Niramish Aloo Phul Kopi – Cauliflower and Potato Curry (Totally Vegetarian)

Monday and Tuesday, these two days of the week, I don’t cook non-veg dishes at home. I have been following this rule for quite sometime. Rule? A quiz(zy) word for my readers. This rule formulated by all of us at home. So no blame game to play and no regrets for a decision which we follow religiously. During these two weekdays, many a time I have to watch with greedy eyes when I see others savouring delicious non-veg food right before my eyes. Just joking, I’m not a glutton, just speaking out my thought.

In my Baperbadi (my mother’s place) care is taken to cook the veg and non-veg dishes separately. Fish, meat and eggs are cooked and put in the non-veg. meat-safe and a separate meat-safe for the veg. dishes. The kitchen is huge and there used to be Unoon (clay chulah) which burnt with coal fire. For most of the vegetarian dishes Ma never used onion and garlic and so with me.

As I broke the cauliflower florets I also thought about the phul kopi pakodas. Anyway it is time I share my niramish phul kopir tarkari with my readers.

For the curry you need:

Phul kopi (cauliflower): 1 (florets to fill one medium size bowl)

Potatoes: 4 big ones

Tomatoes: 1

Dhania powder: 1 tsp

Jeera powder: ¾ tsp

Haldi powder: ¾ tsp

Red chili powder: ½ tsp (as per your taste buds)

Cooking oil: 1 cup (I cooked with mustard oil)

Salt to taste

Sugar (Bong special taste): As per your requirement

How to prepare:

Wash the cauliflower florets.
Peel the potatoes, cube into eight pieces each. Wash and keep them aside.
Wash and cut the tomato and keep it ready for use.
In a bowl add the jeera, dhania, haldi and red chili powder and make a thin paste adding water to it and put it aside.
In a kadhai heat the mustard oil or cooking oil of your choice.. Tip in the florets and fry them till they start changing colour.
Once they are fried lightly take them out and keep them.
Add the cubed potatoes to the remaining oil. You can use more oil if no oil remains after frying the cauliflower. Stir the potatoes for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato and stir. When the potatoes take the pink colour and the tomatoes start giving out its juice, add the masala paste and stir. Now add salt and sugar and stir. Add little water if required to cook the masala.
Once the oil starts leaving the sides add water, sufficient for a thin gravy, and let it cook. Cover it with a lid. Stir it from time to time to see if the vegetables have been fully cooked.
Serve hot with rice.

I’ll be away for the weekend.

New Year wishes for you All. Have a nice time.

Easy Cake for December Closing

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind” as I relax I just recall this beautiful line from Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind. Long time I read this poem, no if I refresh my thought’s, maybe about a year back my friends daughter asked me about the ending line of this beautiful poem. This was sometime in the winter months, in Dec. maybe in Jan. What difference does it make as long as we remember such beautiful unforgettable lines from such great poets?

Winter is in full swing. My legs are feeling the cold, they are cold but I don’t like to wear my socks. Feel lazy to get up from the sofa, fetch my socks and wear them. Best, covered my legs with the shawl and I’m enjoying the book I’m reading.

As I read on I read about cakes and then I think of making one…quick and easy…and relish it with a cup of hot tea. The laziness disappears and I start with my work.

All I needed:

Eggs: 3

Maida: Same weight as the eggs

Sugar: same weight as the eggs

Butter: 100gms

Baking powder: 11/2 tbsp

Vanilla essence: ½ tsp

Preparation:

I broke the eggs into the mixie jar. I told you I wanted to make it quickly and easily. I had no time to powder the sugar. So added the sugar to the eggs and let the mixie complete the work. I used my fingers to see the sugar had melted completely. Poured the combination into a bowl.

Rest of it goes like this…

Now add the baking powder to the maida and put it through a sifter.

Gradually add the maida and mix it with a light hand using a wooden ladle. Make sure to mix it in one particular circular movement, either clock wise or anti-clock wise.

Melt the butter and add it to the batter. Finally add the vanilla essence. Grease and dust the baking dish. Pour the batter into it. Put it in the micro oven for 6-7 minutes. Check it with a knitting needle to see if it has been baked. Don’t take it out of the oven immediately. Let it stay in the oven for 2-3 minutes. The cake is ready.

It took me hardly half an hour to make the batter and rest of the time for baking. It was a quick feat indeed and the hot cake went well with tea. And Shelley’s poems, I love them…one of my fav poet.

Ilish Macher Tak - Hilsa in Sour Gravy

Ilish Mach is my all time favourite. Fried ilish mach…aha what a taste and that special aroma. When the fish is fresh from the market, I mostly think about Ilish bhapa. Bhapa ilish is easy to prepare but some people don’t like it. I was very disappointed that day when someone said bhapa ilish is horrible to taste. From that day I make sure to cook this only for those who can relish it.

Today as I read the Mourola macher recipe by Ushnish, I was relishing the taste of it in my mind. I love mourola mach. Reading it I felt I shall post my ilish macher tak I had cooked some days back.

This is a simple recipe where the taste of ilish dominates. For the sour taste you need tamarind and to go with it is haldi powder.

Ingredients:

Ilish pieces: 6-8
Tamarind: the size of a ping pong ball (soak in water)
Haldi powder
Red chili powder: a pinch
Dry red chili: 2 or even 1 if you don’t like some heat
Salt
Sugar
Oil
Egg Plant: 1 big size (optional) I didn’t have egg plant so didn’t add it.

Preparation:

Wash the ilish pieces.
Rub them with haldi powder and salt.
Soak the tamarind in water. You can use tamarind paste.
Heat oil in a kadhai. Fry the fish pieces, very lightly. Take them out and keep it aside.
If you have egg plant you can slice them into longish pieces and keep the aside. I did not have egg plant so didn’t add it.
Break the red chili into half and put it in the oil. If you are adding egg plant pieces, its time to throw them in and give it a stir. Add salt, haldi powder and a pinch of red chili powder and stir. Don’t fry the egg plants too much. Before it takes the dark pinkish colour add the tamarind juice and let it boil.
Add sugar as per your taste. It takes very little time for the egg plant to cook.
When the egg plant becomes soft add the ilish pieces. Let the gravy boil for a minute or two.
Now its ready to be served.
Ilish macher tak has a thin gravy which goes very well with rice and dal.

Ilish mach gives out oil so use very little oil for frying. If the ilish has given out its oil you can pour it out, add it to a little portion of the rice while eating. Add salt and get a different taste. For those who have not eaten this oil with bhat (cooked rice) they may not like the taste. A Bangal (those from East Bengal) likes it.

Wish you all A Happy New Year

Aloo Methi

I spend some time at night watching TV. With the Big Boss show coming to an end, just a wait and watch situation for me to know the winner. After a day’s work watching TV is just like a simple past time and of course some recreation. Yesterday there was a bunch of methi saag at home. My Baba always said, “One thing at a time and that done well”. Yesterday I felt the pleasure of doing two things at a time (watching TV and cleaning the methi saag), easy work, not a brain work indeed. But it doesn’t mean I say what my Baba said was wrong. You know watching TV is relaxing, and the saag can be separated from the stem without even giving it a look. A work which has the use of the mind and the brain will never give space for another difficult work. I firmly believe in what my Baba said. I think I'm being silly.

Let me move out of this and write about my  Aloo Methi.

Ingredients:
Methi Saag: 2 cups
Aloo: 5 medium size
Dry red chili: 3
Garlic: 5 cloves
Haldi powder
Red chili powder
Salt
Cooking oil

Simple preparation method:

Wash the methi leaves and let the water drain out. Once the water is totally drained out, chop the methi leaves and keep it aside.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Keep them aside.
Wash the garlic cloves, crush them and put them aside.
Place a kadhai on the burning fire. Add 2 tbsp cooking oil. I’ve used mustard oil. When the oil is hot enough break the dry red chilies into half and throw them in. Add the crushed garlic soon after and stir it till the colour begins to change.
Now add the cubed potatoes and the haldi and chili powder. Fry it for 3 to 4 minutes cooking over slow flame. The potatoes will get half cooked by now.
Throw in the methi saag and give it a stir.
Now add salt to taste, stir and cover it.
Remove the cover and stir from time to time. Cook till the potatoes are soft and mixed well with the methi saag.

It’s ready to be served with hot roti, paratha and rice.

Cabbage cooked with simple spices (Bandhakopir Tarkari)

Nowadays cabbage is available in the vegetable market throughout the year. But I think the winter cabbage tastes better. I prefer to use my Bonthi (the traditional vegetable cutter where you have to sit on the floor and cut the vegetables with the sharp knife that stands up attached to a wooden board which is supported firmly with the legs as you sit on it) as it is easier to shred the cabbage easily. This act may be easy for me but sound uninteresting for those who have never used such a typical traditional vegetable cutter.

For today’s Bandhakopi tarkari I used Ilish macher matha. You can cook it without adding fish head, make it simply Vegetarian. The recipe you see in the picture is cooked with fried fish head (macher matha).

Ingredients: (without fish head)

Cabbage : 2 (medium size)
Potatoes: 2
Tomatoes: 2
Tej pata (bay leaves): 3 or 4
Garam masala (freshly ground home-made preferred): 2 tsp
Haldi (turmeric) powder
Jeera (cumin) powder (1/2 tsp)
Dhania (Coriander) powder (3/4 tsp)
Lai mirch (red chili) powder (the heat that you can bear)
Salt to taste
Sugar as per your taste
Cooking oil

Preparation:

Shred the cabbages. Wash and drain the water. Peel the potatoes and cut it into small cubes. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces.

Heat oil in a kadhai. I prefer mustard oil. Once the smoke comes up add the tej pata. Then add the cabbage and stir. Cover it up and let it cook for a couple of minutes. By now the cabbage will give out the water. It is time to add the haldi, jeera, dhania and red chili powder. Give it a stir and cover it cooking over low flame. Add the cubed potatoes and tomatoes. Stir it again and add salt and sugar as per your taste. Cover and let it cook in the water the cabbage gives out. It will take sometime for the cabbage, potatoes and the tomatoes to get cooked. Increase the flame and cook till the water dries up completely. You can find the oil leaving at the sides. This shows the curry is ready to be served. Add garam masala and put it in the serving bowl.

Simple Niramish Bandhakopir tarkari is ready to be served with rice or if you prefer with roti or paratha.

I have added fried ilish macher matha that had been lying in the fridge. If you want to add fried fish head, it is best to break them up into small pieces and add just before the water dries up completely.

Tomato Chaatni (Chutney) with a Tangy Touch

Tomato Chaatni (Chutney) is one of my favourite chaatni during winter. The word Chaatni is very much the Bengali word for Chutney. The juicy tomatoes simply lure me to make lots of Chutney and keep it in the fridge. When I was young there used to be a Tak (Sour) item cooked everyday during lunch. It could amaar tak, tentuler tak (tamarind chutney), anarosher chutney (pineapple chutney) with mustard paste and kamrangar tak (star fruit chutney). Chutney has always been one of my favourite dish and I love it with dal, bhat and aloo bhaja.

Most of the Bengalis like chutney. In Bengali context Chutney is a sweet and sour relish served towards the end of the meal.

Tomato chutney tastes good with khejur (dates) and even with aamshotto (aam papad). I did not have khejur or aamshotto, so I made it simple.

Tomato Chutney

For Tomato Chutney the main ingredients are:

Tomato, sugar, salt, dry red chili (whole), cooking oil, turmeric powder, tamarind whole or pulp and any home made masala for extra flavour . The other two ingredients are optional – khejur and aamshotto,.

Preparation:

Wash 5 large size tomatoes and cut them into small pieces. Heat oil in a kadhai and when the oil is hot break into half and add 2/3 dry red chilies. Once the chili turns darker in colour add the chopped tomatoes and sauté. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and stir. Cover and cook over slow flame, keep stirring from time to time. The tomato will release its juice. Add salt to taste and also add the sugar about 8 tbsp or adjust as per your taste. It is time to add the tamarind pulp or whole tamarind, with or without the seeds, to give it a little tangy taste. Now cook it over slow flame. Enough juice has been given out from the pulpy tomatoes and also by adding sugar. Cook till it reduces to a thick consistency. Sprinkle the powdered masala of roated jeera, red chili and methi. This powder gives an achari taste.

If you want to add khejur or aamshotto, add it along with the salt and sugar so that the khejur and the aamshotto becomes soft. Can add whole khejur or cut into half removing the seed. Also cut the aamshotto into tiny pieces before adding it to the cooking tomatoes.

And get the taste…

Kosha Mangsho

Cooking is an everyday activity for me except those days when I’m away from my kitchen…responsibility and tension free. But I love the freedom of my kitchen.

Talking about freedom it reminds me of one of my sister. Whenever I visit her I become extra cautious when I step into her kitchen. It would be wrong to say she is a bully but she is always around when anyone else is cooking. She keeps a watchful eye over all that is used in cooking. She peeps in to say, “Don’t use so much of oil. Cook the masala, it needs little more time. Add this much water - ah hah! - you’re adding too much water it’ll taste pancha (watery)” and so on.

Let me now draw your attention to my Kosha Mangsho recipe. Everyone in our house likes Kosha Mangsho and before I can add water for the gravy for mangsho curry, half of it goes into the stomach of those moving in and out of he kitchen, signaling very much they want their share then and there. I don’t like to be left out and taste a few pieces.

I want to take you back with me to those days when we stayed in the small quiet town of Baripada in Orissa. Baripada is famous for Muri (puffed rice). I’ve tasted Muri in different places but miss that specialty of Baripada. Muri is one of the staple foods of the people of this small town. You can find people having Muri with vegetable curry, dal, fish fry and above all they love to eat it with mutton or chicken curry.

My boys love to eat Kosha Mangsho with Muri and I too like it. Mostly we have mutton curries on Sunday when it is a holiday and we sit together for lunch, enjoy the food and lots to talk about.

The way I prepare this dish:

Ingredients:

Mutton 1 Kg.
Onion 4 big size
Garlic 6-8 flakes
Ginger 1½ inch piece
Curd ½ cup
Haldi powder
Red chili powder
Tej patta (bay leaves) 5-6
Cinamon 1 inch piece (broken to smaller pieces)
Cloves 5-6
Cardamom 3 (cracked)
Salt
Sugar
Mustard oil (you can use any cooking oil)

Preparation:

Make a paste of 3 onions, garlic and ginger and keep it aside.
Make thin slices of 1 onion.
Clean and wash the mutton pieces. Squeeze out the water totally. Take a bowl and put the mutton pieces in it.
Add the curd and mix it.
Now add the onion, ginger and garlic paste to it and mix it properly.
Add haldi and red chili powder (as per the heat your taste buds can take), salt to taste and a pinch of sugar.
Add 2 tbsp of mustard oil.
Now mix it properly and keep it aside for about an hour.
Once it is marinated it is ready to be cooked.

Cooking it:

Take a thick bottom dekchi or pan with a lid.
Add 4-5 tbsp of mustard oil.
Once the smoke rises add the bay leaves, the cinamon, cloves and cardamom and give it a stir.
Now add the sliced onions and cook till it becomes translucent.

Add the marinated mutton to it and stir.

Cover it with the lid and cook it over low heat stirring it from time to time.

The mutton and the masala will give out water in which the mutton will get cooked.

By the time the oil separates from the masala the mutton gets soft enough for serving.

Serve it hot with fried rice, hot rotis, parathas, can give a try with Muri also.

 

Bhaja Mung Dal Ilish Macher Matha Diye (Mung Dal with Hilsha Head)

When I was a child I have seen my Baba go to the market to buy fish and meat. Those days there were very few working mothers and even if the wife had lots of time in hand she never went to the fish market alone. We looked forward to Sundays when Baba would take us with him to the market to buy mutton. And during lunch the aashon (small mats) would be spread out, one next to the other, in a row on the floor of the kitchen verandah and the kansar thala and bati (bell-metal plates and bowls) would be placed in front of every aashon. Baba always sat first in the row and the others took their place one by one. The meal would be served by the cook once everyone sat down. That was how we enjoyed our family meal.

…and now it is chit chat at the dining table. Many landing up later in their life with knee joint pains and many cannot sit crossed leg on the floor.

Coming back to food it is a fishy day with fish head. I have seen many of my friends leave behind the fish head with the fishmonger as they did not like to eat it. Ask any Bangali about macher matha (fish head) and pat they can say, “Koto kichu hote pare macher matha diye (cook so many recipes using fish head). After all Bengalis love fish and many cannot deny they die to have at least macher jhool (fish curry) everyday.

Without wasting time back to my preparation. Ilish mach has its own smell, taste and flavour. I made mung dal with the hilsa fish head without onion or garlic. Very simple and…the taste, your palate can judge.

 Picture of dressed fish head

Ingredients:

Hilsa fish head -1 (the gills separated and the rest cut into smaller size as in the picture).
Mung dal (roasted) – 1 cup
Panch phoron – 1½ tsp
Haldi powder
Red chilies - 2
Salt
Sugar
Mustard oil
Water

How I cooked it:

Roast the mung dal till it gets a pink colour ( not a baby pink, a bit stronger)
Wash and pour it into the pressure pan.
Add about 2 ½ to 3 cups of water.
Add haldi, cover with the lid.
Put the pressure cooker on the burning stove and let it cook. Three to four whistles will do.
Switch off the gas.
Rub the head pieces with haldi and salt.
Heat mustard oil in a kadhai and when the smoke starts coming throw the fish head into the oil and fry it till it is crispy.
Take it out and keep it aside.

Seasoning:

Heat about 1 tbsp of mustard oil in a kadhai. You can use the oil that was used for frying the head.
When the oil is hot break the red chilies into half and add them to the oil and stir.
When the chili gives out its smell and changes colour add the panch phoron.
Once they start spluttering add the cooked dal to it.
Add salt to taste and sugar as per your taste and once the dal starts boiling break the fried pieces into more smaller bits and add to the dal.
Stir for a couple of minutes. The dal should be neither too thick nor too thin.
It’s ready to be served with hot boiled rice.
This is a dish that tastes good with rice.

Awards ...and happy for it

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Here are the lovely awards that I have received:

Soup da Quicky

Everyone was in a mood for a bowl of soup. To be very frank, I desired for it too but was in no mood to go to the kitchen. Seeing the father and son duo look at one another and then again at me, I could read their thought…a mom…a wife…could not keep them waiting.

I was in a frame of mind to cheat them and out came my words, “A Soup da Quicky will do”. They shared their looks with one another for few seconds and son said, “Of course something new will do”. And Mom…this bechari me…soon moved into action. Not a military command but one of love that adorn the heart of every wife and mom.

From the kitchen cupboard I brought out the four pack Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles packet which I had got with this months grocery. Opened the fridge and took out the bowl of Knoor Vegetable Hara Bhara soup…leftover of the previous day.

And soon I got busy…into action…in the kitchen..

To tell you how I did it, simple method.

Ingredients:

Two Maggi vegetable Atta Noodles

1 bowl ( medium size) of leftover Knoor Vegetable Hara Bhara soup.

Preparation:

Poured 3½ cups of water in a pan.

Added 2 pouches of the taste maker and gave it a stir and let the water boil.

In the meantime broke the noodles into 1 inch size.

Once the water started boiling added the noodles.

Stirred it from time to time.

As I had added extra water than recommended in the instruction, I had to check the noodles to see they were done.

Then added the soup I had taken out from the fridge and mixed it well.

Let it boil for a couple of minutes and then switched off the gas.

Soup bowls ready to be served within 10 minutes.

My son said, “Ma, yummy for the tummy, love the name too”. It was indeed a lazy effort but the result was…all smiles.

HAPPY DIPAWALI

Wish You All A HAPPY DIWALI

Palang Sager Chorchori

With the coming winter months vegetable markets will be flooded with bunches of fresh Palang Saag (Palak/Spinach)…the healthy green leafy vegetable…cooked in my kitchen most of the days.

I remember as a child I would shy away from any Saag preparation and always get a shout from Ma, “Eat saag, its good for the eyes and skin”. There used to be different kinds of saag…from Notae to Pui and sometimes Kumro Saag and Lau Saag. Sojne Saag was cooked with kancha muger dal and served with rice, generally during the pox season, while methi saag was cooked with aloo… similarity -- both have a bitter taste.

With age all the fuss has gone and now I present the Mom figure for my children and see they eat the saag I cook at home. Spinach is readily available but for the other varieties have to depend on the CR Park market as this is known as mini Kolkata of the capital city of India.

The other day I cooked palang chorchori as there was nothing else in the fridge and I needed a vegetable dish for lunch. With rice, dal, tomato chutney a simple vegetarian dish would be a complete meal. Without wasting time I set off with my task of cooking.

All that I had:

Palang saag – 1 bunch
Pumpkin: a large left over piece
Potatoes: 2 small ones
Tomato: 1

For temperimg:

Panch phoron: 1 tsp
Whole dry red chilies: 2
Mustard oil: 1tbsp
Salt: to taste
Sugar: 1 tsp

How I did it:

First cut off the roots and discarded the leaves that had gone watery and soft.
Washed (three times) and then chopped the palang saag.
Peeled the sin of the potatoes and cut small dices.
After removing the skin of the pumpkin, cut it into pieces double the size of the potatoes as pumpkin cooks faster than the potatoes.
Cut the tomato into tiny pieces.

Next:

Heat oil in a kadhai.
Add the panch phoron and the red chillies breaking each into half and wait till the spices start popping and the red chillies give out the strong smell.
Add the saag, the vegetables and chopped tomatoes, give it a stir and cover with a lid.
Stir from time to time for a couple of minutes.
Add salt and sugar and cover it.
Simmer the flame.
Let it cook under low heat. The saag and salt leaves water which helps the vegetables to be cooked.
Once the potatoes are cooked it is time to increase the flame and let the water evaporate completely.
The saag is ready to be served with rice and dal or even with hot roti or paratha.

You can also use eggplant.
Garnish it with crushed deep fried bodi (vadi) before serving for extra taste (optional).

Sweet Dish – Chaler Payesh/Rice Kheer/Rice Pudding

Payesh has a special place in our house. Whoever has tasted it cooked by me has always come back with their request…for another payesh treat. Payesh is very special in our house on birthdays. Even on my birthday I cook payesh…why not…I’m the cook of my home.

At home everyone has a sweet tooth and love to have a sweet dish after dinner…payesh is mostly ready in hand…cooked and placed in the refrigerator…eaten whenever the taste buds yearn for it.

I remember there was the time when the milkman came with his milk can, knocking at the door to deliver his daily milk supply for the home. Now milk is available in packets or at the milk booths. The milk that came with the milkman was full of cream. The layer of cream (known as Shaar in Bengali) that spread on the top after the milk was boiled and cooled down was gently removed and collected in a bowl. This creamy layer was collected for about a week. Later the cream was placed in a kadhai and the slow fire did the magic…the aroma of ghee would spread all across the house…moving out from the kitchen to each and every place that gave it a space to enter. In this slow cooking the ghee was released from the cream in the kadhai and collected in a glass bottle. As for the Shaar, it got cooked and took a brown colour later to be relished with a spread of sugar. Many people like Shaar Bhaja…that’s a Bengali treat.

Home-made ghee…can’t think about it now.

Well I’m sharing with you my Chaler Payesh preparation.

For this we need:

Milk - 1 litre

Basmati Rice - just a fistful

Sugar - as per your sweet tooth

Bay leaves - 4

Elaich (cardamom) - 4 pods coarsely crushed

Salt - just a small pinch

How I make:

Soak the rice in water for half or quarter of an hour.

Boil the milk. When the first boil comes add the rice and keep stirring. After having cooked for sometime when the milk starts reducing add the bay leaves. Keep stirring to avoid the rice from sticking to the bottom. Keep on stirring till the rice is cooked. Now add sugar as per your taste and cook for sometime. Add the salt (balances the taste) and keep stirring till the milk takes a pinkish tinge. By now the milk has been reduced to less than half…will look somewhat like rabadi…very creamy. Add the elaich powder after removing from fire.

Serve hot or cold. You can smack your lips after tasting a serving of hot payesh…be careful not to burn your mouth.

Elderly people prefer a thinner payesh…can use little more rice and don’t reduce the milk too much.

Over a Cup of Tea

By now you must have guessed what I want to write about today. The title of this blog will give you the clue. By the way it is late afternoon and I’m sitting with my cup of tea. I like to have my evening tea, if I’m right it will be wrong to say evening for the falling rays of the sun will deny the fact that it’s evening. I will rightly tag this time, late afternoon and early evening. And here again I leave you guessing about noon and evening.

Most Bengalis love the Adda time. Adda has become such a common word, you can find Big B writing his blogs on bigadda.com. Addabaji is very common not only among Bengali youths but among the bhadralok and bhadra mahilas also. The adda is most enjoyed over a cup of tea. Here I say tea, as I prefer tea to coffee.

I always feel tea has a cousin in coffee. Why not they both energise the body and mind. The first thing in the morning is a cup of tea. I prefer my tea after my morning nitya karma is over. Nitya karma, in simple words, sometime spent in the bathroom. Why should I hate those who love to drink their tea in bed? Angreziri style ‘Bed Tea’ is their preference without even brushing their teeth. But never heard a dentist speak against it, maybe it does not harm the teeth.

As the lady of the house, I pity me for I have to make my morning cuppa and for others too. I love my travel days when I get my first cup of tea in the morning served by someone else. At times I feel the tea I make is not worth drinking. Why? For that answer I need to do some thinking. Not now, maybe sometime later on.

My sister says my tea tastes too sweet. Even my mother-in-law said the same. After all they prefer 1 tsp of sugar but 2 tsp is fine for me. Aap ruchi khana par ruchi pahanna this saying fits in correctly for my taste. Why not, every person has his/her own taste buds. I use the Brooke Bond Red Label which was used in my Ma’s kitchen and I have stuck to this brand till date. Recently a friend brought Dhruba leaf tea which I have mixed with my usual brand in 50:50 proportions to get the flavour and colour.

My friend once told me to drink my morning tea without milk as this helps prevent tooth problem (cavities). But I don’t like black tea. And the lemon tea a favourite of many has never gone down well with my taste buds.

I am not a tea addict. One cup in the morning and one in the evening is enough for my day. For courtesy sake I drink an extra cup when offered by friends or relatives. In winter I don’t mind an extra cup or two. Something makes me smile at this moment. Children dip biscuits into their mother’s tea cups and eat them. Even I have done so and so also my children.

Having finished my last drop from the cup I think I can also wrap up my words for today.

Meeting You

Welcome to my blog space. This is my special little space sharing cuisines from my kitchen. Everyone in my family loves food thus giving me a chance to try out different kind of recipes.

As a Bengali I’m looking forward to the Pujo days which will no doubt be full of activity and lots of good food. And what more, summer days are retreating, soon life will become so colourful – the woolies in shades of different colours will be seen on men, women and children and winter weekends can be full of fun and merriment.

Next time when I meet you here no doubt it’ll be all about food cooked in my kitchen.

Here I am.