Home made Onion Pickle

There's nothing quite like an onion pickle to add some zing to your monsoon meal or your winter aloo/gobi paratha....

Try this one.....I saw this in the newspaper but didn't do anything about it...I usually keep paper cuttings of anything and everything....then I find this recipe staring back at me as a "thonga" paper packet!! Don't know about other places but in kolkata we still use paper packets made of old newspapers , to buy everyday items like eggs, sugar, dals etc from tiny grocery shops  which are situated at every corners of every by lanes.....

So here's the onion pickle for you....

1 kg onions
200 grams raw mango(optional)
50 grams ginger(minced or grated)
50 grams green chillies (minced)
Garlic as per taste (optional)
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1 1/2 cup mustard oil
8 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground spices
3 tsp red chilli pepper
12 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric powder


Ingredients:

Peel the onions. Cut each onion into six narrow pieces. Rub 7 tsp of salt on the onions and keep aside for 4 hours. Drain the water it oozes.

Grind the yellow mustard seeds coarsely and mix the remaining ingredients(ginger, garlic, green chillies, mustard oil, mustard seeds, fennel powder, cumin seeds, ground spices,r ed chilly pepper and turmeric)

Heat the oil until it's smoking hot and then let it cool. Pour it over the pickle in the jar. Add 1 tsp of salt on the top and use it after 4 days. The oil level shouldbe 1/2 to 1 inch above the pickle.

Serve with paratha.

Keep the pickle in an airtight,cool and dry container.Once in a while keep the pickle jar in the sun to sustain its self life.

Prawn Cutlet(Home made prawn cutlet mitra cafe style)

Prawn Cutlet of Mitra Cafe.....

The whiff of the cutlets and fries is so inviting  that you can't but stop yourself to have some......

Mitra Cafe, the famed north kolkata cafe, which is more than a 100 yrs old, is located near the Sova Bazar Crossing.

This 26 seater eatery is always packed with people all through the year. It opens its doors very early around 7 am so on a rainy week end  or a chilly winter day you can treat yourself to a spicy, crunchy Prawn Cutlet or a Diamond Fry or a Chicken Cutlet or a Fish Roll.......


I tried to replicate these after viewing a television program ....

Ingredients I used.....

Prawn, Ginger Paste, Onion Paste, white vinegar, Tomato ketchup, Mint paste, eggs, Refined flour, gram flour, corn flour, Salt, sugar.

Method used.....


Take large prawns. Wash and devein. The tail of the prawn is important so do not discard.

Mix ginger, onion, white vinegar, tomato ketchup and mint leaves together and make a paste.

Cut the prawns carefully and flatten. Spread on a dish and coat with the marinate in the paste. Season with salt and pepper.

Coat the prawns with a mixture of eggs, refined flour, gram flour, corn flour and sugar.

Deep fry till crisp. Serve with sauces or chutneys and salad.

Nalen Gurer Sandesh With Wine

Come winter and we Bengali's have a long  list of sweet meat made with Nalen Gur.

The Bengali Sandesh is a favourite with one and all.

Now chefs are coming up with innovations all the time and cooking up a storm by giving Bengali classics a twist.

This recipe is one of them......It may not go down well with everybody but what's the harm in trying to enhance the taste with the use of wine.... 

Nalen Gurer Sandesh With Wine

 Ingredients :

Cottage Cheese......................................................made from1 litre full cream milk
Lemon Juice...........................................................made from 1/2 a lemon
Powdered Sugar...................................................2 tbsp
Nalen Gur................................................................4 tbsp
Sweet Wine..............................................................4 tbsp

Method :

Put the cottage cheese in a muslin cloth and wash under running water to get rid of the sour, lemony smell. Tie the loose ends of the cloth and hang to drain all the water. Do this for an hour and then place the cottage cheese on a plain surface and press with something heavy to make it completely dry. After another hour take this cheese on a flat plate.

Start kneading with the heel of your palm. Once the cheese becomes smooth (approx 5 minutes) add the sugar and again knead till all the sugar melts in (another 2-3 minutes).

Finally, add the jaggery before kneading the dough for another couple of minutes. Take this in a non-stick pan and on very low heat cook this for 3-4 minutes. Now add sweet wine to the mix. Keep stirring the dough continuously. Don't paniic if you find the dough little soft, it will harden as it cools.

To give shape to sandesh use stone terracotta moulds. Brush the inside of the mould with little ghee or refined oil and press little bit of dough to transfer the design.
Remove from the dough and keep on a serving dish.