Khichudi

Everyone has a way of making their favorite comfort food. The festival season makes me nostalgic and makes me crave home-made sweets and khichudi bhog that are offered to Gods.

This version can be made onion-free (onion-garlic is considered non-veg in Bengali culture- don't ask me why).
1. Measure 1 cup rice, 1/2 cup moong dal and 1/2 cup masoor dal (this ratio works well for me). Rinse well and pressure cook with salt and turmeric. (If you prefer, you can dry roast the moong first. I prefer it watery- so no issues if you don't want to do that. But if you prefer dry khichudi, you might want to roast it first.)
2. In a wok, heat oil and add jeera (cumin seeds), diced onions, Bay leaves, cardamom, a cinnamon stick, slit green chilis, and grated ginger. Fry lightly - add to the boiled rice-dal mix. You can shallow fry potatoes and cauliflower florets and add as well. Or mixed veggies like peas, tomatoes, carrots etc. For Palak khichudi- it is a good idea to fry the spinach and garlic separately before adding them.
3. Usually it fares well with Bengali mixed vegetables, cabbage curry or/and fritters.

Beet gajor aloo matar checki
This is my new favorite way to eat beets. Cut the vegetables (beets, carrots, potatoes) into sticks. Saute with nigella seeds (kalo jeere, kalonji), salt and turmeric. Add slit green chilies. Eat with roti or rice. Good for stuffing sandwiches too.

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Another version of khichudi is pressuring cooking vegetables with rice and lentils. We dubbed it 'lopsi' and was a winter favorite as a kid. You may used potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, peas, carrots, radish, 1 tsp of mustard, whole green chilies and quartered onions with salt and turmeric. 

Poha / Chirer Polao

Chirer polao or aloo poha is a favorite for breakfast in winter. And surprisingly easy to make too.

1. Wash the poha (flattened rice) in cold water and drain in a colander.
2. Finely chop onions, green chilis. Julienne/matchstick ginger if you prefer to add them.
3.  Dice potatoes, cauliflower in small bits.  (You might want to add a little salt here)
4. In a wok, heat vegetable oil and add mustard seeds, onions, then potatoes, cauliflower, frozen green peas. Stir.
5. When the veggies are about done, add curry leaves, Whole mustard seeds, green chilis, ginger, dry roasted peanuts. (you can use your favorite snacking peanuts too.)
6. Add the moist poha (you can add salt and a tsp sugar uniformly before you add it to the wok), stir well and serve warm.

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I always try to think what I can have for breakfast- I had almost forgotten how good a well toasted bread tastes in warm milk. Yum.

Mackerel in chive butter

1. Clean the fish, gut it out it needed. Thaw in cold water if frozen. 
2. Score the fish with a sharp knife and rub chive butter (chopped chives in butter melted in microwave for a minute or so), garlic salt, Italian herbs, wine, olive oil, freshly squeezed lime, pepper, cumin and coriander powder.
3. Bake in baking tray covered with a perforated Al foil for 20 mins and uncovered for another 20 mins or until done. 

Enjoy with wild rice risotto.

Poached pear
Recipe link 1
Alternately, I made the poaching liquid with wine, water, cloves, cinnamon sticks and brown sugar. Peeled a whole pear and poached it for 20 mins. Served it with chocolate sauce.

Another pear dessert: Honey-roasted pear

Soups (for winter)

The chill is descending in Bay Area and the soup bowls are out again. Yesterday I made a very simple and satisfying Tomato-Basil Soup

Ingredients:
2-4 Tomatoes , seeded, diced
3-4 Fresh Basil leaves, chopped
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Method: Drizzle olive oil in a sauce pan, and cook the diced tomatoes. When they are about done, add chopped basil leaves. Blend it all in a blender- you can leave some chunks behind for bites. Put it all back in the saucepan, bring it to boil after adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a fresh twig of basil and some warm bread. You can put butter, grated cheese or cream to make it richer in taste.

Creamy artichoke soup 
Ingredients:
2 strips of Bacon
1 medium Potato
4-6 Marinated Artichoke hearts
Chicken Stock

Method: Fry the bacon (cut into strips),1 medium diced potato and the artichoke hearts in a sauce pan. You will need no extra oil if you use bacon and the artichokes are already in olive oil. When cooked through, add chicken stock- boil. Blend in a blender for a creamy soup. You can add your favorite herb (like rosemary or cilantro) for garnish.

Another recipe Link [Foof Network, Giada]

Chicken roast with basil pesto

I used Cornish hen for this recipe, you can use any pieces, preferably with skin on, since we'll brown it later.

Thaw first, if frozen. Then clean the bird, pat dry,  loosen the skin and add spices like garlic salt, black pepper, lime juice, olive oil/butter, rosemary , and basil pesto inside the skin and over it. Roast uncovered in a roasting pan for 1 hour at 400 F in conventional oven, turning once when done half way through. Broil the last 10 mins to brown the skin. Bast occasionally with the drippings. Serve with grains and vegetables of your choice. Baked beets with a dash of lemon , baby carrots with pickled cabbage, or steamed string beans may make a healthy, tasty side. You can use the leftovers to make salad, sandwiches, wraps, or Chicken, Mushroom, and Wild Rice Casserole

You can make whole tandoori chicken by marinating the bird overnight in Tandoori powder, ginger garlic paste, cardamom , chili garlic powder, Dash garlic and herbs, pepper, yogurt.

And serve with avocado-romaine lettuce-pine nuts- shaved turkey-raisin/dry rainier cherries salad.

For crisper salads, place paper towels in the bottom of the salad bowl before filling with salad. Excess moisture will be soaked and this will help keep the salad crisp and fresh longer.

Crockpot Biryani

Here, I tried to emulate dum-styled cooking using a slow cooker/crockpot. For Dutch oven recipe, click here.

1. Clean thigh pieces (I prefer with bones), make shallow cuts on the meat, dry well with paper towels. Add whole spices like : green cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, javitri(mace), peppercorn and any packaged biryani masala you prefer. Yogurt , salt if needed, ghee(clarified butter). Coat well and uniformly.
2. Set the slow cooker for 4 hrs after greasing the bottom with ghee. Place the chicken. 
3. Rinse Basmati rice and soak in water for couple of hours while you fry thinly sliced onions till brown.
4. 2 hrs into cooking, turn the meat to the other side. Add browned onions, layer it with the soaked rice. (or  you can add parboiled rice later) Add saffron soaked milk, and rose water on top of it. Cook for another 2 hrs.
5. You can add nuts, raisins and plums if you want to make it richer in taste(Shahi). Some ppl use tomatoes,  potatoes (interesting history of recession-proof Biryani). You can learn about several variants here.

Alternately, you can cook the chicken and the rice separately (difference with pulao), then  layer them in a rice cooker or baking tray in an oven for shorter cooking time.

Chicken first

After adding Basmati rice

Final product

Slow cooker recipes

Meat and veggies at low for 8 hrs. Before and after.

I am a great fan of slow-cooking. The flavors are retained, and you need less grease to facilitate cooking. A friend I had in Boston often baked me dinner (baked for about 2 hrs). At the end of the day, it felt delicious and made a very satisfying meal. Last night, I decided to put my slow-cooker to use and picked some random veggies from my pantry- most preferably non-starchy veggies like zucchini, tomatoes, onions, celery, bell pepper and mushrooms etc. (Some recipes might call for potatoes though). I threw in a few mutton pieces that were marinating for a curry, drizzled a little olive oil, sprinkled some garlic salt with dry parsley, and oregano. (Yeah, totally random). Then I switched on the cooker and went to sleep. In the morning, I was greeted with a delicious aroma of slow cooked goodness.

More recipes at:
Slow cooker Utopia

Tips for beginners:
1. Resist the temptation to take a peek into the cooker, though you might give a stir into one hour of cooking. The glass lid will give you a fair view if you feel curious.
2. Don't use frozen meat. Thaw well before you cook it.
3. Beans/lentils are a great way to introduce fibers. Use less portions of meat and try to balance the yin yang of your platter.

It is a good option for traditional recipes that ask for long cooking times (like pot-roast, biryani), perfect for a working man/woman with long day out with very little energy to spend in the kitchen after a tiring day at work, and even an hassle-free extra dish or two when you have guests coming over.

I will post recipes while I perform the experiments. If they go well, you will know it is safe. If some of them go awry, you will know what to avoid. Here's to cuisson lente.

Also, an interesting article on NPR : Slow cook your way to The Colonel's Secret Recipe