Asparagus in mustard sauce

I love Shorshe Lota. I am not sure what Lota is called in English. I have never cooked Lota myself, but am a fan of the food in any form - shorshe lota, lota chorchori or lota with shukno maach. The vegetable is long, green and stringy - and slippery, and that's the reason why it is tedious to cut and clean. It is a summertime vegetable and is often cooked with raw mangoes.

My mom makes the best Lota dishes, and this is my humble attempt to recreate the taste with Asparagus. Here is a recipe for Shorshe Asparagus or Asparagus in Mustard sauce.

Ingredients here serve 3. Time to cook is approx 30 minutes.


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• 1 bunch Asparagus - cut finger length
• 1/2 Potato - sliced
• 1/2 Tsp Aamchur powder
• 1 Tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 Tsp Mustard powder (White mustard)
• 2 Tbsp Mustard oil
• 4 Green chilies - slit
• Salt to taste

Method:

• In a bowl, mix the mustard powder, turmeric powder, aamchur powder and a little salt.
• Add 3 Tbsp water and mix well. Keep aside.
• Heat 1 tbsp mustard oil in a pan
• Add the Asparagus, cover and let cook in medium flame for 5-6 minutes.
• Add the sliced potatoes and salt to taste and saute.
• Now add the chilies and the mustard sauce.
• Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan. Mustard turns bitter if allowed to be fried longer. So add water to pan soon after adding the mustard paste.
• Cover and let cook for 10 minutes in medium heat. The dish tastes best with little or no gravy.

Serve with plain rice.

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Karela daal

Summer is "finally" here!!! This summer my family has developed a new hobby - we have fallen in love with trailing and every other weekend, we head out to conquer trails around the Bay Area. We are so very lucky our 4 year old can hike!

Today we had Karela daal (or Tetor daal - bitter guard in lentils) for lunch.This is one of my favorite summer time dishes. Especially after coming back all hot and tired from our trail trip, the body calls for a relaxed bath and light food. This recipe is very simple, healthy, light and perfect for summer-time lunch.

Ingredients here serve 4. Time to cook is approximately 20 minutes.

• 1 cup yellow Moong daal (lentil)
• 2-3 Karela (bitter guard) - cubed
• 1 Potato - cubed
• 1-2 Carrots - cubed
• 1/2 cup Green beans - cut into small pieces
• 1 Tsp Paanch Phoron
• 1 Tsp grated Ginger 
• 2 Green chilies (slit)
• 1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/2 Tsp Sugar
• Salt according to taste
• 1 Tbsp Mustard oil for cooking
• 1 Tsp Ghee
• 2-3 Bay Leaves
• 2 dry Red chilies

Method:

• In a dry pan, dry roast the Moong daal. We will wash the lentils post roasting. Roast on medium flame until you can smell the lovely aroma of the lentils roasting.
• Wash the lentils and keep aside.
• In a pan, heat the mustard oil. When the oil smokes, add the paanch foron, bay leaves and dry red chilies.
• When the items crackle, add the grated ginger and green chilies.
• Once the ginger is fried, add the vegetables.
• Saute for about 7-8 minutes on medium flame.
• Add the lentils, saute 2 minutes.
• Now add the salt, turmeric powder and 1 cup water.
• Cover the pan and boil till the lentils and veggies are well done.
• Add more water if needed.
• Get off flame and add the sugar and ghee.
• Let the daal cool before serving.

Serve with plain rice.

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Pressure cooker Mutton (Bengali way)

The best way to cook mutton is to first marinate it, and then cook it on slow fire. Marination is a very important step. There is a saying in Bengali - marinate and mix your mutton so well that it gets half cooked in the process.

I remember when I was a kid, preferably a male member of the family carried out the marination duty(since they supposedly have stronger hands)! The mutton was mixed with all the ingredients like onions, garlic, ginger, salt, all sorts of spices, herbs and mustard oil for close to an hour with hands. And then cooked on medium heat for over two hours or more (depending on the quantity) until it became tender. And it turned out AWESOME!!!

But when the job falls on some lazy cook's shoulders, well, to be precise MY shoulders, its a whole different story. I love mutton, and I cook it often, but I spend as little time as possible in the kitchen doing it. Obviously a little compromise on the authentic taste, but you will get used to it, and the positives are multiple, like you still look fresh and nice and still have a great appetite after you are done cooking :)

As the post title goes, you'll need a pressure cooker, I use my Indian Prestige(no pun intended)!


Ingredients here serve 4. Time to cook is approx 45 minutes.

• 1/2 Kilo (1 Pound) fresh Mutton
• 3 Potatoes (halved)
• 3 Onions (chopped)
• 10-12 cloves of Garlic (chopped)
• 2 Tsp grated Ginger
• 5 Green chilies (chopped)
• 3 Tsp Turmeric powder
• 5 Tsp Meat Masala (I mix two brands, that gives a very nice flavor)
• 2 Tsp  Garam Masala
• Salt according to taste
• 2 Tsp Lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp Mustard oil for cooking
• 4 Tbsp Mustard oil for marination
• 1 Tbsp plain yogurt
• 1 Tsp Ghee
• 2-3 Bay Leaves
• 2 Cinnamon sticks
• 2 Cardamoms
• 2 dry Red chilies

Method:

• Wash the mutton pieces thoroughly.
• Drain all water.
• Add salt, turmeric powder, onions, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, chilies, meat masala, yogurt, mustard oil and keep aside.
• Heat oil in the pressure cooker. When the oil smokes, add the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cardamon and red chilies.
• Now add the mutton. Saute for a while.
• Add garam masala water.
• Reduce heat to medium. Cover the cooker and allow 3 whistles.
• Fry the potatoes in a little oil, add some salt and turmeric while doing so. Keep aside.
• Let out the pressure and add the potatoes. 
• Add the ghee. Cover again and allow 2 more whistles.
• Take off from heat and then allow the pressure to release in its own time.

Serve with plain rice/luchi/roti.

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Mushroom Kofta Curry

I wish I had a better picture of the dish. This recipe is for people who hate mushrooms, but have a loved one in their life, who finds them delectable. Mushrooms are healthy food - low in calories, low in sodium, and high in Iron and Vitamin C and hence the excuse "UNHEALTHY" to not buy them, does not apply. If you are amongst those who have sensitive noses, good news is this recipe does not smell mushroomy at all! Eat and enjoy, and get all health benefits out of mushrooms :)


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Ingredients here serve 8. Time to cook is approx 1 hour.

For the Kofta - 

1 pack Button mushrooms.

3 potatoes 

1/2 cup Cottage cheese(grated)
2 Tbsp milk

2 green chilies(chopped)

2 Tbsp all purpose flour.

1 Tsp grated ginger

1/2 Tsp Garam Masala powder

Salt according to taste

2 Tsp Ghee(clarified butter)

Oil for frying 

For the gravy - 

2 Tbsp cashews

2 Tbsp grated coconut

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

1 dried red chily

2 green chilies 

1 Tsp grated ginger

2 Tsp turmeric powder

2 Tsp cumin Powder

1/4th cup Cottage cheese

(Make a smooth paste with all the above ingredients.)

2 Bay Leaves

2 Cardamoms

1 Cinnamon stick

1 Tsp Paanch Foron (A mix of Cumin seeds, Carom Seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Fennel seeds and Nigella seeds popularly used in Bengali vegetarian cooking)

Salt - according to taste

1/2 Tsp Sugar

1 Tsp Garam Masala 

2 Tsp Oil

2 Tsp Ghee (Clarified butter)

To make Kofta -

• Boil the potatoes. Peel them and let them cool in a bowl.
• Boil some water in a saucepan. Wash the mushrooms, and then add to the boiling water. Boil for about 5 minutes.
• Drain the mushrooms and let them cool.
• Once cool, cut each mushroom into small pieces. Discard the stem.
• Heat some Ghee in a pan, add the grated ginger and chopped green chilies and saute for a while.
• Add the mushroom pieces, and some salt.
• Saute the mushrooms on medium heat for about 8 minutes.
• In a bowl, add the sauteed mushrooms, cheese, milk, potatoes, garam masala, a little salt and mix.
• Add the flour in small quantities till the mix reaches a consistency where you can roll small soft balls with your hands. 
• Heat oil in a deep bottomed skillet.
• Make balls and drop them lightly in the hot oil.
• Fry at medium heat.
• The balls should not touch the base of the skillet, this will allow the balls to swell.

(Psst! A secret! I shallow fried the kofta in a pan, who cares for rounded swelled koftas! Lesser oil is sweller!)

• Do this batch by batch.
• Keep the fried balls in Kitchen towels so that excess oil is absorbed.

For the gravy - 

• Heat oil in a pan.
• Add the bay leaves and paanch foron.
• When the seeds splatter, add the Cinnamon and Cardamoms
• Then add the paste we prepared for the gravy.
• Saute until the mix releases oil from the sides.
• Add warm water (about 1/2 cup), salt and sugar.
• Bring to boil and then add the Kofta balls. (If necessary add more water. The gravy should be on the thicker side.)
• Add the garam masala and some ghee. 

Serve with rice or Parantha.

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Baking Soda vs Baking Powder

I did not know the difference between Baking soda and powder, until recently. Since I am baking more than ever these days, I thought it would be a great idea to write up a post about soda/powder.

They look similar. Baking soda is whiter. The packets for one will mention clearly whether it's Baking Soda or Powder. From my experience, Baking powder tastes mild and fluffs up a cake much more than baking soda. So if you are baking cupcakes, and have used baking powder, you'd have probably used about 1/2 tsp or more, and filled the cupcake cups only to about 1/3rd. Also, baking powder recipes tend to improve if standby time is increased. So if you make the cake mix, and wait for half hour before baking, your cakes will turn up fluffier and spongier.

On the other hand, baking soda fluffs up the cake much lesser. And if added more, tends to leave a salty minty aftertaste. So I use it very carefully, not more than a pinch in any of my recipes, if not lesser. Also, they are good to make instant cakes. If you are  planning to wait before you make cakes out of your batter, make sure you stir up the batter well again. Also, since it fluffs up the cake less, you will need to fill up the cupcake cups to more than half the cup.

What do I prefer using? Well I think it just depends on what I have in my shelf at the time. If you have any comments or experiences using the two, do share. It will help me and others.

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Sugarfree Blueberry Pancakes

My little one is one is not a food enthusiast. So when this morning she said - "Mom I wanna have Pancakes for breakfast", I thought I heard something wrong! Not sure what made her crave pancakes, maybe "Arthur" or "DW" had some in one of the recent episodes, but whatever, I was elated! One of the very rare occasions when my baby asks for FOOD! And I have blueberries in the refrigerator. 

Ingredients here make 4 pancakes. Time to cook is 30 minutes (if you have a larger pan that can make more than one pancake at once, you'll need lesser time).

• 3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
• 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 pinch of baking soda
• 1/2 pinch of salt
• 1 Tsp grated ginger
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp fresh or dried whole blueberries(optional)
• Honey or Sugarfree Maple Syrup for garnish
• Whipped cream for garnish (optional)
• 1 Tsp vegetable oil

Method:

• Melt the butter and let cool.
• Mix the wheat, flour, baking soda, salt, ginger together in a bowl with a fork.
• Add the egg and butter and mix in.
• Now add the milk and stir to make a thick batter. Make sure there are no lumps.
• Now add the blueberries. You can add raisins too.
• Heat up a non stick pan.
• Soak a small paper towel with the teaspoon of vegetable oil.
• Rub the surface of the pan well with the paper towel and keep safe for subsequent use.
• When the pan smokes, reduce heat to medium and put 3 tbsp of the batter in the center of the pan.
• Once the surface of the pancake looses its shine, flip it over.
• Flip the pancake on medium heat until both sides are browned. It took me about 6-7 minutes to cook one pancake.
• Take out on a plate and drip generous amounts of honey/syrup on the pancake.

• Serve with whipped cream.

Tip:

• Rub the pan with the same paper towel soaked in oil before you make another pancake. You can easily make 8-10 pancake with just a teaspoonful of oil in that way.
• Serve with fruit salad. In a bowl, chop bananas, strawberries, pineapples. Add some raisins. Add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice and 2 tsp honey. Mix up.

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Carroty Deviled Eggs

Fixed up a quick egg snack/appetizer, turned out real nice. Cooked in a hurry, posted in a hurry! :)

Serves 2-3. Time to cook is 10 minutes.

• 3 Hard boiled eggs(halved)
• 1 Medium sized carrot(grated)
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1 Tsp vegetable oil/butter
• 1 pinch of Salt
• Pepper for garnish

Method:

• In a non stick pan, heat the oil/butter.
• Add the grated carrot and saute for a while in high heat.
• When the carrots are fully dried up, add some salt and continue sauteing for a minute or two.
• Take pan off from heat.
• Add the milk.
• Separate the yolk from the eggs.
• In the same pan, crush the yolks with the spatula. Don't turn on heat.
• Mix the carrots and yolk well.
• Part into 6 equal parts and make balls with each part with your hands.
• Put the balls back in the eggs. I pressed them with a large fork to create a subtle design.
• Garnish with pepper.

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Baked Aaloo Pithe

My husband's favorite "Pithe" - the deep fried extra sweet POTATO based "Aloo'r Pithe". Doesn't strike a chord for the "Oh so calorie conscious" me ;) Well, my extra pounds have nothing to do with my being calorie conscious!

I tried making these baked Potato Pithe, and they turned out "nice". Now, "fried vs. baked" is no competition at all, but they did taste..."nice"! And I DO lack vocabulary!

All I can say is they disappeared fast enough to prove they were delish. Especially if you lend a thought to the fact that they were made "minus the oil". Ah! Now that strikes a chord!

Did I forget to mention the most important part? This is a traditional Bengali sweet dish eaten during the harvest festival of Poush Sankranti. The traditional recipe calls for deep frying, and tastes a lot better than what I made here.

Ingredients below make about 20-25 "pithe". Time to cook is approx. 45 minutes.

• 1 1/2 Potatoes (Sweet potatoes taste best, and are healthier. I used regular ones.)
• 1 bowl shredded coconut
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour (If you use sweet potatoes, you might need a little more)
• 1 Tsp melted butter.
• 10-15 Tbsp Jaggery
• 2 Bay leaves
• 3-4 Cardamoms
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil for greasing

Method:

To make the syrup -

• Boil 1 cup of water.
• Add the bay leaves and Cardamoms to the water.
• Then add the jaggery.
• Stir at regular intervals.
• Boil until the jaggery dissolves completely and the syrup gets sticky and drips slowly from the spatula.

To make the "pitha" - 

• Boil the potatoes.
• Peel and drain water completely.
• Mash the potatoes, add the coconut, flour and butter and mix well.
• Make sure there are no lumps.
• If required add a little more flour. The mix should not be sticky, but be careful, if you add too much flour, the "Pitha" would turn hard. Trick is to add flour half Tsp at a time.
• Place parchment paper on a baking tray and grease the paper with vegetable oil.
• Make small longish balls out of the mix with your hands, and line them on the baking tray.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees (F).
• Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Watch over occasionally.
• Then turn on broil for another 5-6 minutes. The balls would have browned lightly by then.

• Drop the balls in the syrup.
• If the syrup has gotten cold, heat it up before dropping the "pitha" in it.

Serve warm or cold, depending on preference.

Tips:

• In case you want to make traditional pithas(deep fried), simply exclude the butter from the mix. 
• You would need to add a little more flour to the mix to make sure the balls stay bound together while deep frying. 
• Also, you might add a little "rava"/"suji" to the mix. 

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Sambal Cigar Minnows (Singaporean flavors)

I love "Sambal Anchovies". There is a taste to it that hits just the right spot! Especially on a rainy day! Sambal is a chilly based sauce and is a Singaporean specialty. 

We got some small fishies from the market, with the intention of trying something new. I personally loved the name - Cigar Minnows; any fish with that name had to taste good :). Out of curiosity, I looked up the fish in Wikipedia, and found they are a species of mackerel, and a distant cousin of Anchovies! Anchovies!!! I HAD to try and make some Sambal Cigar Minnows! And it IS a rainy day :)


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Ingredients here serves 3. Time to cook is approx 30 minutes.

• 10 Cigar Minnows, washed and gutted. Any other species of mackerel would do too.
• 1/2 Onion - sliced (If onions are small, use 1 whole).
• 2 dry red chilies
• 5-6 green chilies - slit in half (use more or less depending on preferred spice level).
• 1 Tsp fresh grated ginger.
• 3 cloves of garlic (grated).
• 1/2 Tomato (sliced)
• Salt (according to taste).
• 1 Tsp molasses/jaggery (or sugar).
• 1 Tsp lemon juice.
• 1 Tsp turmeric powder.
• 1/2 Tsp Kashmiri mirch powder(or paprika).
• 2 Tbsp oil

Method:

• Marinate the fish with a little salt and turmeric powder. Keep aside.
• In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp oil to smoking point.
• Sprinkle some salt on the pan. This helps the fish not to stick to the pan.
• When the oil is smoking, add 3-4 fishes at a time and fry each side for about a minute.
• Take off in a plate.
• After all the fishes have been shallow fried, add 1 tbsp oil to the same pan.
• Add the onions and fry till golden brown.
• Add the chilies (red and green).
• Add garlic and ginger.
• Fry for a while.
• Lastly add the tomatoes.
• Saute for a while and then add the salt.
• Lower the heat and cover the pan for about 2 minutes.
• Uncover and increase the heat.
• Mash the tomatoes with the spatula, add the paprika and molasses.
• Saute till oil appears on the sides.
• Now add the fish, and 2 tbsp water.
• Cover the pan for about 1-2 minutes.
• Uncover pan and lightly toss and turn the fish until all water has evaporated.
• Take off from heat and add the lemon juice.
• Serve warm with white rice.

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