18 June

Its been such a long long gap since I posted. So much has happened in the last couple of months. Work has increased by almost ten folds, I have started going to office a couple of days a week, travelling for various customer visits across India has again resumed and in the middle of all this I even took a week long break for summer vacation. So basically I am back to my old routine in the pre covid times and life has again become hectic. Even if cooking is a love affair to me, but I think given a choice I love travelling more any day. Thus once a trip ends I start looking for the next destination almost immediately. And very naturally Instagram, or blogging has taken a hit. After a long week now I don't feel like burning my midnight oil scrolling food posts on Instagram. Rather keeping up late to watch and read about places I want to visit seems more interesting. 

So my travel last month was to very remote and offbeat places of Kashmir. I hope that I can start penning down that travelogue soon. This was my first time in Kashmir and I simply fell in love with the place. No wonder it is known as the Jannat on earth. I found the cuisine of Kashmir quite interesting. Since we were travelling remote, I got to taste some authentic local cuisine ( not part of wazwan ) which Kashmiris have as their regular food. I kind of collected all the recipes from the chefs and cooks we met at various guest houses where we stayed. And these were not just recipes but there was a lot of stories accompanying them. I am raring to try them out and write more about these foods slowly on my blog.

But for now I thought of sharing a quick and easy recipe from the Kitchens of Bengal or Bangladesh. I have written about different bhorta recipes in my blog earlier also. You can check them out in the recipe list. Bhorta is basically any kind of a vegetable mash. But it can be non vegetarian also or a combo of both. The one that I made today was with kochu or taro. 

I had to do a impromptu travel to Hyderabad for 2 days which left me completely drained today. I didn't feel like making anything special even if it was a Saturday. A homely warm meal was all that the heart craved for and some good long sleep. So made this really quick taro mash and paired it with steamed rice and a light radhuni foroner mushur daal with raw papaya.

Check out the other bhorta recipes on my blog:

1. Dim Aloor Bhorta
2. Narkol Chingri Bhorta
3. Macher Bhorta

Ingredients for garnish:

• Mustard Oil - 1 tsp

Equipment:

• Pressure Cooker
• Mixing bowl

Procedure: 

1.  Wash the kochu thoroughly to remove any dirt on the surface. 

Tip : The dirt clings to the skin to you can keep it immersed in water for sometime to loosen them and then gently scrub them off using your fingers.

2. Transfer the washed kochu to a pressure cooker filled with 2 cups of water. Steam it for 2 whistles or as needed. Drain the water. 

3. The kochu needs to be peeled while they are still hot/warm. If its too hot to hold dip the boiled kochu in some water and then peel off the skin. 

4. Take mustard oil in a kadai and heat it. Once the oil is hot add the peeled garlic pods and fry till golden. keep aside.

5. In the same oil fry the dry red chilli, keep aside.

6. Now fry the sliced onion with a pinch of salt. Keep aside.

7. Now break the red chilli with your finders. In a mixing bowl take the boiled kochu, fried garlic, onion, red chilli and the oil left in the kadai. Add salt, chopped green chili, grated fresh coconut and mustard powder. Using your fingers mash everything nicely and mix together. 

8. Add some more mustard oil before serving.

Best served hot with steamed rice and daal.