Bengali mangsher chop / Bengali style meat croquettes

Ingredients: 

filling:
minced meat : 500 gm (I prefer mutton but I used minced lamb here)
1 large potato (boiled)
1 small onion (minced)
3 garlic cloves (paste)
1-inch ginger (paste)
peanuts
Roasted masala: (cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, nutmeg, and mace dry roasted and ground together. Proportion: 1 tbsp of cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cinnamon, cardamom, clove and 1 tsp of nutmeg, and mace. Once done store in an airtight container). Use 2 tsp
Amchoor powder. 1 tsp
black salt powder. 1 tsp
salt and sugar as needed

Batter:
coarsely grounded toast biscuit (as needed)
beaten egg + Roasted masala powder ( 1/2 tsp per egg)

Process:
Heat oil in a pan. fry the ginger, onion and garlic together. Add the boiled potato and mince meat. In a low heat cook everything together. Once the meat is half-done, add nuts (I didn't have peanuts, so in a true Marie Antoinette style I replaced it with Cashew nuts). Add all the masala. Cook till done. Remove from heat. Once the mixture cools down a bit, start making balls. Coat in the beaten egg and roasted masala mix. Roll in the ground toast biscuit. Repeat the process twice. Once you are done, keep the prepared chops in the fridge for about half an hour. It allows the mix to stick together. Deep fry or if you are health conscious, air fry. Enjoy with some kasundi.

Chalbhaja

The first time I was aware of chalbhaja when I read Aam Aantir Bhnepu, a kid-friendly version of Pother Panchali. Later on I found this snack/breakfast was mentioned in several other Bengali books  set in or early 1900's. Although none of the books specifically mentioned a recipe, from the description I gathered it used to be eaten with baby cucumber and green chilies. Sometimes people mixed it with mango pickle oil. Armed with that knowledge, I tried to recreate the dish. I'm not sure if I managed to recreate the original but I was glad to find this recreated dish was surprisingly addictive. I did modify and added a little touch of my own. Without further ado here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
Basmati/long grain Rice: 1 cup
Salt: as per taste
Roasted cumin powder: 1 tsp
Mustard oil: 1/2 tsp
Mango pickle oil: as needed
Baby cucumber, Green chili, Cut onion (optional. Typically not used as  bengali widows used to have it)

Method:

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain and dry it lightly.
2. Heat a little mustard oil just enough to cover the rice but not deep fry.
3. Fry the rice with salt and roasted cumin powder.
4. Once done serve it with mango pickle oil, baby cucumber, green chili & onion.

aloor chop, peyaji with jhalmuri.

As kids one of important attractions of train rides were the jhalmuri (puffed rice with spicy masala). I still don't know how the jhalmuriwala used to get in the trains when it was packed worse than a tin of sardines. Not only the jhalmuriwallah used to get on the train, they also would manage to mix the puffed rice with various spices and serve you one of the most delicious Calcutta style snacks within minutes.

A typical evening in Calcutta starts with muri telebhaja. Telebhaja is a generic term for various fritters that would be supplied by the local street side vendor.

So yesterday I decided to combine my two favorite snacks together for a trip down memory lane.

Peyaji (onion fritters)

Ingredients:
1 onion: chopped in concentric circles
green chili according to your taste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp chopped coriander
1 pinch turmeric
1/2 tsp roasted cumin poweder
1/2 tsp rock salt
a pinch of amchoor
1/2 cup gram flour
1/4 cup rice flour

Method: Mix all the ingredients together with water to form a thick batter. Deep fry. Serve with a dash of black salt.

Aloor chop (Potato fritters)
Ingredients:
1 Boiled potato
1 tbsp ginger paste
Green chili according to taste
1.5 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp amchoor powder
1/4 tsp roasted coriander powder
black salt & salt according to your taste
a pinch of hing and black pepper powder
Batter
1/2 cup gram flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tbsp poppy seed
salt according to taste
1 pinch roasted cumin powder

Method: Heat oil. Fry green chili & ginger. add boiled potato & other spices. mix well over heat.

Make the batter with water. It should not be too runny. Dip the potato mix in batter & deep fry. Serve with a dash of black salt.

Jhal muri

Ingredients:
Puffed rice
Mustard oil
Chopped onion, coriander, green chili
Dry coconut slices
hajmola (powdered)
roasted cumin powder
amchoor
chanachur

Method: Mix all the ingredients together.

Enjoy with a cup of masala tea.

Ghoti gorom

Normally, I try to keep nostalgia in bay but in a rainy day when I'm alone in home, memories come back with a vengeance. Ghoti gorom is nothing but chanachur mixed with some masala but it used to be one of my favorite childhood treats. The seller would put the chanachur in a heated bowl, mix with some spices, minced onion, green chili and cilantro and hand it to us in a cone made of paper. Sheer heaven in a cone :)

So today when I was feeling a little blue, I decided to make ghotigorom and some Darjeeling tea and indulge myself with a good book.

Ingredients:
Chanachur
Roasted cumin and red chili powder
Amchoor Powder
Black Salt Powder
Jal Jeera Powder
Lime Juice few drops
Mustard oil
Minced ginger
Minced onion
Minced green chili

Finely chopped cilantro (I did not have any)

Method:
Heat pan. Put in the mustard oil. Fry ginger in it. Put in the chanachur and all the spices. Fry for a minute. Add lime juice. Fry again for few seconds. Turn off heat. Mix in the onion, green chili and cilantro. Serve right away.

Authentic Kolkata style biriyani

Authentic Kolkata style biriyani

For quite a few days I was having a yen for Kolkata biriyani. As you all know different provinces of India cook their Biriyanis differently. While I'm a big fan of the Mughlai or the Hyderabadi version of the dish, I particularly was after the Kolkata version of it. The mix of yellow and white rice, with a big piece of mutton, a boiled egg and half a boiled potato. Only problem about getting the dish was, I"m living in New York and none of the restaurants here serve an authentic version of that Kolkata biriyani. Come to think of it, they don't really serve the authentic version of any biriyani at all. So while my hankering for Biriyani grew stronger, I took the only path available to me. I picked up my cooking gear and scoured internet and bengali magazines to find an authentic recipe. At the same time I started bugging my parents and mom-in-law as well. Armed with all these knowledge, I started tampering with the recipes until I reach a favorable solution. The dish I ultimately ended up with did not have perfectly colored white and yellow rice but it met my standards in other ways. I can definitely dare to say while it's not the best Biriyani I have ever eaten in life, it's one of the best biriyanis I have tested outside India. I also made Fish achari tikka, Burhani, pork kababs, lamb nalli korma and shahi tukra to accompany the biriyani. I will share those recips as well in later posts.

Now to the biriyani. I'm not a professional cook, so I wont really be able to give you the exact measures as I always go by my cooking instincts rather than actual measuring. Feel free to adjust them per your taste.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice 1 kg

Mutton    750 grams

2 large onions sliced

2 tbsp Ginger Juliennes

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

2 tbsp yoghurt

4 boiled eggs

4 boiled potatoes cut in halves

1/2 lemon

Spices

Cardamom -6

Cinnamon- 2 sticks

Clove- 6 

Shah Jeera (Caraway seeds)- 2 tsp

Sha Mareech (white pepper)-2 tsp

Peppercorn- 1 tsp

Star anise- 4

Turmeric powder

Garam Masala Powder

Biriyani Masala 

For smell

Kewra water (Panadanas water)

Rose Water

Saffron

Sweet Ittar

Ghee for cooking

Salt

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice in water for 30 mins. Drain and keep aside.

2. Boil water in a large pan. Take cheese cloth and tie up half of the whole spices in it. Put it in the water. Also add the lemon juice and salt. When the water starts boiling put the rice in it and cook till it's nearly done. Drain and keep aside.

3. in the meantime marinate the mutton in yoghurt, Ginger and garlic pastes and salt for 30mins to an hour.

4. Heat Ghee in a pan. Fry half of the sliced onions in it. Next put the mutton pieces in it and start frying. reserve the marinade. Once the mutton starts browning, put the marinade in it.

5. In the meantime boil the rest of the spices in 2.5 cups of water and reduce it to 2 cups. Strain the water and add it to the mutton. Adjust the salt here as well. I also added some meat tenderizer at this step as I did not have any raw papaya with me. Feel free to add them if you have them handy. Let the mutton cook completely but dont let it dry out.

6. Fry the boiled potato with salt, turmeric powder and a pinch of Biriyani masala. Keep aside.

7. Cut small slits in the boiled egg. Fry them with salt, turmeric powder and a pinch of biriyani masala.

8. Mix the Saffron, Sweet ittar, Rose water and kewra water in a small bowl.

9. I used a slow cooker for the next step. If you don't have one use oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit or use a handi sealed with atta. 

10. Take a large pan and coat it with ghee. Arrange the rice, mutton, potato and eggs on layers in it. In every layer sprinkle the rose water mix you have made.

11. Seal the pot and let it cook for another two hours in very low heat. if you are using a haandi dont heat it directly. instead put a tawa on gas and put the handi on top of that.

12. In the meantime Fry rest of the onions in ghee and sprinkle them on top of your biriyani when it's done.

Let me know how the biriyani turned out. Happy Cooking. :)

tomato-cilantro chutney

Ingredients:
Tomato,Ginger,Cilantro,green chilly,cumin powder,Salt,Sugar,Oil

Procedure:
Heat the oil in a pan.Add ginger and green chilly in it and fry a little.Add the tomato in it.Keep frying.Add the cumin powder in it.Add the cilantro when the oil separates from tomato.Adjust for salt and sugar.

cucumber raita

Ingradients:
2 pints thick yogurt
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 lemon, juiced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling(optional)
Procedure:
Put the yogurt, cilantro, cumin, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste, into a blender and puree until the mixture is smooth and green. Pour it into a bowl and fold in the cucumber and mint. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour before serving to allow the flavors to develop. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving and drizzle with a little olive oil.