Aam Dhonepata diye Aloor Dom : Aloo Dum with raw mangoes and coriander leaves

I couldn't explain in mere words my love for potatoes. I wouldn't attemt to either lest it kills the essense of that love, oh so pure, oh so sacred.

Anyway, talk of potatoes and you cannot ignore the aloo dum and it is amusing and exciting how many different kinds of aloo dum there are and how many more there could be. And I am not just talking about regional varieties. In our kitchen alone at least 20 different kinds are made. And some of these are so simple to make that it's surprising.

My didun makes an aloo dum with nothing but some ginger, tomatoes and seasoning. It has a runny, soupy gravy and not much of a looker. But taste it and you won't be able to stop easily. then there is this other one that's basically potato stewed in yoghurt and spiced with a special mix of dry roasted spices ground on a grinding stone. Anyway last evening I added yet another recipe to our family repertoire...as my raw mango madness contiues I have tossed up an aloo dum with raw mangoes and fresh coriander leaves. It's a tangy and spicy kick that'll leave you licking your fingers!

Ingredients

Baby potatoes – 1kg

Cumin seeds – 1tsp

Ginger paste – 2 tbsp

Raw mango (grated) – 1

Chopped green chilies –4-5 tbsp

Finely chopped raisins – 2tbsp

Coriander leaves paste – ½ cup

Coriander powder – 1tsp

Salt and sugar to taste

Chopped coriander leaves – ½ cup packed  

Mustard oil  

Method

Boil the baby potatoes is salted water, remove skin and cool .

Heat mustard oil and add cumin seeds. Once they flutter add the ginger paste and fry for a couple of minutes.

Now add the raw mangoes, the coriander paste, green chilies, raisins, coriander powder and salt one by one and fry until oil separates. Add sugar and once it melt add the potatoes.

Toss the potatoes in the masala on high heat until they are laces with the spices and add a cup of water. Stir and bring to a boil.

Add the chopped coriander leaves. Reduce heat and cook until the water reduces and leaves you potatoes laced in the gravy. We want It dry but not quite. 

Aam Kasundi diye Dim'er Jhaal : Eggs, boiled and fried, in a raw mango and mustard sauce

Last night was crazy. And so was this morning's hangover. 

My friend Angona is setting off on a new adventure. She has taken up a job in Pune and is this is her last week in town. Of course we couldn't let her leave without a fitting, mad, crazy farewell. And last night we did just that. And when 4 girls get together with a strict agenda to have a crazy fun, well they have crazy fun, the following morning trauma notwithstanding. 

Gossip, secrets, melancholy, laughter, music, dance, innumerable selfies, wine flowing free (well not FREE), paella and chocolates — what else do girls want. Of course this morning we were all like dead women walking. However, I could get my act togethre after my aftrenoon snooze and decided it's time for some raw mango tricks again. So I tossed up this Aam Kasundi Dim (Eggs, bolied and fried, in a sticky raw mango and mustard sauce). It's got a thumbs up at home and I am sure you'll like it too. By the way it got Mum talking to me again, she wasn't since morning, courtesy last night's antics. I love my life. And here's to my girls Sammy, Supreeta and Angona.

 

Ingredients

Eggs – 4

Finely sliced onions – 1 (medium)

Ginger paste – 1 tsp

Raw mango (grated) – 1 (if it’s a smaller one or half a large mango)

Chopped green chilies – 3-4 tbsp

Kasundi – 1tbsp

Salt and sugar to taste

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Kashmiri red chili powder – ½ tsp

Mustard oil  

Method

Boil the eggs and then fry the whole eggs in mustard oil with a pinch of turmeric and salt, until the eggs are nice and golden on the outside.

Heat mustard oil in a kadhai. Add the onions and fry until they are a dark golden.

Add ginger paste and fry for a couple of minutes more.

Next add the chopped green chilies and the grated raw mango, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder and salt and cook until oil separates.

Add a cup of water and bring to boil. Add sugar. Stir in the Kasundi.  

Add the eggs cut in halves carefully and cook on low heat until the gravy reduces and oil separates. What we want are eggs laced in a delicious slightly sticky sauce.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with steamed rice. 

Kaancha Aam diye Murgi: Chicken with raw mangoes and roasted spices

 As a child when I would devour Enid Blyton treats, I often wondered why the kids in her stories always seemed to be thrilled about summers. I had no clue why they chose a summer afternoon for a picnic — the blistering heat , the sour pong of sweat, the blinding sun, what the hell? . Of course, at that point I didn't consider that it was English summers that they were talking about. As for Calcutta summers, I hate them.
Summer is here and I do not need to tell you that I am not thrilled. 

Most people say that they eagerly wait for Summers for the mangoes. Not me. Nothing summer brings, not even succulent mangoes bursting with sweet juice, can make it seem endearing to me. I am not a crazy fan of mangoes. I enjoy my share but I am not crazy about it. But then again, raw mangoes are a whole different deal. That I am crazy about.

The only thing I look forward to on a hot summer afternoon is the Kancha Aamer Ombol ( a runny chutney of sorts made with raw mangoes and tempered with mustard, usually) and Aam Dal, Dal with raw mangoes in it. My mother makes sure that we have an inexhaustible stock of raw mangoes as long as it an be acquired or all hell would break loose. Yesterday though, I wanted to add raw mangoes to my chicken and came up with this recipe, it fiery, spicy, tangy and sweet and everyone loved it. In fact this week I am going to come up with recipes using raw mangoes, beyond the usual. Fingers crossed.

 

 Kaancha Aam diye Murgi: Chicken with raw mangoes and roasted spices

Ingredients

 Boneless chicken - 1 kg
Ginger-Garlic paste - 5-6 tbsp
Raw mango grated - 1 whole
Green chilies (finely chopped) - 3-4tbsp
Chopped coriander leaves - 3/4 cup
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Mustard oil

To roast and grind together
Coriander seeds - 4tbsp
Cumin seeds - 2tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp 
 

Method 

 Heat mustard oil in a kadhai. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a few minutes.

Add the grated raw mango, chopped green chilies, coriander leaves and the roasted spice mix. Fry the masala until oil separates and add the chicken.

Cook on high heat stirring rigorously until oil separates.

Add salt and sugar, cover and cook on low heat.

The chicken will cook in the juices and you'll know it's done when the juices have dried up and oil separates from the masala laced chicken 

Serve with steamed rice or Rotis.

Methi Fish

 The last few days have been absolutely crazy. Shopping, bargaining, running around,  guests, chaos, dancing and laughing and mindless banter sometimes ending up in tears (you know how it is to be teased), endless eating and funny tummy — It was my little cousin's Upanayan (sacred thread ceremony) and boy was it crazy fun. In fact, the party is still on. But I have been missing this place and I had to post something. I made this the day the first guests arrived last Saturday, my aunt and her daughters. We had been out shopping all day and when we returned I wanted to toss up something special for them. But was I enervated. So it had to be something quick and no fuss. There was fresh Bekti fillet in the fridge and all I needed was a quick marinade.

My aunt, mashimoni, is very fond of the aroma of fenugreek. She loves the methi chicken I make. So I decided that would be the flavour of the evening - Methi. Here goes,...

 Ingredients 

Bekti Fillet - 750 gms
Vinegar - 2-3 tbsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1tbsp 
Paste of whole dried red chilies (soaked in warm water first) - 2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds (methi) - 2tbsp (dry roasted)
Curry leaves -  2-3 sprigs
Salt to taste
White oil - 2-3 tbsp 

A few babana leaves

Method

Marinade the fish with all the ingredients, including the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves for about 45 minutes.

Wrap the fish, in batches, in banana leaves, and grill in th oven at 180 degree centigrade for about 30 minutes.

Serve with lime and onion rings.

  And now I am hurrying off to the parlour. The final gala tonight and I am all set. The menu for tonight> KILLER.

Badami Phulkopir Roast (Cauliflower slow-cooked in an almond-cashew gravy)

Yesterday I joined my mother and aunt for an afternoon adda session. My mother, as usual, was complaining about me, how I wreck havoc with the kitchen and how she hates to enter the kitchen ever since I have started my blog. Nothing is in its place. It was her birthday so I kept quiet, even promised to be more careful. However, the conversation soon drifted back to my childhood. How I would make weird stuff with raw vegetables and flour, mix them with water and garnish them with leaves from any flower pot I could reach. The worst part..I often forced my masterpieces down people's throat. In fact, just it was my aunt who fell prey to my infantile culinary experiments. I was devil personified it seems.

I do remember slipping into the kitchen whenever Ma wasn't looking and pestering the cooks. I would ask for flour and oil and vegetables. And I remember my joy when they would give me that cube of potato, a cauliflower floret, a spoonful of flour, a pinch of turmeric....it was my treasure and I would spent all afternoon creating gastronomic delight. I rolled my first chapati at 4 you know, a perfect round one my aunts tell me. But then sometime through the years I forgot how to roll one. I am yet to get my skill back. 

Ah the memories..

Anyway, I made this dish, cauliflower slow-cooked in an almond-cashew gravy, for mommy darling yesterday. It is my adaptation of a family recipe. And Ma loves it. I believe you guys will love it too.

 Spice mix 

 Ingredients

Nutmeg - 1/2 tsp
Mace - 2
Shah Jeera or Black cumin - 3/4 tsp
Shah Marich (white peppercorns) - 1tsp
Black cardamom - 1 (just the seeds of course)

Method

Dry roast them and grind together.

 Badami Phulkopir Roast

Ingredients 

Cauliflower - 1 whole (medium)
Ghee
Cardamom - 3-4 
Cloves - 3-4
Cinnamon stick - 2 inch
Bay leaves - 2
Spice mix - 3/4 tsp
Whole dried red chilies - 5-6
Whole black peppers - 1tsp
Onion paste - 1 cup
Garlic paste - 1tsp
Ginger paste - 1 1/2 tbsp
Tomato puree - 100g
Almond - 60g
Cashew nuts- 40g
Raisins - a fistful
Coriander powder - 11/2 tbsp
Cumin powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1tsp
Sugar - 2tbsp
Fresh cream - 4-5 tbsp 

 Method

Make a paste with the almond and cashew nuts and keep aside.

Heat 2-3 tbsp ghee in a kadhai and toss in the cauliflower florets with a pinch of salt. Fry the cauliflowers until light golden and keep aside.

In another pan heat 4-5 tbsp ghee and add the bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, whole dried red chilies and the spice mix. Once the aroma fills your nostrils add the onion paste.

Fry the onion on low heat until soft and oil separates. Then add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for some more time. Once done add the tomato puree, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Fry the masala until oil separates.

Now add the almond-cashew paste and keep stirring rigorously on low heat.

Toss in the raisins and peppercorns, and add water (about a litre). Add salt and sugar, bring to boil, lower heat and cover and cook for about 20 minutes.

Remove cover and let the gravy reduce a little. Add the cauliflower. Let it cook on low heat until cauliflower is done and the gravy reduces and attains a creamy texture.Remember to stir every once in a while, carefully. The gravy shouldn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Finally adjust seasoning, add fresh cream and remove from heat.

Serve with rotis or paranthas.