The "paturi" !

This, again, is a bengali delicacy. Generally made with Hilsa or Bhetki. But this can be made with practically any damn thing! Last time, I made it with paneer/cottage cheese. Was a huge hit! Here goes....

You will need:

500 gm Fresh firm cottage cheese/ paneer diced into 2 or 3 inch sized pieces.

5 tablespoonful of Mustard Oil.

almost a tablespoon of Turmeric powder

green chilies, made into a paste, about 2 teaspoons.

1 cup of Desiccated coconut.

half a cup of ground mustard.

Salt and sugar.

Banana leaves.

Strings.

How to do it:

While grinding mustard on a stone, always remember to add a green chilly and a pinch of salt to avoid getting a bitter paste.

Except the banana leaves mix all the ingredients and marinate the Cheese/ paneer in it.

Cut the banana leaves into 6 inch squares, brush oil on both surfaces.

Soak the strings in some ice cold water.

Wrap two pieces of cheese/ paneer with some of the mixture in the banana leaves.

Tie them with the cold strings.

Steam it in a pressure cooker for 12 mins.

Or else you can grill them in a microwave for 7 mins or so.

Enjoy.

As said earlier, you can replace the paneer with fish or prawn or almost anything!

The "jhatpat" chicken stew !

I love this! My mom used to make this with leftover chicken all the time. She still does! Quick to make, good to eat and healthy as well!

You will need:

500 gm chicken (boneless, if u have)

3 medium sized onions quartered

6 cloves of garlic (you can grind them if you want)

2 inches of ginger (ground)

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon of vegetable/sunflower oil

1 tablespoon of butter

a drizzling of ground pepper

vegetables like

1 medium potato,

3 pods of peas

a small handful of beans, chopped

1 small carrot sliced

salt and sugar

How to do it:

(In a pressure cooker boil 2 cups of water.

Put the chicken pieces and the vegetables in it for a minute and a half.

Retain the water.) Only if you have hard water in your area, other wise skip these steps.

After drying the cooker, put the oil in it.

Put the bay leaf, onion and the garlic, stir for a minute.

Add the vegetables and the chicken.

Stir till they soften a bit, this should take another 2 mins.

Add the other ingredients and the stock.

Add one more cup of water and close the lid.

Wait for 4 whistles.

Enjoy while its still hot!!

The "healthy" dip !

A lot of friends coming in tonight. So, thinking of the dip to go with my kebabs other deep fried stuff, I came up with this. Though it was the first time I tried this, but this ended up pretty nice.

You will need:

500 gm of hung yoghurt.

a teaspoon of red chilli powder

a teaspoon of chat masala

1 medium sized onion, chopped fine

a small bunch of mint leaves, chopped fine

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of sugar/honey

How to do it:

Just mix everything up! That's it!

At times I eat this with roti as well. Tastes good!

The "jhatpat" chicken!

This dish is very very easy to make, its not too oily or spicy either, and the best part is, this tastes equally good with rice or luchi.

You will need:

a kg of chicken, boneless if desired, but with the skin on.

500 grams of onion ( 3 to 4, big)

3 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste

3 green chilies

a cup of yoghurt/curd (unsweetened)

2 bay leaves

a pinch of garam masala

half a cup of mustard oil

a tablespoon of ghee/ clarified butter

salt and sugar.

How to do it:

In a blender, add the onions, chilies,and the yoghurt, mix it into a paste.

Add the ginger garlic paste and the seasoning to it.

Marinade the chicken with this paste for an hour or so.

Heat oil in a wok.

Add the bay leaves and wait for a minute.

Add the chicken mixture.

Stir for 10 mins, the chicken would change color.

As soon as you see the mixture has reduced a bit and smelling orgasmic, add a cup and half of hot water and cover the wok.

Another 10 mins, add the ghee and the garam masala and take it off the heat.

Enjoy.