Also the land where Chandigarh met Bankatichak... ummm what? Well, like I told my girls, that where their mom (from Chandigarh, Punjab) met their dad (from Bankatichak, Uttar Pradesh)... and they were like ohhhhhhhhhh, tell us more!! I decided to give them a succinct version of how they came to be... we met in Calcutta (Kolkata these days), and needless to say, it's been quite the ride ever since. 1994. July. Joka. Drum rolllllllllllllllll!
We blazed through the world famous kusum kathi rolls (there were an amazing number of permutations and combinations available: single and/or double doses of unda [egg], chicken, lamb, roasted potato, paneer, offered up with varying levels of spice), Kathleens (a confectionary delight), the raj kachoris, the bus conductors instructing the bus drivers with a gentle "aaste leddies" to let the driver know that he must not zip through a bus stop, and that he must slow down for the ladies, mishti doi (and ALL the varieties of mishti available in this land!!!) - I could spend a few minutes on this alone. And then there were all the stories from our dorm life at IIM Calcutta (the wonderful music nights with our local Baro-C and JBS bands, named after a bus number 12C and our location Joka BandStand respectively), the Tyre (there was this truck tyre that was our dorm's claim to fame, and it was an annual ritual where the other dorms would steal it and we had to bring it back home to adorn the entrance to our dorm... you're likely wondering whether I'm talking gibberish... let me tell you something. The IIMC traditions are what we swear by and live for. Endless memories, to fill a lifetime.
The kids got excited about this story, and since I talk a lot about how India is a poster child for "unity in diversity", the first question from them was: "So how did you fare moving from the north to the east?"... took me a split second to organize the flurry of thoughts and memories (I know I sound like I'm more than a hundred years old, but not quite there yet :)), and I told them... What hit me when I first landed in Calcutta was how the pace of life changed from a maniacal frenzy (in New Delhi, where I went to college), to a gentle stroll in the park in this cultural mecca in the east (-ern region of India). Joka comfortably landed somewhere in between. With the travel across 1,500 kilometers (or thereabouts) from the north to the east, came a shift towards a more socialist economic view, a very gentle approach to almost everything in one's daily lives, and the time to enjoy music, the arts, the amazing stories about Rabindranath Tagore, the festive spirit with Pujo, the obsession with football (yes, football, a.k.a soccer, not football=American football), and the food... oh my goodness, THE FOOD!
The menu on the cards:
Side note: According to this childhood friend, each course must top the previous one, and, ideally be served in pattal utensils (look at the picture on the right)... I was a wee bit lazy on the uptake on the pattal front, but I promise to come back to serving the food the next time around on these eco-friendly utensils!
Baigan bhaja (crispy eggplant fritters, coated in a flavorful rice flour batter, and deep/air fried for crispness), with aloo posto (roasted potatoes, cooked in a lightly spiced paste of poppyseeds) and daal (lentils) for the first course
Mutton (a lovely goat meat preparation, made Bengali style - I stress on "Bengali style" coz there are slight variations between how I would cook mutton usually, and the variations stem from a couple spices here and there, what goes in first vs next, and the like) with pooris, followed by macher jhol (one of the most popular dishes in Bengali cuisine, macher jhol is essentially a spicy fish stew that is enjoyed best with hot steaming rice) and rice as the second and third courses
And cham cham for dessert (I also made mishti doi, but i'll come back to that recipe another time)
Baigan Bhaja
What you'll need:
1 large eggplant, sliced cross-sectionally in ~1/2 cm slices
1/2 cup rice flour; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tsp chilli pd; 1/4 cup water to make a thin batter with these ingredients
Canola oil for frying
Make a thin batter with the ingredients, and then let the eggplant soak in the batter for about an hour - we want to let this aubergine/eggplant take in as much of the flavor of the spices as possible. You can choose to shallow fry or deep fry (or air fry if you have an air fryer) the eggplant slices till they're a warm brown color on both sides... will likely take no more than 3-4 mins each side on medium heat. Enjoy with a beverage on the side - so so worth it! The Baigan Bhaja and the drink combination! You can also serve it along with the aloo posto, up next!
Note: In our household, I'm responsible for the food, and my husband is the bartender... a fairly accomplished one, if I say so myself... so any references to beverages in any of these posts will default to his credit!
Aloo Posto
What you'll need:
4 medium sized potatoes, cubed, soaked in a bowl of water, and rinsed
4 green chillies, finely chopped; 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tblsp mustard oil; 1 tsp caraway seeds(kalonji); 2 tblsp poppy seeds; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp turmeric pd
You want to start with grinding the poppy seeds and green chillies to a fine paste in a spice grinder.. if it helps, add in a tblsp of water to ease the process. Heat the mustard oil and add in the caraway seeds - let these start popping, and then add in the potatoes.. Saute these until lightly browned, turning them over so they dont stick to the bottom of the pan. Add in the poppy seed paste, salt and turmeric, mix well and cook covered for 10-15 minutes on slow-medium heat. You can garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and its ready to be served hot!
Mutton
What you'll need:
1 kg goat meat, shoulder, cut into 2"x2" pieces (bone in)
2 red onions, coarsely chopped; 1 tblsp ginger garlic paste
Marinade to include 1 tblsp garam masala; 1 1/2 tsp chilli pd; 1 tsp turmeric; 2 tsp salt; 2 tblsp yogurt
1 tblsp mustard oil; whole spices (5 cardamoms; 6 cloves; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1' cinnamon stick; 2 bay leaves; 2 whole red dry chillies); 2 red onions, thinly sliced; 1 tblsp coriander pd; 1 tblsp cumin pd; 1 tsp chilli pd; 1 tsp salt
Blend the onions and ginger garlic paste together to make a thick paste. Add this to the marinade mix, and marinate the mutton in this mix for about 2 hours at room temperature. Then, heat the mustard oil till you get the aroma of the oil, and add in all the whole spices, letting them crackle a bit till they start giving off their aromatic flavors - they become lightly browned by this time. Now add in the sliced onions, sauteing these until they become transluscent. Add in the remaining dry spices, and the marinated mutton and roast the mutton in this open pan until all the water dries up. The mutton is now ready to be pressure cooked for about 35 minutes... once cooked, let the pressure be released naturally, and then heat on a medium flame (add in 2 tblsp yogurt - optional; if you want a creamy gravy) to dry off some of the water that got released as part of the pressure cooking process... I like a bit of gravy since it really tastes good with plain white rice, or pooris as the case may be!
Note: For pooris, and any other Indian breads, I would recommend you visit my friend's blog Breads of Hindustan.... such a fantastic variety of the most amazing spread of Indian breads!
Macher Jhol (maachi, the REAL deal!)
What you'll need:
600g of any carp fish fillets (cod is great); 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp turmeric to marinate the fish
2 large red onions, coarsely chopped; 1" stub of ginger; 2 tomatoes, quartered; 1 large onion, thinly sliced
Mustard oil, for frying; 1 tblsp ghee (clarified butter); whole spices (2 cardamoms; 6 cloves; 1' cinnamon stick; 2 bay leaves; 1 whole red dry chillies); 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tsp cumin pd; 1/2 tsp red chilli pd; 1 tsp kashmiri chilli pd; 1 tsp salt; 1 tblsp sugar
6 green chillies, sliced; 1/4 cup raisins; 50g of yogurt, beaten
While the fish is marinating in the salt and turmeric mixture (you want to let it sit at room temperature for a couple hours), blend the coarsely chopped onions with the ginger to make a thick paste. Heat about 4-5 tblsp of mustard oil to lightly fry the marinated fish, approx 2 minutes on each side. In the leftover oil, saute the sliced onions until golden brown and set aside. In the same pot, add in the ghee, and roast the dry spices until they give off flavor. Add in the onion/ginger paste until the color deepens, and augment with the dry spices. The sugar tempers down the spice a wee bit (I secretly believe that its tough to make any Bengali preparation without a hint of sugar....). Top it off with the tomatoes, yogurt and raisins (there's the sweetness coming in again!), and cook with perhaps a half cup of water, covered, for about 10 minutes. The gravy is now ready to get absorbed in the fish - hint: add in the fish now and let it cook for a few more minutes, adding in the chillies on top. This brilliant fish favorite is now ready for consumption.
Mommmmmmmmmmmm! Why weren't we introduced to this fish before!!!!!
Mom: (secretly gloating) There's always a first time kids. There's ALWAYS a first time.
Cham Cham
What you'll need:
400g of paneer; 2 tsp araroot
4 cups water; 2 cups sugar
The filling, including 1/4 cup khoya (dried evaporated milk solids commonly used in sweet Indian desserts); 2-3 tblsp shredded coconut; 2 tblsp slivered pistachios (1 for the filling, 1 for the garnish); 2 tsp kewra water; a few strands of saffron (for the garnish)
Massage the paneer with your hands on a heavy plate until it is smooth, and add in the araroot pd. Now make small 1" balls with the paneer mixture, and flatten into oval shapes - these are called "chana". Next you want to make the syrup. Put the water and sugar in a pot, and once it starts boiling, add the chana to the boiling syrup. You want to let this cook for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat... the chana has at this time magically converted to cham chams! Once these have cooled (remember to take them out of the syrup!!), cut these in half, and fill them with the khoya filling. I couldn't wait for the garnish, but garnish you must.... I may have guzzled a couple of these down in advance of the garnish!
A befitting end to an amazing Bengali meal.... Oh Calcutta... can't wait to be back again!
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