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.