Chocolate chip cookies and a Happy 2016

Wish you a very Happy New Year 2016

Let us start the new year with some freshly baked goodies. Make some cookies at home and enjoy.

Ingredients :

• All purpose flour – 2 cups
• Baking soda – 1 tsp
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Butter – 1 cup
• Brown sugar – ¾ cup
• Sugar  - ¾ cup
• Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
• Egg – 2
• Chocolate chips – 1 cup


Method :

1. Flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar ,normal sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
3. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition
4. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Mix choco-chips
5. Drop by rounded table spoon on to under-greased baking tray .
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in 180 degree  Celsius until it turns golden brown .
7. Remove the rack from the oven and let it cool on baking tray for 5 mins.

Chicken Roast

Ingredients:

• Chicken – 1kg 
• Garlic paste – 4 tbsp 
• Ginger paste – 4 tbsp 
• Onion paste – 2 tbsp
• Tandoori masala – 2 tsp 
• Garam masala – 2tsp 
• Chilli powder -2 tsp or as per taste 
• Lemon – 6 tbsp 
• Curd – ½ cup 
• White oil – 6 tsp 
• Kashmiri mirch for colour and flavour
• Salt to taste

Method :

Marination
Cover the chicken well with salt, oil, curd, ginger garlic paste, onion paste, lemon juice, red chilli powder, garam masala, tandoori masala and kashmiri mirch for colour and flavour.
Use a knife to make slits on the chicken pieces which will help the marination cover the meat well on the inside as well.
Marinate at least for 12 hours but in case of a hurry, marinate for minimum 30 - 40 minutes. The longer chicken is marinated, tastier and juicy and juicy  it would be.

Roast/Grill
You can grill the chicken in an oven or roast it in a barbeque. 

If  you are using an oven, preheat at 200 deg Celsius.  You can put a piece of aluminium foil on the wire rack to save yourself from cleaning after wards. Make some perforations in the foil for gravy to seep through. Place a tray half-filled with water below the wire tray. This water helps in keeping the moisture in the chicken while it is baked and grilled. The surface of the chicken will not get hard. 

Put the chicken on the wire tray covered by perforated aluminium foil and. Bake it at 250 deg for about 45 mins. Turn over the chicken  ,  not more than 2 to 3  times.  Use a silicon brush to  oil the upper parts of the chicken , every time the chicken is turned over.  Put the oven to grill mode for 10 mins and turn both sides.

The chicken will turn red and you can check  if it is cooked using a fork.  Adjust the time accordingly.

For garnishing, one can use  lettuce leaves, onion wedges, baked potato etc. I have used baked cherry tomatoes and asparagus .

Serve hot after sprinkling some lemon juice, and garlic bread.


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Salmon Fish Cake with Parsley

A very easy and healthy party food - Salmon Fish Cake with Parsley

Ingredients

• Potato, diced in small cubes - 450gm
• salmon fillets - 350gm
• parsley - 1 bunch
• egg(beaten) - 1
• pepper powder - 2 tsp
• lemon juice - 2 tsp
• medium sized onion - 1
• olive oil/refined oil - 4 tsp
• flour - 4 tsp.

Method

• Boil potatoes and fish fillets. 
• Drain the excess water and mix them into a fine mash. 
• Add chopped onions, pepper powder, salt, 2 tsp flour and lime juice to a mash and mix it well. 
• Now shape the mixture into balls and flatten it. 
• Refrigerate for half an hour. 
• Dip the balls in beaten egg and roll it in bread crumb, then shallow fry in olive oil or refined oil .
• Serve with mayonnaise or mustard sauce.

This recipe was published in Hangla Hneshel, a Bengali Food Magazine.

Custard Cookies

It is Christmas time.  It is baking time here – cookies, cakes and plenty of other goodies. So I have also taken to baking to join the bandwagon of festivities. Here is the easiest one for my readers. Try it. It is very easy.

Ingredients:
• Butter – 125g (at room temperature)
• Flour – 125 g 
• Custard powder  (vanilla) -40 g 
• Salt  (to taste)
• Icing sugar – 40 gm
• Pistachio
• Almond

Methods :
1. Cream the butter ,sugar and custard powder to form a smooth mixture.
2. Add the salt . Add little flour at a time .
3. Mix to form a soft dough. Pinch out small portions and then roll into balls. Then put some pressure with palm on the balls. You can make design by using forks. Add pistachio and almonds to decorate the cookies.
4. Place on the butter paper in baking tray. If you don’t have butter paper, grease the tray with oil.
5. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 to 20 minutes .
6. Cool it before serving .

Mulo pata + KacchKola'r Khosha Bata

Awesome Writer. Superb in Recitation. Brilliant Dancer. Lover of the feline. These are a few adjectives to describes chakumchukum's #iamasuperchef of the week Dipashri Bardhan.

Dipashri Bardhan

Dipashri lives in Bangalore,  is a movie critic and writes movie reviews in leading newspapers. Apart from her numerous associations she is a super chef and creates innovative recipes which are healthy and tasty. She has shared one of her favorite recipes with ChakumChukum "Mulo pata + KacchKola'r Khosha Bata" or a paste made of radish leaves and plantain peels.  Here goes her recipe:

BACKDROP: Ideally radish leaves & plantain peels should not be mixed...They are supposed to be cooked separately to make this dish, though here the process is same...Here I mixed up both coz today in the morning, I found a little radish leaves & 7-8 plantain peels are left in my Freeze...So why to waste both ? When a delicious preparation could be made ? ;)

Ingredients:

• Radish leaves
• Plantain peels
• Garlic
• Green Chilly
• Onion Seeds
• Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil for cooking

Method:

First pressure cook radish leaves and plantain peels. Mash up in Mixer machine, with garlic & green chilly. Then add onion seeds in hot mustard oil, followed by adding these mashed up paste of plantain & radish leaves. Add turmeric powder and salt. Mix up properly till it forms a smooth paste. Its ready :D

HEALTH VALUE: Since its scientifically proven that most of the vitamins stay in the peels of any vegetables (here plantain) + Green leaves are rich source of Vitamin A, C & K, hence this dish can boost your immune system :)

Share your #iamasuperchef recipes with ChakumChukum and get the #superwoman crown.

mail at chakumchukumwithbaishali@gmail.com or Inbox in FB page 

Fulkopir Korma /Cauliflower Korma

Winter is here. Lot of winter vegetables are available in the market now. One can buy fresh aromatic cauliflowers in the market. Keeping in mind the season and its vegetables, here is my recipe. You may find the preparation different and it bring in a different taste.

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower – 500gm
• Peas – 100gm 
• Bay leaf – 1 pcs
• Cardamom – 4 pcs
• Cinnamon  stick – 1 pcs 
• Ginger paste  - 2tsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp or as per taste 
• Ghee – 2 tsp
• Oil – 2 tsp 
• Curd – ½ cup 
• Cashewnut paste – 2 tsp
• Coconut paste – 2tsp 
• Sugar 1 ½ tsp or as per taste 
• Salt – as per taste 
• Garam masala powder – ½ tsp 

Method :

1. Heat some oil in the kadahi.  Fry the cauliflower pieces for some time till it is light golden
2. Now, add  2 spoonful of ghee in the same oil and add 4 pieces of cardamom, 1 1 cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf. Fry till the beautiful spicy aroma comes out.
3. Now add, ginger paste, red chilli powder, curd.  Fry it till the oil separates.
4. Now add, cashew nut paste, coconut paste. After 2-3 minutes, add cauliflower, peas  and keep stirring. Now add sugar, salt to taste, little bit of water.
5. Now check if the cauliflower is cooked. When it is cooked, and the gravy appears thick, add some garam masala, stir and keep it aside.
6. You can serve the cauliflower korma with Basanti Pulav 

Keema Naan

Naan, a popular Indian bread made with Keema stuffing. Delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients

For the naan bread 

• Plain Flour -500gm
• Salt – ½ tsp or as per taste 
• Baking Powder – 1 tsp
• Active dry yeast -2 tsp
• Milk -150ml (Lukewarm )
• Oil or butter – 4 tsp 
• Curd -150 ml (lightly beaten )
• Egg -1 ( Lightly beaten)

For the keema stuffing

• Chicken Mince – 250 gm
• Oil- 3 tbsp
• Onion – 1 ( chopped)
• Chillies – 3 (chopped)
• Garlic cloves-2 (chopped)
• Tomato puree – 2 tsp
• Chili powder – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1tsp
• Garam masala – ½ tsp 
• Tandoori masala 1 tsp 

Method

To make the naan bread:

• Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, yeast and sugar in a bowl and pour in the lukewarm milk, oil, yoghurt and the beaten egg and mix it all together to form a ball of dough.
• Place the dough on to a clean surface and knead it for 10 minutes or more, to make it smooth.
• Pour  1/4 tsp oil into a large bowl and roll the ball of dough in it.
• Cover the bowl with a piece of cling cloth or kitchen towel and set aside in a warm  place for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

To make the keema filling:

• Heat oil in a pan and on medium heat, fry the finely chopped onion, minced ginger and garlic till lightly golden browned.
• Add the mince meat, chopped chillies, spices and salt and stir fry till nicely browned.
• Add in the tomato puree and about 2-3 tbsp water and let the mixture cook thoroughly, stirring occasionally, till all the liquid have evaporated.
• Remember, NO LIQUID SHOULD REMAIN. If the mince stuffing is ‘wet’, it will be impossible to roll out the naans without bursting them.
• Keep aside to cool completely then 

Back to making the naan bread:

• Pre-heat your oven to the highest temperature. Put the heaviest baking tray to heat in the oven.
• Punch down the dough and knead it again and divide into 8 equal balls.
• While working on 1 ball, keep the remaining balls covered.
• Flatten the ball using your hands (or rolling pin), roll it out slightly and then place about 1 heaped tbsp of the mince stuffing in the centre and pull the edges up, seal and shape into a ball again.
• Dust will a little flour if needed and roll out into a tear-shaped naan, about 15 cm in length and about 12 cm at its widest.
• Brush the top with melted butter.
• Remove the hot baking tray from the oven, grease it well with butter and place the naan on to it (I cook 4 naans in one batch).
• Put it into the oven on the top rack for 2-3 minutes. It should puff up and brown slightly (do keep an eye on it after 2 mins).
• Once puffed up and browned on one side, flip the naan and back into the oven again for another 1-2 minutes till the top of naan goes golden brown (keep an eye after 1 minute). Now, serve hot.

Egg Salad by Purba Das

There goes a common phrase in Bengali "Je Rnadhe Se Chul O Bnadhe" - which means a lady well adept in cooking as well as in adorning her hair. We start our special post series dedicated to such awesome ladies who have created a niche in their own field and are also super chefs at home.

Purba Das

We start the #iamasuperchef series with Purba Das. Purba lives in Mumbai and is an entrepreneur and a superb dancer and mother of two bright kids. She juggles work and home and churns out innovative recipes. She shares one of her recipes with ChakumChukum which she learnt from a Malayasian friend. Egg Salad - The salad is loved by all and is especially popular among kids. 


Here goes Purba's special egg salad.

Ingredients

• Egg
• Mayonnaise
• Tomato ketchup/chilli-tomato ketchup as per choice
• Gram flour
• Salt
• And veggies as per choice

Procedure

• Boil the eggs and cut it in two halves. 
• Make a batter of gram flour and salt dip the eggs and fry it. Keep aside. 
• Take a bowl mix good quantity of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup/chilli tomato sauce as per choice. Then dip those fried eggs or you can pour from above as well. 
• Chop veggies like carrots, beetroot, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and mix them.
• Plate the eggs along with the veggies.

Share your #iamasuperchef recipes with ChakumChukum and get the #superwoman crown.

mail at chakumchukumwithbaishali@gmail.com or Inbox in FB page 

Fresh Buns for the perfect Breakfast

Good Morning everyone! The morning can be awesome if you can bake fresh buns and have it in your breakfast with milk, jelly or jam, butter and other assortments. Here is the easy recipe  to try it at home.

Ingredients :
• Flour – 4  cups 
• Dry yeast – 4  teaspoons 
• Milk – 1 cup
• Water – ¾ cup
• Butter or oil -1/2 cup 
• Sugar -1/3 cup 
• Salt -1/2 teaspoon
• Sesame seeds – 2 tablespoons

Method:
1. Mix 3 cups flour and 4 teaspoons of yeast in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix milk , water ,oil ,sugar and salt and then put it in microwave and heat till it is lukewarm .
3. Add all at once to flour mixture and beat till it is smooth.
4. Mix remaining flour  to the above to  make a soft dough .  Mix well until dough is soft and slightly sticky
5. Now ,  let the dough rest in  a large greased bowl and cover with a fresh cloth. Let it rest for about 30-45 minutes .  It will double up in size.
6. Shape dough into 12 -15 small balls and place on greased baking sheet to rise until doubled in size .(Approx one hour)
7. Now sprinkle the sesame seeds on the balls. 
8. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 15 minutes.

If you like my recipe, do leave a comment here or press the ‘like’ button. 

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Rabri

Rabri is an Indian and Pakistani sweet dish. Rabri is mostly made in north, central and western India. Basically rabri is thickened sweetened milk having layers of malai or sor or cream in it. It’s flavoured with cardamoms, saffron with the addition of dry fruits like almonds and pistachios. This version of rabri is called as Lachha Rabri in Hindi.

The preparation is easy but takes time. Milk is continuously simmered and evaporated on a low flame till it reaches a semi thick consistency. Rabri is usually prepared in a kadai as the broad shape of the kadai helps in evaporation of the milk faster .Preparing rabri is easy but you have to give it attention. There is no short cut method to this traditional recipe.
Rabri can be served warm or chilled. You can also serve rabri with Gulab Jamun, Jalebi, Malpua, Baked Rasgullas and Falooda. Rabri tastes good with pooris too. For the multipurpose use and taste of it, Rabri stands out as the best dessert for me.

Ingredients:
• Full cream milk – 2 litre
• Sugar – 4 tbsp or as per taste
• Cardamoms – ½ tsp powder
• Saffron strands -15 ,crushed
• Rose water – 1 tsp
• Almonds – 15 – 20
• Pistachios – 50 gm (optional)
Method:
1. Take 2 litre full cream milk in a thick bottomed kadai .Heat the milk on a low to medium flame, till the milk starts to froth or form a layer of malai on top.
2. When you will see the malai floating on top, then with a spatula, gently move the cream layer. Bring it towards the side of the pan and stick it to the pan.
3. Keep simmering the milk and collect the cream layer on the sides.
4. Meanwhile soak almonds and pistachios in hot water for 20 minutes, and then remove their peels.
5. Slice or chop them and keep aside. Do keep a check on the simmering milk when soaking as well as slicing the almonds, pistachios.
6. This process of collecting the cream layer has to be done many times. Continuous simmering of the milk will bring the cream on top and you have to bring and stick it to the sides. In between also stir the milk gently on occasions, so that the milk does not get burnt from the bottom. If you do too much stirring then you won’t get layers of cream in the rabri
7. Once the milk reduces to half, add 4 tbsp sugar or as per taste.
8. Stir gently after adding saffron, cardamom powder. After adding saffron, a gradual change of colour to yellow happens, as the milk keeps on reducing.
9. Continue collecting the malai and bringing it to the sides of the pan, also do stir the milk gently after you bring the cream towards the sides of the pan. To prevent milk from getting browned or burnt from the bottom, you have to stir the milk continuously.
10. When the milk gets reduced to 1/3 of its original quantity, switch off the flame.
11. The cream layer will be collected on the sides’.
12. Stir gently, add the sliced almonds and pistachios and 1 tsp rose water .Stir gently again.
13. Garnish with some whole almonds and serve rabri hot or warm.

Chakum Chukum got featured in a Bengali-English Durga Puja Special e-magazine +Jhaal Muri
Check the e-magazine here: http://www.jhaalmuricorner.com/jhaalmuripuja2015.html

Pineapple Jam

Most common breakfast items are bread and jam. And when it comes to jams, one would always prefer homemade jam , rather than those available in the market because all readily available jams have preservatives. So,  if we can make jams at home with seasonal fruits, it can be far more tastier and healthier option too. One can make it less sugary depending on taste. 

Ingredients :

• Pineapple – 1 medium size 
• Sugar -2 ½  cups or as per taste 
• Lemon Juice – 2 tbl sp
• Jaifal (Nutmeg)  powder – ½ tsp 
• Pineapple essence – 1 tsp (optional, I don’t use it a natural pineapple flavour was good enough for me)

Method:

1. Peel and chop pineapple cubes. Take them in a blender and make them into a coarse puree or smooth puree (as you wish).
2. Now pour them in kadai, add in sugar and mix well.
3. Heat it up, cook them for 15 to 20 mins or so, till the sugar is dissolved and get little thick consistency.
4. Now add nutmeg powder and mix well.
5. Switch off the flame and add the lemon juice. Mix well 
6. Allow it to cool down completely.
7. Now take a clean dry glass jar and store this jam in it.
8. Enjoy with bread, biscuits and chapatti.

Nimki

Durgapuja is just a few days away. Without ‘kucho nimki’ or ’Namakpare’, plates of sweets during Bijoya Dashami looks incomplete. So those who are still thinking of making some Nimki do it fast and store it before the actual Puja celebration starts.

Ingredients:

• Maida (Refined Flour) – 1 cup
• Salt  - ½ tsp or as per taste 
• Oil – 2 tsp 
• Water – 1/3 cup or as required

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl sieve the Maida (flour). Add salt, ajwain and oil in the flour. Mix everything into flour.
2. Add little water at a time and start kneading the dough.
3. Once kneaded keep the dough aside to rest for 10 mins.
4. Make balls of equal size from the dough
5. Take a Maida dough ball on rolling board and roll into round 6-7 inch wide roti.
6. Cut different shapes using a knife - diamond, parallelogram, rectangular   or square shape.
7. Heat oil in a kadai. Check if oil is hot enough by adding a small piece of Maida dough.
8. Once the oil is ready add the roti slices to oil and deep fry it till it turns golden in colour.
9. Once fried, take the nimki out and place it on kitchen paper towel for soaking extra oil.
10. Your nimki is ready.

Mysore pak

If there is a will there is way. And it is so very true.  Was missing our outings and occasional dinners in Sarvana Bhawan back in Delhi. Importantly, I was missing the Mysore paak that we used to have after our meals there. I really used to relish the same without counting my calories. So, I thought of trying it and it came out brilliantly close to that. Sharing the recipe here, it is easy buy you need a little bit of patience. Try it.

Ingredients:

• Gram flour (Besan)- 1 cup
• Sugar -3 cup
• Desi Ghee – 1 ½ cup
• Water – 1 ½ cup 

Method:

1. Sift the gram flour carefully to ensure that coarse grains are separated. 
2. Pour the ghee in a pan and heat it in low flame. 
3. Boil sugar in one and half cup of water over medium heat. Keep stirring continuously till it dissolves. 
4. Bring the syrup to a boil by increasing heat  till reaches a single thread consistency  
5. Now add gram flour gradually into the sugar syrup, keep stirring all the while to prevent formation of lumps. Also start adding ghee.
6. Stir continuously till the mixture starts bubbling. Every time you add ghee the mixture will sizzle and froth.
7. Repeat the process till all the ghee is used and you get a pleasant sweet roasted aroma.
8. Pour the mixture into a greased tray. Cool a little and cut into squares or rectangles, as you wish.
9. Separate the pieces when completely cooled and store in an airtight container to retain its freshness and crispness.
Notes:
The 2 steps you have to be very careful are – ensuring single thread consistency of the sugar syrup and final Mysore pak consistency.
Keep the flame/heat low while stirring 
The colour of the Mysore pak also depends on the gram flour. The flour I used here is nice deep yellow.

Nalen gurer Payesh

Festivities have begun!  Ganesh Chaturthi has started.  Eid is there.  Durgapuja, Navratri, Dussehra, and then Deepavali.  Best time of the year to be in India with everyone in a festive mood, lots of food, shopping and adda (meeting with friends), and eating together. And nothing is complete without sweets for us. So, starting the festival with the recipe of
Nalen gurer Payesh (Kheer) or Indian rice pudding with date palm jaggery.

Ingredients:

• Gobindo Bhog Rice – 200gm
• Full cream milk -1ltr
• Bay leaf – 1
• Date palm jaggery – ½ cup as per taste
• Chopped nuts or cashew and raisins – for garnishing
• Cardamom -1/2 tsp powder


Method:

1. In a thick bottom pan, boil the milk on low /medium heat, stirring continuously.
2. Wash and soak the rice in water for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Heat the ghee in a small pan, add the rice and fry for couple of minutes.
4. Once the milk starts to thicken, add rice. Stir it continuously on low to medium heat so that the bottom does not get burnt.
5. When rice is cooked .add the jaggery to the payesh. Again boil for 5 to 10 minutes by stirring it continuously.
6. Check the sweetness. If you feel that it needs more sweetness, add a little bit of jaggery
7. Now switch off the gas, add chopped nuts or raisins.  It can be served warm or cold.

Gajar Ka Halwa

When I was a novice cook, then too I was good at making Gajar Ka Halwa. The best carrot for Gajar ka Halwa is of the red type (Lal wali Gajar). These red carrots are mostly found in India, particularly in North India.

Ingredients:

• Carrot – 500gm
• Full cream milk – 500 litre
• Ghee (clarified butter )- 5 tbsp
• Sugar – 1
• Cashews – 15 -20
• Almond – 10 – 15
• Cardamom- ½ tsp powder
• Raisins -50 gm
• Khoya -100gm
• Kesar -1/2 tsp or a pinch of (optional)

Method:

1. Rinse, peel and grate the carrots.
2. Place the kadai on the burner and preheat. Pour some ghee into it.
3. Add grated carrot and then fry till it changes colour slightly
4. Pour some milk
5. Now boil the mixture in low to medium flame / heat for 15 mins
6. While the mixture is simmering, keep stirring it in between.
7. After some time, the milk will evaporate and then add sugar. Keep stirring while the flame is still low.
8. At the end add cashew nuts, almond, crushed saffron, raisins and Khoya. Simmer it till all milk is evaporated
9. Switch off the burner and serve Gajar Ka Halwa hot. You may sprinkle some cashew nuts on top of each serving.  

Gupta barir Doi-Mach

This one is a very old and traditional dish cooked almost every other day at any Bengali household. I learnt this from my mother who learnt it from my grand mother.  I would call this preparation ‘Gupta barir  Doi-Mach'.

Ingredients:

• Rohu Fish – 4 pieces
• Onion – 2 (Grated and paste)
• Green Chilli -2
• Turmeric Powder -1/2 tsp 
• Red chilly Powder – ¾ tsp or as per taste 
• Salt – as per taste 
• Sugar – as per taste 
• Mustard Powder or paste  -1tsp 
• Curd – half cup 

Method :

1. Marinate the fish with turmeric powder and salt for about 5-10 minutes
2. Heat mustard oil in a pan and then fry the fish and keep aside
3. Now put grated onion and green chilli pieces into the hot oil and fry till it is brown. Then, add onion paste into it. Also add turmeric powder, chilli powder, mustard powder / paste, salt & sugar to taste.
4. Keep frying in medium heat till the oil separates out from the mixture
5. Now add curd, and keep stirring for 3-4 minutes
6. Put the fish pieces into the pan and stir very carefully to cover the pieces with the spice on both sides. Cover  the pan with its lid
7. After about 5 mins  and your Doi-Mach (curd-fish curry ) is ready to be served hot
8. Please note that the curry may look oily because curd also releases a little bit of oily stuff

If you get fresh fish, then all the ingredients  can be mixed at one shot with the fish and then fried in the mustard oil.  If fresh fish is not available and you are cooking with frozen fish, then the above recipe works perfect.

Shukto

Shukto is probably the most authentic Bengali dish. The custom is that eating starts with rice and shukto. It is considered a very healthy food and also it frees up the taste buds which is very pleasing. Shukto can also be called a Bengali style vegetable stew or soup.

Ingredients:

• Bitter Gourd -1
• Sheem-4 -5
• Bori – 10 – 15
• Potato – 1
• Drum stick -2
• White radish -1
• Randhuni -1and ½ tsp
• Poppy seeds – 2tbsp
• Ginger Paste – 1 tbsp
• Sugar – as per taste 
• Salt – as per taste 
• Peas – 100 gm 
• Raw or green Banana – 1
• Green chilli –2 nos cut in fine pieces
• Mustard oil – 4 tbsp
• Milk -1 cup
• Water -1/2 cup 

Method:

1. Wash all the veggies and cut it properly.
2. Heat mustard oil in a kadahi  and fry Bori in medium flame and strain oil.
3. Now fry the vegetable pieces separately and keep aside.
4. Temper remaining oil with Randhuni. Also add cut chili pieces.
5. Add ginger paste and cook for 1-2 minutes and add poppy seed paste and again cook for around 2 minutes.
6. Add salt and sugar as per taste and cook again for 1-2 minutes. Now add little milk and water to the spice mix and bring it to boil.
7. Put all the fried veggies along with raw drumstick into the hot oil and cover the kadahi with a lid.
8. Cook for around 8 – 10 minutes in low flame or till the veggies are properly cooked.
9. Check the water level and if required add some more water because shukto should have sufficient gravy.
10. Shukto is ready to serve. It is served with plain rice.

Chatpata Cake

Baking has never been my forte. I learnt this recipe from a friend of mine. It is so easy to follow and bake. Even a novice in baking can do it easily and it will never go wrong.

Ingredients :

• Desiccated coconut- 250 gm
• Flour (maida) -250 gm
• Semolina (suji)- 250 gm
• Sugar -250 gm 
• Oil -1 cup
• Fresh milk -1 cup
• Yogurt- 1 cup 
• Baking powder – 1tbs 

*Tips : One cup is approximately 250 gm for ease of measurement.

Method :

1. Pour  all the above ingredients in a bowl in order of Flour, baking powder,  sugar, semolina, desiccated coconut, oil, milk, yoghurt.
2. Mix the above after adding each of the above ingredients
3. Take one baking tray and brush a little bit of oil into inner wall of the tray
4. Pour the ready mixture into the tray 
5. Now, preheat the oven at 180 deg C for 10 mins and then put the tray inside
6. Keep  the oven temperature at 180 deg C and keep it for 40-45 mins
7. You can check if it is baked completely  by inserting a needle (used for wool knitting) or wooden shashlik. 
8. Your cake is ready  to be served hot or as you like it.

Rasmalai

Rasmalai or Rosogolla’r payesh as is called in Bengali. I learnt this recipe from my Dimma (Grandmother – mothers’ mother). Rasmalai needs a lot of patience because you have to continuously stir it in medium heat and Dimma had patience in abundance. As people say in India – ‘Nani ke nuske’, I call this recipe as my Dimma’s Rasmalai.  But the result is sweeter. Hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

For Rasgullas

• Fresh Milk- 1.5 liter
• Vinegar- 3 tbsp 
• Water- 1/4 cup
• Fresh cream -1/8 cup 
• Sugar – 1 cup 
• Green Cardamom – 4 pods 
• Water (for syrup) – 6 cups 

For Rabri 

• Fresh Milk – 2 liter 
• Green Cardamom – 2 pods 
• Sugar – 1/2  cup 
• Saffron – a pinch 
• Pistachios – for garnish 

Method:

1. To make the chenna, heat together the milk and 1/8  cup fresh cream in a large pan .When the milk comes to a boil, add  the vinegar and water mixture and stir gently to curdle the milk leaving the whey behind. Immediately, transfer the chenna to a muslin cloth set over a strainer and drain the liquid. Rinse immediately with tap water to cool down the chenna and let it hang for an hour for all the liquid to drain out.

2. When the chenna has drained for an hour, place the cloth on a plate and rub the chenna inside the cloth with your hands to make it very smooth. This is a very important step to getting the rasgullas to turn out soft. This step can also be carried out in a food processor .Once the mixture is smooth, shape it into walnut sized balls.

3. Make sugar syrup with 6 cups water, 1 cup sugar and cardamom pods .Cover and let it boil, when the syrup has boiled for 3 to 5 minutes. Add  5 -6 balls of chenna or discs at a time ,cover and let it boil for about 6 to 10 minutes .The rasgullas will puff up to nearly double the size. Remove them with a slotted spoon into a bowl of cool water to stop them cooking any further.

4. Once the rasgullas have cooled, gently squeeze them to remove the water and place in a separate bowl.

For Rabri:

1. Boil the milk along with cardamom until it reduces to ½ the consistency. Keep the flame in medium low and keep stirring from time to time to prevent the milk from getting burnt. Add sugar and mix until it dissolves. ADD saffron soaked in a tbsp of milk.

2. When all the rasgullas are done, place them in a flat, shallow bowl and pour the rabri over them and let them rest in a refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Sprinkle the pistachios. The rasgullas will absorb the rabri and will become even softer.