Dhokar Daalna inspred by my Maa

This recipe needs a bit of preparation before ....
First making Dhokas then making its daalna... Dhokha is basically fried chana daal cubes...
I am using approx measures because i don't use measures... so all is by andaaz

Dhokas
Soak 3 cups chana daal overnight. Grind it to a smooth paste. Do not add water when grinding.
In a wok heat 4 teaspoons of oil. add the paste to it and toss it for a while. add fried jeera (cumin) poder, salt and bit of sugar. toss it it till it turns light golden bron.On a greased flat tray.. spread this mixture. around 3-4 cms thick and let it settle in fridge for an hour.i usually keep it before a day and make it the other day. take the mixture out cut it diamond shape and fry the cubes in oil till golden brown in color... Your Dhokas are ready

Daalna
I like the daalna in traditional bengali style. You have option to try other gravy variations.For Daalna,
Heat oil in a kadhai. Add jeera, tej patta, dry red chilli. to it add medium sized potatoes and fry for a while. No add jeera poder, ginger paste or grated ginger and fry for a while... add turmeric, pinch of sugar and salt to taste.. add water and simmer it for a while.  add the dhokas to it. bring it to a boil. and take it off the stove. add ghee and garam masala before serving.

Quick Coffee Muffins

Its just 15 days away from 'Durga Pujo' like bengali calls it.. and i am going thru real hectic schedules given my rehearsals and office and household things... Not left with enough time to experiment though and my craving for sweet has reached its due height... So finally i drape my apron to bake some quick muffins without caring about the basics my mom taught for baking....

All i wanted was a strong coffee aroma packed with chocolate chips and here is what I finally put together...

1 cup cream - I used cream i set aside every morning from full milk
1.5-2 cups flour
coffee powder brewed in very little hot water
1.25 cups sugar
Chocolate chips- be generous
Vanilla essence
0.5 cup milk

1. Whip the cream and sugar together. 
2. Add vanilla essence to it. 
3. Add flour and mix it well. 
4. Mix the brewed coffee and chocolate chips. 
5. Add milk if needed to get that right consistency. 
6. Pour the batter in greased muffin mould and bake it in 190 degrees for 15-20 mins...

You can get some interesting combinations here... after step 3... divide the mixture in 3 parts. Add chocolate chips to first, cocoa powder to second and coffee syrup in third. Now pour this three mixtures alternatively to get the marble textured muffins.

If you try this, do share the pics.. i was too lazy to do it..:)

Veg Rolls with a twist

This is s aquick fix recipe. You can serve it for breakfast or as a one-meal item.. won't take much time sharing the background.

For Dough:
1 cup besan (gram flour)
1 cup atta (wheat flour)
1 cup maida (refined wheat flour)
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp ajwain
Pinch of salt
1 tsp oil

Knead the above ingredients into a tight dough.

For Stuffing:
2 tbs Olive oil/other oil
Garlic (optional)
1 tsp Soy sauce
1 tsp tomati sauce (optional
2 tsp pepper powder
Salt to taste
your choice of vegetables chopped finely (I used Capsicum, Onion, tomatoes, potato, corn, peas)

Heat oil in a pan. Add the crushed/grated garlic. Add the vegetables in order  of their cooking time. I added Onions first, then potatoes, corn, tomatoes and peas. I put them in order mentione before as their cooking time are different.

cook them on low flame tossing them. Add salt, pepper and toss for a while. when veges are half done, add the soy sauce and ketchup and simmer for 5-7 mins and set it aside to cool.

Roll out dough ball into a round chapati.. add this stuffing/cooked mixture in centre. fold the edges of the chapati to close it completely.  Heat the tawa, toss the veg rolls  in oil/ghee  and serve them hot.

 

Capsicum Korma

This is a pure adoption and test recipe which accidentally resulted in a tasty dish. I was just on lookout of some different preparation of Capsicum... so here is what i tried.

2 large capsicum chopped
1 medium sized onion (optional) chopped
a small ginger piece (optional) grated
2 tablespoon chana daal
2 tablespoon urad daal
1 dried chilli
1 medium sized cinamon stick
few kaju
1 small teaspoon coconut scraped (Optional)
2 teaspoon coriander powder
Mustard & curry leaves for tempering
Salt & turmeric to taste
1 tablespoon fresh cream

Roast Chana daal, urad daal, red chilli, cinamon stick and kaju and grind them (without water).
Heat oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add onions and fry till golden. add ginger & salt and fry for a while. Add capsicum and fry well. Add coriander powder chilli powder,, turmeric and toss for a little longer.

Its time to add the powder made at the beginning, also scraped coconut at this point of time. add pinch of red chilli powder if u like bit spicy. Add 3 cups of water and simmer for a while. You can add a tinge of sugar to give that blend of sweet n spicy.

Serve hot with roti/paratha, naan...
 

Aloo 'r Porotha (in Bengali)

Potatoes are my simply idispensible from my kitchen and recipes... I still remember how I just ate potatoes from any vegetable that mom cooked. Veges had never been my favorite so all I did was to pick up the aloo and finish my meal.. even few months backs i told mom only aloo subzi in tiffin plz...

So here are my favorite aloo ke parathe which bongs gracefully call aloo 'r porotha. This style is adapted from my mother-in-law and my hubby simply loves it.. So this was something my hubby made and bang... it was yummy... simple, different and yum

2 boiled potatoes
1 finely chopped onion
1 finely chopped  tomatoes
coriander leaves chopped
finely chopped ginger to taste
finelt chopped green chillies
3-4 cups flour
roasted & powdered cumin seeds
Salt to taste
oil/ghee for frying

Mash the boiled potatoes and add all the copped ingredients and dry spices. now start adding flour. add flour till a soft dough is needed. roll out thin parathas and cook them on girdle till both the sides are golden brown using ghee/oil.

Serve them hot with curd.

Apple Chtuney

Just an experiment with apple and it turned good

2 apples chopped and de-seeded
1 small tomato chopped
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
Sugar around4-5 spoons
half lemon juice
3 teaspoons Roasted cumin seeds powder
1 TBS oil


Heat oil. Add Mustard seeds wait for them to splutter.. add tomato.. fry for a while. Add apples, salt to taste and fry

add some water and sugar and bring it to boil. one the chutney comes at a good semi-thick consistency  take it off the burner. Add lemon juice and Roasted cumin powder and mix well..
Ready to serve..

Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

I read this recipe at a blog and wanted to try the strange combination of ginger and clove with chocolate... woooo it turned out wonderful in first try...
I tried eggless and hence sharing the same. In case you wana use egg, replace cream & yogurt with egg and butter. Here it goes



1 cup cream
1 cup yogurt
1 3/4 cups sugar-Preferably brown sugar
2 cups refined flour/maida
2 teaspoon ginger powder/paste
3 teaspoon powder of cardamom, cloves & cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tbs chocolate powder
2 Tbs chocolate sauce

Sieve maida, baking powder & chocolate powder and set it aside.

Blend the cream, yogurt and sugar in a jar. empty the blended contents in a mixing bowl. Add ginger powder/paste and mixed spices and mis it well. now add the flour and mix using folding methos. don NOT beat the mixture at this stage.

once done. pour the mixture in the baking tray. pour the chocolate sauce over the mixture and use a knife/spoon to create random patters.

Bake the cake for 30 mins at 200 degrees Celsius.. check the with a knife to test the cooking.

cake is ready for serve...

Quick Raw Mango Achaar

During my summer vacations when i was in school, often we stole raw mangoes and got them home... My mom usually got her stock of raw mangoes for her pickles... So when we got these little ones, she made this quick achaar which she called 'Haath Aachaar' meaning 'pickle made by hand in Bengali.

I loved it and so does my hubby.. especially in summers and while having your lunch.. its refreshing... We Bengalis love the aroma of Mustard oil so that's what I have used in it. In case you don't like it.. you can do with out it too...

Grate the Raw mango. Add Sugar and Salt to taste. You can also add green chilies if you like it spicy and hot. Add a tinge of Mustard oil. Keep it for aside for a while to let the juices mix and set. Consume it in a day or two. 

Moong Daal ke Dhokle

This is a  healthy breakfast recipe that I accidentally experimented and it worked well. This can be steamed/cooked in pressure cooker, rice cooker or microwave. Its a healthy breakfast. But you need to plan in advance.


Ingredients:
4 cups soaked Moong Dal
4 Garlic gloves
1 small piece of Ginger
1 chopped Green Chilly
Salt
a sachet of Eno
2 teaspoon Oil
Curry leaves
Mustard Seeds

Procedure:
Oil the vessel in which this dish will be steamed/cooked and set it aside.

Grind the moong daal to get a smooth paste  . Grate garlic and ginger and add it to the paste. Add chopped chilies and salt to taste. Add little water to bring the mixture to dropping consistency. Empty Eno sachet contents in the mixture directly and put it to steam/cook.

It takes approx 20 mintues to cook and get set. I make this in Rice cooker so when i see bubbles and a set top i check it with a knife. If knife comes out clean, its ready.

Cut these in small square pieces. Heat oil in a work. Add curry leaves and mustard and allow them to crackle. Add these Moong Daal Dhokla pieces in it and toss for a while. Serve it with Dhaniya chutney or ketchup.

Capsicum Masala

This is a simple to cook and a tasty one too. Goes well with Roti and Paratha...

Ingredients:
4 medium sized Capsicum chopped/chopped
1 small bowl Peanuts (approx 100-120 gms)
3 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
5 teaspoons oil
Chili Powder to taste
3 Tablespoon tamarind pulp (suggest to add small amount of sugar/jaggery to pulp)
salt to taste

Procedure:

Roast Cumin seed and peanuts until golden brown. Ground them to paste adding little water. sets this paste aside.
Heat oil in a cooking pan/kadhai. add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and let them crackle. Add chopped capsicum. Toss them for a while... Take them aside. In same pan with the leftover oil add the paste of roasted peanuts and cumin seeds. Simmer them for a while. Add tossed capsicum to it. Fry for a little while before adding Tamarind pulp. Add chili powder and salt to taste. Simmer for a while and there it is ready to be served...

Lemon Cheese Cake

When I say Cheese cake, it fascinated me 3 years ago when I tasted it at a local bakery. I always wondered how this delicacy was turned to table. So here the secret i discovered after making my own search...

1 cup hung curd

1 cup cream cheese (you can also use salted cheese spread)

1.25 cup powdered sugar (can vary with your taste buds)

2-3 big lemons

that's it...

Procedure

For Crust:

Crush the biscuits enough to make small crumbs or grind them coarsely. Add enough butter to make them bind lightly. Press this batter on Glass bowl to make a thin crust and put it in fridge for 15-20 mins to set.

For Cheesecake Mixture:

Meanwhile, Beat the hung curd and cream cheese well until smooth. Add sugar powder and mix well. Grate the lemon skin in the mix. This is called lemon rind. Grate until the white skin of lemon appears. Do NOT grate white skin as it tastes bitter. Lemon rind gives the essence of lemon which makes it refreshing. Now squeeze the Lemon juice. Add enough lemon juice to get the tinge of tangy flavor. Balance of lemon juice & sugar is the heart of this dish. 

Final Assembling:

Now put this mixture on top of the crust you had set. Flatten the top of the cheesecake mix before putting it to fridge for setting it.

Decorate/ top it with Lemon slices and mint leaves. Scoop with Spatula and serve chilled.