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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Pineapple cake

Before I start today's recipe I must share something with you all. I was not at all good on making cake while I was in India. But after I came here I started making really tasty cakes.Do you know why? I was not patience enough to make a cake. But as I have lot of free time in my hand I am making cakes very patiently and carefully.So one thing about making a good cake is patience; irrespective of wherever you are or whatever is happening , you have to give full concentration on your cake if you want to make really good cakes.

Ingredients:

For Cake:

• 250gms flour
• 250gms of granulated sugar
• 75gms butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

For Icing:

• 2 cups of whipping cream
• 1 cup of icing sugar(approximately)

For Decoration:

• 1 small pineapple(cut in small slice)
• 2-3 strawberries 

Procedure:

• Break all four eggs and pour it in a mixing bowl.
• Start beating it with the help of hand mixer in a medium speed.
• Slowly add the sugar and keep on beating until you mix all the sugar and the mixture become double in size and very very light weight.
• Melt the butter in microwave and add it in the mixture.Don't pour it hot.Let it cool down a little bit then add it.
• Add vanilla in it and beat it for another 5-10 minutes.
• Now sieve the flour on the mixture and mix it very slowly and carefully.
• Grease two cake tin with oil or butter and sprinkle some flour in it.
• Pour equal amount of cake mixture on both the tins.
• Preheat your oven at 350degree Fahrenheit or 180 degree Celsius.
• Bake it for 15-20mins.
• For making icing, take a bowl,pour the whipping cream and start beating it in a high speed.
• Start adding icing sugar in it.Do not add all at a time.Keep on beating until you mix all the sugar.when it will become nice and foamy stop beating.One more thing you can do to check if it reaches to right consistency or not.With the help of the whisk or spoon take off some cream and turn it backward.If the cream do not drop from the spoon then you will understand that it is in right consistency.
• Blend some pineapple in a mixture and squeeze the juice from it.Then add a teaspoon of sugar and mix it well.
• Take both the cake and sprinkle about 2 teaspoon of the juice on each cake.If your cake top is not even then cut it evenly with a flat knife because we want a layered cake and for that even cake is must.
• Take a spatula or flat knife and add a good quantity of whipped cream on top of each cake and flatten it properly.
• Place pineapple slice on top of one cake.Put as much slice as you can but make sure that the slice are thin.You can make thick slice as well but in that case it will be difficult to cut the cake.
• Put the other cake on top of it putting the cream side downward.
• Now take some more icing and cover the top and the edges of the cake with it.Remember one thing , this icing is just a start up this is not a final icing so do not put lot of whipped cream,rather take small amount of cream and spread it across evenly so that it forms a very thin layer on the cake.
• Put it in the refrigerator for an hour.
• After an hour we will do second layer of icing.Now take a good quantity of whipped cream and spread it all over the cake.Flatten it with a flat knife or spatula and make a smooth ,flat icing.
• Put it into the refrigerator again for an hour.
• After that fill you piping bag and decorate your cake with whipped cream,strawberry and pineapple.I used some star cones to decorate it , you can choose your own decoration style.Now your cake is ready to serve.

I am really sorry that I was not being able to take step by step picture of this recipe as I had to concentrate on each step.But I promise that the next time I will make this cake I will take all step by step procedure and will upload it here.Till then enjoy cooking :)

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Cheesy Rice with Fried Chicken

This is a very good full meal and can be made in almost half an hour time if ingredients are ready.You can have it in lunch or in dinner. Specially if you have returned home late and really tied and don't want to put much effort to make a food though want to have a good dinner then this is the recipe that you should try.

Ingredients:

For making rice:

1. Rice 1 cup.
2. 1 cup tomato paste
3. 3/4 th cup Parmesan cheese.
4. 1 teaspoon soya sauce.
5. 1 teaspoon red chili paste.
6. 1/2 cup of milk.
7. 3-4 cups of water.
8. salt as per taste.

For Making chicken:

1. Thin slice of chicken breast pieces 200gms.
2. Chopped garlic 2 teaspoon.
3. Oyster sauce 5-6 teaspoon.
4. Red chili paste 1-2 teaspoon..
5. Tomato sauce 1 teaspoon.
6. Black pepper powder 1 teaspoon.
7. 2-3 baby carrots cut into slice.
8. 2-3 beans (cut in half).
9. 4-5small pieces of broccoli.
10. Chopped coriander 2 teaspoon. 
11. 4 teaspoon of oil.

Procedure:

For making rice:

• Take a pressure cooker.Add all ingredients except milk and cheese.
• Cover the lid and put it in medium flame for about 20-15 minutes or till 5-6 whistle.
• After that remove the lid , add milk and cheese.
• Mix it really well or until all the cheese get melted in the rice.

For making chicken:

• Take a non-stick pan and put it in high flame. 
• Add some oil and let it get a little warm.Then add chopped garlic and the chicken pieces.
• Sprinkle pepper powder and salt on it and fry it till it turns little brown from both the sides.
• Now add chili paste,tomato sauce and oyster sauce one by one.
• Add carrots,broccoli and beans and fry it for about 5 minutes in low flame. 
• Add some more salt for the vegetables. 
• You can add a little bit of water if required so that the sauce don't get burn. But it must be very very little.If not required do not add water.

You can make rice and chicken at the same time. After putting the pressure cooker on the oven you can start preparing the chicken.

For Serving:

• Take a serving plate.Pour the rice in it.
• Put the fried chicken on top of it.
• Put the vegetables with the chicken.
• Sprinkle some chopped coriander and serve it hot.
• Remember you need to serve it hot otherwise it won't taste good as the rice has cheese in it.

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Paneera Bread

First of all a very Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. I am really sorry that I was not being able to post this recipe for quite a long time.So today as a penalty I will share two recipe together.First we will make a breakfast and then lunch/dinner.
So lets start with the breakfast.

Ingredients:

1. 4 bread slice
2. 100gms small diced Paneer(available in Indian Stores)
3. finely chopped red,green and yellow bell pepper 2 teaspoon each.
4. 1teaspoon butter.
5. tomato sauce 2 teaspoon.
6. salt as per test.
7. black pepper powder 1/2 teaspoon.
8. cheese slice 2 (optional)

Procedure:

• Put a frying pan in medium flame and pour the butter in it.
• Add Paneer and all the bell peppers.
• Add some salt and black pepper powder.
• Fry it for about 5 minuts.
• Take a bread and evenly spread 1 teaspoon of tomato sauce on top of it.
• Now pour half of the Paneer mixture,spread it evenly,add one cheese slice and then cover it with another bread.Cheese is totally optional here.I do not prefer to give cheese,specially if I am having breakfast with it because I try to be conscious about my increasing weight. But if you are quite slim you can add it.Otherwise if you are taking it as a snacks you can add one cheese slice.Otherwise no need to add.
• Prepare the other two bread as above.
• Now preheat a sandwich grill and put those sandwich on it.Cover the lid and put it for 3-5 minutes or until it has those nice brown grill color in its body.
• If you don't have sandwich grill you can make it in sandwich maker as well as in any frying pan.If you are doing it on frying pan please do add cheese otherwise it wont be able to hold the paneer mixture together.One thing is the texture that you can get in sandwich grill won't be possible in others but taste will be almost same for all.
• Now cut the bread diagonally and serve it hot. The crunchy bread outside with soft and juicy paneer filling will melt in your mouth.

Enjoy this breakfast....Happy cooking :)

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Black Forest Cake

When someone say "cake" , the first name that comes into my mind is 'Black-forest'. The soft chocolate cake with layers of whipped cream make me so happy that I forgot my weight and start eating as much as I can.So today I am going to share my black-forest recipe with all of you .

Ingredients:

1. flour 175gms
2.  powder sugar 225gm
3. melted chocolate or coco powder 75gm
4. chocolate flakes 150gms
5. 4 eggs
6. cherry 15-20 piece
7. whipping cream 2 cup
8. powder sugar 1 to 1.5 cup
9. butter 75gms

Procedure:

• take a bowl and break all 4 eggs into it.
• add 225gms of sugar and start beating it with a hand beater.
• beat it for about 10-15 minutes in a medium speed or till it comes to a ribbon state and becomes very nice and foamy.
• now add melted chocolate in it.for melting hard chocolate you can take a microwave proof bowl,put the hard chocolate and butter together in it and keep it in the microwave for 1min.Otherwise you can do it with coco powder as well.So add melted chocolate with butter mixer or coco powder and melted butter (whatever you want) in it and mix it slowly.
• then sieve the flour and mix it slowly with very very soft hand.
• take two separate same size cake tin or cake pan, grease it with butter and sprinkle some flour in it.
• now pour equal quantity of the cake mixer in both the cake pan.
• preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit which is approximately180 degree Celsius and bake the cake for 20-25mins.
• after 20-25min do a tooth pick test(insert a toothpick into the cake ,if it comes out clean means your cake is ready ,if not you have to bake it for another 5-10mins).

• now start beating the whipping cream in a low speed for about 10-15 mins and keep on adding sugar in it.Do not add the sugar all at one time.Add it slowly.When it will become double in size and very very light weight ,stop beating that. You can notice that I have mentioned sugar  twice in ingredients list.The first amount of sugar is for cake mix and second is for the cream.

 

• now we will start layering the cake.Here I am making two layered cake.If you want to do more layering just increase the number of cake bases.
• put one cake base in a flat plate or serving tray and make a thick layer of whipped cream on top of it.Then add almost 10 chopped cherries on top.As I did not have cherries at that time I used strawberries.

• Put the second cake base on top of it.

• Then cover the whole cake with thick layer of whipped cream.

• sprinkle chocolate chips all over it.You can take normal chocolate and then can make chocolate chips by yourself with the help of a knife or peeler.

• Now take a cone or spoon and decorate it as you like. Your black forest is ready to serve.I decorated it with Whipped cream and strawberry like the way it sold in market.But you can decorate it as you like.Just take a cone.Fill it up with whipped cream.Make some circle and put some cherries on top of it.

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Chicken Momo

Though Momo was originated in Nepal but it is famous in all over the world. Momo is not only a very good breakfast or snacks but also it is a very healthy food for anyone. I still remember I used to have those momo's in Exide crossing (a very popular place in Kolkata) while returning from office.They used to set up the Momo stall just beside RabindraSadan Metro Station. Knowing the popularity of the dish I am pretty sure that those stalls are still there and many people like me, do equally enjoy those momos in the street itself.They served those Momos with soup and one special hot chatni. Today I am going to share the whole recipe with you......

Ingredients:

1. 100gms ground chicken(chicken kima)
2. chopped cabbage 1/2 cup
3. chopped onion 1/2 cup
4. chopped carrot 1/2 cup
5. chopped ginger 1 teaspoon
6. chopped garlic 1 teaspoon
7. chopped green chili 1-2 teaspoon(optional)
8. 1 teaspoon black pepper powder.
9. 1 teaspoon salt (as required)
10. 200gms of flour.
11. 3-4 teaspoon of oil.

Procedure:

• First of all we have to prepare a dough. For making the dough take a bowl,add flour,a pinch of salt, 2 teaspoon of oil and mix it well.Now add about 1 cup of water (not all at a time,mix it slowly) and mix it really well to make a smooth dough.Knead the dough very well and let it rest for about 10-15min.Cover it with a wet soft towel or a wet paper.
• Take a frying pan and put it on medium heat.Add 2 teaspoon of oil and let it get warm.
• Add all the chicken ,ginger garlic and vegetables one by one.Make sure the vegetables are finely chopped ,otherwise momo's will not taste good.add pepper and salt in it and fry it for maximum 5-6min in high flame. Now let it cool down.
• Now take the dough and cut it into several small pieces like we used to do while preparing luchi or puri.
• Give it a small circular shape with a roller(just like luchi)
• Put the staffing in the center and give it any shape you want to give.Best way is to put it in the middle of your palm then try to close your palm.It will take a shape automatically .You just need to lock both the side by pressing it together.
• One more thing you can do is to take one side of the circular piece,and give it a shape like you are waring sari (kuchi deoar moto). So it will become a pocket with design on one side.Now put the chicken mixture in it and then close it by pressing both the sides together.
• Boil some water in your rice cooker.You can do it in your idli maker as well  in any normal pot.Just we need a plate with hole in it and which can be put on the pot. Fill half of your pot with water and let it boil.Then grease the plate(which has several hole in it) with oil and place 5-6 momos (depending on the size of the plate) in it.Then cover it with the lid and let it cook for at least 15-20 mins in medium heat.If you are using rice cooker just boil some water in rice cooker and place the momo in the plate that comes with it and cook it for 15min and same for idli maker.Just instead of idli you need to put the momos on it.
• For preparing the chatni take some (6-8)red chili,1 clove of garlic,and 1/2 cup vinegar.Put it together in a bowl and let it rest for about 30-40min.Then take a mixer grinder and make a smooth paste of it.Add a little bit of salt in it .
• For preparing the soup please refer to my soup recipe or you can add some chopped vegetable,salt and pepper powder in the boiling water to make the soup as well.
• Now serve the hot momo with chatni and soup.

For my vegetarian friend you can replace the chicken with some more cabbage or capsicum and  then enjoy it equally like the non-veg people do.Happy cooking :)

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