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.

30th May

Yesterday I made a fancy chicken tart and my whole Saturday morning went towards preparation of the tart. That's how my usual weekends go. When I start with Monday, I promise myself that the next weekend is going to be a no-fancy-dish-weekend but by the time it is Thursday, I am already planning out what new thing to cook over the weekend. Which eventually translates to slogging all day long in the kitchen on the only two days I get off. I guess my love of food outweighs my love of loafing. 

But with much resolve form past two weeks I have started practicing no-fancy-food Sundays. This approach actually worked better than the resolution for no-fancy-food-weekends. Now I slog only on Saturdays to make a lavish spread, and Sundays are meant for rustic, easy peasy and healthy homely affair. Things which can be made in 30 minutes to maximum 1 hour. We have been having different khichudis or seddho bhat or maggi tossed with assorted vegetables and so on. I wanted to aimlessly look at the monsoonish sky and smell the flowers in the remaining time. Not to mention clearing the backlogs of photo editing, blogging, instagramming, reading, working on a novel, watching series and a gazillion stuffs which does make me feel like I need another weekend just to recuperate from all that!

The point is, that weekends do not look like weekends we used to have as kids. Now we are doing 'something' 24x7. Pure unwinding is never possible. So at least on a cooking front I managed to save some time. Since today is a Sunday, I woke up leisurely, had a cup of tea, leafed through the newspaper, fed the stray pigeons and then only I stepped into the kitchen. I had my plan straight - its going to be the super easy and super delicious Aloo Bhorta and Kolai Daal with Ilish Mach Bhaja. Hasselfree fare which everyone would relish. 

But once in kitchen I kept feeling guilty of just cooking something as simple as a aloor bhorta, so I decided to add a couple of hard boiled eggs to it. Why not glam up the regular bhorta a little? The doctors are anyway recommending everyone to consume eggs for natural zinc intake. 

I have mentioned earlier as well, that bhorta is a quintessential accompaniment in the Bangladeshi cuisine, but in the western side of bengal (in India) not so much. But still folks who have their roots in east Bengal love making bhortas even if they might not be as varied as their counterparts. Aloor bhorta is the most basic bhorta. In plain english, it is mashed potato sans the butter and cream. The mashed potato we have is a zesty counterpart with spiciness from chili and zing from mustard oil. 

The dish itself can be customized based on personal tastes—with or without the egg, raw or roasted onions, fresh chilies in place of dried, more or less garlic and so on. But one ingredient that remains a constant in any Bhorta recipe is the mustard oil. Its like the core taste profile of a bhorta and has no other substitute whatsoever.   

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

You can also try the other bhorta recipe

• Chingri Bhorta

Ingredients :

• Fork
• Boiling pot / pressure cooker
• Mixing bowl
• Knife

Procedure: 

1.  Boil the eggs. I used a pressure cooker for the same. Fill some water in the cooker. Keep a bowl in between and place the eggs inside the bowl. Pressure cook for 2 whistles. Let it rest till the pressure dies out. Open the cooker and place the egg in an ice bath. 

Tip: Coat the raw eggs in mustard oil before placing in the cooker. This prevents the egg from cracking while boiling. The ice water will help in easy removal of the egg shell.

2. Now prepare the seasoning . Chop the onions in thin slices, halve the garlic cloves. In a non stick pan, on medium heat dry roast the garlic. Keep aside. Then dry roast the onion slices. When they start browning and you get a charring smell, add 1/4 tsp of oil and sauté the onions. Keep them aside.

Note: Instead of dry roasting the onions you can use raw onions in this bhorta as well. It will give a different flavor which also tastes lovely.

3. On medium flame roast the dried red chilies, till the skin is charred. This gives a nice smoky flavor to the bhorta.

4. Wash the potato well to remove any dirt from the skin. Make wide slits in the potato (like hasselback potato). Boil for about 2-3 whistles in a pressure cooker.

Tip: You can keep the skin on or off as per your liking. I like both ways.

Tip: To prevent getting extra moisture into the potato there are 2 simple tricks. Either boil the potato with skin on. Or in the pressure cooker take water and then place a bowl in the middle with the peeled potato. Both the techniques prevent excess moisture in the potato.

5. The key to having a buttery smooth bhorta is mashing the potato when they are still hot. Take out the potato from the pressure cooker once cooked and with a fork mash them up quickly. Once its nearly mash, use your hands to give it the final smooth texture by kneading it.

6. Now add the charred chillies, roasted garlic, onions, mustard oil and salt. Give it a good knead with hands, breaking down all the big pieces of garlic or chilli.

Note: Vary all these ingredients as per your taste.

Note: Don't substitute Mustard oil with refined oil or olive oil. Mustard Oil gives the much needed zing to the bhorta which cannot be recreated by any oil Oil or substitute.

7. Cut the boiled egg into quarters and now add it to the mixing bowl. Mash everything together. 

Tip: If you want some texture of the egg, then don't mash the white portion of the egg too much, so you get a little bite when you eat.

To add a little freshness, you can add about 1/2 tsp of chopped coriander leaves. This is completely optional.

Serve hot with rice and Kolai Daal (Urad daal).

5 May

I was visiting my aunt in Mumbai in 2018 during the winters. My mesho(aunt's husband) was working in Nabard and fortunately just during the weekend I was visiting, Nabard had setup Nabard Haat, a fair-cum-exhibition of local handicraft where Local and rural artisans from different states showcase and sell their products in more than 100 stalls.  It was spread out in a very big ground and was a big crowd puller. Things like Madhubani painting, sattu, pickle, papad, khadi clothes, Sambalpuri saris, Kerala clay utensils, pulse etc. were selling like hot cakes. It reminded me of the Krishi Mela (agricultural fair) we used to have in IIT Kharagpur annually.  Since back in my childhood days, there weren't many entertainment zones around, we would really wait for this fair where people from the area would showcase any agricultural products. And my main motive to visit the fair was to have the lovely food it would have. It was also the first place I had tasted the Butter fried fish of the famous Benfish brand (Bengalis would surely understand the nostalgia in this!). 

It was in this Nabard Haat that I saw a little shop selling Kerala pots and pans. Immediately my eye hovered on the Meen Chatty sitting on one of the corner of the shop. I so badly wanted to purchase it. While my aunt deliberated whether it was an authentic Meen chatty, my mesho said since it was a Nabard organized event, these were authentic local artisans. Even though the price seemed a little expensive I got the desired Meen Chatty finally. 

The Meen Chatti or Kerala Clay pot has always sounded fascinating to me. The first time I had seen anyone cooking in it was Peter Kuruvita in "My Sri Lanka" Series. He would effortlessly cook fabulous dishes on these clay pots in stunning locations and I used to keep imagining how amazing the food might taste because it was getting slow cooked on a clay pot. The earthy aromas would surely infuse and create a magic in the dish. 

Due to its numerous health benefits, Ayurveda suggests cooking in a clay pot. The food being cooked in an earthen cookware makes it aromatic and retaining the nutrition, minerals that include calcium, magnesium, iron and phosphorus. Clay being alkaline in nature helps in neutralizing the PH balance of the food by interacting with the acid present in the food and hence acts as a natural detox. The porous nature of earthenware allows for slow and even cooking, while retaining the natural juices in food.

Now, every time I thought about cooking in that chatty I was like, I don't want to blacken or harm to pot and kept pushing using it. Eventually I completely forgot about it. And very recently while housekeeping I 'discovered' it. This time around I decided I had to use it, so I followed the standard seasoning steps for the pot and got the pot ready in a week. Since it was a Kerala pot, it was only justified that the first thing I tried had to be a Kerala preparation.

I fell in love with Kerala cuisine when I was staying in Navi Mumbai. I stayed there for many years but only at the fag end of my stay I realized there was a Kerala House in Vashi, which was not very far from where I lived. The anonymity of the place was attributed to the fact that it was tucked away in an  obscure corner behind the Raghuleela mall in Vashi. It basically is the Culture center of the Kerala state Government that has a canteen within the premises.  A no frill place, they serve authentic Kerala Sadhya and you can order a side of chicken or fried fish. But the meal is just outstanding. Even if you are not a Malyali you will definitely end up loving the simple food. I remember it would get crowded fast, hence if you wanted to have a meal you needed to be at the place soon. 

The next time I had Kerala food was in Kerala itself. We dissed the gourmet restaurants and would always wander to the local cafes serving fish curry rice and appalam (papad). The ambience might not be great, but the food would be really finger licking good. Kerala food also has some similarity with the Bengali food culture hence I loved it even more. Any cuisine which has a heavy fish influence is close to my heart. Just like the Malvani cuisine of Maharashtra.