KOLAI ER DAL / BENGALI URAD DAL

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup Urad Dal/ Black gram split Dal
1 whole cucumber
1/2 tbsp Panch poran ( I used panch poran as it has fennel seeds in it)
3 to 4 Red chilles
1/2 '' crushed Ginger
curry leaves
A pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste.

METHOD:
Soak Urad Dal around two hours, peel and chop cucumber into cubes.
Cook Dal and cucumber in a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water in a low flame for at 3 to 4 whistles just to make sure that the dal is well cooked.
Then In a pan heat oil and make tadka with Panch poran , Red Chilles and curry leaves. saute add this to the cooked Dal.
Add Crushed Ginger, Hing / Asafoetida and salt to the Dal and cook for few minutes until everything is well combined.
Serve it with hot rice or pulka.

ALOO POSTO / POTATOES IN POPPY SEED PASTE

INGREDIENTS:
7 to 8 Aloo / Potatoes
2 tbsp Poppy seeds ( actually used 4 tbsp )**
4 to5 Green chillies
1/2'' ginger crushed
1 tsp Kalonji seeds / Onion seeds
curry leaves
2 to 3 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Ghee
Salt as required
1/2 tsp red chilli powder ( I omitted )

How to make posto Bata ( Poppy seed Paste ) : Soak poppy seeds in water for few hours or over night, this helps in making it into a nice paste. As little water as possible grind it with the chllies and ginger.
** I had only 2 tbsp poppy seeds so I had to just use that but if you are making use 4 tbsp poppy seeds.

METHOD:
Cut Potatoes into small pieces, Heat oil add onion seeds and curry leaves, I crushed ginger and chillies into paste fried them for a minute then add chopped Potatoes, add finely ground poppy seeds paste, add some water mix everything very well, close a lid and cook until well done.
serve it with Kolai er Dal or with rice or pulka.

Notes: Check out suchi's blog for the perfect recipe, as I have made few changes, I did not crush fennel seeds as my family do not like the taste of it too much so instead I used Punch pooram as tadka / seasoning.

Thanks to Suchi and Deepa for these two lovely recipes, so we had a lovely Bengali cuisine and thanks to Radhika for giving this opportunity. My family loved both the recipes, the posto was well consumed because of the potatoes :))
Enjoy...

The post Kolai er dal - Bengali Urad Dal with Aloo posto appeared first on My Veg Fare.

RASMALAAI

INGREDIENTS:
Milk 3 litres (2 litres for making for the Paneer (Ras) and 1 litre for making the Malaai/condensed milk)
3 tbsp of vinegar
5 cup Water
16 tbsp of Sugar (8 for the sugar syrup and 8 for Rasa/milk syrup)
saffron to garnish
1/4 cup Pista and Badam finely chopped
1 tsp Maida flour
1/4 tsp of cardamom powder

METHOD
In a bowl start heating milk, and once it starts to boil put a ladle in it so that it doesn't ooze out!!, keep an eye on it and watch out, so its better to have it in a very medium flame, Once the milk starts boils add the vinegar and stir through, while you are stirring you will see the milk getting curdled that is the milk gets separated from the water and this water is called the whey water. The paneer starts floating at the top and the water is below it.
Now take a fine cotton cloth or a cheese cloth and drain this paneer to separate water, do not throw away the water as it can be used in many ways!!
Once the paneer is drained pour some cold water on it so the smell of vinegar is gone!!
Now tie and hang it for an hour so the water is completely drained out nicely squeeze out the water, Now it forms a mass of paneer.
Take this on to the table top and knead it into a nicely pliable dough, so that there is no water content in it and should not stick to the hand, Now add maida and make it into small balls. do not make big balls as they enlarge in size by the end of procedure!!
Now to make the sugar syrup:
In a pressure cooker add water and sugar as indicated (8tbsp) and allow it to boil, drop these balls into it and allow it boil then close the lid of the pressure cooker and let it cook for 7 minutes (2 whistles) then once the pressure is released open the lid, you can now see that they are double in size.
Take them out into a sugar syrup as you can see in the picture below which is also called as Rasgullas!!

RASGULLAS

As you can see them in the sugar syrup they become double in size, press each ball slightly to remove excess sugar syrup and keep aside.

Preparation of the Malaai or condensed milk
When you are starting the procedure for the paneer you can start boiling milk in another stove as it takes some time !!, The milk should start boiling and reduce to half of its quantity that is most of the watery portion in the milk will evaporate and the milk becomes more thicker, to this add the remaining quantiy of sugar, chopped nuts and cardamom powder and also the saffor threads, to this add the pressed out paneer balls and leave it absorb the malai and refrigerate it and serve it chilled... and ENJOY.....
You might find the procedure too long but it is a very easy process, you don't even have to measure, you can just take milk and start with the process..

My verdict: Absolutely gorgeous to devour, very easy, no need to measure anything just add sugar to your taste, like me My Ras malaai was far too sweet for the sweet tooths in my zoo.., I even used shop bought condensed milk with my own condensed milk and made it more thicker!!, I added MTR Badam powder, which is gorgeous and smells wonderful.., totally it was great..
Thanks valli for the lovely challenge....

Some tips: Do not use Long life carton milk, they take a longer time to curdle and they are quite sticky too, that is my experience use full fat milk for the lovely consistency, I did not use Maida/ All purpose Flour at all but then also it turned out well, I just did not like the idea of using Maida to hold the balls, knead them well they will be fine., If you are worried just make it with only 1/2 litre of milk! use less quatity of vinegar/Lemon juice.

The post Rasmalai and Rasgulla appeared first on My Veg Fare.

EGG CURRY

Ingredients :

• 7 to 8 Eggs
• 4 to 5 Medium sized onions
• 5 to 6 Tomatoes (puree)
• 1 tbsp Ginger- Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Garam masala powder
• 1 tbsp Bengali masala powder
• 5 to 6 Tbsp of oil
• 1 tbsp Chilli powder

METHOD:

1. First hard boil the eggs & peel out the skin, Take a Kadai or wok, heat oil say 1 to 2 tbsp & then add turmeric powder, In a low flame, fry the boiled eggs in them till they are nicely coated with turmeric and turn into orange colour as you can see in the photo , take them out & keep aside.
2. Using the same oak, heat another 4 to 5 tbsp of oil, fry ginger-garlic paste till they turn into brown in colour then add the onions & fry them until they are transperent, she asked me to add a bit of salt when frying onions so onions become soft as soon as possible.
3. Then add the tomato puree and keep on stirring until the oil leaves the sides of the wok, (for this kind of gravies you have to add more oil).
4. Then add a bit of turmeric powder, chilli powder, Garam masala powder & *Bengali masala powder 1/2 tsp and a tsp of sugar so it gives a caramalised colour & taste, salt to requirement.
5. Now add the hard boiled eggs, but before adding them you have to make a little slit in each of them as you do not want them to splutter up.
6. Allow them to cook for some more minutes, If you want it to be more like a gravy then add little water to it.
7. Add an other or remaining 1/2 tsp of Bengali masala powder, mix well and now it is ready to serve as a side dish with your choice of chapati or nans or breads.

NOTE: * BENGALI GARAM MASALA POWDER: consists of cardamom, cinnamon and clove in 2:2:1 ratio, she said they always keep this ready like the usual garam masala powder & use them in almost all of their dishes.

Mimi was kind enough to tell me this recipe over the telephone, with her little son not feeling well, who is just 6 months old, we completed between 2 to 3 phone calls :), I want to give this recipe a try with Aloo or Potatoes as my husband & me do not eat eggs. I will not say we do not eat eggs at all, as lot of bakery products like for example cakes use egg in baking. I love cakes very much!!!!!, well thank you mimi for the recipe once again.

The post EGG CURRY appeared first on My Veg Fare.