Masala Squid

SG made masala squid for me.
I ate devoured it with pineapple slices and radish pickle. Yummy. A volcano in my mouth.

Recipe to be uploaded soon after I consult the chef :D
You can stir-fry with you favorites spices and lots of love :D

This isn't a recipe post, it is a happy post :D

Egg with pointed gourd (ডিম পটল)

Ingredients:
Pointed gourd, cut in half vertically.
Boiled eggs (depending on serving size, cut into slits so that the masala gets into the eggs)
Cumin seeds
Onions-sliced
Garlic -minced or paste
Ginger paste
Green chilies
Spices of your taste


Method:

1. Fry sliced onions, add cumin seeds to splutter. Then add minced garlic/garlic paste. (about two big cloves, not too much. This is for the eggs) Add ginger paste later on.
2. When the onions are fried, add halved pointed gourd. (You may add salt before if you think the pointed gourd don't take salt while cooking.)
3.  Fry the masala by stirring often. Add a handful of water if it gets too dry. Add boiled eggs, slit on four sides.
4. Add salt to taste and your favorite masala. In one version, I added Koora Karam and dry garlic chutney to make it spicy.
   
   You may replace the pointed gourd with grean beans if you can't find any.

Bok choy with potatoes and eggplant

You can make this recipe with Yu choy sum, spinach (palak) or Vietnamese/Malabar spinach (Pui) too.

Method:

1. Heat Mustard oil in a wok. Temper with nigella seeds (kalonji/kalo jeere/কালো জিরা )
2. Add cubed potatoes and diced bok choy, Add eggplant. If you are using other greens like spinach or Vietnamese spinach, you can add the stalks first and leaves later. Add salt to taste and turmeric.
3. Stir-fry until almost done. Add slit green chilies and nigella seed paste (optional).  Boil water in a saucepan. Add for gravy.
4. You can add deep-fried lentil dumplings (ডালের বড়া) and mustard paste (সর্ষে বাটা ) for extra punch.

I added the core of banana blossom, steamed and chopped into thin slices for variety. Good source of fiber and vitamins. Good recipe to eat in Summer.

Paneer Cutlets

This post is dedicated to Suroshree Di who asked for the recipe. 
Otherwise, I feel too lazy to post food recipes nowadays. :D

You may use grated paneer and boiled mashed potatoes or leftover aloo-matar-paneer for the recipe. Some people also add grated cabbage and carrots to the mix for variety.

1. Add chopped ginger, chopped green chilies, chopped cilantro, chat masala, black salt, roasted and ground cumin-coriander-dry red chilies (bhaja masala) and crumble the paneer (if using leftover sabji) with your hands.  The masher or food processor can be tricky to get desired granularity here. Use whatever is convenient for you.
2. Add ghee roasted cashews and washed and squeezed raisins to the paneer-spice mix that will become your delectable filling. You just elevated it into a regal dish :D
3. Shape the mix into patties and dip first into gram flour batter (besan) and then in breadcrumbs. Repeat the coating process a second time to make the patties tighter, so they don't break when deep-fried. 
4. Deep fry in mellow tasting cooking oil.  Keep on a paper towel to soak excess oil. Transfer to a serving dish later.
5. Serve with your favorite chutney or sauce.

The Instant Death Mutton Roast

Method:

1. Marinate the mutton in onion, ginger, garlic and green chili paste. Also add Karakoram spice and Kashmiri red chili powder, salt and mustard oil. Marinate overnight.
2. In a wok, heat mustard oil (or other cooking oil) add curry leaves and fry the mutton on low heat for 2-3 hours or until the meat falls of the bones.

Chili pork with Bhoot Jolokia

Method:

1. Marinate the pork overnight with dark soy sauce.
2. In a wok heat oil, fry cubed onions,  a star anise ( to counter the smell of pork, you can discard later) and 2-3 dry Bhoot Jolokia / Naga pepppers (adjust heat according to the sample you have). Keep aside,
3. In the flavored oil,  add methi seeds to splutter and fry the marinated pork. Add crushed garlic and later thing sliced ginger. You may also add whole dry red chilies at this point.
4. Cook till done, serve with steamed rice.

Murighonto with Salmon Head / স্যামন মাছের মাথা দিয়ে মুড়িঘন্ট

Ingredients
Gobindobhog/kaalo jeere (short-grain rice you can get in Bangladeshi or Indian stores)
Fish head ( we are using Salmon in this recipe, usually a fresh rui/ katla/ crap head is preferred.)
Cubed potatoes- 2 small or 1medium
Ginger garlic paste- about 1 tbsp
Bengali Garma Masala (clove, cardamom and cinnamon ground in equal parts)

Method:

1. Soak Gobindobhog/kaalo jeere rice in a bowl. 
2. Wash and clean the salmon head. Cut into 4 pieces. Rub salt and turmeric. Fry in mustard oil. Set aside. 
3. In the same oil used to fry the fish head, fry cubed potatoes. Add cumin seeds and bay leaves.
4. Add the pre-soaked rice after straining the water. Cook on medium while stirring continuously. Add ginger-garlic paste. Keep stirring.
5. Add back the fried fish head and slit green chilies. Add boiling hot water in batches til the rice is fully cooked.
6. Serve hot after sprinkling a little garam masala.

Savory Overnight Oats

Soak rolled oats or steel cut oats overnight in yogurt, water, salt, and pepper.

In the morning, heat 1 tsp oil in a wok and add diced onions, cumin seeds, broken red chilies, and curry leaves. Add the oats and stir. Serve with pickles of your choice or eat as it is.

Banana halwa

2 ripe bananas
Raw Sugar to taste
Milk powder
2 Tbsp ghee (preferably homemade)

Method:
Mix everything except the ghee together and cook the mashed bananas in a low flame by stirring continuously. You may also use cardamom or cinnamon powder to enhance the flavor. You may also try a variation with jaggery instead of using sugar.

Okra with dry fish/ ঢেঁড়স দিয়ে শুটকির ঝোল

Method:
Pressure cook washed whole okra with garlic, onions, green chilies, dry fish (preferably chepa/shidol).
Give it a good stir before you serve. You can make a similar jhol/broth using green beans and potatoes.

If you don't eat dry fish, try the recipe with fish bones/ fish head or simply red lentils.

Making salted hilsa/nona ilish with potatoes and eggplant

Kochur loti /stolon of taro / Taro Stem

For Shweta and Shreya

Taro was plenty where I grew up. My mom cooked taro stems with dry fish or shrimps, taro green with Ilish (fish) head. Yaers later at a Hawai'ian luau (traditional Hawai'ian feast), I ate chicken wrapped and cooked in taro leaves. The islands of Hawai'i has a tropical climate and has similar flora to other tropical places of the world. Also, the fertile volcanic soil makes crops taste better. Even the Hawai'ian potatoes have a distinct flavor you can discern.  Anyhow, I digress. Back to my roots.

My mom taught me a trick to make the frozen taro stems taste better. She asked me to dry roast the frozen vegetables in a wok  on low heat until the water evaporates before I start cooking them so the stems don't become a mush from the excess water.

Ingredients:
Minced onion- 1 medium
5-6 garlic cloves smashed or to taste
Minced green chilies (optional, I prefer it for extra flavor
Red chili powder about 1/2 tsp or to taste
Dry fish, preferably chepa/shidol. Soak in warm water, Clean scales well. Remove heads if needed (if the dry fish is not too fresh or else it might taste bitter)
You may use whatever dry fish you have including Bombay Duck. Can substitute it with shrimps or make a vegetarian version with mustard paste.

Turmeric powder
Salt

Tip: If you want the taro stems to itch less, you may soak/boil them in vinegar water or lime juice. Fresh taro stems may also be boiled in water and strained before cooking.

Method:

1. In a wok, heat mustard oil. Fry the minced onions and garlic. Add the dry fish/shrimp.
2. Since the taro is frozen or boiled (if fresh), you may add the stems later when the masala is halfway cooked. You will get a better idea as you cook a couple of times.
3. Add salt, turmeric,  red chili powder, and minced green chilies. Stir lightly occasionally to toss the spices uniformly. Serve with steamed rice.

Ilish Paturi: Bengali New Year Special

Ingredients
Ilish/Hilsa fish- 4-6 pieces
Mustard paste
(I mixed yellow and black mustard seeds in 2:1 ratio. Yellow mustard is for flavor, black mustard is for punch. Soak in water first, then strain and make a paste. I used Magic Bullet for making the paste)
Green chilies paste and slit whole for garnish
1 tsp yogurt
Grated Coconut
Turmeric powder
Mustard oil
Salt to taste

Method

1. Clean the fish. Smear the pieces with turmeric powder, salt, mustard paste, mustard oil, coconut and green chili paste. 
2. Cut the banana leaves into rectangles. Wrap each fish in a separate packet, add a slit green chili on top, tie with kitchen string.
3. Heat mustard oil in a tawa or  frying pan. Fry the packets covered to cook uniformly. Turn every 5 mins till done. I cooked for 15-20 mins.
4. Serve with steamed white rice.

Pork Bulgogi

Marinate thinly sliced pork with bulgogi marinade overnight. Grill and serve with thinly sliced red chilies, ginger, and scallions. Serve with salad, pickled radish, and rice or in a sandwich.

For the marinade, combine crushed garlic cloves, soy sauce, organic sugar, grated green chilies or crushed red pepper or kochujang, and ground pepper.