Amader Rasona

~ A humble effort to satisfy the taste-buds.

Boondi Laddoo





Shubho Mahalaya to all my friends !! :) Aaj theke Debi-pokkho suru -The festive season has begun....and everybody seems to be in a joyous mood :) Thats the essence of Durga Puja ... the most favorite festival of the Bengalis !! I have always been in Kolkata during Durga Puja till 2007. Then missing this auspicious occasion started for me too....though we will attend the Puja over here, but of course, "Probashe Puja" doesnt have the same charm. Nonetheless, we are waiting for the first weekend of October !!

I have got this link from a friend today : thought of sharing with you too :)
http://durgapuja-images.blogspot.com/2009/09/agomoni-gaan-collection-of-devotional.html

We had bought a packet of boondi few months back...to have with raita. So, when I saw the video for making boondi laddoo, I was immediately tempted to make that. Next time maybe I would make these from scratch :D

Here I am giving the recipe for making laddoos with store-bought boondis.


Boondi Laddoo


Ingredients :

Boondi - about 2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Water

Method :

Boil the water and then add sugar in it. Reduce the flame and let the sugar dissolve. Simmer the sugar syrup till it becomes 'one thread consistency'. Then keep it off the heat. Add the boondis. I had to soak the boondis for more than half hour because these were not freshly prepared, so took more time to absorb the syrup. When the boondis look soft, take them out of the pan , after draining off the extra syrup. When the temperature cools down a bit, take a handful of boondis and squeeze in between both the palms in round shape, about the size of a ping-pong ball...or the size you prefer.


After some time, the laddoos will become firm and ready to be enjoyed!! :)



I was wondering what to make for dinner yesterday night and decided to try making Naan at home. I wasn't sure how it will turn out, so instead of buying some chicken dish from the nearby Indo-Pak restaurant, I thought of making Punjabi Chole at home...as I ran out of veggies, chicken and eggs :P And thanks to the videos....I could make Naan at home successfully, thought not soo perfectly, ... and it was so soft and tasty :-) I got the chance to use the packet of yeast first time for this, which I had bought last week to make bread at home :-) I did make a loaf of bread btw - though without yeast- will post that recipe soon !! Now, we can have Naan at home anytime we feel like... ;-)

Naan




Ingredients :

All Purpose flour ( maida) - 2 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Luke warm water - 1 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar- 1 tsp
Oil
Milk - 1/4 cup


Method :

Take the luke warm water and add the yeast in it. Add sugar, salt , milk and 1 tbsp of oil in the mixture. Keep it aside for about 10 mins. This will make the yeast active and help the dough to rise.

Take the flour in a big mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and make a sticky dough. I learnt that the dough should be very sticky and soft when you are making naan in oven instead of tandoor. To see how sticky it should be, you can check the video here . There is another version of making naan at home here , but since I dont have pizza stone, I dint follow that.

After making the dough, add 1 tbsp of oil to the dough and coat it thoroughly.
Cover the dough with a lid and keep it for about 20-30 mins. I kept for 25 mins.
The dough did rise,though not double, and was very very soft.
In the meantime, put the oven to its full temperature ... I put it at 500 degrees.
Take the dough and make 6 equal balls out of it. The balls were very soft and light and I had to use flour on my hands to prevent them from sticking.
Then put one ball on the rolling surface and press it with palm to make it bigger and then flip on both palms to give it the shape of a naan ( refer to the video for this :-) )

The baking tray that I have has raised edges...so I cudnt make it exactly like this and I kept them smaller to fit two naans in the tray. BUt it was perfectly alright for us to be enjoyed at home... restaurant -type perfection is not always needed in situations like this :-D

Put the tray to the closest source of heat, I kept in the lowest rack for about 3 mins. After taking it out, I turned the naans and kept again for another 30 secs to 1 min. And then.....it was ready !! :)

I chopped one clove of garlic and added on top of 2 naans to make garlic naan. But since both of us were hungry ... I dint invest too much time on this. Maybe next time... ;-)

After they are ready, smear one surface with butter and enjoy with your favorite veg/non-veg curry. :)


Punjabi Choley




This is one of the quickest curries that I often make with garbanzo beans ( canned chick-peas) and punjabi choley masala. But I have tried with normal turmeric/red chilli/cumin-coriander powder combination as well... and it tastes great too !!

Ingredients:

Chick peas - 1 can ( 130 g) ( boiled)
Onions - 1 medium, chopped
Tomato- 1 medium, chopped
Punjabi Choley Masala - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Water - 2 cups

Method :

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add the sliced onions when its hot. Fry them in medium heat till golden brown. Drain the liquid from the can of garbanzo beans and wash them thoroughly. Then add the chick peas and the spices to the onions and mix them well. Fry them for about 7-10 mins in low heat. Then add the tomatoes and cook till they become soft. Add salt as per your taste. Lastly, add water and cook in low flame for about 15 mins and take off heat when it reaches the desired consistency. Chopped coriander leaves can be added on top, I added some chopped onions.

Enjoy with Naan or any other Indian bread !! :)





Hello Everybody, hope all of you are doing fine !! Last 2 weeks I was very busy, so could not post any recipe. But I have prepared some dishes which I will be posting soon. I couldnt take some pictures with our camera as the charger was not working properly. So few, including these two, were taken with iphone cam, so the resolution might not be that good. My husband has bought a new digital charger and I hope to take good pics hereafter :)

Its been the same weather over here.... everyday hovering over 102 degrees !! But last saturday, when we got up in the morning, we were thrilled to see its raining , for a change !! :) My hubby immediately told me that we will have khichudi today !! Rain and khichudi.... its something which is incorporated inside us since childhood. Both of us just love to eat khichudi...whether simple or with spices...doesnt matter !! We had khichudi here even when it wasnt raining and the temperature was 45 degrees centigrade :P But last saturday was an ideal day to relish it.... so I made amish (with spices and onions) Khichudi along with aloo-kopir torkari , tomato chutney and fulkopir bora. It was an awesome lunch that day !! :)

I generally use basmati rice to make this, but completely forgot that day, instead used normal long-grain rice that I use everyday !! But nonetheless, it tasted great with the spices and ginger-garlic paste !!
Let me post the recipe now ... :)

Khichudi



Ingredients :

Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Moong dal - 1 1/2 cups
Water - 10 cups ( I have tried with 4 times water, i.e. 12 cups for 3 cups of total rice and dal in pressure cooker ... but it was a bit more liquidy, this time 10 cups touched the upper mark in pressure cooker ... but when it was ready, the consistency was perfect ... so for 3 cups rice+dal, 9-10 cups is fine)

Onion - 1 small/medium , chopped
Potato - 2 medium, cut into halves
Cauliflower - 8-10 florets
Peas - 1/2 cup ( I dint give this time)
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 to 1 tsp
Cumin and Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 1, slit along the length
Bay leaf - 1-2
Salt
Pinch of Sugar
Oil and Ghee

** Khichudi can be made without onion, ginger garlic paste and the spices, and then also it tastes great. We generally have without these spices during Puja. In that case, just omit those and cook in the same way.

Method :

In pressure cooker, roast the moong dal till golden brown. Wash the daal and keep it aside.
Wash the rice very well and mix with the daal.
Add 1 tbsp of oil and fry the cauliflower florets till golden brown and then keep them aside.
Then fry the potatoes slightly and keep aside.
Add 1 tbsp oil and little ghee and when its hot , add cumin seeds and bay leaf ( tejpata).
When they start crackling, add the onions and fry them till soft . After that, add ginger and garlic paste and fry till the raw smell is gone.
Make a paste of the turmeric, cumin & coriander and red chilli powder with little water.
Add it to the onion and fry till oil separates out.
Then add the rice and dal and mix them properly. Also, add the potatoes, cauliflower , peas and tomatoes and mix well. Add about 1 tsp salt and a pinch of sugar.
Put 10 cups of water in the pressure cooker and taste for salt. I did it like this, had to add more salt . The salt was perfect this time.
Mix everything nicely and close the lid. Mine doesn't give whistles, so i cant tell for how many whistles it needs to be cooked. But slightly less than it needs to cook daal completely.

I cooked it for about 3 to 31/2 mins after the pressure regulator started rocking steadily. After it was done I kept it for few mins off heat and removed the lid.

Add 1 tsp ghee on top of it before serving !! :)


Tomato Chutney




Ingredients :

Tomato - 2 big, chopped into small cubes
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Whole red chilli - 1-2
Sugar
Roasted Panch Phoron - I made it as Mom told, by roasting panch phoron and then grinding them in the mixer.

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add red chilli.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they get mushy.
Add sugar and mix with tomatoes well.
Add very little water so that the chutney doesn't become too dry. Keep on adding sugar till it tastes right.
Take off the heat and sprinkle the roasted panch phoron on top of the chutney.
Enjoy as dessert after rice or khichudi !! :)

About my blog

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Tulip's Blog :) Tulip is one of my favorite flowers, hence the username :)
Here I will be posting about the experiences in my kitchen , recipes mostly from Bengal and other parts of India, and some international cuisines as well !! Enjoy your stay here and please share your comments :) ... Keep Smiling !!

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E-mail me at rasona2009@gmail.com

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