When you come to Kolkata during winters, which I usually do, you would be treated to an array of wonderful seasonal delicacies at your home and by your relatives. My visit to Kolkata this time was mainly to recuperate from a medical condition called Sciatica I was having from past one month. This particular ailment gives you a lot of pain along the sciatic nerve in your leg and impacts your mobility completely. The worst part it takes a long time to heal which actually is a test of patience and being persistent with all the exercises. I might probably write in details about my entire healing journey once I have fully recovered. 

So due to this situation this time around my relatives are visiting me instead of me visiting them.  And the best part about being unwell is that people come bearing home cooked foods. When my masi (aunty) visited me she got me a very interesting dish which I was tasting for the first time - Chingri mach diye kacha tomator ghonto. 

Even in Pune, green tomatoes are available, but I was always uncertain about what to prepare with them beyond chutneys; therefore, I never purchased them. However, after trying the combination of green tomatoes with prawns and serving it alongside steamed rice, I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderfully rustic and delicious taste. A subtle tanginess that plays on your tongue along with the umami flavors of the prawn - a perfect match made in heaven. 

Since it is such a simple recipe I made it at home and below I am sharing the process so that you can also enjoy this easy and delicious recipe. Let me know how you like it. Don't forget to check the video as well.

Ingredients :

• Green Tomato - 4
• Medium Sized Prawns - 150 gm
• Green Chili - 2 to 3
• Dried Red Chili - 2
• Whole Mustard / Rai Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt - To Taste
• Sugar - to taste

Video :

Procedure:

1. Wash and pat dry the Tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.

2. Clean and devein the prawns. Marinate with turmeric and salt for 5 to 10 minutes

3. heat mustard oil in a kadai and once oil is hot temper it with dried red chilies and mustard seeds/ Rai seeds.

Tip : Using Rai seeds instead of mustard seeds adds a stronger flavor

4. Once the apices are fragrant add the marinated prawns, flip them and fry for about 40 seconds each side. 

5. Now add the sliced green tomatoes, turmeric and salt. Cover and cook till the tomatoes release water. Now separate out the prawns in a different bowl.

6. Now take a separate kadai and heat some mustard oil. Temper it with Rai seeds/ Mustard seeds. Once fragrant add the tomatoes with the water into this kadai. This is the second tempering we are doing for adding more flavours. Now cook covered till the tomatoes are a little mushy. Add a little water if needed at this stage. With the help of your spatula you can break down the tomatoes further to reach a mushy consistency.

7. Add a couple of slitted green chilies and fold them in.

8. Now add the prawns back and mix well. Adjust the seasoning at this stage. If it feels too tangy you can add a pinch of sugar to balance the taste.

Serve this with steamed rice and enjoy!

March 12

Visiting Thailand was like a dream come true for me. Before you conclude that I loved it because of the night life and party opportunities, let me tell you that's not what fascinated me. I am a far cry from any party animal you might ever know. What fascinated me was their simple yet delicious cuisine steeped in organic flavors, the deep rooted culture which they were absolutely proud of and the beautiful pristine beaches - it was so calm and deep I felt like zen. Krabi stole my heart. I was totally convinced that if someone gave me an opportunity to relocate to Krabi, I would say yes right away!

I cant stop gushing about the Thai cuisine. While it is true that I was introduced to Thai cuisine formally only after I came to Pune around a decade ago. But when I went to Thailand there were so many new preparations I got introduced to. We didn't fine dine there, because the street food looked so appetizing and offered such a vast range of possibilities that it felt justified to blow half of our trip budget on the food alone! And I am not kidding there. We probably were one of those rare tourists who spent less on merchandise from Thailand than on food. Whatever we saw we wanted to try out, that's the benefit of being a non-vegetarian and seafood lover I guess ( of course barring the few weird street foods that we came across. I wont mention them here as I might risk loosing your interest on todays blog!) . I remember the best food we had in Bangkok was under some random flyover. There was a night pop up restaurant area and everything was made fresh before us. We had enjoyed a warm bowl of tom yum and Thai fried rice. The taste and memory of that evening still lingers on. By the end of our trip I felt as if I needed to extend my stay just to be able to taste all the other delicacies that I missed out.

During my trip to Thailand, we had been on a guided city tour where our guide took us to this lovely Thai joint and over our food told us about the wonderful history of Pad Thai. Pad thai, or Phad Thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at most restaurants in Thailand. 

Pad Thai is a dish synonymous with Thailand but still it seems like a dish which has heavy Chinese influence. Pad Thai is locally known as "Gway Teow Pad Thai". Gway Teow is a Chinese word for ‘rice noodles’, which hints at a Chinese lineage. Noodles, stir-fry, and, especially, noodle stir-fries are quintessentially Chinese. In fact, just about every ingredient found in pad Thai isn’t native to the people after whom the dish is named.

If we look at the history of this dish we come to know that during World War II (1930s), due to less production in the rice fields, Thailand suffered a shortage of rice which was compounded by the floods. Thus for preserving the stocks of this precious grain, the Thai government started to promote noodles instead. A campaign was launched to  unite the nation through their culture. The campaign included changing the country’s name, commissioning a new national anthem, and creating a national dish – Pad Thai. They created the dish ‘Pad Thai’ as the national dish, in a bid to protect the rice resources of the country and promote a sense of national unity. Pad Thai was promoted heavily across the country with a campaign slogan "noodle is your lunch". The Public Welfare Department even gave out recipes of the dish to restaurants and even gave free carts to people willing to sell Pad Thai in the streets. Now how fascinating is that! If ever India decided to have such a campaign to have a national dish, I would be a forerunner in the tasting line. No matter which food wins, the food connoisseurs are the real winners.

But pad Thai wasn’t just about unity; it was also about nutrition. The late 1930s were a particularly difficult time economically for the country, and rice noodles, which were both cheap and filling, provided a much-needed antidote. Coupled with regional vegetables, bean sprouts, and inexpensive protein, it was the perfect, nutritious meal.

Traditionally Pad Thai is made from rice noodles, stir-fried with eggs, tofu, tamarind paste, fish sauce, dried shrimps, garlic, palm sugar and red chilli pepper and frequently served with lime wedges, bamboo shoots, spring onions, raw banana flowers, and topped with a sprinkling of peanuts. But then you can always tweak it as per the available ingredients in your area.

19 October

This year the autumn in Maharashtra doesn't feel like autumn at all. It feels like we are stuck forever in the monsoon season itself. Rain , rain and more rain is enough to drive us crazy. Thus to cheer myself up I checkout the vibrant fall pictures my friends are sharing on their social accounts from across the world. As much as I love Indian festivals around this time, I love the feeling of colorful autumn, thanksgiving and a white Christmas of the states. It takes me back to the time I was staying in Atlanta and how vibrant the entire place used to become during the fall season - the prettiest of all seasons! I remember the road trips along the Blue ridge parkway and the stunning visuals it presented. I couldn't peel off my eyes even for a second from the vista on both side of the road. I think I will create a separate blog post to revive the memories of a log cabin stay during the autumn in Chattanooga, Georgia.

So you get the drift. I am very much transported back to those red, yellow and magenta days whenever I hear the word fall or autumn.  And it has been my longest standing desire to prepare fall recipes. So this year I have been experimenting a few recipes with the fall theme on mind. I tried incorporating pumpkin in many of the recipes. And I found an interesting thing when I was doing research on the fall recipes. I liked all the pumpkin recipes which were more south east Asian interpretation of the American fall staples. I felt they are more zesty and flavorful. I might be totally wrong in this case, but going by the recipe ingredients this is what I felt. I never knew before this that even in Thai cuisine there is a pumpkin soup or a fall harvest salad. The ingredients they had used to make their versions aligned more to my Asian taste buds.

I am not at all a salad person. At least I was not at all a salad person before the lockdown. The only reason is that its too much of a work and the phycological thought process is that when it doesn't have a bread or rice in it, it is not going to be filling enough. But that notion changed during the lockdown when we started to focus more on healthy eating habits. Thus I started experimenting with different kinds of salad bowls. This particular salad was thought of as part of an Instagram contest (yes Instagram is kind of taking over my life, which I feel I need to restrict for good!) We wanted to create something fresh and feisty and different form the usual salads. It had to define our personality. That's very cheeky I know but yeah that's how the food should be. Its a reflection of myself I feel. And the Thai versions of both the harvest recipes - pumpkin soup and Autumnal salad felt like what would perfectly suite my palate.

When we think fall ingredients a few things instantly come to the mind - butternut squash, sweet winter pumpkins, crisp apples, pears, sweet potato and so on. They are so lovely ones that you can not just go wrong with any combination you choose.

This can be passed off as a both a fall and a summer salad. Its a feisty salad which will tease your taste buds with the spiciness of the bird's eye chilli, sweetness from the honey dressing, citrusy burst from the tropical fruits, buttery tropical vibes from saffron coconut prawns and to balance it all off the earthiness from the toasted nuts. It basically is a warm fall salad that will keep you cozy on a chilly fall night.

Marination Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients for Salad:

• Fresh Prawns with tails - 20 
• Peanuts - 1/4th cup
• Walnuts - 1/4th cup
• Pumpkin Seeds - 1/4th cup
• Onion - 1/2
• Cherry Tomato - 6
• Lettuce - 1/2
• Apple - 1
• Pineapple - 2/4th cup diced
• Mosambi/Sweet Lime - 1
• Salt

Ingredients for Prawn Marination:

• Saffron Strands 
• Sesame oil - 1 tsp
• Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Bird's eye chilli - 1 chopped
• Coconut paste (Optional) - 1 tsp
• Lime juice - 1/2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Shredded Coconut - 1/2 cup

Ingredients for Dressing:

• Honey - 2 tsp
• Lemon Juice - 1/2
• Fish Sauce - 1/2 tsp
• Sesame oil - 1 tsp

Ingredients for garnish:

• Roasted Pumpkin Seeds -  2 tsp
• Bird's eye chilli - 2 chopped

Equipment:

• Thick bottom skillet/ non stick skillet

Method:

1. Start by cleaning the prawns. Devein it, take the head off and leave the tail. It preserves the shape of the prawn.

2. Now marinate the prawn for 30 minute with marination ingredients mentioned above expect the shredded coconut.

3. While the prawns are marinating, dice the apples. In a bowl take 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp honey and add the apples. Toss everything well and let it rest.

4. Now prepare the nuts. Take a skillet and heat it on medium. Once hot toss the walnuts first until they are fragrant and toasted. Same way toast the peanuts and the pumpkin seeds. Now keep both of them aside to cook down.

Note: If you are using toasted pumpkin seeds no need to toast it again.

5. Slice the onions. In the same skillet on medium, dry roast the onions for about 2-3 minutes, tossing them around with a spatula. Take them off heat and let it cool down.

6. Dice the sweet lime and the pineapples. 

Tip: If either of them are sour, then just add a bit of sugar and let it sit till the sugar melts.

7. Time to prepare the prawns. Heat the skillet, add a teaspoon of oil. Spread the shredded coconut on a plate or any flat surface. Now take one prawn at a time and coat it with the shredded coconut on both sides. Tip them in the oil and keep the flame on medium so that the coconut doesn't get burnt. Turn both sides and fry them nicely till it gets a light golden brown hue. Patiently fry all the prawns for not more than 30 seconds each side. Keep them on a paper towel to soak the excess oil.

Note: Adding saffron is optional. But it gives a very nice flavour to the fried prawns.

8. Now prepare the dressing. In a bowl take everything mentioned under dressing and give it a good mix. 

9. Now its time to plate everything. Start by laying down a layer of lettuce in the platter. On top of it arrange all the fruits, onion, halved cherry tomato, prawns and the toasted nuts. Drizzle the dressing on top generously. Toss everything in.

10. Finish off by garnishing it with pumpkin seeds, chopped bird's eye chilli and sesame.

Pro tip: You can even add some cheese on top to make it more luscious.

You can pair this feisty autumn salad with any autumn soup of your choice. I had served it with the Thai Spicy Coconut Soup. Check out the recipe here.