Its been ages now I guess. As I mentioned, being mother to a hyper-active 9 month old is a full time job....add an IT job to it and you have hell broken loose. Exactly what had happened to me. With audits going on at work, daughter down with cold, I felt I needed 48 hours days. I wouldn't even speak about nights...I am dreaming about sleeping like a child for 8 hours some day. That's a luxury currently :(
Lets come back to the recipe now.
I have a friend at work....Sudipta...a total foodie....a pork and beef addict like I am....only difference being that she could survive happily on Maggi for days.. not that I couldn't, but she just refuses to cook properly. She would do a daal and dheros bhaji with a sad face if she had to. But I feel bad for her poor hubby and for her as well. I still coax her to learn cooking...she actually tried cooking banana flower and even Paneer tikka one day. She is improving I guess.
This recipe, being so simple and yet so tasty, is to inspire her. Go on Sudipta, cook some more!!
For me, inspirations come in all shapes and sizes and from all directions as well. My mom, grand-moms, mother-in-law obviously top the list. Then there are others....friends, friends' moms, neighbors, aunts, restaurants, magazines, cookery shows, even the chowmeinwala near my office or Bapi Da's momo shop at Karunamoyee. All of them count.
I am not so much fan of how my mom cooks borboti or long beans, with potato in a tomato gravy. So I always avoided it.
This I learnt from my Gujrati neighbors. Now the Parekhs happen to be more than family. They virtually feed me and my sister when ma is not at home. Which is why I am so fond of whatever they cook I guess. A hungry stomach is fond of any food they can get hold of. Well jokes apart, the eldest Parekh wife, whom we call Boro Aunty cooks like a goddess and unfortunately likes to hold to her secrets. This is the only recipe I could get hold of and even after cooking this one at least hundred times, I fail to get the same taste. Seems she has cheated on me this time as well.
However mine comes out a close second to hers...so I could do with sharing mine with all of you. I am sure even those who hate string beans will fall in love with this recipe. I can have this every day and in every meal of my life and still not get bored with it.
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
About 500gm String beans or borboti.
1 tsp. asafetida/hing
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 tsp. ajwain
1.5 tsp. chilli powder
1.5 tsp. dhania powder
2/3 tsp. garam masala dowder
1.5-2 tbsp. oil
Salt
Recipe:
Chop the beans into 1/2cm or even smaller pieces.
Heat oil in the wok. Add ajwain, followed by hing and baking soda. Follow this with the beans and salt. Give a stir and cover. Put on low heat.
The string beans will release loads of water. Once it begins to dry up, add the rest of the masalas and just a sprinkle of water. Cover again and put on low heat.
Once the beans start looking like a mash and dries up, take it off heat.
I like this with rice and rice only...but I guess the health freaks could try with roti. I warn you it wouldn't taste the same though.
And there you have it. Enjoy with your rice.
Now this one is pure Bangal!! The first on my blog from the other side of the Ganges.
We Ghotis have had the luxury of staying on our own lands, our own villages or towns, in our own houses. We have had the good fortune of never having to let go of our roots or our near ones.
My in-laws on the other hand, like several other Bangladeshis, were forced to travel to Kolkata in the 70's and 80's, leaving behind ancestral home in Chittagong along with all what was dear to them. From being one of the richest in the village to becoming immigrants must not have been a happy journey.
As my mom-in-law says, they had to be immensely innovative in their cooking, having to do with whatever they had at home and making sure they wasted nothing. So nothing went into the garbage...vegetable peels, seeds, fruit peels and fish bones...everything were used up. The surprise laid in how they actually came up with delicious dishes with all kind of trash and leftovers.
This one is one of that kind. I fell in love with all kind of Bataas (Pastes) when I came to this house ... bottle Gourd peels, Green Banana peels, Parwal peels, Kochu Saak Bataa, Chingri Bataa...and the list is unending. Bottle Gourd Peel is my current Favorite. Previously I used to finely chop it up and fry it with kalo jeera and onions. That remains a favorite too, this is just a rendition.
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
Peel from a small Bottle Gourd.
8-10 cloves of Garlic (I love my Garlic...decrease amount if you want to)
5-6 Green Chili (Ditto on this one)
1/4 tsp Kalo Jeera (Black Cumin)
1 tbsp. oil
Salt
Recipe:
Put the peel into the pressure cooker with little water and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook through 2 whistles.
Once this cools down, make a paste of the peels along with black cumin, garlic and chili. I would prefer Sil Nora (Grindstone), but when time does not permit I depend on my loyal Mixer Grinder. Somehow although I never get the same taste...might be a psychological issue :D
Heat the oil in the wok. Add the paste and keep stirring at medium to low heat. This will take some time and finally your paste will dry up into a ball and the color with change from green to Brownish.
And there you have it. Enjoy with your rice.
Sada Lau or Dudh sorshe die lau is a staple in West Bengal during the summer. Its called Sada lau only because we do not add turmeric to it. It is supposed to act as a coolant during the heat.
Mom, being a pure Ghoti makes it on a bit sweeter note. She often adds maida or wheat flour to it to give it a creamy look. She obviously makes it pretty well. Proof being the fact that Baba, who is a self proclaimed veggie hater, eats this without uttering a word.
Now at in-law's, sweet is almost barred in all recipes. Firstly mom-in-law is highly diabetic and next obviously because they are Bangals and which sane Bangal adds sugar in their food!!?? I, however sometimes get tired of all this saltiness and crave for some sweet Lau or Mocha or Thor.
Then suddenly one day Hubby gets bored of the usual Lau Bori and Lau Chingri. I make him Lau Peyaj Posto (That I will post another day). Now he is even bored of that.
So today I eventually take a risk, and a big one that too. I try out mom's Sada Lau. Hubby should have had it at my house by this time, but mom tries to avoid all sweet stuffs when he is around.
Anyways now I am sure this is a fool proof recipe. Hubby and even mom-in-law got bowled out. Hubby had actually had it packed in his lunch box today. He called up just to say that he loved it. Now that's called success!! Yippee for me....now I can have some sweet stuffs occasionally.
Servings: 4 to 5
Ingredients:
1 small Bottle gourd
2 tsp. green chilli paste
1 tsp. whole black mustard
2/3 whole dry red chilli
4 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. mustard paste (I mix both white and black mustard for this ...2:1 ratio)
1 tbsp. sugar (add this according to your taste but I suggest try the sweeter version once)
Salt to taste
2 tsps. oil
Recipe:
Shred the bottle gourd (keep the peel for other recipes). Heat oil in a pan. Add the red chilli. Once it darkens, add the mustard seeds and wait them to splutter. Now add the shredded bottle gourd and salt and cover the pan.
The bottle gourd will release loads of moisture which in turn will also cook it. Once all the water dries out, add the green chilli paste and sugar (I added 2 Sugarfree pellets). Cook it for some more time.
Now mix the mustard paste with milk and add this to the dish. Cook it for another minute maybe or till the milk dries off partially.
This is ready now. However, try to have it once it comes to room temperature.
Tips:
1. You can add the mustard paste separately and then mix some maida with the milk and add it.
2. Add grated coconut to the dish if you want it a bit more yummy.
