Pasta/Ravioli: My First Attempt

This year I did a lot of things for the first time in my kitchen. This was my first attempt to make pasta/ravioli of different shapes and sizes.

The dough us dark coloured because I mixed some raagi powder (finger millet powder) with the flour.

For the filling of ravioli, I made a thick paste of sattu, shredded onion and tomato and fresh green chilli so that everything is totally plant-based.

The final dish was spicy with a lot of tomato puree.

I did the whole process during the night in my small bedroom secretly. We don't really have a baking culture of that of naking continental food and my experimentscare neither vencouraged nor appreciated. How one's personal freedom can be so restricted may be unintelligible by many, especially for those with no experience of how phenomenal parental interference can be in certain cultures. But I hope, I will soon be able to leave soon once again.

Marble Cake: My First Attempt

This Christmas I prepared my first marble cake. I made it very early in the morning when Mom was still asleep. I wanted to start the morning with freshly baked hot cake and also to surprise her.

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Mini Kothimnir Vadi -- Small Coriander Cubes

Kothimbir means coriander leaves in Marathi.

Coriander leaves and Coriander Powder

Besan added to Coriander Powder to mix -- I made a thick paste of shredded coriander leaves, besan (gram flour), salt, a little green chili, coriander powder and steamed this.

Steamed Besan-coriander Mixture Then I cut this solid (but not really hard) cake-like mixture into small cubes and sautéed them. I usually add more coriander but I didn't have them more today!You can also do without frying and eat the steamed ones (below).

Mixed Veg Rice: Plant-based Whole Food

Nowadays my priority is improving my proficiency really fast in one of my target languages (TL). In addition to my professional need that was always there, since very recent I have a new personal need, too, a need to make myself understood in that TL to a native speaker who has been doing a lot to spread the teaching-learning of that TL in our region. So, I don't have much time for anything else. But cooking is my stress buster. And since a few months I have been doing successful experiments in changing my diet aiming to lose weight without becoming weak. Therefore, preparing my own healthy but delicious meals is a necessity also. Earlier also I've posted one pot recipes of rice. Here's the dish I prepared yesterday morning for breakfast:

Below are the ingredients.

I soaked rice and musur (red) dal for half an hour after rinsing them well.

I just put everything together in a pressure cooker poured water, added some salt and cooked untill 5 whistles.

Before serving I stirred and mixed everything very well No oil. Not at all spicy. (You can add some cumin- and coriander powder it that suits your taste.) And very quick. Ideal for a busy professional.

ঝিঙের ভর্ত্তা / Ridge Gourd Bhartta

 It's a very delicious traditional plant-based dish.

Before going into details I apologise for the bad photos. I definitely have no talent for photography, unfortunately. I used one kilogramme ridge gourd and made the dish from scratch, totally manually. The final product looks like the picture below:

I removed only the rough ridges and left most of the skin as you can see below. 

Removing the Ridges

One KG Ridge Gourd

After that I cut then in very tiny pieces and made a paste by hand on the traditional শিল পাটা. It was a lot of work. I could easily use a mixer but since March I am indoors and I hardly move; therefore I preferred the hard work to the smart work. 

Cutting in Tiny Pieces

Making the Paste on শিল পাটা

I also made pastes of black mustard, white mustard and poppy seed. This is optional. I added a small green chilli to the mustard while making the paste.  If you don't use these spices, please use nigella seeds and fresh green chilli for seasoning. I used mustard seeds and fresh green chilli for seasoning. I also added my homemade turmeric powder. 

White and Black Mustard Paste

Heat up a little mustard oil and when the oil reaches its smoking point, it's smell is gone and the colour becomes a little clearer/lighter. Lower the flame. Add the seasoning and add the ridge gourd paste. Add the turmeric paste,  stir quickly and add the ridge gourd paste and stir. Add the mustard- and poppy paste. 

Stir and mix. The mixture already has a lot of juice. It will start boiling. Stir every now and then. It will cook and gradually the water content will reduce. Cook it on low flame covering and stirring from time to time. The colour will change, the raw smell will go away. 

Almost Done! Water Dried Up

Add salt and mix very very well. It's ready. I sprinkled some fresh mustard oil on top after removing it from the flame. But this is very Bengali and skip this if you are not familiar/comfortable with the flavour of fresh mustard oil. You can in fact use sunflower oil to prepare this dish which I, being a Bengali, will never do. Consuming cold-pressed virgin mustard oil is, to me, a part of being Bengali! 😉

The Ridge Gourd Paste

Oat with Apple

 This my overnight oat. As usual, it is dairy-free. 

I grated the apple finely and soaked two tablespoons of rolled oat in it after dinner because it's for the next day. I added a little water but didn't add any sweetener. The mixture is in the fridge. I don't like sweet dishes; therefore I think I am going to like it because it will be mildly sweet. 

Chocolate-Banana-Chia Pudding

 This is also dairy-free as you can make out from the photo. I mashed the banana and mixed with the soaked chia.