Shorshe Begun (Eggplant in Mustard Sauce)

Lau Bishori (Milky Bottle Gourd Curry)

Ingredients for Lau Bishori:

Lau - 250 gm 
Potato - 250 gm
Milk - 250 ml
Nigella Seeds - 1 tsp
Nigella Powder - 2 tbsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Green Chili - 4-5 nos
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Mustard Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Enough Water 

For flavour: 
1 tsp Garam Masala Powder / 2 tbsp Lemon Juice / 2 Lime Leaves 

Process for cooking Lau Bishori:

1. Peel the Lau and Potato, and cut them into cubes. 
2. Pour oil into a cooking pan. Once it is hot, add Nigella Seeds. Wait till it releases its aroma. Add Green Chilis. Now add Lau Cubes and them Potatoes. Stir well for 5-7 minutes.
3. Add Ginger Paste and mix well with Potato+Lau cubes. Then add Salt. Mix well. 
4. Add enough water to cover Potato+Lau cubes. Cover it with a lid. Let it boil for 10 minutes -  till the water gets dried up. 
5. Meanwhile boil Milk. Add Nigella Powder to the boiled Milk. Mix well. 
6. Pour this milk to the pan. Fold well. Let it boil once again and adjust the Salt. Cook for few more minutes to have a thick gravy. In the meantime add Ghee and any of the flavour mentioned above. Mix well. Turn off the heat. Set the pan covered with the lid until you serve.   

Lau Bishori is ready. You can have it with steamed Rice. 

Mirchi Ka Salan

Ingredients to cook Mirchi ka Salan:

A. For Curry:

Jalepeno Pepper – 10-12

Tamarind Pulp – 1 cup (2 tbsp dissolved in ½ cup of water)

Mustard Seed –

Nigella Seed –

Cumin Seed –

Curry Leaves or Curry Leaves Powder

Oil to cook

Salt to taste

Water to make gravy

B. For Masala Paste

Dessciated coconut – ½ cup

Roasted Peanuts – 2 tbsp

Roasted Sesame Seed – 1 tbsp

Onion –

Garlic –

Ginger –

Tomato –

Red Chili Powder

Turmeric Powder

Garam Masala 

Method to cook Mirchi Ka Salan:

Preparing Masala Paste:

1. In a pan lightly brown the onions. 

2. Add the dessicated coconut and brown it.

3. Later add ground nuts and sesame seeds to this mixture and roast for 1-2 minutes.

4. Make a smooth paste of the above with garlic, ginger, all the spice powders adding little water.

Preparing the Curry:

1. Remove the chili crowns or you can also keep them intact.

2. Rinse and wipe dry the green chilies.

3. Slit the chilies vertically but do not break them.

4. Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a pan.

5. Fry the chilies till light brown.

6. Remove and drain on kitchen tissues.

7. Now in the same pan add more oil.

8. Fry the mustard seeds till they pop.

9. Then add nigella seeds and cumin seeds.

10. Add curry leaves and fry for a minute.

11. Add the ground masala paste.

12. Fry for 3-4 minutes or more till you can see oil floating on the top and sides of the masala.

13. Now add tamarind pulp and 2 or 2.5 cups water.

14. Stir & simmer for 5 minutes. 

15. Add fried green chilies plus salt and simmer for 7-9 minutes more.

16. Garnish Mirchi Ka Salan with coriander leaves.

Serve mirchi ka salan hot with hyderabadi veg biryani or even plain steamed rice.

Makki Atte ki Kadhi Pakode (Cornmeal Fritter in Yogurt based Sauce)

Ingredients for Makki Atte ki Kadhi Pakode: (For 2 persons)

A. For pakode:

Makki Atta- 1 cup
Onion-1 cup (finely chopped)
Green chili- 3-4 or more as per your taste (finely chopped)
Cumin Powder- 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda- a pinch
Water to knead the cornmeal
Salt as per your taste
Oil for frying the fritters

B. For Kadhi (Yogurt Sauce):

Yogurt- 1.5 cup
Gram Flour- 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp
Ginger Paste: 1/2 tbsp
Water- 1 cup or more as per your need

C. For Tempering: 

Black Mustard Seed- Little less than 1/2 tsp 
Fenugreek Seed- Little less than 1/2 tsp 
Dried Red Chili- 2
Curry Leaves - 4-5 (I used curry leaves powder)
White Oil 

Process to cook Makki Atte ki Kadhi Pakode:

Making Pakode:

1. Combine all the ingredients mentioned in list A (except oil). Now knead it to make a thick dough. 
2. Make small size balls from the dough. Keep the balls aside for 10 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile heat oil in a deep bottomed frying pan. Fry those balls in batches. Set them aside. 

Making Yogurt Sauce:

1. Take Yogurt in a mixing bowl. Add Ginger paste, Gram Flour, Turmeric Powder. Mix well. Add water little by little. Mix well to make a smooth and running batter. 

Tampering and making Kadhi Pakode:

1. Heat oil in the pan. Once oil is hot, add Mustard Seeds and Curry leaves (or powder). Wait till it crackles. Add Dried Red Chili, then Fenugreek Seeds. 
2. Reduce the heat. Pour the batter to the hot oil. And stir well. Wait till it starts boiling. Keep stirring occasionally. 
3. Add the fried balls to the Yogurt Sauce. Cook for few minutes,
4. Turn off the heat. Set Kadhi Pakode inside pan as the fritter would take time to soak the sauce. 
5. Transfer the Kadhi Pakode in a serving bowl. 

Serve your Makki Atte Ki Kadhi Pakode with Steamed Rice or Roti.  

Brinjal in Curd (Doi Begun)

If you have any association with Bengali food, I am sure, you must have heard about Doi Begun, right? This item I learned from my mom. Mom probably leaned it from grand mom. That is how Bengali girls learn cooking.

This Bengali preparation contains Brinjal and curd as main ingredients. Its gravy should be thick and smooth. I prefer to add very little spices, so that it would not overpower the taste of Brinjal. Get the recipe here below. 

Ingredients for Doi Begun

Brinjal - 3
Curd - 3 tbsp 
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Seed - 1 tsp
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Green Chili - 3-4 
Water
Oil
Salt
Sugar

Beetroot Sasam

Yesterday I found that few beetroots were lying in the fridge. I usually avoid to use beetroot in any recipe; because when I cut the beetroot, it would mess around my hand (in actual fact all my 10 fingers). :-) ..aaaahhh.
 

But I had to empty old beets. I started searching recipes for my "poor" beetroot, and one recipe really caught my attention...that is "Beetroot Sasam".
 

Like many of you, the term "Sasam" was new to me. I googled it and got to learn that Sasam means Mustard seeds in Konkani language. As the name refers, I could easily catch on what Beetroot Sasam is going to include...

Ingredients:

1 medium size beetroot (finely chopped)

1 cup of think white curd

½ cup of grated coconut

2 tsp of mustard seeds

½ tsp of turmeric powder

2 green chilies

2 dried red chili

2 tbsp of white oil (you can also use mustard oil)

Method: 

1. Hope you are ready with finely chopped beetroot. Take them in a pot and add some water to boil. Cover the pot with a lit and leave it to boil for few minutes. It would take 5-7 minutes.

2. Meanwhile you start with other jobs. Pour oil in a seasoning pan and heat it. Add green chilies to fry slightly.  Did you find white spot on the chilies? If yes, remove them from the heat.

3. Now check if those beetroot pieces become soft or not. If they got soft and tender, remove them from heat and allow them to cool down. Once they would get cool, you have to remove water from it.

4. Take grated coconut, mustard seed, turmeric powder, fried green chilies in mixer grinder and add 2 spoonful of water. Now make it to a fine paste.

5. Is your paste ready? Now take curd in bowl and add this paste to curd. Mix it very well.

6. Take your pan in the oven. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Wait for few moments to let the mustard seeds splutter. Add red chili to it.

7. Pour all the beetroot pieces to the curd-coconut mixture. Mix it well. Now allow it to boil and keep stirring occasionally. And remove Beetroot from the heat after 5-7 minutes.

8. Serve it with rice. And for a suggestion include some amount of lentil when you are serving to your loved ones. 



For other beetroot recipes click here