Crispy Healthy Granola Bars

My family sometimes loves to substitute their regular breakfast with a rich nutrition bar and a cup of milk. I didn’t mind so much ….until today….I just went through the ingredients ….and whoa!! I was in for a BIG surprise…..HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL? Really?

Hmmffffff…….there goes another of my easy quick fix for a late morning when we have to rush to work.

So? I made some of my own. After getting back from work, I tried this out….and it turned out yummier and definitely a lot healthier.

Need

Pitted and ground dates – 1 ½ cups

Broken oats flakes – 1 cup ---- ROASTED (you’ll love the nutty flavor)

Corn flakes – ¾ cup ----- crumble between palms

Milk – 1 ½ cup

Chopped roasted nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashew, sunflower seeds, sesame, you pick J ) – ¾ cup

Dried cranberries (you can use any kind of raisins) – ¼ cup

Cinnamon ground – 1 ½ tsp

Balck pepper ground – 1 ½ tsp

Salt – ¼ tsp

Oil – just enough to grease the baking sheet

Optional add-ons – chocolate chips, fruit candies

The super easy process

1.    Take the date and milk in a saucepan and simmer until the mix forms a smooth somewhat runny paste

2.    Take off flame and add all the rest of the ingredients and mix

3.    Line a baking tray with foil or baking sheet and grease the sheet with oil / butter. Spread the mixture over the sheet. You can make it smooth and square in order to get neat bars. I leave it messy….as long as I have smoothened the paste on top. Saves me time J

4.    Bake in preheated oven at 400 degree F for 5 minutes, then at 100 degree F for 1 hour.

5.    Cut the bars and cool. Store in an air tight container.

I made 40 mini bars in this batch. This would average to a max of 30 calories per bar. J Hurray!!

Easy Niramish Polao (Bengali Pulao/Pilaf Recipe)

Niramish polao is a very pujo-celebration recipe that we relish esp. on Navami day of Durga puja. While the polao itself is niramish (no meat, or onions, or garlic in there), it is served with traditional mangsher jhol (bengali mutton curry). It tastesd yummy and reminds me of pujo everytime we cook this no. Enjoy!

Need:
Long-grained Basmati rice (or gobindo bhog rice - also called jeera rice) - 2 cups
Water - as per instructions on the rice packet [water required to cook basmati well varies across different varieties and brands of the rice. so read the instructions well before cooking]
1 medium potato - cut up into 1cm X 1 inch julienne
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - 3 tsp
Almonds and cashew - chopped - 1 tbsp
Raisins - 2 tsp
Cloves - 4-5 sticks
Black cardamom - 1 broken
Bay leaf - 1 medium
Dried red chili (whole) - 1 large broken
Black pepper corns (whole) - 2 tsp
Shahi Garam masala (recipe here) - 1 tsp
Ghee (clarified butter) - 1 tbsp [you may use oil if you wish....but ghee brings out the amazing aroma of the spices]
Finely chopped cilantro

To cook:
1. Wash the rice in running water, drain, and spread out on a plate.
2. Rub in the salt, 2 tsp sugar, turmeric, and garam masala to the rice and keep aside.
3. Wash the potatoes, cut as instructed above, rub in some salt and turmeric, and keep aside.
4. Heat the ghee in a pan/wok and add the red chili, bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, and peppercorns. The heat should be on high so that the beautiful garam masala will release its aroma in 1 minute. Reduce the heat to med-hi and add the potatoes. Saute for 1 minute.
4. Add the remaining sugar and mix in the raisins and chopped nuts. Saute for 1 minute.
5. Add the rice. Mix well and saute for 2 minutes.
6. Now add enough water to cook the rice. You may add some hot water later if required. But be careful to not add excess water. Draining would be a waste and is not an option in this recipe. Cover and cook the rice until done.
8. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with traditional bengali chicken or mutton jhol (a runny curry).

:)

Sunday Waffles

Well I don’t own a waffle iron, and after I tried this …. I don’t think I need one J I know waffles aren’t healthy….they make for a junk load for breakfast….but I can let go on a Sunday may be J

So here’s my recipe to make fab waffles at home J

Need for 6 waffles

All purpose flour – 1 cup

White sugar – 2 tbsp

Butter melted – 2 tbsp

Salt – a pinch

Eggs – 2 medium

Milk – as required (will explain later)

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Crushed black pepper (optional)

Vanilla extract – 1tsp

A thick bottomed non-stick tawa or frying pan – cast iron stuff would be great J

To make awesome waffles:

1.    Mix all the dry ingredients well.

2.    Now in a large bowl, melt the butter and mix in the beaten eggs, add vanilla and the dry ingredients. Incorporate well. You’ll get a semi-pasty consistency at this stage.

3.    Add just enough milk to make the batter runny (not very though). The batter should be runny enough so that when you pour a spoonful on the tawa, you can easily swirl it around by tilting the tawa.

4.    Now allow the batter to sit for 10 minutes.

5.    Heat the tawa, coat with a thin layer of butter and cook your waffles to perfection. Here’s how I do it: Pour a spoonful when the tawa is hot. Swivel the tawa to spread the waffle thin…..choose your shape J Now when you see little pores opening up on top of the waffle, flip it with a flat spatula. Adjust heat so that the tawa doesn’t get too hot.  

Drizzle maple syrup, or homemade berry coulis and dig in!!

Paneer Tikka Masala

The amazing restaurant taste in a low-oil home-style version. Well, I had learnt this recipe from friends’ moms and Chef blogs here and there and adapted it the TIME STARVED HEALTH CONSCIOUS BONG style J

I know this is a multi-stage recipe, but may be managed in 30 minutes. Just follow my process.

Enjoy!

Need

Paneer (cottage cheese) 250 gms, cut into cubes

Green bell pepper (capsicum) 1 large – diced

Onion 1 large – diced into large chunks and leaves (layers?) separated roughly

Green chili – 2-3 slit lengthwise

The tandoor marinade: Take a bowl and mix the following ingredients in it:

3 tbsp hung yogurt

1 tbsp mustard oil

1/2 tbsp ginger+garlic paste

1 tsp shahi garam masala powder

¼ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder

¼ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp sugar

Salt – to taste

The masala: 1 large onion – chopped

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp ginger+garlic paste

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chili powder

1 tsp roasted and crushed Kasoori methi

1/3 cup whole milk (or fresh cream)

½ cup hot water

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Salt and sugar to taste

Mustard oil

Preparation:

1.    Preheat the oven at 180 degree Centigrade and mix the marinade

2.    Dice the onions and bell pepper and toss into the marinade to coat well

3.    Now dice the paneer and gently add to the marinade coating well and making sure that the delicate paneer doesn’t crumble

4.    Pop the paneer tikka batch into the oven and bake for 6 minutes

5.    Meanwhile chop the onions and tomatoes and slit the chili – in case you’re using fresh ginger garlic paste (which I highly recommend), make it now

6.    Heat oil in a large enough wok and add the cumin seeds. Now add the chopped onions with a tsp of sugar and sauté until golden brown.

7.    Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for 2 more minutes

8.    Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook until tender

9.    While the tomatoes are cooking, check the paneer. Put the oven to the GRILL mode and let the tikkas cook for another 3 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and the paneer is a light gold in color. Take care to not overcook the paneer. It will go rubbery :p

10.                   Now return to your masala wok and add the dry spices and kasoori methi and cook for 2 minutes

11.                   Add the  hot water and incorporate into the masala mix

12.                   Now add your grilled paneer tikka mix. Remember to add the yummy grilled marinade, if any J

13.                   Add chopped cilantro and the warm milk (or cream). Mix well and turn off the heat.

Enjoy your paneer tikka masala with fresh rotis or paratha ….. yummylicious!!

Necessary Bengali Spices

বাঙালী মশলা পাতির খুঁটি-নাটি 

Here’s a list of Quintessential spices that must be present in any Bong cooks spice cabinet.

Cumin – Jeera

Common chonk/phoron for many North Indian recipes.

Nigella/ Onion seeds – Kalo Jeera/ Kalaunji

Perfect to cook many simple Bengali recipes. E.g. I use it for my jhinge posto, macher jhols. Phoron nigella with chopped green chili for that unmistakeable Bong aroma J

Poppy seeds – Posto

Fenugreek – Methi

Coriander seeds – Dhania / dhone

Mustard seeds – Shorshe

Fennel seeds – mouri

Add mouri bata aada bata (fennel seeds paste and ginger paste) to boiled split urad dal and you have the authentic KALAI dal J

Dried red chili – Shukno lonka (gota)

Turmeric powder – holud/haldi

Asafoetida – hing

Dhone-jeere gunro – Dry ground cumin and coriander seeds

Adds texture to simple jhol preparations.

e.g. dhone jeere guro, aada bata (ginger paste) can make any watery macher jhol taste and feel sumptuous.

Bay leaf – Tej pata

Cardamom (green and black) – choto and boro elach

For your garam masala cuisine or for the essential Bengali payesh

Black pepper - Gol Morich

That should be enough to get you through any Bong recipe. A few blends, e.g. Garam masala, bhaja masala, etc. may be chalked out of the above too…you’ll find many such spice blend recipes in this blog (under label: “bengali spice mix”)

Note: Spices MUST be stored separately in air tight containers. No tying up with rubber bands and no storing all spices together in fancy spice chambers. The aroma is the essence of any Indian spice…. :)

Shorshe Bata (Bengali Mustard Paste)

Shorshe or mustard seeds come in different hues and sizes. The black or brown ones are more popular in Bong cuisine…the notorious macher jhal recipes more often than not use the traditional bangali shorshe bata.

Please please never ever use kasundi (Bengali mustard sauce), or Dijon mustard, or English mustard in Bong recipes that are asking for shorshe bata. You’ll get a tart after taste that’ll so clash with the whole recipe. It is very simple to make your own shorshe bata at home. Here’s how:

Soak mustard seeds for 4-8 hours. Grind to a paste in your wet-dry grinder with green chili, salt, and a sprinkle of water. THIS my friends will yield the authentic Bong shorshe bata.

[The soaking is necessary if you are using an electric grinder]

If you find shorshe recipes too tough to digest, mild it out with ½ posto (poppy seeds) instead. So take posto and shorshe in equal quantities, soak 4-8 hours. Grind with chili and salt.

Alternatively, you may strain the 1^st variant (no posto version) with some more water and throw away the mustard husks. These are a bit tough on your tummy.

Enjoy!

Garam masala (regular) – the magic Indian spice blend

Garam masala is the magic Indian spice blend that can make many Indian dishes sparkle. We may regulate the heat in this blend by controlling the clove and pepper content in the mix. Many Punjabi recipes, e.g. chhole, meat dishes, even paneer items taste just right with a last minute sprinkle of this wonder blend. Here’s the recipe.

1 tbsp black pepper corns (gol morich)
1 tbsp green cardamom (choto elach)
1 tbsp clove (labongo)
3 pcs of 1” stick cinnamon (dar chini)
2 bay leaves (tej pata)
1 ½ tbsp coriander seeds (dhania/dhone)
2 tbsp caraway seeds (shahi jeera)

Dry roast the bay leaves, cloves and cardamoms, and rest of the spices in three separate batches.

You could follow a similar procedure as the shahi garam masala. Pop in all the spices in the microwave oven together for one minute. Remove the cloves first. Then roast for another 20 secs. Remove everything except bay leaves. Roast another 30 secs or until the bay leaves are brittle (not burnt).

Let cool and blend all the spices in a spice or coffee grinder.

Store in air tight jar (don’t use a large jar for this - the less air it is exposed to the better flavor it retains. You can store it for up to 6 months. 

Shahi Garam Masala (the hot Indian spice mix of the Maharajas)

Shahi garam masala, as the name suggests has a classy Indian flavor to it. It is perfect for Dum biriyanis, dum aloo, or even lamb and chicken recipes. I use this version of garam masala only in my special Mughal inspired recipes.

1 tbsp black pepper corns (gol morich)
1 tbsp green cardamom (choto elach)
1 tbsp clove (labongo)
3 pcs of 1” stick cinnamon (dar chini)
2 bay leaves (tej pata)
2 pcs black cardamom (baro elach)
1 star anise (jaitri/javitri)1 tsp (a few strands) mace (javitri)
1 whole nutmeg (jai phal)

1 ½ tbsp coriander seeds (dhania/dhone)
2 tbsp caraway seeds (shahi jeera)

1 1/2 tsp fennel (mouri)

Dry roast the bay leaves, cloves and cardamoms, and rest of the spices in three separate batches.

You could pop them all in the microwave oven together for one minute. Remove the cloves first. Then roast for another 20 secs. Remove everything except bay leaves. Roast another 30 secs or until the bay leaves are brittle (not burnt).

Let cool and blend all the spices in a spice or coffee grinder.

Store in air tight jar (don’t use a large jar for this - the less air it is exposed to the better flavor it retains). You can store it for up to 6 months. 

Bhaja Masala

Cumin seeds – 2 tbsp

Black peppercorns – 1 ¼ tbsp.

Bay leaves – 2 medium

Dried red chilis – 2-3 broken

Dry roast all the spices separately until the spices start releasing a light smoky aroma. Be careful not to burn the spices to avoid bitterness.

Cool and dry grind all the spices together. Store in an air tight container.

Uses: 1. Sprinkle on top of hot ghughni for that very Bengali ghughni taste.

2. May be used as a last minute add to dry curries, dals, niramish alu dum.

Enjoy!

panchforan, chutney masala, & shukto masala - a basic bengali spice mix

Panchforan is a very Bengali spice mix. As the name suggests, it is a composite of 5 spices. There are 2 versions that are popular in Bengal. 

Version 1: For this you need methi (fenugreek seeds), shorshe (mustard seeds), jeera (cumin seeds), mouri (fennel/saunf seeds), and kalo jeera/ kalaunji (nigella seeds), mixed whole in equal quantities. 

Version 2: Tastes great in shukto, panchmishali torkari. Replace the mustard seeds with RADHUNI seeds. don't know the english/hindi name .... but here's a wiki link to the description

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachyspermum_roxburghianum

I have been and will be using this spice in various recipes. It is yum whether you splutter it in mustard oil or plain white oil. When punched with broken dried red chili it gives that known Bengali food aroma.........slllllllllll :)

চাটনী মশলা 

I use this chutney masala as a finishing touch to my বাঙালী  mishti aam-er chatni. To make this roast your panchforan (version1) with extra fennel seeds. Roast until the jeera seeds look browned. Grind and store in an air-tight jar. Sprinkle generously over your sweet mango chutney, as you turn off the flame, for that unmistakable বাঙালী বিয়েবাড়ি flavour.

শুক্ত মশলা 

I use ma's shukto  masala as a finishing touch to my shukto - or bittergourd mixed vegetables. This is a recipe that Ma decided to put together to be added to shuktos and even to a few panch mishali recipes. I love the slight bitterness of this spice mix.

To make this roast your panchforan (version2) with extra methi (fenugreek) seeds. Roast until the jeera seeds look browned. Grind and store in an air-tight jar. Sprinkle generously over your shukto for a yummy very বাঙালী  শুক্ত experience.

7 posts on essential spices and spice mixes

While blogging about recipes, I often get stuck on spices. Explaining a spice or spice-mix within a recipe makes it all so complicated :) So ...I just draft the recipe and procrastinate :p well the plan is to put up a few posts on spices before posting those pieces :) So, here I go on my take on essential spices in a Bong *cookie's? :p cabinet.
[* cookie (noun)- meaning - a baked food made of flour(s), shortening, and seasoning (sweet or salt);
cookie (adjective) - one who loves to cook..... well stop squinting ...someone has to smoothen a few absurdities that rule the English language. If a food lover is a foodie, one who loves to cook is a COOKIE! Yes Sir! too bad if they already have labeled it somewhere else]

We'll talk about some essential Bengali spices ..... started a few weeks back with my Panchforan, chutney masala, and shukto masala. I will start with a list of basic Indian spices, a few more basic spices, add a few garam masalas, and roasted bengali all spice, punjabi spices, and spice pastes.

Enjoy!

Tomato Pacheri with a twist

Pacheri is a sweet and sour chunky dip popular in Malaysia. I had this from at lunch from a friend's box. She had added a South Indian twist to her pacheri, and I experimented further with this dip.....and recently stopped. Well, why? 'Coz I don't think this can get any yummier :)
Try it....share if you have a better version :)

Need
Tomatoes - semi-ripe - 2 cups diced
Italian Sweet pepper - 2 big - roughly diced (you can use one large red bell pepper instead)
Ginger - 1 inch cube - roughly chopped
Chinese eggplant - 1 - roughly chopped (optional)
Celery stalk - 1 big - roughly chopped
Curry leaves - a handful
Mustard seeds (whole) - 3/4 tsp
Dried red chili - 3-4 whole
Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
Split bengal gram - 1 tbsp
Peanuts - a handful
Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt and brown sugar

Process
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, hing, and whole red chili.
When the seeds ave spluttered quite a bit, add the whole curry leaves, peanuts, and bengal gram.
When the nuts and gram have roasted well, add the ginger and all the veggies, with salt.
Cover and cook until tender.
Next, add 2 tsp brown sugar and check the seasoning. the mix should be salty like a curry, with a zing of sweetness.
Turn off the heat and add the tamarind paste.
After the mix has cooled off a bit, blend the mixture coarsely. All spices must be blended in too.

Serve with idlis, chips, or nachos, or use as a spread on sandwiches or parathas. Yum!!

Pabda macher tel jhol

পাবদা মাছের তেলঝোল is a yummy Bengali preparation. It has earned itself the status of a Bengali delicacy due to its buttery texture and simple yet oh-so-yummy taste.  

Pabda (also known as pabdah catfish or pabo catfish) is readily available in most of Bengal - West and East. Pabda is a good-enough source of omega 3 fatty acids, well the winner bengali fish in this category is Ilish...but pabda isn't too bad either :) So we can enjoy pabda - guilt-free....esp. this recipe.....I don't use much oil.

This version of Pabda-r tel-jhol is something that has been passed on to me as a family heirloom - from grandma to ma to me. I make this dish often when the family is home for lunch....so call it lazy weekends, or special occasions. 

The stunningness of this dish is in its simplicity. It needs very few readily available ingredients, and is quite healthy too. Here comes the recipe:

Need

Pabda - whole cleaned – 500 gms

Mustard seeds – 1tsp

Mustard oil – 2 tbsp

Whole red chili – 2 medium – slit

Bay leaf – 1 large

Ginger paste – 1tbsp

Cumin powder – 1tsp

Coriander powder – 1tsp

Fresh chopped cilantro – 2 tbsp

Green chili – few, halved

Water – ¾ cup

Salt to taste

To make

Marinate the fish in turmeric and salt for 15 minutes.

Heat the mustard oil in a flat skillet and splutter the mustard seeds with the whole red chili and bay leaf.

Now arrange the fish quickly in one layer. Keep the heat on high.

By the time you are done putting the last fish on, start turning the 1^st fish over gently. This ia  very delicate fish so use a soft edged spatula.  

Now add the ginger paste, cumin and coriander powder and the water. Cover and cook until the water is reduced and the oil starts separating on the sides of the skillet.

Now add the green chili and chopped cilantro and turn off the heat.

Serve with steaming white rice.

oh...and wish everyone an amazing 2014.