Kanchkolar kopta / Green Plantain curry

After a loong time I am here again with a recipe :) I dont know how the days are just passing by.... the evenings quickly roll into nights while I keep on thinking what new dish to make for dinner soon after we have some snacks after returning from lab...and the weekend gets over in a jiffy . This is going on for last one month which made me soo irregular in the blogosphere. I missed many posts of my friends/fellow bloggers and could not post the awards as well that have been passed onto me by my friends here. But...at the end of the day...I am liking what I am doing ... got to learn many things in my lab and looking forward to another opportunity. But I am still waiting for the much awaited call !!

Anyways, first I would like to apologize to my friends for the delay in acknowledging the awards ... I will post them very soon.

Hmm...now back to the recipe...I cooked some new dishes in between...will post them one by one. I made Kanchkolar kopta for the first time few days back...it really tasted great...we had it after so long...its a great dish when planning for a vegetarian treat or just to relish at home with rice :)

Kanchkolar kopta / Green Plantain Curry

Ingredients:

Kanchkola (Green plantain) - 2

Corn flour - 1tbsp

Garam masala

Onion - medium, 1 and half - chopped

Green chillies - 2

Tomatoes-1 medium, chopped

Potato - 1 medium, cubed

Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder-1tsp

Coriander powder-1tsp

chilli powder-1/2 tsp

turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Kashmiri mirch- 1/2 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste- 1tbsp

Salt

Sugar-a pinch

Vegetable Oil for deep frying.

Method:

How to make koptas ~

Cut the plantains in half and put them in a pressure cooker with water and salt. I cooked for 2 mins after the cap started rocking steadily. Mine doesnt give whistles, but I guess it would be 1 whistle. After 2 mins, the bananas were still a bit tough and I had to work hard to mash them. Maybe next time I will keep them for 3 mins.

After they are done, remove the skin which already softened. Mash them nicely. Add half onion, chopped, green chilli, 1 tsp garam masala and some salt to the mashed banana. Mix corn flour so that it binds well when frying. Mix everything well to get a tight dough. Make small balls ( I got about 16 koptas) from it and keep aside for frying. Heat enough oil in medium high for deep frying the koptas/koftas. Put the koptas in batches and fry till brown. ( Mine should have been more brown, next time will do that). Put them on a paper towel.

** The koptas are to be added in the gravy just before serving, otherwise they will soak all the gravy. I had put aside half of them to be used one day and refrigerated the rest for using second day.

Gravy ~

Heat 1tbsp oil in a pan. After its hot enough, add the cumin seeds. After they crackle , add the onions. Fry them till they are soft. Then add the potatoes and fry them together. (Potatoes can be fried separately before adding onions, but I was in a hurry, so did it together). Make a paste with little water and the masalas except garam masala. Add it to the onion. Fry them very well till oil starts separating from the sides of the pan. Then add the tomatoes and cook till they become mushy. Add a pinch of sugar and salt. Add water and bring to a boil. Then cook in medium heat till it is done. Sprinkle the garam masala over the gravy and simmer for 2-3 mins. Then put off the heat and keep covered for about 10 mins. Gravy is ready.

** Few minutes before serving, add the koptas to the gravy. Enjoy with white rice or pulao !! :)

Subho Bijaya & Happy Diwali with Gulab Jamun :)

Shobaike janai Shubho Bijayar antarik preeti o shubhechha - Wish you all a very Happy Vijaya Dashami and Happy Diwali in advance. I have been waiting to write this post for a long time now, but wasn't getting the opportunity. Actually, I got the research volunteer position in the lab for which I have been waiting for last few months. I wanted to learn various lab procedures and get some research experience. Since I was done with my exams in August, I thought to follow-up there and ultimately got it around 3rd week of September. I joined there as a volunteer (as of now, thats the only option as I dont have work permit in my Visa) .Here they are working towards developing more effective vaccines for children !! :) I am going there 5 days a week - normal work hours....thats why got busy and couldnt post for long !! Hope this experience will help me in future :)

Ok, back to the post !! I made Gulab Jamuns at home for about 5-6 times now... these are so delicious...can be made anytime if you have the mix at home. I have always made with Gulab Jamun mix - mostly with ' Gits ' mix. The mix comes in both 100g and 500g packets... the second one is a lot more economic :D The method is given in the back of the packet.

Gulab Jamun / Pantua

• First make the sugar syrup - Add 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 5 mins so that the sugar gets dissolved properly. Keep off the heat. You can taste the syrup, if some more sugar needs to be added, it can be adjusted at this point.
• Slowly add 50-60 ml of milk (or water) to 100g of mix and knead into a soft and smooth dough. If needed, sprinkle some water to make it smooth.
• Make about 12-18 small balls ( it will become double its size after being soaked in sugar syrup - so the size depends on your choice). There should not be any cracks on the balls. If there is any, take some oil/water in the palm and apply on the cracks. they will become smooth.
• While making the dough, heat oil in medium . ( it should be in medium to medium low to cook the sweets properly ). These will be deep-fried, so add oil accordingly.
• When the oil is ready ( test with a a very small dough, it should rise to the top of the oil immediately), add the balls to the oil.
• Fry them for about 7-8 mins- the colour will become reddish brown.
• When they are done, drain the excess oil and keep on a paper towel for about 2 mins. In the meantime, fry the next batch.
• After about 2 mins, add the fried balls to the hot sugar syrup. Make sure there is enough space for them to expand.
• These are ready to eat after 40 mins to 1 hour. But can be kept in the syrup as long as you want !! :)
• Enjoy !! :)

See you again ... Everybody Take care !! :)