Bhetki Macher Paturi

Bhetki Maach along with a paste of Mustard and Coconut wrapped in banana leaf and cooked in slow flame and end result is melting in mouth Bhetki Macher Paturi.

Ingredients: 

Bhetki Fish: 1 Kilo (cut into 6 to 8 pieces)

Poppy seeds (Posto/Khus Khus)- 1 tablespoon

kaju nuts-  8

Raisins- 10

Black mustard: 2 teaspoons

White mustard: 3 tablespoons

Grated coconut: 1 cup

Green chilly: 4/ 6

Turmeric Powder: 1 teaspoon

Mustard oil: 4 tablespoons

Salt to taste

Banana leaf

String to tie the Banana Leaf

Method:

1. Soak the mustard seeds, poppy seeds, kaju nuts and raisins in half a cup of warm water for half an hour with a pinch of salt.
2. Make a fine paste of all above in a grinder with 2 chillies.
3. Add the coconut, a tablespoon of oil and turmeric powder to the paste and mix well.
4. Cut the Fish fillet to required serving size.
5. Now marinade fish chunks with this paste and give those an overnight stand (5-6 hours). This step is important to get super soft Paturi.

1. Take the bowl full of marinated fish out of refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
2. Take Banana Leaf and cut it into 6”/8” pieces.
3. Now brush little Mustard Oil on the glossy side of Banana Leaf pieces and lightly roast those over low flame for 30 seconds.
4. Now take a piece of Banana Leaf and put 1 spoon of the marinade on the middle of the leaf and then place a fish chunk on the top of the marinade and finally put some marinade to cover the fish from top.
1. step:
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Step
   
5. Close the Banana Leaf from four sides to make a close parcel as shown in picture.
   
6. Now put some Mustard Oil in a flat pan and place fish parcels over the oil and cover the pan with a lid and cook in low flame for 10 minutes.
7. Flip all the fish parcels after 10 minutes and cook from the other side by covering the pan with lid for 10 more minutes.
8. Take all the Fish Parcels or Bhetki Macher Paturi and store those in a closed container to enable those to get cooked in own heat.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

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Panjabi Dum Aloo Recipe

Panjabi dum aloo recipe – yet another favorite dum aloo at home. The delicious Punjabi dum aloo is one of the most coveted potato curry recipes of Indian cooking. Follow this recipe and learn how to make mouth watering truly punjabi style dum aloo with curd based kasuri methi flavored gravy at home in just few easy steps.

This delicious dish you can serve with Luchi.  For Luchi Recipe please refer to  below link

•           Bengali luchi recipe

lets start step by step Panjabi dum aloo recipe:

Ingredients:

Small Potatoes-12-15, boiled in salted water

Large Onion-1, finely chopped

Thick Curd (yogurt) – ¾ cup

Bay Leaf/Tej Pata -1

Asafetida -1 pinch

Red Chili Powder – 1 tblspn

Turmeric Powder - ¼ tblspn

Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tblspn

Coriander Seeds – 1 tblspn

Cumin Seeds – ½ tblspn

Green Cardamom - 1 pod

Cinnamon - 1 small piece

Cloves – 4

Cashew Nuts - 8-10

Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves) – ½ tblspn

Sugar (optional) to taste

Cooking Oil – 5 tblspn

Coriander Leaves (chopped) – 2 tblspn

Salt to taste

Method:

•       Peel boiled potatoes and prick them with a fork.

•      Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add boiled potatoes and shallow fry them over medium heat until they turn light brown. Drain and transfer to plate.

•  Grind coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pod, cinnamon, cloves and cashew nuts into a dry mix powder. Keep aside until called for use

•  Take remaining 3 tablespoons oil in same kadai and heat it. Add a pinch of asafoetida and stir fry for 8-10 seconds. Add bay leaves and finely chopped onion, sauté until onion turns light brown or for approx. 1-2 minutes. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for 30 seconds.

•   Add dry mix powder (prepared in step 3) and stir fry for a minute.

•  Beat curd and slowly add it in kadai. Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder and mix again.

•  Stir continuously for 2-3 minutes or until oil starts to separate.

•    Add shallow fried potatoes, kasuri methi, sugar and salt, cook on low heat for 2 minutes.

•         Add 3/4 cup water and bring it to boil.

•   When it starts to boil, cook covered on low flame until you get the desired consistency of gravy. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving bowl.

•  Garnish punjabi dum aloo with coriander leaves, serve hot.

Taste:

• Use groundnut oil for aromatic flavor.
• Make sure that curd is not sour otherwise curry will taste sour.
• Nice aroma of spices with a touch of kasuri methi and curd based gravy.

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Dimer Dhokkar Dalna

Dimer Dhokkar Dalna And Luchi A Bengal delicacy of steamed egg and potato cake in curry with deep-fried puffed bread.
 For Luchi Recipe please refer to  below link
          Bengali luchi recipe

lets start step by step Dimer Dhokkar Dalna recipe:

Ingredients:

For dhokkar dalna:

1. 300 gms potato
2. 7 eggs
3. 10 gm green chillies chopped
4. 10 gm chopped ginger
5. 50 gm green coriander
6. 10 gm cumin powder
7. 10 gm coriander powder
8. 10 gm red chilli powder
9. 10 gm turmeric powder
10. 30 gm garam masala powder
11. Salt to taste
12. Black pepper powder to taste
13. 50 ml oil for greasing

For Gravy Preparation:

1. 10 gm panch phoran
2. 150 gm onion paste
3. 4 liter chicken stock
4. 10 gm ginger paste
5. 10 gm garlic paste
6. 50 gm curd
7. 50 gm tomato puree
8. 10 gm cumin powder
9. 10 gms coriander powder
10. 10 gms turmeric powder
11. 10 gms red chilli powder
12. 10 gms sugar
13. 500 ml (for frying and cooking) mustard oil
14. 20 gm gram masala powder
15. 30 gms green coriander
16. Salt to taste
17. 50 gms maggi bhuna masala

Method:

1. Boil potato and grate it, there should not be any lumps. Add beaten egg.
2. Mix well and add all powder spices and pour in a greased baking tray and steam it for 20 minutes
3. Take it out, cool it, cut it into desired shape and deep fry it. Keep aside.
4. Put oil in pan heat it up, add panch phoran and temper it.
5. Add brown onion paste, ginger and garlic paste, cook it. Add powder spices, tomato puree, salt, sugar and cook it properly.
6. Add chicken stock and reduce it.
7. Put fried pieces and cook it for some time to make it soft and juicy.

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Jhaal Muri – Kolkata Puffed Rice Snack

This Recipe - Just like bhel is to mumbai, so is jhaal muri to Kolkata.This simple yet delicious snack can be put together in minutes and features typical Bengali ingredients like mustard oil. Jhaal muri is a popular street food snack of Kolkata. Jhaal means spices and muri is puffed rice.

lets start step by step Bengali Jhal Muri recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Muri/ Murmura (puffed rice)
• 4 tbsp Chana Chur
• 4 tbsp Sev (bengal gram vermicelli)
• 3 tbsp raw Peanuts (roast or shallow-fry and drain on paper towels)
• 2 tbsp fresh Coconut (thinly sliced)
• 1 Green Chili (very finely chopped)
• 1 Onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves (chopped)
• 1 Boiled Potato (peeled and chopped)
• 1 Tomato (finely chopped)
• 1/2 Cucumber (finely chopped)
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Oil
• 1/2 tsp Oil from your Favorite Pickle
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Method: 

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and season with salt.

Jhal muri is ready to be served.

Serve immediately so that the muri does not become soggy.

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Bengali Luchi Recipe

This recipe is similar to battura, but it has no curd or milk in it. There are few differences between luchi, poori and battura. Poori is made with wheat flour and it golden in color, plus it gets a little hard and dense when it cools. Battura has milk, curd, some kind of raising agent or yeast it in. But this luchi is white in color and has an oil in them which makes it soft soft even after it cools..

lets start step by step Bengali luchi recipe:

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour / Maida - 2 cup
Salt to taste
Refine or white Oil - 2 tblspn
Water - as needed
Refine Oil for Deep Frying

Method:

• Take flour, salt and oil in a bowl. Mix well using your hands so the oil is mixed into the flour.

• Now make a well in the center. Pour in very small amount of water and then knead the dough adding water as required. knead to a smooth and soft dough. the kneading has to      be done really well.

• Make lemon sized balls from the dough.

• Grease your board and rolling pin with some oil.
• now roll these balls into a circle of 3-4 inches diameter.

• Heat oil for deep frying.
• Drop the poori in hot oil and press the top with a slotted spoon. It will puff up. Flip over and cook for few sec. 

• It shouldn't colour it should be still white.
• Now drain it in paper towel.
• Serve with any curries.

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Bengali cuisine

The traditional society of Bengal has always been heavily agrarian; hunting, except by some local clansmen, was uncommon. Rice is the staple, with many regions growing speciality rice varieties. Domestic cattle (especially the water buffalo) are common, more for agriculture than large scale dairy farming. Milk is an important source of nutrition, and also a key ingredient in Bengal’s desserts. Ordinary food served at home is different from that served during social functions and festivals, and again very different from what might be served at a larger gathering (e.g., a marriage feast).

Nearly every Bengali community will eat meat or fish. In most parts of the Indian subcontinent, individual castes and communities have their own food habits; this is not true of Bengal. There is similarity in eating styles across social strata, with the Hindu upper caste Brahmins sharing a diet very similar to the trading or princely castes. Fish, goat, mutton and chicken are commonly eaten across social strata; the only exception is beef, which if ever eaten, is restricted to Muslim communities.

The nature and variety of dishes found in Bengali cooking are unique even in India. Fresh sweet water fish is one of its most distinctive features; Bengal’s rivers, ponds and lakes contain varieties of fish such as roui, ilish, koi or pabda. Prawns, shrimp and crabs also abound. Almost every village in Bengal has ponds used for pisciculture, and at least one meal a day is certain to have a fish course.

Bengalis also excel in the cooking of regional vegetables. They prepare a variety of the dishes using the many types of vegetables that grow there year round. They can make ambrosial dishes out of the oftentimes rejected peels, stalks and leaves of vegetables. They use fuel-efficient methods, such as steaming fish or vegetables in a small covered bowl nestled at the top of the rice pot.

The use of spices for both fish and vegetable dishes is quite extensive and includes many combinations not found in other parts of India. Examples are the onion-flavoured kalonji (nigella or black onion seeds), radhuni (wild celery seeds), and five-spice or panch phoron (a mixture of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, kalonji, and black mustard seeds). Bengali cooking includes the phoron of a combination of whole spices, fried and added at the start or finish of cooking as a flavouring special to each dish. Bengalis share their use of whole black mustard seeds with South Indians, but unique to Bengal is the extensive use of freshly ground mustard paste. A pungent mustard sauce called Kashundi is a dipping sauce popular in Bengal.

Resent update

• Bengali luchi recipe
• Panjabi Dum Aloo Recipe
• Jhaal Muri – Kolkata Puffed Rice Snack
• Dimer Dhokkar Dalna
• Bhetki Macher Paturi

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