All about "colourful" cuisine

Gujarati Cuisine (part-2)

In my previous blog Gujrati Cuisine part-1 I have mentioned that there are so many varieties of Gujarati snacks present other than dhokla and fafda. After the Gujrati Cuisine part-1 we are here with the Gujarati cuisine (part-2). This blog will include the variety of  main courses that served in this cuisine. As we have seen that how "Gujjus" mix and match the flavors and make dishes more interesting and happening. Now moving forward let’s see that how they play with flavors while making curries, rice, dal, roti (chappati) etc.

So, here are some lip smacking Gujarati main course dishes enlisted :-

1.     Sev tameta nu shaak

This delicious sweet, spicy and tangy gravy is really very easy to make. Oops! I forgot to decode it, so here I go: - “Sev”-crispy fried gram flour vermicelli and “Tameta nu shaak”-tomato curry.  This dish is combination of gravy and crispies (i.e. sev). The sev is not only used to garnish the tomato curry but to push the flavors of the curry to next level.

Key ingredients - Sev, tomato, ginger and coriander.

2. Puran Poli

It’s a kind of stuffed parantha or stuffed flat bread which is sweet in taste. The filling(Puran) of this parantha is the mixture of skinned split Bengal gram/chana dal, jaggery and fennel powder etc. and then the poli is made up of  wheat flour and ghee(clarified butter). This can be served with yogurt, tea or warm milk. This flatbread is mostly consumed in winters as it consist of jaggery which usually increases the body temperature.

Key ingredients- Bengal gram flour, jaggery and wheat flour. 

3.     Thepla

It’s a kind of soft flatbread which can be enjoyed in any meal of the day. The best part is that it’s much lighter than chapatti and of course it taste better; as it consist of besan (chickpea flour), methi, ajwain (carom seeds), wheat flour and so on. This is mostly served with spicy chilly pickle, chutney or tea.

Key Ingredients- Besan,wheat flour and  Methi .

4.     Gujrati Kadhi

This kadhi is white in color and it’s sweet in taste. Obviously, as I said previously that Gujjus always balances the taste and add the twist of sweetness in most of their dishes. This kadhi helps in lowering down the body temperature and hence mostly consumed in summers. This  can be served with steamed rice or roti.

Key Ingredient - curd, besan and jaggery.

5.     Undhiyu

This dish tastes authentic when it’s prepared in earthen pots and the process of cooking Undhiyu is bit different and unique. Undhiyu is derived from the word “Undhu” which means upside down. As the “Matlu” or “Matla” (i.e. earthen pot) is placed upside down and sealed tightly. One can also say it’s a kind of “One pot vegetable” dish, as it includes varieties of vegetables in an earthen pot and prepared by a slow cooking process. This also taste spicy, sour and sweet like all other Gujrati dishes. This can be served with shrikhand, pooris  or roti.

Key ingredient - surti papdi (Indian beans), small brinjals, pigeon peas, sweet potato and potato.

Interesting? isn't it? So many dishes with so simple and delicate preparation.You guys want more cuisine related post? then comment below.
till then Happy Burping!!

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All about “colourful” cuisine

Gujrati Cuisine (part-1) 

Gujratis or Gujjus are often get teased by dialogues like “Kemcho, maja ma?”, “Su kare che?” etc. Their language is as sweet as their culture. Now, let’s talk about their cuisine, one thing you all must have noticed in Gujrati cuisine that they mostly include sugar or jaggery in their dishes. That’s how they keep the balance of sweet and salty flavor in the cuisine.  This unique combination of spicy, sweet and salty flavors all together helps in digesting the food in a better manner. So yes, Gujratifood is tasty and healthy, at the same time(wink).

One more thing that I found common in the dishes of this cuisine is “Tempering” or “vaghar”. Tempering is mostly done with curry leaves, coriander leaves and mustard seeds. This enhances the flavor and the beauty of the dish.

As this is part-1 of Gujrati cuisine, we will discuss about the snacks that are commonly served under the category of Gujrati cuisine. Their snacks mostly consist of besan (Chickpea flour), bajra, moongdal, tomato, jaggery, sugar, etc.

1.     Khandvi

This is a light sweet snack which is mostly served with chaach (buttermilk). It is lightly sweetened chickpea flour (besan) roll which is tempered with curry leaves, mustard seeds, ginger and chilies. Kandvi is mainly stuffed with grated coconut, pomegranate and coriander leaves. It can make your evenings light and sweet!

Key Ingredients: Besan, Curd, turmeric powder, coconut and ginger and chili paste.

2.     Khakra

It’s a type of papad or cracker which can be enjoyed any time of the day and it’s really healthy as it is made up of wheat, chickpea, jowar or bajra flour and cooked in a low flame (without the use of oil). One can also bake it in oven, the result will be same. This light and low calorie snack can be enjoyed with peanut chutney, tomato chutney, chaas (buttermilk) or tea. It is perfect for your tea break!

Key ingredients:  wheat flour, chickpea flour, low fat milk and cumin seeds.

3.     Muthia

This snack mainly falls in the category of croquettes. The preparations of this snack are of two types – fried and steamed. Muthiyas are tempered with sesame seeds, mustard seeds and fresh coriander leaves. Tempering helps in enhancing the taste of this simple yet amazing dish. So, one can choose whether they want to have it in a healthy way i.e. steamed or the greasy way i.e. fried. This snack is pretty interesting as it shoots varieties of flavor, all at once.  There are many faces of muthiyas like methi-muthia, palak-muthia, lauki-mithia, moolimuthia and so on. You can add veggies of your choice to make it even more interesting!

Key ingredients:  besan, wheat flour (atta),vegetables and sugar.

4.     Handvo

Here comes the most interesting recipe of this cuisine. It’s a spicy cake which includes lentils, rice, vegetables and spices. As it is baked so, definitely the calorie count is low and top of that just have a look on the ingredients or should I say “healthy” ingredients.  So, next time you categorize cakes under dessert, keep spicy Handvo in your mind.

Just like all other Gujju dishes, this too is tempered with curry leaves, coriander, mustard and cumin seeds. After all, this is the forte of Gujarati cuisine that one cannot dare to miss; otherwise they will miss their originality!

Key ingredients: Rice, lentils, bottle gourd, Curd and baking soda.

5.     Lilva Kachori

First of all let me tell you what is “Lilva”, in English, it is known as pigeon peas and in Hindi it is called as Tuver and” Kachori” is a kind of fried dumpling. In this the “Lilva” is combined with cumin seeds, asafetida (heeng), ginger-garlic paste, sugar and lime juice. The shape given to this kachori is round and pleated and carved in a beautiful shape. This kachori can be enjoyed during tea time or can be a good option for breakfast also. Morning or evening, this kachori will surely make your day beautiful.

Key ingredients: Pigeon peas, ginger/garlic paste, all purpose flour and lime juice.

Drooling?! Make these simple and healthy snacks at home and you will surely love them. if you want me to post recipes for the same then comment below.

You can also find Khandvi, khakra and fafda at Bikanervala or any other sweet shop.

Happy Burping!!!

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All about "red and white" cuisine

Bengali Cuisine-3

 

In this blog we are going to talk about the most interesting part of any cuisine i.e. dessert. For dessert we always have some vacant space in our tummy, isn’t it? We, Indians especially believe that one cannot complete a meal without having a sweet dish!

When dessert is served at the end, it helps us to digest our food, and also keep us stick to our dinning place till it is served. Maybe, this must be the reason of keeping it at the end. After all, good things take time! Generally, all the menus contain dessert names at the end, but if you are a follower of Ayurveda then you must have it before taking the meal. It keeps our health in a good shape as our body cannot do without sweets.

Let’s talk about the Bengali sweets; they are mostly made up of chenna (i.e. cheese curds) and then further combined with corn flour/Maida and sugar/jaggery. These are the key ingredients of Bengali sweets. When they combine together to recreate a sweet magic; that magic helps us to satiate our taste buds.

Bengali cuisine has abundant varieties of sweets which will surely make you drool. If you have a sweet tooth then you have landed on the right place. After reading this article about scrumptious Bengali sweets, you will definitely crave for a dessert!  That’s guaranteed!    

In this blog I have listed some of the “Famous Bengali sweets/desserts” (I tried to keep it short but Bengali chaps are way too smart, they tricked me with so many yummy sweet dishes that I just cannot decide which one to keep and which one to delete). I have also shared the ingredients of each sweet with you, so in case you crave to have it and have all the ingredients at home then why not make it yourself! I am also planning to share the recipes in my next story. Anyways, let’s get started:

•       Chom Chom  

This dessert comes in numerous shapes and types like round Chom chom with pistachio filling, flat Chom chom with malai filling, pink Chom chom with grated coconut garnish, laal (red) chom chom, white chom chom etc.

Ingredients (basic): Chenna, all purpose flour, sugar, cardamom powder (optional).

•       Roshogulla

This dessert needs no description, because if you will talk about Bengali cuisine and dessert (to be specific), the very first name that comes to our mind is “Roshogolla”. A soft spongy Bengali delicacy dipped in sugar syrup (chashni) is what makes us drool.

Ingredients: Chenna, all purpose flour/corn flour, sugar syrup.

•      Chennar golla

This dessert is also called as “Malai ladoo” as it is so soft that it melts in your mouth just like that. The name of the sweet already suggests the key ingredient of this one, so I am assuming you already got to know about it.

•      Rajbhog

It is also a kind of Roshogulla which is yellow in color and has a filling of nuts and Mawa in it. Rajbhog is a royal dish. The rich texture of this sweet says it all.

       Ingredients: Chenna, sugar, yellow or saffron food colour, kesar (saffron), pistachio, almonds, mawa(khoya).

•       Malpua

It is kind of syrupy small pancake dipped in sugar syrup and can be served with kheer or rabri. It’s a kind of fried dessert which is then further dipped in sugary syrup.

Ingredients: Maida, sugar, rava (semolina), milk, desi ghee(clarified butter).

•     Shondesh

Shondesh comes in varieties like gur (jaggery) shondesh, Rosh bhora ( jaggery syrup filled shondesh), white sondesh (the typical one), mango sandesh etc.

Ingredients: Chenna(crumbled paneer) , sugar/jaggery, khoya(optional) , cardamom powder.

•       Lady Kenny (ledikeni)

Lady Kenny is a type of Gulab jamun which is cylindrical in shape and it’s much tender than Gulab jamun, as it is made of crumbled paneer (chenna) and maida.

Ingredients: Chenna (crumbled paneer), sugar, cardamom powder, desi ghee, and maida.

•      Lobongo lotika (long latika)

Bengalis can have sweets anytime and anywhere. So, if you are thinking to have something as a evening snack with your cup of hot tea. Pack some on the way to home, these are sweet tea-time snacks. This flaky, deep-fried, sugar-syrup-coated pastry is filled with mawa and nuts, nicely folded and pinned with a clove.

Ingredients: Maida (all purpose flour), Mawa (khoya), nuts, sugar, clove, desi ghee.

•      Gurer chaler payesh (Jaggery rice kheer)

Bengalis use special kind of rice to make this kheer i.e. gobindobhog. This rice pudding (kheer) is cooked with jaggery instead of sugar. This is cooked on almost every occasion like Durga puja,  Laxmi puja, Saraswati puja, birthdays, marriages etc.They use  specific jaggery to make this kheer namely nolen gur or khejur gur.

Ingredients: Gobindobhog rice, jaggery(nolen/khejur), milk, nuts.

You can find these delicacies in Market 1, C.R.Park, New Delhi.

if you haven't watched Bengali cuisine -1 and Bengali cuisine-2, do have a look on them and give your valuable comments.

till then Happy Burping!!

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All about "Red and white" cuisine.

Bengali Cuisine (part 2)

 Evening snacks is the best meal of the day. It mainly comes up with food elements like pakoras, cutlets, fried croquettes, rolls etc. that we all love to relish with some dips, sauces and salads. Whether the snacks are from streets or kitchen we all love to enjoy it by keeping our diet plan aside. After all!! Quick bites are the best thing to have in this fast n furious lifestyle.

Well!! Bengalis Cuisine has abundant varieties of yummilicious snacks and quick bites which will surely launch missiles of happiness in your soul and your love for this cuisine will break the food-o-meter.

So let’s get started with types of lip smacking and alluring snacks in Bengali cuisine.

·         Mochar chop

This is a kind of cutlet or croquette filled with mocha (no!! not coffee mocha). Mocha is the “Banana flower” that is used in this dish along with some grated coconut, roasted peanuts, mashed potato, coriander, tamarind and spices. These all ingredients are then mixed and coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried. This alluring brownish golden treat is then served with salad and kashondi (mustard sauce).

·         Ghugni

This is a kind of semi gravy “Yellow peas chaat” garnished with chopped onion, coriander and chilies. This snack is very famous in Kolkata streets and it’s really good for someone who likes to go less on spice but more on flavors. This is a simple snack with crackles of flavors in it. It hardly takes 30-40 min to cook. This can be served with loochi (Maida poori) or you can have it as it is.

·         Beguni Bhaja

Struggling with difficult words?! I am here to decode it for you and will make sure that you drool for this snack too. Beguni bhaja is a simple deep fried “Sliced eggplant pakoda” but the coating of the brinjal should be puffed up. So yeah! Terms and conditions applied. This is mainly twinned with rice and dal, but yes of course you can always have it with chai (tea).

·         Muglai Parantha

This is not a usual parantha that we all have in our breakfast. This is a kind of deep fried envelope filled with egg, sliced vegetables and minced meat. The outer covering is made up of all purpose flour (Maida). Both of my vegetarian and non vegetarians’ friends can enjoy this snack by choosing the type of filling according to their preference. It’s a crispy delight which can easily fill up your tummy and satisfy your hunger but leaving you with wanting more desire.

·         Rolls

In many streets of you must have seen “Kolkata’s famous rolls ”, this tagline is used to influence huge crowd of Delhi (or any state). Rolls made by Bengalis don’t follow the basic recipe. Fillings like chicken ,mutton, cottage cheese, vegetables and many more are first prepared with lots of love and authentic flavors and then wrapped in thin flat bread (made with all purpose flour) with mustard sauced and sliced salads.

·         Chur Mur Chaat

It is a tangy, savory chaat. It involves some really alluring mixture of exciting ingredients like crushed phucka, boiled yellow peas, soaked tamarind, boiled potatoes, chopped onion, chopped chilies etc. Phucka is golgappa only, made with whole wheat flour (Atta) and semolina (Sooji). These all ingredients are then mashed together and sprinkled with some spices and then served with love.

·         Fish Cutlet

Fish is the lifeline for Bengalis, so how they can resist themselves from including this staple food in their snacks. This cutlet is made by marinating fish fillets and then coating it with breadcrumbs, egg and all purpose flour. It can be served in every meal, not an issue .

 Drooling?! don’t worry I have a perfect solution to calm down your excited taste buds, you can get all these snacks from Mochar chop to Fish cutlet at Market-1,Chittaranjan park, New Delhi.

Show love to my post and will come soon with Bengali cuisine (part 3).

Happy burping!!!

Click here to view Bengali cuisine part 1.

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All about 'Red and white' cuisine

 Bengali Cuisine(Part 1)

Bengali cuisine is mainly less on spice and more on flavors. It is all about flavors extracted from herbs, roots and seeds. In other words, you can say that Bengali dishes are rich because of the whole spices. Many dishes from this cuisine are healthy for your gut as well as are low on spice.

So, let’s now talk about those simple dishes that make Bengali cuisine an interesting one!

P.S.: If you are health freak then this is especially for you!

·         Aloo bhate - Mashed potato (combined with few drops of mustard oil or ghee, salt and coriander) and it is eaten with steamed rice. You can even add sliced green chilies and chopped onion to have it like a royal dish (as Bengalis call it).

·         Posto bata- Posto (poppy seeds), green chilies, coriander leaves are grinded together with a few drops of water and mustard oil over the “sil batta”. You can relish it with steamed rice.

By now, you must have realized that Bengali cuisine is very healthy and delicious at the same time. The very important part of Bengali meal is ‘rice’; it is the soul partner of every dish. No meal is complete without steamed rice. It is mandatory to have at least one rice meal in a day for Bengalis, it is a kind of ritual, one can say.

Now let’s talk about the staple food of Bengalis, Fish, and bong loves it when you say ‘Maach’! There are different kinds of fish available in the market like Rohu, Katla , Bhetki, Ilish, Mahseer, Magur, Chingri and Vaam.

Note:  Bengalis always prefer freshwater fish over sea water fish. There is a huge difference between the two. Freshwater fish are more sweet and succulent in taste in comparison to sea water fish.

Ilish is known to be the king of all fish for Bengalis. It is also used in auspicious occasion like marriage.

 Bengalis can have ilish in any form but here are the most finger licking ilish maach dishes that you can relish anytime anywhere.

Ilish paturi – In this, the fish is marinated with mustard paste and then wrapped into a banana leaf. It is then steamed in a steamer and tastes like heaven.

Doi ilish – In this, the fish is cooked in mouthwatering mustard sauce and yoghurt gravy. It is slightly spicy, but creamy in taste.

Sorshe bata diye ilish er jhal- The fish is cooked with the rich taste of mustard paste and mustard oil is used to prepare the dish, so yes, the key ingredient is mustard only.

Other than ilish (hilsa), Bengalis have a wide variety of other fish dishes as well. We have listed a few for you.

Daab chingri- It is rather a weird yet scrumlicious dish. The prawns or shrimps are slowly cooked inside a tender green coconut shell. It has a unique taste that reminds the rich and traditional culture of Bengalis.

Rui maacher kalia- Rohu fish is something that Bengalis can have almost every day and in every meal. If you have a Bengali friend then you must already know that it is kind of staple food for them. Rui maacher kalia is oily, spicy and rich dish that can be teamed up with steamed rice.

This was only a small portion about Bengali cuisine,will come with more related posts soon!
View Bengali cuisine part 2 to know more about this cuisine.
Till then Happy burping!!

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