JUST ENJOY “CHOP” AND “BORA” IN BENGALI CUISINE

Bengal has had a rich tradition of many vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes. Most of these are dal (lentil soup), aloo posto,

(Poppy seed curry with potato), fish curry, mutton curry etc. Bengalis are consumed these with rice. But

 “chop” and “bora” are the integral part of their main meal or as side dishes also. They can’t imagine

 without fried fritters in their evening snacks or with rice and dal in meal. “Cha” and “chop “are the

 perfect evening combo snacks for Bengalis.”ADDA” to Bengalis is an emotion, especially in Kolkata it

 is a common picture in their own locality. Literally “ADDA” means chatting and gossiping with

 friends, discussing about politics, sports or anything they like. This “adda” is not possible without tea

 (cha) and fritters (chop).This combo gives a extra touch in their discussion.

 

“Chop” can be different kinds. Aloo chop, chicken chop, macher (fish) chop. Whenever we speak about

 “Tele Bhaja “, we say about “Beguni”,” aloor chop”, “piyanji” etc.”Beguni” is sliced fried brinjal

 where there is the coating of gram flour paste.”Piyanji” is also fritter made from sliced onion and its

 outer coating is also with gram flour paste. All “Tele bhajas” are fried in mustard oil.

This is "Piyanji"

VEGETABLE CHOP

I know that in Bengal three flowers can be turned into “bora” frying in mustard oil. These are pumpkin

 flower, Maringa flower, Augusta flower (Bok phool), vegetable chop (this is very popular in Bengal,

 this is made from various vegetables and mashed potatoes. The outer layer is covered with bread

 crump. ’Mochar ‘(banana blossom) chop is a prominent dish made by mostly Bengali household.

MOCHAR (BANANA BLOSSOM) CHOP

LANKAR (CHILLI) BORA

In winter season “Dhonepatar bora” is a famous snack for Bengali household.”Tiler bora” (sesame

 seed),” Postor bora” are also a delicious dishes in Bengal kitchen.

DHONE PATAR BORA

The main ingredients of” chop” and” bora” are varied one another. Gram flour is essential for fritters.

 But the use of rice flour is also found in many cases. For batter (for “chop”) we use gramflour,1 or 2

 teaspoons of rice flour( for crunchy effect),2 teaspoons of oil and salt accordingly. These all are depend

 on quantity you cook.

MACHER( FISH) CHOP

“Macher chop” is a famous and palatable dish for Bengalis. This is made from mainly Rohu or Katla

 fishes. We make a stuffing from fishes with different spices and give a cylindrical shape. This stuffing

 is covered with mashed potatoes. This ready fish cylinder is dipped into corn flour batter and lastly in

 breadcrumb. Now this fish chop is ready to fry in mustard oil.

TALER (PLUM) BORA

Bengalis made “Taler bora” in JANMASHTUMI festival. This is made from pulp of plum fruit.

At the end of my writing I can say we ,all Bengalis can't imagine our meal,snacks without different fritters.

THANK YOU.

RABRI,KOLKATA STYLE DESSERT

 

Rabri is a sweet dish originating from Indian subcontinent. It is made by boiling milk on low flame for

 a long time until it becomes dense and changes its color .It turns off white or pale yellow. Spices and

 nuts are added to it to give another flavor. It is chilled and serve as dessert. Rabri is also known as

 Rabdi in Northen India where this is made with full fat milk, sugar, cardamoms and nuts. It tastes very

 delicious, creamy in texture.

Making rabri at home take some time and needs patience but the end results are worth the effort.

HOW IS IT MADE?

I know 2 ways to make rabri .The first one is to shimmer milk until it reduces to 1/3 of the original

 quantity. During this period, layers of milk cream formed top is moved to the sides of pots and stuck.

 These layers are lastly gives a great texture in rabri. Keep it to chill and garnishing with pistachio and

 almonds. The other method of making rabri is just to keep milk in shimmer on gas and stir

 continuously. Keep in mind that it is not catch the bottom of container. It takes some time to become

 thick the milk in its texture. Now add ilaichi powder in it. It depends on the quality of milk. You will

 get thick, smooth and granular texture in rabri. Before serving it garnishes with small sliced almonds

 pieces.

I made rabri with thick cow milk (“BHAGIRATHI “ milk, It is found in north Bengal). My specialty in rabri is to use of liquid Nolen gur. It is really a beautiful aroma comes out from rabri for adding nolen gur.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED:

1)      MILK: 1 LIT

2)      NOLEN GUR/JAGGARY: 200 GRAMS or according to your taste.

HOW TO COOK:

Take 1 liter of milk in a container .Keep it on gas oven and start to boil milk. Keep the flame in 

shimmer position. The milk starts boiling put a spatula in milk and stir. It will help not to overflow the 

milk, layers of milk is started to form. Collect milk layers on the side of container with the help of 

spatula. It is a time taking matter but last result is so tasty .At the time when milk becomes ½ of 1 liter I

add nolen gur in milk and again stir. Now I collect more thick layers of milk on sides of pot.

 It will give a good thick texture in milk. As our KOLKATA SYTLE 

RABRI we use to cut thick layers milk in square pieces and start to 

add in thick milk of rabri. Again boiling of milk is continuing and stir

 .This will give the end product as RABRI. I was not adding any extra dry fruits to garnish .I avoid adding cardamom powders because I 

used nolen gur/jaggery.I t is something different from normal rabri

 Our rabri is ready to serve.Bengalis take rabri as a dessert in dinner 

or lunch. We have it in our dinner.

Happy for sharing it. You can experiment it in your kitchen and I can assure you will get lots of 

compliments.

THANK YOU EVERYBODY.

 

 

MAKAR SANKRANTI#BHAPA PULI PITHA/STEAMED PITHA/BENGALI STYLE PITHA

 

My previous blog was about sweets of Bengal made of nolen gur ,khejur gur. During “MAKAR 

SANKRANTI” we are busy to make different pithas, these are actually rice flour dumplings which is 

filled with coconut jaggery mix as stuffing. There is no English translation for “PITHA”.I think so. 

There are different variations in pithas in different regions. Bengalis make Bhapa pitha, Mug Samli , 

Dudh Puli, Chosir payesh and so many.

We celebrate “MAKAR SANKRANTI” by making pithas and set ghot (fill with paddy) (this is done a day before makar sankranti) in front of Goddess. We draw alponas on threshold and lock door rings with hay. Actually this is a ritual in Bengal villages. I cook three different pitha recipes during three days .I learnt it from my mother.

Today I am sharing steamed pitha( bhapa pitha) with you all.

THE INGREDIENTS ARE FOR 10 PITHAS:

FOR STUFFINGS:1) Desiccated coconut – 3 cups

2) Jaggery (khejur gur patali)-100 gram

FOR PITHAS:

Rice (boiled) flour -200 grams

Ghee( deshi)- 1 tablespoon

HOW TO PREPARE:

STUFFING: Mix desiccated coconut with jaggary (patali) and cook in karai. Take 5 to 7 minutes to cook properly.

When the mixture become free from the boy of karai then our stuffings is ready.

FOR PITHA: Boil water in a pan.Take a bowl with 200grams rice flour in it.Add 1 table spoon deshi ghee.Pour 

boiled water in rice flour slowly, knead and make the dough.Keep aside for only 5 minutes.

 

Make separate balls from dough and keep in plate. Make smooth ball with the help of your palm. Now make it 

like a small bowl to put stuffing in it. Give a shape as half moon and cover it .With a spoon give an impression on it.

Now in a karai pour water to boil .Place a utensil with many holes in it place on karai .When water start

 to boil place pithas on it and keep a lid on karai. Give 8 to 10 minutes to cook on one side, open the lid 

and turn all pithas on opposite sides to cook properly. Now give another 5 minutes to cook. Take out all

 pithas from karai. 

Enjoy hot steamed rice dumplings with liquid jaggery. “BHAPA PITHA” with khejur gur bears a 

heavenly happiness; you taste it and have it.Enjoy with your family members.

THANK YOU.

NOLEN GURER KANCHA GOLLA/DESERT WITH DATE JAGGARY/KHEJUR GURER KANCHA GOLLA

 

“Nolen gurer kancha golla”. It is a marvelous Bengali desert. I feel nostalgic when I give eye on this 

desert. In our childhood my grandfather used to take this desert from moira (sweet maker). It was the 

special fresh item and we are really happy to have it. As I am from joint family my grandpa distributed 

nolen gurer kancha golla among me and my cousins, we were eager to have it .It was a lovely memory 

to me. It is made from chana (cottage cheese).Sweet makers mix chana and date jaggery in perfect 

proportion and make it.

We are from Kolkata Bhowbanipur ( a well known sophisticated and posh area) where there are some

 big famous sweet shops ,situated in Jadu babur bazzar namely “Balaram Mallick and Radha Raman

 Mallick”, ”Sailendra sweets” ,Jagadhatri Mistanya Bhandar”,on the opposite side of Jadu babur bazar there are "Dwarik Ghosh","Sen Mahashaya" and "Bhim Nag" are there.They use fresh chana to make” kancha 

golla” because to maintain super quality. In normal season they use sugar for this desert but in winter 

season date jaggery is the integral part of kancha golla .We are waiting for winter to have various 

Bengali sweets made with khejur gur. In our childhood we watched sweet making standing in front of 

shops. They use wooden spatula to mix all ingredients very well. This accessory is very important for 

making sweets; it helps to give perfect flavor and texture in desert. They use big wooden thala( plate) to

 keep sweets properly. It is a traditional matter indeed.

Today I am sharing you” nolen gurer kancha golla “. I came to know it from a sweet maker of an 

authentic sweet shop. This is very easy to make but be careful about some matters.

HERE IS THE RECIPE:  

INGREDIENTS: 1) Chana (cottage cheese) -250 grams.I take 1 lit milk to make chana. Use lemon to 

make chana. You can take it from market.Dry chana using cotton cloth.Rap chanas inside cotton cloth and  keep a pressure on it for2 

hours  so that all water will come out of chanas and it remains dry.

2) Nolen gur: 250 grams. We prefer mild sweetness so I take less amount gur but you take according to your need.

3) Milk powder: 2 tablespoons.

PROCEDURE: Keep karai on gas. You must use heavy bottom karai for properly done. Pour chana and

 nolen gur in it. Keep the gas flame in sim. Stir continuously so that it does not catch the bottom of 

karai.

After 8 to 10 minutes the mixture starts to separate from the body of karai .Now add 2 tablespoons of 

milk powder for better texture of finished product. Switch off the gas flame and take out the karai. 

Make medium balls.

Keep kancha gollas on a plate .For garnishing use a raisin on top of gollas.

Our “NOLEN GURUR KANCHA GOLLA” is ready. You can have it as hot or cool. This is so

 delicious item, a traditional Bengali sweet.

THANK YOU.

KHEJUR GURER PAYESH /NOLEN GURER PAYESH/TRADITIONAL BENGALI RICE PUDDING WITH DATES JAGGARY

 

All Bengali are fond of sweets. They make lots of sweet dishes with loads of ingredients. West Bengal is famous for different sweets in different regions. In Kolkata people come from all over world to satisfy their taste buds for Bengali delicacies. My today’s subject is about “PAYESH” of Bengal.

Rice and milk boiled together and sweetened with sugar is known as “PAYESH”. In winter season it is cooked with khejur gur instead of sugar, a bengali special dish. We offer this to God and Goddess from thousands of years.

PAYESH is as ancient as human civilization which is known as paramanna aka payasam or payesh. In our Indian culture baby shower party is incomplete without payesh. According to Bengali culture, the day before marriage ceremony (we call it “I buro bhat” party) payesh has made for brides and grooms. Special cuisine in Bengal is perhaps nolen gurer payesh. I wait for winter only for yummy khejur gurer payesh (kheer made with date jaggery).

The last day of month of “POUSH” we celebrate poush sankranti. In that day we decorate our houses with alponas (drawing with chalks) and set our ghot (preferably earthen pot) in front of Goddess. The pot filled with paddy.We cook payseh and pulis (made from rice dust) to give relatives and friends. We celebrate this three days making kheer, payesh, puli pithes ,ros bora ,ranga aloor  pantua etc.

HERE IS THE RECIPE FOR YOU OF PAYESH:

INGREDIENTS: 1) milk: 1 liter.

2) Rice (gobindo bhog chal): 100 grams.

We use gobindo bhog rice for making payesh, it contains a beautiful aroma.

3) Date jaggery /khejur gur : 250 grams or according to your taste.

4) Dry fruits raisins, cashew nuts, almonds: ½ cup

PROCESS: Keep the container on gas. Pour 1 liter milk in 

it and ready to boil. Keep in mind that not to overflow 

milk from container.Keep boiling and wait for thick consistancy. 

When milk become thicker now add washed gobindo bhog rice in it. 

 Stir constantly. Keep a spatula in milk container for not to overflow milk. After 8 to 10 minutes rice will full

 boil.

Add khejur gur at this time. I preferably add date jaggery/khejur gur when the gas off. It will not spoil 

the milk. A creamy affect will see in this condition. Now add dry fruits.

Our khrjur gurer payesh is ready now. It is very easy process but it takes patience for cooking. A love touch in 

making payesh turns into paramanna .A beautiful heavenly aroma will come out from this payesh. It makes you 

happy .I love it.

Thank you to share .You will try and give me feedback how is it.