Celebrating Durga Puja with some Natural sweetness

Durga Puja celebrations are on full swing.  Almost every locality is trying their best to showcase intricate craftsmanship and detailing on the Pandals. These pandals are a piece of art in itself where inspirations are drawn from all walks of life. So while, one pandal is highlighting the tribals and their lifestyle , another one has chosen the theme Butterfly or Prajapati, as they call in Bengali, this year. You truly have to see it to believe it that the decorations are so life like and so intricate. 

The essence of Durga Puja is an amalgamation of the culture, artistic expression and the joy of celebration. People get dressed up in their fineries and visit each pandal with enthusiasm and joy. Another thing celebrated during Puja with fervour is the love of food. People enjoy the nightlong Pandal hopping along with eating out.  From roadside stalls to high end restaurants, every place is full of people who are celebrating Ma Durga and her arrival on Earth. 

Food forms an integral and important part of the festivity. The young ones like to put their hands on streetfood like Puchka, jhalmuri , momo, ice cream etc . While some others like to indulge in traditional food, in the form of Amish and Niramish thali (Veg and Non veg).  

Streetfood is high on demand at this time of the year, where people like to just grab something on the go. Amongst others,  Ice creams are an eternal favourite with people of all ages. With the weather still humid and the scorching sun, people love to relieve the heat by indulging in some yummy Ice cream. Keeping the traditional flavours in mind, Mother Diary has come up with a new flavour, Nolen Gur Ice cream. Bengal is well known for the sweet Nolen gur available, which is basically date palm jiggery. This gur is used extensively in many traditional Bengali sweets and other desserts. Using the same gur in an ice cream, gives you a natural and organic sweetness. 

Us being, total Ice cream lovers, found ourselves digging into the Nolen gur Ice cream cups. The natural sweetness and the beautiful brownish hue of the Ice cream rings traditional bells and is a wonderful way to celebrate the season of Festivity.

It is available in pack sizes of 750 ml and 90 ml and is priced at Rs 150/- and Rs 20/- respectively. 

Happy Puja Binging

Disclaimer : This post is in association with Mother's Diary

Welcoming Festivities with fun, fervour and hygiene

India is the land of Festivals with each having its own charm and significance. The basic purpose being getting together and celebrating life in general with new clothes, gossips and lots of  food.  Month long preparations begin where meticulous plans are carried out to make the most of the upcoming festivity.

This time of the year brings along a string of festivals. With the nip in the air and the appearance of new blooms, nature announces the beginning of the most important  festival amongst Bengalis-Durga Puja. Calcutta being a very cosmopolitan city, it is amazing to see people from all religions get together to celebrate the festival of cuture, passion and artistic expression. All over  the city,  beautiful and intricate Pandals are set up which compete with each other in detailing, craftsmanship and innovation. 

Year long preparations are done to decide the theme, colours and the detailing which includes the idol Durga with her 4 children who are believed to have descended on Earth at this time of the year.

The run up to the celebrations include buying new clothes, getting rid of new and buying new things for the house and most importantly maintaining a clean and hygienic surrounding in and around the house.

The seasonal change brings with itself the appearance of all sorts of insects esp cockroaches in the house. Cockroaches are carriers of bacteria that can lead to an array of diseases from diarrhoea to food poisoning. The presence of cockroaches should be taken very seriously  as they can live in all places and corners of the house, in cracks and crevices, behind cylinders, under the cabinet etc. They crawl on food and utensils at night and spread food poisoning and they love to hide in hard to reach areas where regular cleaning does not help.

A regular cleaning regime becomes important to ensure a check on cockroaches and with the festival season approaching it becomes all the more important to combat them with sure shot methods. Some of the things to remember are never to leave food in open esp at night, ensuring areas like sink, under cabinet and around cylinder are clean as these are some of the most favourite hiding spots. The most effective way to maintain cleanliness in all areas is the usage of Godrej Lal Hit as it comes with its unique deep reach nozzle which helps to kill even the hidden cockroaches. Use Godrej Lal hit every month and ensure a safe hygienic and clean household.

Welcome the season of festivals with lots of fun , fervour and assurance from Godrej Lal hit to have your house free from the menace of cockroaches.

Happy Durga Puja to all of you.

Read more about Godrej Lal Hit here : http://www.godrejhit.com/product-lal-hit.html

You can buy it online from :

  

http://www.amazon.in/HIT-Crawling-Insect-Killer-CIK/dp/B00XORDU9E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1475222214&sr=8-2&keywords=hit

http://www.bigbasket.com/pd/40007017/hit-kills-hidden-cockroaches-400-ml/

Disclaimer : This post is in association with Godrej Lal Hit

Doodh wali Tori/Turai/Jhinge/Ridge gourd

While growing up, I had no interest in food. I was too caught up with my love for music, needle work and everything else but food. Therefore, I never entered the kitchen but to seldom chop some onions for my mom. It was perhaps in those rare visits to the kitchen that I subconsciously picked up few recipes and techniques of cooking. Visual learning is pretty mighty, I discovered later in life. When I began my tryst with kitchen affairs, I would recall all of that and put them to experiment.

My Great Grand Father had come to Calcutta from Punjab and had set up his transport business. Living in Calcutta, my Great Grand-mother, my Grand-mother and then my mother adopted the local produce and used them in our typical Punjabi recipes. For example, we put the raw Papaya into our Parantha's and made a new avatar which nobody in Punjab is aware of. The raw banana found its way in our style of Kofta curry and the humble Jhinge/Ridge gourd found itself in a creamy milk and cream gravy.

This week, at Kolkata Food Bloggers the theme of our ongoing series of event is "Family Signature Recipes" where Debjani Chatterjee Alam is the featured blogger who blogs from Debjanir Rannaghar. For this event, I decided to share our family favourite recipe of Doodh wali Tori/Ridge gourd. 

A super simple way of cooking the ridge gourd and then simmering it in milk and finishing up with some cream to give it a delicious creamy avatar. At home, at times, we make this dish with more milk and then dunk in small pieces of Roti and chopped onion to make it into a one bowl dish. 

Do try this rather amusing and simple dish of Tori/Jhinge/Ridge gourd and pair it with your Roti/Parantha and some onions.

Ingredients : For 2 servings

• 4-5 Tori/Turai/Jhinge/Ridge gourd
• 1 medium size onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1-2 green chilly, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp cream
• 1 tbsp oil

Procedure : 

Peel and chop tori/ridge gourd.

Take oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds. As they start spluttering, add chopped garlic, green chilly and onion. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes or till the onion becomes slightly brown. 

Add turmeric powder and salt and stir it well.

Add the chopped tori/ridge gourd and mix again.

Put the lid of the pressure cooker and allow 3-4 whistles on medium heat. 

Let the pressure release on its own.

Take a kadai/deep pan and add the cooked tori/ridge gourd. On medium heat, evaporate the excess water from the cooked tori. 

Now, add milk and let it cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes or till the milk reduces to a required consistency. 

Finish off the dish by stirring in cream.

Our family favourite one bowl dish with small pieces of roti and chopped onions in the Doodh wali Tori/ridge gourd 

This recipe is part of KFB's ongoing event where Debjani is the featured blogger who blogs from Debjanir Rannaghar. 

Happy family recipe enjoying

Amrita

Ara’yes- Crispy Mutton mince stuffed Pita

I have been sharing so many posts on desserts and cakes that I have actually started feeling guilty for doing so. It makes me feel so unhealthy especially because I am very particular about our daily eating habits, trying to make it as healthy as possible. I exercise daily and adopt portion control to satiate my sweet desires. In fact even the desserts I make are just for 2 portions, my daughter Vaanya and my husband Vishal. 

Since Baking is my prime love, I cannot help but keep experimenting some form of it in my tiny kitchen. This time I decided to try some Savoury baking. With Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event 'Bake Mania', I decided to experiment with an interesting recipe I came across while going through a book called 'The middle Eastern kitchen' by Rukmini Iyer. 

As I learnt from the book, Ara’yes is a simple and traditional Levantine recipe which has a crispy meat stuffed Pita bread. The traditional recipes call for the raw mince meat to be mixed with spices and then stuffing it in the Pita bread to be baked, grilled or toasted. The book, however, suggested to cook the mince meat first and then stuffing it. I followed the idea in the book of cooking the meat first. The basic recipe of the mince meat is the one that I keep making at home, a basic and homely mutton keema recipe. I made the Pita breads at home and kept them a little thin than usual because I wanted a more crispy Ara’yes. 

Vaanya, my daughter loved it more than anyone else. In fact, while I was taking pics I thought that she will not be interested in it but when she saw me taking a bite of it, she got inquisitive and after the first bite she demanded more of it. That obviously made me super happy and we ended up making a dinner meal out of it. I paired my Ara’yes with a hung curd dip to which I added chopped onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander leaves. 

Make it more spicier to suit your taste buds and enjoy this crispy meat filled sandwich. 

Recipe Source : Adapted from Rukmini Iyer's book 'The Middle Eastern Kitchen'
Meat filling

Ingredients :

• 300 gms Mutton mince
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tomato, grated
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tbsp refined oil

Whole Garam masala (Khada masala)

• 1" cinnamon stick
• 2 whole green cardamoms, slightly crushed
• 1 whole black cardamom
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 1-2 dry red chilli (de-seeded)
• 4 whole black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cumin seeds

Procedure : 

Wash the mutton mince and strain it to let the water drain out completely.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the whole Garam masala (Khada masala). 

Now add the onions and cook on medium heat till they are brown in colour and nicely caramelized. 

Add the ginger garlic paste and cook till it leaves oil. 

Now add the mutton mince and stir it in well. 

It will leave some water. Keep cooking it on medium heat till the water evaporates. 

Cook till the mutton mince leaves oil. Now add the grated tomatoes and salt, turmeric powder and garam masala powder and cook for 5 more minutes. 

Add 1/2 cup water and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Cook for 2 whistles and then reduce the flame to low and cook for 15 minutes. 

Let steam escape naturally and if there is water in the mutton mince, reduce it on medium flame. 

Whole wheat Pita

Ingredients : Yields 4-5 pita breads

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• a pinch of sugar
• warm water for kneading (about 1/2 cup)

Procedure : 

Take flour, instant yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil in a bowl. Mix well.

Add warm water little by little and knead it to a dough using water as required. 

Take a greased bowl and put the dough in it. Cover it with a damp piece of muslin cloth and allow to rise for an hour or more or till it doubles in size. 

Heat a griddle or tawa.

Make 5-6" round pita bread from the dough and put on the griddle on low heat. Cook both sides and allow it to puff up by placing it on the heat. 

Alternately, bake the pita bread in a preheated oven (at 200 degree Celsius) for 10 minutes or till it puffs up. 

Cut them in halves. 

Ara’yes assembly : 

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Grease an oven tray.

Take halved pita breads and stuff them with the mutton mince mixture.

Brush with butter or olive oil and sprinkle some salt on it. 

Place these on the baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes or till they become crispy. 

Serve with a dip made with hung curd, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and chopped coriander leaves. 

This recipe is part of Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event called Bake Mania where our member Urmi Ghosh who blogs from Ume's Kitchen is the featured blogger of the week. 

Happy Savoury Baking
Amrita

Aloo Dum- low calorie version

When I was a school going kid, my tiffin was regularly hauled by my friends. Usually my Mom would pack me Parantha's of all possible fillings. On other days my tiffin beamed of sabzi and plain Parantha and on those fortunate lucky days I carried my treasured tiffin of my Mom's absolute lipsmacking Aloo Dum. My friends would finish it off even before the lunch bell rang, hiding beneath the desks and sneaking it while the teacher explained some boring subject on the blackboard. Yes, that was the magic of tiffin time that we all still cherish. 

I, on the other hand, loved my friends Puri sabzi and that addictive unstoppable fried goodness called Bhujiya. I just loved it so much. I was happy to trade my tiffin with their box of goodness. 

Whenever my friends came home, their was only one collective demand 'Aloo Dum'. My mom loved to plate it with generous dollops of tamarind chutney and some chopped fresh coriander leaves. She would put a toothpick on each making it easier for us to pick our's and relish it. 

With Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event on Street Food, I could think of nothing better than my Mom's Aloo Dum. Although now mommy makes a healthier version with the Airfryer so that the deep frying part is avoided. 

Make it and enjoy it as much as my friends always did. 

Ingredients : 

• 500 gms baby potatoes, parboiled
• 2 medium sized onions, chopped
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 medium sized tomato, chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1/2 cup curd
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp garam masala
• fresh coriander, chopped
• green chillies, chopped
• Tamarind chutney

Procedure : 

Peel potatoes and make holes with a fork in 3-4 places. 

Take a bowl and add salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric powder and little refined oil. Coat the potatoes in it. Put this in the Airfryer for 10 minutes at 200 degree. Remember to turn the potatoes after 5 minute mark.

(If you do not have the Air fryer, deep fry the potatoes)

Take 2 tbsp oil in a deep pan, add chopped onions. Cook for 2 minutes and then add ginger garlic paste (once onions start browning on the edges)

Cook for another 2 minutes or till the mixture leaves oil.

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook them till they are soft and mashed. Add the tomato puree and cook till the mixture leaves oil.

Add salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. 

Lower the flame and add the lightly beaten curd. 

Mix the potatoes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and green chillies and top with spoonfuls of tamarind chutney before serving.

This recipe is part of Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event Street Food Expedition where Moumita Ghosh is the featured blogger of the week who blogs from Peek'n'Cook

Happy healthy binging

Amrita