Sunday, 24 June 2018

Chingri or prawn is always favorite sea food for us. In Bengali cousin we have lot of famous dishes with prawns like Lou chingri, Chingri malaicurry, Vapa chingri, Dab chingri etc. Actually prawn has an awesome taste which can turn any dish a delicious one from a very average. And cooking time is also very short. In my blog you will get lots of recipe with prawn. This time I am sharing steamed prawn recipe which is one of our favorite prawn recipe.
I learned this dish from my mom and she learned from her friend. In this recipe I added coconut but my mom and aunt never added it. One of friend said they generally add poppy seed paste. But we don’t. Some people obviously will say no need to use chopped onion but I  used. If you want to skip coconut, onion you can. Even you can add poppy seed paste. But don’t replace mustard paste. Without mustard paste this dish will be incomplete. In most of the steamed recipe in Bengali cousin you will get use of mustard paste because of its pungent taste, which makes the dish more sumptuous. For more steamed fish recipe you can check vapa Ilish recipe in my blog.
The quantity of ingredients is for 2 persons.

prawn steamed with mustard paste - Bengali recipe
Steamed Prawn or Vapa Chingri

Ingredients:

Prawns – 15/20 medium size
Mustard paste – 1tbsp
Coconut paste – 1tbsp
Chopped onion – 1small size
Salt
Turmaric powder – 1 tsp
Mustard oil – 1and1/2 tbsp
Green chilli – 5/6pcs

Recipe:

Clean the prawns, deveined and deshell it. If you want to keep head portion you can keep.
Take a mixing bowl and put all ingredients except green chilli and oil.
Mix it and add ½ tbsp oil in it.
Now take a steel tiffin box and put the mixed prawn with spices.
Drizzle remaining oil on it and put green chillies.
Cover the box.
Now you have to steam it.
Take a large vessel and put some water.
Then keep a small stand in the vessel and keep the box on the stand.
Cover the vassal and steam it for 10 - 12 minutes.
Prawn cooks very fast.
When the water comes to normal temperature, remove the box and your steamed prawn is ready.
Serve with hot steamed rice and enjoy your meal.


Monday, 11 June 2018


Ingredients for chole:

Black chickpeas – 1 and ½ cups
Chopped onion – ½ cup
Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tsp
Salt
Tomato puree – ½ cup
Turmaric powder – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder –1 tsp
Chana masala – 1 tbsp
Garammasala powder – 1 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves – ½ cup
Chopped green chilli – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
bature with chole or chana
Chole Bature

Recipe for Chole:

Soak the chickpeas for 4-5 hours, then boil it with some water.
After boiling strain the chickpeas from water and keep the water aside. We will use that water for gravy.
Heat oil in a pan and put cumin seeds.
When you start getting the aroma of cumin, add chopped onion and fry it.
After that add ginger-garlic paste and fry it.
Add tomato puree, turmeric and red chilli powder and stir it.
Add boiled chickpeas and salt.
Mix it and add chana masala powder, coriander leaves and chopped green chilli.
Stir it gently and add the water (used for boiling chana) that you kept aside.
Let it boil for 5 minutes and sprinkle few drops of lemon juice.


Ingredients for Bature

Flour – 2 cups
Rawa (semolina) – 1/4 cup
Yogurt – 1cup
Baking soda – 1/4tsp
Salt
Oil – 2 tbsp
Oil – for deep frying

Recipe for Bature:

Take a large mixing bowl and mix all dry ingredients. Now add 2 tbsp oil and mix it. Now add yogurt and knead it and make a dough. I did not use any water to make the dough. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and keep aside for 45 minutes or allow to raise it to double.
Form this quantity of dough you can make 10 bature. So from this dough make 10 balls.
Heat oil in a pan for deep frying the bature. On other hand roll out the ball and make some puri, try to give it oval shape, for rolling you can use dry flour or oil, I used oil. Now fry it.

Serve with hot bature with chana, pickle and salad.


Tuesday, 1 May 2018


Sandesh is a famous Bengali sweet. And this time I am presenting it with famous Belgian chocolate. Out of Kolkata it is very difficult to get good sandesh in shops but you can make it on your own and relish with your family. Already I had shared few famous sandesh recipes with you. Now time to share something different. Currently I am in chocolate country Belgium. So I tried some fusion with sandesh and Belgian chocolate. Actually few days back one of my friend suggested me …”when you are in Belgium, you should try some fusion with Belgian chocolate and our sandesh”. And I really liked his words. As a result I tried it and this came out mind-blowing. Thanks to my friend for that wonderful suggestion.
Now your turn, please try it and I am also waiting for your feedback.


Sandesh with Belgium chocolate
Chocolate Truffle Sandesh

Ingredients:

Milk – 1 ltr
Sugar – 2/3 cup
Lemon juice – 2 tsp

For truffle:

Choco chips or any plain chocolate bar (without dry fruits) – 100 gmsFresh cream – 50 mlFor decoration: 
Choco chipsDry fruits

Recipe:

Heat milk in a vessel and then add a few drops of lemon juice. As a result the milk will scramble and turn into chenna (paneer or cottage cheese) and will look like spongy lumps. Then strain water and keep chenna in a bowl. Now add sugar and mix it very well to make a smooth creamy texture. Now put it in a non -stick pan and stir in low flame for 5 minutes. When the dough is separated from the pan remove it from flame. Now keep it in a plate. Mix it very well. The dough should be used immediately to make round shapes of sandesh.

How to make truffle:
Take chocolate bar (I have used choco chips). Then heat 50 ml fresh cream in a pan but do not boil it. So the ratio I used for truffle is 2:1 for truffle. Now take a pan with some water and keep a bowl on the pan, the bowl bottom can touch the water. This process is called double boiler. Put chocolate in the bowl and heat it in low flame. As a result chocolate will melt and add fresh cream. Stir it. Now truffle is ready.

Now you have to stuff the truffle in the sandesh. This process is just like kachori or other stuff recipe. Take a sandesh and make a hole and put some truffle and again make round sandesh with help of your palm. Decorate with some chocochips and dry fruits.

When you give round shape to the sandesh after stuffing, please be careful and use your clean hand otherwise chocolate will be smeared on sandesh and obiviously it will not look good.

Sunday, 15 April 2018


poila boishakh, nabonorsho, cake art, fondant
Poila Boishakh theme cake

Subho nabobarsho 1425…..poila boisakh means Bengali new year started today. This day obviously very special to all Bengali. Actually Bengalis are very fond of food and festival and we wait throughout the year for our famous Durgapuja. But we have lots of occasions to celebrate with some sumptuous food and rituals. Poila boisakh is just one of them. In Bengali we have a famous proverb “bangalir baro mas e tero parbon”(in 12 months Bengalis have 13 festivals) and Poila Boisakh is the first festival of the year. How we celebrate this day…..generally in Bengal in this day maximum shops start their new account with some puja, which is called khata puja and that khata (book of account) is very special, that comes with red cover and knot with a thread, called ‘kheror khata’. Now a days so many people stay out of Bengal for their jobs. So they always try to make a gathering with their Bong friends with some cultural programmes.
Nabo Borsho theme cake toppings created with fondant

Crafting Nabo Borsho theme cake



Nabo borsho themed cake art with fondant
Poila Boishakh/ Nabo borsho theme cake art

For the last 10 years I am also out of Bengal, even out of India. So we also celebrate our Poila Boisakh with some bong friends with some mouthwatering dishes. And this time I made a cake on Poila Boisakh theme, where I tried to present few stuffs related to the occasion. As the gathering was arranged with the famous pot-luck concept, along with my cake, there were many mouthwatering traditional Bengali dishes brought by my friends. The menu includes dimer devil, Bengali pulao, chicken curry, mutton curry, bhapa ilish, amer chatni. The food was well accompanied by famous Bong adda with card games (taser adda). Overall, it was a fantastic day spent with some adorable friends. We enjoyed it thoroughly.
nabo borsho special menu
Poila Boishakh menu; PC: KInjal Mandal

One of the pic in this post is taken by my friend Kinjal.

Subho Naboborsho!!

Thursday, 22 March 2018


Orange chicken is a Chinese dish where the yummy sauce is made with ripe orange juice and zest. And guess what, honey is also added to make the sauce even yummier. My daughter is a hard core chicken fan. That too she likes different preparations of chicken. One day when I was searching for a new chicken recipe, I stumbled upon this one and all the ingredients were also present at my kitchen. It turned out to be quick recipe and goes very well with fried rice or noodles. Let me know how many of you tried this at home and how it turned out.

Ingredients:

Chicken cubes – 300 gms
Corn flour – 2 tbsp
Flour – 1 tbsp
Egg – 1
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Orange zest – 1tsp
Orange juice – ¾th cup
Red chilli sauce – 1tbsp
Light soya sauce – 1 ½ tbsp.
Tomato sauce – 1 tbsp
Honey – 1 or 2 tsp (depends on sweetness of orange)
Chopped spring onion
Capsicum – square cut (optional)
Salt
Black pepper powder
Oil - 1 cup


chicken with orange and honey sauce
Orange Chicken


Recipe:

Marinate the chicken with ginger garlic paste, salt, ½ tbsp. soya sauce, pepper powder, flour, corn flour, egg and keep aside for 15- 20 minutes.
Heat oil in a wok and fry the chicken pieces till golden.
Keep them aside.
In a pan put orange juice, orange zest, and three types of sauces, honey, salt and 2 tbsp. oil from wok.
Switch on the gas and when it starts to bubble add chicken, capsicum (optional) and toss it.
All chicken should be coated with sauce.
Lastly add 1 tbsp corn flour with water (1tsp corn flour + 1tbsp water) and mix it.
Serve in a plate and sprinkle some chopped spring onion.
Serve hot with fried rice or noodles.

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Chettinad chicken is the classic Indian chicken curry recipe originated from the Chettinad region of India. The specialty of Chettinad cuisine is the use of freshly ground masalas. 

Ingredients:

Chicken- 750gms
Chopped onion - 3 medium
Ginger-garlic paste - 1tsp
Tomato puree - 1tbsp
Curry leaves - 10/12 pcs
Salt
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
Red chilli powder- 1tsp
Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
Garam masala powder - 1tsp
For masala:
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Clove - 4/5
Cinnamon - 2 inches
Cardamom - 4/5
Poppy seeds - 1tsp
Fennel seeds - 1tsp
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Coriander seeds - 1tsp
Dry red chilli - ¾
Ginger - ½ inch
Garlic - 2 cloves
south Indian chicken curry named chettinad chicken
Chettinad Chicken

Recipe:

Marinate the chicken with ginger-garlic paste, ½ tsp turmeric and 1tsp red chilli powder.
In the meantime take a pan and dry roast all spices.
Roast very carefully otherwise coconut will burn, roast till it turns golden.
Now put all the roasted spices in a blender and blend very well. You can add little water if needed. Keep aside when done.
Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion, fry it till golden.
Then add tomato puree and mix it. 
Add the roasted spice mix and remaining turmeric powder and stir it very well till oil comes out.
Now add marinated chicken and mix well with the spices.
Add salt and garam masala powder.
Add water and cover with a lid for 10-15 minutes till the chicken becomes tender.
Serve with rice, naan or anything that you like.



Monday, 15 January 2018

Chicken Biryani, the most famous dish of India. It is difficult to find an Indian who does not like Biryani, either veg or non veg. In India there are different gharanas (style) of this Mughlai dish - Hyderabadi Biryani, Lakhnowi Biryani, Kolkata Biryani, Konkani Biryani. Being  a Bengali, I love Kolkata Biryani the most. The aroma of Kewra water, mitha ator always make me hungry. And of course the use of potato J. But I stayed in Hyderabad for some years, so Hyderabadi Biryani is also very close to my heart. In Hyderabad also there are many styles of Biryani - spicy and non spicy like the famous Paradise.

Personally, me and my husband are so fond of Biryani that we can eat it any time. But as I am currently staying out of country, it is very difficult to get tasty yummy Biryani like Kolkata or Hyderabad. I tried making Biryani quite a lot of time with many recipes that I got from my mother, friends or from other numerous sources. But the current version of my recipe is so easy yet tasty that it has made it a instant hit at home and party that almost every friend who tasted this has asked for the recipe. This recipe is so easy and time saving that anyone can try this. I would call this a bachelors recipe.
Easy chicken biryani recipe
Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients:

Chicken - 4/5 big pieces
Basmati rice - 2 cups
Sliced onion - 1 big
Chopped onion - 1 medium
Ginger-garlic paste -1tbsp
Yogurt - 2tbsp
Garam masala powder - 1tsp
Chopped tomato - 1 small
Biriyani masala - 3 tbsp
Salt
Turmaric powder - 1tsp
Chilli powder - 2tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - 1cup
Yellow colour - 1 pinch
Cloves - 4/5
Cardamom - 4/5
Cinnamon - 4/5
Caraway seeds - 1tsp
Oil - 1 cup
Ghee - 1tsp
Rose water - 2 tsp
Kewra water - 2 tsp

Recipe:

Marinate the chicken with 1 tbsp Biriyani masala,1 tbsp yogurt, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste and 1tsp chilli powder, garam masala powder for 1 hour and keep aside.
Cook the rice with all whole spices and ghee and a pinch of salt in a handi, cook till 80% and drain out the water with a strainer.
Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the onion slices till golden brown and keep in the absorbent paper to soak out extra oil.
Now take a heavy bottom pot and put the oil in which you fried the onion.
Now put chopped onion and fry it till it becomes transparent. Then add  remaining ginger garlic paste and fry it for 1 minute.
Add marinated chicken and stir it.
Add remaining yogurt and chilli powder, chopped tomato, turmaric powder and salt. Add extra salt at this stage which will be adjusted with rice later. No need to add salt in the rice later.
Mix it very well and add remaining Biriyani masala and mix.
Add 1 tbsp coriander leaves and add little water to cook the chicken till soft.
In the mean time, sprinkle some yellow colour in the rice and shake the handi with lid on, as a result rice will be coloured little yellow and little white.
When the chicken is soft and gravy is thick and almost dry, switch off the gas.
Now divide the chicken in 2 portions and keep one portion in the same pot.
At the time of layering, add rice to cover the chicken and sprinkle some beresta or fried onion, chopped coriander leaves and both types of water 1tsp each.
Repeat the same layering method with chicken, rice, fried onion- coriander leaves-rose and kewra water.
Now take foil paper and cover the pot tightly and put a heavy lid.
Lastly, keep this pot again on gas in extremely low flame for 5 minutes.

Your Biriyani is now ready. Enjoy your meal with raita or salad.