Gulab Jamun Cake......Let's celebrate New Year with some Fusion Food

Hello All, finally I'm back after an ultra long break and managed to get some time and jot down a recipe which is very close to my heart. I'm very fond of fusion dishes and I always find myself experimental with this type of cuisine. Fusion Cuisine doesn't fall under any particular cuisine style and has played a part in innovations of many contemporary restaurant cuisines since 1970's. 

It's really very innovative and at the same time challenging to fuse elements of different culinary traditions into one style of cooking. I usually try to experiment with some traditional dishes and give it a new look and feel. 

This time I tried to experiment with a basic Vanilla cake and Gulab Jamuns. When it comes to cakes you can have zillion of creative ideas. I did it with Gulab Jamuns this time. Yes, a Gulab Jamun Cake....it sounds so Royal, isn't it?

You can make this scrumptious cake with store bought cake and gulab jamuns but I like to do everything from scratch so I made a basic Vanilla cake, mini gulab jamuns, buttercream frosting and finally assembled them.

So, let's get started:

Ilish Bhapa/ Hilsa in Coconut and Mustard Gravy

 We Bengalis go mad over this fish, we call it Ilish a.k.a Hilsa.....nobody else in the world can understand Bengali's love for Ilish or Hilsa. This fish can also be called as the King of all fishes because of its look, taste and texture.

There are lot of recipes we can make from Hilsa but there are some signature Bengali dishes which are: 

• Ilish Bhapa (Hilsa in Coconut and Mustard Gravy)
• Sorshe Ilish (Hilsa in Spicy Mustard Gravy)
• Doi Ilish (Hilsa in Yogurt and Mustard Gravy)

Among all, I love Ilish Bhapa. It's a very simple recipe and the fish retains its flavors because very few ingredients are used to cook this delactable dish. Just mustard seeds paste, grated coconut, salt, turmeric and you're done!

I have seen my Mom making this finger licking recipe using the traditional way where fish steaks are coated with all the ingredients and then steamed it in a pressure cooker and our home used to get filled with its fragnance. 

When I was in USA I tried to make this recipe in Microwave and trust me there's no difference in the taste at all. Since then I use the microwave method to make this recipe. Today I'm going to share this delicious recipe using the same method. So let's get started.