Pachan (পাচঁন)

                                            

Pachan (পাচঁন)

Pachan (পাচঁন) - শুভ চৈত্র পার্বন এর বাংলাদেশের নোয়োখালী জেলা-র একটি বিশেষ্ খাবার ৷ Pachan means a recipe with five different types of vegetables as per Bengali cuisine. Generally on Chaitra Sankranti (a Bengali festival) we have this recipe.  But we use more than five types of vegetables in that recipe along with Raw Jackfruit.  In this recipe I used 25-30 types of vegetable including neem leaf,bhrami shaak, kundru(telakuchi), tulshi pata (leaf), kancha Haldi (raw turmeric) , Roasted dried bean seeds & lots of regular vegetable. Spices used mainly Ginger paste, Black pepper paste / powder and Dhaniya paste/powder , Turmeric paste,Red Chili Powder, Bay leaf, Panch Phorn. Raw Jackfruit is one of the main ingredients for this recipe.

  This is very famous recipe from Bnagladesh Nouakhali dist on Chaitra Sankranti (summer special) day.

Ingredients:

500 grm raw jackfruit
1 bowl vegetables (pumpkin, ridge gourd, beans, carrot, brinjal, potato, raw banana, sweet potato, Bitter Gourd, drumstick, radish etc. – cut in small pieces)
Varity of Green leafy vegetable- (whatever is possible you can add)
Cholar Dal-er Bora(Bengal Gram  Fritters)
Roasted hyacinth bean dry seeds (sheem-r shukno bichi)
2-3 Green chillies
1 Bay leaf
1 Dried Red chilli
1/2 tsp Panch phoron (Bengali mixture of 5 spices)
1/2 tsp Ginger paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp dhania powder
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
Little ghee
Mustard Oil

Method:

Boiled the cut jackfruit pieces with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt until just done. Jackfruit cooks very fast. Drain and keep aside.

Roast the hyacinth bean dry seeds (sheem-r bichi) then boil with salt until become soft , now peel the skin and keep aside.

Make the Cholar Dal-er Bora separately and soak in water for 3-4 minute to make them soft.

Heat oil in a pan. and one by one add the dry red chilli, bay leaf & panch phoron.
Let the aroma comes out of the spices.
Now add the cut vegetables (You can add as many types of vegetables as you want & green chillies into that pan.
Sprinkle little salt & turmeric powder & stir them well.
Cook covered for 12-15 minutes in medium heat.
Occasionally stir the vegetables so that they do not get burnt.
Now add the boiled the jack fruit pieces with all the spices & mix them well.
Stir for 4-5 min & add around 1/2 glass water or as required, it will be a little dry thick curry. Now add the boiled hyacinth bean seeds and daler bora and mix well.
Check for salt & spice. If require you can add 1-2 green chillies.
Spread 1/2 tsp ghee and graam mashala powder. PACHAN is ready & serve with hot rice or roti/chapati/paratha.

It tastes awesome & also very nutritious

Tip : when you cut a raw jackfruit, you'll see some sap got stuck to your knife. Place the knife over the flame of gas for a minute, then rub with newspaper, your knife will be clean.

Recipe By : Manna Majumder

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Prawns Golden Fry

                                                                      

Prawns Golden Fry

Prawns Golden Fry- A very delicious dish made with prawns marinated in a tasty battered paste and deep fried until golden in colour. Served with red chilli sauce. This is another quick and easy snack for the lazy evening or you also serve as an excellent side dish.

Ingredients:

500 grm prawns
200 - 250 gm of White sunflower or any Oil for Cooking

1 tbsp Ginger Paste
1 tbsp - Garlic Paste -.
1 Lime
1 tsp of Salt.
1 tsp of Green Chili Paste.
6 tbsp of Corn Flour
2 Eggs
1/4 cup of cup soda (or water)
20 grm butter melt
1/2 spoon black pepper powder
1/4 tea-spoon baking powder (optional)
1 spoon turmeric powder

 

Method:

Wash, shell and devein prawns, leaving the tails on. Sprinkle with salt and mix well.

Mix all the ingredients of marination (Ginger Paste, Garlic Paste, Lime juice, Salt & Green Chilly paste) in a bowl .

Marinate the prawns with mix and refrigerate for two hours.

For the batter - mix the corn flour, black pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt in soda (or water) with constant stirring leaving no lumps - once done mix the eggs until smooth. Now add the 2 tsp butter melt and mix it again.

Heat pan / wok. Add 4 cups oil and reheat.  Now take out one prawn and holding the prawns by the tails, dip into the batter, then drop into hot oil. Fry until golden, turning once. Drain. Serve hot. Deep fry it oil till golden brown. Repeat for the fillets and Serve it hot.

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Begun Posto (Eggplant in Poppy Seed Sauce)



Begun Posto(Eggplant in Poppy Seed Sauce)

Begun Posto- This is another traditional Bengali recipe. Eggplants are lightly sautéed and then cooked in the creamy poppy seed paste. It is  amazingly simple and tasty.

Ingredients

Small Eggplants- 400 grm

Whole Kala Jeera or Kalunji Seeds- 1/4 tsp

Poppy Seeds Paste-4 tsp

Water- 1/2 cup

Mustard Oil- 4-6 tbsp.

Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp

Green Chillies- 2

Sugar and Salt as per test

                                         

Method

Cut the eggplants in circular round or half round shape and marinate the eggplants with pinch of turmeric powder and     salt.In a frying pan, heat the mustard oil till the fumes appear. Then add the Kala Jeera seeds and let it crackle.

Now add the eggplants and lower the heat to medium low. Fry the eggplants till they are dark on the outer side.

Now add the poppy seed paste and stir the eggplants. Add Salt, sugar  and green chillies .Let the ingredients cook for 10-12 mins.

 Serve the eggplants with Rice or Roti (Indian Flat Bread)

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Palak / Palang Saag

                                                                      

Palak / Palang Saag

Palang saag : Spinach Commonly called “Palak” or Palang saag” in India, this is the most commonly available leafy green. Easily available in all vegetable market. You can buy whole spinach or just the leaves. The whole bunch is cheaper but you have to sort the leaves, wash off the mud and finely chop the leaves before cooking.

Leafy greens called “Saag” in Indian languages are an important part of any diet in all regions. Green leafy vegetables provide important nutrients like iron, vitamins and minerals. They also provide protection against all kind of chronic diseases.

Spinach with egg plant and potato

Ingredients:

• 3 bunch spinach (washed and chopped)
• 1 piece medium egg plant (diced into small cubes)
• 1 piece small potato (diced into small cubes)
• 1 tsp Black jeera (kalonji)
• 2-3 green chilies
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp oil  

Method:

Heat oil in a deep wok. When the oil is fairly hot add the kalonji and 1 green chili. Fry the potato and sauté for 2-3 minutes and add the egg plants in the same. Add the spinach. When all the leaves have wilted and the water has evaporated add salt, turmeric. Keep cooking till all the water evaporates. Garnish with the rest of the chilies and serve with rice.

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Kachu-r Saag / Ghonto

Kachu-r Saag / Ghonto

Kachu-r Saag is an absolutely delightful dish, belongs to bengali cuisine. The method of cooking this dish differs slightly from home to home. Every home has their own touch on it. But the main ingredients are always the same. Colocasia or Taro which is also locally known as kachu in Bengal grows abundantly in the rural areas of India.It is cheap and easily available in the market in many parts of South east Asia and tastes great if cooked properly with the right ingredients. Be careful while chopping and washing the Taro(Kachu) stems as sometimes they might cause slight irritation or itching to your hands,as a precaution you can either use gloves or rub oil to your hands before handling the Colocasia/Taro(Kachu) stems.

                             
 Colocasia/Taro(Kachu) stems are a very good source of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-2 and Vitamin B-6.They are also a good source of dietary fiber, calcium, Magnesium and Iron.  I hope that you will like this recipe.

 Ingredients:

 

2 to 3 bunch of edible Colocasia/Taro(Kachu) stems.

Tamarind paste

2 table spoon grated coconut.

1 bay leaf.

1 tea spoon fennel seeds

1 tea spoon ginger paste

100 grm pumpkin (Kumro)

1/2 cup roasted pea nuts. (you can use boiled whole chana / Black chickpeas)

1 tea spoon ghee.

1/2 tea spoon garam masala.

Salt as per taste

1/2 tea spoon sugar.

1/4 tea spoon haldi or turmeric powder.

1/4 tea spoon red chili powder.

1/4 tea spoon Jeera or cumin powder

 oil.

Method:

Wash the young and edible Colocasia/Taro(Kochu) stems properly and cut them in thumb size pieces. Boil slightly salted water in a pot and add the colocasia/Taro stems(Kochu) in the water. Add one tea spoon tamarind paste (optional) to avoid irritation.  Boil them for 4 to 5 minutes. Drain all the water and mash the boiled stems.

Cut pumpkin in small cube like pieces.

Heat oil in a pan or kadhai and fry the pumpkin cubes and keep aside. Now in the same oil add the bay leaf, red dry chili and fennel seeds and sauté for 30 seconds. Now add the grated coconut and saute for 2-3 minutes and now add the boiled colocasia(Kochu) stems into the pan and stir for for couple of minutes. Also add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, ginger paste and cumin powder, salt and sugar and mix well. Water will start oozing out from the mixture, cook it in medium heat till almost all the water evaporates. Now add fired pumpkin pieces and roasted pea nuts and mix well. Cook for another 1 or 2 minutes, add ghee and garam masala, mix and remove from heat.

Serve hot with rice.

Kochu sag is also cooked with the head of the hilsa. In this instance, the whole chana, coconut and milk are not included in the ingredients

Vegetable Chop

Vegetable Chop

 Vegetable Chop a very tasty deep fried traditional bengali item. That can be served as an appetizer, snack or as part of a meal to go with rice and daal. Specially on a rainy day or in winter evening there's nothing better than having vegetable chop as an evening snack with hot tea.

    Vegetable Chop is nothing but a vegetarian version of cutlet. The filling is a combination of mashed potato and some winter vegetables like, carrot, beetroot, peas and ground nuts. At first vegetable itself is cooked with spices and then it’s dipped in flour thin batter mix and then in breadcrumbs and fried in vegetable oil.

  Ingredients:

• ½ tsp of cumin seeds,
• ½ tsp of fennel seeds,...
• 6 cloves,
• 3 green cardamoms,
• Small ½ inch cinnamon stick,
• 10 peppercorns,
• 2-3 dry red chili,
• 1-2 dry bay leaf
• 2 medium sized beetroot, finely grated,
• 2 medium sized carrots, finely grated,
• 2 small potatoes, boiled and mashed,
• 1 tsp of grated ginger,
• 2 green chilies, finely chopped,
• 2 tsp of peanuts,
• Salt to taste,
• Sugar to taste,

• 2 tsp of flour mixed in a little water,
• 5-6 tbsp of bread crumbs




Vegetable Chop

Methods:
 First, grind the roasted whole spices and keep it aside. In a kadai, take 1 tsp of oil and lightly fry the peanuts. Keep them aside and in the same oil, fry ginger and green chilies till you get a light aroma.Into this add the grated beetroot and carrot and sauté well. Now add the mashed potatoes, salt, sugar and ground roasted spice powder. Mix well.Cool the mixture and make medium size cutlet balls.In a separate bowl, take 2 tsp of flour and mix it with a little water to get a thin batter. It shouldn’t be too thick. Roll each ball into the batter and then roll them in bread crumbs.Deep fry the cutlets in hot oil until golden brown. 

 Serve them hot with onion rings, ketchup or with mustard sauce ‘kashundi’

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Shukto



Shukto

 

Shukto-Bengali treat as a very special and traditional dish and have it on occasion like Marriage, Birthday etc specially those are from west Bengal, but as part of Lunch only. It’s a Bengali mixed vegetarian dish comprising of several veggies inclusive of Bitter Gourd, Green Banana & Drum sticks, with poppy seeds and mustard seeds paste and there are one more exclusive spice I used in my shukto recipe which is known as “Randhuni” that many Bengalis prefer to use while preparing shukto.

Ingredients

Uchche/Bitter Gourd(Karela): 1 (cut it in vertical pieces)

Begun / Eggplants: 1 (cut it vertically small pieces)

Kanchkola/ Green Banana/ Raw Cooking Banana: 1(cut it  2”vertically small pieces)

Potato/ aloo: 1 (cut it  2”vertically small pieces)

Sweet potato/ Ranga Aloo/ Sakkar Kandi: 1 (cut it  2”vertically small pieces)

Drumsticks/ Danta/ Danthal: 2 (cut it  2”vertically small pieces)

White radish/ Mulo/ Mooli: 1 (cut it  2”vertically small pieces)

Sheem/ Hyacinth Beans: 4-5 (cut it  2”vertically small pieces)

Ridge Gourd: 1(cut it  2”vertically small pieces)

Bori: 10-15

Poppy seeds/ Khuskhus/Posto paste: 2 Tbsp.

Mustard paste: 2 Tbsp.

Ginger paste: 1 Tbsp.

Panchphoran: 1 Tsp.

Radhuni: 2 Tsp.

Bay Leaves 2

Sugar: 1 Tbsp.

Salt to taste

Mustard Oil: for Frying and Tempering (around 4 Tbsp.)

Ghee/clarified butter: 1 Tbsp.

Milk: 1 cup

Water: 3-4 cup

Method

1  1. Hit Mustard Oil in a Wok and fry Bari in medium flame.
2. Now sprinkle some salt to the pieces of Eggplant and Ridge Gourd and fry.
3. After that fry Bitter gourd.
4. Now fry Green Banana, Potato, and Sweet potato, Drumsticks, White radish and Hyacinth Beans one by one.
5. Heat the remaining oil in a kadai and add panch phoron , radhuni and bay leaves. When the seeds start to crackle Add Ginger paste and cook for 1-2 minutes and add Poppy seed paste and cook for around 2 minutes.
6. Now add Mustard paste and again cook for around 2 minutes.
7. Add Salt and Sugar again cook for 1-2 minutes and then add milk and water to the Spice mix and bring it to boil.
8. Add all the veggies and cover the wok with a lid.
9. Cook for around 8-10 minutes in low flame or till the veggies cooked properly.
10. Check the water level and if required add some more water since Shukto should have sufficient gravy.

11. Add Ghee to the Curry and boil for around 2 minutes and switch the flame off.

12. Shukto is ready and served with plain Rice.

Tips: Panch Phoron is a mixture of equal quantities of fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds,mustard seeds, onion seeds and cumin seeds.

 

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Dalia-r Halwa

Dalia-r Halwa

Dalia or Daliya is made with whole raw wheat, it contains the nutrition of whole wheat as it does not undergo any processing to refine it. It contains fibre and protein and rich in iron, vitamin B etc. Dalia is also known as Lapsi, bulgar, burghul wheat or Fada.

There are many recipes made with dalia, both sweet as well as savories. This dalia halwa is easy and simple to make. It is a quick recipe to make for breakfast or when you need a quick sweet dish to serve with a meal. I made this with jaggery but you may use sugar if you wish.

INGREDIENTS:

Dalia (broken wheat, cracked wheat) - 1 cup

Water - 2 ½ to 3 cups as needed.

Jaggery(gud - brown sugar) – 3/4 cup, more or less according to taste.

Salt( optional - a pinch )

Ghee (clarifies butter) - 2 tbsp

Milk- ½ cup

Dry fruits such as chopped cashew nuts, almonds and raisins - 2 tbsp

Powdered cardamom - ½ tsp

Method

Add 1 cup of water and jaggery to a pan. Heat and bring to boil. Stir till jaggery dissolves. Take off fire and Keep aside.

In another thick bottomed pan, add ghee and dalia. Keep stirring for 2-3 minutes till an aroma rises from dalia. Now add milk to it and heat again and cook till the milk gets absorbed.. Mix and cover. Cook till the milk has been absorbed. This may take for 4-5 minutes.

Strain the dissolved jaggery water over dalia. Mix well. Cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes till all the water is absorbed and dalia is fully cooked. Add more water if needed. When dalia is fully cooked, add the chopped dry fruits and cardamom powder. Mix and switch off.  Keep covered till serving time. Serve hot.

Tips :The exact amount of water will depend on the variety of dalia.

You may use sugar instead of jaggery(gud).

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Boal Macher Jhaal

Boal Macher Jhaal

Boal Maach (wallago attu) is widely available in the fish markets in India. This is a meaty fish with little bones and no scales.  Boal Macher Jhaal normally I  cooked with minimum spices but as a taste enhancer and to give this age old traditional dish . This famous dish in Bangladesh North Sylet dist.

Ingredients

Bual / Boal Fish pieces – 400 grm / 4 pieces

Turmeric powder— 1tsp.

Red chili powder- ½ t

slit green chillies— six .

Onion paste-  1 Big

Mustard oil— 4tblsp.

Salt to test.

coriander leaf for garnish.

 METHOD

Marinade the bual fish pieces with turmeric powder, chili powder, onion paste, salt and one spoon mustard oil and keep it for 15 mint.

Now heat mustard oil in a deep bottomed pan. Now fry the fish pieces with medium flame t and after flip the fish to fry other side.  Fry it till oil come out. Then add slit green chilies. Now add 2cup water and Cover and let it boil in low flame for 5 minutes till the fish is properly cooked.

Bual Macher Jhaal is ready to be served. Now garnish with coriander leaf and serve it with hot rice.

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