Bangali Adda........

"Kotto eta" ---- How much for that?


"Baro taka" ---- 12 bucks


" Chho takae ekta luchi deben?" ---- Will u gimme 1 puri for 6 bucks....?



Somethin my dad overheard at C R Park.... A typical bengali conversation... Its fantastic how a bengali uncle would go up to a vegetable vendor and buy exactly what he needs for dinner. Its true. They come home from work at about 6:30. Wash up, pick a bag got to the subji mandi and buy exactly two pieces of tomatoes, one large onion, some 100gms okra, and definately two pieces of sweet... bengali mithai....





What a simple lifestyle... No wastage... not too many choices to confuse and best of all fresh...





So taking the opportunity since we were stationed in gk 2 for three days... we took off to CR Park for breakfast... at DADU CUTLET SHOP.... loads of choices.... as u can see










BUt hello we were here for breakfast so be it the perfect luchi and aaloo bhaaji...






Can u beleive, its for 10 bucks....



Well next door was Annapurna sweets.. the famous bengali sweet shop.. so how could we resist....






I finished off with a small glass ( yeah thats the smaller size..) of mishti doi ( sweeet curd) and papa had the sweet third from left ( chhena toast) and jiju had the one second( cham cham)....



What a fantastic end to a fantastic breakfast... And hello the total meal costed us about 50 bucks... aint that great....????



What about me tellin u how to make some fab luchi's....????


So here it goes...

LUCHI

Ingredients
2 cups Maida ( all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp salt
oil for frying

Method

• Sift maida and salt. Add 1/2 tbsp oil. Knead lightly. Add water and knead well till becomes soft. Water should be added gradually. Keep aside covered for about half a hour.
• Divide into about 20 portions. Roll out each portion into a round size of about 4" diameter.
• Heat oil to very hot in a deep frying pan. Fry one at a time with light tapping so that it puffs, turn over till light golden. Drain and remove.
• Serve hot.

Anju ka Gyaaaaaaaaaan

1. Too much kneading with oil will make very crunchy luchis. (Kneading stretches the gluten in the flour making the product crisp).BUt hello remember that luchis should be soft and puffed, not crisp and flat.
2. Oil should be very hot otherwise it will not puff. It takes only about 30 to 35 seconds for each luchi to puff up.

Mashkai......

Well... there are times that u feel that things are meant to happen...

Remember the times that granny said it wont happen till its supposed to... well there is a time for everything...

We all really thought its gonna happen yesterday... we were all scared.. excited... anticipating.. all emotions packed into us... but then it dint.... conclusion.... how could it happen without her mashkai being fulfilled... ma had to make sabudana upma for her...

Well , so here it is... i'm gonna call it mashkai from now on....

• Nicely wash the sabu dana and soak in water for a half an hour...

• Drain it in a colander for another half hour... once all the water has drained away... put it into a flat spread out dish and keep it in the fridge to chill...

• Chop up the onions and green chilies.

• Wash , peel and dice the potatoes.

• Heat up the oil in the kadhai and splutter the cumin seeds.

• Add the onions and green chili and saute till translucent

.

• Once done add the potatoes and the turmeric powder.
  
  

• To the chilled sabu dana add, chopped coriander, grund peanuts, a little bit of salt and sugar.

Note : Remember, salt is a food enhancer...

• Finally add it to the kadhai and toss for a couple of minutes and then cover and cook on sim for about 5 minutes and then remove from the flame and add lemon juice and mix.
  
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and shredded coconut.
  

Serve Hot.... Enjoy her Mashkai ! ! ! :)

P.S. : And ya now i'm sure it can happen any time... Mashkai jo pura hogaya.....

Fast food.... South Indian style.....

So.... Mom's not at home...

Its a Sunday morning...

No bread in the house....

Question of the Hour....

WHATS FOR BREAKFAST.....?????

PAPA to the rescue...... Rawa Upma....

My dad's a great cook... but his skillscome out best when he has to feed me.. he he he... i'm sure he agrees... Desperate times desperate measures.....

Lets get cooking....

• Chop up onions, green chilies, ginger and curry leaves...

• Assemble together mustard seeds, chana dal and urad dal.
  

• Heat a lil oil in a kadhai and add the above seeds and the curry pata and allow to splutter, once the dal's turn red add the onions, green chili and ginger and saute till a golden brown.
  

• Now add water to the above mixture and then slowy add in the semolina mixing continuously making sure their are no lumps... add in the semolina till all get absorbed and u reach a thick consistency... heat for a minute.

• Once all are absorbed take off the heat and add a spoonfull of ghee (clarified butter).

Serve Hot ! ! ! ! !

Designer Food....

Just thought of trying out something different... Turned out different and wierd...

Its the same kadhi pakodi... Those dumplings are the pakodi.... Siting on a wedge of onion, topped with a drop of Mint chutney and a piece of pepper....

Don't the chilies just look dazzling... and by the way the sauce on the side... is the actual Kadhi....

:) Enjoy....

Assi Tussi Khayange Kadhi....

Alright, so today i had the urge to make lunch for my papa and mumma... so i decided to make Punjabi Kadhi pakodi and Chawal...... The famous combination. I dunno why but they taste so good together... The roadside shops are so famous for these,.... kadhi chawal and rajma chawal... its like their winning mantra...

Anyways, i started off by making the pakodi's.

• Chopped up Onions, ginger, green chillies and coriander, real fine, and shredded cauliflower.
• Added salt, turmeric, red chillie powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala.
• Add a heapfull of gram flour and make into a thick batter by adding water.

• Deep fry by making into dumplings and keep aside on parchment paper

And now for the kadhi...

• Whisk together the yoghurt and gram flour leaving no lumps, and three times the water.


• Add to it Turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, salt and garam masala.


• In a kadhai heat a lil oil and add to it 2 dried red chillies cut into pieces and a teaspoon of whole coriander when they splutter add to it a pinch of asofateida and immediately the yoghurt mixture.

• On a low flame allow it to simmer and reduce.

To assemble

• Place a few of the pakodi's in the bowl to serve.
• Then pour over the hot kadhi and garnish with chopped coriander and fried red chilies.

Serve Hot ! ! ! ! !