Date and Pecan Bread

Date and Pecan Bread is my absolute favorite and it doesn't require any refined sugar. Mostly dates and little bit of molasses are used as sweetener. A warm piece of bread slightly buttered for breakfast or afternoon snack with tea of coffee is my favorite way to enjoy it. Served as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It can be spiced with warm spices but I prefer vanilla. 

Assamese Black Sesame Chicken Curry(Til Diya Kukura Mangxo)

Assamese Black Sesame Chicken Curry is a very traditional dish that I learned from a Bengali friend I met through a social media platform. Black sesame is widely used in many recipes from sweet to savory dishes in northeast India. The star ingredient is toasted black sesame seeds resulting in a nutty, smokey flavorful chicken curry. Each household has their own method of making to suit their taste buds. This is mildly spiced and I prepare with onion,garlic, ginger and lemon juice.  

Bengali Style Steamed Salmon

Fish and rice in Bengali households is staple. In our household fish is served in curry form or any Asian or western variations. After moving to USA it was hard to find exactly the same river fish. After some trial a lot of local fresh river fish and sea fish used in Bengali cuisine got raves from Bengali families and shared with friends. Salmon is a great replacement for Hilsha fish. Bengali style steamed salmon is my go to recipe. It doesn't taste fishy and the gravy makes the difference. In this preparation salmon stakes smothered in a simple concoction of naturally sweet coconut, coconut milk and pungent taste of freshly ground mustard paste and steamed to perfection. All you need is plain rice to enjoy with this extraordinary dish yet very easy to make. I prefer to use bone in fish for its optimum flavor and taste. Here is my take on Bengali Style Steamed Salmon.

Mochar Ghonto/Banana Blossom Curry

Bengalis would always crave for simple delicacies no matter where they go. And when they settle down in a foreign country they try to find ingredients to recreate all the recipes they grew up with, made by mothers, grandmothers and aunts. Like all immigrants, Bengalis do love to keep their traditional cuisine alive. They wouldn’t even mind to drive a long drive to get certain things they look for. We are the lucky ones to have plenty of Asian and Indian groceries close by to find the most Indian vegetables, spices, fish and seafood. It feels  home in a foreign country. 

Nimona/Green Peas Curry

Nimona is one of the delicious recipes to make in a jiffy with a very basic pantry ingredients. It’s a staple winter dish of UP, India, made of green peas.

Green peas are available all year round in USA. So whenever craving for Nimona kicks in, Nimona is prepared to savor with plain rice , roti, paratha or grilled chicken. Here is my take on. 

Mung bean with Jack fruit Seeds

This Mung bean and jack fruit seeds stew spiced with fresh ginger paste and other basic spices is a very delicious vegan and vegetarian friendly dish can be enjoyed with plain rice and simple shallow fried eggplant, fried potato or any veggie fritters. 

Mustardy Pomfret/Shorshe Pomfret

This is another outstanding pomfret recipe with freshly ground mustard and cumin. As I explained in other pomfret recipe that it is cooked in a thick gravy rather than light thin gravy. It's less amount soft bony body with buttery flesh is easy to eat without fear. Any  bone in fish curry is always full flavored .