Dhaba Style Baigan Ka Bharta

When you are experimenting in the kitchen, you are not very sure if you want to share something as ordinary as a Baigan ka Bharta with your readers!
I don’t have a “gas” stove top here and have to do all the cooking on an electric oven range. Which is no fun if you are making the Bengali Begun Poda or the Punjabi version of the Baigan ka Bharta (Roasted Eggplant Mish-mash). Its in times like these that I have to toss my ingredients in the oven, and hope I get the taste which is close to the palate I have grown up to.

I know a lot of people do roast the eggplant in the oven, but this recipe of mine has roasted tomatoes (instead of raw ones) thrown in too!

Here is my recipe of the Punjabi Baigan ka Bharta!

Ingredients:

One medium size eggplant – I chose one which was about 350-400 gms
2 ripe tomatoes
Half cup green peas
1 medium size red onion finely chopped
Bunch of coriander chopped fine
4-5 green chilies chopped finely
5-6 cloves of garlic chopped fine
1 inch ginger chopped finely
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Drizzle of mustard oil
2 tablespoon ghee (melted)
Salt

Slit the eggplant from the center and cut the tomatoes in halves. Put them in a baking dish and drizzle some mustard oil. “Bake” them in the oven at 350°F for an hour. You want to roast the eggplant and the tomatoes till they are nice and plump and not shriveled. Gently remove the purple skin of the eggplant and its stalk. Squish the eggplant and the tomatoes (separately).
In a frying pan, heat the melted ghee and add the cumin seeds. And all the chopped culprits (except the coriander) one by one starting with the onions.
Sauté all the ingredients for about 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Add the already mashed up eggplant and tomato. Add the dry spices and fry for five more minutes till all the raw flavors are cooked.
Towards the end of the cooking process, add the already washed and drained (if you are using frozen ones) green peas. Add salt and mix well.
Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with roti or naan and maybe some Tandoori Chicken to get that complete feeling of eating at a North Indian Dhaba!
This is as good as Baigan ka Bharta can get in North America! Try it.

Pub Style Fries @ Home

For years potatoes have been misrepresented. But don’t underestimate the “lowly” potatoes. With the exception of Vitamin A, potatoes pretty much have all the nutrients, especially in its raw form, like the much needed  Vitamin C. But then we don’t eat them raw. We love to bake and boil them. Or deep fry them, the surest way to turn them into salty bites which never fail to touch our taste spuds.

Since my Blog is not about medical advice or the character of vegetables, I will go back to doing what I do well. Well…reasonably well! Sharing with you a recipe I learnt and tried out myself.

These Fries may look like your usual fare from fast food joints, but wait till you see that there is a culinary process and technique involved too! A Chef from a local pub shared this three-step fry-making process, here is how!

Step One:

• Peel and cut potatoes for fries
• Wash them thoroughly with cold water to drain off all that starch
• Blanch the potatoes in water for about 5-7 minutes
• Drain in a colander and put in an ice bath, to stop the cooking process
  

Step Two:

• Let the potatoes cool
• Put in a closed plastic box and in the fridge for 30 minutes (or until frying)
  

Step Three:

• Heat vegetable oil in a wok
• Start deep frying the cold potato strips till they get a nice golden color
• Season with salt and pepper
• Drain excess oil on a paper towel
• Serve hot!
  There you have them – a socially contagious side for that dinner tonight. 
  I served the crispy fries with some Jerk Chicken and fresh salad.
  

Sunday In The Middle Of The Week – Mangshow & Mishti Pulao

Almost without fail, my little sister B, our three pet dogs- Gittu, Dooga and Miss Webby, and I used to hover around the kitchen on Sundays. That was the day when very early in the morning my parents would go out to the local bazaar and stock vegetables, chicken and fish for the week. But that was hardly the reason why we were bushy-tailed and starry-eyed! It was the anticipation of a lunch of Mangshow (Bengali for meat, reference here is to goat meat) and Mishti Pulao (sweet Bengali pulao) that would keep us vulnerably close to any blackmailing my Mum would resort to on Sundays.

Of course, our three canine loves would be rewarded with a big bone each packed with marrow that day, enough reason for them to park themselves at the entrance of my Mum’s kitchen and curl their noses up every time the whistle from the pressure cooker went off, while their mutton stew was cooking.

I do not fuss much (or experiment) when it comes to a traditional recipe by my Mum. And why should I, when I know its just perfect. Or maybe I am too old and entrenched to change.

And change I brought with this very classic Bengali Sunday afternoon lunch – Mangshow ‘r Mishti Pulao, in the middle of the week on a Wednesday evening.Ingredients for the Mutton Curry (Mangshow):

500 gms of goat meat, cut into medium size pieces (I used the leg portion)
1 large onion finely sliced
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon green chili paste
2 teaspoon red chili powder
2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon coriander powder
2-3 whole green cardamoms
2-3 whole black cardamoms
3-4 cloves
1 small stick of cinnamon
2-3 bay leaves
2 tablespoon mustard oil
2-3 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves
Salt

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the whole garam masala (cardamoms, cinnamon, bay leaf, and cloves), let them splutter for a few seconds. Add the sliced onions and fry for a few minutes. Let the onions turn into a nice brown color, but be watchful not to burn them. Add the pieces of meat and fry till they start turning brown. Add the ginger-garlic-chili paste. I usually grind them all together.

Set the heat on medium and keep stirring frequently. You can cover the pressure cooker with a lid and keep frying the meat and the spices. This Mangshow recipe is the labor of love and patience, don’t hurry up on it. It takes me usually an hour to cook the meat in its own moisture. Once the meat and the spices have released enough water and get a lovely brown color, I add salt and water. Enough water to eat with the pulao. Its only then that I pressure cook the meat for about 15-20 minutes depending on the tenderness of the meat. I asked my butcher for a baby goat which doesn’t take much time to cook.

Garnish with chopped coriander. You will not run out of ideas to serve this Mutton curry with. But if you do, what I did last night, you are surely going to be much loved.

Ingredients for Mishti Pulao:

2 cups Basmati rice (soaked in water and sieved)
Handful of cashew nuts
Handful of raisins
Half cup green peas
2 tablespoon desi ghee
1 teaspoon grated ginger (a frozen piece of ginger is just great to grate!)
Quarter teaspoon grated nutmeg
2-3 green and black cardamoms
1 small piece of cinnamon
2-3 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 tablespoon sugar
Salt
Heat the ghee in a pan, add the cardamoms, bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon. Next to add are the cashews and raisins. Let them get lightly browned on slow heat. Add the rice, and mix well with the spices. Add the turmeric, nutmeg, ginger and fry for a few minutes. The rice starts getting aromatic with the nutmeg and ginger. Add the green peas, salt and sugar. Fry for another 5-7 minutes till you see any moisture evaporated and the grains of the Basmati separated.

Transfer the rice in a glass/ microwave safe bowl. I make this pulao in the microwave using the regular ratio for rice and water. 2 cups of rice to 3 and three-fourth cups of water. I cook it for 20 minutes in the microwave covered with a cling film. A few drops of lemon juice makes the rice look like little pearls!

Let it stand for a few minutes before you serve. You can then pull up a chair and enjoy the Mishti Pulao and Mangshow with some salad. And believe me, this dinner for us was a resounding “Yay”. It borders on indulgence of a purely luxurious kind, especially if you are making it in the middle of the week!

Chicken, Crème ++

A recipe is merely words on paper, a guideline; and some people choose NOT to share it. Its those critical times that you are left to decode the secret ingredients of some lip smackingly delicious dishes you have had. If you have lived in Delhi/Gurgaon/NOIDA, you will recognize the famous Chawla’s Chic-Inn and their signature Cream Chicken.

Apparently, it is this man, Attar Singh Chawla who invented the Cream Chicken during one of his kitchen experiments somewhere in Haldwani. One time, I had tried to befriend the man, no, not Attar Singh, but the Manager from one of Chawla’s Chicken franchisees. But I never was able to lay my hands on the recipe.

They are that protective!

I knew my taste buds wouldn't let me down, so here I am, deciphering what could be close to Chawla’s Cream Chicken from my kitchen to yours!

Ingredients for Cream Chicken:

6-8 pieces of chicken (I used skinless drumsticks)
One and half cup of whipped cream
2-3 tablespoon fresh black pepper powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 large onion finely sliced
2-3 black cardamoms
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt

Heat the oil in a deep pan, add the cardamom and bay leaf. Add the sliced onions and fry till they turn golden brown. Add the chicken, stir and cover for five minutes. I wanted the chicken to get a good color, so I took my time with them while adding the fresh black pepper powder. Keep frying the chicken till you see them turning light brown on all sides. Add the ginger-garlic paste and the coriander powder and fry for some more time on medium heat. Keep stirring so that the spices don’t burn. Turn the heat on the chicken to the lowest gas mark and slowly start adding the cream. Let it cook on the gentle heat. Keep stirring and scrape off any spices from the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
There is no need to add water to the Cream Chicken, by adding salt the chicken will release enough juices to cook on its own. Cook till the chicken is done and the cream coats the chicken pieces. Adjust the salt and pepper.

Serve hot with Naan or Rotis.
I hope you are still hungry ‘coz I still have some more cream left from the big pack I got! This time too, I am making what is a hot favorite of Delhiites, just that it is no more a North Indian appetizer. However, I will stick to a very Indian recipe in a world of some pretty painfully Anglicized versions of it.

Murgh Malai Tikka translated literally as Chicken Malai (Cream) Tikka is the big brother of all kebabs if you like subtle flavors. Creamy and elegant, above all Creamy Chicken Tikka almost melts in your mouth if you have the marinating time right!

Ingredients for Creamy Chicken Tikka are:

500 gms of boneless, skinless chicken cut into 1 inch pieces (I used the thigh portions as they are the most tender for any kebabs)
1 cup whipping cream
Half cup grated cheddar cheese
Juice of one lemon (or two)
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon green chili paste
Half cup minced coriander leaves
Half teaspoon mace powder
Half teaspoon nutmeg powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon black pepper powder
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for basting (This oil holds more heat and is the best for kebabs)

Whip up a marinade with the cream, cheese and spices, except oil in a bowl, add the chicken pieces and mix well. Marinade the chicken for 5-6 hours.
Set oven on Broil and preheat on High. Stick the chicken pieces on skewers and baste them with oil. Arrange them on a baking tray and they are ready to go in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes on each side. Turn the skewers mid-way when they start searing from the edges.
Squeeze some lemon juice and serve piping hot with onion rings. The cream keeps the tikka kebabs moist and the spices load them up very subtly.
That pretty much finishes up all the Cream I had in my fridge. Of course I saved a spoon or two to drizzle on my fresh fruits for dessert.