thali restaurants

there is something aesthetic about thali restaurants

• its photogenic...

• it is nice that food comes to you, as opposed to you getting up and going to food. (buffet restaurants..aagh)

• the equality is also charming... the one with fat purse gets to eat exactly what the one with thinner purse gets to eat.

• only thing is that it makes you wish you had a larger appetite

that flower....

..... by any other name tastes as good

saw a kumro phul ( pumpkin flower) dish in the anthony bourdain show
a south american(didnt get which country it was) street food...
the flower with some spices and cheese is put into a tortilla, folded in a half circle shape and fried/roasted in a tawa
looked as sumptuous as our very own kumro phul bora
that flower dipped in a batter of besan (gramflower)+molasses+a bit of rice power
and deep fried in oil

lau ghanto (steamed gourd)

this is one of the unsung heroines of bengali cuisine
it is simple and makes bland-and-tasty a non paradox
the gourd needs to be grated or shredded first
and then steamed
then in a little oil (very little and preferrably mustard oil)
fry boris (dried pulse cakes. another bengali innovations)
keep aside
add cumin seeds and bayleaf to the oil, and then add the steamed gourd.
after a while add ginger paste cumin paste and corriander paste
mixing the ingredients well cook for a while
add salt as needed a pinch of turmeric
and water if need
the trick is not to over-cook as it may turn the dish sour
lastly decorate with the crushed boris that was fried in the begining

boris can be replaced with fried shrimps

{boris are sunbaked cakes made of dal or lentils

first the the grind the dals ( and this can be made of various kinds of dals)

and made into a semi-liquid paste. these are placed into the a fine masline in the shape of small cakes and the cloth is hung out in the sun to dry. these days boris-- nicelyl packed can be bought from shops}

Alu chokha (Veg)

Ingredients: Potatoe, Onion,Tomato,Ginger, Green chilli,Aamchud powder,Red chilli powder and Toast biscuits(optional)
(For five people) -- Boil 5 medium sized potatoes, smash the potatoes to make a smooth paste.
Chopp 3 onions, small pc of ginger, 3 green chillies, 2 tomatoes. Now smash the toast biscuits into fine powder and fry the powder in oil/ghee till this turn brownish and keep aside. Fry onion, chilli,ginger and tomatoes together. Now add smshed potatoes to that.Add salt, termaric powder,red chilli powder and sprinkle little water ,cover the frying pan and cook for twenty mins . In between stir the preparation so that every ingredients get mixed well. Now add little amchud powder and the biscuit mixture to make the chokha tasty. For dressing you might add corriender leaves. Hey ! Ckokha is ready to serve. Have this either with chappati or rice as you like.

that thing with baby corn and cherry tomato

the other day we had some baby corns and cherry tomatoes
and we decieded to...
cut the baby corns in small pieces (matching the size of cherry tomatoes) and cut some onions (about the same size)
add some tej pata (bayleaf) in very little oil and after putting the onions add the babycorns
and cook it till it softens then add the tomatoes
add some corriander leaves and lastly a bit of roasted corriander powder
topping it up with some tomatoe sauce

and found that it works well with daliah as well as roti and looks fab too
[note to self: from now on post pic of dishes with recipes]

begun posto

take small bringals, cut them in four ,rub in turmeric salt
deep fry, drain the oil and keep them aside
heat oil, add tomatoes ( cut in squares) fry for a while
add posto (poppu seeds) paste, ginger paste and cumin seed paste
after frying these for a bit add turmeric and little sugar, fry for a while
add chilli and water after all these are almost cooked add the fried bringals
(optionally) add grated coconut and take the dish off heat

dim begun

boil the bringal, peel it and mix the pulp with finely cut onions, garlic paste,tomatos, little turmeric salt and spice of your choice ( mine is cumin) add one egg and make a mixture of the all these ingredients
heat oil add the mixture and keep stirring in low heat till cook.

(courtesy : mom)