Winter Special - BHUNI KHICHURI

1. Chop Vegetables in big chunks. I have used a full cauliflower, the cauliflower stalk, green peas and 1 potato.
2. In a pan on medium heat, fry up the veggies in hot mustard oil; till golden brown.
3. Season the veggies with salt and keep it aside.
4. Dry roast a handful of cashewnut, until aromatic.
5. Now take 1/3 cup of sona mung daal. It’s a smaller grain than the easily found mung daal. If you can’t find the smaller grained lentil vareity, you can use the larger split mung lentils too.
6. Dry roast the daal until some grains turn brown. Constantly keep stirring it so that nothing burns.
7. Once roasted satisfactorily, wash the grains thoroughly. Soak it for 15 to 20 mins keepjuggling n water to soften.
8. Wash and soak 2/3 cups of short grained aromatic rice, for 30 minutes.
9. Now in a pan, on medium heat; pour over a couple of tablespoons of mustard oil. Let it warm up.
10. Add a dry red chilly, and cook it until deep dark brown.
11. Now Add ½ TSP of cumin seeds, along with 2 bay leaves, 1 star anise, 1 small stick of cinnamon and 3-4 green cardamom pods. Fry it to infuse the flavours in the oil.
12. Now drain and add over the rice. Fry the rice along with whole spices.
13. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste. Let the rice nicely fry off in the flavourful oil.
14. Add Finely chopped ginger in the rice, and sauté it to for another 5 to 10 mins, until fragrant.
15. Add over the drained lentils, and roast everything for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
16. Let’s create more flavours now, add 2-3 big pinches of raisins, followed with ½ TSP of cumin powder, a pinch of red chilly powder and 1 TSP of corriander powder. Sauté the spices for 2 minutes.
17. Now add a quarter TSP of garam masala powder. Mix well, adjust salt and sugar to taste. Depending on the amount of heat tolerance, you can add some chopped green chilly at this time!
18. Add over the veggies at this point, one by one. I added the potatoes and cauliflower stalk first. Mix well.
19. Submerge the grains and veggies in some water. the amount of water is not very important. Just submerge the grains and veggies in water. I started with a cup of water. Cover and cook until the water the s absorbed through.
20. Add over a few handfuls of fresh green peas. Mix well, cover and cook the veggies and
21. Now add in the cauliflower florets, and caheswnuts. These veggies would cook faster.
22. Top it up with more water. Mostly the bhuno khichuri is made not very watery. But depending on your subjective taste you can add more or less water at this stage. Again cover and cook until the grains soak up the water. Stir the occasionally.
23. To finish off this amazing one pot dish, add a tsp of good cow ghee, followed with another ¼ TSP of garam masala. Mix well and serve piping hot. 

Kajali Maacher Tel Jhol - A light BENGALI CURRY with a River water Catfish.

Kajali maach is called Gangatic Ailia in English.

It’s a delicate river water fish, which is super tasty. Don’t be intimidated by the size of it. And don’t think it’s a baby of a bigger fish. This fish grows to this size. The backbone is easy to manoeuvre and eat. And a trip to ER is not required after eating this! So give it a try if you can. Cheers!!
We start with making the MASALA MIX –
In a bowl, put in half a tsp of fresh ground turmeric, followed with salt and red chilly powder to taste and a pinch of sugar. Using a green chilly, mix the masala with a bit of water and let it bloom, covered.
Now on medium heat, put in a flat bottomed pan and heat 4 tbsp of good mustard oil.
Temper the hot oil with a dry red chilly, a green chilly and ½ TSP of kala jeera /Nigella seeds.
Once the flavours sing through, add salt and turmeric marinated fish. Arrange the pieces in a neat fashion.
These fishes are delicate, so don’t try to move it around in the pan. It will easily break apart.
Now pour over the masala mix, and tilt the pan till all fishes get coated in the masala. Pour over more water. This is a ‘jhol' recipe. It is going to take a lot of water.
Cover and simmer the fish, on the lowest heat for 10 mins.
Meanwhile, chop some coriander and green chillies to taste.
Put in a handful of coriander leaves, and 2 slit green chillies. Swirl the pan around and taste to adjust the seasonings. Add salt and green chillies, more or less according to your taste buds.
Now in that masala bowl, add ½ TSP of maida (APF) in some water. Mix it well so that no lumps remain, and pour it on top of the fishes. Swirl the pan to evenly distribute the flour water mix.
Simmer the curry on lowest flame for 5 mins. Switch off the flame and put in more corriander leaves. Rest it for 5 mins and serve hot with white steamed rice. Cheers!!

Bengal or Indian Carp, steamed with mustard and Corriander leaves!

Rui bhanpa, shorshe aar dhonepata diye.. (Bengal or Indian Carp, steamed with mustard and Corriander leaves)

This amazing recipe is passed on from one generation to another in my family. A lot of people, have asked me why do I have such a fondness for the simple Indian carp/ Rui maach. And today, I want to answer one and all why I feel the humble Rui is as much a great fish for consumption as is the jazzy cousin Ilish/hilsa. 

It’s my nostalgia from my childhood. Growing up in a war torn Ranchi; which wanted to be jharkhand, but still was Bihar; this was the only fish available to my family, and that too occasionally. Hence Rui was what my childhood meals were made of. And as if we share the same genes, it is a fish my son likes to indulge in too.. He is otherwise quite a fussy eater. 

This particular recipe has been passed to me from my mother in law. Again a nostalgic element here, if I am not wrong, this certainly was the first dish that my MIL taught me, some 11years ago. I am sure by now, any of my frnds and family have had it in my house parties. Today I am here to share this piece of extreme nostalgia with you all as well.. 

Recipe – 
Take 5 PC’s of Rui maach, and marinate it for 30 mins or more in a mix of salt and turmeric. 
Masala mix---
Start with 2 hot green chilly and a bunch of coriander. Grind it to paste. 
Now add 2.5 TSP of mustard powder, and let it bloom.
Meanwhile soak 2 TSP of poppy seeds in hot water and keep it ready for mixing. 
Combine all of the above ingredients in a mixie jar, and grind it into a fine paste. 
Add water, salt and a pinch of turmeric. Mix well
Add 2 TSP of curd and process it again.
The masala mix is ready. 

Now in a large bowl, which can be used inside a steamer, pour in a tbsp of cold pressed mustard oil. Smear it around the bottom. 
Now place the fishes in a neat fashion. 
Pour in the masala mix. 
Rub it on both sides of the fish. Top each fish with a slit green chilly. 
To seal the flavour, pour in more mustard oil on top. Take the pains of evenly distributing it on all PC’s of fish. 
Cover with a tight fitting lid, and put it on the steam for 20 mins. 
Yummy and healthy Rui Bhanpe is ready. 

Veitnamese Chicken & Rice, with my Twist!!

Com ga – or veitnamese chicken rice! 
Start with trimming off the fat from a washed and dried whole chicken. 
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cut 500 GM’s of carrot into big chunks.
1 bulb of garlic, peeled.
A neat bunch of lemongrass- shoot and leaves
3-4 spring onions, roughly chopped.
Recently boiled water.
Salt and pepper
Cook, covered in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius, for 50 mins.
Save the chicken stock for soup. That’s a recipe coming soon! 
1.5 cups of sela basmati rice, washed and soaked for 30 mins. 
In a hot pan, melt the the chicken fat, to produce 2 tbsp of melted fat. 
Saute soaked rice in the fat. 
Add ¼ cup of dry white wine.
Season to taste. 
Add 2.75 cups of water, enough for rice to soak up and be fluffy. 
Cover and cook for 15 mins. Ideally, I make the rice once I have given the chicken to cook in the oven. 
Once cooked through, season and garnish it with chopped onion leaves. 
White sauce, my twist to this recipe. 
A splash of olive oil in hot pan.
1.5 tbsp butter and 1.5 tbsp all purpose flour. Saute well.
Fry a minced mixture of 1 green chilly and 5-6 cloves of garlic along with it.
Now add fridge cold milk -start with ½ a cup and go on till a desired consistency is reached. 
With the flame off, add the juice of half a lemon to freshen up the taste. 
Plating up- 
A bed of rice
Over which the chicken rests
Pour over the hot white sauce.
Garnish with chopped onion leaves. 
Cheers!! 

3 RECIPES TOGETHER- Veg Bengali THALI

Thali is am Indian concept of food. Typically every part of India has a distinctive style of presenting it thali. Today I have put out my vegetable laden thali that my family and I enjoy a lot during these months of great pollution. 

Jhakia seeds that I use in one of my dishes are optional, but a great addition. It doesn't have any strong flavours, but the crunchy seeds from the hills of gharwal are really a delightful addition to the overall texture of the dish. 

Mishti Kumro chechki – 
1. Heat a tbsp of mustard oil to a good smoking point.
2. Temper a red dry chilly, until it turns brown.
3. Add ½ TSP of kalonji /kala jeera/ Nigella seeds
4. Optional but highly recommended – add ½ TSP of jhakia seeds. It gives a beautiful crunchy taste to the dish. Read more on this in the blog post. 
5. Once the flavours of the masala wafts out, put in  500 GM’s of Ripe pumpkin cut in long fine strips.
6. Mix well, and let it cook on low flame, but uncovered. 
7. Do remember to stir it every now and then. 
8. Adjust salt and put in a green chilly to get a beautiful fresh aroma. 
9. Sprinkle on some finely cut fresh coriander and serve hot. 
Kalo jeere diye jhinge alu - 
1. Heat a tbsp of mustard oil to a good smoking point.
2. Temper a red dry chilly, until it turns brown.
3. Add ½ TSP of kalonji /kala jeera/ Nigella seeds
4. Once the aroma releases out, add in some cubed raw Potatoes. Stir and cook for a minute in the hot oil.
5. Add salt and haldi, stir well and cook for a minute longer, covered. 
6. Now add cubed ridge gourd, and stir well. 
7. Cover and cook until the potoes absorb all water released from the gourd, and become soft. 
8. Garnish it with fresh cut corriander leaves and a slit green chilly. 
Radhuni diye daal- 
1. Heat 2 tbsp of mustard oil to a good smoking point.
2. Temper a red dry chilly, until it turns brown.
3. Add ½ TSP of Radhuni /celery seeds.
4. Once the Masala becomes fragrant, and attains a deep dark brown colour, add ½ TSP haldi mixed with a tsp of water and slit green chilly.
5. Stir and add 6 tbsp of boiled fmasoor dal/red split lentils. 
6. Boil the dal in the tempered spices for a couple of minutes before adding in some green chillies slit and corriander leaves For flavour and garnish.
7. Give it a final simmering time of a minute before serving it hot with plait white rice and simple vegetable curries! 
Cheers! 

Passionate Gin and Tonic

For tomorrow's midweek refresher, I have got you covered with an amazing cocktail recipe- Passionately gin and tonic. Its a twist on the ever popular combination of gin and tonic, and trust me; even if you substitute the passion fruit with other kinds of fruit, its still gonna taste amazing. Treat it as a blueprint, and fly high!!

And while you are at it, don't forget to like, follow and subscribe!! cheers!!

Passionate gin and tonic

3 passion fruit's pulpy insides
1 tbsp sugar
100 ml gin
100 ml tequila
1.5 cans of tonic water or soda water
A pinch of rock salt
A handful of fresh mint
1 sweet orange sliced. 

Diwali Special Starters- Banno Kabab, Subz Tikka & Khameeri Roti

Khameer loosely means yeast. These soft flat breads are made with a yeasted dough, and then cooked over the flame or in the oven. This is perfect for anyone who has never made a bread loaf before.

2. Whole wheat flour - 2 cups

3. White flour - 1 cup

4. Baking powder – ½ TSP

5. Salt - 1.5 tsp

6. 1 cup of lukewarm water, add a tbsp of sugar and mix well.

7. Sprinkle on 2 TSP of active dry yeast, mix well and keep it aside to bloom for 10 minutes.

8. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

9. Add 2 tbsp curd (homemade or store-bought)

10. After 10 minutes of resting, your yeast should become frothy like so. If not, discard the yeast and start the blooming process with another fresh packet of yeast.

 11. Add the activated yeast to the dry ingredients, and put together a soft dough.

 12. Once the bowl gets cleaned, and the dough sticks together, add a tbsp of olive oil and start kneading the dough.

13. Knead the dough as shown here. Fold the dough on itself, turn and then again fold the dough and continue like so.. Do 80 such folds..

 14. Check the dough by pinching it. If it springs back half way, then it's done.

15. Keep it in an oiled bowl, covered with a damp cloth for 1 to 2 hours, till it doubles in size.

16. After it doubles up, punch the dough to release the air and divide into smaller portions.

17. Roll each pc into a smooth ball of dough.

18. Then with a rolling pin roll out each ball to an oblong oval shape. This way we will be able to fit 2 breads in a pan while making it over the flame.

19. Let the flattened dough rest for 15 minutes, before roasting. Apply some olive oil on top to prevent it from forming a tough skin.

20. Ease it gently on a hot tawa, an cook on one side till you see the bubbles forming.

21. Flip and cook it on the other side till it puffs up and become a balloon.

22. Serve hot along with these kababs..

Veg tikka-

You can use any vegetable as you have..

I am using Mushrooms, halved.

Green capsicum, cut into bite sized pcs.

Red bell pepper, to add a dramatic colour.

Onion quarters that has been leafed out.

For the masala mix, you will need –

Homemade curd, 3 to 4 tbsp. I never strain out the water as the juices make a lovely dipping sauce at the end.

Fresh Ginger, garlic and green chilly paste 3 Tbsp.

And a secret ingredient – 3 tsp kosha mangsho masala. The link to make the spice mix will be in the description box below.

1 TSP red chilly powder.

½ TSP sugar

Salt to taste

Mix well to eliminate any lumps.

Then masssage and marinate the cut veggies in the spice mix for at least 1 hour.

Banno kabab –

It’s a recipe that I developed for my restaurants in 2017. We use besan as the main flavouring agent.

Cut 500 GM’s of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in 3 equal pcs.

Dry roast 3 heaped tbsp of mota besan. (Chickpea flour that’s milled coarsely)

Once the aroma wafts out, add enough cold pressed mustard oil to form it in a paste.

2 TSP kosha mangsho masala, mix well over low  heat.

½ tsp haldi powder and salt to taste. Mix well and let it cool down a bit.

Chicken + salt + roasted masala mix + 3 tbsp of home made curd + 2 tbsp freshly ground ginger garlic and green chilly paste.

Mix well and massage every pc. Let it marinate for an hour.

Assembling time –

Skewer  the vegetables on a bamboo stick.

Heat a compartmental pan. Oil it generously. Add the veg skewers and chicken separately so that everything cooks through.

Optionally, you can flame grill it for a charry- smokey flavour.

Serve along with freshly made pita bread and onion pickle.

Cheers!!

Kosha Mangsho

Kosha Mangsho

A classic dish from Bengal, that everyone in the world knows is – Kosha Mangsho. It’s a dish that defines our food culture, and every Bengali family has its ow recipe for it. What I share today is a recipe that my little family enjoys a lot. It’s a labour of love and in my house its best enjoyed with Ajwaini Parathas.

Ingredients –

Freshly ground Kosha Mangsho masala for which you will need-

Green cardamom – 15 PCs

Red chilli – 2pcs

Nutmeg – ½ pc

Mace – 2 pods

Cinnamon –  1 pc

Star Anise – 1pc

White pepper whole – 1tsp

Black pepper whole- 1 tsp

Big cardamom -  3 PC’s

Bay leaves – 2 PCs

Cloves – ½ TSP

Cumin seeds – 1 Tbsp

Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp

Dry roast each spice in a pan. Add the cumin and coriander at the end. Cool it on a plate, then grind it to a fine powder in your mixer jar. This much of masala is required for 1.5 kgs of mutton.

700 gms of fresh, cleaned mutton (Goat meat)

3-4 medium sized peeled potatoes

2-inch-long ginger root

½ a pod of garlic

2 hot green chillies

3-4 medium onions sliced finely

Salt, sugar and turmeric to taste

200 gms curd

For tempering 5 tbsp of mustard oil-

1 red chilly

1.5 bay leaves

3 pods of cardamom

5 cloves

1 pod of mace

2/3 pc of star anise

½ a cinnamon stick

½ tsp jeera

1 heaped tsp coriander seeds

Making this dish is a very satisfying process, which is well documented in my video. Do check and like the video. Share it with your friends and family so that more and more people make this recipe! Cheers!!

Kumro Phool er Bora - How to cut and prep Pumpkin Blossom

Kumro Phooler Bora

Growing pumpkin plants is easy. I do it every year to reap the flowers with which I make kumro phooler Bora.

All you need is-

The flowers, cleaned as shown in the video.

¾ cups chickpea flour

¼ cups rice flour

1 tsp khaskhas or posto or poppy seeds.

1 tsp nigella seeds

Salt, sugar and turmeric to taste

Mustard oil, for the batter as well as for frying

Water to make the perfectly set batter.

This much of batter would make 20 flower fritters.

Prawns and Garlic in Extra Virgin Olive Oil!!

One of the best things in life is to travel and enjoy various different culinary experiments. This dish is one such memory of mine, that I picked up in Mallorca, Spain. Now, its such a simple dish, that its extremely important to take care of the quality of all three of the main ingredients. 

For this recipe you would need-

250 gms good quality, fresh prawns or shrimps. In fact any other shell fish too would work. But the seafood needs to be fresh and cleaned properly. I have made this recipe many times with squids, or baby octopuses too. 

7 to 8 big size garlic pods.

1/2 cup or more of good quality extra virgin olive oil. Of course a Spanish olive oil would be preferred.

Red Dried chilies to taste. You can entirely forgo and not use this ingredient at all. But I like the heat. I have used dried Spanish chilies and these little guys pack a bomb in it. 

Salt, pepper and lemon drops to taste. 

It is very simple to put together-

Just roughly chop the garlic and add it in a wok with the chilies of your choice and 1/2 cup or more of olive oil. I never measure the Extra Virgin Olive oil in this recipe. And yes, you need to use the good, expensive stuff for this recipe. 

Put your flame on, and let the heat gently bring the oil and the garlic to a bubbling temperature. 

Once there, carefully drop in the prawns, one by one. Be careful, the oil might splatter. 

When the prawns are lovely and pink, add salt to taste. 

Switch off the flame and squeeze on a bit of lemon juice. The citrus just brightens up the flavor. Sprinkle on some pepper before serving. 

Cheers!!

Pickled Vegetable Salad!!

Pickled Vegetable salad

This is a great salad to have on a day that you wish to eat healthy.

Or on the day you decide to make Tandoori chicken rice. I always sprinkle the salad on top which is such a flavour booster. The recipe of tandoori chicken rice is coming soon.

We start with –

1.       2-3 cucumbers, diced

2.       A full pack of baby tomatoes

3.       Onion chunks

4.       Green chillies, diced

5.       5 tbsp of vinegar. I used strawberry vinegar, but any acidic vinegar would do.

6.       Salt and sugar to taste.

7.       Lime and mint as garnish.

First make the pickling liquid, which is vinegar salt and sugar. Mix well and let it dissolve.

The first vegetable to go in should be onions, followed by chillies. Let it marinate 15 minutes so that each of these sharp veggies, give out it’s sharpness and absorb the seasonings.

Dump in all other veggies, mix well. Chill for an hour, and it’s ready to serve!

Butterfly Roast Chicken with Compound Butter

Recipe: “Roast Chicken”

This is the process to butterfly a whole chicken.

1.     This technique helps cook the bird faster. All you do is take a pair of sharp kitchen scissors, and cut out the spine on the back of the bird, as shown in the video.

2.    Flip the bird to the front and press on the breast meat to flatten it. This way it cooks uniformly and takes much lesser time to cook.

3.    Trim of any excess fat off the bird. Pat it completely dry.

4.    We are roasting this bird with compound butter.

5.    Making compound butter is very easy - take softened butter and mix green chilli and garlic paste, salt, lemon and orange zest.

Once thoroughly mixed, create a pocket between the skin and the flesh, and push the butter forward.

*Note that the butter needs to be this consistency as you see in the video.

6.    Season well with salt and pepper on cut side of the chicken.

7.    Cut the potatoes in thin slices and arrange it neatly on the baking tray with vertical  sides.

8.    Now sit out the dressed chicken on the potatoes and season the top well.

9.    Put it in a preheated oven for 50 - 55 mins, until cooked through. Temperature of the oven should be maintained at 200 degrees with the fan on.

10. The easiest way to check a chicken is to poke the cooked bird in the meatiest part. If the juices run clear, the chicken is done.

11. Let it rest for 10 minutes at least before cutting and serving it. A great option to serve along is our roasted masala pumpkin some dinner rolls to have the butter and potatoes with.. cheers!

Kathal ki Dum Biryani!!

Do you struggle with the word Biryani? Do you think that you need to buy the ready made Biryani Masala to make a proper biryani? For me both these answers are a straight No. Read on if you wanna join my club.

Kachche Kathal ki Biryani

Almost 400 gms of cut and cleaned Echor / Kachcha Kathal / unripe Jack fruit. Boil it in water along with some salt and turmeric, till its 50 % done. Using a pressure cooker may not be a good idea.

7 onions chopped and fried till brown

About 300 gms good long grain rice, soaked for 1 hour

Masala For the Rice

2 tbsp Oil

A nice mix of whole Garam Masala-

·       1 star Anise

·       1 cinnamon Stick

·       2 to 3 cloves

·       3 to 4 Green cardamom

·       ½ black cardamom

·       2 big leaves of tez patta (bay leaf)

·       1 tsp of Shah jeera

A lot of water and salt to taste.

Masala for the Jackfruit

2 heaped tbsp curd

3 tbsp oil

All the Whole Garam masala as mentioned up for the rice preparation.

3 tbsp Ginger and garlic paste

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp Coriander powder

½ tsp Cumin powder

½ tsp Chilly powder

A few shakes of freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon separately.

2 big pinches of cashew nuts and 2 more of raisins

A big handful each of chopped mint and coriander leaves

3 slit green chillies, or to taste

For Assembling

2 tbsp ghee                                                                    

2 steel containers with lid

1 small pinch of real kesar and warm milk

Procedure-

During biryani making, its best to keep all ingredients out and handy. Also this same process could be used for any other Dum cooked Meat or veggie biryani.

First in a kettle boil a litre of water.

Get a big sauce pot and put it on heat. We would make the whole spice tadka for the rice first, before proceeding for other stuff.

Pour in a few tbsp of oil. Once it heats up, drop in all the whole spices; and on low flame cook till it is fragrant.

Carefully pour in the hot water on the tadka and salt it generously. Add some more cold water and bring it up to a rolling boil before adding the soaked rice. Cook the soaked rice on a rolling boil for 5 to 7 minutes. It should be about 50 to 60 percent done. Drain it out on a plate and let it air dry. I mostly just take my spider ladle and drain out the rice from the starchy water onto a bowl. Then I quickly topple it out on a flat plate and let the rice air dry for a few minutes. Repeat with the remaining rice. The second batch of rice should be kept to air dry on a separate plate.

So by now, you have fried onion kept in one corner . Rice half cooked and air drying in another.

Lets start making the jackfruit masal now.

In a wok/kadhai heat some oil. Once hot, temper in the whole spices along with a sole red chilly. Wait for it to get fragrant.

Add in the cashew nuts and raisins and fry them lightly in this flavour ful oil on low to medim heat.

Now beat the curd with all the dry masala powder, and set it aside.

Now one after another, we would add different elements to the wok and get it frying.

·       The first to go would be a big pinch of fried onion along with the ginger garlic paste. Fry till we get rid of the raw smell of ginger and garlic.

·       The next would be the curd mix along with all dry spices. Cook it till oil separates out of the masala.

·       Now would be perfect to add 2 big pinches each of mint and coriander. Add in the green chilies too for an added kick. 

·       Adjust salt and sugar and this stage. And, add in our already cooked jackfruit to pan fry in the masala and absorb its flavour.

Taste again for salt and sugar, and adjust accordingly. 2 big pinches of sugar was good enough for me. you can even omit sugar, but I highly recommend adding it to lessen the tang of homemade curd.

Now its time for the assembly.

·       You have the jack fruit prepared.

·       You have onions fried.

·       You have half cooked rice

·       You have chopped coriander and mint ready.

·       This would be the right time to create the saffron mix. Just warm up a few tbsp of milk in microwave and drop in a few strands of kesar on to it. Let it bloom and get flavourful.

Now all you need is to set up a steaming station- gas or electric. 

Generously put ghee on the steel containers you choose to steam the biryani in. Put a thin layer of the most uncooked rice of the lot you have made earlier, in the bottom of the pan. Top it all with jackfruit masala. Now an even layer of onions needs to be followed with an even layer of chopped herbs. Top it all with rice once again.

This is where you need to be creative. Get a proper layer of fried onion on top. Now another generous sprinkle of herbs. Now get that saffron milk and spoon it all over the while rice. 

Close the lid, and let it steam for 30 minutes.

And when you open that lid once done, you will be transported to another world it self. Biryani is a soul food, which is made and perfected with love. Make it to believe it.

Cheers!!

Lets talk vegetarianism today...

What is vegetables to you judgmental vegetarian? Its just food, right? Then why so judgemental about other’s kind of food?

And you Non-vegetarian lover, no one asked you to smile away. You too are as judgmental to the vegetarian crowd as they are to you. 

Basically, I am not here to solve this tussle. But I am here to understand humanity from a different angle all together. Before all my gyaan pours in, note that I have an amazing recipe of Kachche Kathal ki Dum Biryani down after the post. Do make it a point to read that at least.

Now food is what we need to survive. Yes, survival makes us selfish. Yes, humans were created to be socially selfish. What we didn’t understand was the fine line in the middle which was defined as responsibility. Today, its easier to bombard your judgement on others about their choices, just because its different from yours. I have personally felt it from many vegetarians across communities who were so unreceptive to other’s choice. And by no means am I here to praise non-vegetarian sentiments. I am only here to talk about a choice of lifestyle and the fact that people need to respect it even if it is different than others’.

Vegetarians, you are killing too-

Yes, you read it right. The day you stop buying things with roots to your house, you may absolve from calling yourself a killer. But while chewing on a carrot stick and digging into a spinach salad; you are killing too. And at times, you even make sprouts, to kill it the very next day. How insensitive, you killed an infant which would have become a full-blown plant if you gave it that chance.

See, I get it. You feel we are butchers. But is it too much to ask that we are different and what you think may not be what I am thinking. I like meat and I have it. Doesn’t mean I don’t like carrots or tomatoes. I like myself and I nourish myself to the best of my ability. This is all we need to understand. As every ‘I’ is different, every ‘ability’ would also be different. All we need is to keep a responsibility tab on our ability and we are good to go. I request you to be just a bit more receptive. Yes, animals are animals, but the one you are speaking to is a human with feelings. Be truly responsible to his or her feelings first.  

Non-vegetarians, stop being wasteful-

I have noticed that most of the lavish households in this world don’t feel a thing when they toss out that perfectly edible offal down in the trash can. Please respect the food. Understand your need, and buy only what you need. Don’t stock up just for a good discount. Instead donate it to a needy right then and there. In our supermarket culture, discounts speak. But just respect it enough to not waste.

In early days, sausages and dry fish were invented to keep wastage at the minimal level, and to stock up for the winter which was harsh. These were pure sentiments designed to pay homage to the life of that animal who was sacrificed to keep humans healthy. Sin is not killing, but being unrespectful to the purpose of the kill. Today, those pure sentiments are lost upon a flimsy coat of civilization. When you get something so easily, its much easier to forget the real cost behind that.

Cow Vigilantism… Really??

Don’t even get me started on this point. I mean what was the government thinking while banning cow slaughter is beyond my understanding of un-discriminatory India. ‘Gaay hamari Mata Hai’ – ‘Cows are our mother’- a direct translation of the phrase. And upon asking a reason for this phrase, pat comes the answer- ‘because it gives us milk.’ But did you forget how much you grew up on buffalo milk? Or the pristine white clarified butter that was added to your vegetables? You know whose milk that came from- our humble buffalo. And still so discriminatory towards that big black beauty? I feel this is to do with India’s obsession with anything white. Too much I say!!!!

And even the fact about the milk production. Don’t you feel the only one supposed to drink that milk is the calf? Why are you bottling and selling it? When your mother, sister, wife birthed; was the milk extracted to feed a population? I am just asking the question without meaning harm. Don't you feel its time that you questioned this ban too?

Respect greenery-

The bigger issue to solve in today’s India is that every Indian needs to respect the green trees that surrounds us. I am educated enough to understand cutting trees for development is needed. I mean wider roads would solve many traffic jams. Or an extra residential complex may help lower the sky rocketing prices of flats. But all I am saying is for every Indian to rise up to this pollution with a solution that is as simple as can be. All we need to do is plant 15 plants in and outside our houses. That's all. Just plant flowers or herbs or vegetables, and keep them alive. Don’t be afraid of the mosquitoes or earth worm that they might get into your house. Yes, to start with they would; but eventually it is only going to better the situation that we are in right now. Imagine if all the four flats in every floor of a 12 floored society, planted 15 plants for every bedroom they had. Do the maths and then you would know. We would be able to purify our air much faster than an electronic air purifier. Plant more, grow more and buy less veggies should be the new urban mantra. 

And the most controversial for the last – Understand Halal before passing a judgement over it.

Yes I am Hindu, and yet I am telling you that I love to buy Halal as far as my meat and poultry needs go. Halal doesn’t mean an inhuman way to cut. It means that we are making sure that impurities run out and the meat is fit for consumption. Scientifically it is a better process for storage and safer to eat too. Ideologically too, these days most of the supermarkets make sure that the butchers stun the animals before the halal process begins. Understand the origin of this process. It has stemmed from a pure emotion of survival in a hot sunny dessert area. Survival of healthy humans in a far flung dessert area with limited water supply was tough. And yet, they survived. Truly, Necessity is the mother of all inventions!!

This article is written with a pure intention to ask relevant questions about our choices. In no way am I to favor one to another forms of eating habit. Both these eating habits (veg and non-veg) makes for a balanced country. So literally a balance is all we should crave for.

Kachchi Kathal ki Dum Biryani-

Recipe and ingredients on a click here.

Cheers!!