Lau Mung/ lauki in mung daal

Lauki/ lau or bottle gourd is a vegetable that blends very well with all types of daals. Bottle gourd juice is extremely beneficial for the body because of its high nutritional value. Due to its high water content, bottle gourd has digestive benefits and can help in the treatment of urinary disorders. Lau in mung daal is a popular bengali recipe.

Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients
Lauki/lau/ bottle gourd- The bottle gourd is first cut into very thin circular pieces and then the thin circular pieces are further cut into smaller pieces. Make sure not to cut very thick circular pieces and also do not finely chop the pieces
Panch Foron
Tej patta(bay leaves)- 1-2
Dried red chillies
Mung Daal- 1 cup roasted in 2-3 drops of mustard oil
Jeera powder
Dhania powder
Turmeric powder
Green chillies-3-4
Ginger paste
Coriander leaves-finely chopped
Mustard oil
Water
Salt to taste

Method

Take the mung daal and slightly roast it in 2-3 drops of oil. Do not roast it too much because then the daal not become soft on boiling.Then cook the daal in a pressure cooker. Keep it aside. Take a kadhai and add a small amount of mustard oil into it. Add dried red chillies, panch foron and tej patta into it. Then add the lauki and stir it in oil. Then add one by one the jeera powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder and salt. Then add a small amount of ginger paste and mix nicely.

Finally add the daal to the lauki in the kadhai and mix nicely. Add the chopped coriander leaves from above. Let the daal and the lauki simmer for sometime and mix nicely. Add a teaspoon of ghee.

Serve hot with rice.

Raw Banana in Mustard Paste

This is a very simple and easy dish. Raw banana is an extremely healthy vegetable due to its high iron content. Bengalis are very fond of sorsho bata (mustard paste). This is a dish of raw banana in mustard paste.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
Raw bananas- 2 cut into longitudinal pieces
Potatoes-2 cut into longitudinal pieces
Mustard paste- mustard seeds grinded with 2-3 green chillies and a pinch of salt
Dried red chillies
Green chillies- 2-3 slitted
Panch foron
Turmeric powder
Mustard oil
Salt to taste

Method

Take some mustard oil in a kadhai. Once the oil get heated up then add some panch foron and dried red chillies. Once the panch foron starts spluttering then add the raw banana and the potato pieces. Saute the vegetables very nicely in the oil. Once they become brownish then add the mustard paste, stir it nicely till it is well cooked. Then add small amount of water and let it simmer. Let it simmer till it attains a dry consistency. Add some slitted green chillies for garnishing.

Serve with hot rice.

Coconut Flavoured Gajar Ka Halwa

This sweet dish is a slight variation from the normal gajar ka halwa we usually eat. This recipe is a very popular Indian sweet dish recipe and is very easy to cook.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Carrots- 4-5 (grated)
Sugar- 4-5 cups
Coconut milk powder- 4 tablespoon
Cardamom: finely powdered
Cashew nuts: cut into small pieces
Almonds: Cut into small pieces
Pistachios: Cut into small pieces
Ghee/refined oil
Milk- 500ml
Milk powder-5 tablespoon
Khoya kheer-150gms

Method

Heat a small amount of ghee in a kadhai and then add the grated carrots to it. Keep stirring the grated carrots till it becomes soft and then add the milk, milk powder and khoya kheer to the grated carrot. Keep stirring so that it mixes uniformly. Let the carrots boil in the milk and become soft. Mash the carrots in the milk and then add the coconut powder, dry fruits and cardamom to the kadhai. Add the sugar and keep stirring till your gajar ka halwa attains a thick consistency. Once it is done remove from flame , cool it and then freeze it in the refrigerator.

Serve cold.

Dimer Bhapa (Steamed Egg Dish)

Dimer bhapa is a steamed egg dish. It is an unique egg recipe and quite appealing to the palate. It is a variation from the usual egg curries.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Eggs-5-6

Green Chilly Paste

Ginger paste

Onion paste

Garlic paste

Tomato puree

Cumin Powder

Garam Masala powder

Red chilly powder

Panch Foron ( a mix of fenugreek seed, mustard seed, cumin seed, fennel seed and nigella seed)

Bay leaves-1-2

Potatoes- Cut into big pieces, boiled and fried.

Fresh yoghurt

Refined oil

Method

Take a closed container which closes tightly. Beat the eggs and add a small amount of salt, turmeric powder, green chillies paste, red chilly powder to it. Beat the eggs nicely to mix all the ingredients. Take the container, grease it nicely with oil/ghee and then add the eggs to it. Close the container tightly. Take a wide vessel containing water and boil the water. Then place the closed container in the vessel and let it cook on steam for about 15-20 minutes. You can also place the closed container inside a pressure cooker containing required amount of water and then allow 1-2 whistles. After about 20 minutes take out the closed container, let it cool. Open the container, It is found that the eggs are baked. Since the container had been greased so the baked eggs should come out easily. Cut it into small cubical pieces.

Take a kadhai and add some refined oil, Fry the cubical pieces till they become yellow brown. Keep them aside. Then add some more oil, heat it and add the panch foron and bay leaves to it. Then gradually add 1 teaspoon each of ginger paste, garlic paste, onion paste, green chilly paste one by one. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato puree and keep stirring. Then add the whisked yoghurt, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chilly powder , garam masala powder to it. Keep stirring, once the spices are well cooked the oil will release on the sides. Then add the potatoes which had already been boiled, fried and kept aside. Add the cubical steamed egg pieces to the gravy and mix thoroughly. Once the gravy reaches a thick consistency switch off the flame. Add some ghee to the gravy.

Serve with hot rice, roti or parantha.

Tomator Chutney

Tomato chutney is an absolute essential after having a proper Bengali lunch. It is served at the end of the meal before serving any other sweet dish. This typical bengali chutney is also served during the durga pujas along with the 'bhog'. The sweet, tangy, spicy taste is simply awesome.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Tomatoes- 4-5 chopped nicely
Dried red chillies-2-3
Mustard seeds
Bay leaves-1-2
Turmeric Powder
Ginger paste
Salt to taste
Sugar/Jaggery
Cashew nuts- 4-5 chopped
Raisins
Tamarind Pulp (optional, can be added if the tomatoes are not very sour)
Mustard oil

Method

Take a kadhai and add 1 tablespoon oil into it. Let the oil get heated up. Once it gets heated up add bay leaves, slitted dried red chillies and mustard seeds to the oil. Let the mustard seeds crackle and then add the chopped tomatoes to the oil. Stir nicely for 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes become tender. Then add a very small amount of ginger paste to the tomatoes. Stir for sometime and then add a very small amount of turmeric powder and salt. Then slowly keep adding sugar/jaggery depending on how sweet you want your chutney to taste. Mix the sugar nicely and gradually your chutney develops a dark red colour due to the sugar. Finally add the cashew nuts and raisins. You can add tamarind pulp to increase the sourness. Do not add any water to the tomato chutney as it dilutes the taste. Let the chutney simmer for sometime and then remove from flame. Cool it before serving. Finally your tangy, sweet tomato chutney is ready to serve.

Serve it at the end of a typical Bengali meal.

Sattu ka Parantha/ Chatur Parantha

Sattu is an extremely healthy breakfast food. It contains all the essential nutrients and has digestive properties as well due to its high fibre content. Sattu paranthas are tasty and at the same time extremely nutritious and healthy.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients


Sattu- 1 cup
Mustard oil
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
Garlic- 1 teaspoon (chopped)
Ginger-1 teaspoon (chopped)
Green chillies-2-3 (chopped)
Roasted cumin powder
Garam masala powder
Red chilly powder
Dried mango powder (amchur powder)
Whole wheat flour- 4 cups
Refined oil
Salt to taste

Method


For the Filling


Take the sattu in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon of mustard oil to it, add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies to it. Then add a small amount of roasted cumin powder, garam masala powder, dried mango powder and red chilly powder to it. Mix all the ingredients very nicely with the sattu and then add some water to make a smooth and thick paste of  it.

For the Dough

Take the whole wheat flour, add some oil and then knead it properly by adding water. Make a smooth dough and keep it aside in a bowl covered with a wet cloth for some time.

Divide the dough into equal sized balls. Take a ball, make a hollow in the center and add the sattu filling in between. Close the ends properly and then roll out the balls to make your parantha. Add some oil in a tawa and cook the paranthas uniformly on both the sides.

Thus your sattu ka parantha is ready to eat. Serve with tamarind chutney.

Bread Pulao

An interesting pulao, a variation from the traditional pulao. This is a yummy breakfast recipe and is a rich blend of several colors.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

Potato: 1 Boiled and chopped
Carrots: 1 finely chopped
Green peas: boiled
Tomato: 1 finely chopped
Coriander leaves: finely chopped
Asafoetida (hing): a pinch
Curry leaves: 4-5 chopped
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Black pepper powder
Red chilly powder
Bread (preferably whole wheat bread): 4-5 slices cut into small pieces
Refined oil



Method


Take a kadhai and add 1 tablespoon oil. Once the oil gets heated up add a pinch of asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds and cumin seeds start crackling add all the vegetables and saute nicely. Once the vegetables mix nicely and become tender add a bit of salt, red chilly powder and black pepper and mix nicely. Add the bread slices and cook for about 3 minutes. Finally add the chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.