Nalen Gurer Rashogolla

                            
Happy New Year!! We Bengalis always drool over delectable sweets exclusively made with Nalen gur or Khejur gur (Date palm jaggery) in winter months, be it Rashogolla(Cottage cheese dumpling), Sandesh(Cottage cheese fudge), Pithe(Crepe and Dumpling), Payesh(Rice Pudding) even Ice cream these days. Sweet shops in every corner of the city in my hometown serve scrumptious Bengali sweets with Nalengur without which winter is just incomplete.

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake Tart

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake Tart is a fantastic dessert for winter holiday. This is one of the easiest crowd pleasing holiday recipe. It has light golden crust and low fat cream cheese and sour cream filling that I serve any time of the year but for Christmas holiday I swirl with cranberry sauce.

Holiday Sangria

My holiday spirit is still flowing and I have few more recipes to share. Sangria, an alcoholic fruit punch of Spanish origin typically consists of red wine, chopped fruits, soda water, fruit juice and sometimes different spirits. I didn't develop a taste for red wine though so I use white zinfandel instead. Adding seasonal fruits such as pomegranate and cranberry make this drink very festive since this is Christmas holiday. 

Christmassy Pumpkine Pie

Christmas is almost here and it is one of the biggest festivals we celebrate with family and friends that brings joy and great cheer. It's a season of Santa Claus to deliver toys to kids too. My little one is in Santa's nice list as usual and eagerly waiting to receive her favorite toys from her wish list. The countdown begins. Soon Santa will come down the chimney and I will leave out a special treat to welcome him this time.  

Orange Fruit Cake

My Christmas bake off  starts just before winter holiday break and fruit cake is one of my favorite bakes of the season. I bake Rum Soaked Fruit Cake every year for Christmas as well as non alcoholic version fruit cake with fresh orange juice that can be enjoyed all year round. It's a much easier and quicker recipe than traditional fruit cake that needs soaking dry fruits in alcohol for several weeks or months. It's a last minute recipe for Christmas get together to please  dear ones.

Graham Cracker Gingerbread House

"Gingerbread house" is a fun holiday project with kids. I really want to make it from scratch but there are some days I just need for myself. Sometimes it becomes too stressful during Christmas. So I use graham cracker instead of buying the premade kit for "Gingerbread House."

Candy Cane Marshmallow Pops

It feels Christmas in our house after we put Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving weekend. Our favorite radio station plays Christmas songs all day long where ever we go. It's time to get ready for holiday shopping, packing as well as cooking and baking.

 

Mini Turkey Pot pies

My friend Ranjana made a succulent roasted turkey with garlic herb butter and other seasonings for Thanksgiving dinner. As usual lots of leftovers and we are always in cooking mode to make savory pies, sandwich or soups for post Thanksgiving brunch or dinner.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Thanksgiving, it's the time for family and friends to gather around, to be thankful for being there for each other and of course food. Our traditional Thanksgiving dinner consists of roasted turkey with stuffing, variety of savory side dishes and cranberry sauce followed by dessert  made of pumpkin. My friend  Ranjana makes the awesome juicy and succulent turkey, festive breads and cookies whenever we have Thanksgiving dinner together and I make the rest. Our kids look forward to have some pumpkin dessert to finish  festive dinner. So, tomorrow I am going to serve one of our family favorites "Pumpkin Cheesecake". 

Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate

It's fall and festive season. Of course, it's all about pumpkin, be it breakfast, snacks, main dishes, salads, desserts or drinks. As cooler temperature arrives here in Northern California, we are ready for warm blankets and special flavor hot chocolate to enjoy Fall. A delicious Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate with real pumpkin, spices and coco powder is perfect to warm up chilly fall evenings.  

How To Make Pumpkin Spice Mix

Happy Fall season! Leaves have changed color and begun to fall. As temperature begins to drop days are getting shorter. Let's  celebrate Fall with Pumpkin Spice craze. 

Bhapa Sandesh/ Steamed Bengali Cheese Fudge

Autumn season is known for auspicious celebrations for Indian starting with Navaratri, Durga pooja, Laxmipooja and ending with Diwali, Kali pooja(another form of goddess Durga) and Bhai PhoNta.  

Diwali/Festival of Lights signifies light over darkness and good over evil. This joyous occasion is marked as a national holiday in India and celebrated on the month of October or Early November every year. People decorate their house with clay lamps or electric lights. Some families worship goddess Laxmi Pooja for divine blessing. Families and neighbors gather together with new clothes, display fireworks and share home made sweets and savory snacks. 

Gurer Narkol Naru/ Coconut Confection with Jaggery

My house smells divine. The earthy smell of jaggery fills up the entire house while getting slowly cooked with coconut. It's the time of the year Bengali households are busy preparing Naru for the greatest festival "Durga pooja" also known as Sharodshav that falls on Autumn during the month of either late September or early to mid October. Goddess Durga symbolizes divine forces(positive energy) against the negative forces of evil.

2015 Bay Area Shobar Poojo 

The ritual is observed for ten days but last four days especially in West Bengal, other places of India and abroad Durga pooja is celebrated in a grand way. Ma Durga and her four children, Laxmi, Shraswati, Kartik and Ganesh are worshipped on Mahasaptami, Mahastomi, Mahanabomi and Mahadoshomi days. Devotees dress up with nice clothes and go to the pooja pandel to worship and pray offering special treats with gaiety and devotion.

Lebupata Diye Mung-Masoor Dal/ Split Mung Bean-Red Lentil with Kaffir Lime Leaves

Macher jhol bhat(soupy fish curry and rice) is staple in the Bong households. But making fish curry is always a messy job and sometimes don't feel like cooking it. So for those lazy days I make simple hearty lentil, swallow fried fritters and stir fried veggies. 

As we all know, lentils and legumes are staple food served with rice or roti (Indian flat bread) across India. Unlike other regions in India Bengalis mostly make mung dal( skinless Mung bean), masoor dal(red lentil), mator dal(yellow split peas), Kalai Dal(skinless black gram),cholar dal(skin less Bengal gram) with minimal amount of spices. Lentil is boiled with turmeric and salt, then whole spices tempered in the hot oil which releases wonderful aroma and finally added to it accompanied by plain white rice and different types of veggie fritters. 

Kaffir Limeade

Happiness is picking  kaffir limes off the tree from Mashi's(aunt) back yard whenever we visit Los Angeles and I start planning how many ways I can use these precious limes because they are not found in stores. Her tree offers many limes every year. Kaffir lime is similar to gondhoraj lebu in West Bengal which means "king of flavors". But it's skin texture is not quite same. Kaffir lime has thick green wrinkled rind. Unlike lemon and lime it does not produce a lot of juice but wonderful aroma. 

Kaffir lime leaves and rind are used in Thai cuisine, from soup to curries even drink for its lemony essence. If you are a fan of Thai food you will definitely love this refreshing Limeade anytime of the year. This is a one of a kind drink. Though kaffir lime is not that juicy, so I substitute regular lime for it and  use zest and lemongrass to boost the flavor to the drink. Most Asian supermarkets carry lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, not the limes. But I am lucky enough to get these beautiful limes and leaves from my friends backyard whenever I need here in the Bay Area.

Grapefruit Margarita

It's a pleasure to relax with freshly made Margarita after a long day. This recipe doesn't require much time and effort. Just three ingredients, tequila(silver or gold), agave or raw sugar and sour pomelo/white grapefruit to create this delicious concoction. 

Sweet Plum Pickle

Cooking has been always my passion since childhood. Now this passion has become an obsession. That's blogging journey began 2 years back with great enthusiasm and I couldn't have done it without the love and support from my family and wonderful friends. 


I am always obsessed with making jams, chutneys and pickles with the backyard fruits that no one likes to eat in our house. I am a foodie at heart and I try not to waste any food as long as it is edible that I learned from my ma.  

Organic Loquat Jam

Every year loquat trees produce beautiful fruits that are seen in neighbors' backyard but only birds and squirrels are munching on them. If you have a loquat tree, don't let them go to waste. Eat just like that and make chutney or jam. I promise you won't be disappointed. 

 
People often wonder,"what is loquat?" I also didn't know about this  fruit until we moved to our current residence three years back. 

Organic Lemonade

When life gives lemons I turn them into delicious Lemonade. Indeed, life's good and we are so fortunate to get juicy organic lemons from  friend's backyard.  

Lemon is so versatile and associated with many health benefits. Because of its wonderful fragrance lemons are always great use for many beverages and food

Watermelon Juice

When temperatures are soaring watermelon is served in various ways as snacks in our house. I Cut as wedges or scoop into balls with a melon baller. But nothing beats a glass of chilled watermelon juice for cooling down on hot sunny days. It's so refreshing and hydrating besides lemonades and smoothies. 

Cupcake Bouquet

I made this cute cupcake bouquet with vanilla butter cream frosting for the first time and it was a huge success for me since I am not a professional cake decorator. All you need certain materials from craft store to make a wonderful bouquet to impress dear ones. This edible bouquet is quite satisfying for kid's sweet tooth. I used less sugar for the cupcakes because butter cream frosting is much sweeter than other frosting. So one cupcake per person wouldn't do any harm I guess. 

Patishapta

Today, the last day of Bengali month of Poush is Makar Sankranti or Poush Sankranti celebrated as a harvest festival in  different names in India. In West Bengal it is known as Poush Parbon, in Gujrat as Uttarayan, in South India as Bhogi, in Punjujab as Lohri. Many Hindu pilgrims gather on this auspicious day at Gangasagarer Mela, the point where Ganges river meets the Bay of Bengal. It is believed that Pilgrims take an early morning dip in the river to eliminate of all their sins and pray to Sun God. To read more about Poush/Makar Sankranti I found this website which is beautifully explained by Sadhguru.