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Anti clock (park inn by radisson, Moolchand, New Delhi)

In a NUtshell: A nice, evening place, with retro live music , serving Indian food (from across the country) by a chef who has thousands of fans in gurgaon – Sushmit Daniels Address & other details: anticlock Meal for 2: ₹700 onwards Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has … Continue reading Anti clock (park inn by radisson, Moolchand, New Delhi)

Machher Paturi (Bengali style Mustard fish in Banana leaf)

This is a part of the series ……. For the Chef in u

Contributed by YUMMRAJ’s favourite Chef ANONYMOUS
Super easy to make & Super good to eat……………

Machher paturi (fish in banana leaf)

U can try this with boneless fillets of fishes like betki or even with pieces of Hilsa (ilish) that have bones. U can try this recipe with prawns as well.

For all of u who stay in Coastal states of India, procuring banana leaf is easy. For the rest, there are markets in all cities that sell regional food – check those places out. In case u do not get it, use aluminum foil instead. The taste will almost be the same. The flavor of banana leaf will be missing.

banana leaves cut into square pieces for paturi

Take 1 inch size cubes of 300 grams boneless betki / standard sized pieces of other fish like hilsa.

Grind 3 tablespoons of mustard with 4 green chillies to a smooth paste. Grate ¼ coconut & keep aside.

The ingredients of machher paturi

Mix together the mustard paste, grated coconut, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tablespoon mustard oil & salt to taste. Apply this paste to the fish pieces evenly & leave it to marinate for 1 hour.

marinated fish chunks

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Chhanar Dalna (Bengali style ‘homemade paneer / cottage cheese’)

This is a part of the series ……. For the Chef in u

Contributed by YUMMRAJ’s favourite Chef ANONYMOUS
Super easy to make & Super good to eat……………

Chhanar Dalna – Bengali style home made paneer / cottage cheese

Historically curdling of milk was not considered to be good generally in India & particularly in Bengal. With the advent of the Portuguese in mid 1600s, came the cottage cheese & it is from there that the Bengali cooks learnt the use of chhana (paneer) for cooking as well as for making sweets.

Chhanar dalna is a homemade cottage cheese & potato curry.

For making the chhana, boil 2 liters of full cream milk. When it comes to a boil, add juice of 3 whole lemon. The milk curdles. Take a muslin cloth, place it over a large vessel. Pour the curdled milk over the muslin to separate the chhana (cottage cheese) from whey.

Discard the whey & tie the muslin cloth to a potli (see picture). Hang it for 2-3 hours from a height so that the excess whey drains out.

From here , there are two methods –

Method 1: What I have inherited from my family.

Method 2: Experimented as advised by Paromita Dey

Draining the whey by hanging it from a muslin cloth

Method1:

Place the potli on a flat surface & put something heavy on the top for 30 minutes to flatten the Chhana.

Flattening the chhana

Take out the chhana from the cloth carefully & place on a cutting board.

The lump of chhana on a cutting board

Use a sharp knife to cut the chhana chunk into pieces. If u use a blunt knife, the chhana might break / become uneven.

the chhana cut into pieces

Fry the chhana pieces in 1 tablespoon oil on slow fire till they start getting golden brown.

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Aam Pora Shorbot (Bengali style Aam Panna – refreshing summer drink made from raw mango)

This is a part of the series ……. For the Chef in u

Contributed by YUMMRAJ’s favourite Chef ANONYMOUS

Super easy to make & Super good to drink……………

the thanda thanda cool cool lip licking refreshing good aam porar shorbot – bengali vesrion of aam panna

Summers are in & so r those times when just glass of water is not good enough to quench ur thirst. A tangy refreshing soft drink can often make a difference.

Aam pora shorbot is a Bengali classic drink made from the pulp of raw mango. Here is my take on the Classic recipe.

Take 4 raw mangoes. Ensure that the ones u choose are neither soft nor yellowing.

raw mango / kaccha aam

Wash them & roast them on slow fire direct flames – similar to what u do for baingan bharta (‘begun pora’ in bengali).

Aam pora – Roasting the raw mangoes on stove

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