Egg Biryani

1. Boil eggs in water. (on low heat, I discovered that hard boiled doesn't necessarily mean on high heat). I used 4 eggs for my required number of servings. Pour cold water, remove shells. Cut in half.
2. Finely slice onions. Fry in 1 -2 tsp ghee, with whole cardamom(4 green, 2 black), 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves torn in halves, about 4-5 cloves and peppercorns. Add your preferred ready-made biryani powder to the mix and a little salt.  You can add two slit green chilies here.
3. When the onions are about done, place the eggs, albumin side down and continue frying in  low heat. Turn once and remove the eggs. (Or else the eggs might break. Doesn't look good)
4. I use parboiled or pre-cooked rice . Add in installments while you stir well. 
5. When the rice is about cooked, add the eggs again. Sprinkle garam masala (preferably made at home) and cilantro leaves. 
6. Pair it with raita. I enjoyed it with mixed vegetables. You may also  prepare a meat dish to go with it.

Chhora diye Chingri

Chhora (also called Arbi in Hindi and Taro in English) was something I never fancied much as a child, except when made into a spicy dish with dry shrimp. You can get dry shrimp in most Asian stores; if it is too strong for you, you can try using fresh shrimp instead.

1. Microwave the taro bulbs in water. My mom pressure cooks them. You can now peel the hairy skin quite easily.
2. Dice them into edible pieces. You may add potatoes here, dice and microwave similarly to reduce cooking time, and to ensure uniform cooking. I skipped the potatoes this time.
3. Wash the dry shrimp in warm water. Drain well. If you are using fresh shrimp remove shells and devein them.
4. In a wok, add cooking oil, add sliced onions, crushed garlic, minced green chilis.
5. Add the shrimp first,cook for a while, then add the taro, salt and turmeric. (Red chili powder too if you prefer it really hot)
6. Cook covered till done. Add warm water if necessary. Tastes better if it's a bit gooey. 

You might also like simply stir-fried taro roots (Manjula's Kitchen)

Here's another way to cook dry shrimp with a vegetable:

Chalkumro diye Chingri shutki (Ash gourd/Moqua with dry shimp)

1. Peel the moqua and cut into half first. Then slice it along the length. Dice into thin slices now. Wash in water, then drain in a colander and microwave for 3-5 mins.
2. In a wok, add oil, sliced onions, crushed garlic, minced green chilis , red chili powder, turmeric.
3. Wash the dry shrimp in water. Microwave them for about 3 mins and drain them. Add to the wok.
4. Add the moqua at last, and then sprinkle salt to taste. Allow time to cook. Dry shrimp is best simmered to bring out the flavor. Needs no additional water .

You can use Ilish shutki too. I make it at home by salting the fish for 1-3 months in an airtight container. You may also use chayote instead of moqua.

Mini Malpoa

It is Poush Sankranti, and I heaved a sigh licking my mouth around delectable memories of peethe-pulis I had as a child.  When the craving got really bad, I got up after I had dinner and decided to make some mini malpoas instead of feeling sad.

I mixed 4 parts Maida, 2 parts Sooji, 1 part Mawa, Sugar to taste and evaporated milk for the batter. I used measuring spoons, if you use cups, then 2: 1: 1/2 parts (same thing).

I fried lightly in clarified butter (ghee) and drained them in paper towels. Very difficult to stop, but I reined in after I had 5. I skipped the sugar syrup because I prefer them crispy. If you want, you can make sugar syrup with cardamom/ saffron and dip the poas for a while.

With a little modification you can make kolar bora out of it by adding mashed bananas to the batter, Honestly, I liked eating the batter raw as it tasted a lot like shinni. Nowadays I am having the weirdest food cravings.

Coq au Vin

Link 1 (in French)

Link 2

I made it in a pan for dinner.

1. First, I tore some bacon and put on a pan, along with diced shallot(can use pearl onions instead) and diced potatoes(not necessary, can add carrots too). 
2. Then I added some marinated chicken pieces (less cooking time), salt(prefer using salt while cooking then at the end), crushed pepper, bay leaves, crushed cloves of garlic and stirred. 
3. Used some red wine for the sauce and some fresh parsley.

You can use chicken broth instead of chicken pieces for amazing bacon and potatoes.

You can have baked cinnamon apples as dessert.

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.

***
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.

*
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