Patoler Malaikari (Parwal in coconut milk)

I am grateful to the viewers of my blog. My friends are liking my blog more and more. They are getting tempted by my recipes and attempting those too. As I have told earlier, I am not at all a professional cook. Cooking is my passion and I love to treat everybody with food directly from my own kitchen. Thus, when I see that somebody else is getting motivated by my cooking… I feel myself on the cloud 9 !!! And what is most encouraging is that they are making their special requests to me !!!! Like one of my old buddies, Moumita has requested me for vegetarian recipes.

I apologize my friends… the recipes which I posted here are mostly non-vegetarian. But I am a fan of veg dishes also. After marriage, it was like a challenge to me to serve my husband some vegetables. But now, even my mother-in-law can’t believe her own eyes how he relishes all the vegetables in his plate !!

So here is a veg. recipe…. Patoler Malaikari (Parwal cooked in coconut milk gravy). It is with very simple ingredients…. but it tastes really great. Moreover, it is not a very common recipe so you can surprise your guests with this. And it is a veg substitute for a very famous Bengali Recipe, viz. Prawn Malai Curry (Chingri machher malaikari). So, let’s have a look at this unique and tasty recipe J

 

Preparation Time – 10 mins, Cooking Time – 20 mins, Serving – 4

Ingredients:

1. Pointed gourd (Parwal or pôţol in Bengali) –  8-10 pcs
2. Ginger paste – 1 ½  Tsp
3. Garlic paste-  1Tsp
4. Onion Paste – 1 ½ Tbsp
5. Whole Garam Masala (green cardamom, clove, cinnamon) – 2-3 each
6. Turmeric powder – ½ Tsp
7. Red Chilli Powder – 1 Tsp
8. Green chilli - 2 (slit lengthwise)
9. Tomato puree – 2 Tbsp
10. Coconut Milk – ½ cup (Thick milk)
11. Salt – to taste
12. Sugar – 1 ½ Tsp
13. Oil – as required

Method:

First, peel the parwal (not completely, keep some of it’s skin onto it. Normally we do it like this - peel off the skin lengthwise for a 5 mm width. Then leave the skin for a 3 mm width. And continue).

Cut each parwal into half lengthwise.

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the halved parwals and sauté until golden both side. Don’t overfry them.

Remove from the pan and keep aside.

In the remaining oil in the pan, add the whole garam masala. When aroma comes, add garlic and onion paste. Fry till golden brown.

Add ginger paste, tomato puree, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt and sugar. Add a little amount of water if required. Cook the spices well till the raw smell is gone.

After that, add the coconut milk. Add the fried parwals. At this stage, you can add water a little as per your required thickness of the gravy. (But remember, it tastes better in thick gravy. So don’t add too much of water, considering parwals get cooked very quickly, so not much water will evaporate during the cooking.)

Cover the pan and bring it to boil. When the parwals are cooked properly, remove them from heat.

Serve it with hot steamed rice. 

Will anybody say now he hates parwal ????? 

Note:

If you want to make it completely veg, i.e, without onion and garlic, don’t worry. In that case, after frying the parwals, add a little amount of ghee with the remaining oil. And your tadka (foron) in this case will be whole cumin seed and whole garam masala (believe me, this combination gives you a terrific aroma, goes very well in veg recipes). The rest of the process is same. You can add a pinch of garam masala powder at the end.

Peshwari Murg Mushallam

Peshwari Murg Mushallam – a Pakistani cuisine. I tried this dish on the day of Raksha Bandhan this year.

I believe, Raksha Bandhan is not a festival to be celebrated amongst brothers and sisters only. It signifies the eternal relationship of brotherhood. After moving into Delhi, it’s been 4 years I could not get the opportunity to tie rakhi on my cousins wrists. And the same is happening to my husband. The situation is even worse for him as he has his own sister. But now, we learned to celebrate the festival with our extended families here in Delhi…. Our colleagues have become none less than our family. This year also, we celebrated the festival with Hiranmoy and Sayantani.

Being Bengali, food is the indispensable part of any celebration of our life  J Peshwari Murg Mushallam is a preparation with whole chicken which is stuffed with Aromatic Rice and Boiled Egg, then cooked in a thick gravy alongwith whole potatoes. 

Let’s have a look at the recipe…..

  

Preparation Time – 20 mins + overnight marinating, Cooking Time – 1 ½ hrs, Serving – 4-6

Ingredients:

1. Whole Chicken – 1, skin and giblets removed

For marinade:

1. Hung Curd – 4 heaped Tbsp
2. Ginger paste – 2 Tbsp
3. Garlic paste- 1 ½ Tsp (about 7-8 cloves)
4. Lemon Juice – 2 Tbsp (about half a lemon)
5. Turmeric powder – 1 Tsp
6. Red Chilli Powder – 1 Tsp
7. Garam Masalla Powder – 1 Tsp

For Stuffing:

1. Basmati Rice – ¼ Cup
2. Bay leaf- 1 large
3. Salt – to taste
4. Garam Massala Powder – 1 pinch
5. Hard Boiled egg - 1

For Gravy:

1. Butter – 2 Tbsp (+ refined oil if required)
2. Potato – 4 small
3. Onion paste – of 2 large onions
4. Garlic paste – of 5-6 cloves
5. Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
6. Salt – to taste
7. Sugar – 1 tsp
8. Turmeric- ½ tsp
9. Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
10. Garam masala powder- ½ tsp
11. Cashew – Poppy seed paste – 2 Tbsp
12. Curd – 2 Tbsp

Method:

Clean the chicken properly. Make sure the cavity is cleaned very well. Make some slits on the chicken flesh on the breast and leg part.

Mix all ingredients listed for marinade. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken body, outside and inside the cavity as well. Keep it overnight in the refrigerator (Or at least 5-6 Hrs.)

Next day, take the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before cooking.

During this time, half cook the basmati rice alongwith the bay leaf. Remember not to cook it more than 50-60%. Mix the rice with salt and garam masala powder.

Now, take the marinated chicken. Fill the rice and the hardboiled egg inside the chicken cavity. Stitch the cavity properly so that filling does not come out while cooking.

Heat some butter (or you can mix butter and refined oil upto the required quantity) in a pan.

Fry the chicken until golden brown all over. Be careful that the stuffing does not come out during the process. Keep it aside.

In the same pan, add the garlic and onion paste in the remaining butter (Chicken does not absorb much oil during frying. I made the rest of the cooking in the remaining oil itself. If you are not left with much oil, add some more).

When the onion turns golden brown, add ginger paste and sauté for a few minutes.

Then add curd and the remaining spices listed for gravy. Cook it for a few more mins.

Add the potatoes and the chicken in the pan. Add water as required. Cover and cook in a low flame for about 30-40 mins, or until the chicken and the potatoes are properly cooked.

Remove from heat when done. Unstitch the chicken before serving. Serve it with pulao or paratha. 

Be prepared for repeated visit of your guests for this dish !!!!  

Chicken Croissant

I am not a professional chef, but cooking is my passion. I love to explore various types of food, and rather than buying it from store, or go to the restaurant to taste it, I always like it to prepare the same in my own kitchen. The inspiration has doubtlessly been my mother. My love for cooking and baking began since my childhood watching my mom preparing various type of dishes herself, even without having convenient gadgets. Like, I saw her to bake cakes in pressure pan since she did not have any oven. Gradually my own passion for baking grows by starting the same thing…. Cake in pressure pan !!!!

This time, I was ready to take a serious challenge in my kitchen. I planned to make Croissant. Croissant is a buttery, flaky, Vienna-Style Pastry named for its crescent shape. It is prepared by laminated dough and the process is very much time consuming. If you start preparing your croissant today, you may finally come up with your result in the next to next day!!! But, if you are patient enough, and have the guts to start your process, the final result is awesome!!!!

As usual, being a Chicken lover, I made my first batch of croissant with chicken filling. But, some of my friends have asked me for vegetarian recipes. Therefore, I am giving here the idea for vegan substitute also. The process for preparing the dough would be same in both the varieties.

  

Preparation Time – 24-26 Hours (Active Time: 2 hrs, Inactive Time: 22-24 hrs), Baking Time – 25 minutes, Serving – 10-12 Nos. of Croissant

Ingredients:

For Dough:

1. Flour- 3 ½ cup + 1 cup
2. Refined oil – ¼ cup
3. Salt- 1tsp
4. Sugar – 3 tbsp
5. Yeast – 15 gms
6. Lukewarm milk – 1 cup
7. Warm water – ¼ cup
8. Baking soda- 1 pinch
9. Salt- 1 pinch
10. Water – as required

For Lamination:

1. Butter – 150 gms
2. Flour- 2 tbsp

For Chicken filling:

1. Chicken – 400 gms (minced)
2. Onion – 1 large, finely chopped
3. Garlic – 2-3 cloves, finely chopped
4. Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
5. Grated carrot - ½ cup
6. Capsicum – 1, finely chopped
7. Salt – to taste
8. Sugar – 1 tsp
9. Turmeric- ½ tsp
10. Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
11. Garam masala powder- 1tsp
12. Tomato ketchup – 2 tbsp
13. Soya sauce- 1 tbsp
14. Oil – 2 tbsp

For egg wash:

1.  Egg- 1
2. Water- 1 tsp

Method:

Let prepare the dough first. For that, mix yeast and 1 tbsp sugar in warm water. Let it dissolve completely (approx. 5 mins it will take).

Mix salt and 2 tbsp of sugar in warm milk until sugar gets dissolved.

Mix flour with refined oil. Add the yeast mixture and the milk mixture into it.

Fold it into a smooth soft dough.

Cover it and place in the refrigerator for overnight.    

Next morning, prepare for the lamination process. For that, lightly melt the butter and mix it with the flour. Let it rest.

Bring out the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Give it a shape of a 18” x 9” rectangle, shorter side facing you.

Apply the butter mixture into bottom 2/3 of this rectangle, leaving slight space at the border.

Fold the upper 1/3 of the rectangle, i.e, the unbuttered portion, over the middle 1/3. Then fold the bottom 1/3 portion over this. Therefore, you will get a 6” x 9” rectangle. This will be the first fold of the lamination.

Wrap it with plastic cover and refrigerate it for at least 2 hrs.

After 2 hrs, bring out the dough again. Place it on a lightly floured surface with the shorter side facing you. Roll it out again in the same fashion and again make the 3 layer folding (this time you don’t have to apply extra butter). Be cautious that butter doesn’t spill out from the dough. If butter starts to leak too much, chill it inside fridge for some time and continue the process.

So, you have completed your 2^nd turn now. Repeat the process of chilling the dough for 2 hrs and then rolling it out and folding it into 3 layers for at least 5-6 times.

After the final turn, chill your dough for at least 3-4 hrs (or overnight. In my case, it was already late evening when I completed my final turn. So I placed it in refrigerator for overnight).

In the meantime, anytime between 2 turns when you have 2 hrs of spare time, prepare the filling. For that, heat oil in a pan. Add garlic and onion. Stir occasionally until golden brown.

Add minced chicken, carrot and capsicum. Mix ginger paste and the other spices (except for ketchup and soya sauce). Cook it.

Add required amount of water, if needed. When the chicken is cooked and water dries up, add the tomato ketchup and soya sauce. Mix well.

Remove from heat and keep aside.

Now, start the preparation for making the croissant. For that, take the laminated dough out of the refrigerator. Divide it into two. We will work with one half at a time. Keep the other half in fridge during that time.

Roll the dough out again on the lightly floured surface to an 18”x 12” rectangle.

Then cut triangular shaped portion out of it. The height of the triangle should be at 2 ½ times the base (see pic. for reference).

Take one triangle and place it facing the base towards you.

Put the chicken filling near the base. Roll the triangle, covering the filling, starting from the base towards the tip. Keep in mind to maintain the tension in the dough while rolling it up. Bend the corners a bit to give it the desired crescent like shape. The shape will be like as shown in the picture.

When done, place the croissants in the fridge and work out the other half of the dough similarly.

Preheat oven at 200^o C. Beat 1 egg with a little amount of water.

Grease your baking tray with butter. Place the croissant on the baking tray. You must leave some gap between the croissants to allow them to rise freely during baking.

Brush the egg mixture on the croissants. It is called eggwash which results in a golden brown glaze over the croissants. Bake them at 175^o C for 20-25 mins.

If the browning starts too quickly, you may lower down the temperature a bit. Actually it is not possible to suggest the perfect temperature-time setting for an oven. It depends on the make and size of the oven. So you have to know the perfect setting by your experience only.

When done, wait for 5-10 mins. Then, just relish the super flaky, crispy and tasty croissants…. and nothing else !!!

Now, as I promised above, here is some idea for Vegan substitute.

For savoury Croissant, you can simple substitute the chicken with paneer. If you want to make a sweet croissant, which is also a very popular variety, you can use chocolate/ orange marmalade filling. And the eggwash can be substituted by refined oil…. Simple enough !! J

Katora Chaat

Chaat – who does not love this? Every time on a lazy afternoon, in every gathering with friends, and every time with no reasons chaat is our most common snacks. We have surely explored a countless variety of it. Here is my contrition to the list- Katora Chaat. The most interesting part of it is the chaat is served in edible bowl! Let’s have a quick look on the recipe…

Preparation Time – 20 minutes, Cooking Time – 15 minutes, Serving - 4

Ingredients:

For Dough:

1. Flour- 1cup
2. Refined oil – 2 Tbsp + to fry
3. Baking soda- 1 pinch
4. Salt- 1 pinch
5. Water – as required

For Filling of chaat:

1. Mung sprout  – ½ cup
2. Chana sprout – ½ cup
3. Onion      – 2 medium, finely chopped
4. Green chilli – 2, finely chopped,
5. Cucumber – 1 medium, chopped
6. Tomato – 1 small, chopped
7. Chaat masala- 1 Tbsp
8. Salt- to taste
9. Lemon juice – 1 Tsp
10. Mustard Oil – 1 Tbsp

Method:

1. First, slightly boil the sprouts with a little amount of salt. Remember not to boil for a long time. The sprouts should be intact in shape.
2. In the meantime, prepare the dough with flour, refined oil, baking soda, salt and water, just like you make it for paratha.
3. Divide the dough into small portions.
4. Roll out each portion into a circle of 3 inches diameter, just like Poori (or luchi for my Bengali friends).
5. Take a small stainless steel bowl. Place the rolled out poori on the back of it. Press lightly so that the it gets attached to the bowl perfectly and smoothly.
6. Heat oil in a deep pan. Put the bowl with attached poori in the hot oil with poori touching the oil.
7. When done that side, the steel bowl will automatically come out. And the poori will take the shape of the bowl.
8. Remove the steel bowl. Turn the poori so that inner side gets cooked too.
9. Remove from heat and keep aside.
10. Continue the process for each poori.
11. To prepare the filling, mix all the ingredients (listed for filling of the chaat) with the lightly boiled sprouts. Actually there is no restriction for this. You can add or remove ingredients according to your choice. Yogurt can be a very good option.
12. Take each fried “bowl” and fill it with the mixture.
13. Similarly, fill the other “bowls” as well.
14. Serve your sprout chaat in the edible bowl !!!!

Caramel Pudding

Suppose some guests have suddenly come to your place and you have neither the special ingredients nor the time for making something for dessert. This is a very common situation we all might have come across. Here is a solution for this. Caramel Pudding is made of the simplest ingredients which you can always find in your fridge. And it can be made while you are chatting with friends. Yes, you don’t have to miss the “adda”. Yet, the result will be a mouth-watering one for everybody.

Preparation Time: NIL, Cooking Time: 20 minutes (plus 10-15 minutes to chill the pudding), Servings: 6-8.

Ingredients:

1. Milk – 500 ml
2. Egg- 3
3. Bread slices- 3
4. Sugar – 8-10 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp for caramelizing.
5. Vanilla essence- a few drops

Method:

1. Heat milk in a pan. Bring it to boil.
2. Add sugar and boil for a few minutes more. Don’t bother to reduce the volume much.
3. Turn off the heat. Let the milk to cool down to room temperature. If you are running short of time, keep the milk inside the refrigerator for a few minutes.
4. In the mean time, beat the eggs well.
5. Mix the eggs and the bread slices with the milk (remember not to mix the eggs into warm milk). Smash the bread slices using your fingers so that they are mixed with the milk well.
6. Add vanilla essence in the milk. If you don’t have vanilla essence, substitute it with cardamom powder. It works fine.
7. Take an aluminium / stainless steel bowl with large flat base. If the base is not large enough, the pudding will be thicker and will take more time to get steamed.
8. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of sugar over the base and heat it over the flame. When the sugar starts to melt, add 1 tsp of water. Water will help the caramelization quickly, without burning the sugar.
9. When the sugar turns brown, spread it all over the base of the bowl evenly.
10. Pour down the milk mixture in the bowl.
11. Add some water in the pressure pan in which your bowl can fit. Place the bowl inside the pressure pan and cover it with a lid.
12. Cover the pressure pan and put it on the gas on a medium flame.
13. After 10 minutes, your pudding is ready!
14. Chill the pudding in fridge for 10-15 minutes and then cut it into pieces. The bottom will be nice brown coloured due to the caramelization.  Serve the pudding placing this brown side up.

Note: If you don’t have a pressure pan, you can simply steam your pudding on kadai. In this case, you can use a covered tiffin box or place some weight on the lid of your bowl. This will prevent water to go into the bowl while steaming. 

Daab Chingri

Chingri? Or Ilish? Another topic for Ghoti-Bangal fight. Nevertheless, if you are a true Bengali, you must love both. Chingri Machher Malaikari (Prawn cooked in Coconut Milk gravy) is the most popular recipe. Daab-chingri is a much more intricate version where we need to cook the prawn inside the daab or the tender coconut shell. You may find the process a little rigorous, but when you taste the output, all your pain will be vanished…. You will feel like tasting the Ambrosia… recreated in your kitchen !!!!

Preparation Time : 30 mins, Cooking Time: 30 mins, Serving: 4

Ingredients:

1.     Daab (tender Coconut) – 1 medium

2.     Prawn (de-shelled)  – 8 pcs

3.     Onion (grated)        – 1 large

4.     Garlic (grated)- 4-6 cloves

5.     Ginger Paste – 1 Tbsp

6.     Mustard seed- 3 Tbsp

7.     Poppy seed – 3Tbsp

8.     Green Chilli (slitted) - 4

9.     Panch foron – 1 tsp

10. Turmeric Powder – 1 Tsp

11. Salt - to taste

12. Sugar – 1 pinch

13. Mustard Oil – 2 ½ Tbsp

14. Flour – ½ cup

Method:

1. First, take the tender coconut and carefully make hole of around 2 inch diameter on the top of it.  Keep the piece you cut for sealing the Daab again. Cut the bottom portion of the Daab as well so that it can sit properly.

2.    Drain out the coconut water in a bowl and keep aside. We are going to use this water and this water only in our recipe.

3.   Scoop out the kernel from the Daab using a spoon and keep aside.

4.    Make a paste of coconut kernel, mustard seed and poppy seed alongwith the coconut water.

5.    Heat oil in a pan. Add panch foron. After a while, add grated garlic. Sauté till the raw aroma of the garlic is vanished.

6.     Add grated onion and fry till golden brown.

7.  Add Ginger paste and fry for 1-2 minutes. If required at this stage, add a little amount of coconut water to save your masala from burning.

8. When done, mix this masala with the mustard-poppy seed paste.

9.  Add turmeric powder, salt, mustard oil, green chilli and mix well.

10. Add more coconut water into it to make a smooth paste.

11. Add the prawns into this mix and mix well for the final time.

12. Put the prawns alongwith the masala mix inside the Daab.  (see pic below).

13. Cover it with the piece you cut to make the hole. Make a dough with flour. And seal the Daab properly. (see pic below).

14. Take a dip pan. Put the daab inside it. Pour water into the pan so that half of the daab got emerged into water. Put the pan on Gas oven. Cover it and let it boil on a medium flame for 20-25 minutes.

15. Turn off the heat. Let it cool for a while. Take the daab out of  the pan. Open the seal. This time you will find your mouth  filled with saliva because of the heavenly smell coming out.  Keep Control of it !!!

Serve hot with steamed rice….

Makhmali Mushroom

Mushroom….. “Bang-er chhata” what we called it in our childhood !!! :-D  It is not a very common ingredient in a Bengali meal. But after coming here in Delhi, it has become almost a regular item in our recipe. Those who are fond of mushrooms, must have made matar-mushroom which is, I believe, the most common recipe. Matar –malai- mushroom is also a very common variety of the dish. Let’s give the same dish a new twist…

Preparation Time : 15 mins, Cooking Time: 20 mins, Serving: 4

Ingredients:

1.     Mushroom (quartered) – 250 gms

2.     Peas – 1 cup

3.     Coconut milk – ½ cup

4.     Onion – 2 medium

5.     Garlic- 4-6 cloves

6.     Ginger Paste – 2 Tbsp

7.     Cashew & Poppy seed paste-  3Tbsp

8.     Kasoori Methi – 1 Tbsp

9.     Red Chilli Powder – 1 Tsp

10. Tomato puree – 2 Tbsp

11. Garam Masala Powder – 1 Tsp

12. Salt - to taste

13. Sugar – 1 Tbsp

14. Oil – 2 Tbsp

15. Fresh Cream – 2 Tbsp

Method:

1. First, blanch the quartered mushrooms in warm water for 5 mins. Drain and keep aside.

2. Boil the peas till it become soft.

3. In the mean time, grate the onion and garlic.

4.   Heat oil in a pan. Add grated onion and garlic. Sauté till golden brown.

5. Add ginger paste, tomato puree, red chilli powder and kasoori methi. Fry for a minute or two.

6. Then add boiled peas and the mushroom. Sauté for another 2-3 mins.

7. Mix the cashew-poppy seed paste and stir continuously for a few moments. Mix salt and sugar to it.

8. After that, add the coconut milk. Check the desired consistency. If required, add some water and bring it to boil. (I always prefer to cover and cook to keep the aroma intact in the dish itself. Here also, I’ve done the same. But this is not mandatory. You can proceed with your own method and convenience).

9. When the mushroom is well cooked and the gravy is thick, add garam masala powder and the fresh cream. mix well and then turn the heat off.

10. Enjoy the super smooth texture of the dish. And the taste?? Let’s measure your own saliva !!!!