Dahi Bhindi or Okra in yogurt curry

Okra, also known as “lady’s finger” or Bhindi in Hindi is one of the common vegetables in India. It has great utility in Indian vegetarian cuisine and it has some great nutritional value. You can make many mouth watering dishes with okra with very little effort. You must have prepared Bhindi Masala or Crispy Fried Bhindi etc before. But the same old okra in same old form tens to become a bit boring. Let’s break the monotony by preparing a comfort food with okra today. I am sure you will love this recipe.

Ingredients :

1. Okra (300 grams, wash them, dry them and cut them in to medium size pieces)
2. Curry Leaves (2-3 springs)
3. Mustard Seeds (1 teaspoon)
4. Cumin seeds (1 teaspoon)
5. Fenugreek seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
6. Asafoedtia (1 pinch)
7. Turmeric Powder (1 teaspoon)
8. Red chili powder (1 teaspoon)
9. Garam masala (1/2 teaspoon)
10. Oil (3 teaspoon)
11. Curd/Yogurt (1/2 cup)
12. Green chilies (2-3 sliced)
13. Gram flour (2-3 tsp)
14. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Add 2 teaspoons oil in a heated pan
2. Once the oil becomes hot, add the okras. Fry them in medium flame till they get softened. Keep them aside and switch off the flame.
3. For preparing the curry, add gram flour, curd, turmeric, salt, water in a bowl. Mix them properly and make a slightly runny sauce.
5. In a pan, and add oil and heat it up.
6. In the heated oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and let them splutter.
7. Add curry leaves, asafoedtia, green chilies and fry them for 1 minute
8. Add red chili powder and garam masala powder to this
9. Add the curd sauce to the frying masala. Keep stirring the sauce and make sure all the spices are mixed properly with the sauce.
10. Add little bit of water as per the thickness your prefer. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes
11. Add the fried okras. Cook it for 3-4 minutes more
12. Check the salt and adjust if required and remove it from flame.

Serve it with hot roti or chpati.

Enjoy.
Mo

 

Thai Green Curry Chicken

Thailand, the land of smiles; and if you are a foodie, you have more than enough reasons to smile for. Thai green curry chicken is definitely one of the flagship Thai curries. This is one of the favorites with the Farangs; probably because it’s not too spicy but at the same time it has enough of Thai character in it. Thai green curry chicken works really well as the doorway to the fascinating world of Thai cuisine.

Well, although the method is very simple, but not effortless. The method can be divided into two parts. First part is simple, but it needs a little bit of effort as we will use a mortar and pestle to pound all the ingredients and make the green curry paste. Second part is as easy as making your morning tea.

Ingredients:

For the Green Curry Paste:

1. Thai green chilies (150 grams)
2. Garlic (11-12 cloves)
3. Onion (3 small size)
4. Galangal (1 inch piece)
5. Cilantro roots (6, washed well; make sure there is no soil left)
6. Kaffir lime leaves (4-5)
7. Lemongrass (2 stalks)
8. White peppercorns (1 table spoon)
9. Coriander seeds (1 teaspoon)
10. Cumin seeds (1 teaspoon)
11. Salt to taste
12. Shrimp paste (1 table spoon)

For making the Curry:

1. Chicken (500 grams, I have used breast pieces cut into 1 inch cubes)
2. Thai eggplant (5-7, cut into halves)
3. Coconut Cream (1/2 liter)
4. A small bunch of Thai sweet basil (5-6 stems)
5. Thai red chili, cut in to small pieces (2-3)
6. Kaffir lime leaves cut in to julienne  (10-12)
7. Salt to taste

Method:

Step 1: Prepare the green curry paste:

Take a mortar and place all the ingredients into it. Start pounding. Pound Pound pound… and make a smooth paste. It’s a bit time consuming, you may wonder why don’t we simply use a grinder to make the paste. Believe me it’s worth it. A grinder can never replace the traditional method, as the paste from the grinder will never be as smooth as the the one from the mortar. The best part is that this paste can be kept in fridge for weeks and you can enjoy green curry over and over again and you won’t even remember the hardship.

Step 2:

Take a heavy bottom pot; add the coconut cream and green curry paste. Keep the flame in medium and bring it to a boil. Keep stirring till you see greenish oil come out on top. The white color of the cream will turn green by now. Add the chicken, eggplant, basil, red chili and kaffir lime leaves. Cover it with a lid and cook it for 10-15 minutes in low flame. Your Green curry chicken is ready.

Serve with hot rice.

Enjoy.
Mo.

Chili Chicken

Chili chicken is probably more Indian than Chinese, we have owned it. My first tryst with chili chicken was at my hometown, Agartala. Chinese was not a rage like it is now; and Abhishek  restaurant  was probably the first so called ‘modern’ restaurant of Agartala. Until then, I was exposed only to the classic Bengali Chicken Curry with potatoes. Similar to many other Indians, chili chicken was first ‘International cuisine’ for me. A plate of chili chicken and fried rice… it’s heavenly. My search for the perfect chili chicken has taken me from Abhishek to Hatari, from Mainland China to Tangra .I have had experienced cuisines from different parts of the world, but chili chicken still holds a special place in my heart… So, Let’s get started.

 

Ingredients:
1. Boneless and skinless chicken cut in to small pieces (I have used 500 grams)
2. Soy Sauce (1 tablespoon or to taste)
3. Chili Sauce (2 tablespoon or to taste)
4. Tomato ketchup (1 tablespoon or to taste)
5. White Vinegar (1 tablespoon)
6. Red, Yellow and Green Bell Pepper (1/2 cup each, seeds removed and cut into cubes)
7. Salt to taste
8. Black pepper to taste
9. Corn-starch (1.5 tablespoon)
10. Oil (3 tablespoon)
11. Ginger Paste (1 teaspoon)
12. Garlic (2 teaspoon)
13. Green Chilies (3, slit)
14. Onion (2, medium size, 1 chopped and other cut into cubes)
15. Dry red chili (Optional)

Method:
1. Take the chicken pieces in a bowl; add a pinch of salt, soy sauce and half a teaspoon of corn-starch. Mix everything well and keep aside for 10 minutes
2. In a pan heat 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken pieces from all sides and make sure the pieces don’t stick together.
3. Lower the flame and, let the chicken pieces cook properly. To be sure, cut a chicken piece into half and check the color of the broken pieces. If they white inside, they are properly cooked.
4. Remove the chicken pieces from the flame; place them on a tissue paper to soak the excess oil.
5. In the same pan add one tbsp of oil; let it warm up and add the dry red chili, garlic and cook them for 20 seconds
6. Add the ginger paste and chopped onions; fry them for one minute
7. Add the bell pepper and cubed onions. Give it a good mix it and let it cook for another 2 minutes
8. In a cup, mix all the sauces as per your taste and pour the sauce mix into the hot pan
9. Add the vinegar, green chilies and a bit of salt. Be careful about the salt because soy sauce already contains salt
10. Add black pepper powder
11. To make the gravy thick, mix the rest of the corn-starch with a 1/2 cup of water and add this mixture to the gravy
12. Check the salt and adjust accordingly
13. Add the fried chicken pieces
14. Mix everything and make sure the sauce coats the chicken pieces and the veggies
15. Once done turn off the flame

Enjoy this with noodles or fried rice.

Mo

Chicken in coriander leaves gravy

Bengali’s are known for their love for fish, but that doesn’t mean that they have any less love for chicken. There are thousands of variations of chicken curry found in different parts of Bengal. Every household has a different formula for their perfect chicken curry. Today I am going to tell you about a not so common chicken recipe, the “Dhone-Pata-Chicken” (Chicken curry in coriander leaves gravy). This extremely tasty chicken curry has a distinctive green color. Although it may seem that this green colors comes from the coriander leaves, but it actually comes from the secret ingredient spinach. Lets get started.

Ingredients:
1. Chicken (500 grams, cut into small or medium pieces)
2. Coriander leaves (100 grams, roughly chopped)
3. Garlic (1 tsp paste and 4 whole cloves)
4. Onion (1 medium size, sliced)
5. Green chilies (2 whole green chili and 2 sliced)
6. Red dry chili (1)
7. Spinach (Boiled for 1 minute, 400 grams)
8. Turmeric  powder (1 teaspoon)
9. Coriander powder (1.5 tablespoon)
10. Red chili Powder (1 teaspoon)
11. Oil (3 tablespoon)
12. Salt to taste
13. Panch phoron (1 tsp)
14. Ginger  paste (1 tsp)

Method:
1. Before we start cooking, we need to marinade the chicken, for marination add 1 tsp oil, ginger and garlic paste, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Mix them well and keep aside for 30 minutes at least.
2. In a blender, add the coriander leaves, boiled spinach, 2 green chilies and 4 garlic cloves; make a smooth paste.
3. Take a heated pan add 2 tbsp of oil, let the oil heat up.
4. Add the dry red chili and panch phoron mix. Let them splutter.
5. Add the onions, fry them till they become translucent
6. Add salt to taste
7. Add the marinated chicken and give it a good mix. Cook it for 7 minutes in high flame
8. Add water; mix the water and put the lid on; cook it until the chicken becomes soft
9. Add the sliced green chilies
10. As soon as the chicken pieces become soft, add the coriander and spinach paste. If it becomes too thick, add water as per your preference
11. Cook it for another 6-7 minutes
12. Before switching off the flame check the salt

Note: 
1. Do not put the lid when you are boiling the spinach
2. For this recipe you can use any type of cooking oil
3. Coriander leaves and spinach are the most important ingredients. Make sure they are fresh.
4. You can cook this recipe less then 3 tbsp of oil, if required
5. You can add little bit of vinegar during marination in case you want to remove the raw smell of chicken

*Panch-Phoron is an authentic Bengali spice mix used in most of the Bengali vegetarian dishes. It includes Cumin seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel Seeds, mustard seeds. All of these are mixed together together to make panch-phoron mix.

You can pair this healthy chicken recipe with steamed rice, chapati, naan-bread or paratha.

Enjoy
Mo.

Phish-Phash

The British ruled India for two centuries, how much India gained from them and how much they took away from us is topic of debate. But, among the things it has given us one of the most beautiful thing is Anglo-Indian cuisine. It is the cuisine that developed during the British rule in India, as the British wives interacted with their Indian cooks. It has had its share of Portuguese influence too. One of the lesser known but really tasty and healthy Anglo-Indian dish is Phish-Phash. It is a combination of chicken and rice infused with exotic spices. You can also cook the same dish with mutton.

Ingredients:
1. Any fragrant rice (1 cup)
2. Chicken (500 grams, cut into small or medium pieces)
3. Onions (One medium size, cut in to cubes and another one sliced)
4. Ginger and Garlic paste (1 tea spoon each)
5. Green chilies ( Make paste of 3 chilies and slit 3 chilies into halves. You can adjust the number of chilies as per your preference)
6. Cashew nuts (10)
7. Raisins (7-8)
8. Salt  to taste
9. Milk (1/2 cup)
10. Cinnamon (1 stick)
11. Cardamom (3-4)
12. Cloves (3-4)
13. Black pepper (2-3)
14. Red lentils or Masoor dal (1 table spoon)
15. Butter (2 table spoons)
16. Oil (1 teaspoon)
17. Bay Leaf (1)

You can cook this either in pressure cooker or in a heavy bottom pan. I have used pressure cooker here for quicker results. If you don’t have pressure cooker, you can cook in low flame with lid on for 20 minutes.

Method:
1. In a heated pressure cooker pan, add 1 tbsp butter and let it melt
3. Add all the whole spices; let the butter absorb the aroma of the spices
4. Add the chicken; flip them over a few times so that the chicken pieces are covered by butter on all sides.
5. Add ginger, garlic and green chili paste
7.Add the lentils and rice. Give it a good mix. Don’t worry about the chicken pieces getting broken. It’s exactly what you want.
6. Add the cubed onions and slit green chilies
8. Add salt as per your taste
9. Add the milk and the rest of the butter and give it a gentle mix
10. Add water; make sure everything is covered in water and nothing is left out
11. Cook it 3 whistles and your Phish-Phash is ready. (You may need to cook for 4-5 whistles in case you are using mutton)
12. Take a hot pan add the oil and fry the sliced onions till they become slightly brown. Use the fried onions for garnishing.

Enjoy.

Mo

Paneer Butter Masala..

Paneer butter masala or cottage cheese in butter gravy is a North Indian vegetarian delicacy. The name itself carries lot of baggage, but its rather easy to cook. Lets get started.

Ingredients:
1. Paneer/cottage cheese (200grm, cut in to cube pieces )
2. Butter (2 tablespoon)
3. Onion (1 medium size, sliced)
4. Ginger & Garlic paste (1 teaspoon each)
5. Cashew nuts (10-12)
6. Tomato (1 medium size, chopped)
7. Bay leaf (1)
8. Clove (3-4)
9. Cinnamon stick (1 )
10. Turmeric powder (1 tsp)
11. Red chili powder (1 -2 tsp as per the spice you want)
12. Coriander powder (1 tsp)
13. Cumin powder (1/2 tsp)
14. Salt to taste
15. Cream (2 Teaspoon)
16. Garam masala (1-1/2 tsp)
17. Roasted dry fenugreek leaves (1/3 tsp)

Method:
Part 1. Prepare the Masala
1. Take a  hot pan add 1 table spoon of butter , let it melt.
2. Add  sliced onions and fry  them for 1 minuet
3. Add ginger garlic paste to this and keep frying
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, cashew nuts; give a good mix and cook it  for 1 minuet
5. Remove it form flame and let the masala cool down
6. Blend the masala and make a smooth paste; if  it is too thick you can add a little bit of water.

Part 2: Get cooking the gravy
1. Heat up a pan (you may use the same pan) and add one table-spoon of butter and let the butter melt
2. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves
3. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt
4. Add the masala paste we prepared in step 1 and give it a good mix. Put the lid on and cook this for 5-7 minutes in low flame.
5. Add coriander, cumin powder
6. Add 2 teaspoon of cooking cream and mix the cream well with the gravy
7. Add the paneer cubes and cook for 5 minutes with the lid on.
8. Add garam masala powder and roasted dry fenugreek leaves; let it cook uncovered for 1 minute and turn off the flame

Your Paneer Butter Masala is ready. Serve it with roti, paratha ,naan.

Tip: In paneer butter masala you can add panner directly but I prefer fried panner. You can fry the paneer cubes for 1-2 minutes (till the paneer cubes become golden brown on all sides) and put them in a bowl of mildly salted water. Keeping the paneer submerged in water will make it super soft and really tasty.

Enjoy.

Mo

 

 

 

Palak Dal (Spinach Lentil soup)

Palak dal is a tasty and nutritious lentil preparation. I have used five different types of lentil, but you can use 1-2 types of lentil as per your choice. You can easily make this  dish with a few drops of oil.

Ingredients:

1. Spinach (coarsely chopped)
2. Lentils (soak the lentils for one hour before cooking)
   a. Split Red Lentil/ Masoor Dal
   b. Yellow Moong Dal
   c. Split Bengal gram/ Chana Dal
   d. Split Red gram/ Tuvar Dal/ Arhar Dal
   e. Matar Dal/Split green pea
3. Onion (1 medium size sliced)
4. Garlic (3 clove)
5. Ginger julienne
6. Green chilies (2 sliced)
7. Dry red chili (1)
8. Dry spices
   a. Cumin powder-1/2 tsp
   b. Coriander powder-1/2 tsp
   c. Turmeric powder-1 tsp
9. Cumin seeds (1/2 tsp)
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil (1/2 tsp)
12. Tomato (1 medium size  cut in to cubes)

Method:

1. Boil the soaked lentils till they become soft; if you are using pressure cooker, cook it till 5 whistle. Add a pinch of salt to the water at time of boiling the lentils.
2. In a heated pan add oil. When the oil heats up, add the dry red chili, garlic and cumin seeds.
3. Add the sliced onion and sprinkle a bit of salt. Fry it for 1 minute.
4. Add the cubed tomatoes, mix it well and fry it for 1 minute. If the masala becomes too dry, add a cup of water.
5. Add all the dry spices. You may add a bit of salt if needed. Add half a cup of water.
6. Add the  chopped spinach and give it a good mix.
7. Add the  boiled lentils and green chilies. Mix everything well.
8. Add water as per the thickness you prefer.
9. Put the lid on and cook it for 3-4 minutes.

This is my kind of Palak dal. You can enjoy it with rice or roti; you can even have it as a soup. If you want you can add Ghee (clarified butter) or butter for a richer taste; I did not add any though. To make it spicier, you can add a teaspoon of  paprika.

Enjoy.

Mo

 

 

Traditional Sweet Bengali Chutney

Mishti Chutney or Sweet Chutney is an authentic Bengali dish. Usually we have it after finishing the main course and before consuming dessert; but there is no hard and fast rule for this. The recipe is very simple and requires easily available ingredients. I have used raw mango because this is summer time and Tomatoes which are easily available everywhere throughout the year. If you don’t get mangoes, you can make this with tomato only. Let’s get started.

Ingredients:
1. Tomato (3 medium size, cut into cubes)
2. Raw mango (1 cut into slices)
3. Dates (5-6 cut into small pieces)
4. Raisin & cashew nuts
5. Jaggery (2 tablespoon)
6. Green chili (2 sliced)
7. Mustard seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
8. Cumin seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
9. Fennel seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
10. Pinch of salt.
11. Mustard oil or any other oil (1 teaspoon)

Method:
1. In a heated pan, add a tsp of oil.
2. When the oil heats up, add the mustard, cumin and fennel seeds. Let the spices splutter.
3. Add the mangoes and tomatoes; sprinkle a bit of salt. Mix everything well so that the pulps absorbed the flavor of the spices.
4. Add a cup of water, mix everything well.
5. Add the jaggery and let it melt.
6. Add the dates, dry fruits and green chilies. Give it a good mix.
7. Add one cup of water and put the lid on. Keep the flame in low and let it cook for 7-8 mint. (Adjust the water as per the thickness you prefer)
8. Turn off the flame and let it cool down.

Enjoy.

Mo

Dalia pulao (Broken wheat pulao)

Are you looking for a healthy dish with full of nutrition, perfect for breakfast or brunch, good to eat and easy to cook? Your wait is over. Let’s cook Dalia Pulao.

Ingredients:
1. Dalia (1 cup)
2. Ghee or clarified butter (2tsp)
3. Cinnamon stick (1-2)
4. Cardamom (2-3)
5. Clove (2-3)
6. Salt to taste
7. Green peas (2tbsp)
8. Raisins & Cashew nuts (As per your preference)
9. Green chill (2)
10. Olive oil (1/2 tsp)
11. Bay leaf (1)
12. Water (2 cup)

Method:
In a pressure cooker, heat up the oil. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves and the dalia. Fry the mixture for a minute or two in low flame. Add salt, green peas, chilies, raisins, cashew nuts. Mix everything properly and add the ghee. To this, add 2 cups of water (For 1 cup of dalia, you need to add 2 cups of water). Close the lid and let it cook for two whistles. Your Dalia pulao is ready.

I have used only green peas; you can use any vegetables; small pieces of potatoes, carrots, cauliflower etc. You can make Dalia pulao once in a while for breakfast and mix and match your vegetables.

Enjoy.

Mo

Macher Jhol (Fish curry)

Mach means Fish and Jhol means curry, especially the curry which is not very thick. For many Bengali, fish is one of the most important food supplements. Fish is versatile; it can be fried, steamed, dried or you can simply make fish-curry. We, the Bengalis love it in every form and shape. In Bengal, traditionally, fish curry is made with Rohu, Catla and Hilsa. Since I live in Thailand, the typical fish used to make curry back at home is not easily found. So, today I will cook Sea Bass, easily available here at any local market or any gourmet shop.

Ingredients:
1. Sea bass fish (cut in to 5 pieces. In 5 piece I have used 4, I didn’t use the head portion)
2. Onion (2, medium size, sliced)
3. Tomato (2, medium size, chopped)
4. Ginger & Garlic paste  (1 tea spoon each)
5. Green chilies (4 nos)
6. Eggplant and Potato cut in to long pieces and fried. (Quantity as per your preference)
7. Cumin powder (2 teaspoon)
8. Coriander powder (2 teaspoon)
9. Red chili powder (1-2 teaspoon or as per your preference)
10. Paprika or Kashmiri red chili powder (1-2 teaspoon)
11. Salt to taste
12. Turmeric powder (2 teaspoon)
13. Coriander leaves.
14. Mustard oil (3 tablespoon)
15. Black cumin (1 /2 teaspoon)
16. Sugar (1/4 teaspoon)
17. Garam masala powder (1/2 teaspoon)

Method:
1. Marinate the washed pieces of fish for 5-7 mints with turmeric powder and salt. After that, shallow fry the fish pieces on both sides till they become a bit brownish. Keep them aside.
2. In a heated pan pour the mustard oil; add the black cumin seeds and let them splutter.
3. Add the onions slices and fry them. (You can add a pinch of sugar to this. It will help onions to get caramelized quickly and will give it a nice brown color)
4. Add ginger & garlic paste to this and keep frying.
5. When the onions will become translucent, add the tomatoes and cook it for 5 more minutes. Soon the tomatoes will melt down and the whole mixture will become like a paste.
6. Lower the flame; add all the dry spices and salt. Mix it well.
7. when the masala starts releasing oil, add water for gravy according to your preference. Also add the sliced green chilies.
8. Add the fried vegetables and fish. Cover this with a lid and let it cook for 5-7 mints in low flame. Let the fish absorb all the goodness of the spices.
9. Add garam masala (optional) and chopped coriander leaves in to the gravy mix it and switch off the flame.

It is perfect with a plate of hot steamed rice.

Enjoy.

Mo