Doodh Puli Pithe - A Bengali delicacy

Doodh Puli Pithe

Ingredients:

• Rice powder               – 1 cup
• Maida                            – 2 tbl spoon
• Milkmaid                     – ½ can 
• Grated Coconut        – 1 cup
• Milk                               – 1 ½ litres
• Cardamom powder – 1 tea spoon
• Raisins                          – 20
• Cashew Nuts              – 15
• Sugar                             – ½ cup

Preparation:

Filling:

• Mix the grated coconut and milkmaid condensed milk. Heat the mixture till it thickens to a nice consistency to act as a filling. Add half tblspoon of cardamom powder and remove from heat.

Dough:

• Dry roast the rice powder for around 5 minutes in a pan.
• Heat water. Add the rice powder and maida in it and knead well to make a nice dough.

      

     Puli:

• Make small balls from the dough. Spread the balls by using hand and stuff the coconut filling into it. Fold it and seal the edges by pressing hard. You can give a design of your choice to the edges.

• Heat milk in a heavy bottomed pan till it reduces to half.
• Add raisins, cashew nuts and sugar in it. Add the remaining cardamom powder.
• Add the pulis to the milk and cover it with a lid and cook for around 15 minutes.
• Take it out in a bowl and serve cold.  

Chicken Biriyani - The irresistible main course

Chicken Biriyani

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 3/4 Kgs
•  Basmati rice – ½ kg
• Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tea spoons
• Chili Powder – 1 tea spoon
• Turmeric Powder – 1/3 tea spoon 
• Cumin powder – 1 tea spoon
• Onions – medium sized, 3 for paste, 3 sliced lengthwise
• Mint leaves – a small bunch
• Coriander leaves – a small bunch
• Green Cardamom – 7-8
• Black Cardamoms – 2
• Cloves – 12
• Cinnamon stick – 3-4 pieces of ½ inch size
• Black Peppercorns – 15-20
• Bay leaves – 3-4
• Kesar(Saffron) – a pinch
• Milk – ½ cup
• Boiled eggs – 2
• Yogurt – 1 Tbl spoon
• Salt – as per taste
• Oil - 2 Tbl spoon
• Butter – 3 tea spoons

      Preparation:

      Rice:

- Heat thrice the amount of water in a big vessel. 

- Add rice, 3-4 green cardamoms, 4-5 cloves, 1 cinnamon  stick, bay leaves, 7-8 black peppercorns in it.  

- Cook the rice till almost done(like 80% cooked). Drain water and keep the rice  aside. 

      Chicken:

      - Marinate the chicken by mixing it with yogurt, salt, chili powder, turmeric powder and keep aside for an hour.
- Heat oil in a vessel. Add the remaining spices (cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, bay leaves).
- When fragrant add ginger garlic paste, onion paste, chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and       sauté until brown and oil separates from the spices.
- Add the marinated chicken and cook for 20 minutes till chicken is cooked.

      Biriyani: 

      - Deep fry the sliced onions until brown and keep aside.

      - Mix saffron in warm milk and keep aside for 15 minutes.

-     - In a thick bottomed vessel, add butter. Put a layer of rice. On top of that layer put a layer of chicken. Put coriander and mint leaves on it. Put fried onions. Sprinkle saffron milk and butter. Add another rice layer and again the same layer. And finally on top put the last layer of rice.

      - Cover the vessel and cook in low flame for 25-30 mins. 
         (Alternatively: Preheat oven at 350 degree C. Put the vessel in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes.)
-     - Remove from stove(or oven) and let it cool.

      - Once cooked, put the remaining deep fried onions and sliced boiled eggs on top.

     The irresistible chicken biriyani is ready to serve. Serve with raita.

Roshogolla - An easy entry to Bong's heart!

Roshogolla

Hom bhaat khaata hai, maachh khaata hai, chai khaata hai, jol bhi khaata hai...tumko koi apotti hai?
Aaj hom tumhe botayega Roshogolla baanaane ka torikaa?

Ingredients:

•  Milk                       – 1 litre
•  Lemon juice           – 2 tea spoons
•  Sugar                     – 1.5 cups
•  Cardamom powder – A generous pinch
•  Semolina(Suji)       – 1 tea spoon
•  Water                    – 2 cups

Preparation:

• To prepare chenna bring the milk to boil and add lemon juice in it and keep stirring until the milk curdles and the whey separates.

• Strain out the whey using a muslin cloth. You can hang it for few hours to strain off the whey completely.
• In a wide vessel take the chenna and mix the suji in it and knead it for 10 minutes until it becomes smooth in texture.
• Form small sized balls and make sure there are no cracks it it, although mine got some cracks. :)

• In a thick bottom vessel pour water and sugar and put it in medium flame.
• Keep stirring the mixture till sugar dissolves completely and starts bubbling. Add the cardamom powder to the sugar syrup.
• Now add the balls slowly into the mixture and simmer by covering with a lid.

• Cook for around 15 minutes by stirring the balls every 3-4 minutes.
• Let the roshogollas cool down or freeze them for few hours. Serve with chopped nuts.

And you have the roshogollas ready to serve your sweet tooth. 

Something Fishy...

Fish Fry

A get together of friends, pouring outside, beer bottles open, someone strums the guitar and everyone gives chorus and sings together...
Wow! What else do you need to enjoy the evening! 

Oh wait a second...some fish fries? 

Yes! FISH FRIES! :)

Ingredients:

• Pomfret – 1 medium sized
• Turmeric powder – ½ tea spoon
• Red chilli powder – 1 tea spoon
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tea spoon
• Lime juice – ½ tea spoon
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 2 tea spoons
• Onions, tomato and lime for garnishing

Preparation:

• Wash the Pomfret properly and make slits in its body so that the masalas can be stuffed properly.

• Mix all the masalas and prepare a nice paste. 
• Now coat this masala on the fish gently and evenly and marinate it for about an hour.

• In a non-stick pan put 2 tea spoons of oil and allow it to heat up.
• Now put the fish on the pan and shallow fry it for 2-3 minutes. Turn the side and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Keep frying until both the sides turn reddish. 
• Remove the fish from pan and remove the extra oil by using paper napkins.

Garnish the delicious fish with onions, lime and red tomatoes.

Cheers. 

Stuffed Baingan Masala

Stuffed Baingan Masala

Ingredients:
Small brinjals  – 6 pieces
Onion – 2-3 medium sized finely chopped
Green chilli – 4-5 finely chopped
Ground nut – 100 grams
Green Coriander – 2 tsp finely chopped
Coriander powder – ½  tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Cooking oil – 1 Tbsp

Preparation:
1) Make two perpendicular slits in the brinjals till 3/4^th of the length and keep aside. Take care that you don’t end up slitting it till end.
2) Roast the ground nut and grind them coarsely.
3) Now add to the ground nut powder all other masalas(coriander powder, chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder), chopped onions, chopped green chillis and chopped coriander.
4) Mix them properly using your hand until they become moist. You can also sprinkle a bit water to make it little moist. If you want to make it little sweet you can add a little jaggery in it but I prefer it spicy, so no jaggery in my recipe. You can also squeeze half a lemon in it.
5) Now stuff the brinjals with the masala that we have just prepared. Keep some masala extra for the gravy.
6) In a non stick kadai add oil and allow it to heat up.
7) Once the oil is hot, put the extra masalas and fry it for 3-4 minutes.
8) Now add the stuffed brinjals in the half cooked masala and keep cooking it in medium flame, covered. Turn the brinjals every 5 minutes. Make sure you do it gently so that the stuffing don’t come out.
9) Once the brinjals are little cooked, put 1 cup of water in it and cover it up and keep cooking until brinjals are fully cooked and tender.

Serve the spicy stuffed baingan masala with hot chapattis. As a rice lover I love to eat this with plain rice as well.