পাতলা চিতই পিঠা -- A Porous Rice Flour Pancake

 This is a traditional age-old recipe from the former East Bengal ( পূর্ববঙ্গ) that turned into East Pakistan overnight with India's independence, which became Bangladesh later in 1971. So, East Bengal doesn't exist any longer but East Bengal food culture is alive in India with the  Hindu Bengali community who fled to this side of the border after partition and gradually established themselves in India. And of course it is very much alive in today's Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladesh's hospitality and food is extraordinary. 

This pancake was a snack my Grandmother often prepared for my mother and her siblings to eat after they returned from school.

I have never been to Bangladesh, my ancestors' motherland, where they were the children of the soil since time immemorial. But I want to and I can keep the food culture alive.

I made this yesterday morning with the leftover soaked Gobindobhog rice and mug lentil for the day before. I manually made the paste on the traditional shil-norha, শিলনোড়া ( see the photo below). 

Shil -- the flat stone, Norha -- the small, cylindrical one

The Paste

I added salt, baking powder, shredded green chillies and onion, and more water into it and mixed very well. Beating the batter well is essential, too. The consistency needs to be watery. There can't be any lump left. 

The Batter is Ready

We need really very little oil to make this pancake. Just baste the pan with the oil of your choice. I used rice-bran oil. Pour some batter on the hot pan bearing in mind that the pancake will be very thin. The flame should be medium. Flip and cook both sides. It took about a minute only to cook one side. You will see and understand how long (or how quick) it will take as you do it. 

Note: 1) Traditionally only rice flour is used but I wanted to use up the soaked mug from the previous day. 

2) We serve it with some kind of curry/ meat dish but I was to have only the pancake; therefore I added green chillies and onion. 

Making Overripe Banana Palatable

 Nobody likes overripe banana, right? 

 I had only one small banana left. Its skin started turning black.  Nobody  can guess from the photo but inside it just started to become very soft. Usually I throw it if the skin is totally black but during this difficult time of pandemic getting fresh fruits and vegetables are not easy; I can't simply go out and get fresh and new things. So, we are not throwing out anything. Pandemic has changed our lifestyle.

Early this morning I manually made a paste of yesterday's leftover soaked Gobindobhog rice and golden mug Dal for preparing a special traditional East Bengal pancake. I used some of this paste to make my overripe banana palatable. 

Banana Coins Coated in Rice Paste and Semolina

I cut the banana into small round coins and dipped them in the thick rice and mug paste and coated them with semolina. Then I sautéed them in very little oil. I removed them from the frying pan as they started being golden brown on both sides. They were super crispy outside and very soft inside.

I didn't add sugar to the rice paste batter but you can if you want it sweet. I don't have a sweet tooth. So, for me the banana itself was sweet enough.

Sago Pearl with Mug and Rice -- Raw Vegan Lunch

 

 We decided to have a no-cook meal today. 

And to prepare this meal we need a special type of all the ingredients. Simply any rice or any Mug (a type of yellow lentil) or any type of sago pearl won't do. Here are a few words about the main ingredients:

Gobindobhog rice or গোবিন্দভোগ চাল is a small grain, aromatic rice,a indigenous produce of certain districts of West Bengal. West Bengal has the geographical indication tag for it. 

Sona mug or সোনা মুগ is a very small and bright yellow type of the mung bean (Vigna radiata) or green gram. I had difficulty to find this in the cities of Western India where I lived for years and I used to pack some to take with me each time I visited my Mom in West Bengal. সোনা মুগ gets this name because of its bright golden yellow colour. It's also very tiny. 

The sago pearls or সাবুদানা we, Bengali people, traditionally consume has very tiny particles. It is usually a baby food or used in diets for elderly or sick people. Tapioca pearls are an alternative which produced in large scale industrially and is cheaper. 

দানা in Bengali means "grain" or "particle". 

We soaked Gobindobhog rice, sonamug Dal and the smallest type of tapioca pearl for about five hours. Then all these are very soft. I mashed two small ripe bananas with these ingredients and took one date with it. But I suggest you add sugar also. And you can add more bananas and jaggery. The quantity of rice was much less than the lentil. I guess I took about two tablespoons of mug and one tablespoon of rice. I always take according to my guess, experience and choice. My Mom took more rice. But I liked it this way. There's no hard and fast rule. But rice should be taken just a little since it is uncooked. 

Before soaking, please rinse thoroughly. Washing the ingredients with drinking water is important. Soak the three ingredients in separate containers.

This meal was totally without oil. 

This is not a diet for small children.

Sautéed Okra and Potato

 Sautéed Okra and Potato or আলু ঢেঁড়স ভাজা is a common side dish with rice and lentil soup. It's super easy and very quick. You don't need much oil.

Add long and thin slices of potato to heated oil. In one or two minutes add nigella seeds and sliced green chillies. Stir and add medium cut okras into it. (Okra cooks faster than potato. Therefore, we add the potato first.) Add turmeric powder and salt. Stir and mix well. The flame should not be two high or too low. Stir and cook for some time. Stir to make sure it doesn't burn. You will see the colour will start changing. Cover and let it cook for a few minutes. The reason I can't specify exactly how many minutes because I have been doing it since I don't remember when based on guess and feeling. I keep an eye and check from time to time. Cook it until the vegetables are done. 

I prefer preparing it in mustard oil. But that's not a must. 

We prepare the simple okra and potato curry the same way with the same seasoning. But in the curry the okra is tenderer and practically wet, a little viscous because we use even less oil, put the vegetables right after adding the seasoning in the hot oil, add salt and turmeric and cover and let it cook on a low flame. It is practically steamed. Therefore, while frying, don't cover in the beginning, but only at the end for a few minutes. Many people don't like the viscosity and for them this recipe is an option. 

Khichuri with Very Little Vegetables

 

This is an example of my quarantine cooking.  Since lock-down started, we are consuming much less vegetables to make, in the beginning, my visit to fresh market, and now the visit of our domestic help to us, much less frequent.  

Today morning I made this khichuri -- the traditional Bengali rice and lentil dish -- with a few ground nuts and a small piece of carrot as you will see the ingredients in the pictures below. 

Usually we use at least the equal amount of rice and lentil and mostly more lentil than rice to prepare khichuri. But today I used relatively less mug lentil since we are having Dal with every meal nowadays. First I roasted the mug in hot wok and then washed it and kept it at one side.

In a separate pan I sauteed carrot, potato and the ground nuts in the seasoning of shredded onion and cumin seeds, adding turmeric powder, salt and coriander powder.

 I kept this at one side and started cooking the mug and rice together in water in a covered pot. I started on a high flame but reduced it as it started boiling. ( I had soaked the rice already for about half an hour ). After the rice and lentil are almost done, I added salt and stirred and mixed well and let it cook for a few more minutes. When both the ingredients are thoroughly done, I mixed the sauteed vegetables and mixed everything well and let it cook until the water dried up. That was it. I had a filling and satisfying meal. 

My Quick Eggplant Curry

Eggplant with Tomato and Potato

Rigde Gourd With Potato and Nigella Seasoning

Jhinge Alu Kalo Jire Kancha Lonka Phorhon Diye

         This is a traditional, simple and quick recipe and totally vegan. We peel the ridge gourd and potato and cut them into small pieces. Then we heat up oil, (mustard oil traditionally but rice bran oil this time). We add nigella seeds and sliced fresh green chillies and add the vegetables and stir well. WE let it cook for a few minutes and stir as required. Then we add turmeric powder and stir and mix well. Then we cover it and lower the flame and let it cook. We don't need to add water since juice comes out of the gourd. 

         After the vegetables are thoroughly cooked, we add salt and we do not add sugar though traditionally at least a pinch of sugar is added to every dish.

          We mix the salt well and let it cook a little more especially a lot of juice is still there because we eat this with lentil soup and rice and we don't want it watery.

One can also take a little more time and after heating the oil, sautee the potato cubesm keep them separate and then after adding the seasoning add the gourd pieces and sautee well adding cumin powder in addition to turmeric powder. But I like it simple, and more importantly, quick.

Ridge Gourd, whole

Sabudana Khichdi

Popular Breakfast Dish of Tapioca Root Globules

         Sabudana Khichdi is my favourite Maharashtrian dish. It is very easy and quick to cook, too. Other Maharashtrian dishes I love are Sabudada Vada (Tapioca globule fritter) and ALuvadi (Taro leaf fritter) which I have not yet learnt to prepare. 

         This is my first attempt to make Sabudana Khichdi, a popular breakfast dish or a dish typical to break fast with, literally after a long day of fasting. I didn't find bigger globules in the the shops in my locality but I so felt like having this khichdi that I decided not to wait. I soaked the tiny pearls of sabu that we had at home for about two hours. In the meantime I boiled potato in the pressure cooker.I made sure that the potato did not cook two soft. I peeled the boiled potato (after it cooled down, of course) and cut into small cubes. I already had some roasted ground nuts ready, I just rubbed the peels off. 

         I used ground nut oil to cook this. I heated some oil and added chopped green chillies and whole cumin seeds. Unfortunately, I didn't have curry leaves. It is an essential ingredient in fact. I added the potato, sauteed it, added salt and red chili powder, stirred to mix every thing well and let it cook for a while. Since the potato was boiled already, it didn't take much time and the potato cubes started turning golden soon. I added the nuts and mixed everything thoroughly. Traditionally, roughly crushed ground nut is also added which I did not use. Last went in the sabu globules. I kept stirring carefully so that the sabu doesn't form lumps and also everything mixes well. It was ready to serve in a few minutes. It was our evening snack. Usually Sabudana Khichdi is served at breakfast but nowadays I don't have breakfast but I sleep the morning away! I must change this habit!

Alu-Uchchhe Bhaja

Uchchhe - a Type of Bitter Gourd

             Bitter gourd is commonly translated as Karela (Hindi) / Karala (Bengali, pronounced: kaw-ro-laa) but "uchchhe" is a much smaller and a little round as you can see in the picture below. 

Uchchhe Fresh from Market

      It is quite common in Bengal but I'm not sure if it is much available in other parts of India. Most commonly we shallow fry thinly chopped Uchchhe or boil it whole along with rice when we cook steamed rice.

Potato and Bitter Gourd Sauteed Together Ready to Serve

          To make this dish, we chop the vegetables thinly but not too thin. We heat oil and add "panch forhon", a seasoning consisting of five types of seeds (panch [a nasalised and n not pronounced] = five, and phorhon = seasoning in this context). We add the vegetables and add turmeric powder and stir and mix. We cover the lid and lower the flame and let it cook. Since we cook it this way, covering it on a low flame, we do not need to add a lot of oil. We cook it till tender. We need to check and stir in between. But if you cook regularly you know when to check. When it is almost done we add salt and mix it well and cover it again till done. It is served with steamed rice.

        Traditionally our meals start with something bitter and end with sweets though nowadays we eat neither sweets nor something bitter everyday. But if you cook Uchchhe, you have to eat it first, before putting anything else into your mouth.

Trying Raw Vegan

Salad, Without Dressing!

They said if you eat plant based, you will lose weight! Well, not me! I am a happy fat vegan! I am a master of fritters! I believe food is the biggest pleasure of life (and that is why I have named my blog "Total Foodgasm"!). I never lose weight! Ha ha ha! Who cares! But sometimes this happy fat vegan tries healthier food! Some of my family members eat chicken once in a while but they, also, love raw green vegetables.

So, sometimes, a big plate of mixed vegetables adorn our lunch table.

Just like they acquire loan words from each other's languages as two communities/races come close or interact for various reasons, e.g. political, business etc., they also learn from each other's food culture. But it is interesting how local flavours, ingredients and  food habits modify the original food and customize that for the local taste buds. "Salad" is a Russian loan word in our language but the salad that is available everywhere here has nothing to do with Russian salad; neither it is in any way similar to any type of salads we usually have in other parts of Europe. At every popular street snack stalls in Kolkata, you will get "salad" with your orderd food which is most commonly shredded cucumber and onion mixed together with or without some Kasundi, an age old popular mustard sauce. But, yes, day by day, variety is increasing and more and more shredded carrot and beetroot ate creeping into this "salad"!At home we always had thinly sliced cucumber, tomato and onion neatly placed on a plate. And if you asked for sauce, most commonly you will be served tomato ketchup. Or, I should rather say, if you want some ketchup, ask for tomato sauce. In most food joints you will also find, chilli sauce. 

My personal intention of not adding a dressing is to keep the salad lighter, of less calorie because I can't give up my fritters!

Begun Bhaja -- Fried Eggplant Slices

Fried eggplant or begun bhaja is a popular side dish among us. Who can imagine the khichuri (a tasty, nutritious and popular dish of rice and lentils) without the begun bhaja at a Saraswati Puja feast at school? Begun bhaja is also perfect for luchi (deep fried flat bread of refined flour) or phulko ruti (baked flat bread of wheat flour). You can enjoy them with steamed rice and lentil soup, too.
Begun bhaja is incredibly easy to make. Depending on the size and shape of the eggplant, you can cut it into different pieces. If the eggplant are the long and thin ones, cut them into round shapes like coins. It the eggplant is big and the diameter of the round shares is too big, divide each round slice into semi-circles.
Add salt and turmeric powder to the pieces and mix them well with your hands.
We traditionally use mustard oil but I usually use sunflower oil.
While using mustard oil, it is important to heat it till the smoking point to get rid of its typical smell.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Add the eggplant pieces and cover with a lid. After some time, open the lid and change sides, add a little more oil if required, then close the lid again and let it cook. Eggplant absorbs oil, so, I find it of no use to add a lot of oil in the beginning. And there is no need to deep fry also. Since eggplant cooks very fast, especially the quality of the vegetable is good, so, I check every 2/3 minutes and change the side. You can press the flesh of the eggplant slightly to check how it is done. It melts in your mouth when thoroughly done.

Bratkartoffeln, I miss you!

Potato! Who doesn’t love this adorable starchy darling? Potato is easy and quick to cook, filling and super satisfying to eat!

I have heard that potato is an immigrant in Indian sub-continent. The British brought it in this land and now India is one of the top potato producers in the world. Potato is one of the most popular vegetables in India especially in the northern part. Though in South India also, potato constitutes the main ingredient in many popular dishes like masala dhosa, I feel that it is consumed more in North India. For example, we add a little potato in most of our dishes though we do have some recipes without potato: we add whole round potatoes, if relatively small, or big potatoes halved almost always in our regular meat dishes, we fry potato in different shapes and sizes, we add potato cubes almost in all vegetable curries in our daily meal, alur dom/dom alu – slow cooked hot and spicy potato curry – is almost invariably on the menu in any festive occasion!

When we were small, finely mashed potato was our baby food. I still love it with a few drops of virgin mustard oil and shredded onion.

That evening I was home alone! I was enjoying my own company and watching a movie and suddenly craved for a comfort much to complete the pleasure!

So, I washed and peeled two large potatoes, and cut them into pieces that you can see in the picture here.  I soaked them in cold water for a few minutes, drained all the water carefully. Then I added salt and a little turmeric and a little sugar to the potatoes and mixed everything very well. I left this stand for about 15 minutes. Then I drained the water that came out of the potatoes. I heated mustard oil in a korai (traditional cast iron cooking pot, circular, deep and thick) till the smoking point to get rid of the typical strong smell of it, added the potatoes into the oil, reduced the flame and fried them. After that I sprinkled a little black pepper powder on them and served to myself!

It was total foodgasm for my taste buds!

Malabar Spinach Fritter

Malabar Spinach Fritter

My friend aptly commented, “I wish I had a snack-gifting aunt!” Oh, it is really bless to have an aunt who is an amazing cook and loves to cook for you!

My aunt sent me some Malabar spinach fritters and it made my evening! She made it herself from scratch, with loads of love and the leaves were freshly collected from her own garden. What could be a better gift for a happy fat vegan?!

Here is how we make it.

We clean the leaves thoroughly and then shred them.

We add salt, a little turmeric powder, a little poppy seeds and shredded onion and green chilli to chickpea flour ("besan" we call it) and mix everything very well.

Now we add water little by little and make a thick paste. We now add the leaves to this paste and mix very well. Thickness of this mixture would be so, that it is possible to make small, flat and round shapes out of it which we deep fry.

We traditionally use mustard oil but you can use sunflower oil, too.

Dal Seddho

Side dish

Serves two

Very simple recipe.

Ingredients:

Red Lentil (musur dal) – 100 gm

Water

Salt

Green chili – raw

Shredded onion – 10 gm

Mustard oil

How to prepare:

Boil the lentil in water.

The dal boiling

Add salt only after it is thoroughly cooked and soft enough to eat.

Stir and mix the salt well.

Boil till very little of the water is left. I suggest that don’t put too much water right at the beginning.

Add green chili. Depending on your taste, you can also add the chili along with salt.

(I want the chili raw, not partially cooked and softened.)
Add shredded onion.

Dal Seddho

Serve with plain steamed rice.

Traditionally, the lentil, put inside a watertight metal container or in a piece of cheese cloth, tied tightly , used to be put inside the handi (the traditional rice cooker) while preparing rice in it. This is how I have seen my mom and other senior ladies preparing it. When in cheese cloth, it can also be kept in boiling water till the lentil is cooked. 

I find this dal preparation so tasty that I can make it my main course and eat up all the rice on my plate with it. But usually we prepare some small accompaniment, typically some fried vegetables, to go with it.

Here is an example: alu-bean-gajor-bhaja.

Alu-bean-gajor-bhaja.

Serves two.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: about 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Carrot – one, medium

Potato – one, small

Green beans – 50 gm

Alu-bean-gajor-bhaja

How to prepare:

Cut carrot, beans, and a small potato into very small cubes.

Heat the oil.

Add nigella and sliced green chili to it.

Add the vegetables.

Add turmeric. Stir well to mix well.

Add salt.

Stir well. Let it cook till all the vegetables are softened. Stir from now and then.

Serve with dal seddho and steamed rice.

Alu Bhaja ar koraishunti diye Muri Makha

Puffed Rice with Fried Potato and Green Peas

       "Muri" is a very popular snack in Bengal.
Muri makha, i.e. puffed rice with different ingredients added to it accompanied by a cup of tea is one of our most favourite evening snacks. It can also be called moshla muri (= puffed rice with spices) or jhal muri (jhal = hot [and spicy]).
        I love chanachur diye muri makha/ muri-chanachur : puffed rice with chanachur, a very spicy mixture of fried lentils, pea nuts, gram flour noodles, flaked rice, which my mom considers not very healthy since it is not homemade and since it is very hot and spicy. So, as an alternative she usually offers puffed rice with fried potato and other ingredients like green peas, shredded onion or roasted pea nuts etc.

       This time we had it with potato and green peas and, sadly for my mom, without tea, since tea is now forbidden for her.

           Puffed Rice with Fried Potato and Green Peas

Ingredients:

Puffed rice -- bought ready made
The mix:  potato cut in small cubes
               green peas
               green chili -- shredded if you want it really hot; otherwise, sliced
               black caraway seeds (nigella sativa)
               mustard oil
               salt

How to prepare the mix:

Heat mustard oil till its typical smell vanishes and the colour changes.
The potato needs to be shallow-fried. So, we do not need a lot of oil.

Add the nigella and chili to it.
Add the potato. After it starts turning a little golden, add salt and stir to mix well. Cover the frying pan and let it cook. When the potato is softened, add the peas and cover again. Let it cook for about 2 minutes.

Now mix all these with the muri and enjoy snacking.

Puffed rice is usually a little salty. So, we did not sprinkle salt to the the whole mixture in the end.
Traditionally, a little raw mustard oil is mixed with the puffed rice for all muri makha / jhal muri. You can also do the same if you have developed a taste for its typical strong flavour.

Kolar bora

Kola means banana. I would like to translate this as ‘banana sweet pakora.’

Ingredients:
Five big bananas
Half a coconut (medium sized) – finely grated
Sugar (according to your taste)
Cardamom 5/6 crushed/ powder, even better
Cinnamon powder – 2 pinches
Sunflower oil (Virgin coconut oil can also be used.)
Flour, to make the mixture tight. (according to the requirement)

How to make it:
Mash the bananas into a fine pulp.
Add coconut, cardamom and cinnamon powder, sugar. Mix very well.
Add flour and mix it by continuously stirring to prevent the flour from forming lumps.

Now heat the oil in a frying pan.
Take the mixture in a teaspoon and dip into the oil.



Fry by turning it from one side to another until it is golden brown.



Enjoy your snacks.