Doi Ilish/Hilsha in Yogurt Sauce

I started this blogging journey eleven years ago. Life got super busy that I couldn’t post as much as I wanted for past few years;  especially 2023, I just vanished from blogging. But my passion for cooking never faded away. However I never stopped posting on my Instagram whatever I cooked. I came back slowly to blog and excited to share recipes. I got connected with people through my blogging journey. I completely missed my blog's 11th birthday last week. So, better late than never and today, I am sharing an amazing Hilsha recipe that passed down to my mother from a close family friend. It became one of our family favorites. It’s so drool worthy and definitely a keeper. 

Chicken Rezala

Rezala is a rich meat dish yet subtle gravy with aromatic spices, yogurt, milk/ cream and nuts created during Mughal era in Kolkata. This is very similar to korma. But its thin delicate gravy makes Rezala so unique. It is so delicious having rezala with naan and paratha. It pairs greatly with Polau as well. 

Traditionally mutton is used for rezala; but Chicken Rezala became its popularity as a lighter option over the years. Original recipe is very rich with ghee laden sauce. I tweaked it to make with less oil and ghee, yet it tastes incredible. 

Mishti Doi, a fermented sweet yogurt is pure delicacy of the sate of West Bengal, Odisa and Bangladesh. Any auspicious occasion requires Mishti Doi. It is made of thickened milk, yogurt culture and sugar, set in an earthen pot, wrapped in a heavy blanket then left in warm place to ferment overnight. Traditionally Mishti Doi gets its light brown color by caramelized sugar. It doesn't need any flavoring or toppings. 

Whole Spinach Curry with Mixed Vegetables/Shish paloker Ghonto

 

Shish Palonger Ghonto is another winter staple cooked with plenty of different vegetables like pumpkin, eggplant, cauliflower, radish, sweet potato and lentil dumplings. Shish palong means whole big spinach with hard stems only available in winter months in India. This is available in Asian groceries call Taiwanese spinach.

Steamed Shrimp with Coconut Mustard

Bengali style steamed fish is an old tradition using coconut paste, mustard paste and mustard oil. This is so simple to make with minimal spices. It's best to use head on shrimp. It may be time consuming but worth it when it comes to flavor profile and texture. The freshly grounded mustard paste is an acquired taste and it has a pungent sensation similar to horseradish  wasabi-like sensation to it. Therefore adding coconut milk and coconut paste to balance it out resulting in a mouthwatering rustic seafood dish and best served with plain rice!

Kalai Dal Chingri Diye/White Lentil with Shrimp

Kalai dal(not sure what it is called in english) or urad dal is an integral part of Bengali cuisine for the people who have their roots in West Bengal. Kalier dal and potato curry with poppy seeds paste are their best vegetarian comfort food with plain rice. My parents migrated from Bangladesh erstwhile East Bengal. This dal is not that popular for them at all. My ma prepared this with shrimp always, never its vegetarian version. This preparation is very  common for Bangal people(who migrated from Bangladesh).

Broccoli Quiche

Broccoli quiche is perfect for any time of the year for breakfast, brunch or supper made with a smashed potato crust,yet it is full of flavor. It is packed with goodness of veggies, eggs and cheese.

Orange Chicken Curry

This chicken curry with tangy sweet orange juice is an excellent dish for family and guests. Chicken is marinated in freshly squeezed orange juice then cooked in a mildly spiced basic curry spices. Orange zest makes a big difference to flavor the dish. I like adding cilantro at the end for its bursting warm spicy complex flavor but it’s optional. For a nice presentation place orange slices on top. 

Ram Ladoo

Ram Ladoo, a savory little yellow mung beans fritters with green chutney made of cilantro and tamarind chutney topped with shredded radishes is a very popular street food in Delhi, India. I am not sure how this name came from and the confusing part is "ladoo" refers sweet confection in Indian cuisine. It's kind of unsuitable name. But, who cares! It's that tasty and vegan too. This recipe serves three.

Chha Chicken Curry

Chha Gosht is a signature dish of Himachal Pradesh, India. This hearty dish is usually made with mutton. However I make with chicken which is marinated in yogurt and cooked in aromatic spices with roasted gram flour. So it tastes as delicious as mutton in this rich, flavorful, spicy, tangy gravy.

Spicy Egg Curry

I have been making this North Indian flavored simple egg curry for years. It's a nice variation from nut and cream based gravy and it tastes surprisingly delicious! One friend once asked what type of nut I used because of its rich korma type taste. But there is no korma ingredients in this egg curry, just everyday pantry staples, yet the finished product looks as pretty as korma because of its color and texture using simple blend of spices. So I am pretty hooked to this recipe whenever I need to whip up something korma type to serve with white rice, toasty naan or paratha. 

Spicy Kerala Fish Curry

This slowly braised spicy exotic Kerala fish curry in spicy tangy gravy yet soothed by little bit of coconut milk has a depth of flavor and it is one of the regional fish curries of India that matches our taste buds. This fish curry requires an tropical dry fruit known as Kudampuli or Malabar tamarind(scientific name,Garcinia cambogia, native to South Asia and Southeast Asia) that has smoky flavor and sour taste, available at Indian groceries. But tamarind is a great substitute for kudampuli in case not found.

Italian Wedding Soup

We all love soup, rain or shine. A bowl of soup with lots of veggies and choice of protein and grain is so satisfying and comforting. I didn't grow up having soup at all; but once I learned to make different soups this Italian weeding soup has been in the soup rotation for years. 

Meen Molee

Each state of India has its own signature dishes and unique flavor profile. As a foodie I love to try the variety of dishes of India that I never tasted while growing up. I have been making Meen Moilee for years, one of the signature fish curries from the state of Kerala. The gravy is mildly spiced yellowish coconut curry with delicious flavor of tempered mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chilies yet Kerala cuisine is well known for spiciness. It is believed that this curry originated during Portuguese colonial era centuries back. Meen means fish in Malayalam and little analysis revels that Molee is given after the lady by the name "Molly" who added coconut milk to the fish curry to neutralize the spiciness to suit foreigner's palate. 

Blueberry Swirl Vanilla ice Cream

Fresh sweet blueberries are a great snack to munch on and there are so many recipes adding blueberries, be it jam, pie, cake, bread, cheesecake, lemonade, shake, salad, ice cream and many more. Ice cream is always a refreshing treat on scorching summer days. This is so very easy no churn ice cream with just a few ingredients. This ice cream has a very creamy texture without adding eggs. Unlike strawberries, blueberries are so sweet that I had to cut down on sugar to make the jam. Here is my simple recipe to follow.  

Bengali Style Chicken Stew

A very comforting and hearty stew with chicken and veggies using minimum spices was created for Britishers served with buttered toast during British rule in Kolkata, India. Later, Bengali tweaked it adding some aromatics and spices to suit their liking. However, this is not a spice laden stew and it still has an English touch and mostly served with buttered or plain toast. This delicious hearty stew with bone in chicken, fresh veggies need very basic pantry ingredients that comes together in an hour or less. It's a great way to serve protein and veggies together as an one dish meal to the family all year round. This Bengali style Chicken Stew must not be confused with Bengali Chicken Curry which is made with just potatoes and all most same spices but yellowish in color and medium thick spicy gravy.  

Black Pepper Chicken Curry

Black Pepper Chicken Curry is one of our rotation of chicken curries. I make it with very basic spices yet it comes out incredibly delicious. Spicy kick of freshly ground black pepper and slightly tangy gravy is great with steamed rice or roti and a side salad. I make it whitish, yellowish or reddish in color. It doesn't make that much difference in taste; but using freshly ground black pepper makes this chicken curry really stand out. Here is my take on Black Pepper Chicken Curry.

Macher Paturi

Macher Paturi is one of the best fish delicacies in Bengali cuisine made with predominantly coconut, mustard paste, green chili and mustard oil mixture mostly using Hilsha or Bhetki mach(Baramundi fish), wrapped like a little parcel in banana leaf, then grilled or pan fried. Slowly grilled banana leaf parcel over the hot iron pan gives wonderful aroma and heavenly taste. Paturi in Bengali means pata(leaf). Therefore any edible leaf sometimes used instead of banana leaf for paturi. Macher Paturi is very popular with different spices in different states of India and other countries as well. 

Chingri Malaicurry

Chingri/Shrimp Malai Curry cooked in mildly spiced coconut based gravy is one of the divine dishes of Bengali cuisine served on special occasions or wedding ceremonies. Malai in Bengali means dairy cream but in this particular dish has no dairy in it. Now the question is if I ever wanted to know how the word “malai” came from, not really. Did my grand mothers and mother's generations know? I am not so sure as we never questioned about it. All I know is how my mother made it so finger licking without using overpowering spices and I make exactly the same way. Malai Curry is very close to our heart.

Two Simple Potato Curries

Once upon a time we ate carbohydrate rich food for breakfast or lunch or dinner almost everyday without thinking twice about calorie. We never knew calorie counting back then. We were very active all the time, went to school by walking, played well in the alley or open space, visited friend’s house by walking and we did so many fun outdoor activities. So whatever we consumed easily got  burned out. Life style has changed now. Watching carbohydrate is very important these days for us. I am not saying giving up any of our favorite food but enjoying once in a blue moon. I don’t make just potato curries very often. They are so special that I we can enjoy with roti just for one meal then no carbohydrate for other meals during the day. It balances out pretty good and it satisfies our craving without feeling guilty.