Ipsita Banerjee's Blog, page 16

'R' for Rice. A to Z Challenge Day 18

I'll be honest with you. I had to take a pick between Rice and Roast and it was a tough call. You see, both, to me, are comfort food. More about the roast another day, let's try the rice for now.
As an Indian, I have grown up eating rice all my life.
Add to that the fact that I am Bengali.
Bengalis in particular are predominantly rice eaters, rarely does any meal NOT have rice.

So it's no wonder I love my rice. Oh I can go without it for some time. But then after about a week of ricelessness, I get restless. Like when we are on vacation, invariably after about a week or so of sandwiches and hot dogs and stuff, the spouse and I find ourselves on the look out for Indian or or Chinese or even Thai joints.. You see, we are certain we will find rice there! Be it biriyani, or pulao or fried rice or khichdi  or even plain steamed rice..... rice is comfort food.

And the most comforting comfort food is Pish-pash, a rice and chicken meal that my grand mother used to make when we were not feeling well or had fever and it still tops my list of 'good food'.

Here's how you do it:

Ingredients:

Rice : 1 and 1/2 cupChicken with bones: one small, cut into biggish pieces. about 2 pounds. Onion, 1 large chopped fine.Garlic: 4 pods chopped.ButterPotatoes: 3 medium sized, peeled and halved. Cauliflower/ peas/ carrots/golden corn (optional) : chopped biggish, about 1/2 cupSalt and pepper to taste. Oil: (Canola/sunflower/any white oil)Bay leaf: 1Whole pepper corns: 5/7. (optional)Method: Clean and wash the rice. In a pan heat I tbsp oil and add the Bay leaf. Add garlic and lightly fry. Add onions and fry for about 3 minutes. Do not allow the onion to turn brown. Add pepper corns if you like. Add the chicken pieces and mix in the onions etc. When it has browned, add the potato pieces and saute some more. Add the washed rice, move it around the pan, taking care not to let it stick. Add water, 3 to 4 cups. Salt to taste.  1 cup of chicken stock and 2 to 3 cups of water will also do nicely.Let it boil and cook stirring occasionally until the rice is done. the chicken and potatoes too should be done. Check and see and add water and boil some more if required. If adding vegetables, add it when the rice is half cooked, else it becomes too mushy. When the rice is cooked, the mixture should be soupy. Do not let the rice stick, keep adding water as requires. The dish is soupy, I repeat and not dry. The rice should be soft and the chicken very tender. Melt in your mouth consistency. Serve hot with a big dollop of butter.Never fails with fussy eaters! I think I know what we are having for dinner tonight! 

"Q" for Quiche. A to Z Challenge Day 17

Q put me in a quandary...  what food can I think of  that begins with Q?
Quinoa....? Naah, don't care for it!
Quince...? What can I write about a pear?
Quail? Too tiny.... and I've never tried it either.
Quesadilla... ? But that's not local, not even available anywhere near me, the last time I heard.
Q...?
Q...?


Ah.
Then.
It struck me:
Quiche.

Quiches are fun. Quiches are easy to make. And they are filling. A slice (or two) of quiche and a light salad on the side, washed down with a glass of draft beer. That's my kind of lunch!

The more I thought about it, the more appealing the idea was. I had my post all thought out. I'd add a nice and easy quiche recipe.. I'd certainly find that old tried and trusted Betty Crocker recipe with bacon.....at one time I made it a lot.... it's been a while since I made one....
I took the idea to the girls. "What quiche," they said, "we've never had quiche made by you!"

And presto, here's what we had for dinner last night...


It turned out nice and golden. Yes, I used bacon. And spinach. And a few mushrooms that were lying in the fridge!

And I must mention we had surprise guests for dinner. Everyone loved it.

"P" is for Pickles. A to Z Challenge Day 16.

Most families have their own secret pickle recipes. When we were young, come raw mango season, each house would be making their own. My Mom made four versions, each one was special. One was a sweet one spiced with dried chillies and ginger. Another was a sour dried stick that could make your tongue curdle. Yet another was grated raw mango in oil, spiked with mustard and chillies. The signature one, the recipe for which had been handed down my father's family for generations, was made with lentils.

Growing up, I remember the cut raw mangoes drying in the sun on the terrace. There were these big nets to protect them from the crows. We used to steal the raw mangoes and get into trouble for touching it with our grubby hands...

Pickle making, sadly is now a dying art. Who has the time, the patience, the energy? So let me share one special recipe with you in the hope that it will live on.

And even if you are not planning on making the pickle, I would request you to read the recipe in any case and maybe appreciate the time, effort and patience our mothers and grandmothers put in to ensure we had that tangy tasty thing on our dining table!

MANGO PICKLE:

Usually pickles are made in bulk. Why? Because, made properly, they stay for a long time. And in those days it used to be shared out in the family. The following recipe however only uses 2 kgs (about 10/12) of  raw mangoes. It can be increased proportionately if you are feeling adventurous enough!

Ingredients:

Firm raw mangoes without marks. 2 kgs.Mustard oil: 1 litreBengal Gram daal: 1 cupPanch Phoron: 2 tbspTurmericSalt.2 clean glass jars with tight lids. Method: Wash the mangoes well, taking care to remove all the gum near the head. Dry them completely with a towel. Cut the mangoes lengthwise and then across. The pit should be a little hard but you should be able to cut through it. Take care not to cut your hand as it can be hard. You could try it with a meat cleaver. Discard the inner pit, It's soft and comes off easily. Rub the mangoes with salt and turmeric. Take care not to let any water touch the mangoes. Put the mangoes out in the sun to dry. Spread it out and cover it with a net or light cloth to ensure the sun gets to it but not the birds! Clean and wash the daal. Spread it in the sun to dry as well. Wait. Remember the mangoes and the daal have to dry completely. You have to turn them over from time to time but not too often. Do not touch the mangoes except with washed and dried hands. Each evening the mangoes have to be taken in and then put out in the sun in the morning. In case of a thunderstorm or rain, the mangoes and the daal have to be rescued immediately! It takes about a week or ten days for the mangoes to be ready for the next stage. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Take care not to let ants or other creepy crawlies get to them. When the mangoes are dry but not too dry, dry roast the panch phoron. Mix the dried daal, the mangoes and the panch phoron and add some salt. Divide into two glass jars. Pour mustard oil into the jars till it just covers the mangoes. You may not need all the oil. Remember, no water! The glass jars should be completely clean and dry. Seal the glass jars completely. By this I also mean that once the jar has been closed, cover the mouth with a clean cloth and tie it up tight. Thereafter put a plastic cover on the lid and tie that. This will prevent the water from entering the jar in case of rain. Now put the jars out in the sun. It takes a month or so for the pickle to mature. At least. During that time it must be in the sun every day. Care has to be taken, oil has to be added if less. Also once in a while the jars have to be shaken so that the oil gets to all the mangoes. As before, look after the jars in rain and storms. The mangoes will darken as they 'cook' in the sun.When the pickle looks ready, unseal the jar and enjoy! Take care never to use a dirty or wet spoon to take out pickle as it will spoil. Once made, pickles stay for days... even years. See the picture, that's very mature mango pickle that I made two years ago!

'O' is for Octopus. A to Z Challenge Day 15.

Frankly, I never imagined people actually ATE octopus. You know, those things that live under the sea and have eight tentacles? I just remembered that rather dumb joke: what did one octopus say to the other? "I want to hold your hand hand hand hand hand hand hand hand..."

So imagine my surprise when, about ten years ago, we go to this Bar and Grill right here in Calcutta and find Baby Octopus on the menu! It was one of those places where you choose what you want as much as you want and they grill it for you. After a tentative nibble at the first octopus, I decided they were definitely edible... I must have eaten at least eight octopuses that night (in addition to all my other stuff, of course)...
I looked up to see my husband looking at me strangely, "don't eat any more, you'll get a tummy ache," he said gently.
"Why?"
"Imagine those poor creatures wriggling about in your belly!"

My daughters, when they heard were shocked, "but Ma, they were babies!"

Some time ago I found octopuses being sold in a store. I got them home, learned how to cook them and grilled it with butter and garlic.
I'm happy to report I have one daughter on my team now!

"N" is for Nizam's. A to Z Challenge day 14.

Tucked away behind New Market on Hogg Street is one of the most famous eating joints of Calcutta. Nizam's. Arguably Nizam's is also known as the inventors of the world renowned 'Kathi Rolls' which is basically a wrap made with a paratha and boneless pieces of mutton or beef or chicken kebab. This is spiked with slices of fresh onions and chillies, if desired and a squeeze of lime or chilly sauce. Nizam's rolls in fact, are legendary. And when we were growing up, you didn't have roll shops on street corners as you do now. In fact when I was in college, Kathi rolls were essentially snacks native to Calcutta only. Rarely did I find anything that even came close!
Luckily, Nizam's was pretty close to my Dad's office.
On Saturdays my Dad worked for half the day. He used to come home at about 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon. By then, we had all had lunch: my mother, sister and grandparents were all indulging in their afternoon snoozes. I had no time for such things, I used to be awake: planning the next mischief, sneaking around stealing pickles, reading, lolling on the sofa listening to music or whatever. I knew the sound of my father's key on the door. Often I would open the door just as he was about to insert the key in the lock.
Anyway, getting back to the story, sometimes my Dad did not have lunch at the office and used to come home on these afternoons with three Rolls from Nizam's. Two for him and one for me because he knew I'd be awake!
We'd get the plates and glasses out, careful not to make too much noise and sit across each other on the dining table and eat the rolls. We'd talk and share our lives. share jokes and generally spend time together, just the two of us. It was always special.

That flat where we lived now lies vacant. Or so I am told. When I pass that way I always look up but never see anyone at the balcony. But in my minds eye I can still see that dining room where a father and a daughter sits and laughs together in the pale afternoon light when everyone else is asleep.

'M' is for Mansaf. A to Z Challenge Day 13.

Mansaf (Arabic: منسف‎) is a traditional Jordanian dish and Palestinian dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur. (I got that off wikipedia)

That said, in college we had a lot of Palestinian friends. They exposed me to a whole new world, specially when it came to food. I learnt to cook meat with okra or beans. There was also a lovely chicken pulao cooked with aubergines and cauliflower. But the one I love the most is Mansaf. This dish is one of the few things I will eat at anytime. In fact the joke in our house goes that if anyone wakes me in the middle of the night and hands me a plate of mansaf and rice I will quietly eat it and go back to sleep without getting angry! 
Getting back to college, obviously we could not get all the ingredients like Tahina and stuff so we made our own version. Here it is: 

Ingredients: 


Mutton or boneless beef: 1 kgPlain yoghurt/curd: 750 gmsOnions: 2 medium sizedGarlic: 12 large podsEggs : 2Almonds: about 20.(optional)Salt to tasteButter 1 tspMethod: Wash and clean mutton. Chop onion and two pods of garlic and boil with mutton and two cups of water and some salt. i use a pressure cooker. the mutton/beef should be tender when it is done. Coarsely chop the remaining garlic and fry in the butter till nicely browned (but not burnt) and keep aside. Put the almonds in a cup of water and run it in the microwave for a minute. Wash in cold water. The skin will peel off easily. Chop the almonds into slivers and keep aside.When the mutton broth has cooled, take out the meat pieces with a slotted spoon and place in another pan. Pour half the broth, half the curd and one egg in a blender and blend till smooth. Do not over do it, I usually blend for about 15 seconds on the highest setting. Pour into pan with the meat pieces. Repeat with the remaining broth, egg and curd.Put the pan containing the meat and the blended broth on the stove and gently heat it stirring constantly. Do not let it boil over but let it come to a quiet boil so the gravy cooks nicely. add the slivers of almond. Check salt. It should be tangy and smooth.Add the butter fried garlic over the gravy.Serve hot with plain boiled rice. Nom. Nom. I'm hungry already! 

"L" is for Lemons! A to Z Challenge, Day 12.

When life gives you lemons.....
.........add some Tequila and salt! 
Jokes aside, a slice of lime improves the taste of almost anything, specially Indian food. The spouse will not agree, but try a few drops on anything from boring old daal to kofta to fish fry makes the dish that much more lively!

And lemon has other uses too. I remember when we were in school and at a very impressionable age, we had this rather sexy English teacher at school. She was tall and very elegant and, among other things, known for her tiny blouses teamed with well draped Georgette sarees. She never taught my class but there was this one free period where she came to sit in and started telling us how important it was for a lady to be well groomed. "Lemons," she told us, "are magical for cleaning elbows!" We looked at her, stunned. It was like she was talking in Double Dutch. "When I go home," she continued, "I take a lemon and make lemonade. And then I take the two halves and turn them inside out. As I watch TV and sip my lemonade, I rub the lemon peels on my elbows. They stay clean and do not look black." All of us promptly checked our grimy elbows...

Somehow I never got round to following the beauty tip, but I haven't forgotten it either! 

'K' is for Kakori Kabab, A to Z Challenge Day 11

Kakori is a hamlet near the city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India. The story goes that the Nawab of Lucknow was terribly fond of kababs but had lost his teeth. He ordered his cooks to make a kabab that would be so succulent, juicy and tender that he would not need to chew the kabab: it would melt in his mouth.
And Kakori Kabab was born.
This is a lamb dish where the minced lamb is smoothed into a paste and flavoured with spices and stuff and cooked on a spit. So I think. I guess if I search the internet I will find some splendid recipes but this is one thing I do not want to learn to cook. I always believe that there are some things you should leave to others!
In Calcutta, one of the places that offers the most sumptuous kakori kababs is a restaurant called "Dum Pukht" in the ITC Sonar, one of the many five star properties in the city. We do not visit it too often, saving it for that special occasion.
I have a dear cousin who was visiting for a day on Saturday. He came in from Jamshedpur in the morning and had a flight to Beijing at night. During the day we had guests over and an elaborate Bengali meal and were frankly, stuffed to the gills! We couldn't possibly eat anything else....
Yet, while on our way to the airport, the spouse stopped at ITC. Yes, we had Kakori Kabab. There's always space for Kakori Kabab! Wouldn't miss it for the world!


Thanks, Shan and Amitesh! 

'J' is for Jackfruit. A to Z Challenge Day 10.

I love jack fruit. I always have. Ripe, the fruit is nice and juicy. Many people dislike the smell but I don't mind it. The ripe fruit has a fleshy seed which can be boiled and used in delicious curries. The raw jack-fruit too can be used in curries. In Bengal we call it "gaach pantha" or "mutton growing on trees", it is cooked just like mutton curry and (arguably) tastes almost as good!

Having said that, when I was in college, although I loved jack-fruit, I knew jack-shit about it.

One day, I was sitting outside the room I rented and generally watching the world go by when I spotted a lady vendor carrying a fairly large ripe jack-fruit which she was trying to sell. I was tempted, it had been a very long time since I had had that particular fruit.
A deal was struck, the jack-fruit was mine!
I put in on the floor of my room and set to work with this huge knife I possessed.
Within minutes, I knew there was something wrong.
In ten minutes I was sweating and heaving, there was a white gum oozing from every pore of the fruit, my hands were sticky and itchy and it was all over the floor, my hands and my clothes. Far from reaching the fruit, I had managed to cut my hand and slice into the flesh of the fruit without extracting a single bulb of fruit. It was a disaster.
Just as I was contemplating screaming for help, I saw the neighbour's maid passing. I called her and told her to remove the offensive thing from my floor! She gently laughed, lectured me softly in Marathi (a dialect I did not understand) and left. Taking the damn thing with her.

I spent days trying to get that goo off my arms and legs and the floor. I had to sacrifice the pair of shorts and the tee I had been wearing when I embarked on my little adventure. the knife could never be put to any good use thereafter. I swore I would never look at the fruit (vicious little animal) again!

Later, much later, I learnt what I did wrong. My mother heard and started laughing. "oh, you should have put some oil on your hands before your started... you should have oiled the knife... "

Suffice to say I have never ventured to cut a ripe jack-fruit ever again.

I still eat it though... when I see the bulbs being sold in the market. Or in Thailand where they sell the delicious ripe yellow bulbs in little containers with cling-film on top!

'I' is for Indian. A to Z Challenge day 9.

In India we have a saying: "Ghar ka murgi, daal barabar." Loosely translated, it means:  "Even the most delicious chicken, if it is cooked at home, tastes like boiled lentils."
So while I have friends and relatives all over the world oohing and aahing about Indian food, it is the last kind of cuisine I would choose to have when I am eating out.
In fact I look forward to vacations abroad so I can try out the different cuisines and local food. So you will find me digging into the street food at Thailand or neck deep in black pudding in Scotland or gobbling a Bratwurst in Germany...the list is endless.

On one such holiday, the spouse and I had gone to Europe for  three weeks. Our tour started and ended in London. Off we went, Lichtenstein, Belgium, Rhine Falls, Venice, Mount Titlis, Paris, (not in that order) etc etc. We sampled local cuisines, drank their wine and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Satiated and exhausted, we returned to London where we were staying with an Aunt and Uncle. That night, they served us Indian food. Rice, daal and mutton curry. After three weeks of spice-less, bland food we realised what we had been missing: the aroma, the unique blend of spices and taste brought the flavour back into our lives.

It was one of the best meals I've ever had!