Memoir

A Taste Test and A Break

8:45 PM

via.google images

A couple of month’s back Kalyan of finely chopped shared a post written by Pooja dhingra of Le 15 Patissiere. He said if your family tells you should run a restaurant then you should read it. That made me thinking. Its not like everyone who tastes my food wants me to start food business but I hear this pretty often. Trust me I don’t have big foodie dream rather my love for food (which is there on my minf 24X7) is quite platonic. I love to cook and don’t have much expectations from it. But that article made me want to go for an acid test. A test where family members are not associated, where appreciations are not tossed just because they love me and most importantly where my food would be tasted after paying the price. That way no one will spare the mistakes or the quality. And  I am excited to share that I had my first food sale this weekend. Which was a roaring success and am overwhelmed with the response and the appreciations.



It was a part of the Nari seba sangha spring fete in Jodhpur park (please read more about it here). This is one of the renowned social events in Kolkata where a small fair is organized in their premise for 3 days. Almost 150 or more established and budding businesses (all run by women) participate with their unique products. You will find all types of products like designer and embroidered sarees, dress materials, home furnishings and decorative, ceramics, stationery, handmade soaps and oils, candles, jwelleries etc. The selection is done through an interview where products are also checked. I wanted to be a part of this prestigious affair and appeared for the interview and to my own amusement got selected. Only 10 food stalls were there. including some renowned food joints of South Kolkata.

On my menu were dishes that I do best ie. Bengali styles lunch items-both veg and non veg, snacks, traditional desserts and bakes. All the items were cooked by us (I and my maternal aunt) in our house. It was quite difficult for inexperienced persons like us to manage such huge quantity without proper utensils but I am proud to say that we managed it well. Everyone praised the food on taste and quality and we gained huge popularity. Who came on the first day brought more foodies to our stall the next days. Lots of small catering orders are also coming in which we were not prepared for but given the circumstances would have to rethink.

The best praise came from a 40 something lady who said my food reminded her of her mom’s cooking. Most of them wanted us to start our own business so that they can taste this regularly.

Now you might ask why dint I shared this news before. Its just because I was not sure if we could pull it off successfully. Also if you read my blog you must have realized that I prefer to maintain my anonymity as a blogger. It was hard for me to step out of my comfort zone. But if I go there next year would definitely give a shout out to you all.

With all the hard work of last week I definitely have earned myself a good break. We are off to Thailand for a 12 days trip. See you soon with loads of pictures on return.

Bengali

Labra, Bengali Ratatouille?

11:51 AM



This week proves to be very busy for me. We had 2 back-to-back birthdays, 1 anniversary and finally tomorrow is Saraswati puja. The puja this year is important for us as our son’s writing initiation or hatekhori would be done tomorrow. This is a Bengali tradition where in front of the goddess the priest will introduce the Bengali alphabets to the child. The parents offer flower and pray to the goddess for her blessings to be showered on the child. Our kid is extremely excited. Though not sure but he thinks something important is going to happen to him tomorrow.

After making 2 birth day and 1 anniversary cake and cooking full birthday dinner for my father on his birthday am too tired to get excited about this. But right now am an emotional mush, this happens to me every time he makes me realize that he is growing too fast.

Anyways here is a quick recipe that a reader of mine asked for. Labra is like an Bengali ratatouille or vegetable mishmash. Lots of varieties of vegetables are cooked together with ginger and Bengali five spices till they are soft and coated in their own juice. This is a very basic and simple dish but very rich in flavours. Mostly served on puja days with niramishkhichuri and roasted papad.

Curry

Undhiyu, a Gujarati winter delicacy with root vegetables and seasonal herbs

8:03 AM



I have this whimsical feeling of cooking or baking something as and when my heart desires for it. It does not have to something fancy or exotic. Sometimes even a rustic and everyday dish steals my heart and when it strikes I know I have to make it right away. Last week something similar happened when I saw undhiyoo on Arch’s blog.Then a video came up on Saee’s blog and the blogosphere seemed to have flooded with varieties of undhiyoo recipes. I wanted to make and taste it so badly but the recipe called for some very seasonal and regional products like garlic chives (garlic greens), Surti papdi and purple yam. I have never seen purple yam or garlic green in markets, well I never looked for it. But I was pleasantly surprised when on my weekly shopping trip to the haat (market) my trusted green grocer showed me some garlic greens and asked if I want to buy them. He knows am very curious of such uncommon products and I was happy to grab it. Pushed all other plans aside the whole time was then spent to shop for undhiyu ingredients. Surti papdi (broad beans), baby brinjals, yam, sweet potato and fresh fenugreek greens.

Finally got enough time to cook it today. Undhiyoo is a Gujarati winter delicacy where various types of root vegetables are cooked with beans and methi dumplings (methi ke muthia) in a green spice paste made of garlic chives, coriander leaves and coconut. The vegetables are stuffed with the green paste and then cooked in layers on a very slow flame. The end result is a very rustic dish cooked with hearty deshi vegetables to warm our hearts on a winter afternoon.

I read at a few blog that this dish calls for a lot of work or preparation but trust me I found it quite easy. Blame our Bengali elaborate holiday lunches which calls for a minimum of five side dishes with rice, it was a breeze for me to prepare and cook it. Though I never tasted this dish before but from the beautiful aroma of the methi muthias frying in the hot oil made me sure that I was on the right path. I loved the green spice paste so so much that ended up adding a whole lot of it. And even ended up stuffing some Mackerels fish with this to fry and accompany our meal later. We enjoyed it with hot steamed rice, roasted mackerel and Papad (sorry but that’s all what my Bong gene wanted). And now that I am writing this after such a satisfying meal all I can say is I was in Deshi winter heaven today.

Chutney Pickle n Preserves

Instant Chili Pickle; well almost

8:55 AM

Winter definitely calls for something fiery something spicy. Which will shake away the winter laziness and remind us of our very existence. If that is something you believe in then this chili pickle is for you. A hot, spicy, tangy almost instant chili pickle which pairs really well with out of the wok stuffed parathas and khichris.

Am not quite aware of the varieties of chillies available around and not very fond of them either. All I like is the beautiful flavour of the green chilies and the round taste that it provides when added to curries. Never ever dared to touch that fiery red smashed potato that my in laws make with lots of fried dry red chillies. As a layman the thumb rule for me is, the shorter the chilies, higher the heat. That way I always keep away from the small round chillies that are found in Kolkata markets. Even for this green chili pickle I chose the longer variety of green chilies which has a beautiful aroma but less heat.
For obvious reason my family never ever believed that I like chili pickle unless one winter morning I made hot fluffy alu parathas, Delhi style and had them only with this chili pickle. After my years in Delhi am a true believer that stuffed parathas are best eaten with hot and spicy pickles especially chili pickle. Though I often make stuffed parathas at home during winters still I miss those small eateries around the colleges where they served out of the pan hot, greasy, enormous alu parathas. As much as I try am yet to infuse that smoky flavour in my parathas. But what I can make easily is this green chili pickle, which is almost instant. This is my own recipe and I prefer to make it in small quantity for that crunch.

Yes am hooked for life.

Bengali

Mug Daler Bhaja Pithe or Muger Puli

8:45 AM

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand. 
 ~Irish Blessing

Today I am not in a frame of mind to write about a recipe. Today is a kind of day when everything seems obsolete, every daily chore feels like a task. Still am making this post as I promised to many of my readers that I will help them making Muger Puli on Poush Sankranti. And to keep my promise I prepared it day before yesterday and clicked the pictures. So here it is. A traditional sweet made specially for Makar Sankranti or the Harvest festival. This is a stuffed sweet where the case is made with mashed yeallo lentil which is dry roasted and boiled with little water.the filling is made with scraped coconut, milk solids and date palm jaggery. The half moon shaped sweets are then deep fried and soaked in date palm jaggery syrup.
Enjoy the recipe and pardon me for not being able to write much.

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