Bengali style hing aloo

On a rainy evening, the thing you crave most is pure unadulterated carbs, and that's a draw I can never resist. Not wanting to make something very elaborate, I had this really simple Bengali dish for dinner with parathas and dahi phulki, and a more satisfying meal I haven't had in a long time!

200 gms baby potatoes, or 2 large potatoes

1 tbsp mustard oil

A pinch of hing

A pinch of haldi powder

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Method:

Boil the potatoes till cooked, peel and keep aside. If using large potatoes, cut into eights. 

Heat the mustard oil, splutter the cumin seeds. Add hing and haldi powder, mix, and immediately add the potatoes. On a low flame, fry for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and mix well. 

Serve hot. 

Jhal moori

Anybody who's grown up in Calcutta will swear that jhal is the best dish you can make out of puffed rice. Make no mistake, I do love the Bambaiya bhel with its notes of tamarind and mint, but offer me a choice between that and jhal moori, and I'll pick the comforting taste of mustard oil any day. So though I am trying to go easy on milk and sugar, I pile on the MO when I snack on this dish.

1 cup puffed rice

Onions, chopped fine

Green chillies, chopped fine

Tomatoes, chopped fine

Boiled potatoes, chopped fine

Peanuts

Salt, to taste

Red chilli powder, to taste

1 tsp mustard oil, for ever cup of moori*

Method:

Roast the peanuts, cool

Add peanuts, onions, chillies, tomatoes, potatoes to the moori and mix well

Add salt and red chilli powder, mix

Add mustard oil, cover the container, and shake vigorously to mix well

Serve, preferable in a paper cone

*- you can substitute the MO with the oil floating on top of pickle

Tambdi Bhaji

Red amaranthus leaves have flooded the market this season, and after moving past the veggies for a couple of weeks, I finally gave in to temptation and bought a big bunch today. A quick search of available recipes gave me the idea for what I could make, and I sort of winged my way after that.
Really loved it, but with mustard oil and garlic, what is not to like?

1 big bunch red amaranth leaves
4 large garlic cloves
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup grated coconut
1 green chilli
1/2 tsp haldi powder
2 tbsp mustard oil
water as required
salt as per taste

Method:
Pluck the amaranth leaves with the tender stems, rinse well, chop finely and keep aside.
Chop the onion, garlic and green chilli.
Heat the oil, add chopped onions, garlic and green chillis and saute till onions become transparent.
Add ¼ tsp turmeric powder and stir.
Add the amaranth leaves, stir, add salt and mix well.
Cover with a lid and let the amaranth leaves cook on a low flame. Keep checking at regular intervals to see if the water has dried up- if it has, add some water, and cover again.
After the amaranth leaves are softened and cooked (about 10 minutes), add ⅓ cup grated coconut, stir well, cover, and simmer on a low flame for 2 minutes
Switch off the flame, and evaporate the water, if any is left.
Add salt to taste and mix well. Serve with rotis or with dal-rice

Gobi-gajar-shalgam achar

One of my most vivid memories of the first week as a new bride in my marital home is of breakfast. Thankfully, those were the days before size zero brides, and I had no qualms about wolfing down steaming hot stuffed paratas with gobi-gajar-shalgam achar. Seeing their "Madrasi" bride tuck into the typically Punjabi breakfast must also have reassured my in-laws about my ability to fit into a new culture.
Unfortunately, however, that was the first and last time I got to eat gobi-gajar-shalgam achar. My mother-in-law didn't make it herself, and the stuff you got at restaurants was at best a poor attempt at replicating the classic dish.
This winter, I was determined to attempt the recipe myself, and before I could change my mind, bought the ingredients, and even cut the vegetables and kept them to dry. It was easier than I expected, and I wonder why I never attempted it all this while.

1 Kg vegetables (a mix of cauliflower florets, carrot slices, turnip cubes)
65 gms mustard seeds
65 gms salt
150 gms jaggery
150 gms mustard oil
150 gms vinegar
5 tsp Garam masala
100 gms ginger-garlic paste
25 gms red chili pwdr

Method:
Cut the vegetables, and leave them out to dry for 6 hours (I put them in a preheated oven with the heat off).
Heat the mustard oil, let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add the vegetables, fry the vegetables lightly and keep aside.
In the same oil, add ginger-garlic paste, and saute till the raw taste goes.
Meanwhile, heat the vinegar in a pan, add the jaggery, and stir on a low heat till the jaggery dissolves completely. Turn off the fire, and let it cool down.
Mix all the ingredients, including the dry masala. Pour into a sterilized jar, cover the mouth with a piece of cloth, and keep in the sun for a week.

Khatta meetha Chilli Achar

One of my  collegues brought this absolutely yummy khatta meetha chilli achar to work, which I couldn't have enough of. Unfortunately, someone had gifted the pickle to her, and she had no way of getting me the recipe. I browsed the internet till I found something that seemed like what I was looking for, and I tried it at once. It isn't quite what I had, but is lovely all the same, and I will definitely make it again.

15 green chillis, cut into inch long pieces
1 tbsp dried ginger powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp dhania powder
100 gms jaggary
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup mustard oil

Method:
Heat the oil, and saute the green chillis till soft
Add salt, chilli powder, dhania powder, ginger powder and fry for a few mins
Add jaggary and mix well till it melts (keep the flame low to ensure it doesn't burn)
Add vinegar and stir.
Turn off the heat, and mix the rest of the oil (pre-heated).
Store in a dry jar, and keep it in the sun for 4-5 days before using.

Desi Charburnt Salsa

I fell in love with this dish the moment I read it's description. But when I eventually made it, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. But since you can't go too wrong with tomatoes, garlic, raw onions and mustard oil, it is worth documenting the recipe.

4-5 medium tomatoes
1/2 onion finely chopped
8-10 Garlic cloves, finely chopped.
1 Green chili, finely chopped
1 tsp raw mustard Oil
Coriander leaves, for garnish

Method:Roast 4-5 tomatoes on flame, peel, the skin, do not remove all , let a few smoked pieces stay.

Mash roasted tomatoes, in a deep bowl with your hand, do not use a blender, as the tomatoes should remain coarse.
Mix all ingredients, RAW.
Drizzle raw mustard oil and let it sit for 10 minutes,

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.

Mooli Bhujiya

Sometime in the '80s, seduced by the advertising might of the manufacturers of sunflower oil, my mother banished all the "unhealthy" oils from her kitchen. The only oils I ever really cooked with were the so called "heart friendly" ones, and though they got the job done, I realised what I was actually missing only after I bought my first bottle of mustard oil a couple of months back. North Indian subjis have taken on a whole new flavour now, and I am loving it.

Which is why, when I saw this recipe for Mooli Bhujiya, I knew I had to try it out immediately. And I loved it- the family less so, but I'll teach them to appreciate it soon enough.

Radish (Mooli) with leaves intact- 2

Green Chilies - 1
Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp
Carom seeds (Ajwain) - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida-1/4 tsp
Turmeric-1/2 tsp
Salt-1 tsp
Chili powder-1 tsp
Mango powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp 

Method
Wash the radish and the leaves. Chop the leaves into small pieces, and the root into discs.

Heat mustard oil in a pan and add carom seeds, as soon as it start crackling add asafoetida and chopped green chilies.stir for few seconds (don't overcook ajwain /carom seeds else it will taste bitter)
Now add the chopped vegetables, mix and saute for a minute.
Add salt and all the spices, mix well. Cover the vegetables and let it cook in its own steam till done.

Serve hot with chapati.