Hariyali Murg

Medium spiced and delicately balanced, the spinach adds great texture and flavour to this lovely chicken dish (not to mention a bit of extra nutritional goodness. I genuinely think that spinach haters will also relish this flavoursome preparation and reaffirm their opinion of spinach.

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Breast  Pieces – 350 gms

Spinach (Boiled) – 20 leaves

Mint (Pudina)  – 2 tbsp

Coriander Leaves – 1 tbsp

Green Chillies – 2 nos

Garlic – 2 flakes

Ginger (Chopped) – ½ tsp

Lemon Juice – ½ tsp

Green Cardamom – 2 nos

Red Chilli Powder – ½ tsp

Water – 2 tbsp

Salt – 1tsp or to taste

Tandoori Masala – 1 tsp

Cumin Powder – ½ tsp

Chaat Masala – ½ tsp

Corn Flour – 1 tbsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

For Garnish

Chaat Masala – 1 tsp

Onion Rings – as required

Method:

1.    In a blender add the spinach, mint leaves, green chillies, ginger, lemon juice, garlic, green cardamom, red chilli powder and some water. Blend into a fine paste.

2.    Take the chicken pieces in a bowl and add salt, cumin powder, chaat masala and corn four. Mix well. Now add the paste prepared in step one and mix well. Cover with cling film and keep in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 hour.

3.    Skewer the chicken pieces on wooden skewers and keep aside.

4.    Heat oil on a grill pan. Place the chicken skewers on it and cook (turning frequently) till the chicken is cooked and browned on all sides.

5.    Serve on a platter with a sprinkling of chaat masala and onion rings.

Begun Pora(Charred Brinjal Appetizer)

Begun Pora

Ingredients :

Brinjals...........................................................................4,large

Youghurt.........................................................................4 tbsp

Onion,chopped................................................................1

Green Chillies,chopped.....................................................3

Fresh Green Coriander,chopped.......................................2 tbsp

Cumin Seeds,roasted&powdered.....................................1/2 tbsp

Salt..................................................................................as per taste

Method :

Char the brinjals and skin them.Place them in a bowl.

Mash them with youghurt, chopped onion, chopped green chillies and green coriander.

Add salt as per taste.

Sprinkle the roasted and powdered cumin seeds on top and serve.

In Bengal, this is a dish that is often served at lunch as well as on the dinner table. Many a times  a  little raw mustard oil is added as well. Unlike the North Indian variety this one is not cooked ....all ingredients are raw.

Just My Thoughts

Recently I read an article in the newspaper. Someone had written about old ancient  homes, once elegant buildings now gone or on the verge of breaking down.....

At Kumartuli

Shreya, my daughter was a member of a small group of photographers who would visit different parts of Calcutta to click interesting photographs of various things...In these were ancient buildings that were elegant once. Most of these structures that belonged to the elite classes are now dilapidated as they are not maintained properly.

I often wondered if anyone maintained any record of their exsistence. Such buildings were fast vanishing as promoters razed them down. There are many reasons for these old buildings of our city  vanishing forever . Most owners often wanted to sell these houses before they were declared heritage property. Very high maintanence costs also was a cause. Sometimes a large number of tenants renting the property, made it impossible for the owner to maintain the property thus leading to its collapse.  Some of these structures were so broken down that they were actually dangerous and some of the sections quite unsafe.

One of such buildings, belongs to the Mukherji  family of Chandan nagar. Most of the members of Mukherji family have shifted to kolkata and elsewhere. Some parts of the home, for instance, the Thakur Dalan, still remind us of what the estate looked like in its opulent era.

The Mukherji family

The courtyard, the terrace ,the balconies, the dalan, rooms, stairs, windows, doors, tiles, grills, pillars all invoke lost memories and the silence is quite incredible !
All have a story to tell.

Such a beautiful clutter of history.

This is quaint, real, a dream......as if in the distance one can still hear the conch shells as there is aarati going on in the thakur ghar of the Mukherji bari .

For the last 250 years Narayan has been worshipped here, protecting the family, of which only a few members still reside in the house. A house with 50-60 rooms, a mansion with two courtyards, a bari with achievements a home with people.....

Junior Mrs Mukherji, Chaitali

This time, I haven't written any recipe, just put on paper my thoughts......

If you have anything to say please feel free to write to me.....

Antic Homes
Pic By: Debashis Kundu