The Cantonese

Chow mein... from somebody who doesn't know anything about Cantonese cuisine. But it came out pretty good! I made mine with prawns; you could make yours with just veggies, or chicken, or whatever. I love a good stir-fry.

Boil noodles according to instructions on the packet. Mine said submerge in hot water for 5 minutes, so I did that. Once cooked, run under hot water for a bit. Set aside.

In a wok, heat some peanut oil and add a little ginger and garlic. Throw in scallions. Add the prawn and a spoon of dark sesame oil, and stir for a bit. Add any veggies you'd like: I'd go with water chestnuts, mushrooms, bean sprouts.... I added a few cashews and some corn. Add a few spoons of oyster sauce, and a spoon of soy sauce, and toss. (At this point you can add broth to simmer, and then add cornstarch to thicken the sauce, but I avoided this step so I wouldn't have to put cornstarch in.) Finally add the noodles and give the whole thing a toss or two to coat and fry. Throw on a tiny bit of coriander garnish and remove from heat.

Serve (for a personal kick, I broke a dried red chilli onto the dish before serving).

The Veggie Platter

I'd call it a veggie Bengali thali, but we don't say thali in Bengali :D Also, the karela recipe isn't exactly Bengali. So basically you can call this whatever you like.

Stuffed karela (bitter gourd) with begun bhaja (pan-fried aubergine/eggplant) and of course, the rice and alu posto. The recipe for alu posto is up under "The Bengali" last December.

Begun Bhaja

Pretty simple. Get a fat eggplant and slice in half vertically. Cut slices almost an inch thick and coat in salt and turmeric. Pan fry in mustard oil till cooked.

Stuffed karela

Slice long pieces of karela. Take out the seed bit. Rub with salt to reduce the bitterness a little, and let it sit for 20 minutes before washing. Meanwhile saute chopped onions, ginger and garlic in a little oil with cumin seeds,and add salt, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder and a tiny bit of amchur (substitute with achar masala if you want). Take the entire cooked mixture and grind. Stuff each washed karela piece with this mixture and pan fry together for a bit before serving.

Serve with alu posto and rice :)

The Husband's Pomfret

About once a month I get lucky when the hubby suddenly declares that today he will cook. This time he came up with a delightfully light and tangy pomfret tomato curry that I wanted to share.

Coat pomfret in salt and turmeric and set aside. Grind mustard seeds and keep in warm water. Keep grated coconut handy (if it's frozen, keep in a little warm water). Meanwhile pan-fry the pomfret in shallow mustard oil until golden and cooked.

In a pan, sauté mustard seeds and green chilli. Add a little turmeric, chopped tomatoes and the ground mustard seeds with the water; then add salt to taste. Put in the coconut and let the curry thicken a little bit before sprinkling sugar. Finally add fish. Simmer on low covered for a few minutes and serve with coriander garnish. Dash of lime on top with rice seals the deal! Yum.

The Straight-Up Street

EGG CHICKEN ROLLSSSSSSSSSSS

You know, these look a lot easier than they really are. These took me a decent amount of hard work to make! But two Bengalis in the house + no access to Kolkata street food = desperation. At least they turned out nice!

THE STUFFING

Marinate bite-sized boneless pieces of chicken in yogurt, salt, and tandoori chicken masala for at least an hour. Slice a whole lot of onions (two big ones for about 800 g chicken).Heat mustard oil, and add ginger-garlic paste, and then the onions. Once the onions are translucent, add the chicken. Cook till done and dry, and set aside. Slice up a little more raw onion to put in the roll, and also slice cucumber thinly. Chop up some green chillies. Keep all this for the stuffing.

THE WRAP

Knead about 2 cups of all-purpose flour with 2-3 spoons of oil, a spoon of salt, a pinch of sugar, VERY LITTLE baking soda (like a fourth of a teaspoon), and warm water. Make it smooth and soft. Ball them up. Roll out a ball and flatten into a giant flatbread. Then start pleating from one side. Once pleated, twist the entire thing and roll up and set aside. If you don't know what I mean, look at the pictures. On the side, crack an egg and add a spoon or two of milk and some salt/pepper to it, and beat.

Heat the pan with a little oil. Flatten out one of the little rolled-up balls into a paratha and cook till half done; then take off the pan. Add a little more oil and add the egg thing to the pan. While it starts to form an omelette, add the paratha on top of it so that the egg and the paratha join. Cook till done and browned as much as you like.

Stuff the roll so: put the wrap, egg side up, on foil or wax paper. First add a little tomato sauce and green chilli sauce (didn't have that so I added only a tomato-based garlic chilli sauce). Then add the chicken. Sprinkle a few chopped green chillies, raw onions, and cucumber onto the chicken. Sprinkle some chat masala on top, and then squeeze a lime onto the whole thing. Roll up and serve!

The Munchy Gobi

So apparently chilli cauliflower (gobi) dry is the best appetizer ever.

Blanch cauliflower for a couple of minutes. Separate florets. Make a batter of cornflour, a spoon of all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, a ddrizzle of soy sauce, maybe even a little cayenne. Dip florets in batter and deep-fry. Set aside.

Heat a little oil and add ginger-garlic paste. Throw in scallion (spring onion) whites. Add enough soya sauce to eventually coat the cauliflower, a leeetle vinegar, and sweet chili sauce. Add the fried florets and coat th with the sauce; toss for a minute and you're done! Serve with spring onion greens garnish.

The Hash'n'Tots

Friday food has to be funky fun :) (Extra points for alliteration)

Ham and cauliflower hash with tater tots.

THE HASH

Dice ham. Blanch cauliflower florets. Toss together in a little oil with chopped garlic and onion, salt, pepper, a little cayenne, oregano, and a sprinkle of breadcrumbs just for fun. Top with a fried egg.

THE TOTS

Parboil potatoes; then peel and grate. Add a spoonful of flour and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Make little tot babies. Fry till golden and crispy and delightful.

Happy weekend!

The Healthy McHealtherson

WARNING: Could get way too healthy to handle.

Asian cabbage parcels! The veggie version. Vegan, if you want.
(Will turn non-vegetarian if you add fish/mince/egg and fish sauce)

Blanch cabbage leaves (submerge in boiling water for 2 minutes and then run under cold water to stop the cooking process) and keep aside. Toss up a whole bunch of finely chopped veggies in the oil - stuff you'd put in a stir fry. Good stuff to put in would be carrots, corn, mushrooms, cabbage, beet, scallion (spring onions), maybe even tofu. If you eat egg, you could throw in scrambled egg. Toss in a little soy sauce and garlic chilli sauce. Take off the heat.

Lay out a blanched cabbage leaf and cut out some of the hard stem part. Add a little mixture from the stir fry onto one side of the leaf and roll. Steam the "parcel" for a few minutes (3-4 maybe). If you don't have a steamer, boil some water in a pot and put a metal colander on top (not touching the water) and put your parcel in the colander. Serve with a little soy sauce for dipping!

GUILT FREE WEDNESDAY.