Rasmalai.....Bijoyar Mishti Mukh

Durga Pujo.....whenever we Bengalis hear this word the image of Maa Durga-the goddess of power and strength comes to our mind. According to mythological stories Maa Durga was created by the most powerful Gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh in order to defeat the demon Mahishasur.

Durga Puja is the most popular and glamorous festival of Kolkata. It's not only a festival for us but it's a blessing for us. You can judge our madness for this festival by the fact that as soon as we get the new calendar the first thing we see is when is the Durga Puja? 

The city of joy-Kolkata get's decked up like a newly wedded bride. The whole city gets embellished with lights. You can find fairy lights on every nooks and corners of the streets, buildings and even on trees. Thousands and thousands of pandals and idols are prepared months before the celebration. Idols are mainly prepared in Kumortoli. 

This carnival of madness is the celebration of love, color, light, enthusiasm and most importantly Food. We Bengali's can't imagine any festival without impeccable food. 

People start their shopping months before the festival and make different plans what to wear, when to wear, how to deck up on different days of Puja, where to go for Pandal hopping, what to eat, where to eat and the list goes on and on and on.......

This year I got a chance to be a part of this carnival. Though I enjoyed the festivities in Nagpur, Maharashtra (I grew up there) but missed all the fun and frolic of Kolkata. We went for shopping, did lot of Pandal hopping with friends and family, enjoyed Bhog in our complex Puja, tasted different varieties of food starting from street side to fine dining restaurants and finally bid a tearful adieu to the goddess at my Uncle's residence Puja.

Due to this reason I took a break from the blogging world and enjoyed the largest and biggest festival of Bengali's. During the 5 days of Durga Pujo I prepared different varieties of food and for the climax i.e Dashmi I prepared a special dessert for my family: Rasmalai. 

Rasmalai are creamy cheese dumplings dipped in cardamom and saffron infused creamy milk. Firstly, cheese dumplings are prepared the same way you prepare Rasgulla (for the recipe of Rasgulla Click Here). Once they had soaked enough sugar syrup, press to release the syrup. Secondly, Rabri is prepared and flavored with cardamom powder and saffron (for the recipe of Rabri Click Here). Finally, the dumplings are dipped in this Rabri and garnished with chopped almonds and pistachios. 

So, let's begin with the recipe of Rasmalai:

Burrito Bowl

As of now you all know that we are big time foodie. Here, I would like to thank my husband bcoz of whom I was able to discover this aspect of my life that I love cooking. It was boz of him that I am able to taste different national and international cuisines. Some are totally rotten tomatoes and some are so delectable that we love to taste them again and again.

Chipotle is one of such restaurants in America where we used to have our brunch on the weekends (when we were in the USA). Chipotle is a very famous Mexican Grill renowned for their Burritos and Tacos. It was my personal favorite from health and nutrition factor. 

Burrito is nothing but a Mexican dish consisting of a flour tortilla rolled round with savoury filling typically of minced meat, veggies, beans etc. But today I'm going to share the recipe of Burrito Bowl. The best part of this dish is that it's completely customizable. You can add or delete any of the item you don't like bcoz there's number of goodies which goes round it.

It includes lemon-cilantro rice, pinto/black beans, corn salsa, roasted bell peppers and onions, lettuce, guacamole, cheese, sour cream. In restaurant too I never added the last three ingredients to my rice bowl (guacamole, cheese, sour cream) so here too I'm not using it in my recipe but if you like you can definitely add it to your bowl.

So, go ahead and make this healthy, nutritious and delectable recipe and enjoy it with your friends & family. So, let's get started:

Fried Modak.......Ganesh Puja Special

The festive season has started in India and there's celebration in the air. It started with Raksha Bandhan and now it's time for Ganeshutsav. According to mythological stories Lord Ganesha is worshiped before everyone and it was on this day that Lord Shiva had pronounced his son superior to all the gods and godesses except Lord Shiva himself, Goddess Parvati, Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi.  

India is celebrating Ganesh Puja this week in full swing and only few days left for the festivities to culminate. But if you want to get the best feeling of this festival you must visit state of Maharashtra as it is celebrated in most of the households and every nooks and corners of the state.

For my Non-Indian readers I would like to throw some light on this festival. Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayak Chaturthi is a Hindu festival celebrated in the honour of Lord Ganesha. The festivities last for 10 days. The idol is worshiped for 10 days and then immersed in water with a hope that Lord Ganesha will shower his blessings on them and their families for all year long.

Keeping all the traditions and cultures apart there's one more thing associated with Lord Ganesha and i.e. he is considered to be a great foodie. During this festival various offerings are made to Lord Ganesha as Prasadam (Holy food) but amongst all Modak is his favorite. He is also known as "Modakapriya".

Modak is a sweet dumpling and very popular in Western and Southern India. As India is a very diversified country, here every region and religion has its own recipe. The one I'm sharing today is from Maharashtra. As I had spent most of my childhood in Maharashtra so this festival and festivities is very close to my heart.

With no further delay, let me share the recipe of Modak with you: