Chilly Cheese Uttapam ... simply AWESOME !

 
Whenever I go to the BIG BAZAR at Kharagpur we somehow end up having  "Chilly Cheese Uttapam" . It's simply GREAT! If you happen to be in the neighbourhood do not miss this  CCU @ Big Bazar, Food Court.

Last night I decided to make it at home, in my kitchen. Though I did not have the time or the energy to make sambar, the coconut chutney more than made up for it when I served it with the crispy mout;watering uttapam.  Unfortunately I do not have a grinder-mixer in our bungalow Kharagpur  (where my husband is a professor at the School of Management at IIT ) so i had to ask my maid to paste it using a SHIL-NORI.
Do you remember the famous song? "Shil-Nori bina chutney kaise boni ?"   Anyway enough by way of prelude; time for the real stuff ... for which you need the following ingredients to make this CCU

• 2 Cups of rice flour and 1 Cup urad dal powder, soaked in water for over night and mixed well to make a thick batter.
• pinch of salt
• One large onion (finely chopped)
• Green Chillies ( finely chopped)
• Cheese (grated)
• Refined oil

Heat a nonstick pan , grease it with refined oil and place1 tablespoon  thick  batter. Spread it with a spatula. Then sprinkle onion, chillies on top.Turn upside down and add grated cheese on the hot side of the uttapam. Keep it on the nonstick tawa till it becomes crispy and the cheese melts.

Serve hot with coconut chutney.

      

CHUTNEY : A unique Bengali Relish

Traditional PLASTIC CHUTNEY without turmeric powder

CHUTNEY is one of the most important BENGALEE dishes generally served after the main course along with papad, but before the dessert. During Summer it is advisable, if not really pleasant :-) to have the chutney at the end of all meals. This is not only because of the chutney's food value but also it's fruit value ! Fruits after all are always good because they carry  lots of vitamins. Moreover in summer, we tend to lose a lot of fluids in profuse sweating and quite a bit of this is said to be replenished with chutney.

Unfortunately in this age of diet consciousness, a chutney is beyond doubt a HIGH CALORIE dish. But if you do not have bloodsugar and generally lead a reasonably active life, then you can safely have a modest portion of  chutney every alternate day at the end of your lunch without feeling too guilty about it !

All said and done, a chutney is a nice relish to end your meal with.

Basic Ingredients of CHUTNEY is SUGAR, SUGAR and SUGAR, (if you are diabetic, or counting calories you can use sugar-free of course), a little salt and something sour(like lemon juice or tamarind juice).

Making a chutney is simple. You first cook the fruit or vegetable in the sugar syrup. Then you can thicken the chutney at the end by adding cornflour or maida. Addition of  CHAUNK and turmeric powder is optional.

FRUITS that can be used to make chutney:

• Raw Mango
• Pineapple
• Apple
• Grapes
• Date Palm
• Raisins
• Amawat (Dehydrated Mango pulp)
• Pomegranate
• Alubakara ( Plum)
• Cherry
• Green Olive 
• Strawberry

VEGETABLES used in chutney

• Green Papaya
• Gourd 
• Tomato
• Corriandar leaves/Mint leaves

CRISPY BABY CORNS

Fresh Baby Corns as available in any Supermarkets

Ingredients:

Fresh Baby Corns

Corn Flour

Flour

Soya Sauce

Tomato Ketchup

 Salt

 Refined Oil 

Garlic& Ginger (Greated): 2tsp each

 Procedure:

 Clean & Cut the baby corns into small pieces(2 to 3 inches) and marinate with soyasauce, salt and a little sugar. Meanwhile fry the ginger & garlic in 2 tsp refined oil and keep aside. Sprinkle a little cornflour and a little flour over the marinated babycorns. Now make a batter by adding 4tbsp cornflour& and 2tbsp flour in icecold water and deep fry the marinated babycorns by coating them into the batter. Use a low flame to avoid over frying. Toss the crisp-fried babycorns with the fried ginger-garlic and 2 tsp tomato ketchup and serve hot.

Murg Methi Malai

Ingredients :

• chicken (500 grams)
• fresh curd  (100 grams)o
• kasoori methi (2 tbsp)
• onions (2 large, grated)
• ginger-gralic paste (1 tsp)
• garam masala powder (1 tsp)
• sugar (1 tsp)
• salt
• refined oil (4 tsp)
• a fine paste of 2 tsp Cashew nuts, 2 tsp resins, 2 tsp char magaj and 2 tsp poppy seeds.
•  fresh cream and green chillies (optional)

Procedure :

Take medium size chicken pieces and marinate them in curd along with salt, sugar, kasoori methi, ginger-garlic paste and garam masala powder for at least for half an hour.
Heat the oil, and fry the grated onions till brown. Add the marinated chicken, and saute for 15 minutes. Cover the lid and cook till the chicken is tender. Add the 'fine paste' mentioned in the ingredients. Garnish with fresh cream and green chillies (optional).

 Serve hot with chappatis/rice.

Shorshe Eelish

The hilsa or eelish is one of the most loved fishes to Bengalis and Bangladeshis. Found in the tidal estuaries in and around the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta, this fish can be eaten in a variety of forms - smoked,  fried, steamed, or even baked (inside leaves of the banana plant). These fish breed during the monsoon season, and are generally caught at the same time. Eelish eggs are a delicacy too.

1. Eelish fish
2. salt and turmeric to marinate
3. mustard oil
4. green chillies
5. mustard paste

Procedure :

 Marinate the fish steak with salt and turmeric powder. Heat the wok. Add 1 tsp mustard oil. And arrange the marinated fish steaks. Simmer for 2 mins. Add the mustard green chilly paste to it. Then add salt, and water. Boil for 5 mins. Add enough slit green chillies and 2 tbsp mustard oil. Boil for another 2 mins. Remove from heat.

Serve with hot rice.

AAM anandAAM

The road that a mango follows from the tree to the plate and then the palate is paved with a lot of excitement and anticipation and especially so when it is the first such journey of the season. Very soon mangoes will flood the market in all their sweet glory but the wait for the fruit to ripen can seem to be very long. So for all of you impatient people, here is a mango chutney to kick off the mango season.

• 2 cups of raw (green )mango slices, without the skin being peeled. This helps retain the fibre as well as the vitamins.
• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of salt and turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon PanchPhoron - mixture of five spices, kalanji (kala jeera), saunf ( mouri), fenugreek seeds (methi), mustard (shorshe), cumin (jeera)
• 2 teaspoon mustard oil
• 1 tablespoon flour for thickening

• Soak the mango slices in cold water for half an hour and drain. Take a fresh pan of boiling water and place the mangoes for a couple of minutes and drain again. This will reduce the acidity of the raw mangoes.
• Add sugar, salt, turmeric powder into the bowl of boiled mangoes and put on heat. Cook for 15 minutes till the mango slices are tender. 
• In a separate bowl, take half a cup of water and stir in the flour. Add this into the boiling mango mixture and stir for another two or three minutes till it thickens.
• Heat the mustard oil in a skillet and add the PanchPhoron till it starts splattering (Chaunk !) 
• Pour the hot Chaunk into the boiling mango mixture.
• Cool before serving.
• Suggested garnishing : Ginger juliennes / Raisins

ICY FRUIT COCKTAIL

All types of seasonal fruits viz watermelon, muskmelon, grapes, mango, papaya etc.( cut into tiny cubes)
Milk (1/2 litre)  boiled with little sugar and thicken by adding flavoured CUSTARD POEDER.

VANILA ICE CREAM

CHOCOLATE SYRUP (available in any departmental stores) I use HERSHEY's Chocolate Syrup



Place the fruitcubes in dessert bowls and refrigerate. Add 2 tbsp Custard-milk mixture and 2scoups icecream on top of the fruitcubes-custard mixture. Add Chocolate Syrup before serving.

It is a yummy dessert and you can prepare it the day before. Keep it in the fridge and serve CHILLED to wow your guests.

BEAT THE SWELTERING SUMMER WITH THIS ICY FRUIT COCKTAIL .

PLZ DON'T EVEN THINK FOR CALORIES THIS TIME!!!

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