Thai Eggplant with Goda Masala

When I was a kid, my mom would shoo me away if I wandered around the kitchen, saying, ‘পড়াশুনা করো গিয়ে, রান্না বান্না করার জন্যে সারা জীবন পড়ে আছে ' (Go and study. You have your whole life to cook) Maybe she feared that I would lose out in the rat race if I got distracted by other things.

 The kitchen has been always a magical place for me where simple ingredients turn into delicious dishes with a pinch of this and a dash of that. Needless to say, my mom is one of my greatest champions now even when it comes to my cooking. I try to respect her conventional palate but sometimes I nudge her to try new things. Recently, I have seen her being more adventurous with food and enjoying different flavors that could appear outlandish to her. In the picture is Thai eggplant cooked with goda masala, coconut flakes, jaggery and peanut paste. Added sliced onions and green peas to add complexity. You can add tamarind too.

Method:

1. Cut the eggplant (preferably small sized one for aesthetics) into bite sized pieces
2. Fry sliced onion in cooking oil until uniformly browned. Add the eggplant pieces and sauté for a while. 
3. Add goda masala
   Ingredients link
4.  When the eggplants are almost done, add jaggery powder, coconut flakes , and peanut passte. You may alos add tamaring if you want it to be tangy.

Enjoy with roti (Indian flatbread) or as a side to a bigger meal with rice.

Baked mint chicken and vegetable kebab

Bake for 20-30 mins at 450 F

Vegetables au gratin

Vegetables au gratin: I made it with cauliflower, broccoli, long beans, petite red potatoes and leeks. Carrots are often added too.

Ingredients:

1 Cauliflower, cut into florets ($4.39/lb)
1 broccoli crown, cut into florets ($2.49/lb)
3 -4 petite red potatoes, cut into thick slices ($2.20 each, you might get them cheaper at local grocery stores when you buy in bulk)
4-6 long beans, cut into inch long pieces ($3.29/lb)
Chopped leeks ($1.49/each, you may skip using it if it is not in your pantry. You may also add freshly chopped parsley instead)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

For the sauce:
Butter 2 tbsp (Use some to grease the baking pan)
Plain flour 2 tbsp
Milk

Method:

1. Boil water with salt in a steamer. Boil or steam the vegetables(except the leeks) till just tender. Set aside and drain excess water in a colander.
2. For the sauce: In a saucepan, melt butter on low heat and add plain flour while stirring continuously. Do not let it turn brown. Now add milk slowly ( to avoid lumps) till the sauce is thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. You may add grated parmesan in the sauce. 
3. In a greased baking pan, pour the steamed vegetables, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste (you may use ground spices of your choice too), fresh leeks, and the sauce. Top with breadcrumbs and cheese of your choice. Alternately, you may top with some crushed parmesan crisps(my style). Bake until the sauce is bubbly or at 400 F for 30 mins.
   
   This dish is best served hot off the oven. 

A variation is broccoli cauliflower casserole is here.

I added sliced fingerling potatoes and sliced onions

Brussel sprouts with salt and pepper

Roasting some brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper (you may add bacon). Winter is a good time to use the oven. The warmth from the fire is an added bonus.

I had them with meatball gravy with achari spices.

Deep fried asparagus

Homemade batter with chickpea flour, egg, breadcrumbs, crushed peppercorn and coriander seeds. Serve with chaat masala and ketchup (Indian style) or with yogurt dip.

Whole red lentil (sabut masoor) with vegetables

Pressure cook washed whole red lentil with cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, beans, pumpkin and tomatoes. Add turmeric and salt to taste.

Temper with panch phoron and red chilies in 1 tsp ghee in a small pan. Add to the boiled lentil. Simmer. Eat with rice, chappati or in a bowl as soup.

Chicken in a roast pan

1. Clean and make shallow cuts on chicken leg quarters. You can go only as far as the ingredients let you, so try to get good quality meat from your local butcher.
2. Marinate them with salt, crushed pepper, Shan Tandoori masala (or crushed spices of your choice), beaten yogurt with green chili, ginger and garlic paste.
3. In a roast pan, line the bottom with aluminium foil, add cubed red potatoes (no need to peel skin),  baby carrots, and quartered red onions (dry any excess water with paper towels). Sprinkle salt, pepper, coriander seeds and olive oil. Mix well and spread evenly for uniform cooking. Add thyme or herbs of your choice.
   
   
   
   
4. Add the meat rack and place the chicken. Cover the whole set up with a foil tent or lid. Bake at 350 F for 45 mins to an hour. Brush some butter or oil on the chicken halfway through and turn it upside down. Broil for  the last 10 mins if you like.

The meat drippings will enhance the flavors of the vegetables. The onions should be caramelized but not burned. Serve with a salad or greens. No-hassle Sunday lunch.

Vermicelli pilaf/pulao

1. Bring a sauce pan of water to boil. Add vermicelli and boil on low till soft. Take out and drain in a colander in cold water. (to prevent sticking)
2. Cut potatoes and cauliflowers into bite sized pieces. Microwave with water for 3-4 mins or till al dente. 
3. In a non-stick frying, heat 1 tsp cooking oil,  add minced onions, mustard seeds (can skip), curry leaves, minced green chilis (I used 2 ), green peas, turmeric, salt. Stir. Add  drained potatoes and cauliflower that you steamed first. Next, add the vermicelli. Add spicy cashews (or dry roasted ones). Taste for salt.

I had it for breakfast today with tea. The instruction packet asked us to fry the vermicelli for pulao. I prefer to boil them.

Some variations use tomatoes and carrots. This preparation is similar to my breakfast poha or chirer pulao recipe. 

Pan roasted vegetable ratatouille

Mélange de courgettes, de tomates, de poivrons, et d'aubergines

1. Dice zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper or sweet peppers, and tomatoes. 
2. Mince garlic or use garlic salt, pepper, minced basil (or fresh thyme).
3. Pan roast in olive oil until the vegetables are cooked thoroughly.

You can add an Asian twist with minced green chilies and low sodium soy sauce.

Eggplant with tomatoes, Italian breadcrumbs, and Parmesan

.. Inspired by Parmigiana Di Melanzane. (Eggplant Parmesan)

Eggplants, sliced, 1 medium

Tomatoes, diced 1 medium

Italian bread crumbs

Olive oil for baking

Salt to taste

Grated cheese (Parmesan preferred)

1. Wash and wipe eggplants, trim both ends and cut them into fans or slices. Try to make them evenly thick for uniform cooking. 
2. Dice tomatoes and stuff them into the eggplant. (Remove seeds if you want. I do)
3. Add salt, Italian bread crumbs. Bake for 10 mins at 350 F or microwave for 3 mins (Essential, to reduce oil intake later). 
4. Then, pan-fry at very low heat until brown. Sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan.
5. Serve warm. You can also use it to stuff wraps.

You may use other soft vegetables like zucchini and string beans to make a similar dish.

Vegetables with squash greens

I have been meaning to make this for a while, but something else in the pantry runs into my arms to get cooked first. You can add lentil fritters (daler bora) or vadi. I wanted to make the vadi first, and hence the delay. You can also use store-bought substitutes.

Vadi preparation: 

1. Wash Urad dal, soak overnight. Remove excess water and grind in a food processor with salt.(I use Magic Bullet). Add Nigella seeds when the paste is done.
2. Pat oil on a plate and make desired shapes out of the dal paste. Smaller sized ones dry faster but bigger ones are easier to break on drying, if you prefer crumbled vadis.
3. Dry it in the sun for a day or two, then store in an airtight container

Ingredients:

Squash greens (Got it from Mountain View Farmers' Market)

Potatoes

Radish/Daikon

Pumpkin or Acorn squash

Nigella seeds

Mustard oil

Method:

1. Clean and cut the vegetables into small sizes. 
2. Dry roast the vadis. Keep aside.
3. Heat mustard oil in a kadhai/wok, add Nigella seeds. Add the potatoes, squash greens and radish first, the softer vegetables like pumpkin later. (You may use eggplant too)
4. Warm a bowl of water in microwave, add it to the vegetables. Simmer till done.
5. When they are about done, you may add mustard powder (I use a coffee grinder to grind mustard seeds), slit green chilies.
   
   My mom uses the squash stalk (kumro'r data), potatoes and vadis  to make fish broth in winter. You just have to add fried fish steaks/fillets
   
   You may also use Bok Choy for this recipe [Bong Mom's Cookbook].

Sukto

SG loves sukto. And I,  being an North-Eastern Bengali (from the Bangal clan), consider it a typical West Bengali (Ghoti) dish, somewhat foreign. Hence, I had some trepidation about making my first sukto, but love makes you do crazy things. So, it was no brainer that I'd eventually try making it. My MIL is a Bangal too, but she makes awesome sukto. That gave me hope.

Traditionally, you need the following vegetables
Potatoes
Radish
Eggplant
Ridged Gourd
Drumsticks
Green Banana
Bitter gourd

I added Carrot and Peas too.

1. Cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and heat mustard oil in wok/dutch oven.
2. Most people use Panch  phoron for tempering, I was whimsical and picked nigella seeds instead. 
3. Add the vegetables that take longer time to cook eg potatoes, radish etc first. Save the bitter gourd for the last. Adding it in the beginning will make the sukto too bitter.
4. Add freshly grated ginger.
5. Add enough milk and water, cover and cook in medium-low flame. Pay attention, milk burns easily.
6. I dry ground mustard and poppy seeds and added them in the end. Don't boil mustard powder too long- heat turns it bitter. You can add sugar too.

Lamb shoulders with rosemary and garlic and some veggies

1. You need to marinate the lamb shoulders in soy sauce, rosemary sprigs and freshly crushed garlic cloves in a ziplock overnight. I think it is best to use meat fresh out of grocery aisle. I used a pounder to tenderize the lamb cut.
2. The day you want to bake, dice some of your favorite veggies- I used yellow zucchini , asparagus and white onions- rub olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and some rosemary twigs. I tossed a few dry-roasted Szechuan peppers on a whim too.
3. Would be great on an outdoor grill, but it's raining out, so I am taking my chances in an conventional oven, which is good because I can have the retained juices to eat with grains if I want to.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 500F (about 120 C), sprinkle some garlic powder if you have them. Don't bother otherwise. Cook both sides to your desired doneness. 

Tastes  lot like a Moroccan Lamb tagine I once had.

 Here's some antipasto I can have anytime really. (with Olives, smoked Gouda cheese, Pepperoncini, Mango and Salami )

And a guilt-free dessert: Greek yogurt topped with honey and rose syrup.

 Add dry fruits and nuts at will.

A tale of two veggies

When I was a kid, I thought I'd eat chicken every day when I grew up. Not only it isn't a wise diet choice for 365 days, it gets monotonous even if you drink elixir for the rest of your lives. Aiming for variety makes me rewrite some of my original recipes on most days I cook, and makes me look at the vegetables I did not have much regard for with a fresh perspective.

In my undergraduate hostel life, we were often served tinda curry for dinner- so often that I swore to myself- I will never eat it again in my life. Though I loved its distant cousin the parwal- my mother makes amazing parwal(Pointed gourd or potol in Bengali) stew (dalna) with potatoes. One summer afternoon, I was reading a book at the dinner table( which I often took permission for), and discovered my undying love for the vegetable. On that rare occasion, I put down the book and concentrated on relishing the food instead.

My mom's elder sister(my mashi) makes amazing stuffed parwals (Potol er dolma), which I will soon share the recipe for. But right now, I am going to share the simplest of a tindora recipe, which I often encounter in Indian grocery stores. The parwal I find here is cut and frozen- not suitable for dolma. Well, tu nahi to aur sahi, aur nahi to koi aur sahi...

Tindora fry

Ingredients:
Tindora sliced
Cumin seeds
Green chilies slit lengthwise or red chili powder
Thinly sliced onions
Diced potatoes, small enough to cook with the tindora, or you could microwave before sauteing.
Turmeric, salt to taste
Cooking oil

Method
1. Heat a wok, oil, add cumin seeds till they splutter. (Some might prefer mustard seeds or kalonji seeds. Curry leaves go well with the former, and grated coconut)
2. Add onions, fry a little, add tindora, potatoes, chilies, salt turmeric.

As simple as that. Keep an eye on the heat - taking care not to overcook or burn. Can add tomato puree or amchur powder if you want a tang of sourness.

Goes well with flat breads, or dal and rice.

Ginger, Split Pea & Vegetable Curry (Subzi dalcha)

Web MD recipe link 1

Navratan korma

Link 1

Bengali Vegetable Medley (Panch mishali)

Version 1

 Version 2: Added beets for some color

Ingredients:
Chopped cabbage- half
Butternut squash- a quarter
Radish: 1 medium
Roma tomatoes: 2
Potatoes: 1 or 2
Green Peas : 1/3 cup
Dry red chili: 1 (break into 2) or  2 Green chilis slit in halves
Panch phoron: 1 tsp.
Turmeric powder: a pinch or so ( I don't like too much turmeric in my food)
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Oil: 2-3 tbsp.
Fresh coriander leaves/cilantro for garnishing

Method :

1. Cut radish, butternut squash, tomatoes and potatoes into cubes. Chop cabbage leaves, thaw some frozen green peas.
2. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp. oil, temper with Panch phoron, and bay leaves.
3. Add vegetables, salt, turmeric powder and a vegetable masala (like Badshah Sabji masala or dry roasted cumin/coriander powder) if you prefer. It is good simply with grated ginger and green chilies too.
4. Stir-fry together for 20-30 minutes in medium flame. Bengalis usually add a spoonful of sugar and ghee at the end. If you add pumpkin or butternut squash in the recipe, you don't need extra sugar for sweetness.
5. Remove from heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves/cilantro. (or add before you stop the flame/heat)

You may also use other vegetables like carrots, beets, cauliflower or drumsticks. I prefer the radish-butternut squash combination and then I add/subtract other vegetables on whim or availability. It is a  great way to clean to clean your fridge before your weekly groceries.

You can add fresh spinach leaves and chana dal for tempering as a variety. You may also add chopped banana blossom (mocha) or fried lentil fritter (dal er bora) for a different flavor.

Vegetable chop or vegetable croquette with Sweet Tamarind Chutney

For Sujaya Di

Tamarind Chutney

Ingredients:
Red chillies, broken in half
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2 cups water
White sugar, to taste
3 tablespoons tamarind paste/concentrate

Directions
Heat oil over medium heat and add chillies, fennel seeds, or you can dry toast them too.
Stir the water along with the sugar and tamarind paste. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat until the mixture turns deep brown and is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.

Vegetable croquette
Ingredients:
Vegetables of your choice
2 eggs
Bread crumbs

1. Use vegetables of your choice. I parboiled 2 beets, 1 potato, 1 carrot and then skinned them. (You can use cauliflower too) 
2. Mash the vegetables into a chunky mix. Added thawed green peas, dry roasted peanuts (broken) and washed raisins to the mix.
   You can add your fav spice in this step. I used julienned ginger, Green chilies,  Bhaja masala (dry roasted and ground cumin, coriander and dry red chilies),  and salt.
3. Lightly fry the mix in a skillet with a little oil until the oil separates. 
4. Make a batter of slightly beaten eggs.
5. In another bowl, add a fair amount of panko flakes or bread crumb of your preferred brand.
6. Cool the vegetable mix and shape into elongated rolls.
7. Dip the rolls into the egg batter, then coat with bread crumb (Repeat this step for a super crunchy crust)
8. Deep fry in hot oil, turn once. When light golden brown, remove and drain oil. Serve with the chutney.

You can freeze them up to a month and deep fry them before eating.