Bengali Mishti Pulao

Having been stayed for 6 years in the city of joy I was totally in love with Bengali food culture, foodies around each and every corner of the city , their love for GOOD food. Today's recipe is a traditional Bengali rice dish. It is rich flavourful with a mild sweetness and simple to prepare.

Even before I started developing my passion for cooking, the only blog I was following at that time was Preeoccupied : http://preeoccupied.blogspot.in/
I followed the recipe of Bengali mishti pulao from her blog and made it on a weekend for my family and in the first attempt only it came out just perfect with the colour, flavour everything!! ANd then there was no stopping. Made it many times for family & friends and I was always been appreciated by everyone.  Today after a long time I have made this pulao with chicken curry and we relished it totally.

This  aromatic sweet rice dish goes very well with mutton curry specially. Try out this awesome pulao preparation , I am sure you are gonna love it.


You may find a slight variation in the measurements of the ingredients from the original recipe ,because of me & my family's taste and requirement.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice: 1 cup
Green peas: 1/2 cup
Ghee: 1 tbsp.
Freshly Grated ginger: 2 tsp
Raisin/cashew nut: A handful of them altogether
Cardamom/cinnamon/cloves: 2-3 of each
Bay leaves: 2
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Sugar: 1 tsp
Few drops of lemon
Water 2 cups

Method:

Wash and soak the basmati rice for about half an hour. Then sieve for 10-15 minutes.

Heat the ghee in a pan/kadhai . Add bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and allow them to crackle. Now add the raisins, cashews and fry them till golden brown. Remember to keep the flame at low.  Add rice once the dry fruits turn to golden brown. Mix everything well and keep stirring for about 2-3 minutes . Add the peas, ginger & turmeric powder at this stage. Keep mixing everything for another 2-3 minutes and then add sugar & salt in low to  medium flame and keep mixing again for say about a minute.

Now add 2 cups of water , few drops of lemon juice and give it a nice stir and cover it. Keep the flame between low to medium. Check in between and mix with gentle hands and cover again. Repeat the same procedure until the rice is cooked.

Once the pulao is ready  sprinkle few more drops of lemon again & give a mix so that the rice does not get stick. Serve hot with chicken or mutton curry.

You can cook this pulao in pressure cooker as well following the same procedure. Water requirement would vary.

 

Maida (Flour) Barfi

Making perfect sweets at home is something very exciting and satisfying.  Since the day I started making sweets at home, we had stopped buying them from shops except on few occasions where i am not able take out time to make them. Kalakand, Rasgulla, rabri, rasmalai, kala jamun, gulab jamun, sondesh etc are few such examples i tried at home and they came out pretty well, still trying to excel in it. Yesterday i suddenly thought of making some sweet but not the ones I made before. Then i remember once I saw this maida barfi recipe in the blog Rak's kitechen (http://www.rakskitchen.net/2009/01/maida-burfi-simple-sweet-for-fic-yellow.html)
. I was so amazed by  the colour of the barfi she made that i decided to go with it. Moreover the minimum ingredients required for this particular barfi is readily available at one's home. This delicious barfi loaded with dry fruits is very soft and its just melts in mouth and you can actually make it in a jiffy.
When i was serving this to PB with tea after he got back home from work, he ate it thinking I bought it from our nearby halwai shop. He didnot even believe initially  that it was made by me looking at the colour & texture. Well I have taken that  happily as a big compliment :)


You may refer the original recipe as well from the link I have mentioned above as slightest changes I have made here.

Ingredients:

Maida/plain flour: 1/2 cup
Ghee: 1/3 cup
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts/almond/pista: 5-6 of each roughly chopped.
Vanilla essence: few drops
food colour: few drops - I used green colour . You can use any colour of your choice or without colour also you can make
Ghee: as required to grease the tin
sufficient water to make the sugar syrup


Method:

Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the chopped dry fruits till they are turned into light golden brown colour. Add the maida and mix everything well and stir continuously till the maida is fried completely in low flame. Put the flame off and transfer it to a bowl.

On the other hand in a heavy bottomed pan add the sugar and water to make the sugar syrup till you get the one -string consistency. Add vanilla essence & food colour and mix. Put the flame off and add the maida mixture to it and mix everything well. Once the mixture starts getting thickened and still loose enough to be able to spread on the tin then transfer it to the greased tin and spread evenly with the help of a flat spatula or knife. At this stage I greased the knife with some ghee and cut into equal sized shapes and kept in the refrigerator to set for about half an hour. You can let this cool down and set in room temperature as well.

You can store this sweet in air-tight container for 2-3 days.

 

Paneer Pulao

So the girl's school reopens after a long vacation and I am back to my work. Its been a relaxed vacation for both me n my girl. We only ate slept had lots  of fun time together. So last night's dinner I prepared with lot of effort and love for the little one specially. She wanted to have some yummy food and I thought of making some paneer pulao . We as a hard core non-vegetarian I hardly cook paneer/cottage cheese at home. Mostly on Thursdays I get it home being it a vegetarian day for us. So I freezed the menu with a paneer Pulao and corn capsicum masala gravy. Easy to prepare this pulav is lick-smacking that you can always serve your guests with any main course side dish of chicken / fish. I made this pulav in a very small quantity of ghee than the usual amount required in a Pulao. You can increase it as per your taste or requirement.


Ingredients:

Basmati rice: 1 cup
Paneer: 150 gms
Carrot/beans/capsicum: 1/2 cup chopped (you can add veggies of your choice)
Onion: 1 large finely sliced
Ginger & garlic paste: 2 tsp - I made the paste at home only
Green chilli: 1-2 (optional)
Cardamm/Cinnamon/clove: 2-3 of each
Cumin seed or Shah jeera: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 5-6 leaves
Salt to taste
Ghee: 2 tsp
Oil: 1 tsp
Water as required

Method:

Wash and soak the basmati rice for about half an hour.

Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pressure cooker.  Strain the soaked rice and roast it for about a min or so till it becomes dry. Transfer the rice to a bowl. Now add the remaining 1 tsp ghee in the pressure cooker and add the jeera, chillies, curry leaves, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and allow them to splutter. Add the sliced onion, ginger garlic paste and fry till light golden brown. Now add the chopped vegetables and mix everything well. Cook the vegetables for about 2-3 minutes by stirring continuously to avoid burning. At this stage add the rice and salt and give it a nice mix. Add sufficient water to cook the rice. Pressure cook  up to 2 whistles.

By the time heat 1 tsp of oil in  a non-stick pan. Cut the paneer/cottage cheese into small sized cubes and fry in the oil till golden brown from sides. Once done keep them aside.

Let the pressure releases on its own after 2 whistles. Open the lid and transfer the pulao to a large bowl so that the rice doesn't stick, with a spatula or ladle softly. Now add the fried paneer , garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot .

 

Rava surmai fry with mustard-mayo dip

My love for sea fish has  developed recently whereas PB has always been so fond of it. Though he never insisted me to cook them at home because of my disliking. Once we had guest at home over dinner & I didn't manage to get any other fish and had to buy some frozen basa fillets. I just made a pan fried basa but tasted awesome and that's how my sea fish cooking has begun at home. Then on our recent trip to Chennai and Pondicherry, fish and chips was a regular in our menu which we all three enjoyed to the fullest. After coming back home we  missed it so much that PB got surmai and basa  last weekend. I didn't check for any recipe for the surmai to prepare, whereas Basa fish I have made before as I have mentioned already. So I thought to use my own basic ideas to prepare the batter for marination and deep fry  them. My little girl who is not very fond of fish too liked the fish fry and as she always compliments me with her words "Mamma you are a great COOKER" ...that's where I know it really tasted great.

We got a  piece of Surmai of 250gms or so. I have cut it into 4 small pieces .

Ingredients:

Surmai Fish: 250 gms
Plain flour: 2 tbsp
Rava: 2 tbsp
Garlic paste: 2 tsp
Chilli flakes: 1 tsp
Mixed herb: 1 tsp
salt to taste
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
soy sauce: 1/2 tsp
lemon juice: 2-3 tsp

&
Oil for deep frying


Method:

Clean and wash the fish and keep aside.

Prepare a batter by mixing 1 tbsp. of rava and rest of the above mentioned ingredients except the oil, in a large mixing bowl with sufficient quantity of water. While preparing the batter keep it in mind that the batter should neither be too thick nor too runny. Should be thick enough to coat the fish properly. Marinate the fish fillets in this batter for about 15-20 mins or so.

Take the remaining 1 tbsp. of rava in a dish with some salt and keep aside.


In a heavy bottomed kadhai/pan heat enough oil. Coat the marinated fillets with the rava mixture and deep fry them  one by one on both sides till they are golden brown in low to medium heat. Keep them on a tissue paper.

Enjoy this hot crisp fried surmai soft inside with your choice of sauce/dip.

The dip that I made with this dish is a simple and super easy to prepare mustard-mayo mix dip. It goes so well with almost every snack.

Mustard-mayo dip:

Egg/eggless Mayonnaise: 2 tbsp.
Mustard sauce: 1 tbsp.
Chilli flake: 1/2 tsp
oregano: 1/2 tsp

Mix everything well and serve with your starter/snacks.

Choco Mousse cake with ganache frosting

 

Few things happen coz it is destined to happen. It was my daughter's 6th birthday on 27th April15 and she has been asking me for a hello kitty cake for her. I out of excitement promised her the same. Instead of doing any trial I decided to bake the cake directly on her bday. And as obvious everything went wrong and it was a disaster. We did not even order any cake for her thinking I would be able to make it at home. Okay so that was my over confidence! My daughter being such an understanding & sweet child , she immediately told me not to worry and get any normal cake from cake tree. The husband got a nice chocolate cake for her from the bakery. I then thought to bake at least one simple cake for her and I baked this moist choco mousse cake. Super soft and tastes awesome. Best thing is even after keeping it in refrigerator for three days the softness remains the same. How we all loved this cake. Then I baked few cupcakes also using the same recipe for her friends in her drawing class as well. This is the best chocolate cake recipe I have come across.

Ingredients:

Plain flour: 1 & 1/2 cups
Egg: 4
Butter: 100 gms
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder: 3 tbsp.
melted dark chocolate: 50 gms
Heavy cream: 50 ml
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp



For Ganache:

Dark Chocolate: 2 cup chopped
Heavy cream: 1 cup
Sugar: 4 tbsp. (you can omit this or increase  as per taste)

Method:


Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.

In a large bowl sieve the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and keep aside.


In a large mixing bowl add the butter & sugar. Beat it with a electric whisk until its fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and beat everything well. Now add the vanilla essence, melted dark chocolate and cream. Whisk everything well. Add the dry ingredients slowly in small proportions and give a nice whisk until everything combines well and the batter turns into a smooth a bit runny texture. Now divide the batter into two equal proportions for baking two cakes. Instead of doing this you can also bake one cake and slice  the cake horizontally with a sharp knife into two halves and spread evenly the frosting on top of one half and place the other half above it.

Grease the cake tin with some butter and flour. Skip this step If you are using silicon mould. Pour the batter in the cake tin and bake it in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick or fork comes out clean. Bake both the cakes. Both of my cakes took exactly 35 minutes as baking time varies from oven to oven.

Ganache frosting :

In the mean time, prepare the chocolate ganache. Take the cream in a sauce pan and put it to boil. In a mixing bowl take the chopped chocolate. Now pour the hot cream onto the chocolate and let it remain like this for about 4-5 minutes. Then beat this so that everything mixes well, add the sugar and beat again so that no lumps remain. Once ready keep it in the refrigerator. I kept the ganache in refrigerator overnight as I had to use some for filling as well.


Assembling the cake:

Once the cakes are baked , let them cool in room temperature. Take one cake on a cake stand. If you don't have a stand, invert any bigger sized bowl and keep a dish on it & place the cake on the dish for icing/frosting.

Take half of the prepared ganache for the filling.
Place one cake on the stand or plate. If you want you can even the upper portion of the cake by cutting the fluffed up portion of the cake with a sharp big knife. I did not have to do that as it was even enough. Now with a flat spatula spread evenly a generous amount of ganache on the top & cover with the other chocolate cake. Even out the ganache on sides of the cake. Now refrigerate the cake for about an hour or two.

Now microwave the other half of the ganache or heat on low flame till you get a complete running consistency of the ganache by stirring continuously keeping in mind it doesn't get burn.

Take out the cake from the refrigerator. Place it on a wire rack keeping a large dish or by spreading newspapers below the rack. With the help of a round spatula/big round spoon, pour the ganache on the center of the cake spoon by spoon. Keeping the  back of the spoon on the ganache, move it in circular motion so that the ganache spreads all over the cake and to the sides as well. Rest it on the rack until the ganache stops dripping down.

Once done refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or so. Now you can decorate the cake if you want . I kept it simple as I did not have time . Cut a big slice and dig into this heavenly delight .

 

Narikolor laroo/coconut balls

Narikol laru/coconut ladoo is a commonly made sweet during bihu. It is made with the fresh coconut only but this time I made it by mixing freshly grated coconut as well as the packed one bought from store. I have always seen my mom making this with sugar only but I tried condensed milk this time and there was absolutely no change in the taste except the colour which changes a bit to off white. So if you want to make these larus complete white use sugar and a less of roasting the grated coconut.

Ingredients:

Grated coconut: 1 cup
Condensed milk: 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp


Method:
Heat a heavy bottom kadhai/pan/wok. Dry roast the grated coconut for 2 minutes or so. Add the cardamom powder & the condensed milk. Mix everything  well and keep on stirring until the coconut leave the sides of the wok. While stirring keep the flame in low to medium. 

Remove from heat. Transfer the mixture to a dish and let it cool down a bit but do  not allow to cool completely which will result in difficulty in rolling  the balls.

Now wet your hands and take out small portions from the mixture and roll them into balls. Take some grated coconut in a dish and roll the coconut balls over it and arrange them on another dish.

Keep these narikolor laru/coconut balls in air-tight containers in refrigerator for a week or so.

 

Home -made Cappuccino with instant coffee

Cappuccino as we all know is consists of an espresso, on which the the hot foamed milk is being poured, resulting in a thick milk foam on top. Well like many of you I too am a big fan of cappuccino, but the only thing is I make very bad coffee. So I never tried to experiment this at home. Moreover I have been thinking that as it is I don't have a coffee brewing machine so this is like a big no-no for me. During the day after I send my husband & daughter to office & school, I start my routine work at home and once I finish doing all I make a nice cup of tea. Today when I was entering the kitchen for making my tea , I saw the coffee packet lying in the cupboard. And I suddenly thought of cappuccino somehow. I started searching in net if I can make it without any machine and espresso. And yes it is possible and that too super easy to make with instant coffee. So I checked the process and without wasting much time I started making this. Trust me a real fun it was. And the result .. that you can see in the pictures. Do try this at your home. Now I am waiting for PB to come home so that I can make one for him :)

I referred this :
http://allafiorentina.com/food/recipes/cappuccino-without-espresso-machine/

Ingredients:

These measurements are for 1 cup only.

Instant coffee: 1/2 tsp
Sugar:1 heaped tsp (I like my coffee sweet, you can minimise the quantity)
Cocoa powder: less than 1/2 tsp (optional/ I just added it to see how the taste comes out)
Milk: 1 cup (use full fat milk to get a better result)
Some more Cocoa powder : for dusting on the cappuccino

Process:

Warm the milk in a saucepan.
In your coffee mug , take the coffee powder, cocoa powder, sugar. Add approx. a tablespoon of warm water and mix them well

Now take the hot milk in a mug and whip the milk with the help of a whisk keeping it in between the palms of your hand and whip it continuously till you get the desired thick froth.

Swirl the mug in a circle to condense the foam together. Repeat the process until the foam looks nice and creamy.
Finally pour the milk into the coffee in the other mug. Allow the foam to come out by shaking your wrist side to side while pouring the milk. Or you can use a spoon to take out the foam and place it on the top of the coffee. Dust some cocoa powder on it. You can actually sprinkle some choco chip as well if you want. I just forgot to try it this time whereas I had a full packet of choco chip at home :( .
Gonna do it for his cuppa.

And your instant cappuccino with instant coffee is ready to be served. Enjoy !!