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.