Spicy prawn

Indo-Chinese ambrosia

Succulent prawns in yummy oyster sauce

Serves 4

Prawns 500 gms

Onion 1 large

Red Bell pepper 1/2 

Green Bell pepper 1/2

Yellow Bell pepper 1/2

Oyster sauce 6 tbsp

Egg 1

Refined Oil 8 tbsp

Refined Oil 1 tsp

Refined oil for deep frying

Corn Flour  4 tbsp

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Chopped Ginger 1/2 tbsp

Soya Sauce 3 tbsp

Dry Red chilli 1

Salt to  taste

Pepper powder 1 pinch

Oil

Take the chilli powder in a small bowl. Heat 8 tbsp oil till it starts smoking. Pour over the chilli powder. You may need to leave the kitchen for some time after this. When it cools down, the chilli powder would have settled to the bottom. Carefully pour out the oil without stirring the chilli powder.

Prep

Wash the prawn. Remove the head, tail and mud vein and wash again. Cut the peppers and onion into squares no smaller than 1 cm. Larger squares look good. Chop the ginger to fine pieces.

Prawn

Take an egg, 1 tsp oil, salt and a pinch of pepper and beat well. Dip the prawns in the batter and pat with corn flour. Each prawn needs to be well covered. Deep fry till light golden. Do not overdo this. It only takes a minute for prawns to be fried. Overcooked prawns become leathery.

Cook

Take the oil we prepared earlier and heat it in a wok. Heat it over the highest flame you have got. When it starts smoking add the ginger and the dry red chilli. After a few seconds add the onions and peppers and stir well. Cook covered for a few minutes. Do not reduce the flame. This needs to be cooked in very high heat. We will try not to cook the veggies to a mush but keep the shape and colour intact. When the pieces are slightly seared add the oyster sauce and stir for a few seconds. Add the prawns and stir for a few seconds till well coated. Add the soya sauce and stir for a few seconds till well coated. Remove from heat. Serve with rice.

Bengali Fish Roe Curry

Palette bomb

Fish roe fritters in a tangy mustard sauce

Serves 4

Fish Roe 150 grams

Gram Flour (Besan) 1/2 cup

Oil for deep frying

Mustard 3 tbsp

Tomato 1 medium

Garlic 5 pods

3 small onions

Mustard oil 4 tbsp + 1 tsp

Green chillies 3

Nigella 1/4 tsp

Turmeric 1/4 tsp

Water 1.5 cup

Salt to taste

Fritters

Mix the fish roe with the gram flour. Add a little bit of chopped onion and salt. Mix well (you may need to add a little water) and deep fry till golden brown.

Spices

Soak the mustard for 10 minutes and make a fine paste with a pinch of salt and one green chilli. I use a stone grinder for the paste. You may want to balance the fineness with the bitterness - if pasted too much it may turn out to be bitter - if pasted too less the seeds stand out.

Curry

Heat 4 tbsp mustard oil. Check the quality of mustard oil. Good mustard oil has a fresh wasabi type aroma. It hits you hard in the nose. If you do not get good mustard oil then you can skip the step where I add a spoon of oil in the end.

Add nigella. When they splutter add a slit green chilli and chopped garlic. When the garlic starts turning brown add the onions.

Cover and simmer. When the onions start turning brown, add the mustard paste, turmeric, salt and tomato. Fry well for a few minutes till the tomatoes turn soft. Add water and bring to boil.

Add the fritters and simmer, covered for 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat, add a slit green chilli and a teaspoon of mustard oil.

Serve with hot rice.

Mini Savoury Strudel

Strudel with a Twist

Crispy strudel filled with lovely luscious goat mince. An absolute delight.

Makes 2

Maida (Refined flour) 1 cup

Oil 1 tbsp

Margarine as required

Salt a pinch

Egg 1

Keema

The filling

Use the recipe I have in this blog. If  you are a vegetarian use any rich filling.

Remember to dry it out well otherwise it will make the dough soggy.

Steps

Preheat the oven to 160-180 C. If you have a fan 160 C is good.

Start kneading the dough. I use a planetary mixer. If you do not have one, then knead it very very well for at least 15 minutes. Maida does not have a lot of gluten so kneading actually helps building the dough a lot. The general motion is stretch-fold-stretch.

Knead till, when you stretch the dough you should be able to see the light shine through it without it breaking.

Divide the dough into two and roll it out using a pin. Once rolled out - place the rolled out dough on a clean piece of cloth and use your hands to carefully stretch out the dough till paper thin. Watch this video for reference.

It should be so thin that you should be able to read a news paper through it. Cut out the edges.

Now give it a coating of margarine and spread a thin layer of the keema. Place some more keema at one side and lift the cloth to roll. With every roll coat with a layer of margarine.

Press the side tight with a fork. Spread egg evenly on top and bake for 40 - 50 minutes till golden. Vegetarians can use milk instead of egg.

Take out from an oven and let it cool for at least 15 minutes. Cut and server.

Luscious Keema

Let's melt in the mouth

Minced goat, cooked to tenderness with rich seasoning. Will just melt in your mouth.

Serves 4

Minced lamb or goat 400 gm

Tomato 1 large

Onion 3 small

Peas (Fresh or frozen) 1/2 cup

Garlic paste 1 tbsp

Ginger paste 1 tbsp

Coriander 1/2 tbsp

Cumin 1/2 tbsp

Cardamom 3

Cloves 3

Cinnamon 1 medium stick

Bay leaf 1

Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder 1/2 tbsp

Garam Masala 1/2 tsp

Sugar 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil 4 tbsp

Prep

Wash the meat and leave it to drain before starting anything else.

Lightly roast the coriander and cumin and grind to a fine powder.

Chop the onion and tomatoes.

Cooking

My choice of utensil for this dish is a non-stick pressure cooker. So the amount of oil and the time to cook is in reference to that. You may need to adjust those things if you use any other utensil.

Heat oil and add a pinch of sugar. Add the bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. When they are lightly fried and a clear delicious smell fills your kitchen add the onions.

Saute with a pinch of salt and simmer covered till lightly browned. Turn up the flame and add the ginger and garlic paste. Cook them very well -  boiled garlic is not a very good experience.

Add the tomatoes and all the other spices except salt and peas and cook on a high heat till oil separates.

Put in the meat and saute over high heat. Cover well with spices.

I cannot stop myself from reiterating this to the point of irritation. Saute the meat till oil separates. Do not skimp on this step. If you feel the meat is drying out sprinkle some water and saute.

After oil separates, add the peas and salt. Add a cup of water and pressure cook on high. After one whistle turn down the flame and let it cook on low heat for thirty to forty minutes.

Turn off the flame and let it stand for ten minutes.

Server hot with naan, plain paratha or for pure decadence with Luchi.

Garlicy Alu dum

Potatoes at its best

A great companion to Luchi this recipe gives a twist to the traditional Alu dum.

Server 4

Potato 8 small

Green Chillies 4

Garlic 10 pods

Sugar 1/2 tsp

Water 1/2 cup

Ghee (clarified butter) 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Halve the potatoes and boil with a pinch of salt till cooked. Cool and peel the skin.

Chop the green chillies and garlic finely. Do not mash them. Each piece should stand out.

Heat the ghee in a wok. When hot add the garlic and the chillies. Saute till the garlic turns brown.

Add the potatoes, sugar and salt. Saute for two minutes.

Pour half a cup of water and simmer covered till cooked through.

Serve hot with Luchi.

Luchi - Bengali fried bread

Delicate beauty

This pristine white bread is made of refined flour. Can be accompanied with virtually anything from jaggery to mutton.

Makes around 50 luchis

Maida (refined flour) 1.5 cups

Refined oil 1 tbsp

Salt a pinch

Oil for deep frying

There are two points to remember about making this item.

1 - Luchi is made of refined flour or maida - period. If you are a health freak and think of adding atta (whole wheat flour) then do not call it Luchi. Not even half and half, just maida.

2 - The cups and spoons I use for measurement are measuring cups and spoons which come in standard sizes and are available in shops or online. Do not use any and every cup and spoon from your kitchen

With these things in mind the dish is very simple.

Knead the dough with 1 tablespoon oil, a pinch of salt and water as required. Knead till smooth.

Divide into small equal portion. Roll it out using a rolling pin. It should be even, preferably round,

not thick but not too thin either. Deep fry in oil or ghee making sure both the sides get enough oil. Fry till it puffs up and before it is brown. Serve hot.