Kulfa / Purslane Bhaji

 Kulfa/ Luni Bhaji/ Nunia Saag / Purslane grows wild in India and it’s generally mistaken as weed…unlike spinach, fenugreek, mustard greens etc, this vegetable isn’t cultivated, few days back I saw this plant growing in my kitchen pots.. wild.. I was about to pluck, my house helper said let it grow… we can use in cooking.. this plant has immense health benefits. Staying in urban, most of us don’t know many of the greens that grows around wild… it’s off later that I have been noticing that sometimes some of the villagers come to the city from the nearby villages to sell these treasures. 

This is an annual plant, the leaves and stems are succulent and the flowers can be of any colour like pink, white or yellow. The common one is yellow… The stem and the leaves are both edible, used in soups, salad or cooking. In India it’s cooked with dal, or with as sabji / bhaji. The taste of the leaves are bit tangy. Purslane has vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that can be extremely beneficial to our health. 

We can stir fry the greens with garlic and green chillies, or cook them with dal or make a gravy dish… one of the recipe that I make with this leafy vegetable is -

Ingredients 

1 bunch of Kulfa leaves chopped 

1 Potato cut into cubes 

1 small Tomato chopped 

1 tbsp chopped Garlic 

2 Green Chillies cut into half 

1 Dried Red Chilli 

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

2 tbsp Oil 

Method 

Take a wok, add oil, once the oil heats up, reduce the flame, add the garlic and red dried chilli. Sauté the garlic, once the garlic turns light brown in colour, add the tomato, potato, salt and turmeric, stir and cook until the potato is half cooked. Add the chopped greens and green chillies. Stir and cover the wok. Let it cook until the water has evaporated and the vegetable and the potato has cooked completely. Serve this vegetable with rice or chapatis. 

Apple - Beetroot Jam

Hola - It’s the happiest season of the year… as Christmas is just around the corner and the true magic of Christmas is  Love, Joy, Togetherness, Kindness and Care…..

Apple plays a significant role during festivals … as is considered to be an image of paradise that symbolises Joy and apples being winter fruit has made its way into so many winter holiday traditions. 

During Christmas,  stockings use to  be filled with apples and oranges, over the time now the stockings are filled with different goodies, but still today the toe of the stocking is filled with an apple or an orange. Apples are given as gifts in Eastern European culture, men have traditionally given girls a decorated apple as a romantic gesture during Yuletide (Christmas time). In China many young people have developed a tradition of giving gift wrapped apple on Christmas Eve as they say in Chinese language the word for Christmas Eve and Apple almost sounds the same meaning Peaceful / Safe night. 

Apples and Honey is a traditional dish served by Ashkenazi Jews on Rosh Hashanah - The Jewish new year. A blessing is said in Hebrew for Sweet New Year. The apple is dipped in honey and eaten. Apples have been a part of the Christmas decoration too. 

- Net source 

So let’s make Apple- Beetroot Jam this Christmas- 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 kg Apples boiled 

1 Big Beetroot boiled and grated 

Juice of 2 Oranges or juice of 1 big Lemon 

1 tbsp grated Ginger 

1 tsp Salt

750 grams of Sugar 

2 Star Anise 

1 stick of Cinnamon 

Method 

Take the boiled apples, remove the peel,  the core and seeds of the apple, blend the apple and strain the pulp through a wire mesh strainer. Take a heavy bottom pot, add the apple pulp, orange juice or lemon juice, a bottle of water, star anise, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir and let the pulp simmer on medium to low flame, stir occasionally. Gradually remove the jam foam that gathers on the top of the liquid. Once done add the beetroot. Continue to simmer the until the liquid has thickened. To test if the jam is ready, place a small spoonful onto a cold plate. Wait for 2 minutes or keep the plate back in the fridge for few minutes, the jam will hold its shape, incase the jam is still runny then continue to cook. Once done cool the 

Jam, while still warm, keep the jam in a clean sterilised glass bottles. This portion makes 6 bottles of jam. This jam is good to pair with bread butter, bacon and ham. The jam stay good for a year when refrigerated. 

Panch meshali Sabji r Chechki

 

Now this time of the season the market is flooded with winter vegetables - it’s fresh,  vibrant and adds special flavour to the dish … and we tend to buy varieties of vegetables… and then finishing them is a task specially when we have less members in the family. 

Here is a Bengali recipe that is very easy to make, with many varieties of vegetables and this absolutely pairs up with paratha, luchi, ruti for breakfast, snacks or dinner. 

Panch meshali means medley of vegetables.. and chechki means vegetables cut in small strips and stirred fried in mustard oil, tempered with nigella seeds and seasoned with just salt, turmeric powder and little sugar (optional) and I have used little ghee and coriander leaves for garnishing 

We make Alu Kumro r chechki, alur chechki, phulkopi alur chechki, badakopir alur chechki that goes will for breakfast… 

Here in this recipe I used cauliflower/ Phool kopi, Kumro / pumpkin, Carrot/ gajar and  French beans and Potatoes… 

Ingredients 

1 big bowl of vegetables -  Carrot, Potato and Pumpkin cut into small strips, small cauliflower florets and French beans cut into half.. 

2 to 4 Green Chillies slit 

Few Coriander leaves chopped 

1/2 tsp Nigella seeds 

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp Sugar (optional) 

1/2 tsp Ghee (optional) 

1 tbsp Mustard oil 

Method 

Take a wok, add mustard oil, once the oil heats up, reduce the flame and add nigella seeds, once the seeds crackle, add all the vegetables and green chillies, salt and turmeric powder, stir and cook on low flame, sprinkle little water once in a way, cover continue cooking until the vegetables are almost tender, add sugar and continue to cook without the lid until the vegetables are cooked completely, drizzle ghee and sprinkle coriander leaves. Serve the dish with luchi, porotha or ruti. 

Oats - Barnyard Millet and Semolina Vermicelli Idlis with Carrot

Oats, Barnyard millet and Semolina Vermicelli with Carrots… 

Quick breakfast or snack,  easy to make and healthy too. Serve them with sambar or any chutney of your choice. Flatten rice can be also added. 

Measuring cup measurement 

Coconut Chutney 

Ingredients 

1/2 cup Grated Coconut 

2 Green Chillies 

Few Curry leaves 

4 tbsp Curd

Salt to taste 

Method 

Grind all the ingredients together, if need add little water and make fine paste. 

For the Idli

Ingredients 

1 cup Oats

1/2 cup Barnyard millet

1/2 cup Semolina Vermicelli 

1 small grated Carrot 

Few Curry leaves 

2 tbsp grated Coconut 

2 tbsp Curd 

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Eno 

1 tbsp Coconut oil

Method 

Take a grinder jar, add the oats and Barnyard millet, wash, add 2 cup water, let it soak for 10 minutes. Add salt, grated coconut and curd. Grind the ingredients in a grinder. Pour the batter in a bowl, keep it aside for 10 minutes. Add the vermicelli. Continue to soak for 15 minutes more. Take a idli steamer. Grease the mould with coconut oil. Add the eno in the batter. Gently stir the batter. Pour the batter into the idli mould. Add little grated carrot and a curry leave on the batter. Steam the idlis for 20 minutes. Check the idlis inserting a stick. If the stick comes out smooth, then the idlis are done. Once done remove the idli moulds and let it cool a bit, before scooping out the idlis from the mould. Serve the idlis with coconut chutney. 

 

Bombil Pakoda / Lote Macher Bora / Bombay Duck Fritters

Bombay Ducks / Bombil / Lote is one of my favourite fish… Today we have made crispy Bombil Pakoda. This dish can be eaten with dal rice, or eaten as a starter. 

Serve this dish with green chutney and onion slices. 

Ingredients 

10 pieces of big size Bombil, clean deboned and cut into half. 

1 tsp Ginger - Garlic paste 

1 tsp Lemon juice 

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Red Chilli powder 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp Carom seeds 

6 tbsp Gram flour 

4 tbsp Rice flour 

Oil to fry 

Method 

Take the Bombil pieces, and rub little salt and 1/2 tsp lemon juice on the bombil pieces. Take a bowl, sieve the gram flour and rice flour together. Add the remaining lemon juice, salt to taste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ginger- garlic paste, carom seeds and little water at a time to make a thick batter, beat the batter well. Heat oil in a pan, once the oil is hot, keep the oil on medium flame. Dip the bombil pieces into the batter and fry them in hot oil until golden brown in colour. Remove the bombil pakoda on a paper towel. Serve the crispy bombil pakoda with green chutney and onion slices.