Fried Prawns - Thai Style

Fried Prawns is a kind of dish a non-vegetarian always enjoy. The combination of fried prawns and Thai spices result in a refreshing flavourful dish. This recipe is inspired from the dish I had in a small Thai restaurant near my house during my stay in Shanghai.The original dish was made with fried Crab, but at home it is easier to prepare the dish with Prawns. Without much ado please find below the recipe to prepare this flavorful dish.

Chitoi Pithe

I dedicate this post to my Dida (my granny). I always wanted to cook any types of Pithe and this is my first time.Though the commonly known pithe's are Patishaptha and Doodh Puli , I am sharing the recipe of Chitoi Pithe in thickened milk gravy which is my favorite and not at all time consuming to prepare.

Whenever I think of pithe I always remember my childhood days were my granny use to prepare many kinds of pithes during Makar Sankranti. I never came across  the same taste, in my memories the taste was saved somewhere. I really miss my granny , it has been almost 16 years we have lost her. Chitoi pithe is one of my favorite which Dida used to prepare.
My family really enjoyed this preparation specially my mom and aunt reminisced Dida's pithe. One thing I could not help think is the effort Dida had to make in those days with minimal or no appliances. We are thankful to technology that which help us to reduce a lot of time and energy. That's why I wanted to dedicate this post to my Dida.

Chicken Dumplings - Momo

Beginning this year with a recipe for "Dumplings", hugely popular in many parts of Asia and has now made it's place as one of the world's most favorite snack. Dumplings are always a crowd pleaser and is a kind of food one can have almost at any time of the day. There are various kinds and types of Dumplings from different countries like China, Nepal, Japan, Korea etc. India is mostly exposed to the dumplings from Nepal called "Momo". This was the only face of dumpling known to me until I moved to Shanghai in 2012.
I came to know Dumplings originated in China. It was there that I got exposed to the world of Dumplings from Steamed Dumplings "Jiaozi" to Potstickers to Wantons and its variation the Wanton soup and my Soupy dumpling -"Xiao long bao"  and Crystal Shrimp dumpling to name a renowned few. In China during occasions preparing Dumpling at home is a family affair where everyone contributes in the preparation of the dish. 
I learnt to make dumplings from Ni Su Mai, our housekeeper in Shanghai.Though there was a language barrier but we could manage to understand with mix of broken sentences, hand gestures and a lot of guess work 😊
What I understood that even home cooks are extremely proficient in making dumplings and the output was no less professional then a commercial establishment.

In a lot countries readymade dumpling wrappers are available to buy, but in India I have not come across them thus including the recipe for the same with the basic dumpling recipe.
I am sharing the basic recipe of Dumplings. 

Food made with love at home is incomparable with anything we find outside, although it might look rustic but the mix of love and flavour is what we always remember

Wanton Soup

                                                                                                                                                                            Here comes the most satisfying savory dish you can have during winter isThe Wanton Soup. You all might think I am posting another Chinese dish, trust me you will thank me if you prepare and have this dish. These were my favorite take out dish in Shanghai during my stay there. The non availability of the dish which one love to eat in the current location , this is how the craving for eating the that particular dish will inspire one to recreate the dish. The non availability of authentic Chinese food inspired me to recreate those dishes.At first attempt I recreated the dish which taste 90% like the one we get in Shanghai.
You will find several small joints in every road in china which prepares varieties of wanton soup. These are simply amazing to taste and a stomach filler. In India although Chinese food is popular, but not authentic. No offense to the Big names as I haven't tried many Big named Chinese restaurants.

Chinese - Tea Eggs

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  On our first day in Shanghai I went to buy some essentials in a store called Family Mart, these eggs caught my attention. I had never seen something like this before. The eggs was getting cooked in a very dark colored solution and most of the eggs were partially cracked. The look in itself was not appetizing. It was only when I started with my internship, our colleagues used to order local food and I got to taste the eggs for the first time. The Tea eggs are a common snack and many times added with combo meals as well. We are normally aware of only plain water boiled hard eggs but this technique can be used to beautifully infuse different types aroma and taste in eggs- a delightful variation of this simple everyday dish.

Prawn Cashew Curry

Here come the JUMBO PRAWNS 😀😀. This recipe is derived from my mom. In bengali cuisine most of the recipes are quick and easy to make with few ingredients and are "treat for your taste buds".This cashew based curry is very simple to make and tasts super yummy. You can always count on this recipe to be a winning dish

Follow the recipe

Tom Kha Gai - Thai Soup

                                                                                                                         "Winter is coming" it's time for some soupy affair to keep oneself warm. Tom Kha Gai is a light coconut based flavorful soup. Although not as popular as its cousin the  Tom Yum soup, this personal favorite of mine packs a delightful flavor punch. The combination of different herbs with coconut milk gives you warm yet tingling feeling.
I came across this hearty soup in a small street side joint during my visit to Thailand. First time when I tasted this soup I immediately became a lifelong fan.
The truth is many Thai restaurants in India don't do justice to Thai cuisine. Once you actually taste the authentic Thai food, you can't have enough of it. Bit similar to some Indian cuisine in flavors but wonderfully different at the same time. Give it a try, chances are you won't regret it!

Chicken Chaap

Chicken chaap is  a heavenly tasting dish and is very easily available in most of the fast food centers in Kolkata.  I always used to go gaga by the smell of the Chicken chaap prepared in the Mughlai fast food centre near my house in Kolkata .But poor me! I never used to have the chance of having it as in my parents house since childhood chicken,onion & garlic was not bought or used in any food . So I only had Chicken chaap maybe three or four times in childhood. Well who can stop me now :P. And since I have learned to cook it at home, it is available even in this far away land...

Sada Dosa (Plain Dosa)

 South Indian cuisine is an all-time favorite for me, from childhood I have been a fan of the taste and variety of classics that South Indian cuisine has to offer. The ubiquitous Dosa,Vada,Idli,Appam,Uthapam,Sambar, Rasam being the dishes that we can find all over the country and give us the refreshing flavor punch we crave from this cuisine. 
In Calcutta there are number of "South Indian" restaurants and I was always happy to visit those, but never tried my hands in preparing these dishes before. Being a Bong and preparing Dosa at home was an achievement for me :) 
Before you are tempted to prepare dosa at home  give yourself a prep break of a day. There are number of varieties of Dosa but to begin with I have tried the recipe for Sada (Plain) Dosa as mentioned below.

Simply Orange Cake

A big Hiiiiiiii to everyone... Resuming after a long refreshing India visit. I do have couple of recipes in store and will share soon :)
Today I prepared the delicious and juicy ORANGE CAKE. Sometime last year while having a Sunday Brunch at Theobroma in Mumbai, I had stumbled upon a mouth watering piece of orange cake, which I crave till date. So it inspired me to try and have a go at this recipe. The piece of cake should be super soft and melt in your mouth instantly "just Yuuumm", though the best feature, I feel, is the strong citric aroma, so one smell will drive you to have a bite instantly. It is not very difficult to prepare, just needs eye on details.

Malai kofta

Malai kofta is a very popular Indian dish made with cottage cheese(Paneer) stuffed with nuts and raisins in a rich creamy sauce,best served with steamed rice or flavored rice. Though I am a non-vegeterian still nine times out of ten I will prefer to have this dish over any non-veg dish. I have tasted many other versions of Malai Kofta earlier but most of the time they did not live up to expectation till the time I came across Chef Harpal Singh's recipe. The recipe I am sharing is inspired by Chef's recipe with few changes of mine.

Rasmalai (Rashomalai)

We just completed our second marriage anniversary in April ,on this occasion we invited few friends to our house last week for a small get together. Was a very enjoyable night and all of us had lots of fun. Since a Bengali feast is incomplete without the touch of a sweet dish in the end, I planned to prepare rasmalai for dessert.

Rasmalai is another Bengali dessert made with soft cottage cheese(paneer/chhena) balls immersed in creamy milk which is then served chilled. The beauty of the dish is that it just melts in your mouth and the sweetness of the cream complements the soft and spongy rasgullas extremely well.

Rasgulla - Rashogolla

Rasgulla or Roshogolla however you want to call it... Rasgullas are always a favorite dessert among Bengalis and is also very popular throughout India and other parts of South Asia. Since childhood I always brought rasgullas from my nearest sweet shop,never ever thought I would ever prepare it at home and it will turn out so good. It was only after moving out of India and non availability of good rasgullas in local Indian restaurants (or canned ones in some Indian grocery stores) made me take a shot at preparing them at home for the first time.To be precise Rasgullas are made from ball shaped cottage cheese dumplings cooked in light sugar syrup.Just follow the the below mentioned steps rasgullas will really come out well.Believe me preparing rasgullas are not at all difficult.

Fried String Beans - Sichuan Style

 

 I am sure most among us do enjoy having Chinese food especially while eating out.Chinese Food in India is ubiquitous, be it small road side stalls selling "chow mien" and "manchurian" or up market establishments serving variety of mouth watering prawn or  seafood dishes.It is only after coming to China and tasting the different varieties of Chinese food I understood  that Indianized version of Chinese food is completely different from the Authentic Chinese cuisine (probably because Chinese dishes in India is customized for the Indian palate).