Amritsari Chole

           

There is something about Punjabi cuisine which is so alluring that one can't resist. To be very frank I just love North-Indian cuisine. The main reason behind my love for Punjabi food is because I have spent 7 years of my life in Punjab. 

Nobody makes Chole the way Punjabis do. I have already shared the recipe of Chana Masala in my earlier days of blogging. You can check out the recipe here (click here). Today's post is all about Amritsari Chole. This recipe is a bit different from Chana Masala, the main difference is in the mix of spices used to cook this dish.

Amritsari Chole is often enjoyed as a delicious breakfast in many parts of Northern India. It makes a complete meal when served with curd or lassi. This easy vegetarian recipe is a perfect spicy blend of ingredients easily available in your kitchen. If you love spicy food, then this one is a must-try for you! 

This delectable Amritsari Chole is usually accompanied with Bhature (a fried bread made of flour) or Kulcha. Chole-Bhature is a breakfast invented in Delhi after partition and nowadays, it is a popular breakfast around Northern India and other parts of the country.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Crab Curry

CRABS....."You cannot teach a crab to walk straight". 
Whenever we hear the word Crab, we can think of exotic dishes made from it but the real deal is in cleaning them. The thought of cleaning crab gives me goosebumps. It's so scary dealing with live crabs and this was the main reason I couldn't relish crab at home.

Whenever I visited our local Asian store I couldn't stop myself in gazing those live crabs. I never gathered the courage of handling them at home on my kitchen top. So whenever we thought of enjoying crabs we would go to some restaurants and dig a hole in our wallets (Mind you....eating crabs in restaurants is quite expensive). Of course I tried to search online and like always I got thousand of ideas on HOW TO CLEAN CRABS? But still I was not very confident about myself.

Finally, one day I saw huge KING CRAB LEGS lying down the display case in my nearby grocery store along with many seafoods. I couldn't stop my excitement and I shouted YES; NOW I CAN RELISH THEM AND MAKE SOME EXOTIC DISHES FROM CRAB AT HOME.

So, here I'm penning down our family's favorite Crab Curry recipe which we like to enjoy with steamed rice and salad. Hope you'll like it.

Steamed Shrimp Curry/ Bhapa Chingri

Shrimp/Prawns/Chingri whatever you call it, they are our (Bengali's) all time favorites. We can use it in each and every vegetable, you just name it and with the blink of eye we are ready with the dish. Moreover there are number of recipes that can be made out of it. Such is the love of Bengali's for "Chingri".

One of the most popular recipe cooked with Shrimp is Chingri Malaikari (recipe here) which is a signature bong delicacy. 

The recipe which I'm sharing today is a quintessential recipe of Bengali Cuisine i.e Bhapa Chingri or Steamed Shrimp in Mustard and Coconut Gravy. I still remembered my Mom cooking this delectable recipe in a pressure cooker and as soon as it's done I use to run to the kitchen and open the cooker to get the whiff of this flavorful dish.

Bhapa Chingri is cooked in mustard paste with coconut milk and a generous amount of mustard oil and slit chillies. Some recipe calls for poppy seed paste but I like it this way. This recipe is very similar to another very popular recipe i.e Ilish Bhapa (recipe here). Just replace the Ilish/Hilsa fish with Chingri/Shrimp.

Traditionally this recipe is prepared using a pressure cooker. All the ingredients are mixed together and placed in a steel container with airtight lid. This container is then placed in the pressure cooker and steamed for 8-10 mins. But, I have used microwave method for preparing this recipe. 

So, without any further ado let's start with the recipe:

Goan Fish Curry

We both love Pomfret just like anything. Whether it's a Pomfret Fry, Tandoori Pomfret or Pomfret Curry they all are finger licking good. 

The recipe which I'm going to share today is a very popular dish called as "Goan Fish Curry". In Goa Pomfrets are commonly known as Pamplet. There are several curries which can be made by this delectable fish but this recipe is very common in Northern parts of Goa.

This fish curry is bit spicy so it's commonly served with steaming hot rice. So, let's start with the recipe:

Parsley Chicken

Last Sunday when I went for my weekly grocery shopping at our local market I was quite surprised to see one vendor was selling fresh PARSLEY. Before that I used to buy dried parsley leaves from a super market. 

In India it's very hard to find fresh herbs like Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Dill etc; we get the dried version though. So, the recipes which call for fresh herbs have to be replaced by the dried herbs. When I glanced over the fresh Parsley the first thing which came to my mind was I need to buy them today. Buying these fresh herbs here in India is pretty expensive :(

The recipe which I'm sharing today is PARSLEY CHICKEN. This recipe was one of my favorites when I was in the USA. The mild flavors of freshly chopped Parsley takes the recipe to the next level. So, without any further ado let's jump straight into the recipe:

Chingri Malaikari/ Shrimp Malaikari.......A Signature Bong Delicacy

Fish and rice is every bengali's comfort food. Ilish, Chingri, Rui, Katla, Koi, Tangra, Pabda, Bhetki and the list goes on and on and on.........We love every variety of fish but amongst all Ilish (Hilsa) and Chingri (Shrimp/Prawn) are our all time favorites.

Since I had been raised outside Bengal we were not privileged to relish some of the very common varieties of fish. We use to get only Rui, Katla, Koi and sometimes Chingri. But whatever variety we would find my Mom always came out with finger licking delicacies. 

Chingri Macher Malaikari is one of the signature dishes of Bengali Cuisine. Every Bong family prepares this delicacy on special occasions. I had seen my Mom preparing this scrumptious delicacy with lot of patience and hard work, she used to delicately clean and devein the shrimp first, then grate the coconut and extract the coconut milk out of it...OMG!!!! Thanks to the supermarkets as we can easily find both the things readily available on the shelves and making this succulent recipe with the blink of an eye.

I have made this Malaikari using head on Shrimps as they add another dimension to this dish. If you want you can use headless Shrimps too. Coconut milk is the key ingredient of this dish. I have used grated coconut along with coconut milk you can use canned coconut milk or make it at home by scraping and soaking the coconut in hot water and then make a fine paste (add a little bit of milk if required). Strain it, your coconut milk is ready to use.

Let's start with the recipe:

Malai Kofta

Malai Kofta....whenever I hear this name soft, tender cheese dumplings dunked in rich, creamy Makhani gravy comes to my mind which is enough to make anyone drool. After Paneer Butter Masala this is the recipe which is I usually prefer to order if I want to eat anything Vegetarian in a restaurant and believe me these two recipes can never go wrong.

Malai means cream and Kofta means fried dumplings. If I talk about only Kofta then there are many variations of making them either veg or non-veg. I have already posted a recipe of Nargisi Kofta Curry. You can have a look here (Click Here).

This particular recipe of Kofta demands for Paneer (Cottage Cheese) and Potatoes. Some people like to add chopped veggies too but I prefer them this way. There are many ways in which you can prepare the Malai Kofta Curry: 

• cashew nut + onion + tomato based gravy 
• onion+tomato based gravy
• tomato based gravy

Here, I'm showing you the first version as this is the one which gives the gravy rich, perfect and creamy texture. This kind of gravy is also known as Makhni gravy. You can prepare number of dishes with this gravy some of them are: Paneer Butter Masala, Murg Makhani etc. Here I have used very less butter but if you want you can make the gravy completely in butter.

So let's start with the recipe:

Nargisi Kofta Curry

Mughlai Cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines in the Indian subcontinent. It's origin can be found back in Mughal empire where exotic dishes were prepared in the royal kitchens. Many of the dishes in Indian cuisine are influenced by their imperial cooking style.

Mughlai food is known for its richness. It is famous for the generous use of ground spices, nuts and dry fruits which make the dish quite spicy and give it a very unique aroma. The rich flavors and the exotic aroma are so tempting that can make any food loving person carve for more. 

The name of the dishes in this cuisine are so alluring that they invite you to try them out at least once. Whether its Biryani, Kofta, Korma, Shorba, Nihari, Haleem or Kebabs we love them all and usually end up licking our fingers. A huge thanks to the Mughal dynasty who introduced us to the special ingredients and techniques used in this form of cooking. 

We both are huge fans of Mughlai Cuisine and that's the reason our Sunday's are incomplete without Biryani and Shorba. I have already posted few recipes from this cuisine; you may check them out:

• Chicken BIryani
• Chicken Shami Kebab
• Kashmili Pulao (A fusion of Kashmiri and Bengali cuisine)

Today I'm again posting a delicacy from this cuisine which is Nargisi Kofta Curry. The term "Nargisi" is derived from the word "Nargis" which refers to "Narcissus"; a winter flower which has a yellow center with white petals around it just like a boiled egg. These koftas are hard boiled eggs coated with minced meat and then cooked in a gravy. When you cut the kofta it resembles the Nargis flower. There are two parts in making this recipe firstly making the koftas and then the sauce. The sauce can be a simple tomato based gravy or a Makhni sauce which enhances the flavors of these koftas. I prefer tomato based gravy over Makhni gravy to keep flavors intact yet adding a subtle richness to the gravy.

So let's start preparing this exotic dish: