My Mother's Bhaja Masla

Every Monday, ok most, I wake up all anew, striving to be a "Good" Mother. Not "Very Good". Not Excellent. And definitely "Not Bad". Just plain, simple "good" Like I have all along wanted to be. Good girl, good student, good whatever...an uncanny desire for goodness.

Only this time it is harder than most. How do I decide how much I need to nag for Piano Practice without it falling into the category called "pushing" ? How can I make sure that I am mentally stimulating without "helicoptering"? How do I ascertain that my exasperation when a long division is messed up is not going to cause some negative setback in late fifties of my offspring ? How do I teach to be competitive without being aggressive ?What are the fine lines ? Darn there are so many that I wish someone would have highlighted them with a fluorescent marker. And then comes real incidents like this only miles away from home and I wonder what went wrong with both the kids ? The Mothers must have stayed up nights, fed vegetables, told stories, ferried to a violin class or spent hours by the hot pool. The Fathers must have done whatever he did. The schools were excellent, the Teachers good. And yet.

No wonder by Thursday or even Wednesday I want to hand over the remote, a bag of chips and say "Que sera, sera".

In spite of this it is a fun ride. An exciting one. I would not say I learn as the years of my parenting grows  because I am not sure of that. The only thing I realize is no two child are same and there is not set rule that applies to all.

Now many a Mondays when I am striving hard, I usually go on Amazon and order books for the girls. On these days I deviate from the standard fiction series that is bought otherwise. Recently I bought three books which I found so wonderful that I thought I would share with other Moms here.

The first one "Children Just Like Me" was suggested by the wonderful blog of Choxbox who sadly does not blog anymore. This is a beautiful book with gorgeous pictures about children all over the world and how they live, eat, go to school etc. Very engaging way to learn about the different cultures. The second one "Feel the Force" is a popup book explaining basic Physics stuff like gravity, friction, force, pressure etc. It is much fun and an excellent review is here. BTW, the Mom who writes that blog is very inspiring. I love her reviews and am totally awed by the activities she does with her kids. The third book "Bedtime Bugs" is a popup book for younger kids. This one I had to buy forced by Little A and it really was a good thing. If your child loves to pull tabs and pop-ups they will love this one..

Back to regular programming, lets talk food now. Today though it is just spices without which food wouldn't be what it is. Bhaja Masla or Roasted Masala is a unique Bengali spice blend. What makes it furthermore unique is that there are several kinds of it. Some I know of. Some I have heard of. Some I have no clue about.

Bhaja Masla 1 -- Dry roast cumin seeds and Dry Red chili. Cool and grind to a powder. Used in Alu Kabli

Bhaja Masla 2 -- Dry roast Paanch Phoron and Dry Red Chili. Cool and grind to powder. I use it on chutneys.

And then there is my Mother's Bhaja Masla. Her staple in her pantry. My home roasts with this flavor during her visits. Strong, Robust, Smoky--- this masala speaks of mystery and adventure and dark chambers with hidden specters. My Ma uses it to sprinkle on chutneys, to make vegetable chops, to use in lieu of Garam Masala and to revel in it. She also makes a fabulous niramish alur dom with it which will come up next.

The spices for Bhaja Masla

Cumin Seeds -- 2 tsp
Corriander Seeds -- 2 tsp
Fennel Seeds -- 2 tsp
Cardamom -- 6
Clove -- 8
Whole black Peppercorn -- 1 tsp (Use 3-4 Dry red chilies instead if you wish)
Tej Patta - 1 small
Dalchini -- a thin 1" stick

Roast for 8-10 minutes at very low heat till you get a strong spice smell. Cool and grind to a fine powder.

This measure makes a large amount of powder which can be stored for later use. You can make smaller amounts by using quarter of the measure.

Lemon Balm Tea

Adrenalin Rush

"The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we kill those people"

-- Bill Hicks

Cup of Tea scented with Lemon Balm growing on my patio to soothe the nerves. And with this I admit that Big Sis S has way more spunk than me.


Lemon Balm is a citrusy and fresh scented herb with a delicate lemon scent. A leaf or two in my tea is perfect for a relaxing evening. Known for ages as a medicinal herb, lemon balm has mild sedative properties and has been used to relieve gas, reduce fever, and increase perspiration.Fresh sprigs are used to top drinks and as garnishes on salads and main dishes. Fresh or dried leaves make a refreshing tea, either iced or hot.

I have not used it for any other purpose though it is a beautiful herb with huge potential. Check out this link for more details

This beautiful herb goes out to WHB # 195 hosted this week by Dhanggit's Kitchen.

Shuddh Videshi Ghee ar Alu Sheddo

I made Ghee, at home, with my own hands. No I didn't milk the cow or anything and I used a shortcut, but if we put that aside, I made Ghee in bold letters.

With that I graduate from a regular Mom to the ubiquitous Aunty-ji. Pleez do consult me with all your gharelu(household) problems including mom-in-law , husband , bai and water shortage, and of course how to make ghee. That I can't make decent phulkas shall not be discussed in this post.

So I never made ghee @ home before. Never needed to. My ma and ma-in-law took it upon themselves to send home made shuddh desi ghee for Big Sis S till she turned 3. After that it was store bought which was used sparingly since we are not big time ghee eaters. Now Baby A has started on solids and it was time to introduce fat to her. There was no grandma around and Mom found out that making shuddh videshi ghee was not difficult at all, much easier than the cow's milk --> boil milk to gather the cream on top --> save the top cream from milk for days --> make desi ghee route

So this is what Baby A's Mom did to make glorious golden ghee


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Making Ghee

In a heavy bottomed pot/vessel/pan place 4 sticks of organic unsalted butter. At medium heat let the butter melt. There will be foaming and bubbling while the butter melts but soon this will subside. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered. Stir intermittently. Gradually you will see milk-solids turning from beige to brown and settling down at the bottom while a clear transparent golden liquid remains at top. Once the milk solids turn a deep shade of brown turn off the heat. Note: The point at which you turn off the heat is critical, too little or too much is not desired. Keep watch and don't burn the milk-solid. Also keep the heat at low and don't try to hasten the process by turning heat to high.

Do not disturb the vessel/pot/pan and let the milk solids settle down at the bottom while only the clear liquid remains at the top.

Decant the liquid by tipping the vessel gently and collecting the liquid in a clean dry glass jar. You can also use a cheese cloth or any clean cotton cloth for this purpose

The golden liquid that you just collected is precious ghee. Smell. Heaven.

Let the ghee come to room temperature. Close the jar tight and store at room temperature. If ghee is not made correctly i.e. cooked too little it tends to spoil or sour, but if made correctly it stores well at room temperature

Now we Bengalis do not throw away anything that is edible and the deep brown milk solids that remain at the end of the ghee making process are a delicacy for us. We call it cha(n)chi (ch as in chair and then a nasal sound for n) and eat it mixed with plain white rice, salt and mashed potatoes. Strangely while I do remember the smell of ghee from my childhood, more than the ghee I remember this rich brown "leftover" granules which we used to savor mixed with white rice.

So while the home was fragrant with the smell of ghee we enjoyed a rare dinner of rice, alu sheddo with finely chopped onions and green chillies and dollops of ghee & cha(n)chi.

To make alu sheddo(siddho), boil potatoes skin on till done. Hold under running water and peel the potato. Mash with back of a spatula. Add little mustard oil, finely chopped red onion, finely chopped green chilli and salt. Now with clean hands work all of this in the potato and make smooth rounds of mashed potato. Enjoy this with white rice and dollops of golden ghee.

According to Ayurveda, Ghee builds the aura, makes all the organs soft, builds up the internal juices of the body-Rasa, which are destroyed by aging and increases the most refined element of digestion-Shukra or Ojas, the underlying basis of all immunity and the “essence of all bodily tissues”. Ghee is known to increase intelligence--Dhi, refine the intellect-Buddhi and improve the memory-Smrti.

A little bit of ghee added to your food boosts the flavor and if that ghee is home made the taste triples. So like me if you do not use ghee as a cooking medium, occasionally add half a tsp of ghee just before finishing off your cooking and savor the goodness of ghee.

My Spice -- Garam Masala, Bhaja Masla & more...

Bengali Garam Masala is actually a very simple mix of 4 spices: Cloves, Cardamom, Cinnamon and Tej Patta. The Tej Patta as I have seen is abandoned many times in favor of the others. My Ma however loved it and used it whenever the recipe called for garam mashla as phoron (i.e. tempering the food by spicing the oil)

Whole Garam masala

She would sun the above spices and in our stainless steel jarred Bajaj Mixer make a dry powder of them and store it as a guro Garam Mashla or as we say in English Garam Masala powder

I take a step ahead and put more stuff in my Garam Masala powder. I also dry roast the spices instead of just sunning them which is the norm. My version is NOT the standard bengali version. The Bengali version usually does not have Red Chilli or Mace

Spices I use to make my Garam masala powder

My Garam Masala Powder

Dry Roast 20 Green Cardamom/Elaichi, 10 Clove/Laung, a 2" stick of cinnamon, 3-4 Dry Red Chilli for the slightest heat, 2-3 small barks of mace/javetri and a small Tej-Patta. Note: What I have here is a Bay Leaf but a small Tej Patta(Indian Bay Leaf) works better. Also you can substitute red chili with black peppercorns. You can dry roast either on the stove top or pop them in the oven at 250F for 5-8 minutes. The roasting is done only to warm the spices which have been lying around for a while. Instead you can sun them and then grind.

Grind to a fine powder in your coffee grinder.

Store in an air-tight container for future use

Lately I have been a sucker for home made spices. I cleared the pantry of all Shan masalas and barring the Kitchen King, Kasoori Methi and Amchoor I have no other store bought spice powder. Oh, wait I have a packet of Deggi Mirch which is used sparingly by us and and indulged on by the nanny.

So anyway without all the Shaan masala I was kind of stranded in no-spice land when I wanted to make a Kofta Pualo some time back. Luckily I remembered the Biryani Masala at Mallugirl's. I love that masala and use it for not only making Biryanis but in various other dishes.

Here is how I make Biryani Masala based on this recipe. I reduce the carraways seeds and increase the fennel as I like the sweetness of fennel and find cararway seeds too spicy. Also I forgo the star anise and add nutmeg powder instead of the whole.

Biryani Masala Powder

Dry Roast 8-10 Green Cardamom/Elaichi, 8-10 Cloves/Laung, 2" stick of cinnamon, 1 small Bay leaf, 5-6 small bark of mace/javethri, 2 tsp of Fennel seeds, 1 tsp of Carraway seeds/Shah Jeera

Put all of the above in a coffee grinder jar along with 1 tsp of nutmeg powder

Grind to a smooth powder and store in an air tight jar

Use this masala for loads of stuff from adding a pinch to your pualo to spicing up the marinade for fish, from adding to biryani to your chicken curry. I use this masala alternately with Garam Masala but when using this, use a smaller quantity.


And then there is the Bhaja Mashla(Roasted Masala) my Ma makes for sprinkling over most chutneys and also in vegetable chops. I had blogged about it here in my Baked Beet Roll recipe. The Bhaja Masala is called so because the spices here are dry roasted and then ground. This spice mix has been blogged about in detail in my later post Bhaja Masla.

Bhaja Mashla

To make this Dry Roast 1 tbsp each of Jeera (Cumin Seeds), Dhania (Corriander seeds), Saunf (Fennel Seeds), 6/7 Laung (cloves) , 6/7 Elaichi (Cardamom), 3/4 TejPata(Bay leaves), an inch & half of cinnamon stick and peppercorns according to desired hotness.Then just dry grind it to a powder. Note: This was last made by my Ma and so measures are approximate

Punjabi Garam Masala

The recipe of Punjabi Garam Masala is from Anita of Mad Tea Party. Original recipe is here. I think her recipe asks for more of the black cardamom but I used about 15. Also I used the seeds and discarded the skin

I did it this way. To make this sun or gently warm on tawa 1 tbsp Cumin seeds, 1/2 tbsp Clove, 1/2 tbsp Peppercorn, a 1" stick of cinnamon, 1 tejpatta and around 15 black cardamom. Dry grind to a powder.

Check out other spices in this series in the left hand column

This weekend our kitchen floor is getting a makeover and so the kitchen will be closed for weekend. I am shacking up at a friend's place, kids in tow and the friend has promised to make a Patha'r Mangsho'r jhol for lunch tomorrow. She cooks delicious food and you know what I am looking forward to.


Wishing all Moms a Very Happy Mothers Day. There is a Mother Day event going on at Desi Momz Club. All moms, member or not please feel free to contribute.

The All Purpose Masala Paste & Fish Fry

Today is Day 4 of The 7 Day Challenge, it has been good so far. I am not missing my grains any more, I have become paranoid about going grain free and am eating better in both quality and quantity.

The problem is both me & D are true foodies and cannot live on just salad & soup even if it only for a week so we both have to do a lot of work every day cooking interesting stuff and prepping. Only if I was able to transmogrify into a bovine creature chomping greens in a spring meadow, life would be easier.

I will analyze the pros and cons at the end of 7 days, but believe me even if you don't lose an inch this challenge is worth every salad because of the self-restraint you will acquire by the end of it


Now to The All Purpose Masala Paste which is an efficient homemade packaged solution for busy moms.

If I had any business acumen I would market it and put it on not Patel's but Whole Food's Freezer aisle. But before that I would have to pay hefty royalty fees to Vee and then Coffee, the original creators of this idea. This masala saves me on most weekdays and if you are not already making it, I urge you to refrain and wait till my product is out there.
I promise I will have a fun, family ad out with it too with a jingle that says "Taste mein Best, Mummy aur Mummy Ka Paste"


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Till then you can make it on your own by following these steps

Chop a large red onion roughly

Chop a medium plump red tomato in rough chunks. I keep saying rough because you don't need to spend time and cut in small equal sizes

Peel two to three cloves of garlic and chop in 2-3 pieces

Peel and chop about an inch of ginger, again roughly

Heat little oil in a pan and add the chopped garlic, follow by tossing in onions and then ginger

Fry till the onion is soft and translucent. Toss in the tomatoes and saute till tomatoes turn soft and mushy.

At this point you can get imaginative and add some generic spice powders if you wish, like say Garam Masala or maybe Kasoori Methi. I usually skip this step.

Cool the above and make a paste in your food processor, make a smooth paste not one of those chunky ones.

Cool this paste, pour it in a ice cube tray and freeze

Once frozen, take the frozen cubes out and store in a ziploc bag. I usually make enough to last me a week for impromptu weekday cooking

On a busy week night when all you want to do is just pull a blanket over your head, take some of this cubes out and make a quick gravy in minutes.

Depending on your taste you can vary the proportions and add green chillis to the above

I made a Fish on Day 3 of the challenge using this paste. I had some Tilapia Fillet which I marinated with this paste (I made with Kasoori methi added this time), salt and some red chilli powder for 24 hours. However 30 mins to an hour should be enough. I usually bake this fish drizzled with Olive Oil but then I saw this recipe at Shilpa's and wanted to try this instead.

So for 30 mins before cooking I marinated the already marinated fish with some more garlic paste, red chilli powder and lime juice. For one of the fillets I added tamarind paste instead of Lime Juice.

However I am a Bong who always fries her fish except for maybe Ilish(Hilsa) so I was not sure how just poaching the fish would taste like. I therefore smeared my frying pan with a little olive oil, maybe 1/2 tsp. Added some curry leaves to it and then placed the fish fillet on the pan. Slowly added enough water so that the fish were just submerged in water. Let it cook till all the water has evaporated.

The fish tasted definitely good but I feel this method is best if the fish was more fresh. We had it with some salad and oven baked masala potato fries.

MySpice -- Kalonji

Kalonji in my glass spice bottles, jet black, like the hair I always wanted before the era of streaks and highlights.

Kalonji in my hand, tiny, coarse to the touch, crowding and jostling, waiting to flavor my food.

Kalonji in hot oil, tempering, dancing around merrily, haunting me with the aromatic flavor, I cannot put a word to. I see it described as acrid, smoky....but I am not sure.

Kalonji... Kalo Jeera... Nigella Seeds...a part of my cuisine


Nigella seeds are small, matte-black grains with a rough surface and an oily white interior. They are seeds of a plant Nigella Sativa, of the buttercup family and are often confused with Onion seeds. Nigella probably originated in western Asia but today is cultivated from Egypt to India.


Cultivation of these black seeds has been traced back more than 3,000 years to the kingdom of the Assyrians and ancient Egyptians. A bottle of black cumin oil was found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, perhaps to protect the ruler in the afterlife.

Known as Kalonji in Hindi and Kalo jeera in Bengali, Nigella is used in India and the Middle East as a spice and condiment and occasionally in Europe as both a pepper substitute and a spice. It is widely used in Indian cuisines for its smoky, pungent aroma.

In Bengali cuisine it is almost as popular as Paanch Phoron and used for tempering, vegetable dishes, Dals, fish curries and some chutneys. It is one of the five ingredients of Paanch Phoron. It is also added to the dough while making Nimki a savoury fried dough. The flavor within the seed is enhances after it is baked, toasted or fried in a small amount of oil or juices of foods.

The seeds are always used whole, never as a powder and very rarely as a part of a paste

Nigella is used in Indian medicine as a carminative and stimulant and is used against indigestion and bowel complaints. In India it is used to induce post-natal uterine contraction and promote lactation. The seed yields a volatile oil containing melanthin, nigilline, damascene and tannin. Melanthin is toxic in large dosages and Niugelline is paralytic, so this spice must be used in moderation.( Source: here)
In Islam, it is regarded as one of the greatest forms of healing medicine available. Muhammad once stated that the black seed can heal every disease – except death.
Black cumin and its oil have also been used to purge parasites and worms, detoxify.

A very simple recipe with Nigella seeds is the Alu-Charchari, a quick stir fry of potatoes.

Some of the recipes I have blogged where Kalonji is used for tempering are:

Piyajkolir Tarkari

Fish Curry on a Winter Noon

Musuri'r Dal with Kalonji

Shorshe Dharosh or Okra in Mustard Sauce

Doi-Ilish


Check out other spices in this series in the left hand column

Trivia: The many uses of nigella has earned for this ancient herb the Arabic approbation 'Habbatul barakah' meaning the seed of blessing.

MySpice -- Panch Phoron

Panch phoran --- the Sorceress of Spices. Panch Phoran also known as panch phoron, panch puran, panchpuran, punch puram, punchpuram is a classic Bengali spice blend typically consisting of five spices in equal measure. It is more Bengali and maybe also Oriya than any other region of India.

The five spices that make up Panch Phoran are:

Fenugreek (methi) – the golden coloured bitter one
Nigella seed (kalonji) -- the jet black tiny one
Mustard seed or (rai or shorshe) – the black or brown flavored one
Fennel seed (saunf or mouri) – the greenish sweet one
Cumin seed (jira) – the buff colored strong one

In Bengal, the place of origin of this spice,sometimes a spice called radhuni is used in place of mustard seed. A better replacement for radhuni, hardly available outside of Bengal, would be celery seed. However my Panch Phoran always has mustard seeds and I like it that way

“Paanch” is bengali for Five and “Phoron” means spice. Panch Phoran is used mainly for tempering, to flavor the hot oil before adding rest of the ingredients. The essence being tempering with Five Spices. It is usually never ground or used as a powder unlike other spices which are used both in whole and ground form. However dry roasted panch phoron is ground to make a powder that is sprinkled on chutneys. But it is NEVER used in powder or paste form in any other preparation.

Panch phoron is added to the hot cooking oil before adding any other ingredients thus flavouring the oil and releasing the aroma of the seeds and causing them to pop in the pan. At this point the other ingredients are added. Here I have a recipe for quick stir fry of beans and potatoes with Panch Phoron, made in a almost typical Bengali way. The same recipe is used for other veggies too like Potatoes and Cauliflower or Potatoes and Okra and even with mixed Vegetables.

Though Panch phoron is usually not used to season any meats other than fish, I have used it for an awesome chicken dish that I will post soon

A beautiful almost lyrical post on Panch Phoron by Barbara of Tigers and Strawberries is here. Read it, she has done more justice to the spice than anybody ever could.

Some of my recipes in this blog that use Panch Phoron

Kumro-Chingri Botti (Pumpkin and Shrimp Sabzi) -- paanch phoron for tempering
Red Masoor Dal -- paanch phoron for tempering
Bangali Charchari -- panch phoron for tempering

Aamer Ambal ar Chaatni(Mango Chaatni) -- panch phoran dry roasted and ground to a powder. Sprinkle a little of this powder on the finished chaatni

Tomato Khejur Cranberry Chutney -- panch phoran dry roasted and ground to a powder. Sprinkle a little of this powder on the finished chaatni

If you do not have Panch Phoran but have all the five spices that are needed for this just add equal measures of each to get your own Panch Phoran. You may use the methi in less proportion to the others.


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Aloo Beans er Tarkari

What You Need

Green Beans ~ fresh green beans chopped about 2 cups. can be substituted by veggies like cauliflower, okra, peas.
Potatoes ~ 1 large sized cut in cubes
Green Chillies ~ 2-3 slit

For tempering
Panch Phoron ~ almost 1 tsp loosely packed

Turmeric ~ 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli Powder ~ optional and as per taste
Amchur Powder or Roopak Kala Chat Masala ~ absolutely optional and as per taste. Avoid this masala if you are using veggies other than green beans
Salt
Oil

How I Did It

Heat Oil in a Kadhai/Frying pan
Add Panch Phoron. Wait for the seeds to pop.
Add the green chilies and the potato.
Sprinkle a little turmeric powder and saute
Add the chopped green beans and saute
Add Salt. If you want to spice it up add Red Chili Powder
Cover and cook by stirring off and on. Do not add water, you may sprinkle a little only. Be careful that it doesn't burn, so remember to stir and mix frequently
Now is a step no hard core Bong would ever do. Shhhhhh... don't tell your Bong friends but I add a little amchur powder or Roopak Kala Chat Masala at this point
Cook till done
Enjoy this dry dish with Roti or Rice.

References used for Panch Phoran: Wiki


Check out the other spices in this series in the left side column.

Basil and Basil for GBP

GBP – Green Blog Project. When I started Blogging last October I was not aware of this event. I have rarely attempted growing anything during the cold North-East winter months before except for my clan of indoor plants. By the time I was aware of GBP winter had planted a firm foot and I had no clue how to start an indoor veggie patch.

I already had the Tulsi or Holy Basil plant which I had acquired as a tender sapling from the Hindu temple sometime last September. I was not sure it would survive the harsh winter and was very careful to move it around to give it its dose of sunlight during day and kept it away from the cold window at night. It survived “Touchwood”. Those Tulsi leaves help me a lot in preparing a concoction for my daughters cold during the Winter.

The other Basil Plant came into my life a couple of months back when D brought back a pack of basil with roots on from the Supermarket. He promptly planted it and I guess she liked our family because she decided to stay and spread her roots. It’s almost Spring now and I love to see both these plants who made it through the cold winter.

With the Tulsi leaves I make a brew, just like my Ma did when we would be down with the cold. I make my daughter sip onto it much to her chagrin whenever she has a bout of cold

Take a cup of water in a small pot or kettle. Put 5-6 Tulsi leaves, 4 Cardamom, 4 Cloves and a spoon of Palm Sugar or Mishri for a cup of water. Let the water simmer and come to a boil. Lower the flame and let it sit on the stove till you get a pale brown almost golden brew. If you can, sip onto the hot brew. For children give them spoonfuls of this brew at temperature they can withstand
Check out this site for more benefits of Tulsi

The recipe with the other Basil comes in my next post. Watch out before 10th April and rush your entries too
GBP hosted by Mandira of Ahaar for Winter-Spring and created by InjiPennu of Ginger & Mango. A wonderful effort and Thanks to both of them for making us go Green

Trivia: Tulsi is a perennial in tropics but it can endure a temperature as low as 18C. In regions where temperature drops below freezing in winter, it is best to grow it indoors in a greenhouse or on a windowsill

MySpice -- Turmeric

Turmeric known as Haldi in Hindi and Halud in Bengali, is another spice omnipresent in Indian culture, not only in cooking but also as a part of various other rituals.
It is a member of the Ginger family and is native to South East Asia. The root is dried and ground to a fine bright Yellow Powder which is used extensively to flavor and color Indian curries. The Sanskrit word for Turmeric is Haridra which means “Yellow Wood” and that is what the dried root looks like. The spice has an earthy, bitter flavor, and it is added to Indian curries in a very small proportion as an excess of it ruins the taste

Turmeric is also used extensively in Indian rituals and signifies prosperity and fertility. In Indian Hindu weddings, applying turmeric paste to the bride and groom on the morning of the wedding is an important part of the wedding ceremony. In Bengali weddings its the grooms side who send this turmeric paste along with several other gifts for the bride on the morning of the wedding and these gifts are known as "Gaye Halud er Tatwa"

In the Southern Part of India, Turmeric is also a offered to married women as part of a ritual called “Haldi Kumkum”. Please correct me as I am not much aware of this ritual.

Why Turmeric Is Good For You

In Ayurveda Medicine, turmeric is considered to have numerous medicinal properties. It was considered as an antiseptic and antibacterial agent in India and was used for cuts and burns. It was also said to purify blood and my Ma insisted that a small ball of turmeric paste & jaggery (fresh turmeric was used for this and not the powder) eaten every morning would purify the blood and alleviate all stomach problems. Its another thing that the pungent taste of freshly grated or ground turmeric didn’t actually salivate my taste buds and so I would keep away from those tiny balls of goodness

Turmeric contains Curcumin which is anti-inflammatory and used for psoriasis treatment.Recent studies have shown that turmeric reduces cholesterol, blocks progression of neurological diseases like Alzheimers and works wonder in short

A very nice and appetizing way to include fresh Turmeric in my diet other than the powder which I simply cannot live without is something I learnt from M (not a Bong but a Marathi), a cousin of my cousin M. So say M1 is my cousin and M2 is M1’s cousin. Now M2 (an excellent cook) has been very kind and has fed me delectable food on two occasions, but stupid me has lost her number and since M1 has moved back to India, have never been able to call M2 since.
Now once when we were at M2’s for dinner she declared “I have to have green chillies with my meal, I love munching on them and I always do this”, saying which she took out a pretty flat container from the refrigerator where in there were sliced vibrant green chillies and slivers of bright orange carrot like thing floating in lime juice. Very happily I too took some of the chillies and the “orange” thing thinking all the time “why the carrot tasted different”. On finally giving voice to my thought, M2 said the weren’t carrots but juliennes of fresh turmeric and I was hooked.

Turmeric in Lime Juice

Since then I buy fresh yellow turmeric from the Indian Grocery Store when ever I remember to do so, peel the outer skin, cut them up in juliennes, slit some green chillies, squeeze some lime juice and let the slivers of turmeric and green chillies soak in the lime juice with a little salt.

Note: Alternately in a mason jar add 1/4th Cup Vinegar, 1/4th Cup Water, few whole peppercorns, mustard seed, red chili flakes. Salt and sugar if you need it. Add the julienned Turmeric and green chilies to it. 
Refrigerate them and they stay good for couple of weeks. As the days go by the pungent flavor of turmeric is mellowed down and they taste better. So if you do not like them on Day One give them a try couple of days later.
Have it with your meal as a substitute for the pickle or let the pickle be and have it as one more thing with your meal.

Turmeric Info source: Me and my family, Wiki & this

Update: From all the comments I wanted to make a few updates which I think would be useful for everyone
Shilpa of Flog&Rosbif said she doesn't like the "staining" part which is true. I forgot to say, chopping up the turmeric may stain the chopping board so put a plastic wrap on your chopping board and then chop. Hands can be cleaned with rubbing lime on them, and even simple soap & water is fine. But if you have a French Manicure...
Maheshwari of Beyond The Usual said they use Turmeric for removing odor of meat while cooking
KitchenFairy of Secret of Taste and Gini of Salt & Pepper said that turmeric paste was used for cosmetic purposes. Yeah applying turmeric paste on your face etc. is one of the many popular uses in India
Supriya of Spice Corner says even the leaves are used to make some dishes for Ganesh Chaturthi.
Sunita of Sunita's World said they have a custom similar to Bengali Weddings called "mah-halodhi"

This goes to Weekend Herb Blogging brain child of Kalyn's Kitchen and hosted this week by Becky of Key Lime & Coconut

MySpice -- Mustard

Mustard as a spice is an important part of Indian cooking.The whole Mustard seeds are used for tempering, to add flavor to the oil. The Mustard paste is very popular in mostly Bengali or east Indian cooking. Mustard Oil is also an important part of Bengali Cooking and traditional Bengali Cooking mostly used Mustard Oil as the cooking medium. Even now when many households in Bengal have grown more accustomed to the other white oils, Mustard Oil is still the favored oil for frying and cooking fish. A recent study shows that Mustard Oil as a cooking medium reduces the chance of heart disease by 70% and it also an excellent source of anti-oxidants (source: Wiki)

There are three kinds of Mustard seeds -- Black, Brown and White/Yellow depending on the Mustard plant.

Mustard paste or oil adds a sharp, spicy taste to food. Both the Brown and Black Mustard seeds are used in Indian cooking, the brown one more popular for making the paste.

Brown Mustard seeds are considered good for digestion and for alleviating stomach discomfort as gas and cramps (source: Maharishi Ayurveda) Mustard Oil is also widely used for massage in Northern India. Even now when my daughter catches a cold, I heat a spoonful of mustard oil with garlic flakes and rub the warm oil on her chest and on the bottom of her feet. My dad says, his grandma used to tell them to rub mustard oil on their big toe before bath as that helps eyes to remain healthy, this piece of information is not proven though and might be a lore
Mustard seeds were used medicinally not only in India but also by the Greek and the Romans

Update: From the coments I gather that many of you are unaware of use of mustard paste in Bengali Cooking. We grind mustard to a paste with green chillis and salt and use that extensively in many of our cooking. This cannot be substituted with the Mustard Sauce we get in stores here as it lacks that sharpness. A particular mustard based sauce called "Kasundi" is very popular in Bengal. It is used as a dip and is best when eaten with rice and alu seddho (boiled potatoes) or any sauted greens.
Sorshe Bata or Mustard Paste is ubiquitous ingredient in Bengali cuisine. The best Bengali fish curries always have a mustard based sauce. Even vegetarian dishes like Shukto, Charchari (shall blog soon) etc. have mustard paste as the only spice.
The black mustard when ground to a paste may be slightly bitter so it is ground with a little poppy seeds (optional) and green chillis and salt. This somehow never happened at home when the Shil Nora was used for grinding.
Radhuni is not mustard, it looks more like Ajwain and maybe in the same family, but it is not Ajwain and has a stronger smell & flavor. Its hard to get Radhuni outside Bengal and I don't have any.

So add that little Mustard to your food in whatever form you like best and enjoy.

Trivia: Aristocrat Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf founded the Order of the Mustard Seed in Germany in 1715 inspired by the Parable of Mustard Seed told by Jesus

MySpice -- Garam Masala

Whole Garam Masla for me consists of the following spices, Elaichi or Cardamom, Laung or Cloves, Tej Pata or Bay Leaves, Darchini or Cinnamon and in some cases mace and peppercorns
In North Indian and Bengali cuisine Whole Garam Masala and Ground Garam Masala play an important role. If you have paid any attention to my recipes till date you will find in most I use Cardamom, Cloves, Bay Leaves and Cinnamon or whole Jeera for tempering. This is in sharp contrast to the cuisine from South of India where the spices for everyday tempering is Mustard seeds and Curry leaves. The different spices used for tempering lend a different flavor to the oil and hence the food.
While Whole Garam Masala is used for tempering, ground garam masala is mixed with the food at the last stage of cooking to lend a flavor and aroma and peps up the dish. I use the Ground Garam masala mostly for meat dishes and if I want to make a dish rich & spicy.
Ground Garam Masala is sold at stores in several varieties. But most of the time I dry roast the above whole spices and then grind them in a spice or coffee grinder to make the powder. In many regions the Bay Leaves might be omitted while grinding.
Though "Garam" means hot, this hot is not the same "hotness" as in peppers. This masala helps increasing the body temperature and so makes it "garam".

So in this cold winter spice up your life with Garam Masala

MySpice -- Ginger

Ginger, a important part of my everyday cooking and hence life. Though referred to as a root it is actually a rhizome i.e. it is actually an underground stem of the plant Zingiber officinale. It Originated in China and went over to be cultivated widely in India and Southeast Asia.

Though in the Western World Ginger is most often used used for food that is sweet like ginger cookies etc. for me Ginger is a spice I use with most of my vegetarian and non-vegetarian cooking, even the quintessential curry has ginger as an important ingredient. In her everyday bengali cooking something that my Ma uses most is Jeere-Dhone-Ada bata. And this is a paste that a grinder does not do justice to, it needs loving human hands. The kitchen help who comes in every morning to do the dishes and help my mother knows this and makes wet paste of the three spices Jeera or Cumin, Dhone or Corriander Seeds and Ada or Ginger in the Shil Nora, a stone grinder which has to be seen to be understood. My Ma uses it fresh or at the most for the next day in most of her gravies. And the taste of such food, ahhhhhhh..., there are some things that the heart says better than my keypad...

Ginger in my everyday cuppa is another love relationship I have with Ginger. Ginger Tea or Adrak Chai boosts me early morning and refreshes me after a hard day's work.

How I Do This

Heat water and milk in the ratio of 2 : 1 in a kettle
When it comes to a boil, add freshly grated ginger
Let it come to rolling boil
I like a strong tea, so I add a teaspoon and a little of Brook Bond Red Label tea (this is CTC or crush,tear & curl tea)to it. This tea tastes good flavored with ginger.
Let it soak for a couple of minutes
Add sugar if you want
Strain with a strainer and enjoy it hot


Ginger has several medicinal effects too, so raise your cup to Ginger today...

My Ginger for JFI post will follow soon, hope I will be able to post by tonight