Pomegranate Martini

Let's toast to a healthy and happy New Year with  delicious Martini.

I have been planning to make this cocktail since Thanksgiving. Due to various reasons, I wasn't able to make it earlier. I had focused on baking and cooking mostly. That's my top priority always. Finally I am ready to make this delightful sweet-tart  cocktail with freshly  home made juice for New YEAR'S  Eve. This is my first time making Martini. Fresh pomegranate juice mixed with good quality Vodka and Cointreau or Triple sec, lime juice and crushed ice make absolutely fantastic cocktail for any holidays. If you are hosting a party, serve this Martini to brighten up the celebration.

Eggnog

                                            

Christmas spirit is quite incomplete without Eggnog, a festive drink at most households. Traditional Eggnog is made of milk, sugar, heavy cream, raw eggs, vanilla and spices. This kid friendly Eggnog is made by slowly cooking the eggs with milk and sugar to eliminate salmonella poisoning. This will be part of our holiday tradition now on.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

                                            

We had a big fancy Thanksgiving dinner with a soft n succulent turkey roasted by my friend and I knew I would make Sheppard's Turkey Pie with leftover turkey. What a wonderful way to gobble up leftover turkey!

                                     

Pumpkin Cheese Tart

Pumpkin Pie is the famous traditional dessert for Thanksgiving dinner in America and Canada. I am not a big fan of Pumpkin Pie because of its custardy texture. I rather bake a cake or Pumpkin Cheesecake and everyone loves this over Pumpkin Pie. Yesterday I made something bit different, Pumpkin Cheese Pie in a tart pan with fresh roasted pumpkin puree, low fat cream cheese and spices that turned out delish. This tart is a cross between cheesecake and pie.

Pumpkin Dinner Roll

Hello Everyone. Holiday season has just begun and I love being festive as usual.  A few days back I had made  Pumpkin puree from scratch that I would use in making either pie or cheese cake and dinner roll for our Thanksgiving dinner. I made slightly sweet pumpkin cranberry bread couple of years back as trial and tasted delicious. This year I will be making pumpkin shaped dinner roll and they will look fabulous on our Thanksgiving dinner table.

How to make Pumpkin Puree

 

Fall means pumpkin season and this is the time of the year pumpkin pies, pumpkin latte, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancake, pumpkin cookies are served. Sounds so very pumpkiny. So why not make your own pumpkin puree instead of buying canned one. It takes a bit longer time and effort but in the end it is very satisfying to make pumpkin puree from a fresh pumpkin while it is in season.

It is important to choose the right pumpkin for puree. Sugar pumpkin that has darker skin or cheese/fairytale  pumpkin more like butternut squash  are two varieties that good for making pumpkin puree.

Three years back my first pumpkin puree from scratch didn't taste that good. My little one brought a tiny sugar pumpkin from her field trip. It became very pale yellow color and stringy while roasting. This year I have decided to make with fairytale pumpkin for its bright orange color and sweet firm flesh. Our neighborhood Indian grocery store carries whole and small cut pieces fairytale pumpkin. 

I used 4 1/2 lb pumpkin. It can be either roasted or boiled. I like roasting. Wash the pumpkin with cold water. Scrape out the seeds and stringy pulp. Line a swallow heavy duty baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place cut side down and roast  for 40-50 minutes or until fork tender. Roasting time depends on the size of the pumpkin. Let it cool enough to handle. Peel the skin and cut into small pieces.Now drain excess water through a colander or strainer and add to a blender or food processor. Puree it up until pumpkin is smooth and creamy. If the puree is still too watery strain it through a cheese cloth-lined strainer for couple of hours. Makes two 8oz cups rich thick puree. Total time is 1 hour and 25 minutes from start to finish.

Now puree is ready to be  used in sweet and savory dishes. Store leftover puree in the refrigerator up to 3-4 days or freeze it up to 2-3 months in the freezer safe individual containers. Don't forget to date and label. For the best result I will always recommend deep orange fleshed pumpkin/butternut squash. There are great recipes with pumpkin puree beyond pumpkin pie and I will post some recipes with this puree shortly.

Happy Cooking!

Happy Diwali to you all!! May the Festival of Lights bring every happiness and joy today and all year through!

May the divine light of Diwali glow with good health and prosperity.

                                              
                                           Celebrating Diwali with the colorful Rangoli.

                                             
                                                     Happy Diwali and a blessed New Year.

Labongo Latika

I am Sharing "Labago latika" recipe today, another traditional offering of Bengal during Durgapuja and Lakxmipuja. I was so busy  with kids activity and other things that I couldn't post it little earlier. Some how I had managed to make this sweet for Laxmipuja. Feeling very satisfied.

 Autumn is the festive season in West Bengal starting with the biggest one Durga puja.Then Laksmipuja arrives followed by Kali puja and Diwali.

চিনির নারকেল নাড়ু/Sweetened Coconut Confection

  

বাঙালীর নারকেল নাড়ু

Bengalis biggest festival  "Durgapuja" is tomorrow and sweetened coconut confection is one of the traditional offerings to Maa Durga. There are two ways to make this sweet as per preference. Some make with jaggery and some with sugar and milk. This confection is a staple to any Bengali house during Dugrapuja and Laksmipuja.

Usually it is made with freshly grated coconut. Due to our back and forth moving I had to give away my manual coconut grater. Since then I have been using frozen or dry coconut. It is much easier than traditional version!

All you need is~
1 16 oz package frozen grated coconut
1 cup bone char free sugar
1/8 cup coconut milk or coconut cream(in case naru gets too dry)
2-3 freshly ground cardamon pods
1 bay leaf
1 microwave safe glass bowl

Method~
First, thaw the coconut in the microwave or keep it in the refrigerator for couple of hours. Blend it to a smooth texture for 2-3 minutes. Transfer it to a microwavable bowl. Add in sugar and bay leaf. Mix it well. Microwave the coconut mixture for about 25 minutes on full power stirring every 5 minutes. It will be very watery in the beginning. After 25 minutes mixture will be very thick. It needs 15 or more minutes to make the mixture dry enough to form firm balls. So stir well every 2 minutes from now on. Make sure it doesn't burn. Don't make it too dry. Otherwise you can't make smooth balls out of it. In case it becomes dry add little coconut cream or coconut milk. Try to make a smooth round ball to check if it is done. Add ground cardamon at last. Mixture will be very hot. Let stand for 2 minutes to handle. Start making balls by rolling between your palms while still warm. They become crumbly and dry very quick so add some coconut milk. Store in the refrigerator for its freshness up to one week.

Happy Cooking!

Strawberry Smoothie

This Vegan smoothie is easy,delicious and a great way to start my day! Combining strawberry,banana and agave nectar for sweetness(even if it is optional) which is sweeter than refined sugar makes this smoothie very satisfying yet filling and nutritious.It will take just few minutes to prepare.

Quinoa pilaf with pumpkin,peanuts and whole bengal gram

  

Quinoa(keen-wah) pilaf with sweet pumpkin,whole bengal gram,toasted peanuts and sweet flavor of coconut makes this grain like seeds hearty-healthy yet delicious. 

Quinoa(keen-wah) is high in fiber,has good amount of protein,vitamins and minerals.I love quinoa since the day one which is a great alternative to rice.

Plum Chutney

                               Plums from our back yard     

                        Sweet and tangy plums

Light Catfish curry with potato,cauliflower and dry white lentil dumplings

Bengali poeple can't live without macerjhol bhat (rice n light fish curry). While growing up macerjhol bhat was staple before and after school.Ma would finish cooking by 8:00 o'clock in the morning because papa used to catch train at 9:00 for office. We always had good hot lunch before going to school. Those were good old days!

চিতল মাছের পেটির কালিয়া (Chitol fish kalia)

                                                

                                                          For the first time I have ever cooked     

This recipe is one of the master pieces from Bengali cuisine.Few years back, I saw this fish in a Vietnamese market in So Cal, but wasn't sure if it was really Chitol fish.Yesterday, I went to oriental supermarket for vegetables and stopped by in the seafood department as usual. That store carries varieties of Bengali type fish. Chitol fish is called Featherback there.I never knew how this gorgeous fish looked like. Couple of years ago I asked my Ma how to recognize this fish.She explained at her best about its look. Keeping that in mind, I had stepped forward to buy this silvery white Chitol fish without any hesitation.

Indian Cumin Lemonade/ জলজিরা

                                                               

My very first post, Indian Cumin Lemonade or Jaljeera is a popular Indian cooling beverage to quench the thirst during hot summer days. "Jal" means water and "jeera" means  cumin. It is made with freshly roasted cumin seeds powder mixed with mint,cilantro,lemon juice,mango powder, black salt,sugar etc. then poured over crushed ice.  

About Me

Hello and welcome to my blog.This is a wonderful experience of initiating and organizing the process of food blogging. My friends and family are always delighted by my food presentation at parties and potlucks.With their encouragement and love, I am here to express my culinary experience and simple photography. Hope I will be able to keep up with it.

I am a mom of two.What a merry challenge to balance my extremely busy life between my kids various activities, the household chores, blogging and many more.

Cooking has been always my passion since childhood. I am a self taught cook. My mother had passed her recipes to me and my sister. that are imprinted in the cookbook of memory.

I grew up in a small town of West Bengal located in the north eastern part of India. My parents were immigrants from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) the land of rivers and paddy fields. My mother cooked her native style Bangaal food most of the time. I will share my Bangaal recipes that I take pride and joy in preparing. My culinary journey is not limit to Bengali/Indian cooking .I have explored some delicious recipes across the globe over the years.

After moving to USA I learned more from various cooking shows.Public libraries are always great source to fuel my interest.I am still learning a lot world cuisines and it never ends.

Cooking is an art and very spiritual practice to me. I try to make everything from scratch with locally grown, seasonal and organic produces.

Thank you for stopping by  my virtual kitchen.Hope you will enjoy while walking through my blog.All the recipes are adapted from Ma, sister, friends, relatives,various cooking shows and cookbooks. Feel free to share your views.This is a great way to connect with viewers. If you like any recipe or picture please ask for my permission to use it. It takes so much time to compose posts.All pictures are clicked by me(otherwise noted),so give me credit and add the link to this blog. Happy cooking, baking and eating.

Cheers!

Rama

“To be a good cook you have to have a love of the good, a love of hard work, and a love of creating.”
~Julia child