Bengali curries and vegetables go really well with their special bread called - Luchi.
It is a kind of puri which is made with Maida instead of wheat flour.
Luchi is predominantly an important part of Bengali breakfast and dinners.
Ingredients:
Maida
Drinking Water
Salt
Kalaunji
Vegetable oil
Recipe:
- Take the flour in a big bowl and add some kalaunji, salt and 2 tablespoon of oil
- Mix the ingredients well to form a sandy mixture
- Pour in some water and knead the dough to almost dry
- Then again pour some more water and knead well
- If you feel the dough is not sticking to your palm, then its ready
- Keep the dough for about 40mins covered with a wet muslin cloth
- Divide the dough into small balls, dip half the balls in oil for lubrication and roll the balls to 4-5 inch diameter circles
- Heat oil for frying in a deep wok till smoking hot
- Reduce the flame and slide in the rolled out luchi
- Press the luchi, while frying with the back of a slotted spatula, this helps in making the luchis fluffy
Luchis taste best when served hot
Happy Eating :)
Talking of Bengali cuisine and not discussing fish is like having pizza without cheese.
So sharing here a tried and tested recipe of the famous fish kalia.
Ingredients:
1 kg fish steaks
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilly powder
1 cup refined oil
1 cup refined oil
5- 6 whole red chillies
1 ginger
7 garlic cloves
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 green chillies
100 ml water
1 cup curd
Sea salt
Recipe:
- In a bowl of fish, add a tsp of red chilly powder, 1 tsp of turmeric
powder, rock salt, 1 tbsp of refined oil. Gently massage the fish and
keep it aside
- In a pan, heat 4 tbsp of mustard oil and add 5 - 6 whole red chillies, 1 chopped ginger, 6 - 7 garlic cloves, 1 tsp of
coriander seeds, 1 tsp of cumin seeds and mix well for 2 min
- Put this masala in a mortar and pestle and grind it to a coarse paste
- In another pan, heat 5 tbsp of mustard oil and pan fry the fish till it
becomes opaque/brown in color. Take out the fish and keep it aside
- In
another pan, add the hot fish flavored mustard oil. Put 1 bay leaf, 1
cinnamon tick, 1 cup of finely chopped onions and mix it well
- Add 3 slit green chilies and mix well
- Add
the coarse spices into this aromatics mixture and keep stirring. Add a
tsp of turmeric powder, 1 tsp of red chillies, ½ tsp of sea salt and
keep on sauteing it till it becomes red chilly in color
- Add water if necessary to combine all spices till the oil separates
- When the oil has separated, add a cup of whipped curd and mix it well for 5 - 10 minutes. Add water and bring it to boil
- Add sugar and a dash of lime juice to balance the flavor. With the help of a whisker, whisk the masala
- Put the poached fish in this gravy along with the resting juices of the fish
- Cover the lid and let it simmer for 5 - 7 min, till the gravy thickens
Serve hot with steamed rice.
Happy Eating :)
So it is Navaratri and Pujo time and aromas of yummy festival foods have taken over the entire country.
Though I love all festival cuisines, Bengali cuisine always gets away with a special attention from me.
I have previously shared Begun Bhaja recipe here however, sharing a new version of it with a slight twist.
Ingredients:
2 big eggplants
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste
Juice of 2 lemons
2 onions, chopped
4 green chillies, chopped
1 ginger, chopped
4 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
1 cup mustard oil
1 tsp garam masala powder
Recipe:
- Clean the eggplants well and slice them in half inch
thickness
- Marinate them with ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder,
turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, salt and lemon
juice (1 lemon) and keep it aside
- In a pan, heat some mustard oil on a medium flame and pan fry the marinated eggplant slices till they are cooked
Your Begun Bhaja is ready to be served
Happy Eating :)
So here I am sharing yet another recipe.
A lazy Sunday afternoon does not let you put in too much efforts to satisfy your hunger pangs. Best options are either get a home delivery or make something easy and quick. Well I opted for the latter and thought of utilizing my almost being wasted left over green beans.
So I decided to make sauteed green beans.
Ingredients:
Green Beans
Butter
Salt and crushed black pepper
Recipe:
- Wash the beans and cut then into 1.5 inch each
- Add 1-2 tbspn butter in the pan and add the beans
- Add salt to taste and crushed black pepper. Cover the lid and let it cook on low flame for 5-7 mins
- Remove the lid and put the flame to high and saute the beans until dry and dark brown. This adds up to the flavor. Continue doing this for 5-7 mins and your dish is ready
Happy Eating :)
There is one dish unanimously loved and relished by almost all Indians. It enjoys its royal place in the menus of all the dhabas, restaurants, parties, weddings, and even in our day to day lives. Having many facets and recipes, it is loved in almost all its versions and is a delight and delicacy for vegetarians.
Well yes, I am talking about Matar paneer. Though people have elaborate recipes to make this dish into a delicacy, I have my own easy recipe that I can make considering my time and schedule and yet it comes out really well.
So, here you go ..
Ingredients:
(below mentioned quantity is enough to serve 3)
1 big Onion
3 tomatos
2 big green chillies
2 inch ginger
8-10 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder 2/3 tbspn
Coriander powder 4 tbspn
Garam masala 1/2 tbspn
Red chilli powder (to taste)
Chicken masala (optional) (1/2 tbspn)
Amchoor (1/3 tbspn)
Paneer (boiled)
Green peas
Oil
Cumin seeds 1 tbspn
1/2 inch cinnamon
1 black cardamom
1 small cardamom
Recipe:
- Grate or grind onion and tomatoes separately into thin paste and keep aside
- Take peeled ginger and garlic along with green chillies and make them into a paste in mortar and pestle add 1-2 spoons of water and keep aside
- Heat the oil in the pressure cooker and add cumin seeds, cinnamon, black and green cardamoms
- Add ginger garlic green chilly paste (with 2 tbspn water) to the cooker and let it cook for 2 mins
- Add onion paste and let it cook for 2 mins and then add tomato paste
- Mix salt, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, chicken powder, amchoor, turmeric powder in a bowl and add some water to it to make it into a paste and add this to the pressure cooker along with Matar and Paneer cubes, close the lid and let it cook on low flame
- Give it 2 whistles (1 on low flame and other on high flame) and put the flame off
- Your matar paneer ready ready to be served
Hope you like it
Happy Eating :)
