Somnath Da's Kimbegunti, Inspired Begun Pora Mashed with Killer Keema

When Somnath RoyChoudhury is not thinking “ads”, he is  the muse for many food lovers all across the world.

Somnath and I were perhaps destined to meet, albeit online. He has immense knowledge about Bengali cuisine, particularly of the northern region of Bengal, and shares not just recipes, but little known facts about ingredients and recipes with a no-holds bar attitude.

Somnath Da, as he is lovingly called by many of his foodie friends stumbled upon this recipe of Bengali Begun Pora with Mince Meat while he was spring cleaning. This recipe was originally published more than 20 years ago by Anandabazar Patrika and belongs to Sujata Gangopadhyay.

The original recipe by Sujata Gangopadhyay asks for the brinjal/eggplant to be roasted by poking holes in it and stuffing the cooked keema (mince meat) in it. Then these inserts in the brinjal were plugged with garlic pods. Both Somnath and I skipped this step. Instead we have stuck with the more popular method of fire roasting our begun/eggplant/brinjal/aubergine/baingan!

Apparently, “Kimbegunti” is a pun derived from the Bengali word “Kingbodonti” which means legend. Also, if you look closely, you will see that the main ingredients of this dish are hidden in its name – Kim-Begun-ti.

Ingredients for Kimbegunti are:

For the roasted eggplant/begun pora

2 mid-size, light dark purple eggplant (about 750 grams) (Read how to choose an eggplant)
2 medium size ripe, red tomatoes
Few green chillies, woven on wooden skewers
2-3 tablespoons raw mustard oil 
Salt

Slice the eggplant lengthwise till its stem/head, making sure you do not separate the two halves. Fire roast the eggplant till its mushy.

Fire roast the tomatoes whole till the skin is charred and the tomatoes are mushy.

The green chillies can be fire-roasted while the tomatoes are being done. Just get enough char on the chillies and keep whole.

For the keema/mince meat 

300 grams mince meat (Somnath da used chicken, I used beef, the original recipe has goat mince)
1 medium size red onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped green chillies
1 teaspoon freshly ground garam masala powder (Black and green cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves)
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
1 heaped tablespoon fresh coriander paste (leaves and stem)
3 tablespoons plain yogurt, whisked with a couple of spoons of water
1 tablespoon fennel/mota mauri powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Kashmiri lal mirch/red chilli powder
Half teaspoon black pepper powder
Juice of one lime
2 bay
2 tablespoons mustard oil
Fresh coriander leaves finely chopped for garnish
Quarter teaspoon sugar
Salt

While the eggplant, tomatoes and green chillies are getting fire roasted, marinate the mince meat with the black pepper powder, lime juice and salt. About 30 minutes should suffice.

Heat mustard oil a thick pan. Add the sugar and let it caramelize. Now add the chopped red onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, bay and freshly powdered garam masala. Cook these ingredients on low-medium heat till they get coated with the garam masala and start releasing oil. Now add the ginger-garlic paste. Cook for some more time till the raw paste gets caramelized and turns light brown.

At this point, add the mince meat. Crank the heat up and brown the meat. Add the coriander powder, turmeric and red chilli powder.

Cook on medium heat for 5-6 minutes till you see oil surface on the sides. Turn the heat off and let the mince meat cool down a bit. Now add the coriander paste, whisked yogurt and fennel powder. Mix well and cook covered on very low heat lest the yogurt curdles.

Season with more salt if necessary. Remember that we had already added salt when we were marinating our mince meat. Cook the mince meat till the oil separates. Do a taste test and adjust accordingly.

Remove the charred skin from the eggplant and tomatoes as soon as they are warm enough to handle with your hands. The fire-roasted vegetables will also release a lot of juices as they sit in a bowl, make sure you have saved and used all that goodness.

Mash together the smoked eggplant and tomatoes with mustard oil and salt.

I did not mash the green chillies and kept them whole to be added at the end. Mix the eggplant-tomato mash to the cooked mince meat. Mix well, zing it up with some more raw mustard oil if you like it that way. Sprinkle some chopped coriander and mix that in.

DO NOT cook the eggplant with the mince meat now. The Kimbegunti is now ready to be eaten with fluffy rotis/chapatis. I added some sliced onions as well to my finished Kimbegunti.

My Mum's Fruit and Nut Cake

This is the only cake we knew growing up in Patna. Fancy cakes with icing and frosting were only meant for birthdays. And were mostly pre-ordered from Channa Uncle’s Cake Palace and later his brother’s Polson’s in Dak Bungalow Road.

This is one cake which seldom goes wrong. Perhaps your Mum made it too. That trademark treat to have with your glass of milk, or chai for grownups.

When we did not have an oven, my Mum used to make this cake in the gas tandoor. Some Mums from the ‘80s even made it in the pressure cooker.

I have made this cake after years. Just because its the husband’s birthday tomorrow, and I wanted to treat him with something I have learnt from my Mum.

Ingredients for My Mum's Fruit and Nut Cake are:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour/maida
1 cup sugar, powdered in the grinder
1 cup canola/vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
Quarter teaspoon vanilla extract
Raisins, walnuts, cashews, glazed cherries and tutti-frutti mixed together to form about half a cup
1 heaped tablespoon all-purpose flour (to dust the fruits and nuts)
1 tablespoon butter for the cake pan

Start by sieving the all-purpose flour and the baking powder twice. This will remove any lumps, etc.

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Butter a round cake pan (today I used a Bundt pan). Line bottom with parchment paper, and butter the parchment.

Now beat together the flour, powdered sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract till you get a smooth batter. (I use my blender.)

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the flour-dusted fruit and nuts on the batter. Shake off all the extra flour before you add them.

Bake for 45 minutes. Check by inserting a bamboo skewer in the cake. If the skewer comes out clean, your cake is done!

Slice and serve warm with tea, coffee or a glass of milk.

Between the four of us, a cake this size used to be over within minutes of my Mum baking it. This cake is great to bake during Christmas too. Gives you that old, world charm of eating a rustic, homemade cake and the house smells awesome too! Try it.

The Girl with the Phuchka Tattoo

This is the story of a girl who loves phuchka. The girl who thought she’d marry a phuchka wala when she turned 13.

The girl who wished to have the words “phuchka” carved on her epitaph upon her death. The girl who wanted a tattoo of phuchka on her heart. That girl is writing this post today.

My love for phuchka is famous. Even my in-laws joked that they’d have phuchka at my wedding reception, much to the shock of my Grandmother! Who still believes I will someday elope with a phuchka wala.

But why elope now? When I can make the meanest phuchka at home! And as a fringe benefit, I am married to a guy who is equally passionate about phuchka. Our getting-to-know-each-other over phone, emails, instant messenger was somehow always about that four letter word: F-O-O-D. Followed by the mention of the inevitable phuchka. After we got married, many times we’d do pillow-talk about phuchka too. Okay, I made that up.

I am a pretty tough girl when it comes to eating phuchka. I completely forget my hoity-toity convent education and get downright mainstream when it comes down to gulping phuckka after phuchka with élan. My personal best is a whopping 30!

I am also pretty touchy about calling my phuchka by the correct name. Its not pani-puri or gol gappa or gup-chup. Its phuchka. Pure unadulterated phuchka. The kinds you get on the streets of Calcutta.

I make the dipping water or phuchka’r jol by grinding together few sprigs of fresh coriander and a couple of green chillies. I then mix this paste with some tamarind pulp, kala namak, a pinch of red chilli powder, bhaja moshla and lemon juice. And pour enough water to fulfill the needs of dunking each stuffed phuchka in the water and then drinking little shot glasses of it on its own. You can throw in a few cubes of ice too. Just for special effects.

For the potato filling of the phuchka, I swing between using cooked lal chola (red gram) and yellow peas. I personally prefer the version with cooked yellow peas. Begin by pressure cooking the yellow peas (soaked overnight) with just enough water to cover them. One or two whistles should do it.

Now take ladlefuls of the cooked yellow peas and mix with boiled potatoes, chopped coriander, finely chopped green chillies (or green chilli paste if you can handle it!), bhaja moshla, kala namak, lemon juice and spoonfuls of the “water” we have already prepared. Give it a good mash, but just enough to retain the shape of the yellow peas. And please use your hand to do this.

It may be phuchka blasphemy for some, but I also add some chopped red onion to my potato-yellow peas mixture. I like it this way. You can completely give the onions a miss.

With all our bombastic, homemade ingredients now ready, its time to set your mouth on a flavourful fire.

Since I am not that enterprising, I choose to use store-bought phuchka. Convenience does have its own charm. Poke each phuchka right at the center with your thumb. You will probably end up crushing at least two or three if you are a first timer. Pretend to be a pro. For phuchka’s sake!

Stuff a little of that potato mixture, quickly dunk in the spicy tamarind water and directly put the ready-to-eat phuchka in your mouth. This should happen in seconds. No dilly-dallying. Else you will not only make the phuchka soggy with the wet ingredients, you will also deprive yourself from a burst of flavours in your mouth by two nanoseconds.

So go ahead. Pop that phuchka in quickly. For next awaits you is a plateful of alu kabli.

P.S. Did you realize there was no story to tell in this post? I just wanted to way lead you into looking at some phuchka photographs.

Thanksgiving with Tandoori Bhutta

In this short life of mine, I do have a lot to be thankful about. Like the vast expanse of corn fields from where comes the produce of my favourite thing in this whole wide world.

Its no secret that I adore corn. I used that same love for corn and mixed with some tandoori masala to make some Tandoori Bhutta/ Sweet Corn for Thanksgiving last week.

I am running late on this post. I can explain. But that can wait.

Before that, take down the recipe for Tandoori Bhutta.

Ingredients for Tandoori Bhutta are:

4 corn on the cob
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 tablespoons ready to use Tandoori mix spice
Juice of 1 lime/lemon
2-3 tablespoons mustard oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt

Mix together all the ingredients, massaging the spice blend, yogurt, mustard oil and salt into the corn.

Marinate for 3-4 hours.

Use a stove top rack/ roti mesh to roast the corns on direct fire. I have an electric cooking range, and the roti mesh works fine for me.

Make sure you switch the vents in the kitchen on when you are making the tandoori corn. It gets really smoky in there.

Baste the corn with the leftover marinade from time to time. Use butter to brush on the corn.

Keep moving the corn around to get equal cooking time on all sides. Once you see adequate char on the corns, take them off the heat.

Wrap aluminum foil at the stems for easy holding/eating. Squirt some lemon juice on them and serve immediately.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have so much to be thankful for everyday of our lives.