Begun chirer pulao - a side dish using brinjal and poha

Isn't the name begun chirer pulao, catchy? However, it is slightly misleading because it is not a pulao per se. It does not make a meal by itself but it does make a spicy, lip smackingly good side dish. The recipe is from Bong mom's cookbook. I have made changes to suit our palate.

What you need:
Brinjal/eggplant - 1 large, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
Poha/flattened rice/aval - 1 cup
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Turmeric  powder - 1/2 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2 or 3, slit lengthwise
Asafoetida
Oil - 2 tsp + some more for drizzling over the brinjal and poha

Wash the sliced brinjals well. Sprinkle some turmeric powder and salt over the slices and let it rest in a colander for 15 minutes. Squeeze out excess water, drizzle some oil over the slices and then bake in a preheated oven at 175 degree centigrade for about 10-12 minutes, turning over once halfway through, until the slices start to shrivel up slightly on the edges. Time will vary depending on your oven. I have an option called Crisp in my microwave, which is what I used and it took me about 12 minutes.
While the brinjals are in the oven, getting cooked, mix the turmeric powder, chilli powder and a little bit of salt to the curd. Mix well and set aside.
Drizzle some oil over the poha and heat this in the microwave for about 2 minutes until the poha turns crisp.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a thick bottomed pan. Add  a generous few pinches of asafoetida and the slit green chillies. Saute for a minute. Now reduce the heat to low and add the curd mixture. Stir well and heat until you see oil separating from the mixture. Add half a cup of water and the baked brinjal slices. Mix well and let it come to a boil. When the mixture starts thickening and 3/4th of the water content has evaporated, stir in the crisp poha and the garam masala. Mix well and switch off the heat.
Serve immediately with rice/roti.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other marathoners doing BM#22.
 

Dum aloo

There are some combinations that you just cannot go wrong with - Luchi and Dum aloo is one of those. The puffed white puris and the potatoes cooked in an aromatic mix of spices is a pairing that is meant to be.
When I decided that I was going to make luchis for this blogging marathon themed on Bengali cuisine, I knew that I had to pair it with Dum Aloo. I immediately remembered the Dum Aloo that my friend D had cooked and brought to work one day and promptly sent a mail to her asking her if she could send me the recipe. Despite being bogged down by work, she did so within 10 minutes of getting my mail and I've followed her recipe to the T. Thank you D for a keeper recipe.

What you need:
Potatoes - 1/2 kg, boiled, peeled and cut into small pieces
(The original recipe calls for baby potatoes, but I had none on hand)
Tomato - 4 large, finely chopped
Oil - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Ginger - 1 inch piece, julienned and some more crushed to get about 2 tsp of ginger juice
Separately dry roast and powder the following:
Corriander seed/dhania - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds/jeera - 2 tsp
Red chillies - 5 or 6
Black pepper corns - 5 or 6

Heat oil in a pan. Add the julienned ginger, followed by the chopped tomato, salt and half of the powder. Cook on low heat until the tomatoes soften. Stir in the potatoes, the rest of the spice powder and about half a cup of water. Stir well and boil for a while until the spice mix coats the potatoes well. Add the ginger juice, a tsp of ghee and mix well. Remove from heat and serve hot with luchis.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other marathoners doing BM#22.

Luchi - deep fried delight

It's time for another Blogging Marathon and this time, the theme I have chosen is Bengali cuisine. Nothing is as quintessentially Bengali as the puffed white puris made of maida - known as luchi.

What you need:
Maida/All purpose flour - 2 cups
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Water - enough to knead into a soft, pliable dough
Oil - for deep frying the luchis

Take the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil to it and mix well. Now add salt and then water, little by little, and knead well until the dough becomes soft and pliable.
Keep covered for at least 30 minutes.
Pinch out small balls of the dough. Take a few teaspoons of oil in a shallow plate. Roll the balls of dough in this oil and then roll out into thick, small circles.
Deep fry in hot oil, pressing down with a slotted spoon, to ensure that it puffs up well. Turn over once.
Drain off excess oil and remove on to your serving bowl.
Serve hot with any curry of your choice.
I served this with aloo dum, which is the subject of tomorrow's post.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other marathoners doing BM#22.