Kochur Loti with Kala Chana

I had frozen kochur loti which I had to finish before I shifted my apartment and I decided to pair it with kala chana dal, another ingredient in excess which needed to be finished.

Ingredients:-
1 cup kochur loti
1/2 cup kala chana soaked overnight
1 tsp kala jeera,
2 green chillis slit
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Process:-
Pressure cook or microwave the kala chana till tender. Heat some water with salt in a saucepan. Add the kochur loti and let it simmer for a few minutes. Drain it. In a kadhai, heat the oil and when hot add the kala jeera. Next add the green chillis. Next add the kala chana dal and the other spices. Stir for a couple of minutes. Then add the kachur lati and stir for another couple of minutes. Cover with a lid. Add a few drops of water if needed. Cook for another 5 minutes in low heat. Serve with plain rice.

Butter Fry

This is a great snack and very common in picnics. In the US, I learnt fish and chips is very popular here and they use beer in the batter which makes the batter frothy and I guess it turns out better. You can use any boneless fish fillets for this recipe. I have tried it with Tilapia and Bhetki fillets even with Pomfret fish.

Ingredients:-
For Marination-
1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
2 tsp Onion paste
1/2 lime juice ( you can substitute with vinegar)
salt to taste

For the batter-
Cornflour 1/2 cup
2 Eggs
Flour 1/2 cup
8-10 small pieces of fish fillets
Salt to taste
pepper to taste

Process:-
Marinate the fish fillets with the ingredients for about an hour in the refrigerator. Whisk all the ingredients for the batter into a smooth paste. If the consistency of the batter is too less add some more flour. It should a little thick so that the batter will stick to the fish. Heat oil in a kadhai and when it is hot enough, dip the fish in the batter and fry it till it is golden brown. Drain on a paper towel to take off the extra grease. I generally first drop only one piece and see how it tastes and if the batter is thick enough. Then you can modify the batter as required. The heat should be medium high so that the fish also gets cooked by the time its golden brown.

Tomato & Aamshotto Chutney

This is a very popular dish in Bengali households and recently I tried it for the first time in mine. I took the recipes from my mother and my sister-in-law and then combined them taking the best of each to get my own version of the recipe.

Ingredients:-
5-6 tomatoes chopped
1 tsp panch phoron
1/2 inch cube ginger finely chopped
1-2 green chillis slit
1 tsp black salt
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 whole dry red chilli
1/2 cup aamshotto diced to small pieces
1/4th cup cashew nuts
1 tsp chat masala
sugar to taste
salt to taste
tamarind paste/lemon juice
oil 1 and 1/2 tbsp

Process:-
Heat oil in a kadhai. When hot enough add the panch phoron seeds and let it splutter. Then add the ginger, when it is fried add the tomatoes. Stir for a while and then add the salt and sugar to taste. If you want to make it more sweet add more sugar. Cover and let it cook for a while. Once the tomatoes have cooked add the aamshotto and cashew nuts. At this point I also add the green chillis as it gives a tangy taste to the chutney. Next add the tamarind paste and since I did not have this ingredient I added lemon juice right at the end once I had switched off the heat. Again the quantity of tamarind would be as per your taste. Heat a separate pan and saute the jeera seeds and red chilli without any oil. Once they have browned, grind them in a mortar and pestle and add 1 tsp of it to the chutney. Add some black salt and some chat masala. Switch off the heat and serve. It tastes great when chilled. Enjoy the chatpata chutney!

Milky Tilapia

This is a unique recipe which I came across in Bong Mom's Cookbook blog. I had a lot of Tilapia fillets and had already made Fish fries with them, so I was looking for a different recipe which would also have some 'jhol' to go with rice.

My version has an addition of Boris, which taste awesome in this recipe. Basically it is the 'patla macher jhol' but we substitute some amount of the water with milk.

Ingredients-
6 Tilapia Fillets each cut into 4 pieces
1 tsp Kallonji seeds (Kalo Jeere seeds)
4 green chillis slit in half
1/4th cup chopped Coriander leaves
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 cup bori(also known as vadi)
1 cup milk
1 and half cup water
salt to taste
Mustard Oil


Process-
In the mustard oil first fry the boris till they are dark brown in colour. The mustard oil should be heated well. Keep them aside. Rub turmeric, salt and a little oil on the tilapia fillets. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Fry them in Mustard oil in a kadhai in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Also be careful when you are turning over the fish - do not break it. Fry till the fish is golden brown in colour.
Next add the turmeric to the milk and stir it well, so that it dissolves completely. It will be light yellow in colour. Next add the kalo jeere seeds and green chillis, they will start to splutter. After that add the milk and let it simmer to a boil. Then add the water and salt. Now add the fried boris also, so that they absorb the water to become soft. When the 'jhol' comes to a boil add the fried fish pieces. Let it simmer for seven minutes and then add the coriander leaves and cover it.
Garnish it with green chillis and Coriander leaves.

Chowlet

Here is another quick snack which goes very well with children!

Ingredients-
1 small packet chow,
1 egg,
1 small onion diced to small pieces,
1 green chilli chopped,
oil for frying,
salt and pepper to taste.

Process-
Boil water and add the chow. After boiling, put some cold water to the chow and then drain the water. This prevents the chow from sticking to each other. To the chow add one egg, chopped onions, green chillis and salt. Beat it well.
In a frying pan heat some oil. Pour the mixture and spread it out evenly. Toss it to cook on the other side also, until it is golden brown. Serve hot with sauce and salad.

Chatpata Corn

Hungry? Thinking about a snack which is not oily, healthy, tasty and at the same time easy to prepare - then try this recipe.

Ingredients-
1 cup Sweet corn,
a dash of butter,
1 small half inch cube of ginger,
2 chillis,
1 tsp chat masala,
1/4th lemon,
salt and pepper to taste.

Process-
You can use the frozen sweet corn easily available in the big retail stores like More, Spencer's etc or fresh corn. To use frozen corn, boil water in a vessel, add the corn and bring it to a boil. Drain out the water. Cut the ginger into small pieces yet not small enough to be eaten - it will only be to get the flavour. In a pan melt a little butter, add the ginger pieces and saute a little. Add the sweet corn, chillis, salt, pepper, chat masala and toss for a while. Sprinkle lemon juice and serve hot.

Banana Cake

Ingredients-

2 cups flour

1 big tbsp baking powder,

3-4 bananas,

4 eggs,

1 tbsp vanilla essence,

1/2 cup nuts like cashews and almonds,

3/4 cup butter,

1/4 cup white oil,

1 cup sugar.

Process-

Sieve the flour together with the baking powder. Mash the bananas. In a mixer or with a blender mix the eggs, butter, oil, sugar and the mashed bananas to a fine paste. To this mixture add the vanilla essence and mix in the flour-baking powder mixture slowly. Use your hands - rotate in clockwise and and anti-clockwise directions to make a lump-free mixture. The consistency should be such that if you drop the mixture from a height it would form ribbons. Remember that the more smooth you make the mixture the more softer the cake will be, so mix well.

Preheat the oven at 180 deg Celcius. Grease the baking dish with butter and dust it with a little flour to avoid sticking of the cake to the baking dish. Pour in the mixture, you should have the same height of free space as the mixture takes, to allow the cake to rise well in the dish. Dust the nuts in flour to avoid them from falling at the bottom during the baking process or you can add the nuts after a little while to make sure they stay at the top. Bake for 50 minutes. After that you can check by using a hair pin, put it in the cake and take it out- if it comes out clean without any mixture sticking to it, then it is done else you need to bake it for a few more minutes.

Try out this soft and delicious cake!