Winter Colours :The office picnic

Sorry for having gone missing. Hope you all are well and safe.Noo matter where I go and whatever I do I will always miss you all.....Hugs :)

 Winters are incomplete without outings.This year we enjoyed a picnic with office colleagues and family at Saheb Gardens, Duttapukur This was a large picnic, just as company picnics are with quite a few families, outdoor games, entertainment cook out  etc.

Mr S suggested we take the car but I said no ...travelling with the others would make the journey energetic and happening. 

The bus journry

cricket

Hot fritters coming off the pan

Flowers in full bloom

bright colours added to the beauty of the surroundings

children enjoying

Beautiful surroundings

Some of the talented recited n sang for us

Games played : Breaking the wicket

Men enjoying their drinks with variety of fritters

Breaking the wicket

Elaborate menu For the tab

The ladies enjoying the food

We ended the day with tea and biscuits

After our evening tea and biscuits, we boarded the bus again. Usually, the return journey after a whole day of excitement is very uneventful and boring, but this time it was not to be so.

The young and old all divided up into two groups and played "Antaksari" till the very last . It was so much fun !!

Simply Chinese

Friday  Dinner : Tried and tested Chinese

Veg Chowmein

Sent Jonardhan Late (Yes that's his surname!!), my MIL's man-friday to buy egg noodles packet and he made this for us ......of course I helped with the veggies. I made mine with only the veggies available to me. There were only carrots, french beans and capsicum in my fridge and I decided to use them. 

Try this easy Veg Chowmein recipe, when in a hurry or when you don't want to make an elaborate meal.

Egg Chowmein

I Used :
Eggs-2,scrambled
Carrot-1
French Beans-6,chopped small
Green Bell Pepper(Capsicum)-1,medium size,sliced
Vinegar (White)-1 Tsp
Soya Sauce (Light)-1 Tsp
Tomato Sauce (Home made)-1 Tsp
Tomato-1,sliced
Onion-1,sliced
Ajinomoto-1 pinch
Salt& Pepper-as per taste

Boil water in a large pan and cook the Chowmein till soft with a teaspoon of  salt. Drain and wash well under running water to cool.Now, leave on the strainer. Coat with 2 tbsp of Refined Oil. Keep aside.

Next heat 2 tbsp Olive Oil or refined Oil in a wok and saute the onion slices till they are transparent.Then add the other vegetables and cook stirring continuously till all veggies are soft.Its going to take time as you will have to cook on low flame.

Once the vegetables are soft add the sauces, salt &pepper,Vinegar  and ajinomoto. Cook stirring. 
Add the boiled chowmein  and toss to mix with the the sauces.
Check the seasoning and turn the flame off.

Chilly Paneer :

Chilly Paneer

I Used :

I modified the non-veg chilly chicken dish to make Chilly Paneer for MIL.
Take 2oo grams fresh Paneer/Cottage Cheese and cut them into large cubes.

For the Batter :

Maida...........................1/4 cup
Cornflour.......................1/4 cup
Soya Sauce.....................1 tsp
Baking Powder..............1/4 tsp
Salt.................................as per taste

For frying :

1 cup White Refined Oil

Ingredients :

Garlic chopped....................2 tsp
Ginger grated........................1 tsp
Spring Onion, finelychopped...............1/4 cup
Green Capsium,large cubes....................2
Onion,large cubes...................................4,medium
Green Chillies..................................as per taste
Soya Sauce......................................1 tsp
Sugar...............................................1 tsp
Salt..................................................as per taste
Refined Oil......................................2 tbsp

Make a thin paste of..........1 tbsp Cornflour and water

Procedure:

Make the batter and then dip the cottage Cheese (Paneer)cubes one by one in the batter to coat properly. Heat deep fry in hot oil till golden and remove. Drain the excess oil.
Now heat 2 tbsp in a pan and  lightly fry the onion and capsicum pieces and remove.
In the same oil, add the garlic, ginger, green chillies and saute on high flame , stirring continuously.
Add Soya Sauce, Sugar, Salt and stir.Then add the cornflour water mix and bring to a boil.
Add the cottage cheese pieces and mix lightly to coat.
Remove and serve immediately.Sprinkle spring onion as garnish ( Optional)

Chilly Chicken

Chilly Chicken

The chilly chicken procedure is the same as above, chilly paneer.

Instead of Paneer we used Chicken

P.S -This is dedicated to my daughters. We are a  family of 9, women outnumber men. All the three young girls of  my family just love chinese.......any which way it is prepared.
This is inspired by the chinese locally made, you know the kind that's always available in small shops that can be seen around the corners, in the eastern part of our country mostly. Local  chinese food is marvellous cause we have adopted it to suit our tastes.

Chicken korma

I recently returned from a trip to Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. We had been planning a weekend trip to jamshedpur  for ages.....but it was not happening..... till last month.

One fine day, We planned a casual day out but as winters are the season for picnics, we decided to have one.

Today's sun called for a celebration and so we oldies packed our lunch into tiffin boxes and set off to have a nice picnic by the lake. It's gonna be a midday/afternoon affair, declared Chotomashi ,as she single handedly filled everything into bags and packed the picnic baskets, while we readied ourselves for a day in the sun.
A bit unusual for me, cause I have not had such a picnic for years now.  Used to do it quite many years  back when we lived in North Bengal. It was a very pleasant outing to be honest. To celebrate the appearance of the sun, we decided to go to Jubilee Park.

We started out a bit later from the house......  a bit late as picnics are a whole day affair usually .....starting early at around  9 am .

Birds I spotted

Some of the birds I spotted on the trees nearby

Beautiful Poppies

The gardens were full of these

Notice the stools that make this picnic an unusual one

Family picnics with a picnic basket and a blanket to sit /recline on are trust me equally good as large picnics are.

Bad feet haven't dampened the spirits

The Picnic Menu is kept simple 

Mixed Fried Rice

Fish Fry

Chichen Korma

Salad

Vegetable Chop

Tomato Chutney

Sandesh

Here I am putting down just one of the dishes................Chicken Korma.

This is a bit different cause choto mashi "aunt in law" used Shaan Chicken Korma Masala that I had purchased here in Kolkata and gifted her. But mind you I had only heard of this masala (Spice) and not used it in my kitchen.

Ingredients :

Chicken..................................1 kg,small pieces
Potatoes,halved..............................................4,medium size
Onion.(Medium size)....................................5,finely sliced
Curd.....................................1/4 cup
Ginger Paste.......................1' piece
Garlic Paste...........................1/2 tbsp
White Oil.....................................1 cup
Kewra Water....................2-4 drops
Shaan Masala.........................1/4 of the packet


Finely slice the onions. Fry the onios stirring continuously till golden in colour. Remove from oil and drain the oil.
In the same oil, add garlic and fry for a few seconds before adding the Chicken pieces,  fried Onion , Curd, Ginger and Shaan Korma masala. Cover and cook on low heat till oil rises . Simple  to cook but great in taste.

Picnic weather ......a bit sunny with a lovely cool breeze blowing .    

                                            

It turned out to be A day to remember  .                                                   

Maacher Dhoka

I am back after a l -o- n -g  break .

The best thing about holiday's is that you loose track of time as you don't have to maintain routines or schedules. Regular life , everyday routines are shelved and put away for some time while you take life as it comes.
My mornings began late......way past 10 and bedtime was way past midnight too.

Now that I am back, I feel good, I feel like a Queen again. But I missed you friends cause you all are a big part of me now.

As one of my dear friends puts it, "I have been labelled as a cheap stake "by my man and his mother because I never waste anything. I recycle all. I stock food in my fridge, as we have friends and relatives dropping in all the time , sometimes announced and sometimes not.

My fridge shelves are a lot less cramped today. My MIL is back from her holiday. She was on her annual vacation. She and Mr.S have only freshly cooked food and blame it on their weak stomach.

What I dished out to Mr.S is with leftover fish. It was a day old Bengali fish curry that I converted
into a new dish.

This is what I made.

Maacher Dhoka

Maacher Dhoka

Ingredients I Used For The Dhoka :

Rui Maach...........4 pieces(Deboned)
Potato(Boiled)...........1 medium size
Ginger-Garlic Paste......1 tbsp
Green Chilly Paste........1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder........1/4 tsp
Salt - Sugar................as per taste
Eggs.............4
Bread Crumbs...........2 tbsp or as required
Aluminium Foil...........as required
White Oil.........a few drops

In a mixture bowl, put all the ingredients (fish pieces, potato, ginger-garlic paste, green chilly paste,salt-sugar,and  the eggs ) and churn well to mix all ingredients.
Now add the bread crumbs in this mix.
Grease a bowl with white oil. Then pour the mix in the bowl. Cover with aluminium foil and steam.
It should take at least 15 minutes on a gas stove. You can use the Micro wave or OTG to steam if you like..
When done, cool completely.Then cut into squares or diamonds. Dhoka is ready .

Now, you will need to deep fry the Fish Dhoka pieces in white refined oil till golden. You can serve these crispy fried Fish Dhoka pieces as snacks with Tea . If you are serving with a meal , then prepare a gravy to go along with this Fish Dhoka .

I used Rui as this was a dish I was recreating with left over fish but you can use others too.
Just boil with little water and then d'bone or fry in a little oil, cool and d'bone.

For the Gravy :

Onion...........1 medium size
Ginger...........1/2 inch
Garlic............2 pods
Green Chilly.......2
Tomato..............1 medium size
Turmeric Powder...........1/4 tsp
Red Chilly  Powder.........1/4 tsp
Garam Masala Powder.......1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder..............1/4 tsp
Salt-Sugar..........as per taste
Bay Leaf............2
Coriander whole......1 pinch
Mustard Oil............2 tbsp

Make a fine paste with onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly  and tomato.
In a bowl, add the dry spices to 1/4 cup of water and mix.

Heat  the mustard oil( use any oil if mustard oil is not what you use regularly) in a large pan and add the bay leaves and whole coriander. Let it splatter and then add the prepared paste. Stir fry till oil separates. It takes a bit of stirring  and time.
When you see the oil on the sides , add the wet paste prepared with the dry spices. Now you will have to again cook stirring till your kitchen is filled with a nice aroma. If required,  you can add some water to help you while frying the spices.
Now, add enough water to make a gravy and let it come to a boil. Adding hot water helps.
Carefully add the fried Fish Dhoka pieces to the gravy . Do not stir much after adding the Fish Dhoka;s or else you will end up with a muddle of a dish. When the dish comes to a boil, transfer very carefully to a flat serving dish.
This I served with rice but you can serve it with Paratha or Roti.






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Todays dinner

Today's Dinner

Way back in the early nineties , when my third brother in law Probir Chatterji (mithu) got married, Uncle ( Choto Mama) invited us to his  place. Packed into our new Maruti 800 ,we set out from Siliguri.
The perfect opportunity to show off our brand new car to our relatives.We previously owned an Ambasador, the mighty old car from Hindustan Motors. Choto mama was posted in Cooch Behar.
After a good journey we reached the venue. Multiple rituals , interesting fun filled ceremonies, fun-frolic and laughter filled up our days. One such day was the visit to the fair. A trip to the Fair ......Mela..... in  a Bengali wedding.....never heard of it you will say, but believe me it was great fun Mela  in a town meant a great opportunity to meet people, see  different things, experience the vibrancy until we entered an arena called "Maut Ka Kuwa" or "the well of Death". A dangerous game was about to begin. A strange
experience for all of us. there was  excitement all around. I didn't know who had planned this , but we were a large group of  the young....all out to have fun. It was a huge man made well with spectators all around,clapping and shouting out loudly. There was a strong smell of burnt oil/diesel  ,smoke and
the continuous sound of bikes   acceleration . I didn't know what to expect as I had never even heard the name having lived in Mumbai all the while. The tent was large.  Next to me was my sister in law who  explained very casually that a few young bikers would be riding their vehicles in the well . Standing at the edge of the well I I was getting a bit weary.
Suddenly , with a loud roar and a lot of smoke gushing out the exhaust pipe 4 bikers entered followed by 4 cars. Everyone clapped excitedly welcoming the start of the act. Defying the laws of gravitation and all such laws they circled the well at top speed. Crossing each other,  holding hands and riding together, waving to each other , picking up money offered by various spectators.........proving their skill .
While I stood numb, unable to enjoy the terrifying act, see the purpose of these young 20 year olds putting their lives in such danger,  the crowd started leaving .The performance had ended !!
I left with everyone but just couldn't stop thinking about the experience.

Today, on receiving another invitation for a town wedding in the family , the whole thing came right back to me ,so I put it down in writing . It's still as fresh as if it happened just yesterday to me.

Above is a simple dinner menu I served the family .....Yellow rice with peas and sausages , Egg curry and Soya nugget curry.

Yellow Rice with Green Peas

Ingredients I have Used

1 cup Basmati
2 1/2 cups Water(Hot)
1-2 drops food colour
1/4 tsp Rose water(Optional)
1/4  cup Green Peas
 4-6 Chicken Sausages
 2 tbsp White oil (use which ever brand you like)
2 tbsp Desi Ghee
Salt as per taste
1-2 pinch Sugar


Method of Preparation

Soak the rice for fifteen minutes in clear water and then drain well.spread to dry completely.

Heat  the oil and lightly saute the sausages and when brown remove them to a dish .cut them into two halves or smaller pieces.

Add the Desi Ghee in the same oil and then add the rice . Saute a bit and then add the peas , salt, sugar, water, rose water and yellow colour. Put a lid and cook covered till the rice is soft.

Add the sausage pieces.

Use a fork to stir the cooked rice . Mix lightly after its done.

Serve hot.

Egg Curry

Ingredients I have used

6 Eggs (Duck Eggs)

3 Small size potatoes (Cut into halves)

1 Small Onion

1/2  inch piece of Ginger

2 pods of Garlic

1 small Tomato

2 Green chillies

2 Bay Leaves

2 Green Cardamoms, 1 tiny piece of Cinnamon, 2 Cloves

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1-2 pinch of Sugar (optional)

1/2 tsp Salt(or as per taste)

1/4 tsp Kasmiri Red Chilly Powder

1-2 pinch of Everest Garam Masala Powder

2 tbsp Mustard Oil

Method of Preparation

I use duck eggs but you can use poultry eggs  or what ever you usually eat.

Boil the eggs and peel .Take the potatoes ,wash and rub dry.Then, peel the skin of the potatoes and make halves.

Make a fine paste of onion-ginger-garlic-tomato and green chilly

Heat  the  mustard oil in a pan and when smoking hot.Reduce the flame and stir fry the boiled eggs till golden and remove to a dish.

 In the same oil, Crush the cardamoms-cloves and cinamon  and  add it to the oil .

Stir a bit and then add the potato halves and fry well. When they are light brown  remove.

Add the paste and fry till oil separates. Keep stirring so that the mix doesn't burn. Add a few spoons of water when ever required.

Add the dry spices and stir fry the spices till a nice aroma fills up your kitchen. Keep the 

Garam Masala Powder for the end. Only then you will know that its time to add the potatoes and eggs back. Now you have to add enough hot water to the dish to make your gravy. 1 cup should be good.

Cover and let cook on low heat.

After 5 minutes remove the cover and check the dish. You do not want a lot of gravy  in this dish. Sprinkle the Garam Masala Powder.

Tastes best when its served hot........

Soya Nugget(With a filling) Curry

Ingredients I have used

A handful of soya nuggets

2 Small size potatoes 

White refined Flour(Maida)as required

Onion-ginger-garlic-tomato-green chilly paste

Salt-Sugar (as per taste)

A handful of Raisins(kishmis) and Cashew nuts(kaju badam) Finely chopped

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1-2 pinch Garam Masala Powder

1/2 tsp Desi Ghee

2 tbsp White oil

1/2 cup white oil for deep frying

Method of preparation

I have  made and put up this recipe for you all to try. Its a simple dish , nothing fancy and made quite often in Bengali and non-Bengali homes.

I have seen this being prepared in a popular television show  recently but I have been cooking it since ages. My family members have never been too fond of soya nuggets.The dish I prepare is  therefore as per my tastes.

Soak the Soya nuggets for a few hours .

Finely chop the Cashew n Raisins.

When  the soya nuggets are soft drain the water and wash well. Now pressure cook with the potatoes. Then remove and drain off the water. Mash well in a grinder and then add as much flour as required to bind. Make a soft dough with the soya-potato-flour mix. Divide the soya dough into small balls . Now make small bowl shapes and fill the chopped cashew-raisin mix .Cover and close the bowls to form small balls.

Heat 1/2 cup white oil and deep fry the balls till golden and remove them all to a dish.

Now make a gravy with the onion-ginger-garlic-tomato-green chilly paste.When oil separates ,add turmeric powder-salt-sugar and fry well.

Add the soya balls and 1/2 cup water. Let it come to a boil and cook slowly.

After 2 minutes, add Garam Masala Powder and Desi ghee and transfer to a serving dish.

I like to keep a bit of gravy and serve it with fried rice.