Friday, October 29, 2010

Shubho Bijoya

Shubho Bijoya to all my readers.

I have not forgotten the Give Away and will announce the winner by next week, pinky promise, cross my heart.

It is just that I have been extremely busy. Flying across seven seas and 13 rivers, with two kids to a land where you share the itinerary with Ma Durga and her five off-springs is pretty unnerving. And when your vacation is only a tad longer than her 5 days you do wonder at her immense energy and patience.
Back home I guess she has it easy with her umpteen house helps. Me ? I have to breathe and pack lunches and make the kiddo work on missed lessons and unpack loads of suitcases and soothe kinder spirits and in general slog...

But the short whirlwind trip was worth it. Things that we would like to remember from the trip:

1. First international flight for LS. She was pretty good I would say and made friends on the way.

2. Air India is not as bad as they portray.

3.The new terminal at Delhi Airport is amazing. The loos are sparkling, better than JFK.

4. Cafe Coffee Day there charged me $2.50 for a donut. I almost fainted

5. Sadly Kolkata Airport looked sadder.

6. First Pujo in Ma's own land for BS. She was thrilled.

7. Main attraction for BS was the Ferris wheel and the makeshift rides they put up outside the Pujo pandals. She went on a rickshaw at 10 in the night to ride one of them with her grandpa for whom the shock of such rides was just too much.

8. She loved Monginis.And discovered my Enid Blytons. Tinkle was another new found love.

9. LS loved her baths in a bucket and the rickshaw and opening/shutting glass cabinets in a an uncanny rhythmic order. She loved riding without seat belts and fighting with "my friend" cousin.

10. I of course loved food, shopping, food, shopping and more food and not having to cook or photograph any of it.

More later, till then enjoy the season....Happy Halloween

*********

While I wish all of you the best in health, wealth and happiness let us take a moment to think about giving this season.

A reader sent me a mail with a request. I quote her here,
"I have a friend, Sanjana, who is fighting cancer, and her odds have suddenly gone down drastically. The only way to save her is by a stem cell transplant. The problem, however, is of finding a match. There is quite a big lack of awareness in the South Asian community about stem cell donation, and as a result, for a person of South Asian origin, the odds of finding a match are less than 1%.

Please go the the National Marrow Donor Registry's web-site at www.bethematch.org and register online.

For more information about Sanjana, you can go to:
http://www.savesanjana.org/
or FaceBook page
http://www.facebook.com/savesanjana
"

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Giveaway because I love You

Because it is Durga Pujo and on Pujo we Bongs have a tradition of giving gifts to people we love, like, and dislike but pretend to like I am having a giveaway.

In your case though it is only love,like, love, like and so on.

You don't have to love me in return. But
1. You can Like my Blog on FaceBook

2. Read me without fail by Subscribing

3. Leave a comment telling me what you can do to bring world peace. Ok scratch that, here is an easier one.
Tell me in your comment "What is a forgotten food in your family that you would like to bring back"

I will pick ONE winner by random draw from the comments to this post.

**********

The winner will be able to choose a gift from one of the following

1. Miss Masala by Mallika Basu -- I loved this book. It is a wonderful wonderful read with lovely recipes.

2.Garlic & Sapphire by Ruth Reichl -- This is another of Ruth Reichl's memoirs. I am a big fan of her writing . In this book Reichl focuses on her life as a food critic, dishing up a feast of fabulous meals enjoyed during her tenure at The New York Times.

3. An Amazon.com gift card worth $25.

Disclaimer: These gifts are not sponsored by anyone, not even the husband. I just wanted to share the spirit of the season and this is a small something from me to say "Thank You".
Books will be shipped only within US. I think the gift card can be used all over the world if I e-mail the gift card.

In your comment DO NOT tell me what you want instead answer the question I asked

"What is a forgotten food in your family that you would like to bring back"

I will announce the lucky person's name by end October.

Till then have Fun and wish Happy 4th Blog Birthday to Bong Mom's Cook Book in October.

Pujo 2009

Pujo 2007

Friday, September 24, 2010

Kochur Loti diye Ilish Maach -- lost in translation

If someone told me last week that I would hardly find time to do things that are important to me, like cook or blog or browse blogs or do nothing this week, I would say "Pfbttttt".

And this week, I cannot tell you how much I am missing doing nothing.

If someone told me last year that I wouldn't miss Durga Pujo at all this year, I would roll my eyes and look away

But this year I really am not missing it. No nostalgia about sharat, sheuli, kashful whatsoever.

~~Nope, none, nada, zilch.~~

I am secretly happy that I don't have to push aside sweaty bodies smelling of jasmine and Aminia's biryani in Gariahat and prostrate at my tailors to get my salwar stitched in time. I don't have to decide which pandals to visit on Panchami when the crowd is at its mildest best and sit home on Ashtami watching "Sharodo Parikroma" on Television. And yes the food, the long wait for that single egg roll because it is Pujo, ahhh I have overcome that.

If someone told me last year that I would have "Kochur Loti diye Ilish er Matha" in my blog, I would say "In your dreams, dude".Ok, maybe not the "dude" part.

Yeah, really. Kochur loti ? Who am I kidding ?

I am sure my Ma cooked such stuff but honestly I have no memory of Kochur Loti from my childhood, teenhood, pre-adult hood, neighborhood...

But LS's baby sitter who is from Bangladesh and has this fond fascination for such things got a pack of Kochur Loti from where else but New York. I already had the Hilsa fish's head or Ilish maach er Matha languishing in the freezer, waiting to be thrown out, for my family detests such smelly things. So when LS's baby sitter said she wanted to make Kochur Loti with fish head, what did I have to loose ?

M Didi made this with onion, garlic, ginger and lots of chili. It was hot and happening.

I don't remember my Ma cooking it that way though. She belongs to a different genre. I am sure she made it with coconut and kala chana. I am not even sure if she added fish head.

Google tells me Kochur Loti is nothing but colocasia stem/shoots and it requires special technique of cooking to remove crystals of calcium oxalate. Kochu or Colocasia too has these crystals and cause itching if they are not removed by thorough cooking. These stems or shoots are very popular in Bangladesh and is now also popular in West Bengal. It is available in the US in South Asian grocery stores in the freezer aisle and a frozen packet costs around $2.

To cook Kochur loti with Ilish Macher Matha follow this recipe, looks pretty authentic. For vegetarian version just don't add fish head.

Edited To Add: The blog Akansha's Recipe, that I had linked earlier has stolen many blog posts and photos. I was not aware until Jaya of Spice and Curry told me she herself was a victim. This Plagiarism is killing us.

I do not have an exact recipe because I did not cook it. Here is how LS's sitter made it.

Wash and clean the fish head pieces and smear with salt and turmeric

Heat Mustard oil

Add ginger, garlic and onion. Fry well

Add the fish head pieces. Fry till they are lightly browned

Add the Kochur loti, Red Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder and salt to taste.

Keep stirring frequently at medium heat. Continue stirring till all the water released has dried up.

Add little more water and cover and cook till fish head is soft. Dry up excess water.

And since Durga Pujo is less than 3 weeks away and we know that you need to eat good food for that IS celebration, here are some things you can cook if you are stuck at home watching Pujo Porikroma on the telly. If you have a steel heart and iron arms , I am sure you will be out there during Pujo waiting behind umpteen people at the Phuchka wala outside the Mandap. Or do people go to Mainland China these days ?