Sada aloo dum

MM calls this the yin to the yang which is the traditional Bengali aloo dum. Posto, coconut, curds- a combination that leaves me salivating, but one which my family doesn't care much for. 

So when I saw baby potatoes, I picked them up, and while making a conventional potato fry for dinner, reserved a few parboiled potatoes to make this dish for myself. Sometimes you deserve to pamper yourself. 

250 gms baby potatoes

3 tbsp grated or dessicated coconut

1 tbsp Khus Khus/ posto/ poppy seeds

3 tbdp curds (at room temperature)

1 tbsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp green chilli paste

1-2 red chillis

1-2 green cardamom

2-3 cloves

1/2 inch piece of cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp cumin powder

Salt and sugar to taste

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp oil

Method:

Soak posto and coconut in 1/4 cup warm water for 30 minutes. Blend to a smooth paste and keep aside. 

Par boil the potatoes in salted water. Peel, prick and keep aside. 

Whip the curds with cumin powder and keep aside. 

Heat half the oil, and toss the baby potatoes till lightly browned. 

Add the remaining oil, sauté the red chillis for 15 seconds. Remove and keep aside.

Add whole spices and let them sizzle. Add posto-coconut paste and sauté on low flame till the oil separates and it turns to a light beige colour. 

Add ginger and chilli paste and sauté for a minute. 

Remove from the flame, add the curds, mix well. Return to the flame, and cook on low heat for a minute. 

Add 1/2 cup water, and let it simmer till the volume reduces by half. 

Add potatoes, salt and sugar, and let it simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. 

Top with ghee, if desired. 

Chicken korma with Khus Khus

I developed a sudden craving for khus khus tonight, and realised the best way to disguise it into food would be in a chicken korma. Modified it slightly, and the recipe worked really well.

1 kg chicken

1 tbsp curds

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 medium onions

2 medium tomatoes

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

12 cashewnuts

1 tbsp khus khus

4 tsp dhania powder

2 tsp jeera powder

2 tsp red chilli powder

2 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp kasoori methi

Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

 

Whole spices:

1 bay leaf

1 inch piece cinnamon

1 star anise

1 large badi elaichi

Method:

Marinate the chicken in a mixture of curds, ginger garlic paste and salt for 1 hour.

Grind the onions with a little water till you get a fine paste. Keep aside.

Grind the tomatoes, cashew nuts and khus khus and keep aside.

Heat the oil, add the whole spices, and toss around for 30 seconds. 

Add onion paste, ginger garlic paste, and the dry spices. Fry on a low flame till the oil starts leaving the masala.

Add the tomato-cashew- khus khus paste, and mix well. Saute for about a minute till the raw smell goes.

Add the marinated chicken, allow it to come to a boil on a low flame, cover, and let it cook for 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes, stir it a bit so it doesn't stick. Do not add water.

Oat flour Sesame Cookies

In my quest for healthy snacking options, I found a cookie recipe that didn't require butter or eggs or sugar. Even the amount of oil needed was negligible. With all those preconditions, I was worried about how it would taste, but it was lovely. And with a blob of cheese on it, it was an amazing canapé. 

1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp maida
1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp cooking oil
Water
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind the quick cooking oats as fine powder. 

Mx the oat flour, whole wheat flour, maida, baking soda, baking powder, sesame seeds and salt and mix really well. 

Add oil and water gradually and knead into a soft dough. Allow it to stand for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. 

Grease a baking tray. 

Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes. Arrange on the baking tray. 

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes checking occasionally to endure it doesn't burn. 

Cool and store in an airtight container. 

Drumstick potato in khus khus gravy

Drumsticks and posto! A match made in heaven.
What more could someone like me ask for?
When I saw this recipe, I knew I just had to make it, and it was every bit as lovely as I hoped it would be.

2 large potatoes, cubed
1 drumstick, cut into 3" long pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 large tomato , chopped
5 tbsp khus khus / posto (soaked in water for 15 mins)
2-3 green chillies
2-3 flakes of garlic
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
A pinch of turmeric powder
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method
Grind the soaked khus khus with jeera, coriander, and garlic into a smooth paste. Add water as necessary.
Heat the oil, add onions and green chillies and fry until lightly browned. Then add the drumsticks and potato cubes. Add in 2 cups water and mix well.
When the mixture comes to a boil, add the ground khus khus paste, chilli powder, turmeric, and some salt. Mix well.
Throw in the tomatoes and mix.
The mixture should still be a bit watery for the vegetables to full cook. If it's not, add some more water. Cook covered until the potatoes are soft and the drumsticks are cooked through. Adjust salt.
Serve with rotis.

Amaranthus- Aloo with Mustard and Posto

As a child, I have eaten more than my fair share of Amaranthus. Both my grandmothers made Keerai Mashiyal a few times a week, and that's what I had whenever we visited them during the summer vacations. Once I got married and moved out, the leaf too moved out of my life. A change encounter with the green when I was with a friend got me to try it out, and I rather liked the chauli-baigan subji she gave me the recipe of.
Which is why, when I saw the recipe for Morisa Xaakor Tharir /Daatha’r Sorsori, an Assamese dish, I knew I wanted to try it out. The only problem is that the bunch I picked up didn't have enough stems, so I decided to substitute it with the leaves itself. And it tasted divine with steamed rice.
If this is any indication, I think I am going to love Assamese cuisine.

1 bunch amaranthus/ chauli leaves 1 tbsp Mustard Paste (made by grinding pre-soaked mustard seeds with green chilli, garlic and ginger)
1 tbsp khus khus soaked for about 15 minutes
4-5 baby potatoes
2 tbsp Mustard Oil
Turmeric - 1 tsp
3 Green Chillies 
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Paste of 1 Onion


Method:
Heat mustard oil in a pan and then fry the potatoes for about 4 minutes. Add the Amaranth and fry for an additional 3 minutes. Keep aside
In the same oil fry the onion paste and ginger-garlic paste with turmeric and once the raw flavor is gone add the mustard paste and poppy seeds paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes
Add the potatoes and greens, turmeric, chillies, water and salt
Allow the gravy to boil and once it reaches the boiling temperature, simmer and cook till the potatoes are cooked.
Serve hot with steamed rice. Tastes even better the next day.

Egg curry, with rich gravy

Normally, our diet is sadly lacking in eggs, but this was one of those weekends, when I'd stocked up on eggs, and the hubby chose to buy them too. We might eventually have consumed all of it, but how was I to store the eggs, when the fridge has only six slots for eggs? Egg curry to the rescue.
Instead of the regular stuff, I wanted to make the sinful version, but since I couldn't locate the recipe made up my own. Fingerlikingly good! So good in fact that I polished off the two eggs that were left over right after returning from my Sunday long run!

8 eggs, boiled

1 onion

1 tomato

1 tbsp khus khus, soaked for about 30 minutes

1 tbsp cashew nuts

1 tbsp kasuri methi

1 bay leaf

1 tsp jeera

salt to taste

1/3 cup milk

cooking oil

Fry the boiled eggs in a little cooking oil till slightly browned, make a few slits on the side, and keep aside

Chop the onion into small pieces, and fry on a low flame. When it starts turning transparent, add chopped tomatoes, and fry till onions are browned

Make a paste with onions+ tomatoes, khus khus, cashew nuts and kasoori methi.

Heat very little oil in the kadhai, add jeera and bay leaves, and stir around a few times. Add the ground paste, milk and salt to taste and bring to boil.

Add the eggs, and let it simmer for a minute or two. Turn off the fire, cover, and let the masala soak into the eggs.

Serve with chapatis

Policha ladoo

I don't like wasting leftovers, and now that I make my own rotis, it tears my heart everytime I have to get rid of the fruit of my mehanat (however inedible it might have become). But there is only so much roti upma you can eat, and the roti pizzas don't quite turn out as wonderful as you hope they would.
Which is why, I jumped with delight when I found that the Maharashtrian Policha Ladoo actually uses leftover rotis as the base.
Since they were pretty easy to make, I was certain the kids would hate it (one doesn't get lucky all the time, does one?), but both of them loved it. I don't need a crystal ball to predict that there isn't going to be too much roti upma for me in the near future.

3 Left over rotis
A lemon sized ball of soft Jaggery
1 1/2 tsp posto/ khus khus
1-2 tsp Shredded, un-sweetened coconut
1 tbsp Ghee


Method
Tear the roti into small pieces, and grind in the mixer with the jaggery.
Dry roast the poppy seeds, and once they start getting brown, add the coconut and roast till dry.
Mix the poppy seeds, coconut, ground roti mix and ghee to make a slightly sticky mass.
Roll into balls.
Enjoy!

Posto and lal saag

This dish, like many others, has a story. When we were in Calcutta, we would often find this (very imaginatively named) "laal saag" in the market. My mother's Tam Bram sensibilities couldn't make head or tail of it, but since greens (even if they were red in colour) were hard to come by in Calcutta, she was reluctant to let these leaves pass. So she asked around, and got this recipe from one of her colleagues, and started making it.
At that time, I didn't even know something called khas khas/ posto existed, much less know what it tasted like, but many years later, that thing called Nostalgia crawled out of the recesses of my mind, and made me pick up some khus khus during a trip to Delhi. I then asked my mother for recipes other than that of aloo-posto, and got this one.
Love it, because it combines two of my favourites- khus khus and peanuts!

1 bunch lal saag, destemmed and chopped fine

2 green chillis

2-3 pods garlic

2 tbsp roasted peanuts

2 tbsp khus khus

1/2 tsp kala jeera

1/2 tsp haldi powder

salt and sugar to taste

cooking oil

Method

Season the oil with kala jeera, green chilli, garlic and haldi powder. 

Once the jeera starts spluttering, add finely chopped lal saag, salt and sugar (be careful with the salt).

Cover and cook, without adding additional water.

When it is nearly done, sprinkle the khus khus, mix well, and cook till nearly dry.

Garnish with roasted peanuts (optional)

Aloo posto

Growing up in Calcutta, it is hard for you not to develop a taste for aloo posto. But once you move out of the city, and no longer have access to Bong food, it is hard not to forget many of the dishes you loved so much when you were young. And then, suddenly, you are reminded of them, and you want them, but there is nobody around to make it for you :-(
I got one filling of aloo posto when I visited Delhi, and my father-in-law's maid made it for me. But if I though it would satiate me, I was mistaken. It just left me panting for more. And I had to learn to make it myself. This was my first attempt- I followed the verbal instructions given by the maid- but I was later told to make changes to make it more authentic. Some of those changes I liked, some I didn't, and I am sticking to my version, even if it is not the authentic aloo posto.

 

3 medium potatos, peeled and cubed

4 tbsp khus khus/ posto

1 green chilli

1/2 tsp jeera/ kalonji/ panch poran (depending on personal preference)

A pinch of haldi powder (not used in the original version)

Salt to taste

Mustard Oil

Method

Soak about posto in warm water for 20 mins, then grind with green chillies. You can do it in a mixer, but I prefer the mortar and pestle- basically pound it till the chillis disintegrate.
Splutter jeera in a kadhai, add potato chunks and fry on a low flame till potatoes are done. Add the posto paste, salt to taste and haldi powder, mix well, cover the dish and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Top with some MO and serve.

Egg curry (Jayita's "sinful" version from IFF)

It was one of those days when I was planning to make a standard egg curry for lunch, but when I saw this recipe of Jayita Sen, I just had to give it a try. Giving the original recipe, though I did make a couple of changes (and reduce the quantities since I was making it only for myself).

6 boiled eggs
8 small potatoes
1 large onion
2 tsp ginger paste
3 tsp garlic paste
turmeric powder
2 tsp kashmiri mirch powder
3 tsp curds
hing
salt to taste
water
oil
 






 For ground masala
2 tsp dhania
4 tsp khus khus
2 tsp fennel
 

Method
Deep fry the boiled eggs till golden brown and keep aside
Boil the potatoes, then fry them till golden
Chop the onion, and fry till glassy
Add ginger paste, garlic paste and cook till the raw smell goes.
Add turmeric, red chilli powder and salt and cook till the oil seperates
Add curds, and the potatoes  and cook till the oil seperates
Grind the ingredients listed under ground masala and add to the mixture.
Add 1 cup water and a pinch of hing, and cook till you get a nice gravy.
Add the eggs, boil once, and serve with a garnish of butter.

I did not deep fry the eggs, or add potatoes. And I was careless while adding the curds, so it broke