Dal Chawal Palidu -- from Bohri Kitchen

Belonging to a minority community in my adopted country and "God-alone-knows-what" community in my mother land, I stay away from discussing politics in this space. Also, I am not good at being a keyboard warrior.
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However even as I type and share news about what I cooked and served for dinner in the backdrop of chaos, a part of me cringes at the selfishness of it all. But then that's life. That is what you do.
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Bias as has always been a part of our countries. You peel away religion, there is region, then caste, then gender, then color -- there is always a minority community, whose voices are not loud enough to be heard. And it's always relative. If there is more of you, I am a minority.
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Many a times, we are not even aware of the communities outside our own and often stick to the stereotypes. Like say, all Indians are vegetarians or all Indian parents get extremely upset if their kids get anything less than a A+ grade or Girls like pink or  South-east Asian Muslims serve Biryani on all important occasions.
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To know a community, you have to break bread with them . It's best if you can share a meal but if not just expand your horizons and cook a meal. That way you learn a little and you find that your heart has space to share for more.
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So that's what I thought I will try to do. I usually stick to my known cuisine of Bengali, global Indian, Italian, American etc.  This time, I went out of my comfort zone to find a Bohri Muslim recipe. I know no one from that community and I know very little about their eating habits. However Bohri Thal has recently become very popular in Mumbai and so there were plenty of articles on the internet. The more I read, the more I was intrigued.

"The Bohra community originated from a Muslim sect in Yemen and Egypt, later spreading to India and Pakistan. Hence, the food influences have been heavily adapted from the Middle East. The initial settlement of the Bohra’s in Surat, Gujarat have led to major Gujarati influence on the cuisine as well.This is why you will find that Bohri cuisine is much lighter and lower in spice than Mughlai or Pakistani food." -- Mumbai Foodie

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I found a very, interesting and simple vegetarian dish that all those articles mentioned as the Bohri comfort food. So, I went out on a limb and made "Dal-Chawal-Palidu" for lunch today.

I followed the recipe from two sites -- Goya Journal and Farida's post in One Life To Eat

Did you know Dal-Chawal-Palidu and not Biriyani, is a dish for all celebratory occasions in the Bohri Muslim Community?

In the Bohri style of community dining, the family gathers around the thaal, eating the meal in courses that alternate between sweet and savoury.  One of the staples of the Bohri thaal is Dal Chawal Palidu – a dish with rice, lentils and moringa that is so beloved in the Bohri repertoire that no meal, no celebration, is complete without it. Gently boiled and spiced, the lentils are layered between freshly steamed rice, and cooked on dum, served with a side of tempered moringa - Goya Journal

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It was so very different from the Dal-Chawal I have grown up with that I had to actually compare 4 recipes to make sure this was indeed a Dal-Chawal. The Palida on the other was more in our line of food habit and the taste was very akin to sambhar. We really loved the Palida.
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Did we like Dal-Chawal-Palidu? Yes.
Will it be my comfort food? No.
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But I did learn something and if I befriend someone from the Bohri community, I will look forward to taste their authentic version of "Dal-Chawal-Palida".

Sharmila'r Chhana'r Jilipi -- the North American way

Chhanar Jilipi

Chanar Jilipi | Chhanar Jilipi | Paneer Jalebi

Chhanar Jilipi (or Paneer Jalebi) is a typical Bengali sweet made with fresh Chana (Cottage Cheese), Khoya (Milk Solids) and Maida, deep fried in oil and then soaked in sugar syrup. No wonder it tastes delicious. It is very similar in taste to two similar Bengali sweets called Ledikeni and Pantua which have similar ingredients and taste but differ largely in shape. The Bengali Chanar Jilipi is unique because of its Jalebi or pretzel kinda shape.In my non-traditional recipe for Chanar Jilipi, I have used a shortcut with  Ricotta and Bisquick , and that suits me perfectly. These are so, so good that just writing about them makes my mouth water.

Jump To Recipe

Some days I think that the Nobel Committee should introduce a new category in their awards.

The Food Nobel.

I bet, it would be won almost every year by one or the other Bengali in North America. Don't get riled up because I said North America. The Bengalis in India have so much readily available that the common man doesn't need to innovate, they can simply go to the store or make a trip to the home of ma/masi/pishi/jethi.

Truth be told, the amount of research and innovation that goes into recreating a much loved childhood favorite, a traditional Bengali recipe, a forgotten food that lingers in nostalgia; with local ingredients and limited resources, by the Bengali community living away from Bengal, parallels no other.

After discovery of fire and wheel, I have never seen the saying "necessity is the mother of invention" so directly applied anywhere else.

You want to eat mocha'r ghonto and there is no grocery store selling Banana Blossoms ? Raid the asian stores and get soy bean sprouts to make a faux Mochar Ghonto
You want the Rui diye Doi Maach that your Mom made but can't find Rui? Get salmon and make the most of it.
You want to make Enchor er Kofta but have no time or expertise to deal with a actual raw Jackfruit ? Get a can and make this shortcut but delicious Enchor Koftas instead.

This Chhanar Jilipi is one more of those brilliant innovations and this time shared by my friend Sharmila. They are delicious and perfect and if she didn't let me onto her secret, I would have thought she was Balaram Mullick or Bhimnag's granddaughter carrying forward their secret recipes. She has many such expert patents in her repertoire and if you are particularly nice, I can cajole her to share some more!

It was very, very generous of her to share her innovation (which deserves a Nobel) and satisfy our sweet cravings for a favorite childhood mishti. This Chhanar Jilipi is so good that I have made them about 4 times now and the last time I made them, my friends went into a nostalgic trip remembering their Mother's jilipi or favorite sweet shop's creation.

Chhanar Jilipi (or Paneer Jalebi) is a typical Bengali sweet which holds its place is a few ranks above the Ledikeni, which in turn is again a rank above Pantua. All of them are kind of similar except for the shape.
Ledikeni or Lady Kenny, named after Lady Canning, is a light fried reddish-brown sweet, cylindrical in shape and made of Chhena and flour and soaked in sugar syrup. The Chhanar Jilipi has the same ingredients but has Jalebi cum pretzel kinda shape. It is the shape which makes them unique.

*Traditionally Chhanar Jilipi in India is with Chhana and Maida. However Sharmila decided to go the Ricotta + Bisquick way, and that suits me perfectly. These are so, so good that just writing about them makes my mouth water.

Khejur Gur er Rasogolla in Instant Pot

Khejur Gur Roshogolla

Today is a day that will go down in history. Well, at least my history.

First, because I pulled out the InstantPot from the caverns of the Pantry and found it still smelled of mangshor jhol made a month ago. Well, the second part is not historical. That I pulled the IP out and put it to use was a historical moment.

Second, I used the InstaPot for something that was worthwhile finally. I used it to make Khejur Gur er Roshogolla !!

There are two people who are directly or indirectly responsible for this. Our friend, Kaushik, the master roshogolla maker who makes roshogolla making seem as simple as a magician taking a rabbit out of a hat. Second, is our other friend Deepshikha, who champions the IP and finally pushed me to use it.
And then my Dad, who sent photos of  "Notun Gur Utsav" -- a festival celebrating the new date palm jaggery that is a product of this season. The sight of those delicious sweets, sondesh, patishapta, pithe puli would send anyone to depression

I was seriously craving some khejur gur er roshogolla aka rasgullas in date palm jaggery syrup, after seeing the photos they shared and had to make some. This time around , the process really seemed far more streamlined and easier. I think it was practice that made it seem so.

The roshogollas came out soft, juicy and spongy both times I made them. The Khejur Gur I had got from India during my November visit was not the best quality but even that added a beautiful flavor to the syrup and to the roshogollas.

Also, I can now totally understand those stories about folks who went to a wedding and ate 100 roshogollas straight from the bhiyen (the sweet maker's set up). The fresh, spongy, roshogollas with no additivies, hot off the syrup are really delicious and kind of melt in your mouth. I, who am not a big sweet fan, had 20 today. Yes TWENTY!!!