Kankrar Jhol Ektu Jhal – Spicy Crab Curry

Been a long time I posted on this blog. This time it is a Food Tale of Crabs.


When the crabs came home, nah not on their own. They came from the market after buying them from the fish market of C R Park. The pair of the big legs with their claws tied with plastic thread (by the seller) so that they cannot harm its killer who is ready to take away its life for the sake of taste.

Carrying the plastic bag in hand it was placed on the floor of the car and the 6 crabs all holed up in the bag travelled for their last journey...to my home and straight into the kitchen. Preparation started after a little while. A big bowl of water was placed on the burning flame and once it was hot with the steam rising, I took the opportunity to put the crabs in it and within minutes they died, making efforts to crawl out but couldn’t.

In relating my story I forgot to tell you a secret about the trick of buying crabs. Simple and one liner – make sure the crabs are not dead and that is clearly visible from the movement of the legs (big and small ones). While most of the crabs live their lives in the salt water of the seas and oceans, there are who are fond of fresh water and many more live on land in holes.

The next step was to drain the water, dress the crabs. First the big legs and even the smaller ones were separated from the body and washed properly, next the hard shell was separated and the fleshy part washed and kept to be cooked.

With the dressing complete time to talk about the cooking.

Ingredients:

Dressed crabs medium size 6 with the legs

Potatoes: 3 medium size peeled and diced

Tomatoes: 2 chopped finely

Onion: 3 (medium size)

Ginger: ½ inch

Garlic: 6-8 cloves

Bay leaf: 4-5

Cinnamon: 2 sticks

Cardamom: 5-6 pods

Cloves: 3-4

Red chilli powder: ¾ tsp or as per the heat you can bear. I used Deghi Mirch.

Haldi powder: 1 ½ tsp

Sugar: ½ tsp

Salt: to taste

Mustard oil for cooking: 3 ½ tbsp (you can use less oil)

Preparation:

Make a paste of the onion, ginger and garlic.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Fry the cubed potatoes lightly and keep them aside.

In the same oil hot throw in the bay leaves followed by the cinnamon sticks (break them to smaller pieces with your hands), the cardamom pods partially crushed and the cloves.

Once the aroma of the spices rise, add the paste you have made and cook for sometime.

After 3-4 minutes of cooking this masala on medium flame add the tomatoes and cook again for about 2 minutes. Now add salt and sugar and the potatoes and cook till the oil leaves the side of the kadhai.

Add water enough for flowing (neither very thick nor thin) gravy. Cover the vessel and cook till the potatoes are half cooked.

Time to add the dressed crabs and cook till the potatoes are soft and the gravy not too watery but thick enough to be served with hot rice.

Time taking to eat this dish but leaves a lingering taste.

Vegetable Stew

A bowl of hot vegetable stew was a welcome for the cold late evening. As we sat and enjoyed the stew watching a movie, I had other thoughts in mind. I knew I had to finish my packing. I’ll be away for more than a week and thought it better to post this recipe before I leave.

It is a simple dish, will hardly take fifteen to twenty minutes.

Vegetables:
Cauliflower: Florets 2 cups
Radish: 2 cut into small pieces
Cabbage: 5-6 leaves (each leaf cut into quarter size)
Carrot: 2 Cut into long pieces
Green banana: 2 peeled and cut into small pieces
Green peas: ½ cup
Tomatoes: 2
Some mulo and phulkopir dhanta (radish and cauliflower stalk after removing the greens and cutting them)
You can add vegetables of your choice.

For seasoning:

Panch phoron: 1 tbsp
Dry red chili: 2
Oil: 1 tbsp
Salt
Sugar

Haldi powder: 1 tsp to add to the vegetables.

Wash and cut the different vegetables into their sizes so that no single one is over cooked.

Place all the vegetables in the pressure cooker. Add water and haldi powder. Quantity of water should be enough for the vegetables to swim in the liquid, as the dish is moreover soup-y, the only difference-you can bite into your vegetables.

Place the pressure cooker on the oven, close the lid and after it comes up with 4 whistles, switch off the gas. Let it cool before you open the lid.

Heat oil in a kadhai or pan. Once the oil is hot, break the red chillies into half and throw them in. Now add the panch phoron. Then add the contents of the pressure cooker into it. As it starts boiling add salt and sugar to taste. Let the stew remain watery.
Serve hot and enjoy the crunch and munch of the vegetables with their juicy flavour in a bowl. I like this as a substitute of soup.

Friends, will be away from Friday, will catch up with all that I’ve missed once I’m back.

Winter Khichuri with Vegetables

“Time and tide wait for no man”. As I remember these words there is the feeling nobody can stop time from moving on. The first month of this year has moved so fast almost eating up the first week, and as I realize the fact, the date reads ahead with every sunrise and sunset to make sure, day had come and gone.

No New Year resolutions from me, I feel happy to see friends and relatives follow this pattern of resolution…sticking to their words and no bad feeling if those words have been broken like the bone china cup slipping from my hand and crashing into bits and pieces.

The kitchen at home has no rest. Someone is there in the morning, sitting the saucepan filled with measured cups of water on the gas chullah for the morning tea. Then starts further kitchen activity breakfast, lunch, evening tiffin and dinner. Kitchen is the most visited place at home, that’s what I think and you may think differently.

Everyone at home likes hot khichuri, so I cooked this dish. My secret of khichuri...its easy to cook and one whole-meal cooked in a pan. There was a bunch of palang saag (palak, spinach), carrots, phul kopi (cauliflower) and potatoes. I decided to cook khichuri with these vegetables…turning it into a healthy dish. To go with this was Begoon (egg plant) bhaja.


For the Khichuri:

Rice: ¾ cup
Roasted Mung dal: ¾ cup
Haldi powder: 1 tsp
Jeera powder: ½ tsp
Dhania powder: ½ tsp
Red chili powder: ½ tsp
Tej pata: 2-3
Cooking oil or ghee
Salt to taste
Sugar to tast
Water: 3 cups (maybe a little more)

Vegetables I added:

Palak: 7-8 torn with the fingers
Carrot: 2 cut into long pieces
Cauliflower: 1 small
Potatoes: 1 only, peeled and cut into 4 pieces

Cooking it:

Wash the vegetables, dry and cut them.
Mix the rice and roasted mung dal. Wash and drain the water.

Heat ghee or oil in a pressure pan, fry the potatoes and cabbage florets till light brown. Take them out and keep them aside. Add the tej pata and the rice and dal and sauté. After 2-3 minutes add haldi, jeera, dhania and red chili powder and sauté for another couple of minutes. Now add salt and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add 3 cups of water ( a little more if you like a thin) and also the vegetables and mix them. Add the sugar, close the lid and after 4-5 whistles switch off the gas. Open the lid before serving. Add some more ghee when served on the plate.

For the Begoon Bhaja (egg plant fry):

Cut the egg plant into thin slice. Rub it with salt and haldi. Sprinkle besan (gram flour) over the pieces and mix it with the egg plant slices without adding water.
Heat oil in a kadhai for deep frying.
Drop in the begoon pieces and fry them till it turns deep brown.

Serve with hot khichuri.

Tomato chutney or even aam shotto (aam papad) chutney goes well with khichuri. Why, even sweet mango achar tastes good with Bangali Khichuri.

Thank god there was no grumble from either S or D with this unusual vegetable combination for the khichuri.

A sigh of relief.

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.