Left Over Wow - Layered Methi Biryani!!

A young mom’s biggest tension in life is to get rid of the huge amounts of leftover she gets left with. My child however so I wish, refuses to eat many things that are staple to his growth. But I ain’t one of those moms who is going to quietly make those left overs my own dinner. I spice and spruce it up and make it a bigger than life thing for the full family to enjoy. This post is an idea which pretty much stemmed out of this very emotion.

So I harvest these young fenugreek leaves, about which I wrote in my earlier post- 

Growing Your Greens- Fenugreek!!

My son is extremely happy to have parathas made with fenugreek the first day. The next day too he devoured these bitter microgreens with ease and I was beyond happy. So I sowed the seeds again and this time when I harvested, I decided to try a rice dish instead. I was in a mood to prepare a wow dish, but had a big bowl of left over rice in the fridge with some hard boiled eggs which was very rudely denied by my little guy the previous night. So to serve him something healthy yet fenugreek-y, I took some carrots and ripe pumpkin to make a curry where the spice used was just these fresh microgreens from my balcony. Then I transformed the curry into a layered biryani adding in some hidden flavours. If you are positively curious about the dish now, then you should definitely read on to the next page to get possibly the most amazing yet so very simple- Layered Methi and Subz Biryani. 

Ingredients for making the Fenugreek and Veggie Curry

2 medium carrots cut in ½ inch pieces

150 gms pumpkin cut in big ½ inch pieces

Harvested fenugreek microgreens. I didn’t really weigh or measure it, but it would be approximately 3 big handfuls.

2 tbsp of mustard oil      

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

1 dry red chilly

Salt to taste

A pinch of Turmeric

Sugar to taste

To be ground-

2 to 3 fat cloves of garlic

2 small onions or a big one

3 green chiliies

Handful of cilantro leaves

For layering-

Cooked Rice (stale or not, nothing for guessing what i must have used!)

A boiled egg sliced

A couple of spoonful of mango and chilly pickle with mustard oil (I used a homemade mango and chilly pickle. I had followed Alpana Habib’s method of pickling. She is a famous celebrity chef from Bangladesh, whose food is quintessentially Bengali. But for this recipe, any other hot and sour and sweet pickle would work as well. I love to use the oil mixed with juice of the pickle so it is a good idea if you are buying a pickle, buy the one which is preserved in mustard oil)

A dash of milk

Sliced onion fried- barista (optional)

Chopped cilantro

Now head on to SmartIndianWoman.in for the detailed recipe.

Cheers!!

Note-

I didn’t use fried onions because it’s extremely tedious to cut fry and drain it, just for a weekday lunch to be carried to the office. But if I was to serve it in a party, I would do these extra steps willingly.

To make it completely vegetarian, just omit the egg part and you are good to go.

Poila Boishak Special

Come Wednesday, and the full Bengal would be in a festive spirit. It’s Poila Boishak- the Bengali New Year, right in the middle of a week. But Kolkata doesn’t care. It becomes just like getting 2 weekends in a week…

I urge all who read this to try at least one thing bong this Wednesday. I have compiled a list of easy recipes, that’s taken from the heart and soul of my kitchen. I make these recipes very often, and that’s why they are completely full/foolproof.

Pinwheel Kachori!

To start with, try this yum inspired Matarshuti Kachori (Pea filled flat-breads), my way. I have given it a spin by making it in pinwheels and baking it to crispy perfection, instead of the traditional frying. This serves as a wonderful appetizer, any day of the week.

Recipe

Kumro Chokka

For main course, go the veg way by making Kumro Chokka (a dry version of pumpkin curry). This pairs well with rice, Roti, and / or paratha

 Recipe

Paneer Gravy-ed and Sumac-ed Cous-cous!!

Or take the paneer route by making my famous Paneer Dalna (paneer curry) with no onion or garlic. Simple yet clean flavours.

 Recipe

Daab Chingri!!!

If fish is in your mind, then try these super easy recipe of Daab Chingri (Prawns cooked in a tender coconut). If you can’t source these tender coconuts then do the same recipe in a glass dish and stick it in a steamer or a microwave. I prefer to steam my fishes, which to me tastes much better. 

Recipe

Relishing Hilsa..

Ilish, or hilsa need no introduction. The flavour just transcends it into a hero of the dinner at a go.

Recipe

                              Hansher Dim Kosha- Duck Eggs Fry

But if its eggs that you like, then Dim Kosha is the way forward. You can use duck eggs or simple hen eggs, but the curry never fails me.

Recipe

                  Coco-nutty Goodness!!! 

For a quick dessert fix, try my easy peasy Pithe Payesh inspired Coconutty Goodness. Pithe Payesh is a bong homemade dessert where a porridge is made with milk, but no rice. In this recipe I have used semolina and coconut. This is easy to put together and can be made a day in advance for a party as well.

Recipe

After such a big Bong dose of yummy food ideas, I am sure you are inspired enough to throw a full-fledged bong party soon. Cheers!!

Savouring the festivities- Fish in Orange Reduction!!

Everyone this season seems to be baking some delectably rich cakes, pies and pastries! Ah the cinnamon-y coffee smell that permeates through the house while we bake in our delicious treats is so welcoming. I love it and I am sure every one of you reading me right now, do as well. And hence I don’t feel like writing about it at all. A baking marathon later, you actually are left with very little patience to sit and write about the same sugar cakes and cookies. But my oven is standing sturdy this season. It is allowing the tired baker in me to entertain my guests with a flashy dinner in seconds.

Yup, you guessed it. In this festive season of buttery baking, I am going to write about healthy savoury baking. It’s such an easy recipe, and takes absolutely no time to pull off this meal for a last minute visitor at your house. All you need to do is to keep a stacked up freezer with fresh fishes from the farmer’s market or haat, some fresh/frozen peas and oranges.

The premise of this meal lies on the freshness of the produce you buy. While peas frozen will not affect you, but a frozen fish definitely will. I added a bit of leafy freshness to the plate too in form of a 2 second recipe of wilted spinach and pea pureed with a hint of mint. The orange reduction just brings all of these flavours together, and how beautifully so. Its restaurant worthy dish, and friends of yours will remember it long after the plates are cleared.

Ingredients

Roasted Pomfret

2 Cleaned and fresh Pomfret fish

2 tart limes/lemons

Salt and pepper to taste

1 inch piece of peeled ginger

Olive oil

Pea Puree

1 cup Boiled pea

1 clove of garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Green chilly to taste

A handful of mint leaves

Olive oil

Wilted Spinach

A big handful of cleaned spinach leaves, roughly chopped

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Orange Reduction

2 oranges zested and juiced

Salt and pepper

A teaspoon worth of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Method-

We will start with the fish as it will take the most time to cook, but while that happens, we can get all the rest of the components ready.

Preheat you oven to 180 degree C.

Salt and pepper the fishes thoroughly and set it aside for 5 minutes to marinade.

Slice the lime and ginger in thin rounds. Put these rounds in the pocket of the fish with some olive oil massaged on the meat. Now transfer the fish onto an oiled baking sheet and oil the top generously.  

Roast the fishes at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes. The time of cooking would depend on the size of the fish. So on the 15 minute mark, check the meaty part of one of the fishes. If the meat is all white, it’s done. Any streak of red means it needs another couple of minutes to be cooked.

Once the fish hits the oven, get a pan on medium heat with some olive oil and finely chopped garlic. Let these both come up to the temperature together. Once hot, cluster on the cleaned, chopped spinach, and let it wilt uncovered. Salt and pepper to taste. I keep it a bit crunchy, that’s why I never chop the spinach too small, but I wait for the water in the spinach to dry up. It takes me about 2 to 3 minutes to reach the kind of crunchiness I like.

Now put all pea puree ingredients in a blender and blend up till it reaches the puree texture you like. I microwave my fresh peas, adding most minimum water as possible. I puree it without eliminating the water. As my blender is really old, I blend the puree in parts. First goes in the garlic and green chilli, then mint; and finally the peas. I don’t blend the olive oil in the machine. Instead I like to topple out the puree in a serving bowl, and mix salt, pepper and oil by folding with a spatula.  

Juicing fresh oranges can be a bit time consuming, so I normally get one of my guests to come in the kitchen with me to help with juicing. Fresh orange juice hits the pan on a medium heat, and let it bubble to reduce to half its quantity. Once there, take it off the heat and season to your taste with salt, pepper and Extra virgin olive oil. Whisk it well to emulsify. In case your reduction turns bitter, balance it out with some sugar a fresh lemon juice. Mine didn’t and it was perfect as it was.  

And just like that, an epic dinner is made- Simple, elegant and delicious! I really hope you give it a try, following all my tips and tricks. Cheers!!