15. Baked Pasta with Herby Crust

While you can have your pasta n number of ways, I like mine in creamy bechamel. Here's my take on a indulgent one pan dinner.
 

What You're Gonna Need:

Butter                  2    tablespoons
Plain flour           1.5 tablespoons
Milk                    1 coffee mug
Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup
White pepper    
Nutmeg (optional)

Pasta of your choice
Cheese slices      
Bread crumbs
Garlic, chopped 3/4 cloves
Oregano
Olive Oil

Salt to taste

What You're Gonna Do:

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a non-stick skillet. Add the garlic slices, and bread crumbs. Saute until golden n crispy. Sprinkle crushed oregano n salt to taste. toss well, set aside.

Heat butter in the same pan until it is all melted, and bubbly. Add the flour. Saute until golden, and raw smell evaporates. Add warm milk ladle by ladle, whisking continuously. The sauce will thicken immediately. Grate in about a pinch of nutmeg. Add the grated parmesan, white pepper, and salt to taste. Set aside.

In a large pot, add water, with a little bit of oil n salt. Boil your pasta for around 10 mins. Drain, but retain a little bit of the starchy pasta water.

Now, preheat your oven to 180 degree C.

Mix the pasta along with the pasta water with the bechamel sauce. Layer into a baking dish. Top with the breadcrumbs. Spread evenly. Add mozarella cheese slices on top.

Bake this for another 8-10 mins, or until the cheese is golden. serve hot.

Trust me, this is going to blow your mind away! Just be careful of the salt, since cheese is quite salty, and most of the butter you, and I get to use is also salted. Dig into the cheesy, ooey-gooey madness.

-Love,
La

14. Honey Glazed Chicken

Hi, after a long hiatus courtesy semester exams and all that, I returned to the comforting space of the kitchen. This time round, I wanted to treat my best friends for throwing me the most amazing birthday party ever. The dish was a hit, so I decided to share the recipe. This is my take on honey-soy glazed chicken. 

Honey-soy glazed chicken

What You're Gonna Need:

Chicken                250 g

Dark Soy Sauce   2 tablespoons

Light Soy Sauce  2 tablespoons

White vinegar      1 tablespoon

Honey                  2 tablespoons

Garlic, minced     4/5 cloves

Onion, diced        1 medium

Red Chili Flakes

White Pepper

Black Pepper

Plain flour

Salt to taste

Sesame Oil/ White oil

Sesame seeds (optional) 

What You're Gonna Do:

You can either use diced chicken pieces, or chicken wings for this recipe. Mix plain flour, salt, and white pepper. Lightly coat chicken pieces in the flour mixture. Deep fry, and set aside. 

Mix the two soy sauces, vinegar, and honey in a bowl. Set aside. 

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet/pan. 

Add the minced garlic, saute until golden. Add the chili flakes. Now, add your sauce mixture, and let is bubble away until the rawness of the soy sauce cannot be smelled. 

Add the fried chicken pieces. Toss to coat. 

Season with black pepper, and salt. (Soy sauce contains salt, as do the fried chicken. So, please be careful with the salt.)

Top with roasted sesame seeds (which I couldn't, because I didn't have any on hand), and serve hot. This recipe is quick, and easy, but oh so delicious. 

Until next time, love and hugs. 

-La.

13. Mumma's Fish Curry

Hello guys! A box full of apologies for the prolonged absence. But, you know how things are with us Bengalis. Once laziness surfaces, it overtakes everything else! Kidding, had a load of work to do. Anyway, coming back to food, can there be any other better way of celebrating the Bengali New Year than posting a fish recipe? Nooooooo! So, here goes a simple, home-made curry that is going to make for a great lunch side. Read on to find out more.

What You're Gonna Need:

Fresh rohu/ any other sweet water fish
Turmeric
Chili powder
Sit green chilies 3/4
Garlic cloves      4/5
Kalonji/Onion seeds
Mustard oil
Water  
Salt      

What You're Gonna Do:

Wash, clean and dry the fish. Add 1/2 a tsp of turmeric powder, 1/2 a tsp of salt to fish pieces. Rub well on both sides.

Heat mustard oil in a wok. Fry the fish according to your preference: golden yellow, or ochre-amber. Drain and set aside.

Slit the green chilies lengthwise. Mince the garlic cloves.

Take a clean wok. Heat it on high flame and then add mustard oil, till it's smoking hot. Lower the flame to medium-low.

Add 1 tsp of kalojeerey/kalonji/onion seeds. Add the minced garlic. Fry for 30 seconds, until the garlic is fragrant.

Add 3/4th cup of water, the green chilies, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of chili powder and bring to a rolling boil.

Gently add the fish pieces and simmer until the oil floats on top.

Remove from heat, spoon another tsp pf mustard oil for that added zing, and serve hot with plain, white rice.


Believe me guys, it may not sound grand, but I promise it tastes like heaven on a plate. Do give it a try.

Love,
La. 

12. White Chocolate & Coconut Truffles

Let's begin the new year on a sweet note, shall we?

What You're Gonna Need:

White Chocolate 500 g
Low fat Cream    1/4th cup
Unsalted butter
Unsweetened Coconut Flakes 250 g
Cashews/Almonds
Orange zest
Vanilla extract/essence (optional)


What You're Gonna Do:

Break the chocolate into small chunks and set aside. (Try not to eat it up?)

Dry roast whole cashews/almonds and let them cool.

Make a double boiler using a heavy bottomed pan and a heat-resistant bowl that fits well over the pan. Fill the pan up to 1/4th in height with plain water, place it over medium flame and fit the glass bowl on top. Make sure the water creates enough steam to heat the bowl.

Add the chunks of chocolate, unsalted butter and cream to the glass bowl. Leave for 2 minutes or so until its all melted. Remove from heat. Stir to mix. Zest in some orange and add a few drop of vanilla essence. Combine.

Let it cool a little, now add 3/4th of the coconut flakes, incorporate everything well. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Remove from fridge, scoop out dollops of the mixture, press the center to create an indentation, add the one roasted whole nut of your choice and form into a sphere. Butter your hands before doing this.

Roll in coconut flakes. Chill until firm. Serve to your loved ones, just like I did. Here's a tiny glimpse of the wrappers I packed them in:

-Love, La. 

<3 

11. Dry n Spicy Corn Manchurian

What You're Gonna Need:

Fresh ears of corn  2
Onion, large           1
Garlic cloves          5/6
Ginger                    1 ts
Green chilies          5/6
Dry red Chilies       4
Bell peppers
Dark Soy Sauce      1 tablespoon
Tomato ketchup      1 tablespoon
White vinegar         1/2 tablespoon
Paprika                    1 teaspoon
Black pepper
Salt
Vegetable oil           1 tablespoon      


What You're Gonna Do:

Get your corn cleaned off its leaves at the vendor's, or be strong and butcher it from its stem with brute physical force like I did (super human strength alert!) Now, using a sharp knife, slice the corn kernels off. Put in a pressure cooker with a pinch of salt, cover with an inch or two of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Meanwhile, prep your veggies. Dice the onion, mince the garlic, grate the ginger, cube the bell peppers, chop the chilies and set aside.

Drain your corn and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok.

Add the onion, followed by the garlic and the ginger. Saute until onions are translucent and the mixture fragrant. Add the bell peppers & both the green chilies as well as the dry red chilies. Fry for about 2/3 mins. Sprinkle some salt to avoid burning.

Add the corn and toss well. Turn the heat to low.

In a bowl, add the tomato ketchup, the soy sauce, the vinegar and mix well. Add this to the wok. Mix to quote well.

Add the paprika, followed by half of the black pepper. Add about 3/4 tablespoons of water. Let it bubble away. Check for seasoning and add salt as per taste.

Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the rest of the crushed black pepper on top and serve hot.

(THIS IS VERY SPICY. PLEASE ADJUST ACCORDING TO YOUR PREFERENCE. WE HAD TO EAT NOLEN GURER SONDESH TO BRING OURSELVES BACK TO MORTAL EARTH)

10. Fiery Schezwan Prawns

 

What You're Gonna Need:

Prawns (de-veined)-  300grams

Yellow Bell Pepper- 1 (or bell peppers of your choice) 

Tomatoes (finely chopped)- 1

Dried Red Chilies- 4 (or you can adjust according your taste)

Ginger (chopped)

Garlic (minced)- 5-6 

Onions (chopped)- 1 

Chili Powder 

Freshly Grounded Black Pepper

Red Chili Sauce

Dark Soy Sauce

Cornflour

Sugar 

Salt 

Marinade:

In a bowl marinade the cleaned and de-veined prawns with black pepper powder, garlic cloves, pinch of salt and vinegar for 15-30 minutes depending on the size of the prawns. 

What You're Gonna Do:

Take a heavy bottomed pan. Put some vegetable oil. Put the marinaded prawns in to the pan and fry until the prawns are cooked( make sure it is not overcooked which will make the prawns rubbery ). Keep aside the cooked prawns in a bowl. Now take a skillet put some olive oil and add garlic, ginger, dried red chilies . Saute on a high flame until translucent. Then add the bell peppers and the tomatoes and cook on a medium flame. Add some chili powder and crushed black pepper to it. Saute until oil separates from the mixture.Then add the prawns and mix well with the masalas. In the interim, take a bowl put 2-3 teaspoons of  chili powder, red chili sauce, dark soy sauce, a pinch of sugar to adjust the acidity of the sauces, water and cornflour and give a nice stir to the mixture to avoid any lumps. Add this mixture to the skillet along with a sprinkle of salt. Pour a small amount of  water , give it a stir. Simmer for 5-7 minz. Serve hot with fried rice or anything of your choice.

PS : You can always adjust the amount of chilies according to your taste buds . And the fried rice recipe will be on the blog soon!

Happy Cooking

-Deb  

9. Chicken Momos

MOMOS! Yes! I personally do not know a single person who does not like these lovelies. So, here's my take on momos, oh so delicious! Try them on a cold winter evening and show your tummy some love.

The filling

The Steamed Momos

For the dough:

All purpose flour

Vegetable oil

Salt

Water 

For the Filling:

Chicken + 1 Cinnamon stick + Black peppercorns + 1/2 an onion + 2/3 cloves of garlic

Onion 1 medium

Garlic 5/6 cloves

Green chillies 4/5                                      

Cabbage, shredded

Chili Sauce

Tomato Sauce 

Black pepper

Salt

What You're Gonna Do:

Make a well in the dough. Add the oil and salt. Mix well. Add water according to requirement and knead into a semi-soft dough. Cover and set aside. 

Boil the chicken with the cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, half an onion, 2/3 cloves of garlic and a pinch of salt. Shred and set aside. 

Dice the onions, garlic cloves, green chilies finely. 

Shred the cabbage and boil in salted water until glossy and translucent. 

In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tablespoon full of vegetable oil. Add the finely chopped onions, garlic and green chilies. Saute until onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant. Now add the cabbage. Saute. 

Add the boiled, shredded chicken.  Toss to combine. 

Add a tablespoon each of chili sauce and tomato sauce. Mix well.

Adjust salt and pepper to your taste. Set aside to cool. 

Make teeny balls from your dough, about the size of quail eggs. Roll each into a thin disc of about 4 cm diameter. 

Spoon the filling into the middle of the dough. (Add as much or ass little at you wish to!) Fold in a semi-circle and cinch the edge to make waves. (This bit is SO much fun!)

Steam these for 8/10 mins, flipping sides at around the 5 min mark. They turn glossy and translucent when done.

Serve hot with a fiery red chutney. Pan fry them. Insert a fork and transfer to your mouth, whatever suits you best! 

-Love, La.