Mojito

Temperature already has reached to almost 45 degrees thoughout India. This year I have decided to try out varities of easy summer recipes which can be made with very common summer ingredients. Cool,delicious and healthy recipes are yet to come. Today I am going to post my second summer recipe after Kulfi, a very simple and easy Mocktail Recipe, very commonly known as Mojito.

Mojito (originated in Havana, Cuba) is a very refreshing citrus drink traditionally consists of 5 ingredients(Rum, Sugar, Water, Mint and lemon juice) with only 5-10% alcohol content. The combination of sweetness, sourness and the mint flavour complement each other. I have excluded Rum here and served the drink as a mocktail.

N.B. Its a very popular/Daily refreshment drink in my household these days :P

Ingredients: for 3 servings:

Mint Leaves: 20 leaves cleaned and washed
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Lemon- 1 (peeled)
Water
Polo peppermint- 2-3balls(avoidable)
Ice (as many as u can)

Procedure: 1) Add Lime peeled lime juice to sugar and Mint leaves.
2) Gently Mash them with a muddler. (I simply took my Wooden Roller which I used to make chapathi :P and also the aluminum dal pressing tool)
3) Add Water and Polo. Mix Well.
4) Keep in Refrigerator and add lots of ice and thin layers of lime while serve.

Cheers!!!

Kulfi

Almost everyone of us have grew up seeing our moms making homemade kulfi with extra milk and other "always available ingredients" at home in summer vacation Kulfi is originated during Mughal Dynasty. Its one of the traditional Indian Dessert often called as frozen dairy dessert in Western Countries. Kulfi is popular in the countries like India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burma etc. Pistachio, Curdamom, Mango, Saffron, rose etc are the popular amongst all the flavours. Due to its thick density its takes much time to melt than other branded ice creams from the market.

Ingredients: Milk- 5 cups(preferably full fat)
Khova/Mawa- 1/2 cup
Sugar- 1 cup (Adjust according to your intake)
Cashew Paste- (10 gms)
Curdamom Powder- 1tsp
Dry fruites of your choice-Chopped(Pistachios, Almonds and Cashews)
Essence of your choice (Pistachio/Keora or Screw pine/rose/Almond/ even Vanilla)
Saffron strands- 1 pince (optional)

Procedure: 1) Heat milk in a pan and reduce to 1/3 rd of its actual quantity.
2) Add sugar and should be dissolved in the milk.
3) Add curdamom powder and mix well.
4) Switch of the gas and let the milk completely cool.
5) Mix Khowa/mawa into the milk.
6) Add cashew paste.
7) Add essence of your choice and also add the crushed saffron.
8) Pour the mix in the Kulfi mould and let it set for overnight.
9) Serve either in the mould itself or else unmould the kulti with the help of a butter knife and serve in plate or ice cream bowl.

Cheers!!!

SHUKTO (Popular Mix Veg from Bengal)

"Shukto",one of the favourite Mix Veg side dishes of West Bengal. Wide ranges of vegetables are used with Bengali five spice/powder or Panch foron to prepare this dish. Although there is dispute between the use of Panch foron or only Radhuni in Shukto. Some prefers using Panch Foron and some uses only Radhuni.  Mouri (Fennel Seeds), Methi (Fenugreek Seeds), Kalo Jire (Kalonji), Sada Jire (Cumin Seeds), and Radhuni together are known as Panch foron or Bengali Five spice. Though Radhuni is a popular Bengali Spice, but also used in Odisha, some parts of North East India, Bangladesh, even in Nepal. Due to its unavailablility in Western Parts and Southern Parts of India, Mustard seeds or celery seeds can be used instead of this.                          
Bori or Sun dried lentil nuggets is another substance that we used to make Shukto. Most of the Bengalis make this nuggets with Red lentil or Black Lentil or even Urad Dal. Soaked and dried lentil paste are used to make these nuggets. The balls/nuggets should be dried in Sun. After it completely dries up stored in air tight jar. These are used in making Chochchori/Ghonto/Shukto/Jhol (All are the Bengali Veg/Non Veg Forms of Dishes)etc.
Here I have not used Bori. You can follow this simple yet delicious recipe. Also let me know how it comes out-

For 3 person:

Ingredients: Potato- 1
Green Banana- 1
Bitter Gourd- 1
Radish- 1
Egg Plant- 1
Sweet Potato- 1
Drum Sticks- 2
Bori (Its actually Sun dried lentil nuggets, widely used by Bengali's in wide ranges of recipes)- 8-9- (Optional)
Poppy Seeds/Posto/Khus Khus- 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
Ginger paste- 1 tsp
Panch Foron/ Bengali Five Spices- 1 Tsp (For Tampering)
Panch Foron/ Bengali Five Spices Mix- 1 Tsp- Make powder after dry roasting the five spices.
Salt to taste
Sugar- 1 tsp
Mustard Oil- 3 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tsp
Milk- 1/2 cup
Water- As required for the gravy.

Procedure: 1) Soak Poppy Seeds and Mustard seeds for half an hour. After half an hour make a smooth paste.
2) Wash all the vegetables and peel everything neatly and cut Potato, green banana, sweet potato, radish, egg plant into 1/2" rectangular stripes. Cut Drumsticks into 1 1/2" stripes. Make thin Slices of  Bitter gourd.
3) In a wok, heat 1 tbsp mustard oil and fry Boris until crisp and keep aside.
4) In the same oil fry the chopped bitter gourd with little salt until crisp and keep aside.
5) Now, heat rest of the mustard oil, tamper Panch foron and add egg plants. Fry it with little salt. When Egg Plants will be soft add the rest of the veges and mix well and fry. Little water can be added.
6) When veges will be soft and will change the colour , add ginger paste and again cook for 2 minutes. You can add water in this step.
7) Add Mustard and poppy seed paste, mix it and cook again for 8-10 minutes until all veges are well boiled and tender.
9) Lastly add salt sugar. Cook again for 3-5 minutes.
10) Add Milk and mix well.
11) Add the Spice mix.
12) Add Ghee to the curry just before switch of the flame.

Cheers!!!!

Lachcha Para(n)tha

After a long time the "Hungry Monster" inside me has woke up. I am going to share 3 of my recently prepared recipes this time. One of them is Lachcha Para(n)tha. I know its long pending recipe since my last post. Thanks to my very hectic work schedule. Oh! By the way, its my mother in law who made her first attempt to make this delicious para(n)tha. So I am narrating this recipe on behalf of her.

                        Lachcha Para(n)tha or Multi Layered Paratha is actually of two types. Panjabi Lachcha Para(n)tha, generally prepared in tandoor and also known as Panjabi Lachcha Para(n)tha. On the other hand in the eastern part of our country lachcha para(n)tha is made using Tawa(pan) also known as Tawa Lachcha Para(n)tha. Here she has used Tawa. I have also attaching step by step collage to let all of you understand its making.

Ingredients: White Flour- 1 cup
Ghee- 1 tablespoon
Baking soda- 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Procedure: 1) Mix salt,baking soda, and ghee with flour. Add water to make a soft dough. Let it rest for 1 hour.
2) Divide the dough into desired shaped balls.
3) First roll one ball into a thin flat chapathi (as pic-1). Now first fold from the edge of the chapathi (as pic 2). As in childhood we used to make Japanese Fan. Continue the same process and proceed (As pic3). After completion the shape will be like pic 4. Now start folding from one side (As in Pic 4). After folding the shape will like Pic 5.
4) Again you have to roll very softly and the layers will be visible (As in Pic 5)
5) Fry the Paratha in oil.
6) Serve hot with desired gravy, Achar, butter or Raita.
Cheers!!

Golbari Style Kasha Mangsho

Among all the diversified meat options around the world, mutton(Goat Meat) is the one which never disappoint a Bengali in spoiling their taste buds. Talking about Mutton I love to go down the memory lane where there is only one clear picture who is my Dida (Grand Mom).
               My grand mom (Father's side) was a great cook. Almost every Sunday she used to prepare mutton for all of us. It was a routine for her which she loved to follow. We were a huge joint family at that point of time. Me and my cousins used to wait the  whole week for Sunday to come so that we could hear whistles of the pressure cooker and would jump to reach her to have a glimpse of the bright red colour cooked mutton. She used to distribute the fats to all of us. No adjective is enough to describe that particular taste . No recipes can replace my dida's mutton kosha. I still miss my dida, her cooking and also those golden days of my life
               After shifting from my home town to Kolkata gradually mutton became Red Meat and off course cooking mutton on Sundays happened to be a rare occasion. Besides dida's mutton, my mom, my Choto kakima(Youngest Paternal Aunt) even my Maternal Aunt (Mamima) also makes delicious mutton KASHA. Shifting to Kolkata made my life totally changed. Change of place compelled me to taste new foods and that was the start of spoiling my taste buds all over again in a different way than before. Kolkata is one of those cities which is famous for wide range of flavoursome dishes besides  architecture, Culture etc. Every foody Bong's one of the most favourite destination is Golabari adjacent to Five point crossing at Shyambajar. It's famous for KASHA MANGSHO or Mutton KASHA. My first visit to Golbari was during my late school life (closely after finishing higher secondary exam) with friends offocourse. We were very enthusiastically thrilled after having KASHA MANGSHO. Cooking was  "not my cup of tea" then. So never bothered about the recipe or any other background discussion rather than enjoying the flavour. But last year again I visited there with my husband and the visit kind of bewitched me to replicate the dish. Research continued for a long long period of time and it ended up few months ago with a close success. Today I am going to share that success story with all my close ones. Try this and let me know how it comes out....

Mutton- 500 gm
Papaya Juice- little less than one cup (Extract juice from papaya removing the skin and put it in mixer- no water to be added)
Onion- one and half (medium size)
Ginger paste- 1 spoon
Garlic Paste- 1 spoon
Dry Red Chilli- 4
Curd- 1/2 cup (well beated)
Mustard Oil-1 cup

Spices:

Curdamoms-2-3
Cinnamon- 1" stick-1
Cloves- 2-3
Bay leaf-1-2
Bengali 5 spices(Panch Foron)- 1 small spoon
Salt- to Taste
Kashmiri Red cchilli Powder- 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder(Bengali)- 1/2 tsp
Cumin(Zeera) Powder- 1 spoon

Process:

1. Clean mutton pieces and marinate with Papaya extract overnight in fridge.
2. Take out the mutton from fridge atleast 1/2 hour before cooking.
3. In a deep bottom vessel, heat the mustard oil and add the spices one by one(2 dry red chillis, panch Foron, Curdamom, cinnamon, Cloves,bay leaf). Let it tamper for 1 minute.
4. Fry the sliced onions upto golden brown.
5. Add the marinated mutton and cook for 2 hours(maximum). After 15-30 minutes of frying the mutton colour will start changing into blackish. You have to stir constantly/time to time and take care that it should not stick into the bottom of the vessel. For this take one cup of hot water and add time to time.
Note:In case of medium to large pieces it will take maximum 2 hours(with Lid on) to complete this stage(In my case mutton pieces were small. It took only 45-50 minutes)
6. In the mean time, take another pan, heat oil and cook the ginger paste, garlic paste and dry red chilli paste along with zeera powder until oil comes out.
7. Pour the Cooked ginger garlic zeera and chilli paste to mutton after 2 hours. Mix it well.
8. Beat the curd well along with kasmiri red chilli powder and little water. MIx it with mutton and cook another 15-30 minutes until mutton is soft and oil comes out properly.
10. Lastly sprinkle some garam masala powder all over the mutton and keep the lid on.
11. Serve hot with Paratha/Lachcha Paratha etc.

Waiting for your feedback!!!!

Cheers!!!

Chicken Salad

Shreded Chicken(Boneless)- 150gms
Yellow Bell Peppers(Finely sliced)-1/4
Red Bell pepper(finely sliced)-1/4
Green Capsicum(finely sliced)- 1/4
Carrot(flinely sliced)- 1 medium sized
Sweet Corn- 1/4th cup
Mixed herbs- 1 tsp
Chilli flakes- 1tsp
Black pepper powder- 1 tsp or to taste
Salt- to taste
Lemon juice- 1 and half tsp

for the dip: you can choose either 1 cup of mayonese
or white sauce(home made) i used later one

white sauce dip:

Butter- 4tsp
All purpose flour- 4 tsp
Milk- 1 and half cup

Procedure: Boil chicken with salt. keep aside

Now, mix all the vegetables with salt, lemon juice. Add the chicken.

for the white sauce: In a pan, heat butter (careful it should not be burnt, keep all your ingredients ready for the white sauce), add the flour and stir constantly to mix well with butter. Add milk and mix until the sauce becomes thick.

(if u use mayonese: simply mix it with salad and add the herbs and other seasonings.)

Now, mix this sauce with the salad and add mixed herbs, chilli flakes and pepper powder.

Cheers!!!!!

Apple Upside Down Cake

My first attempt to Bake a cake in proper way. I was so afraid to experiment with cakes as I burnt them quite a lot of times..Still baking a cake is like a passion and may be I am addicted to it..here the recipe goes like-

Ingredients


Apples- 4 medium sized(Though i Took one and half apples)

For Caramel:
Butter- 50gms,
Sugar-5-6 spoon

For Cake Batter:
Flour- 2 cups
Sugar- 1 cup
Eggs- 4 (Seperate the yolks and white in different bowls)
Baking Powder- 2 Small tsp
Vanilla Extract: 1tsp
Butter- 50 gms

Others:Cinnamon Powder- 1 tsp
Cashews- a few (Not mandatory)
Cherries- as per wish

Baking:
Butter Paper-for perfect shape I cut in a shape of the mould(I have used round shaped Glass mould)
Butter- for perfect greasing the sidewalls.

Procedure:

1. First remove the skin of the apples then cut into halves, remove the seed portion and cut the apples into thin small "C" shaped Pieces.
2. In the mould, first place the butter paper, then arrange all the apples thoroughout mould. As I have used round shaped mould, arrangement was like a flower.
3. Now make the caramel. Heat a pan and add butter and sugar. Stir it constantly until the colour changes into dark brown. Caramel will be thick but not hard and should not be burnt.
4. Spread the caramel on the apples.
5. Let it cool for few minutes.
6. Take the apples in your microwave and in 200 degree temperature bake it for 2-3 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, In a seperate bowl, take the butter and mix well with Sugar and egg yolks until the sugar melts.
8. Add flour and baking powder slowly fold it and add oil and vanilla extract also. Fold together.
9. In a different bowl, beat the egg white with the help of your hand blender in full speed until the egg white is very soft and doubled in size. Add the cake batter and mix well with spatula.
10. Now spread cinnamon powder and little sugar over the baked apples and also some cashews over it. Add the cake batter and cover the apples well.
11. Preheat the oven in 200 degrees and bake the cake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I have baked again in 300 degree for 6 minutes (In Micro+covection mode). I have done toothpic taste after this stage. I have again baked for two minutes in normal mode. Kept it cool for half n hour and turned the cake up and removed the butter paper. Decorated with cherries.

Cheers!!!