Bhoger Khichuri and Anarosher Chutney

Bhog er Khichuri is the Khichuri, a Bengali will offer to the the Goddess on Durga Pujo, Lokkhi Pujo or Saraswati Pujo. If done on any other day it will just be the Bhaja Moog Dal er Khichuri or a Khichdi made with Roasted Moong dal or a Rice and Lentil dish akin to Risotto if I try going international.. The same Khichdi when mixed with devotion, faith, respect and fragrance of incense, is lifted to the sublime and is called Bhog er Khichuri.

Along with a mixed vegetable dish of Labra, different kinds of  fries called bhaja and Tomato Chaatni, this Khichuri was offered during Pujo, in heavy plates with raised edges made of kansa (bell metal) or brass. Water was served in similar glasses. Sweets and several fruits cut and cubed made up the other edible arrangements. Fresh flowers, heavy fragrance from incense sticks and dhuno made up the complete atmosphere.

In addition to all this there was something offered called noibiddyo, small mounds of small grained raw rice that had been soaked, raw yellow moong soaked, some sweet sondesh, pieces of ripe banana were arranged in portions in a separate plate. Though Noibiddyo or Naivedhya means "offering made to the Gods" and so everything offered should actually have fallen under this category, we specifically labelled this offering of raw rice et al as Noibiddyo. You will get a clearer image of this from this pic I found in Flickr.

After the pujo was over, these small mounds of rice, sondesh and bananas were mixed together in a kind of mash. The raw rice due to the overnight soaking was soft but had a bite and the sondesh and banana sweetened the whole deal. More than the khichuri, it is this thing called chaal-kola makha, distributed with prasad at the end of  pujo, is what I waited for.

Saraswati Pujo is on Friday. My parents are going to have an elaborate pujo back home as usual. Friday being a working day, I will have a small pujo at home in the evening where I will do almost nothing according to tradition except offer sweets and books, pray and ask her for knowledge and wisdom.

On Saturday, we will have a pujo at a larger scale in a friends' basement. There we will have Khichuri and labra and also much fun. I am trying to teach the girls to sing a Saraswati Vandana for the pujo there and given that I cannot sing a single note in tune, I have roped in help from YouTube. So every night for ten whole minutes I play a simple Saraswati bhajan on my laptop and the girls' join in singing at the top of their voice. It does not sound very musical and the little one keeps saying "Naamo Sharada Maatha" instead of "Maata", which is kind of funny given that "Maatha" in Bengali means "head". The ensuing cacophony is enough to drive any Saraswati up the wall but we are hoping that the Goddess and audience has more patience.

In prospect of this wonderful future (ahem!), I made a Bhaaja Moog Dal er Khichuri today. Since I did not offer it to the divine, I cannot say it was bhog er khichuri yet. Instead of Tomato Chaatni, I made Anarosher Chaatni or Pineapple Chutney. The Begun Bhaja or fried eggplants I baked in the oven taking cue from a reader who had suggested this method. I lighted up some incense sticks and then deliberated on eating it, since Khichuri does not feature in the top 20 things I want to eat stranded in a desert island. Furthermore Khichuri without an omlette holds very little charm for me. So I made an omlette, something which would have been impossible on the actual day of Pujo and then ate it all up myself. I mean I also fed it to the rest of the family.

You don't have to wait for any divine intervention, any day you want a one pot meal, make this and offer yourself.



Some of my previous posts on Saraswati Pujo are here and here. Here is my Labra, Begun Bhaja and Anarosher Chaatni recipe to complete the meal. There is another version of Khichuri I make called Bhuni Khichuri which is a spicier and richer version of this.

The very nice people from masalamommas had asked me a few questions and that article up on their site. Go check if you want. Thanks Salima, the lovely lady who did the piece. And btw that picture is of Salima's. 

Bhog er Khichuri 

 

A liitle prep

Chop 1 medium potato in quarters.
Chop half of a small cauliflower in about 6-8 large-ish florets
Defrost about 1/4 cup of frozen peas (or use same amount of fresh green peas)

Wash 1 cup of rice(short grained rice like gobindobhog, kalijeera etc. preferred, I used sona masoori) and soak in water

Roast 1 cup of Yellow Moong Dal till you get a nice nutty aroma. About 50% of the dals should be a light brown on roasting. Rinse the dal lightly in water and keep aside. Approx. 4 minutes.

In a separate frying pan, fry the potatoes and cauliflower with sprinkle of turmeric powder till they are a shade of light gold and the cauliflower florets have some brown spots.Throw in the green peas and saute them too.

After we are done with the prep part we will start on the actual khichuri

Heat Vegetable Oil + 1 tsp Ghee in a deep and heavy bottomed pot.

Temper the oil with
4 green cardamom
4 clove/laung
1 thin stick of cinnamom
1 Bay Leaf/tejpata
2 Dry red chilli
1 tsp of whole cumin seeds/jeera

When the spices pop to the oil add
1-2 tbsp mince or grated ginger 

Add 1 medium tomato

Add
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Garam Masala 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder(or Kashmiri Mirch)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
all made into a paste with water Saute for 2-3 minutes

Next add the roasted moong dal and mix with the masala. Saute the dal along with the masalas for couple of minutes.

Add 1 cup of pre-washed ned rice now

Now add about 8 cups of warm water to the pot. Add little salt. Cover the pot and let the water simmer to a boil.

2-3 minutes after the boiling starts add the potatoes, cauliflower and peas. Add 1-2 Cup more water if needed.

Once you see the water boil, lower the heat, cover and let the rice and lentils cook. In between, remove the cover, gently give a stir and check if they are done or if more water is needed.

Once the rice, lentils and vegetables are cooked, sprinkle about 1 tsp of sugar and a pinch of Garam Masala. Mix gently. Drizzle a tbsp or more of ghee . Serve hot.

Pressure Cooker Method:
To cook in pressure cooker, after you have added the vegetables, do not add any more water. Close the Pressure cooker lid and cook for 2 whistles or 3 minutes if in Futura pressure cooker.

Once the pressure has released naturally, open the lid and check the consistency of  Khichuri. Add little more water if needed and adjust for salt and seasoning. Add Garam masala if needed.

At the very end, heat 1 Tbsp ghee in a small frying pan and roast some cashews and raisins until golden. Add them along with the ghee to the Khichuri. Serve hot.

Egg Butter Masala or Egg Malai Masala

This Egg Butter Masala was inspired by an Egg Malai Masala a colleague's wife had cooked. Since I did not have her recipe and based this on my Paneer Butter Masala recipe, I decided to call it Egg Butter Masala. The end product looks and tastes very similar to what my Punju colleague had brought.

Now , honestly, I am not a big fan of butter masala kind of gravies. It is ok. I like them but I don't go ga-ga over them. However I have noticed that a large percentage of Indian population and still larger percent of non-Indian population goes absolutely crazy over this dish. My girls also love it. I guess it satisfies different palates and tastes. And for this reason, I have found that a dish like this helps a lot in a party or a potluck where you are not very sure of the food choices of the other person. This one is sure to please.

As you can well guess, I made this for a potluck at work. The recipe is almost same as my Paneer Butter Masala but this one is easier and more creamier. In the other one, I did not use cream. Instead I added cashew paste and evaporated milk. For this one, I thought, "What the heck ? If those people are going to eat 2 more tsp of butter or cream it is not going to harm anyone. Also my life will become simpler". With that thought I skipped the cashew paste and added about 1/2 pt of light cream. I also had to make it borderline spicy and could not use as much Kashmiri Mirch I wanted to. So to get some color I added tomato ketchup taking cue from Nag's blog.

The end result was very good and definitely easy to make. I cooked the gravy a day ahead. You can do it even a week before and freeze, only in that case, don't add the cream until you are ready to heat and serve it. To make it a malai masala substitute water with milk while making the gravy. I added eggs but really you can add anything to it. Both my girls loved it and you can sneak in veggie puree into it if that is your goal.

And for all those who have been asking about the book, we are now at the stage where my erudite editor is on her final edits and I am making small changes here and there. The book cover has been decided on and we have got some sketches to be included. The book is not a cookbook and intertwining the recipes and narrative has been both fun and hard work.Also with a work outside home, kids and the blog, I have been missing the deadlines set by my editor quiet often which means the book gets delayed just that much. Hope you all appreciate once it is out and anyone with a single negative comment about it will get a time out. Serious.

Ok, just kidding !

Egg Butter Masala

First let us make the gravy

Fry one red onion chopped in large chunks till soft. Cook and make a paste. You can also use raw onion paste but it sometimes tends to get bitter and also takes longer to cook so I like it this way.

Heat 1tbsp butter + 1 tbsp oil

Temper the hot oil with 1/4tsp of methi seeds and whole black cardamom lightly bruised

When you get beautiful flavor of methi, which is really really fragrant, add the onions paste. Fry for about 2 minutes

Next add
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp Kashmiri mirch(more to taste)
a sprinkle of turmeric powder
Saute for couple more minutes

Now add about 3/4th cup of pureed tomato. I used canned whole tomatoes to make the puree, good juicy fresh ones will work well. You can also use tomato paste but in that case you will be using only 2 tbsp of it.
Add 2tbsp tomato ketchup

Fry till the raw smell of tomato is gone. This takes about 6-8 minutes, at end of which you will see oil separating from the edges

Now add about 1 tbsp of Kasoori Methi warmed between your palms
Add salt and 1/4th-1/2 tsp of Garam Masala.
Add about 1/2 tsp of sugar
Mix well

Add 1 cup of warm water and let the gravy simmer and come to a boil. For a richer version add milk instead of water. At this point taste and adjust for seasonings. Add more Kashmiri mirch or salt or sugar depending on your taste. Simmer till gravy is the right consistency for you, remember you are going to add cream to this.

When you are happy with the simmering gravy, lower the heat and add 1/2pt of light cream. Yes lot of cream but you alone are not going to eat it. At low heat let the gravy simmer for 4-5 mins.

You have the Butter Masala gravy ready.

Now add the Eggs

While you are making the gravy boil about 6-7 eggs. Cool and peel shells. Now you can fry them with a sprinkle of turmeric to a golden brown or just let them remain the way they are. To serve, halve the eggs, sprinkle with little salt and add to the gravy. Simmer for a few seconds. Serve warm.

The Bengali Labra again -- a vegetable medley

I am not sure if Bengali Labra has anything to do with this time of the season but I find myself making it more during these months than any other. I do try cooking a mixed vegetable dish at least twice a month, throwing in a variety of veggies and thus ensuring that my veggie intake is avergaed out but most often it gets done with a bag of frozen vegetables from Costco which is largely dominated by broccoli and zucchini. And then I throw in some pumpkin, some carrot a dash of kasundi to sweeten up the deal.

For the labra though I specifically buy the vegetables with "labra" in mind. This is an antithesis to my Mother's labra cooking where the dish would be made with bits of pieces of vegetables left over in the veggie basket from the day before.

But me ? I made a list "To make Labra" and on Saturday even went out of the way to get something like mulo, which I categorically hate, to be put in the labra. Now the good part of having the blog to post the recipes is there is always some reader or the other telling me how a dish could be done better, or different or their version of the same thing. This time taking cue from the comments in my last Labra post, I made sure to keep the cauliflower leaves and stems to be added to the dish.

The cooking of the dish is very very simple as you all know. All it does is tries to utilize the best of the seasonal vegetables using a bit of this and bit of that. There is minimum of spices like paanchphoron, hing and ginger and majority of the  flavor comes from the vegetables alone. The dish tastes better when some time is allowed for the flavors to mingle and is served traditionally with Khichuri on Saraswati Pujo or a light dal, rice and slice of lime for a homey meal.

For the Labra follow the old recipe -- Labra for Saraswati Pujo  --  which is now updated with more pictures.

Instead in this post, I will take you for a tour around the vegetable market in my neighborhood in Kolkata which are shimmering with orange, purple, red and green at this time of the year.

Photographs by my Dad @Kolkata

Oranges better known as Clementines are a winter fruit in Kolkata. They come to the plains either from orchards in Nagpur or from the hills of Darjeeling

Rec Carrots, Methi Greens, Sweet Peas and Cauliflower are some of the winter veggies that entice you with their beautiful colors

Cauliflower with their large leaves, the kind perfect to put in a Labra

For more pictures of Indian market see my previous posts

Haat e Bajaar e -- to the Market(I)

Haat e Bajaar e -- to the Market (II)