Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Made in Shantiniketan, Bidisha Didi’r Chhana-Posto Bhaate

Chhana chai, didi? Chhana chai? Ek dom tatka.” The chhana wala would call out every morning. And Didi would invariably oblige. Chhana was her weakness, and so was helping all those street vendors who came hollering every morning. They knew Didi would always buy.

When Didi was done making Chhanar Dalna, some chhana would still remain. And with all that extra chhana, she’d make this bhaate. A steamed goody made by mixing equal quantities of poppy seed paste, fresh chhana, chopped red onions, chopped green chillies, and a generous dash of mustard oil. And if little sister Bipasha was visiting her in her Shantiniketan home, Didi would make sure she made a tiffin-boxful just for her!

038

053

Didi would serve her specially made Chhana-Posto Bhaate to little sister with plain white rice. She loved watching Bipasha mix little dollops of the bhaate into the shaada bhaat, deftly using her fingers to mix everything and eat with satisfaction writ large on her face. There were times little sister would give big sister’s maachher jhol a miss and finish all her rice with the delicate-tasting bhaate. That’s how much she liked it. And why not!

Ingredients for Bidisha Didir Chhana-Posto Bhaate are:

4-5 tablespoons poppy seeds/posto, made into a coarse paste
Equal quantity of fresh, homemade paneer/chhana, crumbled lightly
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
5-6 green chillies, finely chopped
Generous dash of mustard oil + extra while serving
Salt

016
017
018
019
In a steel tiffin box, mix everything together – the posto, chhana, onions, green chillies, salt and drizzle the mustard oil. Close the lid of the box and keep in a pressure cooker. Fill the pressure cooker with a cup or two of water. Make sure you don’t cover the tiffin box with water.

024
025
026

Close the pressure cooker and cook the chhana-posto mixture till two whistles go off.

037Remove the box as soon as you are able to open the pressure cooker.

Mix the bhaate, add an extra squirt of mustard oil if you want to and serve hot with plain white rice. The addition of the chhana to the posto adds a lot of creaminess to this bhaate. Its a great recipe for vegetarians who’d get protein from the paneer. We loved this new bhaate for its unique and simple flavours.

052(Bipasha and big sister Bidisha both live in the US. Little sister often visits Didi in Princeton, New Jersey just to eat her Chhana-Posto Bhaate. Thanks to the two sisters for sharing this recipe. Its for keeps.)

16 comments:

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

lovely post... completely new dish...
love it...

sangeeta said...

This tastes phenomenal. Loved the way you steamed it in a steel box. In MW it becomes a bit dry sometimes.

Beautiful story to tell :-)

Srirupa said...

Bipasha is my closest friend in the whole wide world. Though I have never had Didi'r hather ranna, I can vouch for a treasure trove of detectable recipes and great food knowledge between the two!

I began my real cooking journey with Bipasha i.e being her sous chef in all sorts of foodie adventures and her being my sole guniea pig (sometimes, Kaku, her father too) is many many of my culinary misadventures :))

Dew said...

I love allllllllll your recipes and tried quite a few and they are always bang ON. :)

Thanks for sharing them with all of us. And yes, have been a fan of your photography too :) Teach me pls.

(www.crystaldewdrops.wordpress.com)

Priya Suresh said...

Irresistible,droolworthy and totally inviting.

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Eita ekdon notun dhoroner recipe podhlam. khoob shigiri banabo...Thanks for sharing this recipe

Jaya M said...

Lovely recipe ..thanks to Bipasha, Bidisha and to you Pree too for bringing out a very flavourful recipe into net :-))..hugs

Bong Mom said...

Eita best notun to. BBQ lei khete icy he korche

Bong Mom said...

DARN autocorrect. Dekhei khete ichche korche

Unknown said...

What an interesting combination. I am sure it would taste heavenly... Try kortei hobe:-) and thanks for the lovely writeup abt Didi and Shantiniketan...

Unknown said...

This is really interesting…
puneonnet.com

Ushnish Ghosh said...

very nice and new for me

chennaicakesdelivery said...

nice blog. visit was useful. from - www.chennaicakesdelivery.com

urmimala.bose said...

the whole blog is so exquisitely written with a literary flavour that just reading the same gives a kind of satisfaction.you remind me of Leela Mazumder,her writng style of story telling,flavour .you really are great.
In fact my daughter staying at Hyderabad has introduced me to this bolg.The very first line,'icook because I care has mesmerised me.
Posto-bhapeta try korbo.Tomar Mishti polao try korechhi,kheye eto maake mone parlo thik sei rakom swad.kasha mangsho tao khub bhalo amar chhele Riju kheye uchhosito.
onek shubhokamonay

urmimala.bose said...

the whole blog is so exquisitely written with a literary flavour that just reading the same gives a kind of satisfaction.you remind me of Leela Mazumder,her writng style of story telling,flavour .you really are great.
In fact my daughter staying at Hyderabad has introduced me to this bolg.The very first line,'icook because I care has mesmerised me.
Posto-bhapeta try korbo.Tomar Mishti polao try korechhi,kheye eto maake mone parlo thik sei rakom swad.kasha mangsho tao khub bhalo amar chhele Riju kheye uchhosito.
onek shubhokamonay

Anonymous said...

Great blog.. Yummy recipies love to taste it..
food delivery near me| Millet food in chennai