A good quote (and a yummy picture!)

'One cannot think well, love well or sleep well if one has not dined well' - Virginia Woolf

The picture, for those of you not that familiar with the miracle of Bengali sweets, is of home-made rosogollas (cottage cheese balls in rose syrup) and chum-chum (cottage cheese dry saffron-scented cakes stuffed with milk cream).

Marzipan Chocolates

Once you start making chocolates at home, shop-bought ones will never be quite the same.

Ingredients

200 g of semi-sweet chocolate

150 g unbleached sweet marzipan paste

about 20 dried cherries or cranberries

1 tsp butter

Method

Melt the chocolate and the butter over a pan of boiling water. Watch so that no water falls in or the chocolate will curdle.

Make small, truffle-sized balls out of the marzipan and put a dried berry inside each.

Dip the balls in melted chocolate and place on a piece of baking paper.

Let set for at least 1 hour and place in an air-tight container.

Will keep for up to 2 weeks.

Tip: Melt some white or dark chocolate and drizzle over the top of the chocolates for an attractive pattern.

Sirkhand (Safforn Yogurt)

A light and refreshing dessert that helps digestion after a heavy meal. It can be frozen in summer.

Ingredients

1 kg plain smooth yogurt (dahi)
1/4 tsp or to taste ground saffron
a pinch of cardamom (elachi) powder
2/3 cup or to taste powdered (icing) sugar
1/2 cup chopped green pistachios, chopped

Method

Put three layers of cheese cloth in a colander. Add the yogurt and hang up or at least 5 hours - you want the consistency of soft cream cheese.

Put the yogurt cream in a bowl, add all the other ingredients and beat well.

Chill and serve in small bowls, decorated with more pistachios.

Tip: Collect the liquid from the yogurt and use to make paneer, chana (chenna) or new yogurt.

Pach (Panch) Phoran Spice Mix

This is a universal Bengali seasoning used in almost all curries and other dishes. You can get all the ingredients in Indian groceries and large spice shops. Pach Phoran means five seeds.

Ingredients

6 tbsp black mustard seeds
5 tbsp nigella (kalonji) seeds
5 tbsp cumin seeds
5 tbsp fennel seeds
5 tbsp fenugreek seeds

Method

Mix all the ingredients and keep in an airtight jar. Use as needed. The mix is usually fried in oil/ghee (until crackling and fragrant) before adding other ingredients.

Tip: if you have a Bangladeshi shop near you, they usually have pre-mixed pach phoran packets.

Green bean, coconut and mustard masala

You can use any type of fresh green beans you like. This is a very smooth, unusual curry.

Ingredients

2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp pach phoran
10-15 dried curry leaves
2 bay leaves
2-3 green chillies
1/2 kg green beans, washed and sliced
1/2 cup coconut paste (coconut cream)
2 tbsp strong mustard from a jar (yes!)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp or to taste chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp mild curry powder
1 cup water

Method

Heath oil in a deep pan. Add the seeds (mustard and pach phoran), green chillies, curry and bay leaves and fry for a few minutes.

Add beans and fry few more minutes.

Add all the other ingredients, stir and simmer until the beans are soft and the gravy is thick.

It is this simple! Serve with plain rice.


Tip: see the next post for the pach phoran ingredients!

Aloo Bharta (Hot Mashed Potato Starter)

This is a very popular Bengali starter, which is served cold and eaten with rice. It has three levels of hotness - from chilies, from onions and from the mustard oil. It is a very unusual but delicious and simple to prepare dish.

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes
1 tsp salt
2 or more to taste green chillies
1 small onion (red is best)
2-3 tbsp mustard oil
a handful of fresh coriander

Method

Cook with salt, peel and mash the potatoes. You can mash them by hand, they do not have to be smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Finely chop the onion, corainder and the chillies (very, very finely!)

Mix the potatoes, chillies, onion, coriander and mustard oil.

Shape into balls and serve with plain white rice.

Tip: you can make bharta with other cooked veggies as well - try aubergine (begun), green banana, cauliflower.

Best Ever Oat Cookies

These are very fast and easy to prepare and will turn out great even for beginner bakers. They are crispy and crumbly, chewy and delicious and keep well in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp oil (I use light olive)
1 large egg
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of salt
1.5 cup porridge oats
1/3 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup or more raisins
milk as needed
oil to grease the tray

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a cookie sheet or oven tray with a bit of oil.

Mix butter and cugar until creamy. Add oil and egg and beat until smooth.

Add all the other ingredients until mixed well, adding abit of milk as needed to make thick dough.

Drop large spoonfuls on the tray leaving some space in between. This should make 9 large cookies.

Bake in the pre-heated oven 15-20 min and cool on the tray.

Tip: Do not attempt to take cookies of the sheet until completely cooled - they will break as they harden when they cool.

Luchi (Crispy Puri)

This is a traditional Bengali bread that goes great with vegetable curries, cholar daal (chana daal with coconut and sweet spices, recipe to be posted later) and sweet puddings.

Ingredients

2 cups flour (maida)
1 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp yoghurt
pinch of salt
warm water as needed

Method

Rub together the flour, ghee and yoghurt. Add salt.

Start adding warm water until you can feel a firm dough forming.

Knead well on a floured surface, until silky.

Cover with a damp cloth and let stand at least 1 hour.

Divide the dough in about 12 balls.

Roll out each ball thinly and deep fry in hot oil until golden (do not let them turn brown).

Store in an airtight container.

Tip: these can be reheated in the oven to serve warm again.

Green Chutney

An old favourite that goes great with samosas, pakoras and other fried snacks, as well as all kinds of chaat.

Ingredients

2 large bunches of fresh coriander, washed and drained well
3 or more to taste green chillies
10 mint leaves (optional)
1-2 tbsp grated coconut
1/2 tsp salt
5-6 tbsp lemon juice

Method

Blend all the ingredients together until a smooth paste is served. This is a fresh chutney so keep it refrigerated and consume within 3 days.

Tip: larger green chillies tend to be less hot, while small narrow ones are the hottest. If you are not sure about a chili, try a piece with some bread.

Mango Lassi

One of the best drinks ever!

Ingredients

Per person:
1/3 cup plain yoghurt
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sweet mango pulp
sugar to taste
few drops of rose water if desired

Method

Mix all the ingredients well (doing it in your blender will create a great frothy lassi) and enjoy!

Tip: this recipe can be used for any lassi. Try banana insted of mango (or peaches, or apricots, or apples and pears) or replace frit with mint and coriander and add salt and pepper instead of sugar.

Simple Bengali Daal

An easy daal preparation that goes brilliantly with rice and vegetable or fish dishes.

Ingredients

1 cup yellow mung daal

3-4 cups water

2 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ginger powder

2 green chillies

2 tsp pach phoran (see earlier post)

2 tbsp oil

3 bay leaves

2 medium tomatoes

fresh coriander leaves

Method

Lightly roast the daal in a dry pan, wash well and cook with water, salt and turmeric until the grains break up.

Heat oil and fry pach phoran and bay leaves until crackling.

Add all other ingredients except the coriander leaves and fry for a few minutes.

Add the tadka to the daal, add coriander leaves and cook for few more minutes.

Done!

Tip: Soak the daal overnight after roasting to be able to cook it in under 30 minutes the next day.

Saffron Polao (Pilau) Rice

This is a fancy yet light rice preparation that can be turned from a side into a main dish with addition of vegetables, prawns, paneer or meat.

Ingredients

1 cup rice (basmati is best), washed well, soaked for 15 min and drained
1 1/2 cup water
1 tbsp butter or ghee
1 clove
1 cardamom pod (elaichi)
1 small stick of cinnamon
2 peppercorns
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
5-10 strands of saffron (kesar), soaked in a tbsp of warm milk
2 tbsp raisins (kishmish)
1 tbsp cashew bits
fresh coriander leaves and/or fried onions to decorate

Method

Heat the butter or ghee in a large pan. Add all the whole spices (whole garam masala), raisins and nuts and fry a few minutes.

Add rice and stir for a few moments. Add water and saffron milk, salt and sugar and bring to boil.

Reduce to very low, cover and cook for 15-20 min until done.

Can be cooked in a rice cooker as well.

Serve hot, decorate with onions, coriander, chillies, boiled eggs.

Tip: For best results from any method of cooking, alwas pre-soak rice in cold water for at least 30 min.

Rosogolla (Rasgulla)

This is a quick way to prepare this traditional Bengali sweet (without making the chenna at home). If you have the time, you can prepare it from scratch following the same recipe with your own chenna/paneer. This is quite a light sweet and full of calcium!

Ingredients

250 g block of shop-bought paneer cheese
1/2 cup dry milk powder
5 tbsp (or as needed) milk
2 tbsp plain flour (maida)

350 g white sugar
3 cups of water

1 cup of water
2 tsp plain flour (maida)

2 tbsp rosewater (or to taste)

Method

Mash the paneer with your hands until smooth and mix in the dry milk, normal milk and 2 tbsp flour. Knead until very smooth. Add milk as needed for pliable but firm dough.

Form small smooth balls out of the mixture (no larger than a gold ball). Make sure there are no cracks as they will cause the rosogollas to break when cooking. Keep aside.

In a wide deep pan mix the sugar and 3 cups of water. Bring to boil on high and boil rapidly for 10 minutes.

Now mix 2 tsp flour and 1 cup of water. Pour half of this into the syrup and bring to high boil again. Gently drop in the paneer balls. Do not stir - they are very fragile.

Boil on high for 15-20 minutes, sprinkling the flour-water mixture from time to time in small amounts. When rosogollas are ready they are spongy and firm to the touch.

Put rosogollas in a serving bowl and sprinkle with the rosewater and some syrup from the pan until just covered.

Cool and refrigerate. Serve hot or cold.

You can also make rasmalai with these - recipe coming soon!

Enjoy and feel free to ask any questions!

Tip: if you drain the rosogollas, split them horizontally and sandwich together with some khoya (beng.: kheer), you will get delicious new sweet - ChamCham!

Coming soon!

Coming soon: a great selection of tried and tested international recipes (including Bengali, North and South Indian, Italian, American and many others!), tips and advice! Please note that for now the recipes are without pictures but I shall be adding these very soon so check back!