eCurry - The Recipe Blog

Talking of  Dum Aloo…There are some hundreds of ways to make Dum Aloo. In West Bengal it used to be a must dish served for weddings with “Radhaballavi” (lentil stuffed puri), and I loved the slight & subtle sweet taste of that kind of dum aloo.

Also during fall/winter time, when there would be small new baby potatoes, & the peas in the shell, my mom would make peas kachori and dum aloo with the bite size potatoes. It used to be an all evening activity when we would all sit and shell the peas and rub the potatoes to skin the already peeling skins.

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Every evening as I make my cup of coffee, I have this craving for something sweet with it. A biscotti, a slice of cake… & often times I think of the white fruit cake with the colorful candied fruits in it that we would get from the local bakeries back at home. That was long long time back. But certain tastes & aroma stay with you irrespective of the years in between. When I read this recipe, I almost visualised the cake we would have, for the picture given for this was white and the recipe asked for red cherries.

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And a Sweet Little Incident… Here it goes:

The other day we were going out for dinner. For once there was some peace in the car. The 2 kids were not fighting, each of them busy doing thier own things. I noticed that my 2 year old had been looking out of the window for quite sometime, when she cried out ”the moon, the moon! mama the moon is broken. Someone broke the moon…” She was definitely very upset about it. A few days back she had seen an enormous orange full moon, and now all of a sudden it was just a  slice. I wish I had an as imaginative an explaination as her beautiful mind. Later on she herself figured that the cloud must have bitten a piece out of it, since the cloud is the only thing that can reach it!!

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Stuffed Pear in Spiced Orange Sauce

The Only Lonely pear stared back at me from the fruit basket. And I did not feel like eating this fruit at all. I knew if I was another day late, it would start having the stale brown spots.  Well to save this little soul, I tried out this yummy fruity dessert. Long long time back I had come across a recipe( I do not remember where), which called for baking pears with the dessert wine Asti. I did not have any, so I just cooked up this easy way to boil it in the orange sauce. (I always love anything with orange or orange zest.)

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The “Saas Bahu” combination is supposed to give the creeps:-D However my mom-in-law is one of the most wonderful people I have ever come across and I could not ask for more. Getting married when I just stepped in to my twenties… I thought and moved with caution, but immediatley she helped me get absorbed in to the family and more than all, amazed me with her exceptional cooking skills. Over the years I have learned a lot of what she cooks, especially the ones which are loved and craved by my hubby.

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Potato and Cauliflower with Creme

  

Ingredients:

 

1. 1 Cauliflower - Florets broken into pieces
2. 2 Medium Potatoes - cubed
3. 1/2 Onion Sliced
4. 1 tablespoon Ginger Paste
5. 1 tablespoon Garlic paste
6. 1/2 cup Tomato Puree
7. 2 tablespoons oil (to fry the potato & cauliflower)
8. 2 tablespoons oil
9. 1 big black cardamom
10. 1″ cinnamon
11. 2 cloves
12. 2 red dry chilis
13. 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)
14. 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (Available in Indian Groceries)
15. 2 teaspoons turmeric (To coat the Potato & Cauliflower)
16. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
17. Salt to taste
18. 1 teaspoon red Chili powder (optional)
19. 3 tablespoons heavy cream ( can substitute with 1/2 cup of whole milk)

Preparation:

turmeric coated

Coat the potatoes and cauliflower florets with 2 teaspoon of turmeric and a sprikle of salt and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Fried Cauliflower & Potato

Heat oil and fry the potatoes and cauliflower in batches till they start to brown. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.

In a pan, dry roast the cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. Add oil add the red dry chili and the fenugreek seeds.  Once they start to sizzle add the sliced onions and fry till they just start to brown.

Add the ginger paste, the garlic paste and the tomato puree. Add salt, turmeric and red chili powder to it. Fry till you see the oil leaving the sides of the pan. Add the cauliflower and the potato. Stir gently to mix, so all the tomato gravy coats the vegetables. Add half cup of water,  cover and cook till the potatoes and cauliflowers are tender but not mushy. Add the creme, and simmer for about another 10 minutes. Sprinkle kasuri methi on the top and gently mix.

cauliflower& potato with roti

 

 

 

Serve hot with roti or paratha.

Jeera Rice

 Ingredients: 
1 cup of uncooked basmati rice
2 small green cardamoms
1″ stick of cinnamon
1 clove
1 tablespoon ghee
1.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
salt to taste

Preparation:
Wash the rice till the water runs clear. Soak the rice in cold water for 1/2 an hour and drain.

Heat Ghee, and add cardamom, cinnamon and clove. When they start to sizzle and splutter add the rice. Stir for sometime till the ghee coats the rice.

Now add the Cumin seeds. Make sure not to add the Cumin seeds directly in the ghee, as this will darken the cumin and give a different flavor. Add salt and fry for some more time, about 5 more minutes.

Increase the heat. Add 2 cups of water and let the water boil. When you see no water over the surface of the rice, cover it and immediately switch off the heat. Be very careful during this time as more heat or delay may burn the rice at the bottom of the pan. Let it stay covered for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve hot.

Garam means Hot, and Masala means Spice.

Garam Masala(Whole Spices)

Garam Masala is referred to a combination of different spices. They may be used whole or ground into to a powder. If its used whole they are usually added in the beginning of the recipe, and if used in the powder form, its sprinkled on the dish after its done cooking.

The hot in garam masala is not the same kind of hot as in hot green peppers. It actually are the spices which raises the body temperature. Therefore garam masala is used in very little quantity. I usually use about only 1/3 teaspoon of garam masala in a recipe for a serving of 4-5.

The following is the recipe for Punjabi Garam Masala. The spices may or may not be roasted prior to grinding. For this particular recipe, I do not roast the spices.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons whole Coriander seeds
1 tablespoon Cumin
2 tablespoons small green cardamom
2 tablesoons cloves
2 tablespoons peppercorns
4 sticks of cinnamon, approx. 2″ each
3 Bay Leaves
3 Red Dried Peppers
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Preparation:
Grind all ingredients dry in a spice or coffee grinder.

May be stored in air tight containers for many months.

Chingri  Maacher Malaikari is an old Bengali Classics. I have grown up in this East Indian State (West Bengal), having to eat (and loving every bite and moment of it) this simply marvelous dish in every special occasions, be it be a birthday, or a houseful evening guests. My dad would have to go to the Sunderbans for work, and we all waited till late night knowing that he would get the fresh jumbo prawns/shrimps and next day would be the grandiose Chingri  maacher malaikari.

This is cooked with coconut milk, which is very easily available here in cans making the process much more easy and faster.

Here I am sharing with you the way my mom always cooked chingri maacher malaikari.

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb uncooked deveined Prawn/Shrimp
2. 1.5 tablespoons of ginger paste
3. 2 Small Green Cardamoms
4. 2” stick of Cinnamon
5. 2 Bay Leaves
6. 3/4 can Coconut milk
7. Salt to taste
8. ½ teaspoon of sugar
9. 1 teaspoon of turmeric
10. 1 teaspoon of red chili powder
11. 2 slit Hot Green Peppers.
12. 2 tablespoons Ghee (Clarified Butter)
13. 1 teaspoon oil
14. 1 tablespoon of shredded coconut(optional)
15. 1/2 teaspoon Jeera/Cumin seeds

Preparation:

Shell the Shrimps and baste with   ¾ spoon of turmeric, little bit of salt and  half the amount of red chili powder. Let it sit for about 20 minutes.

Heat about the oil and lightly sauté the shrimps till they are almost done.

Heat the Ghee.  Add the cracked cardamoms, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks. Once they start sizzling, add Cumin, the green hot peppers and the ginger paste.

Fry for sometimes till the ghee leaves the sides of the pan. Be careful and see that the paste does not burn and turn dark brown.

Add the sautéed Shrimps, sugar, salt, and the rest of the chili powder and turmeric and the coconut milk & the shredded coconut. Boil this till the coconut milk start getting creamy. You will see little bubbles coming up.

Gently stir for some more time and when the gravy coats the spoon you will know that its done.

Serve with white basmati rice.