Panch Phoron Aloo/ Potatoes with Bengali Five Spice...going back to basics!!!

Panch Phoron Aloo/ Potatoes with Bengali Five Spice...PY messaged to ask for a very basic recipe using Panch Phoron spice mix...PY, you can use this in tadka/tempering for your dal (recipe here) or you can make these aloos...

Panch Phoron Aloo (Potatoes with Bengali Five Spice)

Ingredients:

• Potatoes, preferably, with skin, cut into ¼” thin roundels, 250 gms
• PanchPhoron, ½ tsp
• Whole dried chilies, 1-2
• Turmeric, ¼  tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, 1 tbsp

Instructions:

Cut the potatoes and soak them in cold salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add the panch phoron and dried red chilies. When the spices start spluttering, add the potatoes, salt and turmeric.

Toss around on high heat for about 5 minutes. Ensure potatoes are layered in a single layer in the pan, lower the heat and cover with a lid.

Turn and changes the sides of the potatoes after 4-5 minutes and then cook till crisp on the other side as well.

Check for seasoning, increase the heat and dry up any moisture left in the pan. And done!

Panch Phoron / The Bengali Five Spice mix...ask and you shall receive!!!

Panch Phoron (Bengali Five Spice mix)…a couple of you had messaged to ask what it is and how to make it...so, here it goes…

The basic everyday use Panch Phoron Mix

Ingredients:

• Shorshe/Sarson/Black Mustard seeds
• Mouri/Saunf/Fennel seeds
• Methi/Fenugreek seeds
• Kalo Jeere/Kalonji/Nigella seeds/Onion Seeds
• Jeere/Jeera/Cumin seeds

Instructions:

Take equal quantities of the above five ingredients, put it in a small container and shake vigorously.  And it is done!

Panch Phoron is normally used in combination with dried red chilies for tempering. A few recipes on the blog which use Panch Phoron:

• Bengali Masoor Dal

• Pyaajkoli Bhaaja

• Green Chilli Pickle

• Panch Phoron Aloo

The Variations:

• Add the sixth spice i.e. Radhuni/ Ajmod/Wild Celery seeds in half the quantity used for each of the other five ingredients (i.e. use ½ tsp Radhuni if you have used 1 tsp each of Shorshe, Mouri, Methi, Kalo Jeere and Jeere)...and yes, adding another ingredient makes is Chhoi (six) Phoron. Chhoi Phoron is normally used only for specific dishes like Shukto, Labra etc.

• Substitute Mustard with Wild Celery seeds

• Substitute Cumin with Wild Celery seeds

Spiced up Whole Wheat Spinach and Cheddar Muffins… at times I go ‘healthy’…but with cheese!!

Spiced up Whole wheat Spinach and Cheddar Muffins…this recipe has been doing the rounds for forever now…right? Found the original recipe to be too bland for our taste…made a couple of changes to spice it up, switched to whole wheat flour…and Voila!! Love it now…and the texture too…unlike the other whole wheat flour stuff, these are not too dense and heavy…try them!!

Spiced up Whole Wheat Spinach and Cheddar Muffins

Ingredients:

• Atta/Whole wheat flour, 180 gms (you can use maida/regular AP flour or a mix of both)
• Baking powder, 2 tsp
• Baking Soda, ½ tsp
• Salt, ½ tsp
• Butter, 90 gms
• Milk, 240 ml
• Egg, 1
• Fresh Spinach, 80 gms
• Cheddar cheese, grated, 100 gms (your choice, regular, sharp, herbed or a mix of all…I have also made them a couple of times using regular processed cheese)
• Onion, finely chopped and sautéed, 2 tbsp
• Red chili flakes, 1 tsp
• Black Pepper Powder, ½ tsp
• Garlic powder, ¼ tsp
• Mustard powder, 1 tsp

Toppings: of your choice, I used

• Kalonji/Ngella seeds/Onions seeds
• Olives
• Red peppers
• Cheese
• Black Poppy seeds
• Sesame seeds

Instructions:

Lightly grease muffin cups.

Preheat the oven at 175C.

Sieve the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Lightly whisk the egg. Melt the butter.

Stir the egg, butter, milk, spinach, onion, cheese and all the spices together in a mixing bowl until evenly blended.

Stir in the dry ingredients and fold with a few quick strokes. Do not over-mix.

Divide the mixture into your muffin cases, sprinkle with toppings of your choice.

Bake in a preheated for 25-30 minutes till golden brown and puffed.

(Makes about 9 large or 12 medium sized ones)

Notes:

• These freeze quite as well. Just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds after.

Nan Khatai/Indian Eggless cookies...lets celebrate!!!

Nan Khatai..the famous Indian Eggless Cookies...the ones we used to use to buy from the street vendor while growing up…home versions cannot replicate that exact taste even if you go ahead and try every single version that is available on the net...using only or a mix of all purpose flour, semolina, whole wheat flour, chickpea flour…this one’s my sister’s recipe and the one we all love the most…

Update: ** pushed the publish button and realised…this needs to be a celebratory post…I celebrated my 50^th post (here) the only celebratory post on the blog so far, with sissy’s recipe and now this one to ‘celebrate’ more than 2,00,000 views again with her recipe…and she says I never ever thank her!! I mean what else am I supposed to do?? bow to the queen?? Well, that won’t ever happen!!! A hug, maybe and she better be happy with that!!!

So here we are...more than a year later with 160 plus posts, 2,00,000 plus views, 600 plus facebook likes…Thank you to each and everyone who has come visiting here and on facebook…thank you leaving comments, for pressing that ‘like’ button…and a special thank you to those who have tried the recipes…I had my doubts and never thought I would last this long with this blog thingy…so thank you and please do stick around and see if we can last another year TOGETHER J

Nan Khatai/ Indian Eggless Cookies

Ingredients:

• Atta/Whole wheat flour, 1 cup
• Maida/Regular AP flour, 1 cup
• Besan/Chickpea flour, 1 cup
• Ghee, softened and squishy but not melted,1 cup (can substitute with unsalted butter if you must)
• Castor  sugar, 1 cup
• Baking Soda, level ½  tsp
• Baking powder, level 1 tsp
• Salt, a pinch
• Cardamom seeds, from 3-4 pods, crushed (optional, refer to Notes section below)
• Topping (optional, refer to Notes section below)

Instructions:

Sieve all the three flours with salt, baking soda and powder together. Keep aside.

In a large bowl, using a spatula gently cream ghee and sugar till light and creamy.

Add in the flavoring of your choice.

Add the flour mix, in parts to the ghee mix. Gently knead into a soft smooth dough. Don't overwork it, we just want it to come together into a ball. 

If the dough is too dry to come together, you can add 2-3 tsp more of ghee or milk. A spoonful at a time, till it comes together.
If the dough seems too oily if the ghee/butter has melted too much, just refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes.. 

Take spoonfuls of the dough and roll them between your palms into even sized smooth balls with no cracks.  (I use a teaspoon measure and scrape way the excess – this ensures that all Khatais are the same size and bake evenly )

Press them between your palms lightly to make them a little flat and even.

Place them, well spaced, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Add/sprinkle your choice of topping. Bake on the middle rack in a  preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes.

Watch closely – they should just turn a a shade or two darker.

The Khatais will be soft to touch and crumbly but they will harden a bit when cooled. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.

(Makes about 40 Khatais using teaspoon measures of dough)

Notes: 

• We love the smell of roasted chickpea flour that these Khatais have and don’t add any flavorings. But, here are a few flavoring options you can use:

Crushed cardamom seeds/ powder
Crushed fennel seeds/powder
Cinnamon powder
Nutmeg powder
Cloves powder
Saffron strands
Vanilla essence

• Again, no topping for us but a couple of topping options are:

Pistachios/Almonds/Cashews – whole/halved/lightly crushed

Fennel seeds plus crushed fennel powder

Parsi Caramelized Brown Rice...give me some sugar!!!

Parsi Caramelized Brown Rice…my affair with Parsi food started about 15 years back, when I started traveling to Bombay for work…one day, a friend took me home for dinner and after that my cribbing about going to Bombay and rush to finish work to catch the same day return flight stopped (and my food exploring in Bombay started)…at that time cooking was the last thing on my mind but over the years have picked up a few recipes…this is the first Parsi dish I ever learnt to cook…the sugar surprised me as I took my first bite but combined with Dhanshak, the flavor works beautifully…the sugar sweetens the rice slightly, the caramel adds the depth and the spiced ghee works like a charm!! J

Parsi Caramelized Brown Rice - with sugar version

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice, 2 cups 
• Green cardamom, 3-4
• Cloves, 4-5
• Bayleaves, 2
• Cinnamon, 1” stick
• Black peppercorns, 8-10
• Onions, 1 large, finely sliced
• Ghee/Clarified butter (or oil), 2 tbsp
• Sugar, 3 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Water, 4 cups

Instructions:

Wash the rice till water runs clear, soak for 15-20 minutes in cold water and drain in a colander

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed deep pan. Lower the heat and add green cardamoms, cloves, bayleaves, cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns.

When the spices start to sizzle, add the onions. On low heat, fry the onions till they start turning pale golden brown.

Add the sugar and stir until sugar starts to melts and then caramelize and onions takes on the colour. Keep a constant watch and low heat – all that caramelized goodness can very easily burn and go bitter.  

Add in the drained out rice and salt. Gently mix everything so that the rice gets nicely coated with onion mix – do the mixing gently so that the rice grains don’t break up.

Add in the water now and increase the heat. Give a final stir.

Once the water comes to a boil, cover with a tight fighting lid and lower the heat. Let it cook till all the water evaporates and rice is cooked.

Lightly fluff up the rice with a fork. Cover the mouth of the pan with a thick kitchen towel and put the lid back on. Remove the lid and towel after 10 minutes.

Typically served with Dhanshak (meat with lentils) but goes quite well with all other dals, curries and kababs as well.

Notes:

• Typically cumin seeds and black cardamom are also added, but I normally skip for my version.

• Do adjust the amount of water used to the kind of rice you use.

• If you are not convinced that sugar will taste nice in the rice, you can try no sugar version posted here. The sugar version gives a darker richer brown colour – below is how both versions of rice look.

Vagharela Chawal / Parsi Brown Rice – without sugar version...Thanks K!!

Vagharela Chawal / Parsi Brown Rice – without sugar version …My take on Kainaaz’s recipe from IFF...thanks K!!

Vagharela Chawal (Parsi Brown Rice) – without sugar version

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice, 2 cups 
• Green cardamom, 3-4
• Cloves, 4-5
• Bayleaves, 2
• Cinnamon, 1” stick
• Star Anise, ½ piece
• Black peppercorns, 8-10
• Onions, 2 large, finely sliced
• Ghee/Clarified butter (or oil), 2 tbsp
• Salt, to taste
• Water, 4 cups

Instructions:

Wash the rice till water runs clear, soak for 15-20 minutes in cold water and drain in a colander

Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed deep pan. Lower the heat and add green cardamoms, cloves, bayleaves, cinnamon, star anise and black peppercorns.

When the spices start to sizzle, add the onions. Fry the onions till they turn golden brown – patience is the key here, as on high heat onions will burn and if the onions are not properly browned, rice will lack that colour.

Add in the drained out rice and salt. Gently mix everything so that the rice gets nicely coated with ghee – do the mixing gently so that the rice grains don’t break up.

Add in the water now and increase the heat. Give a final stir.

Once the water comes to a boil, cover with a tight fighting lid and lower the heat. Let it cook till all the water evaporates and rice is cooked.

Lightly fluff up the rice with a fork. Cover the mouth of the pan with a thick kitchen towel and put the lid back on. Remove the lid and towel after 10 minutes.

Typically served with Dhanshak (meat with lentils) but goes quite well with all other dals, curries and kababs as well.

Notes:

•  Do adjust the amount of water used to the kind of rice you use.

• The original Parsi rice version with sugar gives a darker richer brown colour  and is posted here 

Mishti Pulao/ Bengali Sweet Pulao …love at first whiff!!!

Mishti Pulao (Bengali Sweet Pulao)…as promised in the last post...again, one of those quintessential Bengali dishes and stuff that legends are made of…I fell in love with this at the first whiff and when I tasted it, was sure this is what heaven tasted like…this pulao is normally made with a special variety of short grain rice called Gobindo Bhog but can be made with Basmati rice as well…I make it the way hubz likes it - no green peas (“we” feel it takes away from the taste of the pulao), no raisins (we hate raisins) and an extra bit of cashews (“we” love cashews)…did you notice the we without the quotes in there? Yes, WE do agree on a few things!!! J

Mishti Pulao (Bengali Sweet Pulao)

Ingredients:

• Gobindo Bhog or Basmati rice, 2 cups 
• Green cardamom, 3
• Cloves, 4
• Bayleaves, 2
• Cinnamon, 1” long
• Cashews, you could do with ¼ cup to ½ cup but I added 1 cup J
• Raisins, ¼ cup (I skipped)
• Fresh ginger, grated, 1 tsp 
• Turmeric powder, 1 tsp 
• Ghee, 2 tbsp
• Sugar, 3- 4 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Water, if using Gobindo Bhog rice – 3 ½ cups water and if using Basmati rice – 4 cups

Instructions:

If using Gobindo Bhog rice, wash the rice till water runs clear and drain in a colander

If using Basmati rice, wash the rice till water runs clear, soak for 15-20 minutes in cold water and drain in a colander

Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed deep pan. Lower the heat and add green cardamom, cloves, bayleaves and cinnamon.

When the spices start to sizzle, add the cashews (and raisins, if using). Fry on low flame till the cashews turn light golden brown on each side – be careful, so that the cashews don’t burn.

Add in the ginger, turmeric and fry for another 10 seconds or so.

Add in the drained out rice. Gently mix everything so that the rice gets nicely coated with ghee – do the mixing gently so that the rice grains don’t break up.

Still on low flame, fry the rice for 2-3 minutes – though, don’t let the rice colour.

Add in the water now and increase the heat. Add in the salt and sugar. Give a final stir.

Once the water comes to a boil, cover with a tight fighting lid and lower the heat. Let it cook till all the water evaporates and rice is cooked.

Lightly fluff up the rice with a fork. Cover the mouth of the pan with a thick kitchen towel and put the lid back on. Remove the lid and towel after 10 minutes.

Serve at room temperature.

Goes best with Kosha Mangsho (Bengali Dry Fried Mutton), Cholar Dal (Bengali style Split Bengal gram curry), Robibarer Murgir Jhol (Bengali Sunday Chicken Curry ) or just fill up big huge bowl and dig in!!