Prepare Bengali Garam Masala at home

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In my previous posts I have shared my fondness towards authentic Bengali vegetable recipes. That was when I decided to write about an important spice blend, garam masala. The heart of most Indian and of course Bengali recipes contains a very interesting blend of spices,. We call it ‘Garam Masala’. ‘Garam’ means ‘hot’ (as in the strong flavors that the spices exude) and ‘masala’ means ‘blend’. As you must be knowing that Indian cuisine contains a lot of oriental spices and 'garam masala' is the most common of them. Keeping the basic ingredients intact the masala varies from region to region. Here, I am going to write about the Bengali garam masala which includes a proportionate mix of cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, cumin seeds, star aniseeds, clove sprigs, peppercorns, bay leaves, nutmeg and saffron. 

Even before it's prepared the whole spices release an extensive aroma that enrich and enhance the food they go into. It’s the essential seasoning that the vegetable recipes (niramish ranna) cannot do without. We can find the ready-made version of the spice blend in almost every shop around the block. However, there is nothing like preparing it at home, a batch ahead, and using it straightaway. I have seen my grandmother, and now my mom, picking, clearing (with clean cotton cloth) and grinding the spices at home. Although it sounds elaborate, it hardly takes 10 -15 minutes, depending upon the quantity you wish to grind.

The mix is prepared in simple steps and it needs to be stored in airtight containers to retain the fresh, exotic aroma. Garam masala adds texture, color and flavor to the food and enhances a simple recipe.

The chief ingredients are easily available and once you get those, arrange for an airtight container and a grinder (coffee grinder will do as well). Roast all the ingredients, except the saffron, on a slow flame till the spices get a shade darker. Remove from the flame immediately, add the threads of saffron and allow it to cool down. Once cooled, grind the spices in the dry and clean grinder. Sieve the mix and store in an airtight container. Garam masala prepared at home can be stored for several months while still retaining the original flavor.

The ingredients:

2 tbsps cumin seeds

1 star aniseed

1 tbsps black peppercorns

4 pods cardamom

4 cloves

3-4 sticks, moderately sized cinnamon sticks

2 bay leaves

1 whole nutmeg

A few threads of saffron (optional)

Tips

Be patient. Roast on slow, low heat.

Add the saffron after the skillet is removed from the flame, but when still hot.

Sieve thoroughly to remove coarse particles.

Store in an airtight container only after it has cooled down.

Try putting a little amount in your food to start off since it has a strong flavor that you might need time to get used to.

Medicinal value

'Garam masala' is an amazing blend of spices that keeps us warm in winter and cool in hot months. The individual spices have great medicinal values, that add to the usefulness of the spice blend. It has intrinsic qualities that help in digestion (they help stimulate the secretion of enzymes), nutrient assimilation, reducing inflammation and in relieving pains. It also relaxes the body muscles, eases out mental stress, acts as an appetizer and helps coping with cough, cold, bronchitis.

Garam masala has a strong flavour and not everyone likes it. So striking a right balance is very important. I like it when used in small quantity and only in a few specific dishes. My mother has mastered the art of what it takes to make a dish just perfect and hopefully I will too soon.

Photo copyright: MouD

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Authentic Bengali 'niramish' Shukto recipe

A traditional Bengali gastronomy comprises of five or more elaborate courses starting with a bitter vegetable dish and ending in a sweet note. In between we have some delightful range of varied Bengali delicacies that's going to make you revisit Bengal again and again. 

Today I am going to share a vegetable recipe that needs hands on apprenticeship before you can actually plate it to the guests. Shukto is usually eaten in the beginning of the afternoon meal (lunch) which is considered the main meal of the day. It has a bitter taste due to the primary vegetable bitter gourd and it has gut cleansing science behind it. There are several variations of shukto recipes and both East Bengal and West Bengal have experimented with this traditional dish keeping the basic ingredients intact. My mother cooks a few alterations depending on the season and availability of the vegetables.

Shukto

Shukto is an appetizer packed with vegetables and some very special spices. It is usually served at the beginning of the meal with steamed rice and a liberal spritz of clarified butter/ ghee.

Ingredients

Fresh produce cut in slices include:

Bitter gourd (uchhe/ korola)

Potato

Sweet potato (optional)

Egg plant/ aubergine/ brinjal

Plantain/ raw banana

Parwal/ a type of gourd (optional)
Drumsticks (optional)

Green chilies

Bori (dried lentil dumplings)

Spices:

Mustard seeds

Radhuni seeds (optional)

Bay leaf

Coriander ground

Cumin ground

Ginger paste
Poppy seed paste (optional)

Milk

Ghee/ white oil

In a wok deep fry the "boris", drain the oil and keep aside. Fry the cut bitter gourds till medium brown and put aside. Sauté the rest of the cut vegetables in while oil (mixed with ghee) till half done. Dish them aside. In a wok put oil and sizzle the mustard, radhuni seeds and the bayleaf till they start to pop. Add ginger, coriander and cumin paste and cook for a minute before putting all the fried vegetables in the wok.  Add sugar and salt and the slit green chilies. Then add lukewarm water and simmer till the vegetables are tender and once it is done add a cup of milk. Bring it to boil. Add ghee on the top before dishing out.

Serve this delicious shukto with steamed rice, gondhoraj lebu (lemon) and ghee.


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The meat scandal and the Bengali delirium - To eat or not to eat

The meat scandal and the Bengali delirium - To eat or not to eat

The recent meat scandal took a psychic toll on Calcutta a.k.a. Kolkata. The food loving city witnessed a delirium that shook the nation overnight. In what seemed to be a compulsive frenzy the Bengalis turned from being meatatarians to being vegetarian just in a wink of eye! That is particularly strange because the Bengalis swear by fish, meat and everything that is "non-vegetarian". So, to turn

a Bengali meatless you need to do something really horrific and nothing more horrific can ever happen to any nation than to mess up with the staple of its people. 

The meat scandal unleashed a whole new perspective of consumerism in Kolkata. What we wanted to buy and what we actually bought - the disparity has been staggering. The horrific act of supplying rotten meat and carcasses of animals to the eateries and we, as end users, eating it in delicious packaging left us shocked and disgusted. It’s a different level of never seen before criminal connivance.

Following this, copious bytes on television channels unfolding news of unhygienic and criminal act of meat scandal has left the meatatarian Bengalis pathetically shaken. The ghastly criminality traded

in the toxic rotten flesh even to the reputed eating houses and made us loathe it more. So, when we as a family, found ourselves refraining from eating meat and chicken it was not a surprise.  The decision was compulsive and generic. 

Our kitchen, too, like most Bengali household, is hit hard by this sudden sting operation. In an endeavour to replace the meat satiation, my mother is busy revamping her culinary skills. She wanted to do this since long and now she has enough reasons and motivation. The end result – we are enjoying the traditional, almost forgotten, delicious vegetable recipes at home. So, if you find me writing down about vegetable Bengali recipes in the several of the articles henceforth don't be surprised. 

Keep visiting folks. I will be up with some wonderful authentic Bengali vegetable recipes soon. Thank you.


Pic credit: LiveLiving

If it is Chinese it's Calcutta Chinese

My love for Chinese food began from the streets of Calcutta. The just sprouted roadside stalls tucked in every other corner of the city would sell stir fried, extra bouncy Chowmein,  a.k.a Chowmin as pronounced by the local Bengalis. It was served with squirts of orange red tomato ketchup and onion-cucumber julienne. 

I was the child of eighties. That was the time when home made Chinese food was not in vogue. We were used to the 3-5 courses of traditional Bengali gastronomy.  Once in a while we did go to the restaurants that sold Chinese food. But then that was a rare indulgence. One such restaurant, I remember, had a fancy name, “China Palace”. This quaint little place with red dragons and golden chimes on the walls, was the most sought after eatery in the neighbourhood. Having to eat there was an affair to remember. We would plan for hours many days in advance and once the day arrived our excitement knew no bounds. The restaurant was nearby and the aroma of irresistible Chinese broth would draw us to the restaurant sooner. We would sit on the same corner where the regular happy waiters would pry on us. The course invariably would start with my father’s personal favourite, clear chicken soup. It was a broth prepared with miserly amount of chicken and lot of spring onions. My sisters and I used to skip it in order to binge on the main course. The main course would almost always include mixed fried rice, boneless chili chicken, mixed noodles and sometimes we would eat ice creams as dessert. That was the standard platter and we didn’t get to experiment beyond since that was all the quaint eatery had to offer.

Later, as I was growing up I realized that the Chinese food that we were eating was actually a over simplified version of Indo-Chinese flavour. The Calcutta Chinese food was generated from the Chinese diaspora living in Calcutta since the eighteenth century. A cluster of people came from China in times of turbulence and worked as labourers. More people flocked in due course and they formed a sizeable community with unique appearance, culture, belief and cuisine. They started to live as a separate community in Tiretta Bazaar and the adjacent areas of Bow Bazar. Soon they started dispersing in Tangra area which came to be known as the city’s Chinatown later.

This was that chunk of China that came to Calcutta when still young or the second gen of the diaspora who was born in Calcutta. To start with they contained in themselves but soon they started selling their unique stuffs in order to sustain. They sold home made stuffs like sauces, condiments, steamed and fried food which they later incorporated in small eateries and liquor shops. Some opted for leather and carpentry business. The Chinese diaspora in Calcutta started experimenting with their food which went through exciting changes over the years to oblige the Bengali taste buds. The typical red gravy, heavy on sauces along with ginger, garlic, hot chilies and a consistency reminding of Indian curry soon became a delectable Indo-Chinese concoction that the world drooled over.

Calcutta had a few reputed Chinese restaurants as well. But not everyone could eat there and the pocket friendly roadside eateries had hygiene issues. Some small local restaurants had to close down to other lucrative businesses and we were left with the option of over simplified Chinese food made at home. It was cheap, "healthy", tasty and soon the children started to swear by it. Meanwhile, the raw spaghetti like noodles was abundantly available in the market and soon the Bengali families were indulging in the most sought after food at home.

In my teens, while play dating once, I remember eating noodles cooked with soya bean chunks and potato fritters along with onions, tomato ketchup, black pepper etc. in a friend's place. We persuaded our mother and soon she too gave in and one day, to our dismay, our lovely cook prepared the most delicious noodles at home. And that was the beginning.

Chowmein became extremely popular because it made both the children and their mothers happy. The forever anxious mothers had learned the trick of sneaking in lot of seasonal vegetables in their noodles and finally their kids were eating veggies. My sisters and I used to love it as well. Once in a while good restaurant happened and we were satiated. 

Several years past, as I look back now, I see it as an unhealthy eating trend. Today, I wouldn’t want any kid to eat noodles as much as we did as children. The in depth demonization of health standards is not only deeply rooted in our system but is hard to eradicate. However, we can certainly educate our children towards better understanding of healthy food fads. But then that's another story altogether.

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The sun, sea and the wobbly plank

The sun looked not quite lunch time yet. I stepped on the same old wobbly plank on the bridge that my father had built with love when I was a child and he still a robust man in thirties. I have never walked without stepping on it. That is an ominous pattern destined to happen telling my mother that I have arrived.

It was cold and placid outside and as I dragged my feet heavy on the plank, I realized that life has not been kind on me inspite of my desperation. Sometimes, I had even contemplated listening to my friend's amazing stories for hours. How miracles changed his life and how sometimes the luck fairy was extra kind to him. I tried hard to get out of that unhappy providence but it seemed that I had a thing for it. It seemed the whole world was conspiring against me and I was a lonely creature fighting a battle I had no idea of.

Soon I found myself standing on the shore. Just short of the waves, gazing at the vast mystifying beauty, startled and clueless I started walking with the waves into the burly, invincible sea. The white froth tickled my feet telling me to walk more into the deep. I kept walking into the sea. It seemed the sun sipped in all the blues and dispersed a vibrant orange love all over and as I looked into the sea I got engaged in an endless rendezvous that the 'lotus eaters' had once experienced.

Suddenly, I sensed an uncanny chill, a sudden numbness and realized that the orange yellow sea distanced into an uncanny austerity. It got dark by then. I was getting late and started walking through the piney shady trail. To my surprise, it started to smell intimate again. It smelled of Brazilian blueberries and squirrels. It smelled like my childhood.

The walk down to my house was full of memories. Memories of my childhood, the memories of the sea, sun, happy days and the squeaky plank on the bridge built by my father. Soon I reached my house. I walked over the bridge to the door which opened to my mother's startled look. This time I didn't step on the wobbly plank!


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Why puffed rice aka muri is the ultimate survival food

There has been a major shift in health paradigm, from high carb to high fat and vice versa and we have seen it all over the past couple of years. What we thought was right for our health is actually a deterrent, what we believed we should be eating was manipulated by the big pharmas and the US government and people were duped into eating mashed potato, corn flakes, eggs without yellow, fruit juice etc. That's lot of carbs and very little fat. Now that the big fat lie is out, we have come to realize that fat is good and real and has extraordinary power to shape our health and that culprit sugar and is the new tobacco!

The Big Fat Surprise: The myth of High Carb Low Fat diet explained

Being an Indian and living in India we have just begun to realize the harm that has been caused to an entire generation over the decades. The ripple effect has come to shock everyone here and everywhere. The power of this kneaded falsehood is so deeply ingrained that it's no rocket science to understand the humongous task of back pedaling the credence of the populace. So, it is our minds that we are fighting everyday more than anything else and trust me, it is hard.

When my cardiologist boss asked patients to eat whole eggs or meat or butter or not to eat biscuits and bread they were in complete disbelief. They still are and this skepticism is something that's not going to go overnight. That said, we have been spending days figuring out the right and real food that is healthy, nutritious and delicious. Quite a bit of research work later, we found out that even with all the snags puffed rice is the best possible snacks we can fall for especially if you are an Indian or if you plan to live in India.

So what is puffed rice? (This of course is for my friends from abroad). Trust me it is the ultimate survival food! Muri is indigenous of South Asia and is prepared from rice kernels in a similar manner as popcorn is made from corns. Traditionally it is made by heating rice over sand filled earthen oven. It serves as an excellent cereal food and can be eaten just as we eat corn flakes or oats with milk and seasonal fruits. Muri is healthy and has immense likelihood of turning into a super food when tossed with assortments of veggies like cucumber, parsley, green chillis, tomatoes, boiled potatoes, onion, sprouts- you just name it! Bengalis love it with pure raw mustard oil (mustard oil is one of the best oils we can eat nowadays, so you can eat it guilt free) and hot green chillis and occasionally with "aloor chop" (potato fritters) and often with friends and family.

Another snacking food is flattened rice or rice flakes (chura/ chire) which is also a powerful comfort food. Nowadays we get lovely roasted chire which is not only tasty but also nutritious. If you are an Indian and have survived numerous homesick moments it's needless to introduce you to poha. You know how you can add lovely fresh veggies, sprouts, peanuts, raisins and more to cater to your taste buds making it hugely popular among desi and not-so-desi friends.

The benefits also are immense. If you are a weight watcher you can never go wrong with this super food. It's high on iron, carbohydrate and have low gluten content. Besides, it is a fantastic mood lifter and reminds me of camaraderie. Although the brown variety is hard to get these days but both muri (puffed rice) and chire (flattened rice) are better picks than suji (semolina) which is totally a white stuff. Having said that, be a smart buyer and a smart eater. Try not to look for stuffs that are glossy, inviting and too good to be true. The crude variety is less appealing, less puffed and are less cosmetic. And I know you are a smart eater and never go on binges.

Now, a takeaway. We went to the US last year and sitting there miles away we relived our Calcutta days merely by eating muri, chanachur (spicy snacks mix) and chai over bangla cinema on youtube (courtesy my lovely sister who rolled in a whole lot of bengali essentials in no time). So, no brownie point for guessing that I am insanely in love with muri. Although my family will disagree I can tell you that they too resort to this super snacks, aka muri, in times of nostalgic Calcutta moments.

Happiness in a storm

We have spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out the relationship between positive mindfulness  and its impact on our health, and today medical science has proven that positivism influences our brain cells and escalates our health. That explains why some patients with terminal disease live longer than others, or why with some people life seems easier than others. 

This is unarguably also the reason why my opthalmologist tells me to live stress free since negative emotion flares up health conditions. With each bout of stress my eye condition flares up and this leaves me extremely low and to a more stressful existence. Talking of which, now I know how my parents were being able to pull through extraordinary life circumstances inspite of being faced with some handsome health conditions in different phases of their lives. They have been fostering positive emotions all through, in the middle of all bizarre health crises and have had an extraordinary time fighting those.

The impact of positivist on health got reiterated only the other day ,when my boss, a renowned doctor himself, mailed me an article by Jane E Brody. "A Positive Outlook May Be Good for Your Health". The article wonderfully explains what happens to you when you are positive and sums up 8 skills to practice to stay happy and calm when your health is not going good. Quoting from the article:

An important goal of the training is to help people feel happy, calm and satisfied in the midst of a health crisis. Improvements in their health and longevity are a bonus. Each participant is encouraged to learn at least three of the eight skills and practice one or more each day. The eight skills are:

■ Recognize a positive event each day.

■ Savor that event and log it in a journal or tell someone about it.

■ Start a daily gratitude journal.

■ List a personal strength and note how you used it.

■ Set an attainable goal and note your progress.

■ Report a relatively minor stress and list ways to reappraise the event positively.

■ Recognize and practice small acts of kindness daily.

■ Practice mindfulness, focusing on the here and now rather than the past or future.