Chaanar Borar Dalna

About this Recipe...

We all know that Bengalis are famous for their fish eating habits, but there are so many such recipes which are pure vegetarian and prepared on some special occasions like Pujas or festivals. In most of the Bengali houses, there is one particular day in the week, when pure vegetarian foods are prepared without onion and garlic because we believe that onion and garlic are non-veg.

So back to today's recipe, it is a very common recipe in every Bengali household and I prepared it very often and everybody loves it. It is called 'Chaanar Borar Dalna' or Cottage cheese dumplings curry. Here fresh homemade paneer or chaana is used to make this dumplings or bora and then the gravy is cooked with potato, cauliflower and minimum spices. Adding cauliflower is optional you can only use potato in this curry.

These dumplings are very tasty and you can even serve it as a appetizer or side dish with some green chutney, it will disappear in no time. Don't compare this curry with Malai Kofta because both are completely different in taste and texture wise. Whereas malai kofta is having a rich gravy with cream and cashew paste, this Bengali style curry is mild and having a complete different taste. So try this recipe at home and you will definitely love it and use only homemade paneer. Don't even try it with store bought paneer, you will not get the perfect taste. So give it a try and enjoy this special and simple curry with rice or paratha.

Ingredients

For the Chaanar Bora or Dumplings

• 1 Cup Fresh homemade chaana or paneer
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 Tbsp All purpose flour for binding
• Oil for frying the bora

For the Curry

• 1 Medium size potato cut into length wise
• 1 Cup Cauliflower florets
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Dry red chili
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 Piece Cinnamon stick
• 2 Green cardamom
• 2-3 cloves
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp Ginger-green chili paste
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Cup Tomato puree
• Water as required for making the gravy
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp Ghee or clarified butter

Directions

1. To make the chaanar bora or cottage cheese dumplings, take the chaana in a plate and add salt, sugar, red chili powder and all purpose flour for binding.
   
2. Mix everything and knead it very well. Make cracks free small patty shape balls or in Bengali we call it 'bora'.
   
3. Now heat oil in a pan and fry the bora in oil till it gets golden color from all the sides.
   
4. Remove it from the pan and keep it in a absorbent paper towel.
5. Now on the same pan fry the potato and cauliflower and keep it aside.
   
6. In the same pan heat some more oil if required and add bay leaf, dried red chili, cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and cumin seeds for tempering.
   
7. Fry it for few seconds and then add ginger-green chili paste and all the dry spices with little water and fry it for 1-2 minutes.
   
8. Next add the tomato purée to it and mix it well with the spices.
   
9. Cover the pan and cook it for 3-4 minutes.
10. After 3-4 minutes remove the lid from the pan and add required amount of water for the gravy.
11. Cover it and let the gravy comes to a boil.
12. When the gravy will start boiling, add salt to taste and fried potato and cauliflower to it.
    
13. Simmer it for few minutes till the vegetables get cooked properly.
14. Now add the chaanar bora to it and cook it for another 2-3 minutes.
    
15. Finally sprinkle some garam masala powder and ghee to it and switch off the flame.
16. Your Chaanar Borar Dalna is ready, serve it with hot steamed rice and enjoy.
    

Green Chicken Curry

About this Recipe...

This green chicken curry flavored with mint and coriander leaves tastes refreshing and wonderful. I love to use mint in my recipes especially curries and any kind of drinks, it always adds a very fresh flavor to all the recipes. Recently I started growing mint in my small kitchen garden so whenever I like to use it I have the fresh leaves. Along with mint I have used coriander/cilantro leaves also in this curry.

If you have a bunch of coriander and mint leaves and you don't know how to utilize it, then go ahead and make this curry. You will understand the difference in taste and the beautiful aromatic flavor it will add to the curry. At the finishing I added lemon juice and garam masala powder and my entire home is smelling awesome. Everyone loves this special green chicken curry in my home and I hope you will also like it.

Ingredients

For Marinating the Chicken

• 1 lb Whole Chicken cut into medium size pieces
• 1/2 Cup Plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp Ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp Garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder

Green paste

• 1/2 Cup Chopped mint leaves
• 1/2 Cup Chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
• 4-5 green chilies chopped

For the Curry

• 4 Tbsp Mustard oil
• 2 One inch long cinnamon stick
• 2 Green cardamom
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2-3 cloves
• 1 Cup Chopped Onion
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
• 1 Tbsp Lime juice

Directions

1. For marinating the chicken in a mixing bowl, add all the chicken pieces, salt, turmeric powder, yogurt, ginger-garlic paste and mix everything well.
2. Keep it inside the refrigerator for 1-2 hours for marination.
3. To make the green paste in a blender, add the mint leaves, coriander/cilantro leaves and green chilies.
4. Add little water and grind it to a smooth paste and keep it aside.
5. Now to make the curry heat mustard oil or any other oil of your choice in a pan.
6. When oil becomes hot, add cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf and cloves for tempering.
7. Sauté them for few seconds and then add chopped onions to it and fry it till it gets transparent.
8. Now add the marinated chicken pieces and cook it with onion.
9. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame for around 30 minutes and check it in between.
10. After 30 minutes of cooking, when chicken are half done, add cumin-coriander powder and mix it.
11. Next add the prepared green paste and mix it well with the chicken.
12. Add water for the gravy if required, cover the pan and cook it for another 8-10 minutes.
13. Now check the chicken and the seasoning, if everything is alright, add garam masala powder and lime juice to it, give it a final mix and turn off the flame.
14. Your green refreshing chicken curry is ready to serve, enjoy it with rice or roti.
    

Eggless Wholewheat Chocolate & Dates Cake

About this Recipe...

Who doesn't love cake? I love cakes and love to bake. But nowadays everyone is looking for healthier option, so if you are also in the same boat, then this cake recipe is perfect for your sweet cravings.

I have used here whole wheat flour and very less all purpose flour and instead of refined sugar I have used brown sugar. If you want you can make it completely with whole wheat flour and instead of brown sugar you can use jaggery or artificial sweetener. The cake is very soft, moist and the taste is awesome. The combination of chocolates and dates created a magic here with whole wheat flour.

So overall all the healthy ingredients are used to make this cake. Some people think that if they want to eat healthy, then they need to compromise with their taste buds. But I want to state that this is not necessary always, some foods are tasty as well as healthy and you can always enjoy them guilt free. This cake is the perfect example of this, a good option for weight watchers and diabetic people and one can enjoy it anytime specially with their evening cup of tea or coffee.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Milk
• 8-10 Seedless dates
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 4 Tbsp Melted butter
• 1/4 Cup Plain yogurt
• 1 Cup Whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Cup All purpose flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda
• 2 Tbsp Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Few seedless dates chopped

Directions

1. Soak the seedless dates in 1 cup milk for at least half an hour.
2. After half an hour transfer the milk and dates in a blender, add brown sugar to it and blend it to a smooth mixture.
3. Now in a mixing bowl, take melted butter and add yogurt to it. Mix both the thing nicely.
4. Next add all the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix it.
5. Slowly add the milk and date mixture to it and make a smooth lumps free batter.
6. Now add the vanilla extract and chopped dates to it and stir it well.
7. Now grease a cake pan with little butter and flour and pour the batter on the pan.
8. Bake the cake in a 350F preheated oven for 30 minutes.
9. After 30 minutes remove the cake from the oven and insert a tooth pick, if it comes clean, it means the cake is ready.
10. Enjoy this delicious healthy cake with your evening cup of tea or coffee.
    

Dahi Murgh

About this Recipe...

Dahi Murgh or chicken cooked in yogurt gravy is a spicy, aromatic and very flavorful chicken dish. This is my way of making this curry, I have used here all the fresh spices along with the yogurt, cashew and poppy seed paste. The combination of all these ingredients gives a very royal taste to this dish and it is completely different from the other chicken recipes. The curry is very hot and spicy and the tangy flavor of yogurt gives a very unique taste to this dish.

I wanted to cook this curry in a different way and to give some different kind of flavor to it, apart from the usual yogurt flavor, so my hubby likes it. After all the planning to makes it like this, we really enjoyed it a lot. I served this curry with plain rice but it will go extremely well with naan, paratha or pulao. So my Sunday special simple lunch was a hit and overall a satisfying meal.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Chicken cut into medium size pieces
• 1 Tbsp Ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp Garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp Green chili paste
• 4 Tbsp Oil
• 4-5 black pepper corn
• 3-4 cloves
• 2 Green cardamom
• 2 One inch long cinnamon stick
• 2/3 Cup Chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Red chilli powder
• 2 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Fennel powder
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Cup Beaten yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Cashew nut and poppy seed paste
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp Dried fenugreek leaves crushed

Directions

1. First of all marinade the chicken with ginger-garlic-green chili paste and keep it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
2. Now heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick, cardamom, pepper corn and cloves for tempering.
3. Sauté them for few seconds till you get the nice aroma from the spices.
4. Now add the chopped onion to it and sauté it till it gets translucent.
5. Next add all the dry spices to it and fry it till the oil starts leaving the sides of the pan.
6. Now add the marinated chicken to the pan and fry them for few minutes.
7. Cover and cook the chicken and check in between so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
8. When the chicken will almost cooked, add salt and half cup of water for the gravy, mix it well and let it come to a boil.
9. When the gravy will start boiling, add the beaten yogurt to it and mix it well with the gravy.
10. Cook it for 2-3 minutes and then add the cashew and poppy seed paste and mix it gently.
11. Cook it for another few minutes and then add garam masala powder and crushed dried fenugreek leaves and mix it.
12. Switch off the flame and your Dahi Murgh is ready to serve. Enjoy it with paratha, naan or rice.

Chirer Pulao

About this Recipe...

Today I am posting another favorite Bengali snack recipe of mine Chirer Polao. 'Chire' or 'Chira' is flattened rice or poha in Hindi. It's a quick recipe n gets ready in no time if all the ingredients are ready. So whenever I am out of idea and want to eat something quickly, I made this quick recipe of chirer Polao. Don't surprise by the name Polao, it's not like the rice Polao which is eaten in lunch or dinner with curry, it's a simple snack which can be eaten in breakfast or snack and the taste is little sweet, salty and spicy.

The recipe of chirer Polao is bit similar with batata poha. In batata poha only potatoes are added, but in chirer Polao other vegetables are also added apart from potato which makes it more tasty and healthy. There are various ways of making it, everyone's recipe is slight different from others. But I make it in a very simply way and it tastes really great.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Chire/Poha or Flattened rice
• 1 Small potato cut into small cubes
• 1/2 Carrot cut into small cubes
• 1/4 Cup Small Cauliflower florets
• 1/3 Cup Frozen green peas
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1 Medium size onion sliced
• 2 Green chilles finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp peanuts
• 2 Tbsp Cashew nuts
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• Salt and sugar to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the Chire in cold running water, drain all the water and let it sit for sometime.
2. Now heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry all the vegetables like potato, carrot, cauliflower and green peas till its done completely. (You can parboiled the veggies before frying)
3. Take it out from the pan and keep it aside.
4. On the same pan, add some more oil and add sliced onion and green chilies, sauté them till it gets translucent.
5. Now add peanuts and cashew nuts to it and fry it.
6. Next add turmeric powder to it and mix well.
7. Now add all the fried veggies, Chire, salt and sugar to taste and gently mix them altogether. (Chirer Polao will be little sweeter so add the sugar accordingly)
8. Switch off the flame, your quick snack is ready, serve it in a plate and enjoy it with a cup of tea.

Jhal Muri

About this Recipe...

Jhal Muri is a famous street food in Kolkata, just like Bhel Puri in Mumbai, so is Jhal Muri to Kolkata. Everybody loves to munch this street food. In Kolkata you will find everywhere there is a Jhal Muri wala who is selling it, either it's in local train, any park or roadside. People are eating this and enjoying it in any time of the day.

Preparing Jhal Muri is very easy and it takes very less time. Just you need to assemble all the ingredients together and your Jhal Muri is ready to enjoy. It's a spicy snack, as the name tells everything. Jhal means anything which is spicy though the level of spiciness is depend on your taste bud how much spice you want to add. Muri is puffed rice, so altogether it's a filling snack.

The ingredients are also very simple and easily available in my pantry always. So whenever I am hungry and not in a mood to cook anything, this Jhal Muri came as my rescue. Make it before serving and gulp it immediately because if you will keep it for longer time, it becomes soggy. So guys make this Jhal Muri at home and serve it in a newspaper made cone and enjoy this famous street food from Kolkata.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Muri or puffed rice
• 1/4 Cup Fried or roasted peanuts
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tbsp Mustard oil
• 1/4 Cup Finely chopped onion
• 2 Green chilies finely chopped
• 1/4 Cup Finely chopped cucumber
• 1/4 Cup Finely chopped tomato
• 1 Tbsp Any pickle oil (optional)
• 1/4 Cup Sev or bhujia
• Finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp Roasted cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp Chaat masala powder
• 1 Tbsp Lime juice
• 1 Tbsp Date and tamarind chutney
• Few thinly slices of coconut for garnishing

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, add chopped onion, cucumber, tomato, green chillies and cilantro.
2. Now add peanuts, sev, salt, all the dry spices, mustard oil or oil from pickle, date-tamarind chutney and lime juice.
3. Mix everything well and add the Muri or puffed rice to it.
4. Toss and mix it nicely, garnish it with coconut slices and serve it in a bowl or paper cone.

Kochi Pathar Jhol "Tender Mutton Curry"

About this Recipe...

Kochi pathar Jhol or tender mutton curry in Bengali style is another delicacy from the Bengali cuisine where tender goat meat is cooked with potato, onion and other spices. The gravy is a thin, runny and spicy and goes very well with rice.

This is a speciality of Sunday lunch menu in most of the Bengali household. Many prepare this curry and others prepare the Bengali style Chicken curry for lunch. Sunday lunch are always special and if you ask any bong that what they had for lunch, the 90% answer will be 'mangsho bhat'.

It's very easy to prepare and one can have the whole meal with this one curry. Though it takes some time to prepare but the hard work behind this is worth it when you eat this curry. Many people cook it in pressure cooker which saves their time but I love to make it in wok. It's my personal assumption that if I cook it in wok then it will be more tasty and flavorful rather than cooking this curry in cooker. But it's definitely your choice, if you are in hurry then you can make it in cooker and it will cook fast. Me and my husband love this curry a lot, so whenever we brought mutton I definitely made this curry and we all enjoy it.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Mutton cut into medium pieces
• 1 Tbsp Ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp Garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp Green chilli paste
• 1/4 Cup Yogurt
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 2 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp Black pepper powder
• 4 Tbsp Mustard oil
• 1 potato cut into big cubes
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 2 Bay leaf
• 2 One inch long cinnamon stick
• 3 Green cardamom
• 4-5 Cloves
• 4-5 black pepper corn
• 1 Cup Chopped Onion
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Cup Tomato puree
• Water as required for making the gravy
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
• 1 tsp Ghee or clarified butter

Directions

1. Marinate the mutton with ginger-garlic-green chili paste, yogurt, red chili powder, cumin-coriander powder and black pepper powder.
2. Mix everything well and keep it in refrigerator for couple of hours.
3. Now heat mustard oil in a pan and fry the potato cubes.
4. When done, take it out from the pan and keep it aside.
5. Now on the same pan, if required then add some more oil and add the whole garam spices with little sugar.
6. Let the sugar caramelized, it will give a nice color to this curry.
7. Now add the chopped onion and sauté it till it gets translucent.
8. Add turmeric powder to it and mix well.
9. Next add the marinated mutton to the pan and sauté it in low flame.
10. Cover the pan and cook it, stir in between so it doesn't get burn or stick to the pan.
11. This process of frying or 'koshano in bengali' will take 30-40 minutes.
12. When the mutton is 80% done then add salt to taste and tomato purée to it.
13. Cook the mutton with tomato purée till the raw smell of tomato goes away.
14. Now add fried potato cubes and water for the gravy.
15. Stir it well and cover the pan. Let the gravy comes to a boil.
16. When the gravy starts boiling, add garam masala powder and clarified butter to it.
    
17. Give a gentle mix and switch off the flame.
18. Your bengali style kochi Pathar Jhol is ready to serve with steam rice.

Raw Mango Sambar

About this Recipe...

Raw mango sambar is a very flavorful sambar recipe with tangy mangos. In summer when raw mangos are available in abundance I definitely make this sambar at home.

Sambar is a South Indian lentil based vegetable stew, it is slightly tangy in taste and tamarind juice is added to it for the tanginess. But here the raw mangos added the tanginess to this dish, a extremely flavorful sambar recipe goes very well with rice. In hot summer weather, when you want to have something light and refreshing meal for lunch and dinner, this raw mango sambar is a perfect meal with rice and some vegetable curry on side.

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Toor daal or split pegion peas
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
• 1 Dried red chili broken into two parts
• 1/4 tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Black gram lentil or Urad daal
• 1 Tbsp Chopped garlic
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 8-10 Curry leaves
• 1/4 Cup Onion cut into cubes
• 8-10 chopped drumsticks
• 1 Tomato chopped
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp Green chilli paste(optional)
• 2 Tbsp Sambar masala powder
• 1/2 Raw mango cut into medium cubes

Directions

1. Boil the toor dal in pressure cooker till 3-4 whistles, switch off the flame and allow it to cool down completely.
2. When the pressure of the cooker will go, mash the dal with a hand blender.
3. Now heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chili, asafoetida powder.
4. When it starts crackling, add urad dal and sauté it for one minute.
5. Now add chopped garlic and curry leaves to it. Fry it for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add turmeric powder and mix well with everything.
7. Next add the chopped onion and drumsticks to it. Fry it and cook it until they are semi cooked.
8. Now add chopped tomato, green chili paste, red chili powder and salt to taste. Mix well with everything and add water for the gravy.
9. When the gravy starts boiling add Sambar masala powder to it and mix well so no lumps can form.
10. Now add the boiled dal and the mango pieces to it and cook it.
11. Keep an eye on the curry because mangoes are cooked very quickly. As the mangoes are sour so I have not added tamarind juice to it.
12. When the mangoes are cooked and the gravy is also comes to a boiling point, switch off the flame and serve it hot with steamed rice and a vegetable curry.

Mango Vanilla Ice Cream

About this Recipe...

I scream, you scream, we all scream for one and only ice cream and that is also for mango vanilla ice cream. In summer all we need is some refreshing drink or a scoop full of ice cream. If the ice cream is made with the fruit of king Mango with some vanilla flavor and chunks of tiny mango pieces, then nothing could be better than this refreshing ice cream.

This mango vanilla ice cream is very easy to make at home, just few ingredients you required and the rich, creamy, eggless ice cream is ready to indulge in this hot weather. I always make my ice cream without ice cream maker, I set it in freezer and every time I get the perfect ice cream. I used the fresh mango pulp to make this ice cream, however you can use the canned pulp, if good quality mangos are not available in your region. But fresh mangos are giving the best result for this ice cream. Make it at home, serve it with some fresh mango slices and enjoy this heavenly delicious ice cream.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Heavy cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
• 1 Cup Mango pulp
• 1 Cup Whole milk
• 1/4 Cup Mango chopped into small pieces

Directions

1. Take the heavy cream in a mixing bowl, add sugar to it and with the help of a hand blender beat it till soft peaks are formed.
2. Now add the mango pulp, milk and vanilla extract to it and mix everything gently.
3. Next add the small pieces of mango into the mixture, mix it well and pour the mixture in a refrigerated safe container.
4. Cover the lid and keep it in the freezer for 6-8 hours.
5. After one hour check the ice cream and whisk it so the ice crystals won't form and you can get smooth ice cream.
6. Repeat the process for 1-2 times in every one hour interval.
7. After 8 hours, your ice cream will be ready, enjoy it with mango slices.
   

Virgin Mango Colada

About this Recipe...

This is my take on to a alcohol free colada drink recipe and its mango colada. Traditionally mango colada, piña colada is a kind of a cocktail drink which is made with rum. But I made this drink alcohol free so that kids can also enjoy it on this hot weather. The creaminess of coconut milk and fresh mango make this drink a refreshing cooler which can be enjoyed as a drink or a dessert, because the consistency of this drink is quite thick. You can also make mango piña colada by adding fresh pineapple but i love the flavor of fresh mangos and this is the season of mangos so no compromise with the taste of mango.

Ingredients

• 1 Medium sized mango chopped
• 1/2 Cup Coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp Lime juice
• 2 Tbsp Sugar (optional)
• 1/2 Cup Crushed ice
• 1/2 Cup Cold water

Directions

1. In a blender, blend all the ingredients together until desired consistency is reached.
2. Your mango colada is ready, Pour the drink in a serving glass and serve it chilled.

Indian Style Macaroni

About this Recipe...

Macaroni is a kind of Italian pasta traditionally cooked with Béchamel sauce or marinara sauce. But we indians very often cook it with our indian way to suit our spicy taste bud and it tastes completely different and very tasty with our own basic spices which we use to cook our Indian dishes. So this macaroni got a new makeover with our Indian spices. The best part of this dish is you can make it very quickly and it is ideal for your any time meal and appropriate for kids lunch box or kids evening snacks. Just toss few ingredients and veggies together and your pasta is ready in no time.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Elbow macaroni pasta
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp Chopped garlic
• 1/4 Cup Chopped onion
• 2 Green chilles finely chopped
• 1 Cup Tomato chopped
• 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
• Salt as per taste
• 1/2 tsp Chat masala powder
• 1 Tbsp Tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp Red chili sauce
• 1/4 Cup Bell pepper chopped
• Few broccoli florets
• 1/8 Cup Frozen green peas
• 1/8 Cup Frozen corn
• Finely chopped cilantro/coriander leaves for garnishing

Directions

1. At first boil the pasta as per package instruction till al dente. Season the water with salt and add 1 tsp of oil to it.
2. Drain the water when done and rinse the pasta with cold water.
3. Now heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds for tempering.
4. When the seeds start crackling, add chopped garlic to it and sauté it till it gets golden brown color.
5. Now add the chopped onion to it and fry it till it becomes translucent.
6. Next add the chopped tomato and green chilies to it and cook the tomato till it gets soft.
7. Next throw all the dry spices like coriander, black pepper and chaat masala powder, followed by salt to taste and mix everything very well.
8. Now add the tomato ketch up and red chili sauce to it and mix it well with spices.
9. Now add all the chopped vegetables to it and cook it for few minutes till everything gets well cooked.
10. Now add the boiled pasta to it, stir and mix it gently with rest of the ingredients and add chopped cilantro leaves to it.
11. Switch off the flame and your spicy indian style macaroni pasta is ready to serve.

Oats Spinach Idli

About this Recipe...

Oats or oatmeal is a very healthy cereal grain, grown from its seed. Oats has numerous uses in foods. You can make so many dishes with this oats. So I wanted to try the healthy oats Idli for a long time. Oats Idli has all the goodness of oats, rava, yogurt and veggies, a complete healthy breakfast or snacks for your family.

The best thing about this oats idli is its instant, so no prior preparation is required to make this idlis. I always make my idlis in microwave, so it's saves more of my time and the idlis are also getting ready very quickly. I wanted to make it more healthy so added spinach purée to the idli batter and my iron rich instant oats idlis are ready. Spinach gives a very nice green color to these idlis. Serve this beautiful idli with Sambar and your favorite chutney.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Plain old fashioned oats
• 1/2 Cup Semolina
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
• 2 Tbsp Broken cashew nuts
• 1 Tbsp Bengal gram lentil or Chana Daal
• 1/8 tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Black gram lentil or Urad daal
• 1/4 Cup Chopped Onion
• 5-6 curry leaves chopped
• 1 tsp Finely chopped ginger
• 2 Green chilles finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Cup Plain yogurt
• 1 Cup Spinach puree
• 1 tsp Eno fruit salt
• Oil for greasing the idli moulds

Directions

1. Dry roast the oats for 2-3 minutes. Now transfer it to a blender and make a fine powder out of it.
2. Now heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida for tempering.
3. Now add broken cashew nut, Bengal gram and black gram lentil and fry them till it changes the color lightly.
4. Now add chopped onion, ginger, green chilies and curry leaves to it and sauté them till it gets translucent.
5. Next add semolina and salt to it and mix it well with everything. Fry it for few minutes and switch off the flame.
6. Now transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and let it cool down.
7. Now add the oats powder, yogurt and spinach purée to it and mix it well to get a nice Idli batter. Give it a rest for 15-20 minutes before making Idli.
8. Now put 1 cup of water to the microwave safe idli maker and microwave it for 2 minutes.
9. Grease the idli moulds with oil. Now add 1 tsp of Eno fruit salt to the idli batter.
10. Immediately you will see some air bubbles are forming on the batter, gently mix the batter and pour it to the idl moulds.
11. Now keep the idli moulds in the idli maker and microwave it for 5-6 minutes.
12. Check the idli by inserting a fork, if it comes clean, it means the idli is cooked nicely.
13. Serve the hot idli with Sambar and coconut chutney.

Aam Panna

About this Recipe...

Aam Panna is a Indian summer cooler, famous for its heat resistant properties. It is made with raw green mango, mint leaves and few spices and it is lightly green in color. This tangy drink is considered as a very healthy and tasty drink and it can fight against the intensive heat strokes.

The consistency of this drink is quite watery and there is no particular measurement of sugar, salt and spices. You can definitely adjust water and spices as per your preference. It has the perfect balance of sweetness and sourness.

This is the season of mango and raw mangoes are easily available in indian grocery stores here in USA. Though the weather is not that much hot here but by seeing plenty of mangoes in stores, I got the perfect excuse to make this drink at home. You can make this drink and store in in refrigerator for at least upto 1 week. So whenever you feel like drinking some cooler, just open your refrigerator and have it.

Ingredients

• 1 Medium size Raw mango
• 1/4 Cup Mint leaves
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Black salt
• 1/4 tsp Roasted cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper powder
• 3 Tbsp Sugar
• 4 Cups Cold water

Directions

1. Wash the mango and put it into a pressure cooker with sufficient amount of water.
2. Cook it for 3-4 whistles and switch off the flame.
3. Let it cool down and then peel the skin of the mango and get the pulp with the help of a spoon.
4. Now transfer the mango pulp in a blender along with rest of the ingredients and water and blend everything nicely.
5. Your refreshing Aam panna is ready, pour it in a serving glass and serve it with iced cubes.
6. Sometime, I make Aam Panna w/o mint leaves also, it also tastes equally good.
   

Notes:

1. Instead of boiling the mango in pressure cooker, you can roast it in stove top or oven. It will give a nice smoky taste. 
2. If the mango is too fibrous, then stain it before making the panna.
3. You can replace jaggery with sugar.
4. The measurement of spices depends upon your taste, you can increase or decrease it.

Bengali Style Tomato Chutney

About this Recipe...

Bengali style tomato chutney is a combination of sweetness and little tanginess and it has all the goodness of tomato, dates, raisins and freshly grated coconut. It can be served as a condiment or as a relish.

Every Bengali meal is incomplete without this tomato chutney. It is very commonly prepared in every Bengali household and served it at the end of the meal. Be it a religious functions, marriage party or any get together, this chutney is a requisite for a satisfying Bengali meal. In my mothers home and in laws home it is a must have everyday item in lunch menu. Though sometime they did some variations with the chutney and uses some other seasonal fruits or veggies to make it. My MIL makes very good chutney with pineapple, carrot, sweet potato and pumpkin and those are also equally very tempting.

Traditionally this chutney is made with Panch phoron, which is a blend of five spices, that is cumin seeds, mustard seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds and fennel seeds. But today I am using only mustard seeds and fennel seeds for tempering with one broken red chili. This chutney is everyone's favorite including me and I love to have it with at the end of my meal and also with roti as a sides. So whenever I make it, I cooked some extra amount, so on the next day I can have it with roti. This chutney is best served as chilled.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Fennel seeds
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 Dried red chili break into two parts
• 4-5 tomato chopped
• 1/2 Cup Sugar or jaggery or as per taste
• 8-10 Seedless dates
• 10-15 Raisins
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Grated ginger
• 2 Tbsp Freshly grated coconut

Directions

1. Heat up oil in a pan, add dried red chili, fennel seeds and mustard seeds for tempering.
2. Let them splutter in oil and then add grated ginger and chopped tomato to it.
3. Mix it well, cover the pan and cook it for few minutes.
4. When the tomatoes gets soft and releases water that time add pinch of salt and sugar or jaggery and cook it nicely so that everything will incorporate with each other.
5. Now add dates, raisins and grated coconut, mix everything well, cook it for another 2-3 minutes and your sweet tomato chutney is ready.

Bhapa Chingri

About this Recipe...

Bhapa Chingri or steamed prawn in mustard and coconut gravy is a quintessential mouthwatering Bengali dish. Prawn or shrimp is Bengali’s all time favorite seafood and we make lots of dishes with this, such as  Chingri malai curry, Daab Chingri, Potol prawn, prawn with bottle gourd and many such dishes. Among them chingri malai curry and Bhapa Chingri are my favorite. This recipe is very easy to make, ready in no time and tastes extremely well.

Traditionally this recipe is made inside pressure cooker by steaming the curry in a stainless steel tiffin box in boiling water. My mother always used to make it in pressure cooker. But today I will share with you another easy and quick version of making it. I used my microwave to cook this curry. There is no difficulty to cook this curry, you just only need to combine and mix all the ingredients together in right quantity and microwave it for few minutes and the authentic Bengali delicacy is ready to enjoy. The slightly pungent taste of mustard paste and mustard oil makes the Bhapa Chingri a delicious dish. I would like to enjoy this dish with hot steamed rice.

Ingredients

• 15-20 Medium size shrimp deveined and washed
• Salt and sugar to taste
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Yelłw mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Poppy seeds
• 2 Tbsp Freshly grated coconut or frozen coconut
• 1/2 Cup Coconut milk
• 2 tsp Green chili paste
• 2-3 green chillies slitted
• 2 Tbsp Mustard oil

Directions

1. First of all soak both kind of mustard seeds and poppy seeds in little water for at least half an hour.
2. Now sprinkle some salt and turmeric powder on the shrimp, coat it nicely and keep it aside.
3. Now on a blender, add the soaked mustard seeds and poppy seeds, turmeric powder and blend it to a fine paste.
4. Now take a microwave safe bowl and arrange the marinated shrimp pieces, next add the mustard seeds and poppy seeds paste, green chili paste, grated coconut, coconut milk, salt and sugar to taste.
5. Mix everything very gently, add 1/4 cup of water for the gravy, few slitted green chilies and drizzle some mustard oil on top.
   
6. Cover the bowl with a tight lid or plastic wrap and microwave it for 5 minutes.
7. After 5 minutes, take it out from the microwave, stir it gently and again microwave it for 2-3 minutes.
8. When the shrimps will change its color and the gravy will also cook nicely, take it out from the microwave.
9. Your bhapa chingri or steamed shrimp is ready, enjoy it with hot steamed rice.