Merry Christmas to my readers

Merry Christmas to all our readers and patrons

Nutritious Spinach Soya curry - Palak Soyawadi ke sabji

It is not a traditional Bengali cuisine but I cooked this North Indian dish as per our Bengali curry. This makes a wonderfully tasty and nutritious curry. Spinach is a wonder vegetable full of vitamins and sometimes it is called superfood for its amazing health benefits. Soya is rich in vegetable protein and considered a must for vegetarians. For details of health benefits of spinach you can refer https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/benefits-of-spinach-for-skin-hair-and-health/#gref and for Soya you can refer the same site https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/amazing-benefits-of-soybeans-for-skin-hair-and-health/#gref. Let me tell you you cannot find any other vegetarian combo dish which has so much nutrition and that is why as a mother of two kids I like this dish for my children. Let’s get on with the recipe:-

Preparation Time: - 20 min

Cooking Time: - 15 min
Servings: - 2~3 persons

Ingredients:

1. 1 bunch Spinach (yield of ¾ cup of puree)
2. 1 cup Soya chunks (small)
3. 1 large Onion chopped
4. 1 inch stick of fresh Ginger
5. 4 cloves of Garlic
6. 1/3 cup Boiled Milk
7. 1 tsp Cumin seeds
8. ½ tsp Coriander powder
9. ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
10. 2 Green Chilies chopped
11. ¼ tsp dried Fenugeek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
12. ¼ tsp Asfetida (Hing)
13. 1 ½ tbsp. Ghee or clarified butter
14. 1 tsp Garam masala powder
15. Salt according to taste.
16. 4 tbsp Vegetable oil  ( I used Sunflower oil but you can use any vegetable oil)
17. ½ cup Water

Preparation:-

1. Boil Milk and keep aside.
2. Chop the onion and green chilies.
3. Take 1 cup of small chunks of soyabean (Soyawadi). You can cut soya chunks in small pieces if you have big chunks. Soak soya in water for 10~15 min. Drain and squeeze out the last drops of water. Place the soyawadis in milk for 10~12 minutes.
4. Wash spinach leaves thoroughly and cut the stem.
5. Use a blender to make puree out of it. The amount of puree should be around ¾ cup.
6. Heat oil and 1 tbsp of Ghee in a Skillet / frying pan in high flame. When the oil is sufficiently heated turn the burner to medium heat and add cumin seeds and green chili.
7. When they crackle add onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté till the onion turn golden brown.
8. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, and hing. Mix for a few seconds.
9. Now add spinach puree and stir continuously for about a minute.
10. Add ½ cup of water and continue cooking for 2~3 minutes,
11. Pour the soya chunks and stir continuously to mix well. Apply salt and garam masala powder
12. Continue cooking for 5~6 min or till the thickness of gravy satisfies your choice.
13. Add Kasoori methi and sprinkle the rest of Ghee.
14. Mix again and switch off the burner. Your yummy dish is ready.

Serve hot with steamed rice or any form of flavored rice or Puri/ Roti /Naan.

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

Zomato Restaurant review - Sorse, Whitefield

We do not have many Bengali Restaurants in Whitefield and Sorse is one of them. We went there on Saturday and that is why could not try Non-Veg food. We ordered two Veg Thalis and Bengali Veg Pulao. My kids ordered Luchi Alur Dum and Egg Devil. I would say the dishes were not many and the portion are also not large. The taste was good but if you compare with Bhajohori Manna then it would score less. But the price here is reasonable and the ambience is nice. The waiters were helpful but the responses were not prompt. There are other problems also like parking and water supply in wash basin. There is very limited parking available and that is for the whole building shared by other establishments. It was full on weekends and it is a pain to park. You can of course park your vehicle in nearby Forum Value mall but that would be extra Rs 40 for staying over 1 hour. There was not water in hand wash area and that also caused lot of difficulties. Overall I would give 3.5 as rating. Some photos are included here.

Zomato Restaurant review - Citrus Cafe - Lemon Tree Hotel, Whitefield

Visited this restaurant for dinner and chose to have their buffet as I had the gourmet passport by dineout which makes the buffet price halved. We went there with kids and my sister-in-law. The hotel was a desolete place at night - not very easy to find out the gate for entry. But Google maps helped us and we reached the parking place. Once parked, there was nobody to guide which direction is the reception, neither there is any sign. Anyway, we somehow found the way and reached the reception. They guided us to the restaurant. There was refreshing lemon fragrances throughout the hotel and that is very pleasing as I love citrus smell.The buffet price was reasonable ( Rs 650 per head ) but the spread is discouraging. There were only 4~5 starters and apart from the fish item none of them was worth mentioning. There were very few options in any categories. There was pasta live counter and that one serves quality pasta preparation but desserts were few and of average quality. The only saving grace was service and the waiters were very helpful. They arranged some juice for my toddlers which was out of the menu. Overall I am disappointed with this restaurant. They may not be costly but food is not worth visiting. A rating of 3 from my side.

Here are some of the snaps taken there of my family and me.
 

Dimer Jhol / Andey ki curry - Simple spicy Egg Curry

Eggs have been considered the standard against which all other nutritious foods are measured because their composition of different elements like protein, carbohydrates etc. is so ideal. Eggs are also considered very helpful for a mother as dishes of eggs are very easy to prepare, healthy as well as tasty. That is why in every country egg curry is available in some form or other. “Dimer jhol” as we Bengalis know this preparation is known as “Aunda kurry” in Punjab,  “Mutai Kulambu” in Sri Lanka, “Huevos Rancheros” in Mexico and simple Egg curry in several others. My recipe here has taken inspiration from some of these dishes and can be considered a fusion food. But the taste is still yummy and it does not take much time to prepare this one so that today’s supermoms are also happy.

Preparation Time: - 15 min

Cooking Time: - 35~40 min

Servings: - 4 persons

Ingredients:

1. 3 nos. Potato (medium size)
2. 6 nos. Eggs
3. 2 nos. Tomato (medium size)
4. 2 ½ nos. Onion (medium size)
5. 3 nos. Green chili
6. 1 ½ inch Fresh Ginger
7. 3 nos. cloves of fresh Garlic
8. 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
9. 2 Bay leaves
10. ½ tsp Garam Masala
11. 2 tsp Coconut Powder
12. 2 tbsp Red Paprika
13. Few pods of black pepper
14.  4 tbsp Vegetable oil ( I use Sunflower oil but you can use any vegetable oil)
15. 2 tbsp Ghee or clarified butter
16. Salt to taste
17. Coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation:-

1. Boil eggs and potatoes. Peel the skin of potatoes and remove the shell of eggs. Keep aside.
2. Chop the onion and tomatoes, prepare the ginger and cloves of garlic.
   
3. Mix 4 eggs and potatoes with little salt and Turmeric powder and keep aside.
   
4. Crush the black pepper in a pestle and mortar.
5. Mix half of the onion, cloves of garlic, ginger, black pepper, coconut powder, tomatoes and two eggs.
6. Put the mixture in a blender and blend for a minute. Keep aside this spice mixture.
7. In a Kadai or deep bottomed frying pan, heat oil and 1 tbsp Ghee in high heat. Turn the burner to medium and add bay leaves and 2 green chillis.
   
   
   
   
8. Sauté for few seconds and add the rest of chopped onion.
9. Fry the onion till they turn golden brown.
10. Add the spice mixture and stir continuously till 3~4 minutes.
    
11. Add the red paprika and salt according to your taste.
    
12. Pour ½ cup of water and add potatoes and eggs.
13. Cover and cook till the gravy is thick.
    
14. Add garam masala and 1 tbsp Ghee – stir a little and turn off the burner.
15. Garnish with coriander leaves and a green chilli
    

Serve this side dish hot with steamed / flavoured rice or even with Roti/ Puri / Naan.

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