Catfish nuggets with cauliflower & potatoes

Ingredients

Cauliflower – 1 (cut into big florets)

Russet potato – 1 (diced into cubes)

Catfish fillet – 2 (cubed into nugget size)

Onions – half (chopped)

Garlic – 2 cloves (grated)

Ginger – 1 inch  (grated) or 1tsp of  ginger paste

Garam masala – 1tsp (equal quantities of whole green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon ground in a coffee grinder)

Salt – to taste

Turmeric – 1 tsp (half for the fish and half for the vegetables)

Sugar – a pinch

Paprika – a pinch

Green chillies – for garnish

My friends have often asked me how to make cauliflower tasty and yet not overcook it. The traditional Bengali way of cooking cauliflower is to apply salt and turmeric, and then fry it in oil before making a curry out of it. Needless to say, this method is not suitable for some of us who like to know how many calories they are consuming. So, I experimented with a different method (roasting) that I will share in this recipe today.

As a teenager, one of the few fish dishes that I liked was one named 'aloo -phulkopi diye maacher jhuro' or fish scrambled with potato and cauliflower. The Bengali name is always more exotic, eh? This served as an excellent dish when accompanied with Roti, which the average Bengali loves to eat on winter evenings and believes causes the consumption of  less calories than rice. We can go on and on about this interesting topic of debate but lets save that for another day.

While making dinner these days, I often have to keep in mind the little butterfly at home. Yes, no longer a caterpillar, the little butterfly will often ask me what I am making for her dinner and gets very upset if what I am cooking is not upto her liking. So, I have to come up with creative ways of making her like what I am cooking!

On one such winter evening, when I was preparing to make catfish with some cauliflower and potatoes came the question: "What are you making for me, mamma?" The guilty iMom quickly answered without much thinking: "Fish nuggets. Would like some?" A happy smile indicated yes.

Relieved, I went on to apply salt and turmeric on the catfish fillet, cut them into small cubes, heat a non-stick pan and pan-fry the catfish 'nuggets'. The little princess soon got busy with her plateful on fish nuggets, roti and vege chips (read lettuce). Weird combination? Tell me about it!

Meanwhile, I tossed the cauliflower florets and diced potato chunks in olive oil, salt and turmeric and put it in a pre-heated oven for roasting at 400F for 30 minutes. This left me enough time to cater to my daughter and ensure she ate everything on her plate.

Half an hour later, I returned to my kitchen. In a wok, I heated some more oil, added some crushed garlic and sauteed some onions till they became translucent. I added ginger, the roasted cauliflower and potatoes with salt, turmeric and a pinch of sugar and paprika each. I let this cook by itself covered (occasionally adding drops of water if the mixture got too dry in the wok). When the vegetables were cooked, I added the fish, green chillies, home-made garam masala and cooked for another 5 minutes.

The Bengali was happy that night to eat fish and roti -- not caring much about the calories.

It's the Pumpkin season!

Spicy potato and pumpkin with Chana (Indian Chickpeas)

Few weeks back, my daughter picked up a pumpkin during our visit to a farm. Given that she is only three years old, there is no way she is going to be carving that for Halloween. Candies and costumes matter to her as far as Halloween is concerned. For the foodie in me, it seems like a waste to carve and not eat the pumpkin. So, I decided to cook it up this season.  As a child, I had seen my mom make this dish, often during the festive season. The reason was that we needed to eat vegetarian dish during some days and this served as a good dish to go with parathas/puris. In Bengali, it is called 'Kumror chhokka' -- Kumro meaning Pumpkin.

 The pumpkins needed to be prepped few days before the actual cooking -  peeled, cut and diced into small cubes. Before going out for work that day, I remembered to soak some Chana in water.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
Pumpkin - one-fourth of a small pumpkin (peeled, cut & diced)
Russet potato -1 (peeled and cubed)
Ginger - 1 inch (grated)
Chana (Indian chickpeas) - soaked in water for about 8 hours
Cumin powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1tsp
Red chilli powder/paprika to taste (optional)
Turmeric - 0.5 tsp
Sugar & salt to taste
Olive oil - 2tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Five spices (fennel seed, mustard seed, fenugreek seed, cumin seed, onion seed) - 1tsp
Whole dried red chilli - 1

Since it was a working day, I could not do much cooking before feeding the 3-year old. However,  before starting the dinner with my little princess, I heated up some oil in a cooking pan and added the potato, pumpkin and chickpeas with salt,turmeric,ginger,cumin and coriander . I left this covered on low heat  and went back to mommy duties. A couple of Diego & Dora episodes later, the outcome was a full tummy and a happy child who could now play by herself.

Taking advantage of  the circumstances, I went back to the kitchen and added about one-sixth cup of water to keep the vegetables moist. When everything looked cooked, I added sugar and red chill powder. Two minutes before I was ready to take the dish down from heat, I heated up some ghee, in a separate small pan, and splattered the five spices and whole red chill in it. This imparts a very Bengali aroma to the dish and reminds me of home every time. The roasted seeds & red chilli was poured into the dish along with the ghee. After mixing for a minute, this dish was ready.

Semi Home-made Panini

After another tiring day of work, it was time to make dinner and feed the family. Although no one makes moms officially responsible for dinner, we somehow delegate ourselves to this brain-racking chore. To me it is not the physical effort of cooking dinner that seems difficult, but the endless thought processes that run in my brain simultaneously that cause all the stress. It starts when I leave work and start driving: "What should I prepare for dinner today? Maybe rice and vegetables?....umm, no the little one needs proteins too.... yeah, maybe fish for her, I can fry some fish quickly for her...but then what would we eat?... don't feel like fried fish today...etc etc".. and it goes on and on...

After struggling with the little one and her dose of rice, fish and vegetables for an hour, I did not want to look at those anymore. This recipe was a welcome break from my mundane Indian dinner. This is also one of the recipes whose outcome cannot be attributed to the recipe or the cook. It solely depends on the freshness and quality of the ingredients. Although I must admit, if you do happen to get a few words of praise from your better half, go on and take credit ;-)


For all sandwich lovers out there: If you thought fresh yummy Panini is available only in classy sandwich places, read on. This recipe might just be for you.


I got all of the following ingredients from Whole Foods:

(Makes 3 panini)

Sliced sourdough bread - 6 slices (use the slices from the middle to make a decent sized panini)
Pesto sauce as a spread
Butter
Organic Heirloom tomato - 1
Fresh mozzarella cheese (the ones stored in a watery solution)
Basil leaves - fresh from the plant (you got it right, I just bought the whole plant)
Salt & black pepper to taste

To the outside of the bread, I spread the butter and on the inside, I spread the pesto sauce. Butter side down, on one slice of bread, I added 3 slices of heirloom tomatoes, 3 slices of mozzarella cheese, 3 fresh basil leaves and very little salt & pepper. The other side was placed on top (pesto side down). The whole assembly was put on an electric grill and I pressed the lid occasionally but did not shut it completely. The Panini was nice, crunchy and so fresh to taste.

You are probably thinking: "Wait, this is not an Indian dish! What is this doing on iMom's journal?" Here is the reason. During dinner today, I thought I have to share this simple yet tasty recipe on my blog today. Maybe somewhere out there, is a reader who just wants to break free from the mundane dinner. Maybe, some reader out there, works from home sometime and decides to take a lunch break and is craving for a good sandwich but does not want to go to the nearest grocery store. Maybe they will get an idea and make this sometime. If this blog brings change to even one person's life in a positive way, even for a meal, I will consider myself lucky :-)

Squash Dolma

Dolma or Dorma is usually a vegetable stuffed with something and then cooked in a gravy or fried. There is the Turkish dish where rice is stuffed in grape leaves. The  dish that my mother makes back home is made from 'Potol', a special squash or gourd that I have seen only in India -- of course we get the chopped and frozen version here but I cannot count that as 'real' food. I have often wanted to make this dish not only because it tastes great but also because is beautiful to look at.

On receiving some comments from my last post, Fish chop (recipe here), that the fish stuffing was  easy to make, I decided to use the same recipe for the stuffing.

To prepare the squash for stuffing, I first peeled out alternative stripes on the squash. This makes the dish attractive as well as ensures the squash is seasoned to the core. After this, I halved the squash, cut a round slice to make a lid and then, scooped out the inside to make a hollow pipe like structure. One end of the squash was left intact while the cut end was sliced one more time to make a lid out of the edge (see picture). The hollow squash was then seasoned with salt.

The next step was to insert the fish stuffing (recipe here) into the hollow squash and seal the covers with wooden toothpicks or small pieces of wooden barbecue skewers. The squash was then deep-fried in heated oil, each side for about 4 minutes until it became slightly golden brown.

We were impressed with the outcome of this experimentation and I thought I must share this with all my friends who miss this dish and would like to make it from fresh ingredients. For the kids though, I am not sure this is going to work -- my little one rejects anything unfamiliar so I have to resort to sneaky ways of feeding her squash. Hey, they say all is fair in love or war -- it is both when it comes to feeding toddlers,  so I guess I am fair :)

Father's day special: Maacher (Fish) Chop

Many of my friends asked me why I had stopped writing. Surprised, I said I had not but then soon realized that it was indeed more than a month since I posted something! How time flies .... As the mom of an infant, I had foolishly assumed that once I was out of the diaper changing circle, life would be a piece of cake and that it would be easy to go back to my normal peaceful life. How naive was I... I also realized that the writing part is actually more difficult than cooking. I guess moms can hardly escape from cooking... "How will I teach healthy eating habits to my kid if I don't give her home-cooked food?" -- the paranoid mom in me thinks. So, here I am most of the days, rushing around the kitchen frantically after a full day's work to present a decent meal for my toddler.

But the things I cook on those days are not always out of the ordinary that I can write about and even if they are, who has the energy to write when I am asleep (or should I say unconscious) while trying to put the little one to bed. Anyways, while celebrating Father's day, this weekend I cooked a special meal for the toddler's dad and a very dear friend. And one of the star dishes was the 'Maacher Chop (Fish meatballs). I thought I have to share this on my blog!!

Ingredients:
(Make 10-15)

Flounder fillet - 5
Yellow onions chopped - half
Crushed garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Red potatoes (Boiled) - 4
Turmeric - 1tsp
Garam masala - 2tsp
Paprika - 2 tsp
Sugar - a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil as required
Egg - 1
Breadcrumbs - as needed

In an iron wok, I added about 5 tbsp of oil and added the crushed garlic, yellow onions and ginger and cooked for about 4 minutes. To this, I added the fish fillet and tried mashing the fish with a spatula, cooking it at the same time. After cooking the fish for about 6 minutes, I added the remaining spices (Salt, turmeric, garam masala, paprika) and cooked the entire mixture until it was as dry as a stuffing.

To the above fish mixture, I added the boiled potatoes, mashed them and shaped them like short sausages. Each one was dipped in whisked egg and a coating of breadcrumbs was applied. The fish balls were then deep fried and served with mustard dip (Kashondi), the traditional Bengali way. Need I say how it tasted? All you fish lovers try it and let me know!

My first Rosogolla

It is a little difficult to define 'Rosogolla' - if I say, a traditional round sweet dish made of cottage cheese and immersed in simple syrup, I would be doing injustice. Rosogolla is a tradition of Bengal, is the grand finale to any Bengali feast and is something very close to the heart of all Bengalis, even for one like me who has no sweet tooth. It reminds us of home and unites and provides an inexplicable comfort for those of us living far away.

This weekend I hosted a friend's Shaad (traditional Bengali baby shower). It was a potluck and since I did not do most of the cooking, I decided to make something sweet for a change. I had been intending to try out this challenging recipe for a few years. For those that are not aware, as simple as Rosogolla looks, it is equally difficult to perfect.

Ingredients (Makes 40):

Milk - 1 gallon
Sugar as needed
Semolina/flour - couple of tsps
Lemon - 2.5( big)
Water for syrup
Jaggery (gur) optional
Cardamom - 6


Amidst all chaos around a two and a half year old at home, I boiled the milk and curdled it with the juice of freshly squeezed lemon. I strained the cheese that came out of this as a result and left it in the strainer for a while, squeezing out all the liquid from time to time.

Thanks to daddy who agreed to take the little one out on some errands, mommy concentrated on mashing the cheese with some semolina as long as needed to get a smooth texture. Small amounts of this cheese was shaped in round balls between two hands and the surface smoothed with little water, if needed. It is important that the surface of the balls be smooth to avoid them from cracking later on. In parallel, mommy also prepared some simple syrup (sugar + water + cardamom) in a pressure cooker.

When the syrup was boiling, I immersed the round cheese balls and pressure cooked them for 20 minutes. When 20 minutes were over, I switched off the burner and let them stand in the cooker. I read somewhere that it is important to be not curious and to not let the steam out forcibly. This can harden the rosogolla. I waited patiently (the toughest part) until the cooker had cooled down and put them in a deep bowl of warm simple syrup, this time made of water, sugar and jaggery. After pressure cooking all the cheese balls (I needed to make them in batches), I thickened the syrup and added it to the serving bowl.

Daddy and toddler came back just in time and I quickly drifted from my serene cooking time to sprinting around the house with the toddler's lunch, and soon found myself running around the house tidying it up for the evening. By evening, the rosogollas had the right amount of sweetness in them. Depending on how sweet you like them, adjust the viscosity of the syrup in the serving bowl. Dinner was served with fanfare and my dear friends complimented me on the success.

I did not get to eat any that night because my grand finale was a cranky howling child who did not want the party to end and was very very upset that her friends were leaving.
All other moms will know that I am not being sarcastic when I say "its all worth it" :-) I was proved right when the next morning I received a big hug and was wished "Happy Mother's Day" by the little devil who turned into an angel overnight :)

Salmon with Mustard

As a kid, I would hear my mom say how her Bengali friends rave about mustard while her friends from other parts of India found the pungency hard to handle.  As a mustard lover myself, I have always wanted to experiment this ingredient on different taste palates. Last holiday season, when we had some non-Indian friends over for dinner, I decided to take this chance.

Before this undertaking, I cautioned myself a bit. First, I selected a salmon, a well-known fish in the US. I thought this would put my guests at ease and not create a fear of the unknown. Secondly, I decided to strain out the husks from my mustard paste   -- the husks impart more pungency and  cause a bitter taste. Lastly, I decided to omit mustard oil which is commonly used in Bengali cooking in fish recipes.

Ingredients:

Salmon – filet vacuum packs from Whole foods

Onion seeds (a pinch) - optional

Black mustard seeds – half cup

Green chillies – 8-10

Turmeric – 2 tsp

Olive oil – to pan fry the fish and additional 3tbsp

Cilantro for garnish

Salt to taste

I began by soaking the mustard seeds in water and wet grinding the seeds  along with salt, water, 6 chillies, and 0.5tsp of turmeric. The consistency was that of a smooth paste with husks. I mixed this paste with water only to decant the water later. How I love applying physics to my recipes!

After patting the salmon fillet dry and rubbing some salt and turmeric to the fish,  I pan fried both sides to ensure a crispy outer crust was developed but the inside of the fish remained soft. In about 3tsp of oil, I added the onion seeds , the remaining green chillies (slit in halves) ,  0.5 tsp of turmeric and added the decanted water from the mustard paste. When the sauce was simmering, I poured this over the salmon in a baking dish, covered it and baked the fish in the sauce at 350F for about 20 minutes.

Voila fish was ready for dinner – garnished it in style with cilantro. My guests were a bit apprehensive in the beginning but guess what, this dish did become the star of the dinner! So all you people who are scared of mustard, I tell ya: mustard and fish make a great combination, so go ahead and experiment! ;-) 

Cereals for lunch!

After a two-month hiatus, I am back to writing. In these two months, I travelled back to my home country where I gained a lot of things- rest, immunity by fighting  sickness, new clothes, pampering of my loved ones and a few more pounds :-) So, once the jet lag was over, I started wondering how I could get myself back in shape before summer is here and those sleeveless dresses come out of the closet. Now, I am no health nut, I cringe at the thought of salad for lunch and feel tired even before I get up on the treadmill but this time I somehow managed to motivate myself.

The first thought that occurred was to start exercising that I had been procrastinating shamelessly for months.  But I also realized that only exercise would not help me lose all the extra baggage that came with the pampering back home. Few days back, I saw Kellogs special K breakfast cereals on my kitchen counter which claimed to lose upto 6 lbs in 2 weeks.  Also, the routine promised me one regular meal. I have to admit I was tempted to jump onto the bandwagon because I could then have my regular meal including rice :-) (Yes, you got it right - I have no shame in confessing I love carbs).

The thought of a healthy diet was all very exciting but at the same time cereals with milk for breakfast and lunch was not very appetizing. Not to mention the lack of my sweet tooth.  So, for lunch I made this quick spicy mixture which tasted great and was healthy as well.  Mixed the following ingredients and lunch was ready. If its too spicy, pair it with some freshly squeezed juice.

Kellog's Speacial K Rice cereal (the flattened ones) or rice crispies- 1 serving
Cucumber (chopped) - 1tbsp
Onions (chopped) - 1tsp
Cilantro (optional)
Green chilli - 1 (chopped)
Boiled potato (one -fourth of a medium sized and then chopped)
Oil - 3-4 drops (I used mustard oil but that may be pungent for many, so feel free to omit)
Salt and paprika to taste
Dry mango powder - a pinch

If you want to indulge further, add some crushed cashews or peanuts and few drops of lemon juice. Bengalis across the world will recognize this as jhaal muri :-)

Ragda patties (Chaat with Potato pancakes and chickpeas)

The holiday season came and went by in a wink. Although there was a lot of cooking and eating involved,  as you can see, there was very little writing. As I prepare myself for the upcoming work week, here I am back to writing amidst all craziness. Being a mom of a toddler is a challenge in itself and my friends often ask me how I manage to write. Here is my answer: Often when I get distracted from writing, somehow I come across  a reader of my blog, who tells me how much they enjoy reading it. Few days ago at an event, a friend came up to me and said she enjoyed reading the blog and that it gave her comfort. And so, with a boosted confidence, I am back to writing once again.

Today's recipe is a common snack dish that I first ate in Bombay, or Mumbai as it is officially known now. It is a chaat type of recipe and comprises of 3 parts - potato pancake, chickpeas curry and condiments. I guess all 3 are pretty vital in completing this dish. So, when I hosted the New Year's eve party at my place for friends, I decided to make this  appetizer.

Potato pancake (makes 20)

Mashed potato mix (non flavored) - 1.5 boxes
Cumin - whole (as desired)
Red onions - 1 medium (chopped)
Jalapenos - 2 (chopped and deseeded)
Cilantro - as desired (optional)
Paprika - 2tsp
Salt to taste
Dry mango powder - 1tsp
Flour - 1/4cup
Oil - to shallow fry
Water - to make a dough

As a child, I had seen my mom make these little potato pancakes, often called aloo tikki in India. They would be such a hassle because she had to ensure the potatoes were boiled to the right degree and then peel the potatoes and mash them by hand. If she were making these for guests, then she would have to keep aside an hour or so for just the preparation. On moving to the US, the first thing I thought when I saw the mashed potato mix during thanksgiving season was "Can I make aloo tikki with this?" You bet I can! So, I mixed all the ingredients in a glass bowl and made small cookie sized pancakes which I shallow fried and set aside. One thing I learnt during the frying procedure was not to have too much oil on the pan and that flipping the pancakes should be done only once to brown each side. Mashed potato softens in oil, hence we should not be flipping until one side had formed a thick crust. Yes, it takes practice and I messed up a few as well but with the second batch I was a pro!

Chickpeas curry (Chole masala)

Chickpeas (boiled & canned) - 3 cans
Red onions - 1 medium chopped
Tomato puree - 0.5 cup
Ginger grated - 2"
Chole masala or turmeric+cumin+garam masala - 3-4tbsp
Green chillies & cilantro - as desired
Olive oil - 6tbsp
Salt to adjust after adding masala

A happy child equals to a happy mom and a better cook. A full tummy often keeps a child happy. So, I first set out to win my first battle of the evening, i.e. feed dinner to my two year old. After exhausting half of my energy in the process, I returned fully satisfied to my kitchen with my remaining half of the energy. The toddler was left behind in the living room to talk with her favorite TV character, Diego. First, I sauteed the onions and ginger in heated olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then I added the masala and tomato puree and sauteed for another 4 minutes. The I added the chickpeas, water and salt and let it cook for about 20 minutes.

Condiments:
Cucumber - (chopped)
Tomato ketchup
Red onions chopped
Tamarind chutney
Hot and sweet chilli sauce
Cilantro
Whipped yoghurt
Chopped tomatoes
Bhujiya (Salty Indian snack)

The idea is to place the pancake and top it with a spoonful of the chickpeas. Then add your favorite condiment/salad/chutney and savor it.  What was best -- this was all made possible in an hour. My friends say they loved it and so did I! :-)