bong style moghlai paranthas...

moghlai paranthas...The Bong Style.....


having spent my childhood days in kolkata i have an affinity towardsthe bengali cuisine and food.Bengalis are born foodies and the cuisine has all sorts of delicacies to offer.how can i forget all the varities of street food which we enjoyed in our schooldays...phuckas,churmurs,egg rolls,cutlets...

today i am posting an all time favourite bong street food..the moghlai paranthas.easy to make,filling snack and can be also included in your meal.

ingredients:

1.all purpose flour 2 cups
2. onions 2,finely chopped
3.green chillies 2 to 3 finely chopped
4.coriander finely chopped
5.salt to taste
6.sugar 2 tspn
7. 2 to 3 eggs
8.1/2 cup oil
9.cumin seeds 1tspn
10.water as needed to make the dough.

method:

1.first make a soft dough by mixing flour,salt,sugar,cumin seeds,2 tbsn oil with water as required and keep it aside for at least half an hour.

2.break the eggs in another bowl and add chopped onions, chillies and coriander.mix well.

3.now make five to six small balls of the dough and with the help of rolling pin roll out the balls at least of 8'' in diameter.the rotis rolled out should not be very thin nor very thick.grease with oil while rolling out.

4.now place the egg mixture at the centre of the roti and seal it in square shape.

5.heat 2 tspn oil in non stick pan.

6.now care fully pick up the parantha and shallow fry till the egg filling is fully cooked inside it and golden crispy from outside.cook the paranthas on midium simmer flame.

7.serve hot with your favourite curry or sauces.

note : if you are not calorie concious and once in while want to indulge yourself,try deep frying the paranthas instead of shallow frying for a richer taste.

for kids who are picky eaters you can add vegetables of your choice to the egg filling and make some healthy snacks..

so go ahead and enjoy hot moghloi paranthas..the bong way..!!!!

coming back with new and exciting recipes...

hi friends....

it's been long time i have connected with my space..i,e.this cyber world's little page where i pursue and share with you my favourite recipes.....

well the past year has been wonderful,blessed with a son who now turned a year old...
now that my days are getting more manageable i am back here......

will be soon posting exciting and easy to cook recipes..and many tips and ...ideas
 catch you all soon...

YUMMY CARAMEL HALWA...easy sweet dish for this diwali

hi everyone...
                       
Halwa... an indian sweet dish which is easy to cook and can be made in just short time.We have all made this at some point or other at our homes.In India there are varied range of hawas from carrot halwa to lauki halwa,kaju halwa and dry fruit halwa. and etc...

When i was kid my mom used to make one Caramel Halwa for us.It used to be tasty and yummy and also tasted like Moong Dal halwa.Made from Semolina and Ghee,it is made by caramelising sugar.One thing i should tell you is that this is a tricky dish to be made because semolina tends to crystalise and if you don't keep stirring and patience on during its making the end product will not be as desired.

So guys don't give up if you can't make it at first attempt coz this dish is worth giving a try.I recently made it on my Mom- in- Law's visit and she was more than happy to eat it.....the first question she asked me was "is it moong dal halwa?".....So here's the recipe for halwa which you and your family will find yummy..
                        
Ingredients

1 cup semolina (rava)
1 cup sugar
1 cup desi ghee
2 cups milk
1/2 cup mixed nuts
1/4 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder

Method

1.Soak 1 cup semolina in 2 cups of milk (romm temperature) & keep it aside.
2.Put 1 cup desi ghee in a thick bottomed kadhai & add 1 cup sugar to it.

                                       
3.Keep stirring.
4.Firstly sugar will turn to crystals & then melt.

                                      
5.Let the colour of sugar turn to golden brown.

                                         
6.Add the soaked semolina (in one go) to the sugar and ghee; keep stirring till it is of uniform consistency (approx 5 minutes).

                                       
7.Add chopped dry fruits, elachi powder.

                                        
8.Serve hot!
     ps: this is dish where you have to forget about your calorie conciousness.more the ghee more the halwa is gooey and soft.enjoy it and run an exta mile in your next jogging session....coz seriously it's worth it.
i am sorry that i could not click the end product pic coz i made it just 15 mins before serving lunch and once served no one waited to hold on for the snap......

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PANEER RECIPE:capsicum touch

Image by stukinha via Flickr

CAPSICUM with a dash of PANEER: PANEER – SHIMLAMIRCH subzi :


Hi and a very good day ahead guys. It’s been a bit of gap that I have posted any recipes. The reason is that my mom-in –law has come to stay with us for couple of weeks. It’s a belief that rarely does daughter in laws get along with mom in laws. But ours is an exception. Both of us share a good understandings and common likings. That makes everything easier.


Since she is here I like to make dishes of her choice and taste. She likes to eat capsicum vegetable so i decided to make it for her. usually I make capsicum with gram flour(besan) or potataoes.but since mom in law is having her doses of ayurvedic medicines she cannot have either potatoes or besan.Hence I tried to make paneer and capsicum combination.


When the subzi was ready, she loved it and hubby dear also enjoyed it. Well it was like well done bahu!!...


So here is the easy and tasty paneer capsicum recipe.


Paneer shimla mirch(capsicum) subzi:


Ingredients:


1) Green capsicums medium size 2 no.


2) paneer (cottage cheese) 250 gms


3) onion big size 2 no. grinded to paste and one small onion chopped


4) ginger garlic paste 2tspn


5) tomato big 1 no. finely chopped


6) red chilly powder 2tspn


7) turmeric powder 1tspn


8) garam masala 1tspn


9) tandoori masala 1tspn


10) tomato ketchup 2 tspn


11) salt according to taste


12) Oil 2 tblspn.


13) Coriander for garnishing


14) Sugar 2tspn


Method:


1) Take pan and heat oil in it. Put the tomatoes in it and fry till it leaves all the juices.


2) Now add the chopped onion till translucent.


3) Add the onion paste and ginger garlic paste. Keep stirring at low flame.


4) Add the chilly powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, tandoori powder to it and keep cooking till leaves oil.


5) Now add sugar and add few drops of water. Keep stirring.


6) Next add the tomato ketchup and salt and keep frying for few more mins.


7) Now add the chopped capsicum and cover the pan and let the capsicum cook till tnder.


8) Cut the paneer into ½”inch cubes and add to the cooked capsicum and cover it for few mins.


9) Add water according to the consistency of gravy that you would like and bring it to boil.


10) Remove from heat and garnish with coriander. Serve hot with rotis or paranthas.


Ps: you can also deep fry the paneer cubes before putting into the gravy but if you want to avoid those extra calories you can put them without frying as I did.

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INDIAN SWEETS...

Timeless traditional dishes…yummy kohadyache bonda.
                       



It has been festive time for last few months in Maharashtra.first after the month of saawan came Ganpati.festivites bring joys, warmth and along with them traditional sweets. Last week my hubby dear remembered one of his favorite childhood dishes –kohadyache bonda.Yes, they are my favorites too. I remember when my mom used to make them, I along with my elder brother used to finish them so fast.


This sweet preparation is specially made on the occasion of POLA festival with pumpkin (kohada).and thus it has a rustic touch and extremely traditional one. Since hubby dear reminded me of it I could not wait to make them. I called up my mom and asked her the recipie over phone and gave it a try. The end product did not my mom’s bonda but yes hubby loved it and it tasted too good to resist. So if you are waiting to try some authentic Indian sweet go for bonda..You will find it some what like doughnuts but without eggs and of course without a hole in it. So here’s the recipe for you.


Ingredients:
1) Pumpkin 250gms.


2) Whole wheat flour(atta)2 cups


3) Sugar 250 gms(you can change the amount according to your taste)


4)green cardamom 2-3 cloves powdered


5) khus- khus 1 tspn


6) A pinch of salt


7) Oil for deep frying


Method:


1) Peel and chop the pumpkin into small cubes.


2) Cook the chopped pumpkin without adding water in a pressure cooker. you can also cook the pumpkin without pressure cooker by adding very little water to it and covering it on low flame.


3) After being cooked quite soft, add sugar to it and keep on low flame. Sugar leaves the water of pumpkin. Keep stirring and cooking until all the water evaporates and tit become sticky paste. there should be no lumps of pumpkin in it.


4) Let the above mixture cool. Add cardamom powder and khus-khus to it.


5) Prepare a sticky dough of whole-wheat flour (atta) by adding water and pinch of salt.


6) Now take a little portion of pumpkin mixture and add little portion of the dough to it. You have to mix both of them get to a smooth consistency by using your hands. Both the mixture and dough should get mix into each other evenly.


7) Mix all the dough and mixture with the above process. A sticky consistency will be achieved. This part is most tricky as they should intermingle to form a sticky paste.


8) Now heat the oil in a wok and drop small balls of the above paste in it. Deep fry them till they turn quite deep golden brown. Deep frying should be done on medium and low flame as they should be cooked from inside very well.


9) Let the bondas cool and serve.




  ps: i wanted to add the pictures but some how the images were not uploading,i will post them as soon as it works.

NAAN-soft & homemade..without tandoor

Making of naan…


Good day to everyone out there…


It’s just another day and the festivities of ganesh utsav continue here in maharashtra.
Although during this period every other household in maharashtra cooks modaks,puran polis,shreekahnd puri etc..
its just me and hubby here. So wanted to make something for lunch and as I was planning for making chhole for the main curry dish the question as to avoid the yummy but full of calories bhaturas.incidently bhaturas are the traditional companion that go along with chhole in India. But I this time thought of making naan with it.


Naan is a kind of bread made in Punjab from flour and cooked in tandoor.but as I am a homebound cook and with the tandoor unavailable in my kitchen I made it in pan. They came out well. I deliberately avoided using convection mode of microwave as I didn’t have much time to experiment with its timings.






Recipe for naan-


Potato Dough Recipe


Potato is used to make the dough for Naan, resulting in a soft Naan


This is not Aloo Naan Recipe where the potato is used for filling. Here the boiled potato is mashed and kneaded to form the dough. The dough produces a soft Naan even without egg.


Ingredients
Dough

1. Potato : 1 Medium size
2. Active Dry Yeast: 1 teaspoon
3. White Table Sugar: 1 teaspoon
4. Warm Water : ½ Cup
5. Dahi (Yogurt): ¼ Cup
6. Melted Ghee: 1 Tablespoon
7. Salt: 1 teaspoon
8. Un-bleached All-purpose flour: 2 Cups (8½ oz by weight)
9. White Whole Wheat Flour: 1½ Cup (7½ oz by weight)


Cooking


Melted butter for : ¼ Cup
Four for dusting and rolling

Method
Dough


1. Boil potato so it is fully cooked. Let it cool to room temperature. Mash it with fork. It should be totally mashed (no chunks). Set it aside

2. Add sugar and yeast to warm water. Let stand 10 minutes. Add yogurt, and ghee. Mix. Add mashed potato. Mix again to smooth.


3. Mix all the ingredients including the mixture made in step (2) i.e. yeast+ water+sugar


Curd+ghee in a bowl. Keep mixing till the dough will start to come lose off the bowl surface.

4. Dust a surface with flour for kneading. Transfer the dough to the floured surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes till it looks smooth and shiny.


5. Gather up the dough into a ball. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth, and let stand for 1 to 2 hours till it doubles in volume. The dough should not be raised in a hot place, the rapid rise will result in yeasty odor. The dough should not be raised in a cold area as it will take too long to rise.


6. Remove the dough from the bowl place it on floured work surface. Divide it into six portions. Roll each portion to form a ball. Keep the dough balls covered to prevent from drying. Let the covered dough rest for 30 minutes.






Making naans:


Usually the naans are made by patting the balls of dough between hands, but not being a pro I made them by using both my hands and rolling pin.

For cooking the naan


1) I heated nonstick pan on high flame,then put the rolled out naan in the pan.


2) Then I covered the pan for 1to 2 mins on low flame.


3) I flipped the side of naan and repeated the covering of pan.


4) When nicely cooked on both the sides I applied butter to one side and served hot.






Hope you find this varied recipe of naan easy to make at home. Please tell if there is another way of baking them without the use of tandoor…

Catch you guys soon. Happy cooking till then.

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QUICK SNACK BITES FROM LEFTOVERS

Dal kachori…in a few minutes…




Leftovers…it’s a always question that how to use the leftovers as that they are not wasted and still can be eaten with little variation done to the original product.


In Indian household dal is one of the basic part of meal and somehow it always remains in the stock of leftovers. Yesterday I too had leftover dal from the lunch and somehow I did not want to convert it into same old dal fry. so after scratching the head for few mins I came up with the idea of making kachoris.and yes I didn’t have to take much effort as I was not planning for a delicacy but making it out of whatever resources I had.


Ingredients:


Leftover dal


1 onion finely chopped


Aamchur powder 2tspn


1 or 2Green chilies finely chopped


Salt and red chilly powder according to taste.


Whole-wheat(atta) dough


Oil to shallow fry or deep fry


Method:


1) Take a pan and add the aamchur powder, onion, green chillies, red chili powder and salt to left over dal and keep it on slow flame so that it converts into thick paste. Stir time to time to avoid sticking to the bottom of pan.


2) You can make the thick dough from whole wheat or flour whatever you prefer by mixing water to .as I said that I made it with resources available, I had some dough in refrigerator and I used the same.


3) Divide the dough into small balls preferably into small size than a ping pong ball.


4) Now fill the dal mixture it these ball and press them to make round and flat kachoris.


5) I shallow fried the kachories on anon stick tava till crispy and golden brown on both the sides. The flame of stove should be kept low to bring the crispness. If you are not worried about the calories then deep fry them till golden brown.


6) Serve hot with ketchup or corander chutney.


Thus enjoy the leftover with a little variation.My hubby dear really enjoyed the evening snack after the tiring day at office. He especially liked the filling. So try it and let me know your comments..

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