Parwal A Favorite Dish Of West Bengal

Parwal is also know as Pointed Gourd in English. It    is a vegetable that has lots of health benefts. Bengalies can never lve without cooking it almost every day. They  have many dishes made with this vegetable.
What I have made is the simplest one and also very tasty and easy to make

       Here is the recipe:
     
10 Pointed Gourd washed and cut length wise wth the seeds

1 big onion cut similarly
Totally 4 tsps of oil
1/2 tsp each of mustard and cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/2 tsp of dry coriander and cumin powder
1 tsp of Garam masala
1/2 tsp of red chilly powder
In a heated pan add 1 tsp of oil (Mustard oil goes well with this curry, but if you don't have use any oil)
once it is smoking hot fry the sliced onions in it for a few seconds (it is not ot be browned)
Take it off and keep it aside
Now in the same pan add 3 tsps of the remaining oil, bring it to smoking point , and then add the mustard and the cumin seeds and let them splutter.
Add turmeric powder, salt and the Pointed Gourd and mix everything nicely.

Fry for a few seconds and then sprinkle 4 tblsps of water and cover it and let them cook on a slow flame for sometime, once in while stir them. You would find them becoming a little soft, if they are not sprinkle a little more water.
Once quite soft remove the lid, and fry them for a few more mins, adding the coriander and cummin powder
Next add the red chilly powder and the garam masala, and fry for a second or two.
Now add the fried onions and give everything a good mix and take the curry off the flame and serve it with Phulkas / parathas, or any Indian bread.
By adding onions in the end the curry comes out well and doesn't have the burnt onion look as the onions cook fry faster. 

Enjoy this extremely healthy vegetable. You can google it and find out how this vegetable looks and also all the benefits.

Simple, Lightly Spiced Vermicelli Pulav.

Recipe:
2 cups of Roasted Vermicelli ( you can get roasted one in shops)
1 small onion, chopped
1 small Green or any color Capsicum chopped
2 small Tomatoed chopped
1 carrot cut into thin strips (so that they would cook fast and also blend with the vermicelli)
1/2 tsp of Cumin seeds
1 tsp of turmeric powder
2 green chilies slit
1 inch piece cinnamon stick
2 pices of Black Stoneflower
2 dry red chillies broken into pieces
2 green cardamoms
2-3 cloves
1 bay leaf Salt to taste
a few choppe dcoriander leaves
2-3 tsps of oil

Method:

Heat a pan and add oil and cumin seeds, let them splutter
Then add the whole Spices
Add the chopped onions and fry them for a few seconds
Now add the green chillies, turmeric powder, and the carrots and cook for a few seconds.
Add just a little amount of salt at this stage , mix well and transfer these vegetables to a plate and keep aside.

Next in the same pan pour about 2 cups of water, once the water starts to boil add the Vermicelli to it and let it boil in a low flame.
Add the required amount of salt to the Vermicelli,(remember that you have already added a little bit of salt to the vegetables)

Once the vermicelli is cooked add the vegetables to it and mix them gently and let them cook covered for a little while, just keep stirring gently off and on for about 3-4 mins.
Now finally add the chopped Coriander leaves.
Then switch off the flame and serve this lovely, Vermicelli pulav with Yogurt,or Raita (it is yogurt mixed with some raw vegetables like tomato, cucumber, onion and salt)
Enjoy!

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Okra and Onion Curry

There are so many Okra Curry recipes. I have already shared with you one with Tomatoes here:https://www.facebook.com/ramasrecipes/posts/452138551889397.

Today I am sharing a simple Okra recipe:
Just Plain Okra and Onion Curry
Recipe:
250 gms Okra cut into small pieces
Onions 2 cut into small pieces
1 Red Chilly just for flavor broken into small pieces
1/2 tsps each of Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp of jeera powder
2 tsp of Coriander powder
1 tsp Red Chilly powder
Salt to taste
Oil 4 tsps
Method:
In a heated broad pan add oil (I always use Coconut oil, you can use any oil of your choice)
Once hot add the Mustard and Cummin seeds and let them crackle. Add the broken pieces of Red chilll too
Now add the chopped Onions and saute them for a few seconds
Next, add the salt and the Turmeric powder and the Okras, mix and saute for a few minutes.
Keeing the flame in Simmer, let them cook slowly. Keep stirring them at regular intervals.
It might take about 10 mins. or so for everything to cook .
Once they have been cooked add the Coriander powder, Cumin powder, and give everything a gentle mix and let everything cook together for about 2 mins.
Finally add the Red chilly powder and mix everything gently, and wait for a few seconds and then switch off the flame.
Simple, yet very tasty Okra and Onion Curry is ready to be served.
This healthy curry can be had with Chappathi, Plain Rice, can be filled inside a chappathi and turned it into a roll, or filled it in between two slices of toasted bread: the possiblities are many.
It is so good for Diabetes. Enjoy!!!

Fermented Millets More Kalli (Vegan)

This recipe, although is called More Kalli, can roughly be translated as, "Butter milk Porridge", we can make this without any Butter milk also. The idea is it should be sour. Usually it is a very easy and quick dish, which can be made in minutes, just by adding Rice flour to a very sour Butter milk.
However, I wanted to avoid using Rice flour and used Millets instead, which is a very healthy version of the same dish.
Millets are very good for people who have diabetes, and this dish is ideal for them.
There is no difference in taste or texture.

Recipe:
1/2 cup Millets (use any any millets)
2 tblsps grated coconut
Method:
Soak the millets for 24 hours (yes I meant 24 hours)
After that grind it with the coconut into a thick batter, don't add much water
Leave it to ferment for 24 hours (it should look really bubbly, the more it ferments the better, but try not keep it more than 24 hours)
Once the batter is ready, add about 1 cup of water to the batter to get a thin batter. Add salt to it.
Now the tempering:
3 tblsps of Sesame oil (it has to be made in this oil only to get the real authentic taste)
1/2 tsps of each Urad dhal,(Black gram) and Channa dhal (split Chickpeas)
1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds
1/2 an inch of ginger chopped
1-2 dry red chilllies broken into pieces
1 green chilly chopped
a few pinches of Asafoetida powder
a few crushed curry leaves
a few chopped fresh coriander leaves
Method:
In a heated non- stick pan heat oil
add the mustard seeds, red chillies, green chilly , ginger (all the tempering ingredients)
Then add the watery batter
Keep stirring it till everything turns into a pale, shiny color, and come out as a ball without sticking to the pan.
It would happen in about 5- 8 mins. or so, (keep stirring)

(You can add a little bit of any Vegan buttermilk, about 2 tblsps if you feel it is not sour enough, I added about 2 tblsps of peanut buttermilk)

Switch off the flame and enjoy this lovely Hot More Kalli or Porridge as it is,
Or
Another way to have it is to keep a lightly greased plate ready, and pour the More Kalli mixture into the plate and wait for it to cool and then cut it into squares
Both ways it tastes delicious.

I am posting after a very long time. I was encouraged by my  friends and relatives to start my own page in facebook on recipes, and finally I did. I thought I would start posting alll the recipes here too.

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Also, I have chosen Veganism, and so my posts would not have any non-vegan ingredients.

I would love to hear from all of you , who have tried my recipes.

Happy cooking!!!

Chocolate and Coffee Banana Loaf/ Cake

I found this recipe in a Vegan Site. The lady has simple recipes explained  and she also has videos of most of the recipes in her site.
I am slowly turning into a Vegan though  I am still not 100% Vegan, for it takes time. However as much as possible I cook only Vegan food.
Here are the pictures of my recent cake, I only added some Walnuts and some instant coffee  to the recipe, as I like the crunchy taste of Walnuts, which are also very good for brain health.
Just out of the Oven

For recipe go to:http://www.mrishtanna.com/2017/…/chocolate-banana-loaf-cake/

 Enjoy with Tea or Coffee!!!

Hibiscus Tea: The Most Wonderful Drink!!

Hibiscus flowers are so beautiful, and they come in various colors. The most common and popular ones are the Red Hibiscus which are available in plenty everywhere. They don't need much care, also.

The benefits of making Hibiscus Tea at home are many.

Just drinking two cups of hibiscus tea, keeps blood sugar under control, controls the cholesterol levels, lowers BP,  is very high in Vitamin C, so it is good for the skin, hair and the eyes. This tea is good to keep away cough and cold. It also helps in preventing Urinary Tract Infection, if taken along with Cranberry Juice.

Best thing is,  it is very easy to make. here is the recipe:

5/6 hibiscus flowers, plucked from your own garden( doesn't matter, what color they are)

5/6 cups of water

a few tsps of sugar, or honey/ any natural sweetner) I usually don't add sugar at all.

A pinch of salt

1 lemon




Method:

Clean/ wash the flowers gently.

Take only the petals throw everything else.

                                                Throw away this thing, only the petals
                                                             should be there

Boil the water, once it starts to boil, take it off from the stove

You can add sugar/ whatever sweetner you want and also salt.

Put all the petals and cover the it with a lid.

Let it soak for about 20 minutes

Then strain it, it would a deep wine color

Now you can add the juice of 1 lemon, and voila you would immediately see the color of the juice turn to a pretty red color ( I used only Red Hibiscus), I don't know how the color would be if we used other color hibiscus, for I never had the chance of using other colors.

(our dog simply loves eating these flowers especially, the voilet, yellow, orange and the pink ones that I have. So, I never get to see them bloom at all)
                            Caught her in the act. (she was barely 3 months old). She is now a big girl and                                 still loves to steal Hibiscus                                                                                         

This juice doesn't have any taste of its own, so you can even mix it with any other juice you might like, and have it cold also.

Here I have mixed with a herbal Rose drink called Roofza. If you have cranberry juice you can mix it with that too for additional benefits

You can have it immediately as a hot tea or cool it in the fridge and have it later. You can even make a whole lot,  if you have many hibiscus growing in your garden then prepare them in the same way and store it in the fridge and keep using it whenever you feel like.

The pulp of the flower too should not be wasted, it can made into a fine paste in mixer/ grinder and used as a hair mask.

This hair mask can be kept for about 1/2 an hour with the hair covered with a shower cap.

Afterwards,  it can be thourghly rinsed and. No need to apply any conditioner after this treatment. You would find your hair very clean, shiny and bouncy, and you would simply love your hair.

So make the Hibiscus Tea/ Juice and make the Mask and enjoy the benefits .

BTW, the Hibiscus leaves too can be made into a paste and used as a shampoo, it would lather up nicely like a shampoo, but must be rinsed very well.

Gongura Leaves/ Sorrel Leaves: Gongura Puliodhrai

Some of the health benefits of Sorrel/Gongura include its ability to boost eyesight, strengthen the immune system, improve digestion, build strong bones, increase circulation, increase energy levels, help prevent cancer, reduce certain skin conditions, lower blood pressure, increase appetite, slow the aging process, protect against diabetes, strengthen heart health, and improve kidney health.

It is very popular all over India, especially in Andhra Pradesh, where it is considered a delicacy, and dishes cooked in a variety of ways with this spinach kind of leafy vegetable. it has a natural sourness to it, and the pickle made with  it very tasty. You can read about its benefits in the net, and if you can get  it in your part of the country, then make it following various recipes shown in Youtube/ cookery blogs.

Here  I am sharing with you a recipe called "Gongura Puliodaryai" ( Sorrel Rice)

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp, Urad dhal

1/2 tsp, Channa dhal

1/2 tsp Coriander seeds

4/5 Red chillies or according to taste

3 tblsps of Sesame seeds

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

around 1/2 a cup or little more of Sesame seed oil or Refined vegetable oil.

1&1/2 cup of brown rice ( if you don't like Brown Rice then you can use White Rice): Boiled with every grain separate.

1/2 cup of Coconut gratings (optional)

For seasoning : 

a tsp of oil from the oil listed

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Asafoetida (Hing) 

some curry leaves

1/2 a cup of onions chppped, split green chillies about 2

Two bunches of Gongura leaves (approximately 2/3 big cups of leaves)

The leaves should have been separated washed and dried, no need to cut them, just let them dry between sheets of news paper.

Method:

Boil Rice and spread it out in a plate and leave it to cool

In a non- stick pan, dry roast the Urad Dhal, Channa Dhal, Red Chillies, Coriander seeds and Sesame seeds keeping the flame low,  roast them till slightly golden, don't burn them.

Keep them aside to cool.

After they have cooled grind them into a nice powder and  keep aside. Roast the peanuts keep them aside

Now in the same pan add some oil and fry the Gongura leaves, after some time they would become soft and start to form a big lump, add a little bit of salt, wait till everything combines a becomes like a ball. Take it out of the flame and let  it cool. Now after it has cooled grind it into a fine paste in the grinder. If you see a few red stems just remove them

 

Next heat some more oil in the same pan, and once it is hot, drop the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and let them crackle, now add some curry leaves  Asafoetida, the roasted spice powder,  turmeric powder and the roasted peanuts and keep stirring everything for a few seconds  in low heat. 

Add salt, but always remember to be careful and add only little, if needed we can add some more salt afterwards. Next add the chopped Onions and just lighty fry them, they should not be fried too much, they should retain the slightly raw kind of crunchiness.

Now add the Gongura ground  paste to it and keep mixing everything till well blended. Take it out of the flame.

Now add the cooked and cooled rice and mix everything evenly, till everything is nicely blended, taste it and if you feel you need to add a little more salt add at this stage and keep on mixing it very nicely.

Finally add the coconut gratings.

Fry some Rice or Dhal Papads (fritters)

Serve it with some Raita made out of curd, raw  onion, and tomatoes, salt and green chilliies.

It is always nice to cook out of the box with these lesser known or less tried recipes, to do away with the boredom of eating the same kind of food everyday.

Also it is a very healthy dish and is a kind of one pot meal.

Enjoy!