Chicken Masala Rice

This is another quick (jhat-pat) recipe and is a kind of replacement of Biriyani.I know there can not be a replacement for Biriyani but if you don't want to put a lot of effort to make Biriyani but still want to have a testy,mouthwatering full meal very quickly then this is right recipe that you are looking for.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup rice
• 200 gms of boneless chicken or 2-3 chicken leg pieces
•  4-5 spoon fried onion
• 2-3 spoon plain curd
• 2-3 teaspoon of onion paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder.
• 6-7 teaspoon of chopped coriander
• 1-2 teaspoon of chopped green chili
• 5-6 teaspoon of white oil 
• 2-3 drops of food color.
• salt as per taste

Procedure:

Though I did this preparation with chicken drumsticks but I would suggest to do it with boneless chicken.The reason behind is it takes more time to cook leg pieces than the boneless ones and this is actually a 'jhat-pat' recipe.

•  Marinate the boneless chicken with curd,onion paste,ginger garlic paste,red chili powder,coriander powder,cumin powder and garam masala powder for 30mins.
• Boil 2 cups rice with at least 8 cups of water and salt until it is half done.Please note do not cook it fully.Once it is half done drain the excess water from it.
• Take a non-stick pan and put it in medium heat.Pour the marinated chicken in it, add salt and mix it well for 5 mins.
• Add half done rice on top of it.spread it equally.
• Sprinkle coriander powder,fried onion,chopped green chili and some garam masala powder.
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup of water.
• Before covering it with lid , use a aluminum foil to cover it first then use the lid on top of it.
• Put it in low heat and let it cook for 30-40mins.
• After that add food color with 3-4 tablespoon of water and spread it on the rice.This is totally optional.You can avoid adding it if you don't want to add.
• Mix the rice with the chicken very well and switch off your oven.Cover the lid once again for another 5mins.
• Now your Chicken Masala Rice is ready to be served.

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Mochar Chop

This is a famous snacks of Bengal and without giving any more introduction I will directly jump into the making procedure.

Ingredients:

• Banana Flower (mocha)
• 1 small boiled potato
• 2 teaspoon of raisin(kismiss)
• 1/2 cup red chickpeas(soaked overnight in water)[chola]
• 2 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 th teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander power
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/3rd teaspoon of red chilli powder.
• 1 egg
• 1 cup bread crumb
• salt as per taste
• 2 teaspoon of white oil
• 1 bay leaf.
• oil to deep fry.

Procedure:

• Take out the banana flower from its mold and chop it in small pieces.
• Boil it with water,salt and turmeric powder.Drain the excess water from it and wash out at least 2-3 times with normal water. Actually there is a little bitter taste exist in it and we want to get rid off  it by washing it and draining its water.
• Mix all the spices , smashed potato and banana flower together.Mix it really well and smash it with your hand or a spoon.
• Put a frying pan in medium flame,add oil ,bay leaf, garam masala powder(1 teaspoon) .Add the mixture along with ginger garlic paste and fry it for 5-6min.Make sure that all spices has incorporated its flavor in the mixture.
• Add raisin and chickpeas and mix it really well. Put it in a separate bowl and let it cool down.
• Beat one egg and add a pinch of salt in it.
• Take the mixture and give it a round shape.Remove the bay leaf before giving any shape.You can give any shape you like but do not make it too thick.
• Pour this into egg and then cover it with bread crumb.Do the same process once again.It actually helps to make the outer layer nice and more crispy.
• Follow the same process for all of them.
• Deep fry it in medium heat till it get nice, light brown color.

And 'Mochar Chop' is all ready to eat.Serve it with tea or coffee and enjoy a nice snacks.

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Golap Pithe

Sweet dish is very famous in Bengal. When we say Bengal the sweet that first comes into our mind is "rosogolla' a very very famous sweet dish. There are sweets which is occasional as well and generally made during winter.Such sweets are known as 'Pithe'. There are so many verity of Pithe that it is impossible to teach them all at one go. What we will learn today is actually a pithe which was originated in Bangladesh and very famous in Bengal as well. It is known as 'Golap Pithe' or Rose Sweet. Such 'Pithe's are generally home made and hardly found in shops.So lets start making this.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup milk
• 2 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4th Teaspoon salt.
• 1/2 cup white oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2-3 green cardamom(elach)
• 2-3 cup oil to deep fry
• cookie cutter or coffee lid 

Procedure:

• First we will prepare the sugar syrup. Take a pan, add sugar,water and cardamom and put it on medium flame. Let it boil for 5-6min and then transfer it in a bowl.
• Take one non-stick container and put it in medium heat.Add milk and let it boil.
• When the milk start boiling and the oil in it and mix it really well.Then switch off the gas, beat one egg roughly and pour it in the milk.The moment you add the egg start mixing it in the milk instantly  otherwise it will form lumps. Now after mixing it add the flour and mix it with a wooden spoon or spatula.
• Now knead it really good to form a tough dough. Do not make the dough too hard or too soft.You can add water or flour to make it right.
• Divide the dough in two half and roll it very big and thin with the help of a roller. Remember the the thinner you will roll the better it will be.
• Now with the help of a cookie cutter or coffee cap, cut circles from it.

• Now form the rose. Please refer my below video to form the rose.

• After that, deep fry those roses very carefully in medium heat for about 5-7mins or till it become light brown.
• Now deep those into sugar syrup and keep it there for 5-6 mins and let it cool down.
• Then your crunchy and juicy  Golap Pithe is all ready to eat.

I hope you enjoyed today's recipe .My apologies to all my friends who are waiting since long for this recipe specially Barnita. I hope I am successful in defusing your anger now  :) . Happy cooking.

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Tandoori Pomfret

This is one of my favorite recipe and I am sure that you will love this. You can have it with steam rice or just with salad. So lets start making Tandoori Pomfret.

Ingredients:

• 2 Pomfret fish
• 2 tablespoon yogurt(tok doi)
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1/4th teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon carom seed powder(joan guro)(blend carom seed in a mixer to get the powdered form)
• 1/2 teaspoon chat masala
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
• salt as per taste
• a pinch of red food color

Procedure:

• Its very important to clean the fish for this preparation.Remove all the fin and its mouth excluding caudal fin(lej). Cut the fish diagonally from its mouth so that you can clean it from there then give three slits on each side.Please refer the below images for that.

• Take a bowl , add 1 tablespoon lemon juice,1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder and mix it really well.Now rub this mixture on the body of the fish very well specially on the slits and cuts.Now let it rest for 10mins.
• Take another air tight bowl ,add yogurt and all the spices except chat masala.Add a tablespoon of lemon juice and salt in it and mix it really well.While adding salt please remember that you have already added salt to the fish and this salt is only for the mixture.So please be careful about the amount of salt in the mixture.
• Rub the mixture really well in the fish and add a tablespoon of oil from the top.Cover the lid of the bowl,put it in the fridge and marinate it for about 4-5hours.

• Preheat your oven at 350degree Fahrenheit or 180degree Celsius and bake it for 5-6min.
• After that take it out from the oven,turn the fish on the other side,add some oil from the top and again bake it for another 5-6min.
• After that this delicious , mouthwatering recipe will be ready to serve. Sprinkle some chat masala from top and serve it with onion and lemon and enjoy it all alone or with steam rice. 

This recipe is specially for SumanDa who requested this,so a big thank you to SumanDa, and for all of my readers, I hope that you will also like this preparation and will definitely try this out in this weekend itself.

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Curd Pomfret

Just like all the Bong even I do have a fascination on fish.The best think about Bengali's are where ever they are, they are always connected with one thing and that is fish.Among all the fish Hilsa,Shrimp,Pomfret and Rohu comes in the first wish list.Today we will learn one Pomfret's recipe.   Pomfret is a very testy diamond shape soft fish and a very famous sea food.Today I will share a very easy to make recipe of this fish which will be ready for less than 15mins.

Ingredients:

• 2 Pomfret fish
• 4 table spoon plain yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/3 rd teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/3 rd teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Fenugreek leaf powder(Kasoori Methi)
• salt as per taste
• 2 tablespoon white oil

Procedure:

• You can cook whole fish without cutting it or can cut it into half.If you are cooking whole fish make sure to give some slits on it.
• Take a bowl and mix all the spices(except salt) and plain curd together.Pour the fish into it,mix it well and  marinate it for about 30mins.
• Take a frying pan and put it on medium flame.Add oil and let it warm up a little.
• Pour all the fish along with the marination ,add some salt and cook it in high flame for about 5mins.
• Then cover the lid of the pan and cook it on low heat for 7-10min more.
• After 10mins your curd Pomfret or 'Doi Pomfret' is ready to serve.

I hope you will like this recipe.This is one of my 'jhat pat recipe' which I really like to do.You can do the same recipe with Rohu fish(Rui Mach) or with Hilsa Fish(Ilish Mach). Believe me it will taste equally good as Pompret.Only in case of Rohu fish the cooking time will be more (about 30min). So try it with which ever fish you like and enjoy this delicious recipe.

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Shakshouka

'Shakshouka' means 'a mixture' in Arabic. Though it is a Northern African recipe but it is also very famous in Israel.It is nothing but baked egg with nice and spicy tomato sauce.So lets start preparing it.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 3 chopped tomato
• 100gms smashed paneer
• 1 medium size chopped onion
• 2-3 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1-2 teaspoon chopped coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder.
• Salt as per taste.
• 2 teaspoon white oil

Procedure:

• Take a non stick pan and put it in medium heat.
• Add oil and let it warm up.
• Add chopped garlic and let it be light brown.
• Add chopped onion and fry it for about 1-2min
• Add chopped tomato and all the spices except pepper powder.
• Mix it really well and put it on high heat till all the tomato smashed and become a smooth paste.
• Add the smashed paneer and mix it really well.
• Take a oven proof bowl and pour the sauce in it.
• Take a spoon and make a small circle with it into the sauce so that it create some circular space in it.
• Break one egg and pour it into the space.Do it very carefully so that the egg yoke remain intact.In the same way arrange all the eggs one by one into the bowl as shown in the picture.I have prepared this for six people so I took 6 eggs.You can add or remove number of eggs as per your requirement.In case of adding more egg requires making more sauce so increase that as well. 
• Sprinkle some salt and black pepper powder on top of the eggs.
• Preheat your oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit or 175 degree Celsius. 
• Bake it for 10-15mins.
• Sprinkle some chopped coriander after that.
• Serve it with bread.

This is a very good breakfast.You can take it as snacks as well.But it is really easy and testy recipe and very helpful specially for bachelors.So friend enjoy your breakfast with Shakshouka :)

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