It's asparagus season and I have been cooking with it in different ways. Asparagus is very versatile, fiber and nutrient rich vegetable. I have shared stir fry, with quinoa and seafood already. Today I bring you a delicious recipe with poppy seeds paste. There are different kinds of vegetables curry with poppy seeds paste in Bengali cuisine. Now tender asparagus is in abundance at the supermarket and it goes great with Indian/Bengali cooking. So instead of using traditional Indian vegetables it's time to turn spring's bounty into a delicious curry with poppy seeds paste. Poppy seeds is quite hard
to grind, so soaking in warm water at least 45 minutes prior to grinding will make a smooth paste. Recipe is very easy to follow with few ingredients, but delicious. It's must a try, the Bengali way!
Shrimp is very versatile and we Bengali make lots of vegetable curry with shrimp. I grew up eating mostly fish almost everyday. But shrimp was always special occasion food because it's expensive, specially the bigger size. Sometimes my Ma would add small-medium sized shrimps in some veg curries and say "du mutho chingri debar jonnoi eyto bhalo taste hoy"(it's delicious just because of two fistful of shrimps). The vegetables absorb all the wonderful flavor of sauteed shrimps that tastes heavenly delicious indeed. I
make shrimp curry with traditional Indian vegetables as well as with
some new vegetables I was introduced after moving to USA.
This is a decadent cheesecake on a low calorie and gluten free brownie crust. It's a combination of two delicious desserts satisfy kids' sweet tooth. I hardly buy cheesecakes even if kids drool over those luscious cheesecakes at supermarket bakery department because I think about healthy choice most of the time. Store bought ones are full of additives and taste way too sweet. So I make cheesecake to avoid artificial or unhealthy ingredients. It's sweet but little tangy and super easy to make. Another fact is that I always use 1/3 less fat cream cheese and low fat sour cream. So I definitely feel less guilty to serve this dessert to anyone.
My mother served this healthy yet delicious soupy chicken curry on some Sundays for lunch along with hot steamed rice, lentil and veg curry. She would dry up the left over chicken curry for dinner to savor with simple roti/hand made flat bread. It's a very easy chicken curry made with simple pantry ingredients. First, chicken pieces is smeared with salt and turmeric to make them tender, then cooked with mustard oil, onions, tomato, garlic-ginger paste, green chili, cumin-coriander powder. At last Bengali garam mashla is sprinkled over for rich flavor.
Mushroom Miso Soup with Brown Rice Ramen Noddles, a hearty soup bursting with umami flavor from miso paste or fermented soybean paste is one of the easiest soups I make for busy weekdays. This vegan soup is packed with baby Bella mushroom, baby spinach, shredded carrots, brown rice ramen noodles, spiced with ginger, garlic and garnished with spring onions and crushed hot chili. Normally the miso broth needs hours to simmer to develop rich, deep flavor. But earthy flavor of sauteed mushrooms brings rich taste through the vegetable broth mixed with miso paste within ten minutes. Miso paste comes in a plastic tub and it is available in the refrigerated section at any super market these days. This amazing soup will take just half an hour from start to finish and sheer comfort on cold winter days.
The most popular clam chowder is milk based thick consistency made with fresh clams, potatoes, onions, salt pork and other seasonings often served in a sour dough bread bowls especially in San Francisco. Chowder derived from the Latin word calderia, which meant a large cooking pot. To learn history of chowder visit What's cooking America.
This
delicious stew is staple for West Bengalis (known as Edeshio/Ghoti) during Sawaraswati poojo. Traditionally it is Ghoti ritual to cook on the Sawaraswati poojo day and eat it cold the day after as they observe Sheetal Shashthi. Gota Sheddho was never cooked at our house. One of our very close family friends Bhattacharya Kakima(aunt) shared this stew with us every year and as long as Ma lived. Kakima would send quite a big tiffin carrier full of Gota Sheddho through her younger daughter Manu, the day after Swasaswati Poojo morning that we always looked forward to. Even if it is supposed to be eaten cold she would always reheat and season it well before sending. It’s been more than two decades since I haven't tasted Kakima's Gota Sheddho but my childhood memories unfolded as I wrote this recipe.
