Echorer Dalna (Jackfruit curry)

 

 About the food:

Raw jackfruit curry is very unique and is one of the traditional and favourite vegetarian dish among Bengalis. It is rightly so, since the the soft and suppleness of the raw fruit combines with the delicate flavours of bengali cooking to produce a dish exploding with rich aroma and colours. Raw jackfruit is nick named as 'gach patha': meaning a vegetarian meat, for all the flavours and textures inherent to it.

Living abroad for a very long time, at all time I had been craving for this favourite dish of mine. The wait is finally over, since I could finally have this vegetable in frozen form, in UK (Check Nikasu Frozen Foods for details). Best part of it being frozen is it does not have to be cut and chopped, which is the most difficult and tedious part of preparing this dish. So, venture this recipe, and I am sure you would taste an exquisite dish which will bring delightness to your palate!


Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 medium size raw jackfruit (2 packs, if using frozen).
2 medium onions, preferably red, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced, in rectangular shapes, 1 inches dimensions.
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1/2 tablespoon garlic paste
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil/mustard oil
2-4 green chillies

1 bayleaf

1/2 teaspoon cumin whole

1/2 tablespoon cumin powder

1/2 tablespoon coriander powder

1/2 tablespoon garam masala powder (a mix of cloves, cardomon and cinnamon, dry roasted and fine grinded)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder or cayenne powder 

2 tablespoon ghee/clarified butter

salt to taste

Method:

1. Cutting and chopping this fruit is the most difficult part to prepare this dish: oil your palm and the knife well, remove the hard outer shell of the jackfruit, and chop it into small chunky pieces, 1inch x 1inch x 1inch. Put the cut pieces in a bowl filled with water, to prevent oxidation. Your hand may become very sticky, but it can be removed by rubbing oil.  If using a frozen fruit, you can bypass this most tedious part, and the fruit pieces are ready to be cooked.

2. When using fresh fruit: Boil the pieces in pressure cooker over meduim flame and wait for 4-5 whistles. Drain the fruit pieces a collander. 

    When using Frozen:     Defrost the pieces thoroughly in a microwave.

Mix them with 1/4 tablespoon of turmeric powder and salt.

3. Heat the oil in a deep pan. When the oil starts to smoulder, add the cumin seeds, bay leaf and the green chillies (if using), fry them for about 30 seconds. Add the cumin powder and coriander powder and stir for another 30 seconds.

4. Add the chopped onions and keep frying until soft. Add the tomato puree, ginger and garlic paste, and continue cooking until the oil has separated.

5. Meanwhile peel the potatoes and cut them into chunky cubes of 1inch x 1 inch, wash and drain. For easy and quick cooking, place them inside a plastic bag, pierce the bag in a few places with a knife and cook in a microwave for about 4 minutes. The potatoes should be soft, but not fully cooked.

6. Put the potato pieces in the pan and mix them well with the fried masala. Add the jackfruit pieces and keep stirring. Add turmeric powder, salt, sugar and cayenne powder and keep mixing. Take care not to break the jackfruit or potato pieces. After 3 minutes, add 1 cup of water and put the lid on. After the water boils, cook on low flame for about 10 minutes. Check at a mid-point that the pieces are not overcooked. Add some more water if the curry becomes very dry. Adjust the cooking time until the potatoes and the jackfruit becomes fully cooked.

7. The cooked curry should not be dry, and yet not entirely runny. Add the garam masala powder when the desired consistency is reached and add the ghee. Put the lid on for a few minutes, serve hot with rice and enjoy!

Steamed Hilsa fish in mustard sauce ( Shorshe Ilish bhape)

About the food:

Hilsa fish, or Ilish, as known in Bengali, is at the pinnacle of delicacy among the fish loving Bengalis. This is a river fish and has a distinctive taste.This dish is a traditional dish, extremely delicious and is very easy to make. But just beware, it uses mustard, which could be little too hot for the inexperienced. Try this dish, and you would never forget the taste. Cook it in mustard oil for best results.

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

8 -10 cut pieces of Hilsa
6 tbsp mustard oil
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
6 tbsp white mustard seeds
4-5 green chillies, split through the centre
1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
salt

Method:

1. Mix the mustard seeds , grind them to make a paste. You can dry grind them and then add water to make a paste. Add salt according to taste, the turmeric powder and cover it in a bowl and set it aside.

2.Clean the scales from the fish pieces and wash them well.Put them in a microwave-able container.
If you are not using a microwave, put it in a metal tin, coat it with oil and place the fish pieces.

2.Pour the mustard seed paste on top of the fish, making sure the fishes are well covered. If needed, add a little water and mix well. Take care not to break the fishes.

3.Pour the mustard oil and the mix the green chilles to the container.

4.Seal the container with a lid or cling film. If using a microwave, cook for 20 mins at 850 C. Keep a watch, as cooking time may vary.

For non-microwave cooking, put water in the pressure cooker, and set the container inside, on the top of an inverted bowl. Steam for about 10mins.

5. Take the container out and check that the fishes are soft and succulent.Serve it hot with plain basmati rice.

Lentil cake curry (Dhokar dalna)

About the food:
This is a traditional Bengali dish, and one of my favourite. It is one of the most popular vegetarian food, often found in any Bengali party menu. Serve this with rice, and you can hardly find any delicious dish as this.Do not get scared away looking at the preparation time, it includes the overnight soaking time of the lentils.The cakes could be served just like that as a dry snacks, if you wish, with a mint chutney, and it is absolutely delicious!

Preparation time: 12 hrs
cooking time: 1 hr

Ingredients:

Bengal gram (Chana/Cholar Dal): 160gms
Yellow split pea (Matar dal): 40gms
Cumin: 1 tbsp
Garam masala ( cinnamom,cardamom & cloves) powder: 1 tbsp
Sugar: 1tbsp
2-3 Green chilli, chopped (de-seeded if you want less hot)
Salt
Ghee (Clarified butter): 2 tbsp
2 big potatoes, peeled and cut in 1 inch cubes
1 tomato, chopped
Ginger paste: 1 tbsp
1 bayleaf
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tbsp
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:

Making the cakes:

1.Wash and soak the lentils overnight in water. In a mixer, make a paste of the lentils.

2.Add the salt, sugar, 1/2 tbsp cumin powder and 2 de-seeded chopped green chillies to the paste and mix them well. Cover and keep it for 30 mins.

3.Heat a non stick pan and add 3 tbsp oil. Put the mixture and fry it on a low flame. The mixture should dry up, form a sticky dough, and should be a little browned. Take care not to burn it.

4. Take a deep dish and lightly oil it.While hot, spread the mixture in it evenly, about 1/2 inch thick. Beat the surface with the back of a spoon or a bowl to get an even shape and form. Let it set for about 20mins. With a knife, cut through it in straight lines, 1/2 inch apart. Now cut it again in straight lines, making a cross with the first line. You will get rhombus shaped cakes. Take them out carefully so they do not break.Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Fry the cakes is batches and take them out in kitchen tissues.

The curry:

5.Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 1/2 tbsp cumin and bayleaf and let them crackle. Add the ginger paste, fry for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, potatoes ,green chillies and fry on a medium flame. Add salt and turmeric. Fry for about 10 mins, and then add 2 cups of water. Simmer on a low flame until the potatoes are cooked. Add more water if it dries up and let it boil. Add the lentil cakes carefully and cover them with the gravy. Add more water if needed, the cakes need to be soaked in it. The gravy will dry out as the cakes will absorb much of it. Add the garam masala powder and mix it well. Add 3 tbsp of ghee. leave the curry for about 15-20 mins before serving. You may heat it up again just before serving.

6. Serve hot with plain basmati rice.

Cumin: 1 tbsp

Bengali style fish curry (Pabda fish)

About the food:

This is a traditional Bengali delicacy and an extremely coveted dish.Pabda is a river fish, and is heavenly in taste.

There is a funny story to tell about my experience with this dish.

I had never been a fan of fishes, which is very unlikely for a Bengali. To the extreme, when I was in college, I would not eat in the same table where fishes were being served. My mom arranged to cook fishes when I was not at home, as the smell of raw fishes made me sick. But eventually, with my mom's persistence and a lot of effort from my part, I developed a taste bud for it.

And when on the other day, while shopping in Tesco, I found pabda fish, my heart sank. Having lived abroad for about 7 yrs now, it brought back the nostalgic memories of home, of the spices, of the family meal. So, before thinking that I have never cooked this fish before, it was in my shopping basket.

I called my mom up back in India for the recipe and excitedly started off to cook. I heated oil in the pan, mixed salt and turmeric with the fishes, and was just about to fry them. Then in a frenzy I realised that I need to de-gut the fish, which has not been done! It was a moment of utter frustration, as I did not know how to de-gut fishes. I saw myself in the shoes of Julie Powell, as in the film of 'Julie & Julia' , who was struggling with the lobsters. Then, my instincts ruled and I was successful at last, but would always remember my first day experience of cooking a fish from the scratch!

Go ahead and dive for the recipe: I promise that its extremely easy to cook: only a bit messy with the cleaning part. But even then, it's worth it!

Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 30mins

Ingredients:

6-7 medium whole Pabda fishes, de-gutted and cleaned
Oil for frying - mustard oil for best results, otherwise vegetable oil
1/2 tbsp whole black cumin (kalo jeera)
3-4 green chillies, split through the centre
1/2 tbsp cumin ( jeera) powder
1 big tomato, finely chopped
1 bunch of coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger paste
turmeric powder
salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the fishes, drain and mix them well with salt and turmeric powder.

2. Heat 1 cup of oil in a flat base pan for deep frying the fishes. Carefully lower the fishes in batches into the oil and fry them both sides until lightly golden in colour. Take care as oil may split. Cover the pan if the oil splits too much. Take the fishes out and put them on a kitchen tissue.

3. Clean the pan. Heat 3 tbsp of oil. Add the black cumin, green chillies, cumin powder and the chopped tomatoes one by one. Stir and mix them well. Add the ginger paste, and continue frying on low flame until the oil separates out. Pour in 2 cups of water. Add salt and turmeric powder. When the water boils, place the fishes back to the pan carefully as not to break them. Cover the pan and let it cook for about 7-8 mins.

4. Remove from the flame, garnish it with the coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice.