Curries & Stories: baked

22 October

As the calendar starts points towards October I feel a great amount of joy. It not only that time of the year when we Bengalis have our biggest festival - Durga Pooja or the entire country is into Navratri and Diwali celebrations but it also means my most cherished festival Christmas is not far behind.

But before December October and November are the months which remind me of the beautiful fall time I had experience while living in Atlanta. We used to go on so many roadtrips in the Blueridge parkway region. I absolutely used to love those vibrant fall colors enveloping the rolling hills.

But fall didn't only mean roadtrips or camping for us, it also meant Halloween, thanksgiving and baking some amazing stuffs with the seasonal pumpkins. The house would smell like a bakery - cinnamony, spicy , warm and bright. Those delicious pies and breads would make everyday of autumn so much more enticing. India doesnt really have a vibrant fall season. But still those experiences linger on in my mind and owing to lockdown situation last year I did have some time on hand to try a few autumnal recipes for the first time in India.

This time however I was better prepared to welcome autumn. I made sure I had purchased a bottle of all spice before fall arrived. Homemade pumpkin spice, roasted pumpkins, pumpkin pies, pumpkin drinks - you name it and I have it on the list. I don't know how much of it would be feasible in reality, as I have a lot of travel plans in the next 15 days, but still I will try to indulge as much as I can :D.

Big basket actually surprised me this year with a new variety of small, dense, flavour rich and sweet pumpkins. They look super cute as you can see from some of these pumpkin shots, fitting right into my expanded palms. They taste absolutely heavenly. There is a dish in Bengal which we call seddho bhat - boiled vegetables with steamed rice and a dollop of pure ghee. Pumpkin is a very essential veggie in that Seddho bhat preparation. And with this pumpkin seddho bhat tasted like never before! I tried a bunch of Indian recipes before I thought let me now try some true blue autumnal recipes from the states.

Hence today here I am talking about the very basic Roasted Pumpkin recipe. This is the basic step before you use pumpkin in any of the other recipes. You can make a sweet or a savory roasted pumpkin depending on what you are going to use it for. This is a savory recipe meant to be had as a side. Indians can have it with your rice and daal too. I will also post a recipe later for pumpkin puree.

Do you leave the skin on when roasting pumpkin?
It depends on the type of pumpkin and on your preference. I prefer leaving the skin on as it helps hold the shape.

How do you ensure the roast pumpkin isn't soggy?
To prevent sogginess, you need to roast the pumpkin at high heat. I baked it at 200 degree in my convection oven.

What do you do with the seeds?
When making roasted pumpkin do not discard the seeds. They can be later roasted with spices to make a delicious healthy snack!

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Baking Time : 20-25 minutes

Serves - 2 -3 adults

Ingredients :

Red Pumpkin - small 1/2 pumpkin
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Garlic Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Rosemary Twigs- 1
All spice powder (Optional) - a tiny pinch
Salt - for sprinkling

Equipment:

Baking Tray
Parchment paper
Knife
Oven

Method

1. Using a sharp knife, cut pumpkin in half lengthwise. Then use a sharp spoon to scrape out all of the seeds and strings. Now cut lengthwise wedges.

Tip: Smaller pumpkins have more flavours. The bigger they are, the flavours are not that rich. You want a small pumpkin with firm, deep orange flesh to make the best Roasted Pumpkins.

2. Pre heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit

3. In the meantime make the spice mix. The spice mixture can be changed as well according to your taste or needs. I used a very basic spice mix for this comprising of olive oil, garlic powder, chilli powder, all spice powder.

Tip: You can substitute chili powder with smoked paprika.

Tip: Garlic powder can be substituted by grated garlic.

4. Rub the wedges with the spice mixture until coated all over

5. Line the baking tray with a parchment paper. Now Arrange the pumpkin cubes in a single layer on the prepared baking tray.

6. Sprinkle with a little salt over the wedges

7. Bake in the preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-25 minutes or until the wedges are as soft. Toss them once half way through and keep checking in between for doneness.

Let it cool for about 5 minutes and serve immediately. You can enjoy the spicy pumpkin wedges with a homemade yoghurt dip or as a side dish with your meals.

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5 August

When I zeroed in on the home to buy, the major differentiator was the panoramic view from the balcony in this apartment. I remember we didn't have any proper plan to get a house back then. It was just on an exploratory mode we had went out one day to take a look at a much advertised housing complex near to my then home. It was rainy season and we didn't want to wander far to check out properties.

The place which we had gone to see seemed like a bummer because of the room sizes. The room sizes were miniscule and they had balconies in the size of a small TT court. The view was still nice as it had a hill view. But we knew the rooms wont do. Plus the amenities they offered were too much, some of which I would never have even time to experience - my mom had observed looking at my busy schedule then. I agreed whole heartedly to that point. What would I do with a gazebo or a 20 feet swimming pool or a 50 seater theater when I barely managed to enjoy my balcony. So after viewing and rejecting that property we were about to head home when I remembered I had seen the mention of another property by a sister concern company of the same builder. A few calls here and there and we got the address of the site.

The very first sight of the new building had tipped the scales - there were huge mango trees welcoming us to the entrance. In a city full of concrete jungle it was a sight for the sore eyes! When we looked out of the balcony into the vast spread of Mango Orchard behind the property, it was already a done deal. My heart and soul was already part of this apartment and it was just a matter of legalities. I didn't even care the climb of 10 floors without lift multiple times just to take a look at the abode which I wanted to claim as mine. So that was how this part of the world became mine. But a year into staying here I had kind of forgotten the reason I liked this place so much in the first place - the view of the hills form the balcony and how beautiful it got during the rains. But during the lockdown when the views transformed as the monsoon ushered in I was spell bound. Billow masses of rain clouds would cover the hills before me, strings of rainbows would remind me of all the fairytales I had heard as a kid, the rustle of wind in the Mango orchard below and the croaking of frogs as it rained - I had forgotten what it felt like to be one with nature for the longest time. I know this view and hills wont last for long but till the time its there it feels like a piece of paradise to me. My own undisturbed corner of the world where I feel creativity even just staring out of the window.

During one of these rain laden evening I was sipping on a warm chamomile tea and enjoying the rains. There was a fresh batch of wheat cookies right out of the oven which made the evening even more pleasant. I want to share the same recipe with you today. This is adapted from Manali's recipe of Atta cookies. They are so simple to make that I feel I need to make them more often now. Check out the recipe below and let me know if you try it out.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Resting Time : 15 minutes

Baking Time: 15-18 minutes

Serves : 24 cookies approx.

Ingredients :

Whole Wheat Flour (Atta)- 1.5 cup
Jaggery Powder - 1/2 cup
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom Powder - 1/4th tsp
Milk - 3 tbsp + more if needed
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Salt - a pinch

Equipment:

Whisk
Mixing Bowls
Strainer
Fork
Oven
Baking Tray
Cookie cutter (Optional)

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degree Celsius.

2. In a large mixing bowl mix together whole wheat flour (atta), baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt. Using a whisk combine everything together.

Tip: Sift the flour through strainer to avoid any lumps.

3. Take another mixing bowl. Sift the powdered jaggery to avoid big lumps.

4. Now add ghee (clarified butter) to the jaggery and mix well. It will become aerated and fluffy after you whisk it for a while.

5. Now add the milk and combine it nicely with the jaggery and ghee mixture.

6. Now add this wet mix into the dry flour mix. Using hands or a stand mixture, combine everything together to form a dough. If the dough is too crumbly then add a little milk as needed.

7. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.

8. Now roll out the dough with a roller and using a cookie cutter cut 2 inch diameter and about 1/4th of an inch thick circles.

9. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Transfer the cookies to the sheet keeping a little distance between each.

10. Now with a fork pierce the top to give it a basic design

11. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes until you start getting that nice brown color on the cookies. Bake it some more if you like it more crisp but make sure you don't burn them.

12. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before transferring them into a storage box.

Enjoy them with tea or just like that. Remember they might feel a little filling to some folks.