Saturday, March 31, 2012

Kalo Jeera Diye Rui - Rohu with Nigella


It's difficult to get fishes here, more so when you are stationed in USA's one of the desolate less populated places like Perrysburg.  However, making the utmost use of the boon called Internet we finally have traced a market that sells fishes; Bengali fishes.


Starting from Boyal to Loitta, every fish that I know of was available there, except Bhetki. I was bursting with excitement and joy when I stepped into the market as if I had discovered a hidden treasure. For Bengalis, fish is an integral part of our cuisine and laying hands on our favourite food item in a foreign land seems nothing short of a miracle.


The recipe below involves simple preparation. My mother used to cook it pretty often during our growing years. It was what you say 'staple' in our home.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Spinach Kashmiri

Garlic, as we all know, is good for health and spinach too has an array of qualities attributing to good health. Both combined makes a robust combination that culminates in a powerhouse of nutrients. Inclusion of spinach in your daily diet would help you ward off a number of diseases including cancer, osteoporosis and high blood pressure. Spinach also aids in digestion, averts constipation, improves skin and bone density. No wonder why Popoye earns extraordinary strength from merely gobbling a tin of raw spinach :D


The recipe below I picked up from a cookery show hosted by Aditya Bal. It is a staple food item in Bal's home and his generosity of sharing the recipe with public made it possible for me to cook something so tasty yet highly nutritious with spinach. Hope you all would give it a try!


Begun Toktoki - Achari Baingan

My hubby seems to have some problem with my laptop performing nice because I have noticed that it starts malfunctioning whenever he sits to work on it. He cannot keep his experimental nature at bay, and he finds a guinea pig in my laptop.


Just few days back on my birthday my laptop crashed and though I managed to restore the lion's share of the data stored in the hard disk, I lost some valuable items including songs and photos. I downloaded windows and all the other crucial features required for entering the cyber world, all over again and just when my laptop finally seemed to be working fine, my hubby sat with it again, just for half an hour, in front of my eyes. I was cooking dinner and I thought he might be checking FB only. But no, he had some other ideas. Within matter of a few minutes he tried to test a new driver which hung and then sent my laptop to sleep. Thank god, the virus that came from the driver was removed on time and yes, my hubby did the requisite to remove it somewhat being appalled by my high-pitched hollers and shouts playing in the background. It seems funny as I narrate the incident now, but at the time of the occurrence, 'funny' was the last feeling that came into my mind.


Back to the recipe, Achari Baingan is a delectable eggplant preparation for all brinjal or aubergine lovers. It complements roti or naan or paratha very well. However, it may go well with rice too.


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Aloo Poha - Potato Poha


It's very cold today. The beautiful sunny weather for last few days led me into this assumption that winter is receding finally with spring taking over, but no my surmise turned utterly wrong when I went out in the morning today. The cool breeze left me feeling chilled to the bone. Aw, how I hate winter!!....No, actually I loved the winter of Kolkata, but the winter of US just gets on my nerve. You feel the cold here in extremities, hardly comparable with the coldness back home. It's kind of discomforting :)

Back to the recipe, Aloo Poha is a simple breakfast, awesome in taste. My mother used to prepare it often for breakfasts, but now I finish my breakfast with 2 biscuits and hence such luxury of cooking a proper breakfast is out of option. My hubby does not like taking any food so early in the morning before going to work, so he completes his breakfast with tea and snacks at office only. This aloo poha made its way to our dinner plate, rather and what fancy meal it had been, worth noting down.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Bahari Palak Chicken

Few days before my computer crashed and it got the time to crash on my b'day only. I tell you my time is not going in my favour after I have come to US. First I got to deal with a pack of overfriendly opportunist people devoid of manner, then my hubby fell ill and then the laptop went dead. I wonder what's worse still in store for me in future.

This Palak chicken was originally a recipe of mutton written on my diary, but since I am a chicken loving person, I change the mutton recipes to conform to the taste of chicken. So this one I cooked on my birthday to make myself feel special. Well, my hubby took me out on dinner that night but as he knows nothing related to cooking, I cook something special every time mine or his b'day comes. There was a time when I had the luxury of turning up nose at the cuisines cooked by my mother and I had the privilege of wearing a sullen face if my father forgot to fulfill my whims on my b'day. But such good times are behind me now. After marriage, this is the 3rd b'day I didn't spend with my parents. How awfully I miss them at times!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Murg Himachali

Finally we have moved in to an apartment here. Last few days got spent in a flurry of activity to arrange the basic set up at our new home. I am feeling pretty excited. The apartment, 2 years old is in a pristine condition and the moment I entered there first time; I fell in love with the cosy ambiance. For me, a home should exude a feeling of warmth and that is what I feel in my new abode.

This time I was growing really desperate to leave the hotel despite the luxuries we were enjoying there. It's a pain to see a cluster of faces, which put you through a tough time immediately upon your arrival, every weekend and it's wearisome to keep a fake smile on in front of those whom you resent.

The recipe below I picked up from a cookery show presented by Aditya Bal. I have made few changes into the recipe as per my convenience, but more or less, I have tried adhering to the original one.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Phulkopi Chingri - Cauliflower Prawns




A group of friends were invited over dinner in our place, few days back. I cooked phulkopi chingri and murg himachali for the guests who, I heard, adore spicy dishes. Usually, I am unsparing when it comes to the use of oil and ghee in our regular meals. But when you invite people to your home, you ought to keep in mind their taste buds. On such rare occasions, I let go of my skimpiness with oil, esp. ghee. However, I am sure if my mother ever tastes the chicken dishes cooked by me, she might find them too dull and bland for at home in Kolkata, my mom cooks some awesome spicy chicken curries with a layer of ghee floating on the surface and taste wise, they are heavenly. But I often get into a sort of skirmish with my mother over her use of ghee in chicken dishes which I find excessive and she, a key ingredient to taste. 


Thankfully, these days taking my words in consideration, she uses less ghee when she cooks for me on my homecoming.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Butter Masoor Dal

When my husband was sick in hospital for one day, a friend who is actually a colleague of my hubby but became my friend the day my hubby fell sick and she stayed with me throughout the morning in the hospital, bunking her office, to boost up my confidence. In a foreign land where you have hardly been a month, such things mean a lot. In the afternoon, when we both returned to the hotel, tired and famished, she served me one bowl of masoor dal. I must admit that it was the tastiest masoor dal I had in my life albeit not the healthiest.

So weight watchers and health freaks, this dal is not meant for you, but if you can keep dieting aside for one day and indulge yourself a tasty meal comprising hot steamed rice served with this daal and some fries...Oooh ! Heaven.
 

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Dim Karaishutir Jhal

Now that my hubby is back to me safe and sound, I am gearing myself up for concocting an array of his favourite dishes, one of which is the egg curry detailed below. Since he belongs to a family of severe heart patients, his cholesterol level tends to be on higher side no matter how conservatively I plan his diet.

The egg curry might look very spicy but trust me; the red color has come from the use of a wonderful kashmiri red mirch 1/2 tsp of which lends a robust color to any bland dish. I add hotness to my cuisines by using green chillies because that's a healthier option.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Honey Bun Chicken Sandwich

I had a terrible Wednesday this week....a nightmare that, I want, to be erased from our life. I was sleeping peacefully early in the morning when I felt my hubby getting up, turning off the alarm and like he does every day, he went to the bathroom for shower. Next I remember hearing a loud noise. The first thought that came into my mind upon hearing the thud was of sheer denial that something bad had happened. I forced my mind to think that someone might have come into our room and giggled loudly which sounded like a noise to me in my sleep. But no, 'a look' at the bedroom door from our bed proved me wrong as the door was shut and the room was empty. Next I looked askance towards the mirror on the side of the bed standing in front of which Debu brushes his teeth and combs his hair every day before going to office. He was not there too. Then a slight rustle brought my notice to the floor where Debu was lying unconscious overpowered by a convulsion. I jumped from my bed and the condition I saw him in with his eyes going above his head and hands and legs taut with stiffness just scared the hell out of me. Next I called a friend staying in the room next to ours in the hotel for help and she dialled the front desk who eventually informed 911.

Debu was taken to a hospital and a battery of tests was performed in order to figure out the reason of his seizure. He was admitted in the hospital for a night and I know only how I had spent the night all alone in the hotel room. Good Lord that the test results came negative and apart from the cholesterol and blood pressure detected to be on higher side, nothing else turned up bad to cause worry. The doctor advised hubby to take ample rest and sleep, which he was deprived of badly since the day we shifted here, thanks to a group of over-friendly people who were being too pushy to socialise. For the first time in my life I was made to feel that being reserved and taking time to open up is a crime. Some people are so damn selfish that they don't take other people's situation into consideration. The less you talk about them, the better it is. I am happy that my hubby is back safe and sound with me. 

Monday, March 5, 2012

Vetil

The recipe below is of an exotic chicken preparation that I picked up from a cookery show recently and tried in the Sunday afternoon. That with using less spices, something so mouth-watering can be concocted was out of my imagination. In fact, I was skeptical about the turnout. But once my hubby sipped a spoonful of gravy and gave his verdict with a pleasant smile, I felt relieved that he liked it. Indeed, it made our Sunday lunch flavoursome.