Noodle and Pasta

Penne in Tomato Sauce with Grilled Veggies and Prawns

10:19 PM

Finally am back from home after a lo…..ng vacation of almost 2 months. The important works were done with satisfying results so I boarded the flight with relief…but with a heavy jeart, felt sad leaving parents behind. More this time, as now they miss their grandson and his all day long activities a lot. Though this time my younger brother accompanied me for a short vacation here but still am missing Maa, Baba, Niece, Elder brother, cousins and everything about HOME.

Our house was in a big MESS, two months clutter and dust invited me with open hands and I was not sure where to start my cleaning from. Everything in the house was bathed in dust and grime and for the past three days I had to run the washing machine twice daily to get rid of the unwashed clothes. Even that was not enough the garden resembled a mini jungle and my cub wanted to play hide and seek there. But the thing that almost brought tears in my eyes was the sight of my plants. 90% of the plants have dried as when Hubby was abroad the maid didn’t appear to water them. All my rose plants, chrysanthemums, hibiscus, mogra, crotons are dead. Can’t help as life needs to move on and that too on a fast pace if you have a toddler to deal with. So I put my hair in a bun, deposited the baby to brother, ordered home delivery and equipped with some cleaning equipments started cleaning the house. The next morning the same suit happened but then in the afternoon stomach started grumbling and we were in dire need of some food. None of us wanted another home delivery so thought of some quick one pot meal. A plateful of Penne with frilled vegetables and prawns stirred in a spicy tangy tomato sauce. These prawns I have brought from home (like every time) and Maa lightly fried them with salt and turmeric. With the help of the OTG the meal was very quick to prepare. And that was absolute yum and satisfying, after which we were in no mood to get into cleaning spree and finally decided to have some afternoon nap.

The house in now in better shape but still another week’s work is left. I also have brought some plants from my Maa’s beautiful garden which I already have planted. Hope they will thrive and flower soon. As in the blogosphere, I am extremely sorry for being irregular for a long time. I have missed so many of your great posts, a lot to catch in the dashboard. Hope to get back to action as soon as possible.

Here is the quick recipe of the pasta that we all cherished.

Penne in Tomato Sauce with Grilled Veggies and Prawns
(Serves 3)
Ingredients:

Whole wheat Penne: 1 packet
Assorted vegetables cut in thick stripes: 2 cups (I used Carrot, beans, Capsicum, corn, black olives)
Prawns: ½ cup; lightly sautéed with salt
Tomato: 5 medium sized
Garlic: 10 fat cloves
Onion: 1 medium; sliced
Olive oil: 3 tbsp
Cheese: ¼ cup; grated
Chilli flakes:
Oregano
salt

Method:
Cut the veggies and mix with salt and few drops of oil. Place them on a baking tray and grill for 5 minutes at 300 C. keep aside.

In the mean time prepare the pasta according to the package instruction. Boil them in plenty of water with salt and 1 tsp of oil. It should be al dente or firm to bite.

Also at the same time boil the tomatoes with salt for 7-8 minutes, peel and grind them to a smooth paste.

Chop the garlic and olives, keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and put half of the garlic. Once they turn light brown add the tomato puree. Taste the seasoning and let it boil on medium heat till it turns to gravy like consistency. Mix in some oregano, chilli flakes and Keep aside.

Now heat the rest of the oil and add the remaining garlic. Fry till light brown and add the sliced onion. Sauté on medium flame.

Once they are translucent mix in the veggies (except olives), prawns, salt and chilli flakes. Fry for a couple of minutes and add in the tomato sauce.

Let it coat all the veggies and prawns and then tip in the boiled penne. Mix with light hand as you don’t need broken pasta on your plate.

Mix chilli flakes, oregano, olives and adjust the salt.

Give it a good mix. Finally sprinkle the grated cheese and serve hot with some drink of your choice.

We had ours with Sprite.

Memoir

150 years of Tagore: The Magic Still Endures

10:21 PM

Portrait by Satyajit Ray
Today is Nobel laureate Poet Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary. The whole world is celebrating this day with his poem, song and drama. on this special eve here is an ode to the man who is still alive in our soul even 150 years after he was born

Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel laureate poet, writer, philosopher was the ambassador of Indian culture to the rest of the world. He is probably the most prominent figure in the cultural world of Indian subcontinent and the first Asian person to be awarded with the Nobel prize. Even though he is mainly known as a poet, his multifaceted talent showered upon different branches of art, such as, novels, short stories, dramas, articles, essays, painting etc. And his songs, popularly known as Rabindrasangeet, have an eternal appeal and is permanently placed in the heart of the Bengalis. He was a social reformer, patriot and above all, a great humanitarian and philosopher. India and Bangladesh - the national anthems of these two countries are taken from his composition. (Calcuttaweb.com)

you can read more about him Here and Here.

Bengali

Chalkumro Patay Chingri Paturi (Prawns wrapped in Ash Gourd Leaves)

1:08 AM



Like any other Region Bengalis have their favorite news paper which is Ananda Bazar Patrika or ABP. Before they start their day they love to stop by to this paper with their morning Cuppa, this is a part of their lives. Though the new age Bengalis are converting to English news papers like The Telegraph or Time of India but that comes to the family as an addition to this Bengali ABP. Most people say that the quality of the paper has degraded since its inception and nowadays prints useless news but enter any Bengali family in the morning and you will see the man of the house or the ‘Karta’ lazing on a cloth couch with this paper and a steaming cup of tea by his side. They love to read this paper paragraph by paragraph, line by line and in-between lines as this helps them to open storming discussion in the evening adda (chat session) at the local cha er Dokan (tea shop)…Love it or loathe it, they cant do without it.

This morning I was browsing through some old issues and found an article where celebrities have talked about what they are going to eat this summer to keep themselves cool. Well not only celebrities but all of us need to plan our summer diet carefully as this is the time of many a stomach infections. Home cooked Light meals accompanied by plenty of filtered water would be our best bet, also sneak all those colorful juicy fruits that summer offers. As for me I prefer light dishes cooked with minimum oil and spices. Come summer I also switch my cooking methods from frying to boiling, steaming and sautéing. We Bengalis have a lovely way of cooking veggies and fish which is called bhapa or steaming. Remember my Chalkumro Pata Die Chingri Macher Bati Tarkari/ Steamed Prawns with Ash Gourd Leaves …that was an ultimate steamed dish. Following that Paneer (Indian Cottage cheese), Cabbage, veggies could also be cooked.


I prefer steamed foods as this method retains the moisture, nutrient and the color of the ingredients. Think of a dish where the polite purple of eggplants creates contrast with pristine white of potatoes and lush green of beans…isn’t that sheer poetry on a plate. Also unlike traditional cooking method the ingredients in steaming process remains juicy and succulent and doesn’t loose out on flavor. This could be the best option for persons who like their food to be cooked with minimum oil or with no oil. I love to create exotic dishes with this traditional cooking method but today I would share a very humble recipe, kumro patay chingri paturi or Prawn with spices wrapped in pumpkin leaves. Recently I have come to know that traditional paturi of Bengal or leaf wrapped dishes should not be cooked in banana leaf; the idea here is to eat the leaves along with the ingredients so the leaves have to be edible. You can use any edible leaf for this, YES even spinach but Pumpkin, Ash Gourd, white pumpkin or bottle gourd leaves obviously imparts a nice aroma to this which would be missing that way.

If you like steaming as a cooking process, be very careful about the cooking time. Overcooked ingredients ruin all the fun.

ChalKumro patay Chingri Paturi
(serves 2)
Ingredients:

Ash Gourd leaves: 4 pieces;
while choosing edible leaves check the texture and the quality, try to find organic and tender ones. Here these leaves are from my Maa’s Garden.
Small prawns: a handful
Mustard seeds: ½ tsp
Scraped coconut: 1 tbsp
Green chilly: 1
Very finely chopped onion: ½ tsp
Turmeric
Salt
Few drops of mustard oil

Method:
First we need to prepare the leaves. For this wash them thoroughly under running water. Boil some water with salt and dip these leaves for a few seconds. This will not only kill all the germs but also will make it soft to wrap ingredients easily.

Put the chilly, mustard and prawns in a blender and make a coarse paste.Don’t add any water, the mix should be tight.

Now mix in the coconut, salt and turmeric. Keep aside.

Take a leaf on your open palm.
Put a spoonful of the mixture in the middle of the leaf.

Gently wrap from sides to make a tight parcel.

Repeat the same for the rest.

Now heat a flat pan/griddle or Tawa. Grease with a few drops of oil and place the prepared parcels.

Cook on very low for a couple of minutes on both sides.

Serve as evening snacks or with white steamed rice. Don’t forget the mustard sauce.

With warm rice and Kasundi (tart Mustard paste) these paturi taste heavenly.


Check out my Ilish MAcher Paturi or Hilsa in banana leaf recipe here.


Vegetarian Version:
1. Use crumbled Cottage cheese, preferably homemade ones.

2. lightly roast peanuts and coarsely pound them, mix with the spice mix. Makes an awesome filling for this.

3. Cabbage or cauliflower could also be used to get a mouth watering dish. For that don’t blend them in blender rather use a mortar n pestle to get coarse texture.

Variation:
1. You could use any other small or big fish either whole or coarse paste made in mortar n pestle.

2. Hilsa, Rohu works well in this recipe.

3. Now day’s big chefs are also trying chicken in this way. I never tried but you could try.


Tags:
Paturi, steamed dish, how to steam fish wrapped in leaves, edible leaves, bengali cooking, bangali paturi recipe, chingri paturi, banana leaf cooking, frying vegetables wrapped in leaves, prawns cooked with mustard, mustard prawn, benagali style steamed fish, patrani machhi, bangali paturi, paturi recipe, step by step paturi recipe, paturi tutorial, ilish macher paturi, chicken paturi, 

Bread Paratha etc

Besan ka Cheela/ Savory Gram Flour Pancake

11:42 AM



Thanks a ton to all my blogger friends who welcomed me back in my last post but am still at home with parents and family. Though it’s been long that am here but am not complaining, and I guess no one in my position would have complained too. After taking care of an over active baby and a maddening schedule this stay at Baper bari (father house) is like a breath of fresh air to me. Here I can wake up late and once I decide to leave the bed I can again laze around with my morning Cuppa, can eat great food cooked by Maa, can spend time with friends and I can do all these without ever worrying about the baby as I know he is in good care of his Didan (grandmother). Works are there and sometimes it include lot of travel but coming back to family and steaming hot comfort food always refresh my tired soul. And the cherry on the cake is Hubby is also away on another abroad trip so this elongated stay comes without any guilt pang….Do I need more reasons to be on the ninth cloud? Am going to enjoy this stint some more as one important work of mine is still pending. Though everyday am eating great food but Cooking has taken a back seat and am only entering the kitchen to cook on some special request from younger brother. Today after a couple of failure attempts finally I had successfully baked my first yeast bread and watching the dough inflate I literally jumped like a little kid. Yesterday I made these besan ka cheela or savory pancakes made with gram flour for breakfast. This is a very common breakfast item at our household and parents liked it very much as well.

Gram flour or chickpea flour contains more protein compared to other flours and is gluten free. This is also known for its anti-diabetic properties. It is an ancient item in beauty treatment mostly used as an alternative to soap to cleanse face and body. Cheela or chila is a soft pancake very common in northern part of India. Apart from Besan, cheelas are also made with yellow lentils. These are very light and could be made in a jiffy. Being the vegetable lover I am I always add very finely shredded veggies and fry them in non stick pans. Here is the recipe.

Besan Cheela
(makes 5)

Ingredients:
Gram Flour (besan): 1 cup (while editing the HTML this got deleted, sorry for the inconvenience)
Shredded carrots: 2 tbsp
Shredded beans: 1 tbsp
Chopped tomato: 2 tbsp
Chopped onion: 2 tbsp
Chopped green chillies: 2 no.s
Carom seeds (ajwain): ½ tsp
pinch of bi-carb of soda
Water
Salt
oil to fry

Method:
Except water put everything in a big bowl.

Add water to make a thin batter like pancake (approximately 11/4 cup). Check the seasoning.

Heat a non stick pan and grease with few drops of oil.

Pour a ladleful of the batter and swirl the pan to coat the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook on low for 30 second or till the sides of the pancake leave the sides.

Pour few more drops of oil at the sides and cook on both sides till lightly golden brown.

Serve hot with ketchup or any chutney of your preference.

Serving ideas:
I sometimes enjoy it with leftover coconut chatni and that tastes heavenly.

savory tomato chutney (recipe coming soon) tastes heavenly with this.

Besan cheelaTastes great with some gravy dish too.

Here is another version of cheela made by Sandeepa. 

Sending this to Priya's Pancake event. 

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