Mom's Egg curry

I have a reason to name this dish "Mom's Egg curry". Easy to guess, isn't it? This is a recipe my Mom made to perfection. Just don't count the calories as you relish this dish with some piping hot white rice, and I assure you it will most certainly take you to the seventh heaven. Mom made this mostly for special occasions, like birthday's etc. and each time she made it, we licked our plates and fingers clean and still craved for more. Here is my attempt to recreate the lovely "Mom's Egg curry".

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Ingredients (serves two)

1) 2 eggs
3) 1/2 onion
4) 1 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
5) 3 Green chilies - slit
5) 1 Tsp Cumin powder
6) 2 Tsp turmeric powder
7) 1 1/2 Tsp garam masala powder
8) 1 Tbsp plain yogurt - I used fat free
9) 2 Tbsp flour
10) 1 Tbsp semolina
11)  Salt to taste
12) Oil
13) Bay leaves
14) Cinnamon sticks
15) 1 Tsp ghee

Method

1) Hard boil the eggs and cut them in halves
2) In a bowl, mix the flour, semolina, turmeric, some salt and mix.
3) Add a tsp of oil, mix and keep aside for 10 minutes. This procedure makes the batter crunchy when fried.
4) Heat the oil in a pan for deep frying.
5) Now add some water to the dry mix, the consistency should be close to runny, but not too much.
6) Dip the halved eggs in batter and deep fry, the runny batter with the turmeric will add a red color to the eggs when fried.
7) Keep aside on a paper towel to soak excess oil.
8) Blend the onion and ginger garlic paste to form a coarse mix.
9) Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks.
10) Add the onion mix. Saute until color turns golden and then add the cumin and turmeric. Also add half of the garam masala powder.
11) Saute until oil appears on the sides. Now add the yogurt and saute few more. Add the remaining garam masala.
12) Add half cup water and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add the eggs.
13) Add the ghee.

Serve with rice/roti/bread.

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Shorshe jhal (Mustard sauce gravy)

I love my share of dishes that are based on gravy made of "shorshe". Shorshe is nothing but mustard seeds. There are really two types of mustard seeds that we can get in any grocery store - black and white. Though the black mustard is used more popularly in Europe and America to make the ever popular tangy mustard sauce, in Bengal households the much milder white mustard is preferred. And rightly so. Now the favorite mustard seed paste preparation is fish, and the preparation is meant to be thick and flavorful, not very strong or pungent or towards bitter, but just a little hint of all these tastes, accentuated by adding a little mustard seed oil, and tomatoes, cilantro, peppers etc. Depending on the dish, some recipes involve adding a hint of sugar, or ginger paste and some tempering with black caraway seeds.

Sharing my recipe for the mustard paste that I usually use. I know every one has their own version, I wold love to read yours too, so please do add your numero uno go to recipe in the comments.

Recipe video using Salmon and some chit-chat here - Salmon in Mustard Paste

Ingredients -

1) 3 Tbsp white mustard seeds
2) 1 Tsp ginger paste
3) 1-2 chilies
4) 1 Tsp mustard oil
5) 1/2 Tsp salt
6) 1 Tsp turmeric powder

Method -

1) Soak the mustard seeds in water for 2 hours
2) Drain the water and put in a blender
3) Add all other ingredients
4) Add 3 Tsp water and grind. Add more water if the mix gets too dry.
5) Grind until the paste is very smooth, fluffy almost.

Now mustard paste gets bitter if fried for longer in oil. So if you intend to have a thick gravy, add the water to the paste before putting the paste in oil and tempering. If you intend to make a dry dish, turn of the flame before adding the paste and after the paste is all well mixed with the main ingredients, then turn on the flame again.

Do share your methods of preparing mustard gravy, I would love to know your tricks as well :)

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Shedhho Puli

 Oh my gosh! It's been a real long time since I wrote a recipe!! Am I not been cooking? Well, I am. Infact, I have been experimenting. Healthiest possible ways to cook up simple yet good food that hit just the right spot, and don't necessarily show up in the wrong places. I will share those, when I feel that I have the perfect concoction. Like this recipe, which is ancient, but I made it with some twists to cut the calorie values, yet it tasted just right.

In Assam, Makar Sankranti/Bihu is the time when we all grow a couple of sweet tooth, and get ready to empty plate after plate of delicacies, majority of them sweet and savory.  So what if our New Year resolution was to lose those extra pounds, 'tis the season (for us)! I have grown up seeing my Ma and Thamma(Grandma) stay awake till the wee hours of dawn, making Pithas, as these sweet delicacies are called. Not one or two kinds mind you! There have been some years, our plates had as many as TEN different types of Pithas, and we still wanted more!

Tradition calls for waking up as early as possible on Makar Sankranti, while its still dark, and take bath. Oh how I hated it! Who wouldn't? Waking up as early as 4.00 am on a chilly January morning and being rushed to the bathroom to take a bath is definitely not the best thing in the world. But wait, things got interesting when we came out of the bathroom, and went to the backyard, where Dad and Grandpa had lit up the Merameri'r ghar! Its a house-like structure we made the day before with bamboos, straws, branches, old newspapers etc. and was oodles of fun! And even more fun was getting warmed by the crackling fire, and while we sat there, Mom brought us plate full of those delicious Pithas. Oh yes, Sankranti was fun! We forgot all about the bath, and ate the whole day. :)

Ah those were the days! Sugar somehow became bad over the years (I have no clue how!). But the best thing is, we still celebrate this festival in our own ways, we still love those Pithas, and we scratch our heads, and find ways to making them in a healthier way. So here goes, my recipe for Sheddho Puli, which is a Pitha made of powdered rice. And since I have already blabbered a lot, I promise to compensate with as few words as possible :)

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The ingredients here serve 8. Time to cook is approx 45 minutes.

For the filling -

•  Shredded coconut - 2 cups
• Molasses (Gur) - 4-5 pieces
• Cardamom seeds - from 2-3 cardamoms
• Zero fat milk - 1/2 cup
• Mawa (powdered milk) - 1 Tbsp

For the Pitha -

• Coarsely powdered rice - 1 cup
• Ghee - 1 Tsp

For garnish -

• Zero fat milk - 1/2 cup
• Mawa (powdered milk) - 2 Tbsp
• Sugar - 1 Tsp
• Cardamom - 2
• Bay leaf - 1-2

Method -

• In a pan, heat about half cup of milk, add the cardamom seeds.
• After the milk heats up, remove from flame and add the molasses. Stir for a while, it is not necessary that they totally melt.

•  Add the dry shredded coconut and start the flame again.
• Add the mawa.
• Stir until the mix is dry.

• Stir the rice powder in a heated pan for 1-2 minutes.
• Add warm water and stir until the mix is dried. Remove from flame and add the ghee.

• Make small balls with your palms while the mix is still warm, and flatten to make a bowl shape. Add the filling and seal with your palms.

• In a pressure cooker, add a little water. Take a bowl that will go in the pressure cooker and coat it with a little Ghee. Put the Pithas in the bowl and cook until 1-2 whistles.

• Heat the milk and add all the ingredients for garnish. Pour on top of Pithas.

Serve warm or cool and enjoy!

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