Aloo, Begoon, Sojne Da(n)tha and Bodi Tarkari/ Potato, brinjal, drumstick curry cooked with sundried lentil dumplings

 

Sometimes a simple and healthy curry can make a lot of difference when added to the menu chart of the day. Taste buds at times yearn for a curry that is light and goes well with rotis and parathas served hot from the hot tawa sitting on the flame and burning, to give the best from its top when its bottom is hot and burning. There is not much to talk about the tawa or the roti or paratha but more to tell about a simple dish which is a storehouse of taste.

Lau-ar-Cholar Dal Tarkari/Lauki and Chana Dal Sabzi/ Bottle Gourd and Split Bengal Gram Curry – Tasty dish for dinner-time with hot rotis

At times I feel great cooking something interesting and flavourful for dinner. And one such dish I can share is the Lau-ar-Cholar Daler tarkari (Chana Dal Sabzi/ Bottle Gourd and Split Bengal Gram Curry).

Though a simple dish, yet it tastes great and is very healthy. Today there will not be much addition of words, sentences, paragraphs but the rest of the body of this text will carry the culinary procedure of a Dinner Special Tarkari.

Kumro Phool Bhaja/Pumpkin flower fritters – Not for the flower vase…

When the doorbell rang early in the morning, for me this was an unusual time for the bell to ring. But, never know when one can be there giving a call by the ding-dong ring.

In a hurry, as I opened the door, a middle-aged man stood there with a bunch of yellowish-orange colour flowers in his hand. It surprised me when he stretched out his hand and said, “Would you like to have these?”

Aloo-Potol Bhaja/ Potato and Pointed Gourd Fry/Aloo-Parwal Fry – Simple side-dish for lunch-time

 

Bengalis like their lunch to be spread of assortments. To start with they will prefer ghee bhat, then some sheddho (like aloo sheddho), a pora can be served (the begun pora), a bhaja and then some Shukto can come. This does not complete the Lunch plate for there is more in store. Along with bhat there is dal. Maybe a niremish tarkari and macher jholor or jhal or paturi or sorshe mach or macher tak or even a mach bhaja or a mangshor tarkari. This can be accompanied with a tak or chutney which is more on the sweeter side and lunch is complete. Did I miss out something…memories drying up with the changes, ha ha ha…

Aloo and Green Peas Tikki – Aloo-hara matar tikki -- Anytime snack for family and friends

 

Where to start from?

A big question mark appears.

Yes time has run in a speed which is impossible for me to catch up with.

Again a WHY?

Because I’ve not been keeping pace with time and not written for a long time.

Time the Sprinter is always the winner. Usain Bolt may be the fastest sprinter but competition is also picking up with him.

I have to run a three-legged race with time to run alongside. But now a three-legged race seems impossible for schooldays are gone and childhood has shed its coat.

Beetroot and Potato Cutlet with some Green Peas– A healthy and tasty treat – Evening Snack

Deep fried Beetroot, Potato and Peas Cutlet...healthy and tasty

Want to make some snacks without putting in much effort. This can be tried. No compromise with taste and health benefits. Only the one who has made these cutlets know how minimal the difficulty level is.

Fresh Watermelon and Grape Juice – So Refreshing!!!

The thought of summer makes me sweat all the more. But I welcome summer as it brings with it the mangoes…can’t think of hot summer days without yellow ripe mangoes…and the green ones, they come to the homes to be made into chutneys and pickled to last throughout the year.

Instant Rava Dosa – Simple and Tasty Snack

  

Thinking about Dosa more fits with the thought of going to a restaurant, sitting in the far-side table with family or friends and ordering hot dosas served along with with some tangy sambar and tasty chutneys that go with it.

Bengalis mostly prefer to eat dosas outside, more so as they think making dosa at home is a long and burdensome process. These are some of the thoughts from my Bangali friends and relatives. If I am to say about this, I’m in two minds. If the batter is ready, then making some dosas at home is not a hurdle at all. But, food from outside does taste so different. So sitting and eating out on a holiday with a plate of crispy hot dosa from the hotplate of a good eating joint does taste heavenly.

Dimer Chop/Egg Chop/Anda Chop – When evening Snack-time comes calling…

At times I wonder, “how nice it would be to be served with a plate of some nice snack in the evening and eat away, enjoy and not a bead of sweat on the forehead for no labour has been put in by me”. Sometimes the thought of making some evening snack drives me crazy.

And it was so on this day. Sitting quietly, with legs put up on the stool and enjoying a TV programme, when, a glance at the clock made me get up. It was a sort of a hurried stand-up as time tried to say, “Get up lazy bug, enter the kitchen and make some tasty snack. I think your hungry stomach also want something to fill the gap in the stomach.”

I had to make headway…what to cook…a peek into the fridge…eggs beckoned me…and potatoes in the basket also wanted to come to my aid.

Fish Curry in Tomato Gravy – Tomatowala Macher Jhol

Speaking about fish and stories about cooking it in different ways can go on and on. Each and every Grihini (woman of the home) has a different story to tell…from her first fish curry to the recent experiments she carries on to make her fish curry from tasty to tastier to tastiest.

There is no harm to come up with a new version of the traditional one…why should there be any hurdles in the culinary section when the world is moving so fast from HERE to THERE. Now this HERE to THERE is progress and so also…

Mutton Curry and Egg Fried Rice cooked in relaxing mode – Very Special Sunday Funda

At times it comes to mind…very repetitive question…why a lady of the house has no Sunday off…do I qualify to ask such a question or………

Some may qualify my thought as intriguing and some others may be doing a soft verbal bashing under a deep breath.

My memory recollects…spin the wheel back to those years when this carefree girl never wanted or made any effort to enter the kitchen and what to speak…cooking and serving a full meal for lunch or dinner…no way…a simple reply. But…time does so much work…it even changes the mind of a rebellion…and then time brings into life a house where there is this YOU standing alone to find out ways and means to make life move on…to live life, have to eat…to eat, have to cook…and there works the magic wand of time…

Piyajkoli diye Rui Macher Jhol/Rohu fish Curry Cooked with Scallion/green onion – a love-affair and a love story…

Winter came treading slowly and steadily. She is the special guest of the year for most Indians. I can say there are hardly few who do not like Winter to be the guest of the year. People across the length and breadth of India welcome this season with open arms. However, those parts who have to face the harshness of Winter will not smile on her advent. Winter’s sister Summer, imagine how many hate her arrival and wait for her to leave.

Sonje phool aar saag Bhaja/Simple fry of Drumstick flowers and leaves – Simple and easy dish – And lots of health benefits.

Living in houses with lots of open space and a garden is a rarity these days. To think of a mango tree, jackfruit tree, guava tree, drumstick tree, Jaam and Jamrool trees, and some other trees in a garden in a city-house is a dream. The Champa, the Shuili, the Joba, the Tagar, the Madhumalati creepers, and so many other flowering plants give us their hue of colours when they bloom. But is this the truth that one can see in high rise apartments?

Kalakand – Something sweet for Makar Sankranti

Among the many different kind of sweets found in India, Kalakand holds a place for itself. In this country of diversity, food has its own role to play. Food in the eastern region may be a bit different from the western part while food in the north and the south may be poles apart in taste, but people love to eat and enjoy food that may not be very common in their region. Food also bring together people of this country that has an uniqueness of ‘unity in diversity’.

Kathi Goja/Bengali Misti Goja/A Sweet Snack Treat

Kathi Goja/Bengali Misti Goja/A Sweet Snack Treat 

This is no Crossword Puzzle nor General Knowledge Test nor the School or College or University exam. A simple sweet savoury that is sweet and tasty and a ‘Tea-time Delight’.

The Goja is very common in Bengali homes. This has passed down from one generation to another.

Are Goja’s still doing rounds in homes now-a-days? A mind boggling question, but, it still has an answer.

Some people still like to eat and relish their home-made Goja’s. So it is still made in many homes.