Rajma

Rajma 

Truth be told I don't know when I fell in love with Rajma. It might have been that time when we passed through Delhi or in that beautiful place in Punjab whose name I cannot remember since I was 7 years old or 8 years old. At home my father would make Rajma but it was nothing like the delightful Punjabi ones. He always added paneer for one thing and would sometimes make this delicious dish with meat added to Rajma but by the time I reach my teenage years and had a taste of some good rajma in this Punjabi Dhaba I knew I loved it and it would always be my comfort food.

Over the years I have followed a couple of recipes all of which were delightful yet I kept trying different recipes which means somewhere in my heart I was not fully satisfied and then last year I came across this beautiful blog run by a Punjabi Kudi as she calls herself and tried out her recipe and I knew it was the right one for me. It was thick and hot and was deliciously tasty with the minimum use of spices. I follow this lovely lady's blog.

Before I move on I must say I always keep some homemade Punjabi garam masala at home which gives the dish that special flavour. This garam masala differs from household to household in Punjab . I basically use this recipe given by a wonderful friend of mine from the land of five rivers and it needs  Black cardamom,  Cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and bay leaves and peppercorn.

So here goes the easy recipe

Makes 3 to 4 servings

1 cup of rajma washed and soaked overnight
1 large onion
1 tsp coarsely chopped ginger
1 tsp coarsely chopped garlic
1 large tomato
2 green chilies slit lengthwise
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Spices

1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2  tsp garam masala
Salt as per taste

3/4th tbsp ghee

1 tbsp butter (optional)

Wash and soak the rajma and then pressure cook it over low heat till its soft and well cooked.                        In the meantime coarsely chop the onion, garlic and ginger and blend it smooth in a blender. Chop the tomatoes and finely chop the coriander leaves.

Now heat the ghee and add the cumin seeds. When they splutter add the onion ginger garlic paste and keep stirring till the raw smell goes away and add the tomatoes and green chilies  and cook on high flame for 50 seconds and lower heat and keep stirring till you get a nice paste and the paste seems glossy . Now add the rajma , salt, turmeric, red chili powder and garam masala. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with plain basmati rice.  You may or may not add the butter once the rajma is cooked. I usually leave it out for a normal day serving.

Dahi Bhalla

Dahi Bhalla 

If you truly try and understand your own palate it might just surprise you at times. I am normally someone who likes her food which is bursting with subtle flavours and so I was surprised when I discovered how much I love robust spicy Chaats. Growing up with parents who were very cautious about what I put in my mouth street food was off limits while I was growing up but then came the late teenage years and with pocket money and a city with people from different parts of our lovely country I developed this love affair with Chaats. At first it was the Dahi Bhallas but then I slowly discovered samosa chaat, kachori chaat and all sorts of delicious spicy robust snacks. 

I must admit that the best chaats I have had was in Delhi. Normally ,Bengalis from Calcutta find Delhi's palate as a whole to be way too sharp and spicy but it seemed to be I was supposed to be born in Delhi. For the time I was there I would gorge on all sorts of chaats and the extra spiciness blew my mind away. Back at home on the streets on calcutta we do get awesome chaats but they are not as spicy as those lovely ones from delhi. So I automatically picked up this habit of making my chaats extra spicy and extra delicious. There are dasy when I get chaat cravings and while there can be a host of chaats lets start with a cooling summer chaat , soaked in whisked curd it is a delight for the punishing summer months in India or rather round the year. Normally a variant of this dish is found everywhere in India. In the west they usually sweeten the curd a bit, the Southern ones are more sour but my favourite is the ones from the North with a host of flavours which just make sit top notch. This delicious dish can be made a number of ways. Some people make it with urad pulse alone, some make it with a mixture of split moong pulse and urad pulse and then I have recently had this Dahi vada made by a celebrity chef who used whole moong pulse and it had a beautiful texture. I adapted  Marut Seeka's recipe :-

Makes 6 to 7 servings

For the base of the bhallas you need :-

2 cups of moong pulse
1/2 cup of urad pulse
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp rock salt

Vegetable oil for frying

For soaking :-

1 kilogram of curd whisked well with 2 tbsp Chaat Masala

For serving :-

3/4th  cup of Khatti Meethi Chutney
3/4th cup of Hara Bhara Chutney
Chaat Masala  as per taste , I usually need a good sprinkle for each serving
Chili powder as per taste I needed a good sprinkle for my own serving since the rest of the family didn't want it that hot
1 cup of bhujia

Soak the pulse for 5 hours to 6 hours and then grind with cumin powder, coriander powder , rock salt and  2 tbsp water, the lesser water you use the better . The batter should be as fluffy as possible.

Now heat the oil and keep a big bowl of water beside the gas stove and make little balls with your wet hand and keep frying them and when they are golden brown transfer them in the bowl of water. Soak the fritters for 10 minutes to 15 minutes int he water and then gently squeeze the water out and soak it in curd which is well whipped and chill it for 1 hour or more. Please check the tips

When serving place dahi vada on a plate and use Khattti meethi chtuney, Hara Bhara Chutney , chaat masala , chili powder and bhujia on top. Adjust the amount of chutney and chaat masala as per taste.

Important tips :-

1. When frying the fritters keep the heat within medium to low because if it is  too hot then the fritters will burn from outside and remain uncooked inside , so once you have heated the oil use low heat throughout the course of frying . It generally takes about 3 to 4  minutes on each side for the golden colour to be achieved. 
2. You must let the fried fritters soak in water for 10 minutes to 15 minutes else they won't absorb any curd and will remain hard. When pressing the fritters to get the water out don't press too hard. They remain ultra soft when they are not pressed too hard to remove water post soaking
3. Let the fritters soak up the curd  for a good 1 hour , in fact I usually l soak them around noon and serve them at around 7 p.m. 
4. When soaking the water soaked fritters where the water has been squeezed out don't crowd the fritters in one bowl for soaking in whipped curd. use two big bowls if necessary. 
5. You must whisk your curd well. Since we are soaking the fritters in curd and wanting the curds to absorb the curd to make them soft the curd need needs to be whisked well. If its  too thick add a tiny bit of water to it. 

Bhuna Murgh (Pan Seared Chicken)

Bhuna Murgh (Pan Seared Chicken)

by Purna Chowdhury 

The truth is when you have a virtual world you are well connected with and sometimes some lovely person asks for a recipe you cannot but write it down for them as quickly as possible. Well truth be told I am swamped with work. With a deadline for Wednesday I would probably have taken my own sweet time with writing it down but then someone wanted to make it today and so I cannot but write it down. What had attracted me was the ease of the recipe , the quick cooking but one must remember that the marination plays a very vital role. Now as with everything else in this world there is a dispute between marinating lean meat and fish for long hours because some adhere to the fact that it becomes mushy whereas many Middle-eastern and Indian recipes calls for over-night and one or two even calls for 24 hour marination. Well we all form opinions with our experiences and I would have to say that when making kebabs, grilled chicken or pan seared chicken over-night marination or marination for 6 to 7 hours does render 'melt in the mouth' chicken. The end result is a spicy coating with soft melt in the mouth chicken.

This recipe is Purna Chowdhury's , a true culinary wizard , so all the credit is her's alone and following it is so easy that anyone can make it easily . Before continuing lets  be clear about two factors, this cannot use any water or acidic agent which of course includes lemon . I did include some techniques which I have learnt in the kitchen with experience and reading.

What you need :-

1 kilogram of dark portion of chicken (dark portion means the leg and thigh together sans the skin)
Garlic paste 2 tbsp
Ginger paste 2 tbsp
Freshly coarsely ground coriander seeds and dried red chili 2 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Mace 1/4th tsp
Ground cloves and cinnamon 1/2 tsp
Mustard oil 6 tbsp
Freshly chopped coriander 1 tbsp

Marinate the chicken with half the amount of garlic and ginger paste , salt and 2 tbsp oil. Now the original recipe had not called for marination with the oil but from experience I have seen that the marination with oil helps render the chicken even more juicy. Leave it alone for 6 to 7 hours. if you do not have time marinate it for at least 3 hours. Now heat the oil and saute the ginger garlic paste till it is golden brown but not blackened . Add the chicken and keep on stirring as in bhunoing on high heat for 2 minutes to 3 minutes to seal the juices and then reduce the heat to low and add all the spices and keep stirring. What I did after 7 minutes was cover it and let it be (so that the insides of the chicken gets easily cooked) then open the lid and keep stirring till the juices run clear and you can easily pierce a fork right till the bones. Sprinkle some coriander leaves which are freshly minced if you want to Enjoy with a side salad or some Hot soft flatbread.

For the person who cooks this you cannot but mop up all that spice left in the pan after serving it so sneak into the kitchen and mop it up with some fresh hot chapatis or bread for that indulgent experience.

While mustard oil brings out the best flavours of the chicken in case its availability is not possible use refined oil but that does diminish the flavour a little bit.

Chole

I love Punjabi Food. Its robust, spicy and utterly delicious. To be fair living in Calcutta the options for real Punjabi food was scarce. There was of course this wonderful Dhaba in the middle of the city which churned out amazing dishes. The beauty of Calcutta is its diversity of food. Of course the diversity is best seen in and around Central Calcutta but nevertheless it is still there. You see each cuisine has an essence and after researching enough about Punjab's dishes and having had the good fortune of tasting some real Punjab da khana in a Punjabi home near Delhi I have come to the conclusion that original Punjabi food tastes its best when cooked in some desi ghee. I mean sure there are millions of recipes out there and you can always use health as an excuse but having used both the options I can definitely tell you that cooked in pure desi ghee the beauty of these dishes are simply at their best when they are cooked in that silky creamy ingredient.

If this cuisine were to be personified I would call it a beautiful voluptuous lady with glowing skin and dressed in a riot of colours.

If you have had the good luck to taste some delectable dishes in Punjab you would know that the use of spices is a bit more than in other cuisines of India. I like mine exactly that way and so here is my recipe for Chole collected from a dear old woman staying in the NCR region. Chickpeas are a store house of nutrition and cooked with all that spice it simply becomes divine.

Serves 4 to 6 people

2 cups of dried chickpea
2 medium sized red onions which are finely sliced
2.5 tsp finely minced garlic
2 tsp finely minced ginger
2 chopped tomatoes
3 to 4 green chilies finely chopped
Cinnamon (3/4th size of your little finger) crushed
3 black cardamom crushed
2 tsp cumin powder
3 tsp coriander
2 tsp chili powder
Pinch of turmeric
Salt as per taste
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp Punjabi garam masala made at home for which you use (1 bay leaf, 2 to 3 green cardamom, 4 black cardamom, 1.5 inch cinnamon , 5 to 6 cloves and about 7 to 8  peppercorn , 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tsp coriander seeds , pinch of nutmeg and 2 blades of mace) . Dry roast and grind this
2.5 tbsp ghee
2 bay leaves
Juice of Half a lemon

Soak the chickpeas overnight and then boil it with 5 cups of water and 1 tsp ginger. Heat 2 tbsp ghee and saute the garlic and ginger taking care not to burn them. Now add the onions and fry till translucent. Add the bay leaf and crushed spices. Saute for a minute and add the tomatoes and Half the chopped chilies and stir continuously , mashing it from time to time to form a thick spicy paste and add the ground spices except the garam masala. Mix well stirring for a minute and add the boiled chole with the remaining water. Bring to a boil and salt, turmeric, chili powder and half the garam masala. Simmer till it reaches a thick gravy like consistency. Add the rest of the garam masala, the rest of the chopped chilies and coriander leaves and the juice of lemon. Serve hot with soft chapatis or paraunthes with onion rings and a wedge of lemon.

Mutton Lazeez Hundi : tender oh so tender , delicious oh so delicious

So here is what happens when you take up a massive project. Lunch for 4 with no help in the kitchen and a dinner for 4 as well. The cook was given holidays the grandmother went away on a trip to Sambalpur, I took up the entire responsibility of lunch and dinner with two different guests for each meal and the only help was the mother going to the market. Thank God for that. Now here is what happens when your mother hardly knows her way around the kitchen. You organize work and well hope your guests like em all but with the chaos forget to document your dishes step by step because there is the larger task of making sure your guests go back happy .

While my first guest was a lovely gentle lady my guest for the night was a food connoisseur which made me a little bit nervous, but then I shook off my nervousness and chop, lock , stock it was.

So,  a dinner party without red meat is considered unforgivable by my father so quite naturally there had to be a meat dish. I will be honest here,  I like experimenting, so no matter how successful my previous dishes might have been I like trying out new dishes and so went on a recipe hunt and the description of the Lamb lazeez Hundi on NDTV's site was too tempting to resist. I made a few changes such as using half the amount of ghee because well who needs 500gm of ghee for kilogram of meat? Maybe some do but having made enough number of dishes and considering  the fact that both my father's and the guest's age  I reduced it down to 250gm. The result was fantastic. The meat was deliciously soft due to a certain easy trick up my sleeves, the guest was happy and delighted and a very happy father who still believes in "praise the child spoil their future"

So I am very new to this world of blogging and though with time have become much more blogger friendly by capturing each and every picture etc in October I was still quite naive and so had not taken pictures because wanting to serve it hot form the pot I started cooking the meat exactly at 6 p.m. , 3 hours prior to the appointed meal time.

So these are requirements:

900gm of goat meat
250gm of ghee
5 chopped onions
1.5 heaped tablespoonful of thick ginger paste
1.5 heaped tablespoonful of thick garlic paste
3 large bay leaves
4 to 5 green cardamom
Cinnamon stick, now I can never give the exact metric measurement but say when ground it should yield 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tsp mace
2 tsp dried ginger powder (sonth)
5 to 6 tomatoes
2 cups yogurt whisked into  smoothness
4 tablespoonful of cream

Here is where I made some chnages. I did marinate my meat for about 3 hours even though the recipe did not call for it with half the amount of ginger garlic paste and salt.
Heat the ghee and add the finely sliced onions and fry till golden brown. Add remaining ginger garlic paste. Add all the spices. I pound the spices roughly before adding them. add tomato paste which has been blanched and skinned and bring to slow boil and simmer till the oil comes out stirring from time to time.
Add mutton and mix well and cook for 5 to 10 minutes stirring continuously and add about 1 litre of water. Now the recipe had asked you to cover and cook for 30 minutes for meat to become tender. I cooked for an hour and yet the meat was not of the  melt in the mouth texture and so I used this trick which will really help you. I put everything in a pressure cooker and put it on low flame. It took about 45 minutes for the first whistle. Then I transferred it back in my big wok and brought it to a boil and added the yogurt very quickly while continuously stirring to make sure the yogurt does not split. It did not, this was a helpful hint from the original recipe. Cooked it on low heat till the gravy became nice and thick. Served it with the cream on top.

Ah doesn't it make you feel extra special when a dish you cook becomes a raging hit especially with a connoisseur :)

This dish is truly fit for a Lahori Prince. The subtraction of the ghee did not make any difference it was still very rich and well with the mutton's fat it was delicious

Kadhai Murgh

Kadhai Murgh 

This was the day of Diwali, 2013. With the Elaborate menu of the previous day which included deep fried bengali puris (luchis) , chanar dalna (homemade cottage cheese in a true Blue Bengali gravy) , aloor dum (Dum aloo ) and kesar pista kulfis all I craved for was some rice and dal and a jazzy chicken. Now festive days cannot be celebrated with salads and health food in my dictionary. 

So I fondly recalled one of my favourite chefs, marut Sikka and rummaged through his recipes on NDTv Cooks.com and bingo I found my desired preperation, kadhai murgh, the added advantage was the absence of onions which are the source of your tears even if you look at them what with the 300% increase in prices. 

Ah chicken, succulent, soft spicy , robust. As always I did make a wee bit change in the recipe not by adding or subtracting  any ingredients but by simply adjusting the quantities.

Its easy , its simple, its lip smacking if I may say so. No, no I am not patting my own back, I am simply patting Marut Sikka's back and the great Awadhi cuisine's back. 

So all that you need:

650gm of chicken 

5 whole dried red chilies

Coriander seeds a little more than half a tsp 

a little less than half a bowl of ghee 

1 tbsp garlic paste 

1.5 tbsp ginger green chili paste (use about 4 green chilies)

500 gm of tomatoes pureed 

1 tsp green cardamom

half a tsp black cardamom

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin powder

A good pinch of fenugreek (kasoori methi ) leaves

salt as per taste

A good pinch of saunf powder

2 tsp chopped coriander (please chop finely because they deserve that kind of love ) 

 I did marinate my chicken for a good 2 hours with salt and half the amount of garlic and ginger  to tenderize it.

Start off by dry roasting the red chilies and coriander seeds and simply grind them . Now I did use the old fashioned mortar and pestle because with less amount of spice the grinder does not do a very good job but then its your call. 

Now heat ghee in a wok , this is the part of kadhai hence kadhai murgh and be generous with your ghee. Here I must pause and denounce usage of any other medium of cooking oil , its one day enjoy, let the flavours fill your taste buds. You can sue as much olive oil and extra olive oil as you want the other days. 

Anyways so fry your coriander chili powder and then add the cardamom and remaining black pepper and finally the tomato puree. Stir stir stir on high heat and lower the heat so that the flavour remains intact and does not give any burnt taste and then finally add the  remaining garlic and ginger but make sure that it doe snot burn so moderate heat moderate heat. Add your chicken, bring to a boil , simmer cover and dance around. When the chicken is tender and soft and succulent, add kasoori methi , cumin powder and saunf and again bring to slow boil because by this time the gravy would have thickened but due to the cover it would still be on the thinner side so now cook for sometime without the cover to make a thick gravy. I cannot imagine kadhai chicken swimming around. Add the chopped coriander leaves a minute before everything is done and voila (ah this voila I borrow from the great French chef Raymond Blanc, what daring I have :)  ) you have kadhai chicken , enjoy it with soft fluffy basmati or fluffy chapatis. 

P.S. Anyone who has ever made a paste of green chilies would know how intoxicating and wonderful it is so hence the green chili ginger paste. It does add extra flavour. 

The father who is a grouchy bear said that it reminded him of the kadhai murgh of Ambala cantonment and the ones he would have in Lucknow whenever they would pass through it for the annual expeditions. Ah my joy knows no bounds. 

Roast papad

The best of the crispy Papads and it is completely Healthy 

We, Indians  have all had our share of experiences with Papad. This flattened piece of snacks is a common affair in India. We have it fried, roasted and even as a curry. Anyways the fondest memories I have is munching on fried papads during rathyatra. In Bengal we have a saying that in 12 months we have 13 festivals and well this one is extra special for little kids because they get to buy a chariot and decorate it with flowers and then put Jaganath, Balaram and Subhadra the two brothers and sisters and pull it for fun and once back at home are treated to an array of sewets but the specialty of the days have always been the fried papads.

There is enough variety of papads which to confuse anyone, there are the plain ones made with pulses, ones made with rice flour, some have spices some are non spicy. Its a whole lot out there but deep frying is probably a big catch and so Papads have been pushed away. Well am I correct? No because there is always the roasted variety but then  roasting it takes a lot of skill. Most roasts would have even if the mildest ones but the little blackened marks from roasting over the flames. I for one haven't ever managed a roasted Papad which only has little bubbles on them without even a little black spot and then today after I finished by 1.5 hour long , yes I have increased the time form 1 hour to 1.5 hours :) evening walk and was sweating and puffing and hungry I found a packet of plain papad. I was thinking of ways to it healthy yet without having to eat evena  little bit of burnt taste  and was immediately was struck with an idea of grilling them. Now I usually do not use the microwave mdoe or microwave cum grill mode but then I needed a quick snacking with tea  so that I could quickly get down to work and well somehow the idea of plain papad was not quite appealing and so I decided on the spicy version with onions, tomatoes and assorted spices.

All I did was gather 1 onion, 1 tomato (medium size), 1 wedge of lemon , rock salt and my homemade green chutney and mixed it well.

Ingredients for the fresh relish

1 onion
1 tomato
Homemade green chutney
1 wedge of lemon
Rocksalt as per taste

The papad was simply microwaved grilled at 600W for 2 minutes and was turned on its other side after 1 minute. The result was a fantastic success if I may say so without sounding like a pompous ass.

It was perfectly done and so specks of burnt bits got inside my mouth to create unpleasantness. Try it, its healthy, its tasty, its wonderful. You can also dip it in other condiments.

Murg- E -Shalimar

So it has been a busy three days of  celebration of Diwali which meant food , food and more food and a tired tired tired me . Serves people such as myself right for not wanting anybody's help :)

With the oncoming Bhai-phota it meant another day of celebration. As long as I remember we have never celebrated festive occasions  in a  big way but come that one day of the year where sisters pray for their brothers' well being and our house would be flooded with guests.  It would be a day of fun , laughter and lots of enjoyment. For as long as I remember my grandmother has always hired caterers but this time I forbade her to book the caterers. I was going to cook for 12 guests since many were unable to come. This meant looking for the suitable recipes ahead of time. So it is Monday morning and I am rummaging through recipe after recipe. Now I have this bad habit where I do not like frequenting the same recipes. So should I not have taken the easy path and cooked so many chicken dishes I have prepared over the years but no Sir I wanted to take upon a challenge of a new dish.

I sought the help of NDTVcooks.com. The last time I challenged myself to a new dish for an occasion  it was the Lamb lazzez handi , a superb dish of lamb which was a beautiful success and so this time I rummaged through their Pakistan team's recipes and then ah well something caught my attention, Murgh -e -Shalimar. First of all I have special respect for dishes from the northwest frontier cuisine, Lahori cuisine, Awadhi cuisines etc etc . Shalimar conjured these images of Lahori splendor and suddenly I found myself remembering this particular Nawab from Vikram Seth's , "A Suitable Boy" one who loved his delicate food, his music and books and was a true blue sophisticated Nawab. Further reading made me realize I can pretty much imagine the Nawab listening to ghazals and  slowly enjoying this lovely dish on a silver plate while the devastating decay around him makes it a heart wrenching beautiful image. Anyways back to my old house in Calcutta, reading through the recipe I realized it was not your usual recipe. Here you bring curd, onions, poppy seeds , sesame seeds and cashew nuts. And this is exactly what fascinated me and I immediately decide upon this recipe.

I did alter a few things.

With the result I would suggest this be tried at all kitchens.

Here is my Mur e Shalimar

Chicken: 2 kg

For marination: 2 tablespoonful of salt, 3 tablespoonful of freshly ground black or white pepper , 2.5 tablespoonful of ginger paste 3 tablespoonful of garlic paste

Curd : 500gm
Cashew nuts: 100gm
Poppy seeds - 3 tablespoonful
sesame seeds - 2.5 tablespoonful
Onions :400gm

Coriander leaves: 1 big bunch
Green chilies - 8 of them
Green cardamom: 1.5 tablespoonful
Cloves: 1.5 tablespoonful

Ghee/clarified butter: 200gm or a little less
Coconut milk - 1 tetra pack (200ml)
Grated coconut: 3 tablespoonful
Whole milk :500ml

Now the recipe called for cream but I wanted to make it as homemade possible and simply reduced 500ml of milk to a thick creamy consistency (when it yields about 1 small bowl of creamy delight) and put in the blender with coconut and a little bit of milk.

Marinate the chicken pieces with salt, pepper and ginger paste and garlic paste for about 12 horus to 15 hours.

Before starting off I suggest keeping everything ready so blend your coriander leaves and green chilies. I did not find mint leaves in the market else use a mix of mint leaves and coriander leaves.

Bring the curd, poppy seeds, cashew nuts , sesame seeds and chopped onions to a quick boil. Cool and blend into a smooth smooth consistency.

Now heat the ghee in a big pan and add crushed green cardamom and crushed cloves. Then add your curd mixture and keep stirring till the oil separates and add the chicken and bring to about and simmer till chicken is cooked tender , add the green paste and bring to a boil again and simmer covered for sometime till you find the chicken tender and this when you add the cream mixture and coconut milk, again bring to boil very slowly and simmer till chicken reaches the consistency of melt in your mouth texture and . The gravy is supposed to be thick so when reducing ti just do not use the cover and cook in the open for sometime. Make sure that nothing gets stuck in the bottom ,so using medium flame is the way to go except for the times that you bring everything to a boil. And we are done. Have it with plain Basmati rice or with hot chapatis. This is heavy enough and probably not suited for any puris. The dish is truly Nawabi indeed.

Green chutney

Spicy green chutney / Hara Bhara Chutney 

This is the most common fresh chutneys one comes across in the Indian subcontinent. Requires no cooking, is fresh, spicy , hot , tangy and delicious. It goes well with most Indian snacks be it the samosas, kachoris, pakodis, dahi vada or with potato chips or well you do the experiments  now.

One needs :

1 bunch of mint leaves
1 bunch of corainder leaves
1 inch of ginger
5 to 6 garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
half the juice of a lemon
Rock salt as per taste
A few black pepper corns
Half a tsp of coriander powder
Half a tsp of cumin powder
4 green chilies
1 tsp mango powder for the extra jazziness
Water

Pluck the leaves out from the mint stalks and soak them in a bowl of water to get rid of all the dirt and wash your coriander well. Put everything in a blender and blend away adding the water bit by bit and checking for the consistency which appeals to you. I like it thick and smooth and so I added about 4 tablespoonful of water and perhaps a bit more sprinkling of it :)

P.S. The garlic and ginger simply makes this a more delicious affair :) Had previously tried it without those two gems and the difference stares you in the taste buds. If you have little ones do adjust the green chilies. 

The Versatile Muri

The versatile yet humble puffed up rice. Have it with milk and chopped fruits and you have your very Indian breakfast cereal, spice it up with an array of spices and you have the spiced muri known as the jhalmuri, have it spiced with sauces and spices and there is the bhel-puri. Well its talent is mainly constricted to the snacking area - you can have it plain with chops or fritters. 

With the seductive weather of Calcutta, today it was dry roasted puffed rice with a wee bit mustard oil , very finely chopped onions and chilies and fried potatoes along with Darjeeling tea. It is as healthy as it is tasty, one always has the option to omit the potatoes completely but well that would just murder its taste, so why not exercise so that we have the fun of indulging in these delicious evening snacks. This is an old favourite of mine. As a moderately fussy eater I refused Horlicks as a child which my family anyways has no affinity for and so this was a frequent evening snack for me P.S. Dry roasting the puffed up rice on slow heat is a must for the delightful warmth it provides .


For this muri what one need sis 

4 cups of puffed up rice 
1 onion chopped finely 
1 to 2 chilies chopped finely (as per the level of hotness your palate likes) 
Pinch of salt 
2 teaspoonful of mustard oil 
Potatoes chopped thinly and fried (It should not be too crispy else it does not give the perfect balance with the crunchy puffed up rice so it is best to fry the potatoes an hour or so before preparing the muri) 
Pinch of cumin powder 

Start off my dry roasting the puffed up rice on low flame. This is essential for giving it the warmth which makes it even more delicious and gives it a touch of freshness. One mixes everything together and enjoys it with a cup of black tea. I have seen that somehow this mix becomes a bit too hot for coffee or milk tea but then each one of us have an unique palate. 

If not using fried potatoes one can simply have the mix with fritters of any kind or make a mix with peanuts ,coconuts and chanachur (a typical  hot salted spicy mix from Bengal)