Unusual recipes that you can prepare for Durga Puja
Durga Puja is celebrated with much joy and revelry. And mouth-watering dishes are a special part of the festival. Says food expert Ananya Banerjee, “When the bhog is made at home, you can add these dishes to it.” She shares her recipes to try…
Ingredients: Maida - 1 cup Milk - ½ cup Oil - 1 tbsp Rice flour - 2 tbsp Oil to deep fry Salt to taste
Method: Knead soft and pliable dough using flour, salt, oil, milk and water. Rest the dough for 20 minutes. Make small lime-sized dough balls from the prepared dough. Roll the dough into 8 cm circles. Apply ghee on the surface and sprinkle with rice flower. (This process will enable the layers to be visible once the porota is fried later). Make an incision from the centre of the circle till the edge. Start rolling from one cut edge till the end. This will help to form a cone. Now flatten the cone from both ends and roll it out again till 6 cm in diameter. Deep fry in hot oil until golden and crispy. Dhakai porota served best with cholar daal (lentil).
Tetor Dal
Ingredients: Moong dal (moong bean) boiled -1 cup Bitter (teto) gourd cut into roundels a Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Bay leaf - 1 Ginger paste - 1 tsp Sugar - 1 tsp Mustard oil - 1 tbsp Salt to taste
Method: Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and bay leaf. Once the mustard seeds splutters, add the fried bitter gourd and boiled dal. Bring it to a boil. Add sugar and salt to taste.
Though the jhaanjh is somewhat lost in the bottled versions, the humble kasundi never fails to brighten up a dull meal
I was travelling to Dubai to attend a wedding of a very dear friend’s son. For obvious reasons I was carrying a few boxes of assorted Bengali sweets from our confectionery, Sweet Bengal. But, to my surprise, my friend especially called me and asked me to get him a bottle of kasundi!
“Dada, ebar mishti eno na amar jonno, ek botol kasundi eno. Onek bochhor hoye gechhe kasundi diye shei fish fry ba lal shaak khawai bhule gechhi!”(Brother, this time do not get any sweets for me. Instead, bring me a bottle of Bengali mustard sauce. It has been so many years that I have forgotten the taste of having a fish fry or a Bengali red spinach fry with that sauce.)
On my flight back to Mumbai, I decided to rediscover the lost glorious taste of this ‘inglorious mustard’.
Char-Grilled Lemon Mustard PomfretPictures: Rashbehari Das
While the origin of mustard happened in the era of the ancient Mediterranean civilisation, the Romans imported the custom of using table mustard to Gaul, that’s roughly present day France. The present face of mustard was actually portrayed by Duc Phillipe le Temeraire, the duke of Burgundy, who granted the town of Dijon to produce it in the late 14th century.
The name has originated from two Latin words, ‘mustum ardens’, which means ‘burning must’ and was prepared by unfermented grape juice. Later the English gave it the name it’s known by now: mustard.
In modern times, when ketchup and sauces were much preferred with deep-fried spicy treats, this inglorious mustard sauce became the answer to the ketchup, used by chefs across the world.
Aam Kasundi KankraPictures: Rashbehari Das
Originally used as a type of an achar, kasundi is known as the queen of pickles in Bengal. Usually, pickle-making starts from the month of Magh (January-February), but kasundi has its own rituals, which start on Akshaya Tritiya (in Baisakh). There are quite a few variants of kasundi, like gota kasundi, made with a long list of spices and some dried kul.
The one which is most celebrated in the Bengali household is known as jhaal kasundi (fiery mustard sauce). This the simplest one made with dry, ground mustard with or without mustard oil with an addition of green mango paste followed with various dried greens such as coriander, pudina and amrul.
As a kid, I used to love the jhaanjh, the pungency of this yellow sauce, that would fill up my nostrils with exuberance and temptation. But it used to keep me anxious to know why this was only served to us on occasions. I would hide behind the kitchen door and see my mother safely hiding these glass jars filled with golden goodness until I came to know that they were sent by didoon, my grandmother.
On weddings or birthday parties I recollect my brothers and I licking the plate as it’s a cardinal principle of a Bengali dining that nothing goes to waste. This same principle was applied in my home, where I observed how the elderly women in my family would put to use the coarse mixture left behind after sieving the mustard to make what is called phool kasundi. This includes more chillies, turmeric, raw mango and salt, transforming it into a more grainy, bolder, fuller-bodied and spicier sauce.
It intrigued me further as to why we were not allowed to make this ‘golden goodness’ at home, until my father handed me a book by Renuka Devi Choudhurani, titled, Stree Achar.
Fish fry with kasundiPictures: Rashbehari Das
This was when I learnt that this glorious golden goodness was closely guarded by its own codes and conduct in the name of hygiene and purity.
It involved chanting out auspicious songs while washing the mustard by groups of married women (in odd numbers) facing the east, ideally in a pond or river. It was then strained using a man’s dhoti, not a woman’s sari! Surprisingly, this code is still practised by traditional families in Bengal, however with an acceptable alternative of washing the mustard under the tap!
In fact, the making of kasundi was seen to be an auspicious ritual and if in any year a family failed to wash the mustard seeds they were not allowed to make kasundi for the next 12 years! This is why people started to buy the bottled ones that followed the recipe used in the Dhaka-Bikrampur region of undivided Bengal.
But the watered-down version sold in stores lacks the punch and smoothness of the home-made concoction, thereby tarnishing the magical taste of this culinary darling. It has slowly lost its sharpness in today’s emerging competitive culinary world.
From Kasundi Scotch Eggs to the Chilean Sea Bass, or from the Spicy Barramundi to our very own Chhana Aam Kasundi Paturi, today the sauce is used in world kitchens. It is also recommended as part of Christmas hampers across the Pacific Ocean, and served generously with fried fish and devilled eggs. Kasundi is not just limited to food it also involves shared moments, emotions and conversations between generations.
Today, it is important to revive this old lost saga of this ‘inglorious mustard’ sauce and make it a ‘glorious’ one because it is a tradition worth preserving. In fact, most of the dishes, like the Char-Grilled Lemon Mustard Pomfret or the Aam Kasundi Kankra at Oh! Calcutta has a strong presence of kasundi, and to take this legacy a step ahead I have also planned to use it extensively in my upcoming restaurants in London and the US.
Because, such a sauce never fails to brighten any dull meal. Even today as I am penning my thoughts, I am lovingly slathering a spoonful of it on my fish fry and mashed vegetables with steaming hot white rice. The taste is unadulterated and pure!
Jodhpur, the blue city of India and the second largest city of Rajasthan
is famous for its heritage and architecture. The city, which is known
for its forts, palaces, temples, Havelis and even houses which are built
in vivid shades of blue, is also known for the traditional food that
adds more flavour to the city life. Among such food items is the famous
‘Mirchi Vada’ of Jodhpur. Rajasthan Patrika reported that the snack is
so famous in the city that it eats more than 75 thousand Mirchi Vadas
every day and in the rainy season, the number shoots to as much as 1
lakh Mirchi Vadas selling each day. The snack is considered as a
lifeline for the daily wage worker as it is easily available. Also known
as ‘chilli cutlet’ or ‘chilli fritters’, the popular street food of
Jodhpur is prepared using ‘Bhavnagri chilli’ stuffed with traditional
ingredients, dipped in a mix of Gram flour(Besan flour) and then fried
in hot cooking oil. Served with Chutney, the Mirchi Vada is not only
famous in Rajasthan but is known as a traditional snack all over India.
The snack is popular as ‘Rajasthani Mirchi Vada’ or ‘Jodhpuri Mirchi
Vada’.Nowadays, the city has more than 1,000 vendors selling this snack, that specialize in the preparation of Mirchi Vada.
Come January and it’s the customary pithe (a type of rice cake) time in the eastern part of the country. It is during this time, I remember vividly, that I have grown up seeing my home kitchen filled with flavours of nolen gur (date palm jaggery) and coconut. Poush or Makar Sankranti (Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti is transition) as it is called, is the time of harvest festival and each house smells of pithe-puli-Payesh.
It wouldn’t be wrong if I say that the focus of this festival is food and of course it’s about the new harvest at this time. Poush parbon is one big example of culinary diversity seen across regions. The freshly harvested paddy along with date-palm jaggery (nolen gur) and date-palm molasses (jhola gur) packed in earthen pots are brought to prepare variety of pithe along with rice flour, coconut and milk. They, in a way, grace the kitchen during this season. Special nolen gur undoubtedly gives these winter delicacies a facelift, making them richer in fragrance and flavours. For any Bengali, winter is almost synonymous with pithe puli and payesh.
With the coming of age, this humble harvest sweet has also seen a makeover. As much as the traditional pithes are in demand, people are also more inquisitive to try the newer variety. From the quintessential patishapta or as we would like to call them the delicate crepes to gokul pithe to chitoi pithe to kheer puli, most of these have seen a drastic transformation over the years.
Currently sitting in Kolkata (it will always be Calcutta for me), as I write this I happen to get to taste bhetki bhapa patishapta, Prawn malaikari patishapta, chocolate pithe or even Koraishutir pithe, Ranga Aloor Pithe with cream cheese malai and bourbon glaze, nolen gur ice-cream, gokul pithe or the mango puli and more. Though most homes are now losing on the art of making them and are turning to restaurants to pack some of their favorites, but the charm to create them yourself is also about owing to those simpler times when we revered soil and its bounty, and did not take it for granted.
The milk cake from Alwar has spawned such a huge
industry that today there are over 5,000 persons associated with it and
more than 200 shops that sell it.
Call it Alwar Kalakand, Alwar ka Mawa or Alwar ka Milk cake and it
tastes just as delicious. It comes as a surprise that Alwar in Rajasthan
is so popular for a milk-based sweet.
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Unusual recipes that you can prepare for Durga Puja
Dhakai Paratha/ Bengali Paratha
- Layered and flaky fried flat bread
Ingredients:
Maida - 1 cup
Milk - ½ cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Oil to deep fry
Salt to taste
Knead soft and pliable dough using flour, salt, oil, milk and water. Rest the dough for 20 minutes. Make small lime-sized dough balls from the prepared dough. Roll the dough into 8 cm circles. Apply ghee on the surface and sprinkle with rice flower. (This process will enable the layers to be visible once the porota is fried later). Make an incision from the centre of the circle till the edge. Start rolling from one cut edge till the end. This will help to form a cone. Now flatten the cone from both ends and roll it out again till 6 cm in diameter. Deep fry in hot oil until golden and crispy. Dhakai porota served best with cholar daal (lentil).
Tetor Dal
Ingredients:
Moong dal (moong bean) boiled -1 cup
Bitter (teto) gourd cut into roundels a
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Mustard oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and bay leaf. Once the mustard seeds splutters, add the fried bitter gourd and boiled dal. Bring it to a boil. Add sugar and salt to taste.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/unusual-recipes-that-you-can-prepare-for-durga-puja/articleshow/71359498.cms
The inglorious mustard
Though the jhaanjh is somewhat lost in the bottled versions, the humble kasundi never fails to brighten up a dull meal
“Dada, ebar mishti eno na amar jonno, ek botol kasundi eno. Onek bochhor hoye gechhe kasundi diye shei fish fry ba lal shaak khawai bhule gechhi!”(Brother, this time do not get any sweets for me. Instead, bring me a bottle of Bengali mustard sauce. It has been so many years that I have forgotten the taste of having a fish fry or a Bengali red spinach fry with that sauce.)
On my flight back to Mumbai, I decided to rediscover the lost glorious taste of this ‘inglorious mustard’.
While the origin of mustard happened in the era of the ancient Mediterranean civilisation, the Romans imported the custom of using table mustard to Gaul, that’s roughly present day France. The present face of mustard was actually portrayed by Duc Phillipe le Temeraire, the duke of Burgundy, who granted the town of Dijon to produce it in the late 14th century.
The name has originated from two Latin words, ‘mustum ardens’, which means ‘burning must’ and was prepared by unfermented grape juice. Later the English gave it the name it’s known by now: mustard.
In modern times, when ketchup and sauces were much preferred with deep-fried spicy treats, this inglorious mustard sauce became the answer to the ketchup, used by chefs across the world.
Originally used as a type of an achar, kasundi is known as the queen of pickles in Bengal. Usually, pickle-making starts from the month of Magh (January-February), but kasundi has its own rituals, which start on Akshaya Tritiya (in Baisakh). There are quite a few variants of kasundi, like gota kasundi, made with a long list of spices and some dried kul.
The one which is most celebrated in the Bengali household is known as jhaal kasundi (fiery mustard sauce). This the simplest one made with dry, ground mustard with or without mustard oil with an addition of green mango paste followed with various dried greens such as coriander, pudina and amrul.
As a kid, I used to love the jhaanjh, the pungency of this yellow sauce, that would fill up my nostrils with exuberance and temptation. But it used to keep me anxious to know why this was only served to us on occasions. I would hide behind the kitchen door and see my mother safely hiding these glass jars filled with golden goodness until I came to know that they were sent by didoon, my grandmother.
On weddings or birthday parties I recollect my brothers and I licking the plate as it’s a cardinal principle of a Bengali dining that nothing goes to waste. This same principle was applied in my home, where I observed how the elderly women in my family would put to use the coarse mixture left behind after sieving the mustard to make what is called phool kasundi. This includes more chillies, turmeric, raw mango and salt, transforming it into a more grainy, bolder, fuller-bodied and spicier sauce.
It intrigued me further as to why we were not allowed to make this ‘golden goodness’ at home, until my father handed me a book by Renuka Devi Choudhurani, titled, Stree Achar.
This was when I learnt that this glorious golden goodness was closely guarded by its own codes and conduct in the name of hygiene and purity.
It involved chanting out auspicious songs while washing the mustard by groups of married women (in odd numbers) facing the east, ideally in a pond or river. It was then strained using a man’s dhoti, not a woman’s sari! Surprisingly, this code is still practised by traditional families in Bengal, however with an acceptable alternative of washing the mustard under the tap!
In fact, the making of kasundi was seen to be an auspicious ritual and if in any year a family failed to wash the mustard seeds they were not allowed to make kasundi for the next 12 years! This is why people started to buy the bottled ones that followed the recipe used in the Dhaka-Bikrampur region of undivided Bengal.
But the watered-down version sold in stores lacks the punch and smoothness of the home-made concoction, thereby tarnishing the magical taste of this culinary darling. It has slowly lost its sharpness in today’s emerging competitive culinary world.
From Kasundi Scotch Eggs to the Chilean Sea Bass, or from the Spicy Barramundi to our very own Chhana Aam Kasundi Paturi, today the sauce is used in world kitchens. It is also recommended as part of Christmas hampers across the Pacific Ocean, and served generously with fried fish and devilled eggs. Kasundi is not just limited to food it also involves shared moments, emotions and conversations between generations.
Today, it is important to revive this old lost saga of this ‘inglorious mustard’ sauce and make it a ‘glorious’ one because it is a tradition worth preserving. In fact, most of the dishes, like the Char-Grilled Lemon Mustard Pomfret or the Aam Kasundi Kankra at Oh! Calcutta has a strong presence of kasundi, and to take this legacy a step ahead I have also planned to use it extensively in my upcoming restaurants in London and the US.
Because, such a sauce never fails to brighten any dull meal. Even today as I am penning my thoughts, I am lovingly slathering a spoonful of it on my fish fry and mashed vegetables with steaming hot white rice. The taste is unadulterated and pure!
https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/food/the-inglorious-mustard/cid/1719741
So the mirchi vada is to Rajasthan/Jodhpur what the beguni (eggplant fritters)/telebhaja is to West Bengal!!
Poush Parbon – The month of pithe puli
Come January and it’s the customary pithe (a type of rice cake) time in the eastern part of the country. It is during this time, I remember vividly, that I have grown up seeing my home kitchen filled with flavours of nolen gur (date palm jaggery) and coconut. Poush or Makar Sankranti (Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti is transition) as it is called, is the time of harvest festival and each house smells of pithe-puli-Payesh.
It wouldn’t be wrong if I say that the focus of this festival is food and of course it’s about the new harvest at this time. Poush parbon is one big example of culinary diversity seen across regions. The freshly harvested paddy along with date-palm jaggery (nolen gur) and date-palm molasses (jhola gur) packed in earthen pots are brought to prepare variety of pithe along with rice flour, coconut and milk. They, in a way, grace the kitchen during this season. Special nolen gur undoubtedly gives these winter delicacies a facelift, making them richer in fragrance and flavours. For any Bengali, winter is almost synonymous with pithe puli and payesh.
With the coming of age, this humble harvest sweet has also seen a makeover. As much as the traditional pithes are in demand, people are also more inquisitive to try the newer variety. From the quintessential patishapta or as we would like to call them the delicate crepes to gokul pithe to chitoi pithe to kheer puli, most of these have seen a drastic transformation over the years.
Currently sitting in Kolkata (it will always be Calcutta for me), as I write this I happen to get to taste bhetki bhapa patishapta, Prawn malaikari patishapta, chocolate pithe or even Koraishutir pithe, Ranga Aloor Pithe with cream cheese malai and bourbon glaze, nolen gur ice-cream, gokul pithe or the mango puli and more.
Though most homes are now losing on the art of making them and are turning to restaurants to pack some of their favorites, but the charm to create them yourself is also about owing to those simpler times when we revered soil and its bounty, and did not take it for granted.
The milk cake from Alwar has spawned such a huge industry that today there are over 5,000 persons associated with it and more than 200 shops that sell it.
Call it Alwar Kalakand, Alwar ka Mawa or Alwar ka Milk cake and it tastes just as delicious. It comes as a surprise that Alwar in Rajasthan is so popular for a milk-based sweet.