Gota Sheddho....

Gota Sheddho is made on the day of Saraswati Puja in Bengal and eaten the next day that is Sheetal Shasti. Gota means whole and Sheddo means boiled.  It is made with 5 types of vegetables, spinach with stem and roots (shish palak) and whole mung dal or whole black lentils. Each of the vegetables are taken in odd number like 5, 7, 9 or 11.

Different household has different version of making Gota Sheddho. In some houses, they have it only boiled and some houses makes mashala gota sheddho. 

I tried keeping my mother's traditional way of making mashala gota sheddho.  It is normally eaten with panta bhaat. 

Ingredients 

300 grams Whole Mung Dal 

1 bunch of Shish Palak

11 Flat beans whole

11 Green Peas whole 

11 small size Potato whole

11 small size Brinjal whole 

5 Green Chillies 

2 tbsp Ginger paste 

2 tbsp Fennel seed paste 

Salt to taste 

1/2 cup Mustard Oil 

Method 

Take the shish palak. Cut the stems into 1 inch pieces, the roots are also cleaned and add to the stem, the leaves are cut into pieces and kept separately. Give a slit on the potatoes and brinjals. Take a deep bottom pot. Add 2 liters of water. Add the dal. Arrange the stem and the roots of the palak, sprinkle some salt, then arrange potatoes followed by brinjals. Then add the flat beans, green peas and chillies. Cover the pot and let it simmer on low flame till the ingredients are 50 percent cooked. Add half of the mustard oil. Now add the Palak leaves and sprinkle some more salt. Cover and let it simmer till the dal is cooked. Take the ginger and fennel seed paste in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup water to it. Pour the paste on the gota and add some more mustard oil. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Lastly drizzle the remaining mustard oil and keep it over night. Enjoy the gota for lunch.

Cantonese Style Chicken Sausage and Green Garlic Vegetable Stir Fry...

Cantonese cuisine is a simplified traditional Chinese cuisine which comes from Guangdong province and is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. The ingredients used in Cantonese cuisine, are spring onion, sugar, salt, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, vinegar, scallion oil, and sesame oil, to enhance the flavour, garlic is heavily used in some of the dishes. Ginger, chilli peppers, five-spice powder, black pepper powder, star anise and a few other spices are also used. 

Net source... 

This dish is good for starters. The sugar balances the flavour of the sourness. Love the flavour of the garlic. 

Ingredients 

10 pieces of Chicken sausage cut into pieces

1 cup Yellow and Red Capsicum cut into cubes

1 Onion cut into cubes

2 to 3 Green chillies slit into 2 halves

6 to 8 whole Garlic cloves 

1 cup Green Garlic leaves cut into pieces 

1 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar or White Vinegar

1 tbsp Soya Sauce

1 tsp Chilli Sauce

Salt to taste 

1/4 tsp Pepper powder

1/2 tsp Sugar 

2 tbsp Sesame seed Oil 

Method 

Take a wok or a fry pan, add oil. Heat up the oil. Add the sausages and stir fry for a minute. Add the whole garlic, green chillies and onions. Stir fry on high flame till the onions are light pink in colour. Add the capsicum and stir for 2 minutes. Add the green garlic leaves. Stir for a minute. Add the vinegar, soya sauce, chilli sauce, sugar, salt and pepper powder. Stir for a minute and serve it hot.

Macher Bhappa Cake / Fish Cake Steamed.....

This is an excellent recipe to have with evening tea or as a starter. The fish is boiled and mashed with boiled potatoes and vegetables and then set in a steamer or steamed in any vessel till it sets. This recipe is a heirloom recipe from my aunty’s kitchen and recreated in my kitchen. It has a touch of Bengal as Kasundi is used in it.  It's a very healthy recipe as there is very less oil content which has come from Kasundi and greased container. For the bread crumbs, I have used whole wheat bread crumbs, you can also roast or crisp the leftover rotis to make the breadcrumbs.
For people who eats egg... you can substitute the fish with soya granules.
I am sure you will love my recipe as much as I did making it. I am sure you will try it out.

Ingredients
1 cup / 250 grams  Any Fish boiled, deboned and mashed ( Bhetki, Prawns, Kathla)
1 big size Potato boiled and mashed
1/2 cup finely chopped any colour capsicum
1 small Onion finely chopped
1 tsp Garlic minced
1/2 tsp Ginger minced
1/2 to 1 tsp Green chillies minced
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Pepper crushed
1/2 tsp Cumin powder
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs beaten
2 tbsp Kasundi ( Mustard Sauce )
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1/4  tsp Mustard oil just to grease the container

Method
Take a mixing bowl and mix all the ingredients together very well, except for the oil. Take a greased baking pan. Pour the mixture in to the container and spread it. You can steam it in a steamer or take a wok, add water, place a napkin at the base. Place the container with the lid on. Cover the wok and steam it for 20 to 30 minutes or till the mixture has set. To check, insert a tooth pick. Cool it down. Cut it into pieces and serve it with more Kasundi.

Kasundi Chicken Kosha Tarkari Diya...

This dish taste scrumptious with hot steaming rice. I have used home made Kasundi ( Mustard Sauce ) to marinate the chicken along with the other ingredients. You can use ready made Kasundi available in the market. I have added mushrooms and carrot to the dish. You can add potatoes too. I love little sweetness of the carrot with Kasundi. This is an experiment in my kitchen. Do try it out... I am sure you will enjoy it. 

To Marinate the Chicken

Ingredients 

6 pieces of Chicken Legs

2 tbsp of Kasundi (Mustard Sauce) 

1 tsp Ginger - Garlic - Chilli paste 

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Panch phoran powder

Salt to taste

1/4 cup Curd 

Method

Mix all the above ingredients together and let it marinate for an hour. 

To make the Chicken 

Ingredients 

Marinated Chicken

1 big Carrot cut into medium size strips

2 Onions sliced

6 to 8 whole Garlic cloves 

8 to 10 small size whole Mushrooms 

1 Green Chilli slit 

1/2 tsp Panch Phoran 

2 to 3 tbsp Mustard oil

Method 

Take a fry pan, add oil. Let it come to a smoking point.  Lower the flame and reduce the heat. Add the Panch phoran. Let it crackle. Add the green chilli and sauté for few seconds. Add the garlic and sauté for few more seconds. Add the onions and carrots, sauté till the onions are light pink in colour. Add the marinated chicken, stir, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, let it cook for 10 minutes more. Add the mushrooms, stir and cook till the mushrooms have cooked and the water has reduced. Serve it hot.. 

Gokul Pitha

To make this pitha, first stuffing is made. Then the batter is made. Little portion of the stuffing is taken and dipped in to the batter and fried. Then the fried balls are dipped into the sugar syrup.
For the Stuffing
Ingredients
2 cup Coconut grated
3/4 cup Date Jaggary grated
2 tbsp Sugar or more as per the taste
4 tbsp Mawa / Khoya
1/4 tsp Cardomom powder
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Raisins

Method
Take a pan, add the coconut, sugar, Jaggary and salt, stir it on a low flame till the coconut becomes dry. Add Mawa , cardamom and raisins.Cook for another couple of minutes till the mixture is dry. Pour in a bowl and let it cool down.

For the Batter
Ingredients
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Semolina
1 cup Milk or more
Pinch of Salt
1 tbsp Sugar

Method
Take a mixing bowl. Add flour, salt, sugar and semolina. Mix it. Add milk little at a time to make the thick batter. Cover and let the batter stand for 30 minutes.

For the syrup
Ingredients
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Water

Method
Take a heavy bottom pan, add all the above and boil it to get thick syrup.

For making the Gokul Pitha
Ingredients
Oil for Frying
Batter
Stuffing
Sugar Syrup

Method
Heat the oil in a wok. Mean while make lime size balls of the stuffing. Dip these balls one by one in the batter and coat the balls. Add the balls in the hot oil. Fry on very low heat till they are golden brown in colour. Drain the oil and immediately drop them in the warm syrup. Let it stand for an hour to soften. Gokul pitha is ready to be eaten and celebrate Poush Sankranti.