Aloo beans posto kaju

For Pu, Aloo bean posto kaju ( potatoes and green beans with poppy seed and cashew nut paste)

1. Cut beans  into inch long sticks. Dice potatoes into small size.
2. Microwave them for 3 mins for faster cooking time. 
3. Heat mustard oil in a wok, Kalonji seeds and 2 broken red chilis (or 2 slit green chilies). Now, add the potatoes, beans, and salt.
4. Dry grind poppy seeds with a few cashews. Add a little warm water ( microwaved 30 secs) if needed.  Cover and cook on low flame. Add 1/2 tsp ghee at the end and 1 tsp sugar.
   Sometimes, I add organic milk at the end to make it richer.

For simply aloo beans

1. Cut beans  into inch long sticks. Dice potatoes into small size.
2. Microwave them for 3 mins for faster cooking time. 
3. Heat cooking oil in a wok, add jeera or kalonj seeds.  Add the beans, potatoes, turmeric, salt, coriander-cumin powder, amchur (dry mango powder)
4. Cover and cook on low flame.

Masala Pomfret with soy sauce (pan-fried)

1. Clean 3 mid-sized pomfrets, remove fins, score with a knife, remove the heads. Rub lemon juice and spice rub (I used dry roasted and ground cumin-coriander-red chili). Fry in olive oil, keep aside.
   
2. Dice onions, ginger, garlic and  slit Thai chilis. Fry them in the oil used for frying  the fish. Add the fish. Drizzle soy sauce.
   
3. Cook covered in low heat until done, turning twice.
4. You may add cilantro or green onions or both. Even leeks go well with this recipe. You may add diced tomatoes too.
   

Achari Chicken

This recipe is an inspiration from Deepa Mashi, my aunt. She asked me to make the Achari spice mix using:
Dry red chilis
Coriander seeds
Mustard seeds
Fenugreek seeds
Fennel seeds
Kalonji seeds
(You may also use Panch phoron and dry red chilies instead)

A version uses dry roasted  and ground cumin-coriander and anise seed (sparingly, because anise seed is very overpowering)

1. Dry roast and grind all the dry spices except the Kalonji seeds (they turn bitter on grinding and will also turn the chicken black). 
2. Marinate the meat with lime juice, salt, yogurt (alternatively, you can add it later too) and half of the spice mix. (About 30 mins to overnight)
3. In a wok/cooker, fry diced onions (optional), minced garlic and garlic. Add the meat. Fry well.
4. Add diced/canned tomatoes and the remaining spice mix. Taste for salt. Add 3-4 slit green chilies. Ghee if you don't mind the cholesterol.
5. No extra water is needed for cooking. Garnish with cilantro if you want.

You may also stuff some green chilis with Achari spice and lime juice and add them towards the end for extra heat. Or deep fry them for serving later.

Jibe goja (Baked)

I abhor most store-bought sweets and pastries, they are too sugary for my palate. SG loves to gorge on them though. When I made the blueberry pie, he bit into the short crust and said,'It's like jibe goja.' So, I decided to try an experiment : Baked jibe goja using pie crust. (It comes pre-rolled too!) The only caveat is- you have to pay attention the first time to see how well the dough cooks. I found it is optimum at 300 F for 20 mins.

Method:

1. Traditional: Roll all purpose flour with water and ghee/butter into a soft dough. Using a rolling pin, make sheets of dough of even thickness and slash the dough with a knife. Leave about 1 cm in the top and botton and twist it into Elo-jhelo. Alternatively, you may use a pre-made pie crust dough and cut into equal sizes. This will look like concentric circles.
   
2. Bake them at 300 F for 20 mins.
3. For syrup: Boil a little water , add saffron strands and sugar.
4. Pour the syrup on the dough in a flat dish and allow the syrup to set in.
5. You may add crushed pistachios for decoration. You may also fill the dough with nut paste for a richer sweet.

Open-faced/ Single crust blueberry pie

1. I used a Pillsbury crust for the pie, you may make your own crust.
2. Thaw the pie crust according to instructions, bake blind (empty) for 10 mins in a round pan at 450 F preheated oven. Sprinkle a little flour on the pan first if you want to prevent it from sticking
3. Filling: Wash, drain and cook the berries in  saucepan until they pop. Add sugar, lemon zest, and cinnamon powder. Stir.
4. Pour the berries on the crust. Let it sit for a while if you want(I like it when the crust is still warm). You may serve it with whipped cream. Tastes better than any store bought alternative. 
   

You may use also apple slices or  fruit compote as filling . 

Chili pork with Bamboo shoots

Pork bhorta is a very popular dish from where I hail from. The indigenous people of Tripura have visibly influenced the kitchen of the Bengali population residing there. Bamboo shoots is another such influence. My in-laws love the Thai Red Curry I make, maybe because I love to eat it myself.  The bamboo shoots enthuse a delightful flavor in the gravy, accompanied with shrimp or chicken and vegetables of your choice - it can well be your ticket to all round nutrition in one dish.

In US, I have used only canned bamboo so far. They are less hassle- already softened in brine. This time, I am going to experiment with frozen bamboo, and if this goes well I'll graduate to fresh bamboo (available in most Asian grocery stores). Tip: You have to boil fresh bamboo with salt and water.

Preparation :

1. Boil pork in a pressure cooker with salt. Drain the water. Cool and cut into strips
2. Microwave or boil the bamboo shoots if using fresh bamboo. Dice them to bite sized pieces. Drain the brine and wash the excess salt if you are using canned ones.
3. Ground coriander seeds and Chinese peppercorn in a coffee grinder. (You may use spices of your choice)
4. Thinly slice white onions, green onions. Mince garlic and Thai chilies.

Recipe:

1. In a wok, heat oil over medium-heat. Add the onions, minced garlic and Thai chilies.
2. Add the coriander-peppercorn powder.  Saute well.
3. You may use soy sauce and chili bean paste if you like the fermented  flavor.
4. Add the pork/meat of your choice and the bamboo.
5. Cook till the oil separates, add the green onions.

You may also like Braised bamboo with pork

Ilish Paturi (Hilsha fish steamed in plantain leaves)

Ilish paturi

I found some frozen plantain/Banana leaves at Ranch 99, my go-to place for fresh fish. This encouraged me to try fish paturi. I saw a video on YouTube (Pancha Byanjan) where the chef used sliced onions, coconut flakes and mustard seed paste- both white and black for the paturi. I made it the following way.

1. Since the Ilish we get in the West Coast of US  is not as fresh  (read: frozen) as we get in the East Coast of India, I decided to shallow fry the fish  first with Nigella seeds, sliced onions, salt, turmeric and slit green chilies in mustard oil. (You can skip this and just steam the ingredients together if you have access to fresh Ilish.)
2. Make a paste with black mustard. Add water in small portions if the paste is too thick to move inside the food processor.
3. Then, I wrapped the fish in plantain leaves and steamed the in a steamer with lid on until done ( you can use kitchen twine or toothpick to seal the leaves). I noted the color of the leaves, when they turned pale, I switched off the flame. The steam continued cooking the fish.

Tip: The frozen leaves can be more brittle than usual, you may wash them under running cold water and microwave them for 30 secs to soften them. You may use Aluminium foil too, but the leaves impart a distinct flavor.

You can also use cauliflower , whitebait, pomfret, prawns or fish of your choice for the paturi . There is a similar Kerala Delicacy called Meen Pollichathu.