Date and Walnut Cake

Merry Christmas to all... may peace and happiness fills your heart 🎅🏼

We all have some sweet and naughty stories to tell of our childhood..... This recipe takes me back to my teenage, almost 30 years back. I being a teenager, was learning to open up my wings... exploring new things. I was always found of cooking.. as my school always encouraged us for the extra curricular activities - we had cooking class in our school. I had got this recipe from one of my neighbour Aunty, since this recipe content rum... me and my friend became very excited about this recipe. We use to buy a quarter bottle rum... half went into the cake and the other half into our stomach... with Bryan Adams songs playing at the background....

and my mother screaming at another end.

Later there was a Savvy magazine contest about the dishes you can store for a longer period of time... I had posted this recipe to them and this recipe was selected...

This cake can be prepared for any occasions... 

This cake is moist and the taste is amazing. Please eat a day after you bake... this cake can be store for 2 months in the freezer. Wrap it in a foil and then in a sealed bag..

Ingredients

500 grams of Dates deseeded and chopped

200 grams of Walnuts chopped

50 grams of Black Raisins deseeded and chopped

50 grams of Truti Fruti

500 grams Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 to A cup of Rum

6 Eggs

4 tbsp Ghee

3 1/2 cups of Whole Wheat flour

3 tsp Soda Bicarbonate

3 cups of Water

Method

Soak the chopped walnuts in rum for a day or more. Boil 3 cups of water, switch off the flame. Add the dates, raisins, truti fruti, sugar, salt, ghee and the soda bicarbonate. Cover and keep it aside to cool. Beat the eggs. Add the eggs and the the flour gradually into the date mixture and beat it. Add the walnut soaked in rum and mix it again. Take 4 baking mould - 2 of 1/2 kg and 2 of 250 grams each. Grease the baking moulds. Pour the batter up to 1/2 the baking mould. Bake the cake at 180 degrees for an hour approximately in an pre heated oven. Check the cake by inserting a tooth pick after 50 minutes, as different oven has different temperature levels. Once done, remove the cake. Cool the cake and remove from the mould. Cool it further on a cooling rack. Enjoy the cake the next day... this cake can be stored in a freezer for 2 months. Wrap the cake in a foil paper and then keep it in a sealed bag.

Baked Chingri Begun

This is a side dish made with prawns and brinjal. Though the wet paste made with mustard seeds and other ingredients are commonly used in Bengali dishes to make Jhal, Paturi, Bhapa etc, and even brinjal is a common ingredient used along with fish to make curry, here I have tried out the recipe in a bit different way... 

This dish can be made with other small fishes. 

You can serve this dish with steamed rice.

Ingredients 

1 medium size Bharta Baigan / Brinjal 

10 to 12 medium size  Prawns cleaned and deveined
1 small Onion or 1/4 part of the Onion

4 to 5 Garlic Cloves 

4 to 6 Green Chillies as per the spiciness you require 

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tbsp Fresh or Desiccated Coconut  

1 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Poppy seeds

1 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped 

2 tbsp + 1 tsp Mustard Oil 

2 tbsp Curd (Optional)

Method 

Take the brinjal, cut the brinjal from the center horizontally leaving the end tail part of the brinjal intact. Scoop out the inner part of the brinjal on both the sides. Keep it aside. Now chop the scooped flesh of the brinjal and keep it aside. Take a grinder, add the onion, green chillies, garlic, mustard seeds, poppy seeds, coconut, turmeric powder and salt. Add little water and 2 tbsp of curd (optional), make a smooth paste. Rub little salt on the inner and outer parts of the brinjal.  Take a bowl, add the prawn, chopped brinjal flesh, coriander leaves, 2 tbsp mustard oil and the paste. Mix all the ingredients together. Now stuff the prawn stuffing on one side of scooped brinjal. Cover it with the other side of the brinjal. Tie up the brinjal with a thread. Keep the stuffed brinjal in the refrigerator for an hour, Remove the brinjal from the fridge.  Place the brinjal into a baking tray, pour the remaining mustard oil, and apply the oil on the brinjal. To bake, you can either bake it in a preheated OTG at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the brinjal after 10 minutes to cook it evenly or to bake it on a gas stove, take a wok, place a pressure cooker stand into the wok, cover the the wok for 5 minutes on medium flame. Open the lid, place the tray on the cooker stand. Cover the lid and bake for 10 minutes on medium low flame, after 10 minutes turn the side then continue to cook for another 20 minutes with the lid covered. Remove the baking tray from the wok. Remove the thread, place the brinjal on a serving plate and open one side of the brinjal. Pour in the liquid of the baked brinjal and prawns. Garnish with coriander leaves and green chillies. Serve the dish with hot steaming rice.

Pork ar Tomato r Acchar

Pickle making is my passion, I love to develop new pickle recipes,  specially when it comes to non veg pickles adding up with vegetables...This is a Bengali style meat and tomato pickle. You can use any meat, here I have used pork. 

For the Masala

Ingredients 

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Coriander seeds 

1 tbsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds

25 Garlic Cloves 

2 to 3 small piece of Ginger 

10 to 15 Green Chillies depending upon the spiciness you require

Method 

Take a grinder, add the dry ingredients and coarsely grind into a powder. Keep it aside. 

Now grind the ginger, garlic and green chillies into a coarse paste without adding any water, keep it aside. 

Pork and Tomato Acchar 

Ingredients 

250 grams Pork meat + 125 pork fat cut into small pieces 

375 grams Ripe Tomato chopped into small cubes 

Dry Masala powder 

Wet Masala

1 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tbsp Kashmiri Red Chilli powder 

Salt to taste 

1 1/2 tsp Sugar 

1/2 tsp Panch Phoran 

1/2 cup Vinegar 

1/4 cup + 1/4 cup Mustard oil

Method 

Take a strainer, add the pork pieces along with the pork fat in the strainer, sprinkle and apply salt on the pork, keep it aside for an hour or two for draining out the extra water. Pour 1/4 cup mustard oil in a heavy bottom pan. Let it heat up, add the pork pieces and fry the pork until golden in colour on a low medium flame. Remove and keep it aside. In the same pan, add the panch phoran, sauté for few seconds. Add the wet paste. Add the remaining mustard oil. Sauté and cook the paste on a low flame until the oil separates from the masala. Now add the tomato pieces. Sauté and cook the tomatoes until the tomatoes have become pulpy and the oil has separated from the tomatoes. Add the pork, continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add the dry masala, salt, sugar, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Switch off the flame and add 1/4 cup of vinegar, stir and then add the remaining vinegar and stir, let the pickle cool down completely. Store the pickle in a dry glass container. This pickle can be preserved for 2 to 3 months in the refrigerator. 

Saoji Chicken Curry

Halba Kosti Tribes from Madhaya Pradesh, who are weavers by professions came to Vidharba region of Maharastra Nagpur and  settled there. They settled in large numbers and took up job at Empress Mill. They introduced Saoji Cuisine, their cuisine is fiery hot and spicy that needs an acquired taste.  It’s the unique spice blend that makes the difference, it’s is slow cooked and linseed oil is used in the authentic recipe. Each house adds their twist to the spices.  The recipes are closed guarded secret to each family. In 70s the first Saoji joint was opened in Nagpur, there after now many restaurants have opened selling Saoji Cuisine. They are mainly non vegetarian having mutton, chicken, fish. The cuisine is now known to the world by word of mouth. 

For Saoji Masala 

Ingredients 

2 tbsp Coriander seeds 

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Shahi Jeera 

8 Dry Red Patna Chillies  

8 to 10 Black pepper corns

1 inch Cinnamon stick 

1 Black Cardamom 

4 Green Cardamom 

4 Cloves 

1/2 Nutmeg 

1 Star Anise 

1 tsp Dagad Phool / Stone Flower 

1/4 piece Nutmeg 2 Bay leaves 

1 tsp Poppy Seeds or White Sesame Seeds

1 tsp Rice

2 tbsp Dry Grated Coconut / Dessicated coconut 

1/2 tbsp Chana Dal   / Split Chickpeas 

3 Bay leaves 

Method 

Take a pan,  on a low heat stir and roast Coriander seeds, Split Chickpeas, Rice, Cumin seeds,  poppyseeds or sesame seeds, cinnamon, cloves, black and green cardamom, nutmeg, star anise, pepper, bay leaves, stone flower, whole red chillies and dry grated coconut . Roast until you get an aroma out of the spices. Cool the spices down and then grind the spices into a powder. 

To make the Saoji Chicken 

Ingredients 

1 kg County Chicken / Gavti Murgi / Komdi cut into pieces 

2 Onions sliced 

1 tsp Garlic paste

1 tsp Ginger paste

Few Coriander leaves chopped 

2 Bay leaves 

1 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tsp Spicy Chilli powder 

3 tbsp of the Saoji Masala 

Salt to taste 

1/2 cup Oil 

Method 

Take a pan, add a tbsp oil, fry the onion until brown, cool it down and make a paste with little water. Take the saoji masala, add little water and make a paste.. 

Take a pot, add oil, add bay leaves, add ginger and garlic paste, sauté for few seconds. Add the fried onion paste, sauté for a minute, add few chopped coriander leaves, turmeric powder, chilli powder, Saoji masala paste,  chicken and salt. Stir and cook the ingredients on a low flame. Cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Open the lid, now add a cup of water. Stir, cover  and let it cook for another 15 minutes. Open the lid, add 2 cups  of  water, close the lid and cook until the chicken has cooked. Garnish with chopped coriander.  Serve the chicken with Roti, bhakri or rice. 

Chicken Chaap

The Nawabs moved to Murshidabad from Dhaka in 18th century, they introduced Awadhi cuisine to Bengal. This cuisine became a part of Bengali Muslim Culture. They introduced many dish, the Biriyani and Chicken Chaap became a combination which is sold in many of the old Muslim restaurants in Kolkata. 

Chicken Chaap
My memories take me back to my childhood where every summer my visit to Kolkata and visiting Nizam or Shiraj or Royal Indian Hotel for the chicken Chaap, Rezala and Biriyani with my cousin was a must.
The chicken full leg marinated and fried in ghee is a rich affair. There are lots of ingredients that goes into the marination.
I followed the recipe from you tube channel Uttar Bangla shared by Royal Indian Hotel which I found relatively easy to make with less ingredients.

Ingredients 

2 Chicken Full Leg pieces, make few slits on the chicken. 

1 1/2 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Garlic paste 

Salt to taste

1 tsp Garam Masala powder 

1 tsp Red Chilli powder 

2 tbsp Sattu 

4 tbsp Curd

1 tsp Kewra water

2 drops Meeta Athar 

2 pinches of Saffron soaked in 3 tbsp of water

1/2 cup Ghee

Method 

Take a bowl, add curd, saffron water, ginger, garlic, salt, chilli powder, garam masala powder, sattu, kewra water and meetha athar. Mix all the ingredients very well. Add the chicken legs, apply the marination to the chicken. Keep the chicken for 2 hours. Take a heavy bottom pan, add the ghee. Once the ghee melts, add the marinated  chicken. Fry the chicken pieces on both the side on a low flame until almost tender turning the chicken pieces occasionally. Add in the marination and 1/4 cup of water. Cook the chicken in the marination, turning the sides occasionally until the chicken is tender and the masalas have cooked well. Serve the chicken chaap with Biriyani, Pulao or Porotha.