to spread the yogurt as thin as possible over the entire paper. 

4. Now sprinkle chopped pistachios, dried blueberry, granola and rose petals.

Tip: Experiment with your choice of toppings. It is always fun that way.

Cut or break into pieces and serve immediately.

How to make hung curd?

Even if you do not have a muslin cloth you can make hung curd easily with a strainer with tiny holes. Just place the strainer on a deep bowl. Now pour the curd on it and let it sit undisturbed for at least 30 minutes. The whey will collect in the bowl and the strainer will now contain the creamy thick curd devoid of any extra water.