NARKEL DIYE CHOLAR DAL / CHANA DAL WITH COCONUT

It's a very popular and authentic Bengali recipe, it is not for every day dal, from any social feast to Durga puja bhoj, every special occasion it is in the menu. Chana dal prepared in different ways throughout the India. But this preparation is very specific to Bengal, has a sweet in taste and charming colour of this dal will drive any foodoholic crazy. Goes very well with luchis, kachories and rotis.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup Bengal Gram Lentils (chana dal)
3 tbsps shredded Coconut
1/2 Tomato (chopped)
2 Bay leaves
1&1/3 tsps Cumin seeds
A pinch of Asafoetida
2 whole dry Red Chillies
1/3 tsp Turmeric powder
1 Clove
1 Green Cardamom
1/2" Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ginger paste
2 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp finely chopped Cilantro (coriander leaves)
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Clarified Butter (ghee)
Salt to taste


METHOD:
Wash Bengal gram lentils. Pressure cook the lintils upto 5-6 whistles. Let it cool naturally.

Dry roast 1tsp cumin seeds, 1 dry red chilli, clove, cardamom and cinnamon for 3-4 minutes. Pound coarsely. Set aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add 1 dry red chilli, 1/3 tsp cumin seeds, asafoetida and bay leaves in it. Saute for 30-40 seconds. Add coconut and fry for 20-30 seconds. Now add ginger paste followed by chopped tomato, salt and sugar in it. Saute till tomatoes leaves oil.

Add coarsely pounded spices in it. Stir for a minute. Pour cooked Bengal gram in it. Fold well. Add 1/2 cup hot water (if needed) and let it boil for few minutes.

Reduce the heat and cook it for another 2-3 minutes. Add clarified butter and cilantro, fold nicely. Switch off heat now.

Serve hot with puri/luchi/kachori, paratha, roti or rice as you like.

Baking Partners: A new Baking Group Announcement

You are invited to join Baking Partners!

Baking a homemade bread, cake or cookies will give the best outcome. However in order to achieve the best results, a perfect recipe and right techniques are required.

We are a small group of home baker friends, who love and want to learn more the nook and corners of baking.  We are planning to try out recipes from books/magazines and cooking shows. Every member gets a chance to present their choice of recipe and share important points with the rest of the group.

Main purpose of this group is to learn the techniques, critic the procedure if there are ways to improve, and to eat a delicious food.

Rules are simple, we will choose one recipe and send it out to the group by 16th of every month and the reveal date will be 15th of the next month . On that day we will blog about it. A linky tool will be open during that time and each member can link their post.

First month we are going to do a recipe, 2nd and 3rd month will be a theme and the 4th month we will be back at a recipe. By doing in between recipes, we will able to learn more.

All enthusiastic bloggers interested in baking are welcome, please email Swathi, at favoriterecipes12@gmail.com

We will appreciate the use of logo or worded link that will help to spread the word. A bunch of thanks to Tina for designing this beautiful logo.

If you want to make it a gluten or vegan free diet, you can do those modifications also.

   Baking Partners are

Reeni (Cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice)

Julie (Erivum Puliyum)

Tina ( Pinay in Texas Cooking Corner)

Priya (Priya's Versatile Recipes)

Suja (Kitchen Corner Try It)

Archana (Tangy Minds)

Reshmi (EasY Cook)

Pratibha (Cook Ezee)

Priya R (Cook Like Priya)

Sweatha (Tasty Curry leaf)
Vidhya (A Portion to Share)

Usha Rao (My Spicy Kitchen)

Divya Prakash (Divya’s Culinary Journey)

Swasthi Blank (Swasthi The Health Freak)

Sanoli Ghosh (Sanoli's Kitchen)
Pam Capone (Living Rancho Delux)
Mirellie (Gourmet Global Creations)
Joythi (This and That of food and life)
Reshwani (Daily Cuppa)
Peachy (Peach Kitchen)
Aparna (Mis adventures of 3 cookies)
Archana (The madscientist’s Kitchen)
Lorraine ( Joy’s Misadventures)
Jayasri (Samayalarai)
Sowmya (Nivedhanam)
Anuja (Simple Baking)
Janani (www.redchillycurry.com)
Ivy (Kopipaste)
Janaki (Janakidiary)
Tamy (Always Eat on Good China)
and

Swathi (Zesty South Indian Kitchen)

 

Cheers!!!

Sanoli 

BHINDI DO PYAAZA

This is a very flavorful & popular Punjabi dish. 'Bhendi Do Pyaaza' means it is a stir fry of okra with onions and luscious spices, favourite dish among north Indians. Due to its eromatic flavour, everybody will be easily attracted once it is served in the table. Little tangy, little hot and little spicy this okra dish, tastes great!

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb Okra
2 medium Onions
2 Tomatoes
3-4 Green Chillies (chopped)
1/3 tsp Cumin seeds
A pinch of Asafoetida
1/2 tsp Ginger paste
1/2 tsp Garlic paste
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp Dry Mango powder (amchur)
1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder (as per taste)
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Dry Fenugreek Leaves (kasoori methi)
2 tbsps finely chopped Coriander Leaves
3 tbsps Oil
Salt to taste

METHOD:
Wash okra. Make it pat dry. Cut okras in 1" long pieces. Set aside.

Cut onions into thin slices and chop tomatoes.

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and asafoetida in it. After few seconds, add onions in it. Fry for 3 minutes on medium heat.  Now add ginger and garlic paste in it. Fold well. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add tomato, green chilli and salt in it. Mix well.

After 4 mintes, when tomato mash up and leaves oil, add coriander powder, garam masala, dry mango powder and red chilli powder in it. Saute for another 2 minutes. Now add okra in it and mix well.

Cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat, stir occasionally.

Mash dry fenugreek leaves with two palms and add it with okras. Add chopped coriander leaves. Switch off the heat. Keep it covered for another five minutes. Fold well.

Serve hot with roti, naan or streamed rice.

KACH KOLAR KHOSHA BATA / PASTE OF PLANTAIN PEEL

Whenever, we use plantain for our dish, generally we forget about the utility of its peels. Plantain peels are very rich in iron and fiber, those are very essential for our body. Other than throwing the peels in garbage bin, lets see, how we can use those peels by making one dish.  When this 'ugly duckling' paste of peels sauted in mustard oil, dried up, it turns in a flavourful palate. So, here is the recipe for 'Kach Kolar Khosha Bata'.

INGREDIENTS:
Peels of 4 medium Plantains (raw banana)
3-4 pods of Garlic (as per taste)
1 small piece of Ginger (1/2")
1/3 tsp Nigella seeds (kalonji)
3-4 Green Chillies (as per taste)
1/2 tsp Sugar
2 tbsps grated Coconut
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Mustard Oil
Salt to taste


METHOD:
Wash the peels nicely.

Pressure cook it upto 1 whistle. Let it cool naturally.

Now, grind plantain peels, garlic, ginger, green chillies and grated coconut together with 1 tbsp water. Make a smooth paste.

Heat mustard oil in a wok. Add nigella seeds in it. After 15-20 seconds, add grinded paste, salt and sugar in it. Fold well. Stir for 4-5 minutes in medium heat, till excess water evaporates. Add lemon juice and remove from heat. Mix nicely.

Serve with hot steamed rice as a side dish.

GREEN GRAPES CHUTNEY

Grapes, 'Queen of the fruits' are storehouse of polyphenolic antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. So, include them in your regular diet. While grapes put in sugar syrup, it enhances taste as well as nutritive values.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of Green Grapes
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp coarsely pounded Ginger
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 dry Red chilli
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste


METHOD:

Dry roast cumin seeds and dry red chilli for 3 minutes. Pound coarsely. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it pops up, add ginger and salt. Fry for 2 minutes on low flame.

Now, add 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup sugar in it. While it starts to boil, add green grapes in it. Cover and cook on medium heat till juice gets thicken.

Remove from heat, add lemon juice and coarsely pounded cumin-red chilli in it. Fold well.

Enjoy this luscious chutney!!!

Linking to: 'Showcase - Fun In Sun' hosted by Divya

MY SECOND AWARD

Hi Friends,

I recieved my second award from the event "Love Lock With Juices & Milkshakes"

Vani from Recipe world honoured me with this nice participation award. Thanks a lot Vani, for this award. You have made an excellent roundup. This participation award I got for Watermelon Agua Fresca, Fizzy Mango Watermelon Juice, Jus de Gingembre, Refreshing Jeera Lemonade and Banana and Mango Smoothie.

I am heartily thankful to all of my followers / blogger friends, who continuiously supported and inspired me by leaving their comments on my space.

So, friends.........
Lets cheers!!!

DUDH SHUKTO

Shukto is a traditional Bengali recipe with minimum spices, a classic melange of vegetables. It derives its distinct flavor from 'bitter gourd'. Food loving Bengali lunch started with saak bhaja (stir fry of any leafy vegetable), shukto, dal with fritters or bhaji, vegetable curry, non-veg dish i.e. fish, eggs, chicken or mutton and ends with chutney. If it is guest treat, or any special day lots of sweets are there in addition....So, Bengalis are fond of eating well and feeding others. Lots of vegetables can be used in this preparation, as bitter gourd used in it, so little bitter but sweet in taste, but all other vegetables flavored on their own distinct taste. Here milk is used to flavor the whole preparation, it gives a different taste in it. So, it is called DUDH SHUKTO. It is a healthy, sattvic, nutritious and complete meal with rice. Panch phoron with clarified butter make this dish rich and delectable one. 

INGREDIENTS:
1 large Potato
2 Bitter gourds
4 medium plantains
2 Round shaped Eggplants
12 Long Beans
2 Long Drumsticks
8 small round Radishes
2 Bay leaves
1&1/2 tbsps Panch Phoron
(if you don't have, mix mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds & nigella seeds equally)
1&1/2 tbsps Ginger paste
1 tbsp Coriander powder
1 tbsp Sugar (it is for flavor of this dish)
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Warm water
1&1/2 tbsps Clarified Butter (Ghee)
4 tbsps Oil
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Wash and cut bitter gourd in 1&1/2" thin slices. Marinate with little salt and leave aside.

Peel potato, radish, plantain and drumsticks. Cut potato, eggplants, plantains, radishes, drumsticks and long beans in 2" long pieces.

Now wash all the vegetables nicely.

Dry roast panch phoron for 3 minutes. Remove it from heat and pound coarsely. Keep aside

Heat 2 tbsps oil in wok. Add bitter gourd slices in it. Fry nicely till bitter gourd turns into light brown. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon, set aside.

Add remaining oil in wok. Add bay leaves. Saute for few seconds. Now add all vegetables in it. Fold well and cover with lid. Keep stirring occasionally.

After 5 minutes, add ginger paste in it. Again fry for another 2-3 minutes uncovered, then add coriander powder, salt and sugar in it. Mix well. Keep stirring for another 2 minutes. Now add milk and warm water together in it. Fold well and when it starts boiling, cook covered for another 5 minutes in low heat.

Add coarsely pounded panch phoron and clarified butter in it. Remove from heat and fold well. Keep the wok covered for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

TIPS: You may add raw papaya or raw squash, it enhances its flavor.
         Here 'bori' is not available, so I could not add bori, otherwise adding fried bori with shukto tastes
         awesome!