Chingri Posto - A Bengali Prawn Curry in Poppy Seeds paste

In traditional Bengali cuisine there are a lot of preparations with poppy seeds paste. This one is a yummy prawn preparation with poppy seeds paste and mustard paste. The relatively bland taste of poppy seeds paste is nicely blended with the strong taste of mustard paste and the gravy becomes thick with coconut paste. This is not a recipe which takes a large amount of time. You and your family will like this for sure.

Preparation Time: - 10 min

Cooking Time: - 30 min

Servings: - 2~3 persons

Ingredients:-

• 8 pieces Large prawn (approx. 300 gm.)
  
  
  
  
• 1 large Onion
• 4~5 tbsp Poppy seed paste
• 4 tbsp Coconut powder
• ½ tbsp mustard paste ( I used readymade paste from Sunrise mustard powder but you may grind mustard seeds to make mustard paste )
• 2 whole Green chilli ( you can give red chili also)
• 2 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
• ½ tsp Cumin seeds (whole black Jeera)
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 5~6 tbsp Mustard oil as it is authentic Bengali preparation but you can use any vegetable oil if you do not like the smell.
• Salt according to taste. You can add little bit sugar if you have a sweet tooth.
• ½ cup Water

Preparation:-

1. First remove the shell, remove the central vein of the prawn and clean thoroughly. In case you used the frozen prawns then no need to do this as they are already peeled and deveined.
2. Apply salt and turmeric powder – marinate the prawn for about 15 minutes.
   
3. Chop the onion and keep aside
4. Make a poppy seed paste by grinding.
5. Sprinkle some water to the coconut powder to make a thick paste.
6. Heat oil in a Skillet / frying pan in high flame.
7. When sufficiently heated, turn the burner to medium and add cumin seeds and a green chilli to it.
   
8. When the spices spluttered add the marinated prawn and shallow fry them. Please be careful not to overcook it as it will release the water and will make the prawn pieces hard. Keep them aside.
   
   
   
   
9. In the same vessel and with same oil add the chopped onion.
   
10. Sauté for few minutes till they turn light brown and transparent.
11. Add a little bit of sugar if you prefer.
    
12. When sugar is caramelized add the already fried prawn.
    
13. Mix together well
14. Add Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric powder and salt as per taste.
    
15. Sauté for couple of minutes
16. Add water, place the lid and keep boiling for 8~10 minutes in low flame.
    
17. When the prawn is almost done pour the coconut paste, mustard paste and poppy seeds paste in that order. Please stir continuously so that the pastes are mixed properly
    
18. Cook for another 2~3 minutes
19. This preparation needs the gravy to be thick – so adjust your cooking time accordingly.
20. Turn the burner off. Your dish is ready.
    

Serve hot with steamed rice or any form of flavored rice.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.

Zomato Restaurant Review - Pizza Hut, Ascendas Park Square Mall, Whitefield, Bangalore

Pizza Hut anywhere has the same menu and they maintain the quality really well. This outlet is no exception and we had great food there. We ordered Weekday meal for two and that include Garlic Bread, Mocktail, Desert and of course great Pizza. We chose Litchi Mojito and my son enjoyed that. The garlic bread was also very nice. The ambience was awesome and stuff was very courteous. I would love to come here again. The only issue is that they do not have any restroom within their premises - we had to use the mall restroom which was quite far from this outlet. A rating of 4.5 from my side. 

Kashmiri Paneer - A healthy cottage cheese curry

There are several north Indian preparation for Paneer or cottage cheese but this preparation is an authentic Kashmiri one used to be made by Kashmiri Pundits. This is a very healthy dish without compromising the taste – so goes well with my blog’s theme. Some variation of the original one is also described at the end.

Preparation Time: - 10 min

Cooking Time: - 20~25 min

Servings: - 3~4 persons

Ingredients:

1. 250 gm Paneer or cottage cheese
2. 2 tsp Dry Ginger powder
3. 1 ½ tsp Fennel Powder
4. 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
5. 1 clove
6. 1 tsp Garam Masala powder
7. 2 Green Cardamom crushed
8. 1 Black Cardamom crushed
9. 1~2 Bay leaves
10. ¼ cup Milk
11. 1 cup water
12. 6 tbsp Vegetable Oil ( I used Sunflower oil but you can use any vegetable oil )
13. 1 tsp Salt

Preparation:-

1. Cut the Paneer into large cubes. The preferred size is 5 cm. x 5 cm. x 2 cm.
2. Boil milk and keep aside.
3. Crush the cardamom in pestle and mortar and keep aside.
4. In a tawa or frying pan, heat 4 tbsp oil and deep-fry paneer cubes till they become golden brown.
   
5. Drain the oil in tissue paper and put into another vessel containing 1 cup salted boiling water.
6. Add ginger, turmeric, fennel powder, cloves, cardamom and bay leaves. 
   
7. Continue boiling and pour milk.
8. Mix everything and put the cover.
   
9. Continue cooking till the gravy is reduced to half.
10. Take a heavy-bottom Kadai or Tawa and heat 2 tbsp oil in high heat.
11. Pour the oil over the gravy in step 9.
12. Sprinkle garam masala over it.
13. Sauté for a second and turn the burner off. Your dish is ready to serve.
    

Serve hot as Side dish to Roti, Paratha or flavored rice.

Please note that the above preparation is the authentic way of making Kashmiri Paneer as used to be made by the Kashmiri Pundits. The taste is unique and sometimes I modify this by adding a little bit of sugar and few raisins. I also make some cashew/almond paste and add to make the gravy thicker. One of my friends suggested that since this dish is very less spicy she would add Kashmiri red chili in hot water, pour them on some tomato puree to make a red gravy. Here is a picture of her preparation.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.

Zomato Restaurant Review - Kapoor's Cafe, Whitefield, Bangalore

A vegetarian Punjabi food joint is rather rare. But even rarer is a Veg one with mouth-watering dishes. We were not expecting it to be a vegetarian joint but once management proudly assured that we will forget non-veg if we eat here makes us curious to try. The restaurant has mixed points in both ways. The building is a tiny one with thatched roof but cleanliness and hygiene is well maintained. The ambience was like a typically Punjabi dhaba with loud music and witty Punjabi comments but lacks Air conditioning. The aroma is super with scent of melting butter /ghee all around but the chairs could be more comfortable. The food here is really good with typical Punjabi flavor and spices. We ordered one of the combo thalis which they have alongwith Chole Pindi, Alu paratha and butter Naan. We finish our food journey here with Patiala dry fruit Lassi. The parathas were mind boggling and the Shahi Paneer was also equally good. Chole Pindi was liked by my husband only but I can assure that you will not dislike any food here. The icing on the top was various Lassis they have. The Patiala glass was really large and we enjoyed it thoroughly. The waiters were really polite and the serving is really quick despite Sunday crowd. Overall a rating of 4.0 from my side. One more point before I forget - the price is not very down to earth as mentioned by some reviewers but the food is really tasty to compensate for that.

 

Kumro Alu Capsicum tarkari - Vegan Pumpkin Potato curry with capsicum

There is a traditional Bengali item with pumpkin and potato which does not have onion – hence it is pure vegetarian. My mother used to prepare this on Thursday which was a vegetarian day in my family. I have added capsicum and ghee to make it more tasty and acceptable for my kids. This way the preparation can go well with Luch/Poori/ Roti. The best part of my recipe is it is super easy to make and does not take much time and effort. If you need something veg which is acceptable for all the members of family you can try this one. By the way, this is vegan too.

Preparation Time: - 15 min

Cooking Time: - 30 min

Servings: - 4 persons (approx.)

Ingredients:- 

1. 200 gm. Pumpkin (Kumro)
2. 2 medium Potatoes
3. 1 medium Capsicum chopped
4. 1 tsp Nigella seeds/ Whole Jeera/ Panchforon (Bengali 5 spices mix)
5. 1 Bay leaf
6. ¼ cup chopped Coriander leaves
7. 2 tsp Jeera Powder / roasted Jeera/ Bhajaguri
8. 2 tsp Turmeric powder
9. 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder (optional)
10. 2 slitted Green Chili ( you can use more according to your taste )
11. Salt to taste
12. 5 tbsp Mustard Oil ( since this is a traditional Bengali preparation I prefer mustard oil but you can use your preferred vegetable oil if you do not like the smell)
13. 1 tsp Ghee (optional)

Preparation:-

1. Cut the Pumpkin in larger cubes and potatoes in smaller cubes. This is because the pumpkin melts faster than potato if they are of same size.
2. Chop the capsicum in small pieces and wash all the vegetables in tap water thoroughly.
3. Take a medium kadai / pan and heat the oil in high heat.
4. When oil starts smoking turn the burner into medium heat.
5. Then put the Nigella seeds, 1 green chili and bay leafs into it.
6. When the spices crackle put pumpkin, potatoes and capsicum together.
7. Sauté for a minute and mix turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. I did not put red chili powder as I was preparing for kids.
8. Stir continuously to mix them properly
9. Continue cooking and pumkin will ooze some water and that should be enough for cooking. If you find it is becoming drier then sprinkle some water on it.
10. When the pumkin and potato become almost done, add Bhajaguri and chopped coriander leaves. Mix them together and continue cooking for another 3~4 minutes.
11. Turn off the burner and sprinkle little bit of bhajaguri, chopped coriander leaves and a green chili. Sometimes I like to put a tsp of Ghee on top. But this is optional.
    

Serve this as side dish with hot steamed rice. It also goes with handmade roti/poori/Luchi/paratha.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.