Doi Maach/ Fish In Yoghurt Gravy

This is a very authentic Bengali fish dish which is quite easy to prepare and served typically on any special or festive occasion. Some do not fry the fish but marinates the raw fish in the yoghurt mixed with turmeric, red chilli, salt and sugar and then adds to the onion paste. But I made the fried fish version. Just try it out and I think you will like it.  N'joy!!

Ingredients:

• Rohu/Katla fish - 1/2 kg (cut in thick pieces)
• Yoghurt/Curd - 1 cup
• Onion paste - 4 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Green chillies - 3-4
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard oil - 4 tbsp
• Cardamom - 3-4
• Cinnamon - 1" stick
• Salt and sugar to taste

Method:

1. Wash the fish pieces, marinate with salt and turmeric and fry them lightly in mustard oil.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add cardamom, cinnamon and green chillies.Now add the onion paste and cook till it turns brownish and the raw smell goes off.
3. Next add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and sugar and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add little amount of water to the yoghurt and add slowly to the pan stirring continuously.
5. Cook till oil starts separating from the mixture and then add the fried fish pieces and cook for 3-4 minutes.
6. Now add some water to the mixture and cook for 10 mins. on low flame.
7. When the fish gets cooked perfectly, switch off the flame.
8. Serve the Doi Maach with hot steamed rice and N'Joy!!

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Dalma - Lentils Brewed With Veggies

Dalma is a mixture of lentils and vegetables cooked together with various spices and seasonings giving the dish a rich colour and flavour. This is a classic cuisine from Orissa, a coastal state of eastern India.

Lentils and vegetables are a good combination of proteins and vitamins. So, it becomes a wholesome and nutritious dish. So try it out and you would surely like it. 

Yummy and Healthy Dalma !

Ingredients:

Tuvar/Toor/Arhar dal(Red Gram) - 1/2 cup

Chana dal / Split chickpeas (Bengal Gram)- 1/2 cup

Ginger - 2 tbsp (grated)

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tbs

Veggies cut in large chunks

Potato - 1

Green beans - 7-8

Pumpkin - 10 - 12 pieces

Raw papaya - 8-10 pieces

Tomato - 1

Carrot - 1

Green peas - 1/2 cup

Cauliflower - 8-10 florets

Tempering:

Asafoetida / Hing - A pinch

Bay leaf - 1

Red chilli (whole) - 2

Paanch phoran - (equal measure of mustard seed, fennel seeds, cumin seeds , fenugreek seeds, nigella/kalongi seeds)

Coriander seeds - 1/2 tsp

Garnishing: 

Roasted and ground red chilli and cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves (chopped)- 1-2 tsp

Ghee/clarified butter - 2 tsp

Method:

1. Wash the lentils and soak them for at least an hour.
2. Cut the veggies in large chunks.
3. Pressure cook the lentils with enough water till half cooked. Now add the vegetables and cook with the half cooked lentils till 1 whistle with salt and turmeric powder.
4. Heat oil in a pan and temper with hing, paanch phoran, red chilli, coriander seeds, bay leaf. When it crackles, add the grated ginger and stir a little. Now add the lentils with the veggies and add a cup of warm water.Stir and simmer on low heat till done. The consistency of the dal should be thick and creamy.
5. Garnish it with roasted red chilli and cumin powder, ghee and chopped coriander.
6. Serve hot with steamed rice /rotis. N'Joy!

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Potoler Dolma / Stuffed Pointed Gourd Curry-Happy Mother's Day!

Potoler Dolma/Stuffed pointed gourd is nothing but stuffed potol in an onion-ginger-garlic-tomato gravy. This is a very delicious and traditional Bengali dish. However,did you know that Dolma is actually Portuguese and is Bengali only because of the addition of potol in it? Even, I was surprised. This Mother's Day, I decided that I have to make something special for my dear mother,which is also one of her favourite dish..So, I had to make this! It takes some time to prepare this dish but turns out to be worth spending at the end..  So just try it out and I hope you all will like this dish! Happy Mother's Day!! (And don't forget to comment or subscribe! Njoy!)

Ingredients:

Potol (pointed gourd)/Parwal - 5-6(long and slender)

For stuffing:

Mutton keema/mince - 200 gms

Onion -1(chopped)

Ginger - 1" piece

Garlic - 4-4 cloves

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Jeera/cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt and sugar to taste 

Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

For gravy:

Onion - 1 ( made into a paste)

Tomato - 1(chopped)

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Bay leaf - 2-3

Whole cardamom - 2-3

Oil - 2-3 tbsp

Salt and sugar to taste

Ghee/Clarified butter - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. For scraping and scooping: Wash the pointed gourd/potol and scrape the skin very lightly and carefully.Now cut one of the ends of the potol in a circular disc (a bit big enough so that the end of the spoon can be inserted).Half boil the pointed gourds,cool and then scoop the seeds from inside. Rub the potols with salt and leave for few minutes. 
2. For making the stuffing: Heat some oil in a pan and add the chopped onions. to it add the ginger garlic paste. When the raw smell goes off , add the spices and the ground meat/keema. To it add salt, sugar - saute for a few minutes on low flame till done and add garam masala powder. Take it out from the flame and cool at room temperature.( For veg stuffing you can use coconut or crumbled paneer with raisins, broken cashews, boiled potatoes seasoned with cumin, red chilli powder, garam masala powder salt and sugar. Shrimps can also be used as stuffing and they taste really awesome. To the fried shrimps add onion, grated coconut, garam masala, cumin pow. ginger and seasoning.)
3. Next, add oil in a pan and fry the pointed gourds till they turn brown in colour. Take it out and cool at room temperature.
4. Stuff the potols with the stuffing up to its neck and seal with the cut round pieces as lids.
5. At this point, you may batter fry the stuffed potols and serve as an appetizer.
6. For the gravy: Heat some oil in a pan, add cardamom and bay leaves,saute. Add onion paste, ginger garlic paste and stir for a few minutes. Combine the chopped tomatoes, and mix the turmeric, red chilli and cumin powder, garam masala powder and stir well. Adjust seasoning and add little water. Put the stuffed potols and simmer on low heat till the gravy thickens. Garnish with ghee/clarified butter.
7. Serve potoler dolma/ stuffed pointed gourd with steamed rice or pulao.

Keema/Ground meat stuffing

Scraping, scooping and stuffing the pointed gourds

Preparing the gravy

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Gulab Jamun - My 150th Post!! :D

This is my 150th post and so thought of making something sweet. Kyunki har choti-bari khushi mein muh mitha karna chahiye! (Meaning-In every happy occasion, small or big, we should celebrate with something sweet.) Gulab jamuns are one of my family's favourite Indian sweets and there cannot be a better dish to celebrate my achievement with! I have written so many posts on my blog-I still cannot believe it. Well, I hope you like the gulab jamuns! (And don't forget to comment or subscribe! Njoy!)

Ingredients:

• Milk powder - 1 cup +2 tbsp
• Refined flour/maida - 1 tbsp
• Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
• Green cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ghee - 4 tsp + to deep fry
• Milk - 1/2 cup( adjust while kneading, I used little)
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Water 1 cup
• Rose essence - few drops (optional)

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix together milk powder, maida, baking soda, cardamom powder and ghee. Now add milk little by little to form a smooth, soft dough. Cover and let it rest for 15-20 mins.
2. Add water and sugar in a large skillet and bring it to a boil.
3. Next add cardamom powder and reduce the heat to simmer and continue to boil till it reaches a 1 string consistency. Set aside.
4. Heat sufficient ghee/oil in a deep fry pan. Divide the dough into small balls(18-20). The balls should not have any cracks or lines.
5. Deep fry these balls in low to medium heat till they turn golden brown taking few at a time.
6. Remove the golden fried balls and allow them to cool.
7. Add the balls in warm sugar syrup, let them soak for 3-6 hrs and then serve hot or at room temperature. 

Sending this to: Chandrani's Spotlight: Show Your Best Creation and Original Announcement Page

     

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Sweet Rooh Afza Lassi

Lassi  is a very common drink, which originated from Punjab. Made of yoghurt and cool ice cubes, it is the perfect drink to beat the heat in this summer. I added some Rooh Afza which contains rose essence to give it a lovely color, aroma and texture. It is quite easy and quick to prepare and can be served to unexpected guests, when they arrive on a hot,summer day. I am sure you will enjoy this creamy and heavenly beverage! Do try it out! (And don't forget to comment or subscribe! Njoy!)

Ingredients:

• Yoghurt - 100 gms
• Water - 1 glass
• Rooh Afza - 2 tsp
• Fresh cream - 4 tbsp
• Sugar - 4 tbsp
• Chaat masala/Roasted cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Rock salt - 1/2 tsp(optional)
• Ice cubes 

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients except ice cubes in a blender till the lassi turns smooth in texture.
2. Add ice cubes and your heavenly yoghurt based sweet lassi  is ready to be served.

Sending this to: Swathi's Favourite Recipe-Drinks

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Paneer Bhape/Steamed Cottage Cheese In Mustard-Poppy Seed Gravy And Happy

Today I am going to post one of my favourite paneer dishes which is not only tasty but quite easy to prepare.This is one of my mom's delicacy. So, I want to dedicate this recipe to my mother on Mother's Day(12th May). This is a traditional Bengali dish and usually a steamed recipe, but my mother does it in a kadhai and so does I. It tastes really awesome. If you wish you can use 1/2 mustard oil and 1/2 white oil. To get rid of the raw smell of mustard, heat the oil till it starts to smoke. In Bengali cuisine, whenever mustard paste is used,  cooking in mustard oil gives the real taste and aroma. So try out this mustard flavoured paneer dish. (And don't forget to comment or subscribe! Njoy! )

Ingredients:

• Paneer/Cottage cheese - 300 gms(cut in big cubes)
• Mustard seed paste - 1 tbsp
• Poppy seed paste - 2 tbsp
• Coconut - 1/2 (grated)
• Green chillies - 5-6(slited)
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli powder - a pinch
• Mustard oil - 3 tbsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp(optional)
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix together  mustard seed paste, poppy seed paste and grated coconut paste with little water.and keep aside.
2. Heat mustard oil in a kadhai/pan and when it starts smoking add the slit green chillies. Next add the mustard-poppyseed-coconut paste, salt, sugar turmeric and chilli powder. Stir nicely and cover for 2-3 minutes. 
3. Add the paneer/ cottage cheese cubes and mix everything so that the masala gets coated nicely on the paneer pieces.
4. Next add very little water and let it cook in simmer covered with a lid till the gravy thickens.
5. Stir slowly in between. When oil separates at the sides and the gravy thickens, remove from heat.
6. Serve hot with steamed rice. Just enjoy this delicious dish!!

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Coconut Chutney In Microwave

This coconut chutney is famous in the southern part of India. Coconut chutney is my favourite and I also love South Indian dishes. Today I made idlis and as an accompaniment with the idlis I made this yummy chutney. Its quite easy to make but tastes great. Try this out and u all would surely love it.N'Joy!!!

Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:

• Roasted Bengal gram - 1/4 cup
• Green chillies - 2
• Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
• Curd - 1/2 cup
• Tamarind - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Whole red chillies - 3-4
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Grind all the ingredients of chutney in a blender.
2. In a microwave safe bowl add oil, mustard seeds, whole red chillies, cury leaves and microwave for 2 mins. at 100% power. 
3. Add the temper(step-2) to coconut chutney and refrigerate.
4. Serve it with dosa, uttapam, vada, idli or upma.

Sending this to: Chandrani's Spotlight: Show Your Best Creation and Original Spotlight Announcement Page

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