The "hangover" tea !

The name was suggested by a friend of mine. And I have noticed it actually is very very refreshing, either in the morning, or else after a loooooong tiresome day! And if your girlfriend/boyfriend has come for tea, this one is ideal!

You would need:

Tea (whichever you think is the best liquor, we are talking color and flavor here)

Sugar/ honey

a tablespoon of whiskey

How to do it:

Make the tea the way you want it, it shouldn't be too strong!

Add the whiskey to it.

Yeah, it's THAT easy!

Enjoy.

Yummy Firnee !

My favorite sweet dish! Made my way!

You would need:

1 ltr. milk

25 gms (gobindo bhog*) rice, powdered

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of custard powder (vanilla)

1 pod of cardamom/ powder

1 tablespoon of rose water

slivered cashews/pistachio/almond for garnishing

how you do it:

Boil the milk with the sugar in a dekchi.

Add cardamom, powdered.

Wait till the mixture reduces to two thirds.

Add the dry rice powder.

Stir constantly for three to four mins.

Reduce heat.

In half a cup of milk mix the custard powder.

Add it to the mixture.

Stir constantly.

Take it off the heat.

Add rose water.

Constantly keep on stirring the mixture for next 20 mins.

(I know, it does sound tedious, but it gives a lump free smooth texture to your firni.)

Pour small amounts of this mixture in earthen pots.

Shove it in the refrigerator.

Take them out after 3 hours or so.

Garnish with nuts.

Enjoy.

p.s. * this doesn't taste as good if gobindo bhog rice is not used! Trust me!

Prawns in coconut mustard sauce !

Another easy yet mouthwatering prawn delicacy. Bengal special. Slurp!

You will need:

prawns/shrimps 500 gm.

1 and a half cup of coconut (grated and made into a paste)

half a cup of black mustard

3 green chilies

2 tablespoons of sugar

salt to taste

half a cup of mustard oil

A pinch of turmeric powder

how to do it:

Moisten the mustard and grind it along with one green chilly and a pinch of salt.That would prevent this paste from turning bitter.

Wash and de-vein the shrimps/prawns, leave the heads on if you want to.

Marinate them in salt and turmeric.

In a pressure cooker, pour all the other ingredients.

Add the prawns/shrimps as well.

Add half a cup of water.

Put the lid on and wait for 3 to 4 whistles.

Check for seasoning.

This tastes almost orgasmic with plain rice or luchi.

Enjoy!

The "healthy" paratha !

The name is rather unbelievable, right? But that's the way it is! The stuffing for this paratha is actually healthy, so, people who are worried about their weight and their waist line, don't hesitate....

you will need:

(for the filling)

3 to 4 tablespoons of Sattoo

1 green chilly (finely chopped)

a spoonful of salt

2 spoonfuls of sugar

a pinch of asfoetida (hing) (optional)

lukewarm water

(for the dough)

5 to 6 cups of flour

a pinch of salt

water

a teaspoon of oil (sunflower)

oil for frying

howto do it:

Mix the ingredients for the filling, knead it into a soft dough.

In a separate bowl, knead the flour

Make small balls with the flour dough.

Place a small amount of the filling inside each ball and roll it to resemble rotis.

Lightly coat the dough with some more flour.

Heat the tawa, place the paratha on it, lightly tossing it upside down every 7 to 8 seconds.

Once it changes color, lightly drizzle very little oil (optional) on the outer circumference of the paratha.

Do you have pickles at home?

Otherwise a generous blob of tomato ketchup would do just fine.

Enjoy.

p.s. wrap it in a foil and you can save it for a week!

Leftover Potlis !

This one looks very much like deep fried dimsums (momo). The filling can be just anything. Any damn thing! I generally make this when am left with only two pieces of chicken and a bit of gravy ( murgir jhol). This again,takes almost twenty minutes to make, and is good to go with tea!

Things you will need:

(for the filling)

leftover chicken and the gravy (or whatsoever)

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small potato, peeled boiled and mashed

a pinch of salt

a pinch of chat masala

(for the outer crust)

2 cups of flour

a spoonful of oil

salt to taste

a pinch of chilly powder (optional)

water

and of course, oil for deep frying!

how to do it:

With two forks, (or your hands) shred the chicken and mix it with the gravy.

Fry the onion till it's translucent, mix it with the chicken.

The mashed potato as well, along with the seasoning.

Keep it aside.

In a separate bowl knead the flour and the other ingredients into a soft dough.

With the rolling pin, make thick circles out of it. Diameter should be about 4 to 5 inches.

Stuff the dough with the filling.

Moisten the edge of the circles with a bit of water and twist them into small bundles.

They should look like "potlis". That's the whole point.

Deep fry them until they turn a bright shade of golden brown.

Enjoy.

Spicy Cheese Spread

Are you bored with the same old, bland cheese spread? Jazz it up. Now!

(I guess you won't order the same in CCD from now on.)

you will need:

Cheese spread (of course)

1 capsicum, diced (like really small pieces)

1 green chilly (finely chopped)

1 teaspoon of sunflower oil\ butter

1 clove of garlic, minced

a pinch of ginger paste

a pinch of salt

a pinch of sugar (optional)

how to do it:

In a non stick frying pan, heat the oil\butter.

Add the ginger and garlic.

Let it sit for 40 seconds or so.

Add the capsicum and the chillies.

Stir it till it softens a bit, this should take a minute or two.

Add seasoning (you can add a bit of black pepper if you want)

Take it off heat and let it cool.

Mix it with the cheese spread.

Enjoy.

p.s. this spread tastes good with rotis as well. I have tried that already.

It has a (refridgerated) shelf life of 4 days.

Instant Egg Rice!

At times when you are left with very little amount of rice from the previous night, you really don't feel like throwing it away. There's a wonderful thing you can do with it.

Here goes.....

You will need:

leftover rice (enough for one)

1 egg

1 bay leaf

1 spoonful of salt

2 spoonful of sugar

1 green chilly (sliced)

a pinch of black pepper (ground)

a generous pinch of garam masala* (its best if its ground)

2 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter)

How to do it:

Beat the egg with a pinch of salt and scramble it.

Heat the ghee in a wok, add the garam masala and the bay leaf and wait till it smells orgasmic!

Add the scrambled egg, the chilly, the rice and the seasoning.

Stir it for 2 to 3 mins.

Enjoy.

p.s. by garam masala I mean to say that it is a mixture of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves!

we don't need the star anise and nutmeg etc.

Maggi italiano!

Well, again, maggi noodles! This time with a twist to it! Actually one can keep on experimenting with it!

You would need:

1 packet of maggi noodles (masala) (along with the the taste maker)

Tomato ketchup

1 small clove of garlic

1 small block of cheese

1 spoon of butter

oregano

a bit of rosemary

how to do it:

Heat one and a half cup of water.

Add ketchup and the smashed clove of garlic to it.

Add almost all of the taste maker (not ALL of it)

Add the noodle cake and the rosemary and stir for two minutes.

Add butter and oregano, give it one final mix!

Grate the block of cheese on it!

Enjoy!

Shaahee tukda

A crunchy deep fried dish, made with slices of bread and sugar syrup.You know, when a few guests come over for tea this one is ideal! But when I make this, I don't wait for tea though, I keep on munching all the time.

You will need:

half a pound of sliced bread (white or brown)

half a cup of milk

(sunflower) oil for deep frying/ ghee (clarified butter)

1 cup of sugar

a cup and half of water

a slice of lemon

a stick of cinnamon

how to do it:

Cut the brown crusty borders off the bread slice.

Cut the remainder in four squares.

Soak them in milk.

Heat oil in a wok.

Deep fry all the square pieces of bread golden brown. This would take some time, because one has to see that the pieces don't crumble.

Prepare a thick syrup by boiling the water and sugar and reduce it to half it's original volume.

Add cinnamon while boiling it.

After its done, squeeze the lemon in it. Just a little!

The syrup should be a bit thick

Soak the fried bread pieces in it.

Enjoy.

p.s. this can be stored in a container for 2 or 3 days, just shove it in a microwave for a minute before serving.

Chingri baati chochchoree!

This has been a personal favorite for a long time. Really easy to make, and tasty to eat, this shrimp dish is very popular among bengalis. Whenever I find the ingredients necessary, I cook this, and trust me, it takes about 20 mins max!

Things that you will need:

Shrimps (kucho chingri) (500 gms)

1 big potato, cleaned, peeled and diced

almost half a cup of mustard oil (may need more)

1 tomato

2 green chilies, sliced

a pinch of turmeric

a pinch of salt

a pinch of sugar

how to do it:

Wash and devein the shrimps,smear salt and turmeric on them, keep them aside for a minute or two.

In a pressure cooker, pour all the ingredients.

Put the lid on and wait till it whistles 3 to 4 times.

It's that easy.

Enjoy.

Or else, one can use a double boiler. That's why they call it "baati chochchoree"

One can also use a small bowl and seal it's cover with some flour dough and put it in the "bhaater hNaari".

the "ghisaa pitaa" maggi

All of us, have eaten maggi noodles at least once. Well, in my case it has been more than once of course! So I thought of jazzing it up a bit. You know, the same old flavor kills it! So, here goes....

You will need:

1 pack of masala maggi (100 gms) (the taste maker as well)

1 small capsicum

1/2 a small carrot ( i hate it)

1 very small onion

tomato ketchup

a tablespoonful of butter

and how to do it:

Chop the carrot in really small julienne.

Dice the Capsicum.

Chop up the onion as well.

In a pan, heat the butter.

As soon as it melts, add the carrots and the onions.

After softening them, add the capsicum.

Once Soft and shiny, leave them aside, Don't drain the excess molten butter( if any)

Boil some water, add the vegetables and then add the Maggi taste maker and the noodle cake.

As they say, stir it for 2 minutes.

Enjoy.!