In order to understand more about my mother in law you will need to learn more about her, so let me start at the very begnning. Her name is Mrs Gita Banerji , born in the year 1935, in a well to do Hindu Brahmin family at Tatanagar (jamshedpur,Jharkhand) and grew up among cousins in a joint family. At an early age she got married and shifted to Agra to live with my late Father in law Mr Madan Mohan Banerji and her in laws. It was a joint family at Agra too and she learnt to cook under the strict guidance of her own mother in law for the whole family. As was the custom in the Banerji family, the ladies cooked for their families and servants only helped with chopping and grinding etc. Ma believes she is so good, cause her mother in law taught her well. Cooking was "Rocket Science " in those days cause it was clay oven they used and it had no temperature control !! Now days, we hear master chefs saying that best chefs taste their food at every step but in those days food was offered to the God first, so no tasting while cooking!!
Here are just a couple of dishes she prepares.....
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| Ma with me |
Lau Posto :
Bottle gourd ,chopped 1kg
Poppy seeds paste 50 grams
Onion seeds 1 pinch
Green chilly ,slit 4
Mustard oil 4 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Sugar as per taste
How she prepares it :
At first you will need to finely chop the bottle gourd and lightly steam it as my mother in law does.
Make a smooth paste of the poppy seeds with water and 2 green chillies.
Drain the water. You could re-use it to boil the potatoes for dum aloo dish given next.
Taking a wok, she first heats mustard oil in it. Earlier in her mother in laws kitchen, she had to cook in pure ghee only but Ma uses mustard oil now but you can use any of your choice.
Add onion seeds first and green chillies. Let them splutter. Then add the gourd. Stir a bit and to dry the gourd a bit. Add salt and sugar to taste. Ma puts 1 spoon salt and 3 spoons of sugar. According to her vegetarian dishes should be on the sweeter side.
Add the poppy paste and cover and cook till the water completely dries up, it would take say for about 10 minutes to dry up .
Earlier, Ma says she had to cook in pure ghee but now Ma mixes refined oil with pure ghee to cook this dish. You can follow her example to get delicious "Aloor Dom" .
Ma's Aloor Dom:
Potato 1/2 kg
Ghee 2 tbsp
Refined Oil 2 tbsp
Pure ghee 2 tbsp
Bay Leaves 2
Clove 4
Cinnamon 5 cm piece
Green Cardamom 4
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder 1 tsp
Salt as per taste
Sugar 2 tsp
Tomato,Chopped 2
Kaju Paste 1 tbsp
Coconut Paste 1 tbsp
Peas,Boiled 1 cup
Ginger Paste 1 tbsp
Lemon Juice 1 lemon
How she prepares it
Ma insists that all potatoes should be preferably of the same size. If not, cut all to same size pieces. Boil and peel.
Boil the green peas till soft as well.
Heat oil and ghee together in a wok. Then add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Saute a bit
In a small bowl mix the turmeric powder, chilly,salt and sugar with a little water. Then add this to the wok and cook the spices well on low flame . Add the chopped tomato as well and stir cook till the tomatoes become mushy and oil separates and rises to the top. Add the potatoes and fry with the rest of the ingredients. Add a dash of water to keep the spices from burning. When oil separates, add 1 cup water and put a lid, cover and cook.
When the water evaporates, add the boiled peas and ginger paste.On high flame cook. When the ginger is cooked, add the cashew paste and coconut paste mixed in a cup of water. Reduce the flame and cook till water reduces. Add the lemon juice after you switch the flame off . The dish should be dry Ma says, but if you prefer just a little gravy then, do not dry the dish too much.
Stuffed Pom fret Batter Fried :
Pomfret Fish 4
Mint Leaves 1 bundle
Green Coriander Leaves 1 bundle
Green Chilly 4-6
Salt as per taste
Sugar as per taste
Garlic 7-8 flakes
Vinegar as required
Cornflour 2 tbsp
Refined Flour 2 tbsp
Egg 1(optional)
Baking Powder 1/4 tsp
Red Chilly Powder a pinch
Pepper Powder a pinch
Water as required
Refined Oil as required for frying
Make a dry mint and coriander paste with green chilly . Add salt and sugar to taste to the paste. Keep aside.
Make a garlic and green chilly paste with vinegar. Keep aside
Make slits on both sides of the pomfret with a very sharp knife. Getting it done from the fish seller for you while buying is also a good idea if you are based in Bengal .
Wash the fishes well under running water and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
Now spread the garlic-chilly- vinegar paste on the fish pieces. Keep the fishes to marinate for 15 minutes. This completely removes the fishy smell from the fish pieces.
After 15 minutes Ma says its best to wash the fish again and dry again.
Stuff the mint and coriander paste in to the slits made on the pomfret fish.
Now in a large mixing bowl, make the batter.
Take flour, cornflour, egg, salt, sugar, baking powder, red chilly powder and pepper powder. Add water to make a smooth paste.
Carefully dip the fish in the paste and deep fry in oil on low flame.When crispy remove. Serve hot.
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| Mixed Fried Rice |
Mixed Fried Rice :
Basmati Rice 1 1/2 cups
Onion,slices 1
French Beans ,chopped 4
Carrot ,chopped 1/2
Green Peas a hand ful
Cashewnuts (Kaju) a handful
Raisins (Kismis) a handful
Water 3 1/2 cups
Desi Ghee 4 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Sugar as per taste
Rose Water 1 tsp
Bay Leaves 2
Whole Garam Masala 2cloves,2cinnamon&2cardamom
Bay Leaves 2
Whole Garam Masala 2cloves,2cinnamon&2cardamom
How Ma prepares :
Wash rice and drain all water. Keep aside.
Slice the onion and chop all vegetables.
Heat the Ghee in a wok and lightly fry the cashew and raisins . Keep aside.
In the same ghee,add the whole garam masala ,bay leaves. Fry the vegetables and then the rice on low gas flame.
Add the salt and sugar to taste. Then add water and bring to boil.
When the water boils reduce the flame , cover and cook till rice is soft.
Add the rose water, cashew and raisins when water evaporates and the rice is done.
Serve hot.
Ma adds 1 tbsp of desi ghee in the end for flavour.
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