Friday Food Feature

Today’s post has some photographs of food I cooked  to post on my blog:

The first one is photos of flat fried bread we call pooris.  I took some pictures of them before frying.

The recipe for this is:

1. cream of wheat–3/4 cup
2. wheat flour- 1 cup
3. yoghurt-8 tbsp.
4. clarified butter (or salt free butter) 6 tbsp.
5. salt- 1tsp.
6. Method:
7. Mix all these ingredients to make a dough.
8. Cover and leave it for one hour.
9. Roll out the dough and cut into small round pooris.( you can also divide the dough into small balls and use the rolling pin to make individual pooris.
10. Deep fry until golden brown.
11. 
12. the above are the fried pooris
13. You can serve pooris with mixed spicy vegetables
14. 
15. Recipe:
16. Frozen peas and carrot vegetables- 1 cup
17. 2 small potatoes , slice them into small pieces.
18. 1 small onion diced
19. two tablespoon oil
20. salt – 3/4 tsp.
21. curry powder- 2 tsp.
22. cayenne powder- 1/2 tsp.
23. ground garlic powder- 1/2 tsp..
24. put the oil in a wok and heat it, add diced onion in the hot oil, stir until the onion pieces  are transparent.add salt, curry powder, cayenne and garlic powder stir for one minute, then add the potatoes, when the are soft enough not mushy add the cup of frozen mixed peas and carrots, stir and leave them for about seven minutes.
25. You can also serve poori with halwa, which is sweet.
26. 
27. recipe for halwa:
28. cream of wheat – 1/2 cup
29. butter – 2 tablespoons
30. sugar – 1/2 cup
31. water- 3/4 cup.
32. Method:
33. toast the cream of wheat, in a saucepan over the heat on the stove at medium heat, let it turn light brown, add butter, stir when it mixes with the cream of wheat, add water slowly when it doesn’t look grainy, it means the cream of wheat is cooked and it’s time to add sugar. Stir thoroughly,until the sugar dissolves with the cream of wheat. Halwa is ready to serve in a serving bowl, garnish with sliced pistachios and almonds.
34. some more pictures of poois, vegetables:
35. 
36. 
37. I hope you will like it when you try it.

Daily Prompt: Smell You Later

Humans have very strong scent memory.Tell us about a smell that transports you.

My mom’s preparation of Turki kebab takes me back all the way to my hometown Comilla, Bangladesh.I can still imagine my mom slicing the beef, the potatoes, onions and the tomatoes. They all had to be the  same size. My mother placing a layer of meat, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes and on top the yoghurt spice  mixture and then some whole red dry chilly peppers and on the very top the oil in a round aluminum pot large enough to hold all the ingredients with a lid.. She’d continue until all the ingredients were used.

She’d  put the pot on the stove and leave it for an hour. The aroma of this dish filled the kitchen and the veranda.We’d sit patiently for mom to call us for dinner. When we were called we’d sit and wait for mom to serve. This is such a pleasant memory, it seems to me when I think of it, I’m back home relishing the food, each morsel had such a divine taste.

……………………………….. 🙂

Daily Prompt: You, the Sandwich

If a restaurant were to name something after you, what would it be? Describe it( Bonus points if you give us a recipe!)

This is quite an interesting prompt. If a restaurant names something after me, it is : “Ranu’s Biriyani Casserole”

“Ranu’s Biriyani( Rice meat and vegetable casserole)

The following is the recipe and ingredients:

1. beef- two pounds boneless blade roast, slice into one and half inch

2. rice : two cups basmati rice, washed and drained one hour before cooking–one and a half cup of water

3. potatoes: 6 medium regular potatoes, sliced into four each

4. onions– five medium diced

5.tomatoes: six medium, sliced in quarters

6. yoghurt: half cup

7. garlic: 4 cloves, make a paste

8. ginger: one inch piece long, make a paste

9.cayenne : one teaspoon ground

10. ground coriander: one teaspoon

11.ground cumin: one teaspoon

12.ground turmeric: half teaspoon

13.ground cinnamon: half teaspoon

14.ground clove – one-fourth teaspoon

15.ground allspice: one fourth teaspoon. 15 b. salt– two teaspoons

16. Clarified butter or vegetable oil — half cup

17. cooking pot with cover (oven proof)

18. Method:

Place the cook pot on the stove at medium heat, put the vegetable oil or clarified butter in the pot to heat for two minutes. Add onions and fry until it is transparent, add ginger and garlic and fry for a minute, add the rest of the spices including salt, fry for an additional minute and a half. Add beef slices, potatoes, tomatoes, and one and a half cup of water, stir until they are all mixed with the spices, add the rice last and let all the ingredients come to a boil.

Place the pot with its cover in a preheated 350 degrees oven for thirty minutes. Enjoy it with a cucumber yoghurt salad.

………………………………… 🙂

 

 

 

Writing 101,Day Nineteen: Don’t stop the Rockin’

Today is a free writing day.Write at least four-hundred words, and once you start typing don’t stop. No self-editing,no trash talking, and no second-guessing : just go. Bonus points if you tackle the idea you’ve been playing with but think is too silly to post about.

Four-hundred words one at a time Go.

I spend hours thinking how my childhood could have been if it was not cut short by my father’s passing. I know we’d live in the same house, we had to my father was working and we’d need a place to live. We lived in an ideal place at least my memory of childhood tells me so.

A large house, a race course nearby to walk and watch the horse race, the jockeys trying hard to win it for their owners. It was wonderful to watch, then we’d walk further to see if there were other things that would catch our fancy, oh yes, one after the other life was showing us the beauty of the place we lived.

Then the worst happened Dad was with us no longer. We moved to a far away place  we knew nothing about. The people sold vegetables ,fish, chicken from door to door. While I watched and complained to mom that the potatoes were too tiny and the onions were unattractive, mom would laugh and say the reason is the soil, the weather and things like that.

I’m not sure she convinced me but I know I did not like the place so I picked everything negative about it. We started growing up all the while thinking Dad would come back because he cannot leave us forever.

Then big brother was married, he changed, he did not love us anymore. He was always angry with us. I was terribly scared of him and stayed quiet thinking if I say anything he’d hit me. At the same time wondered would he have changed so much if Dad was alive, my mind said, no . Dad certainly would not let him do so.

I wished we’d be the happy family we once were, but things did not let us be happy. Mom was constantly worried about money, she had to spend as little as possible to save some of it.

I finished high school, went to college, I did not like how the boys used to tease me. I managed to get admission in a girls college, to avoid getting teased everyday, it was awful.

…………………………………

 

365 Writing Prompt: Seconds

Describe the most satisfying meal you’ve ever eaten, in glorious detail.

Sometimes a meal can be satisfactory without the word “Gourmet” attached to it.

Here is my reason for the above claim. I was always very simple minded when it came to food. There were times my mother would cook all kinds of delicious food, everyone in the family would be dancing up and down for this meal except me. I’d complain,”Mom, please can I have some lentils and mashed potatoes with my rice?”

I wish you could see the expression on my mom’s face, she’d say: Rani I cannot believe you want lentil and mash potatoes when I have cooked so many delicious foods?”

My mom called me Rani instead of Ranu if I said something outrageous.

Here is the glorious detail of my most satisfying meal.

For lentil the ingredients are:

1. one cup orange lentils(for soup)

2. half teaspoon- cayenne pepper

3. quarter teaspoon– turmeric powder

4. salt — half teaspoon

5. one small onion(diced)

6. two tablespoon— vegetable oil

7. water –two cups

Method:

Wash the lentils thoroughly until the water is crystal clear. Drain the water, pour the lentils in a saucepan. Put the pan on the stove, turn the heat to high, add salt, cayenne pepper, and turmeric. Bring it to a boil, if there are white scum floating, gently take it off with a spoon and discard it.Lower the heat to simmer, let it simmer until the grains mix with the water. Take the stove off the burner and  place a frying pan, use medium heat to heat the pan, pour the oil and when the oil is hot put the diced onion in the pan, fry until the onion is lightly brown, next step put the fried onions in the lentil soup, put the sauce pan to reheat the soup, taste for salt if it is suitable for you turn off the stove.

The next item is mashed potatoes:

Ingredients:

1. potatoes: two medium sized

2. Onion : one diced

3. dry red pepper: two

4. oil: one tablespoon

5. salt– half teaspoon

Method:

Boil the potatoes until they are soft. Heat the saucepan on the burner, pour the tablespoon of oil, when the oil is reasonably hot put the two dry peppers, with the spoon stir it until the peppers are a bit charred, take them out and place them in a bowl. Now put the diced onion and let it get slightly brown, do not let it burn, take them out of the pan and put them in another bowl.

Peel the boiled potatoes mash them with your hand or use a potato masher make sure there are no lumps. Next use your fingers to squash the dried peppers into a powder, care should be used to wash your finger thoroughly with soap after taking care of the peppers. Put the onions , powdered peppers, salt and mashed potatoes in a  slightly larger bowl to combine them together.

Serve it with plain boiled rice, it is delicious. I consider this tastier than any gourmet food I have eaten.

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/365-writing-prompt-seconds/

 

DP Daily Prompt: Race the Clock

Here’s the title of your post: “An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse.”

Set a timer for ten minutes ,and write it. Go!

My friend said one day,” if on Wednesday by 10 am , you  make your  popular dish  biriyani and bring  it  to my house, I’ll give you  a gift that you’d  thank me for life.”

I was tempted, I woke up early morning completed my prayer and started getting the ingredients ready for the popular dish.

I sliced five onions chopped them and placed them in the pot,while the onions were getting caramelized, I got the potatoes peeled and , halved them and washed them. it was 8 am , I’ll be able to get it done on time I thought.

I gathered the spices, garam masala,cumin ,coriander,cayenne pepper, salt, ginger,garlic, in a bowl, I breathed a sigh of relief I’ll make it.

I realized I forgot to get the rice ready, I told myself to hurry, I  got the rice washed and drained the water.

What about the meat, tomatoes,yogurt I still did not take them out, O my God, the clock ran out, while everything was left as is, I was not able to put the biriyani in the oven, oh poor me, I wonder now what was the surprise?

My brain told me “you slow poke you do not deserve it.”

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/dp-daily-prompt-race-the-clock/

 

 

NaBloPoMo “My Mom’s famous Kebab” Ranu’s post https://sabethville.wordpress.com

My Mom was a very good cook. Anything she cooked was amazing. We all loved to eat. We seldom asked  how she turned out these delicious meals. I watched  when she cooked.  It looked so easy. I thought I can do this too. The ingredients she used were, slices of beef ,same size potatoes, onions were sliced thin,the tomatoes were thin slices too. In addition she used whole dry peppers,peppercorn and cinnamon sticks,there were whole cloves,salt,yoghurt and oil or clarified butter.

She used a round pot for this amazing dish. She had the ingredients in separate bowls. The layering of these ingredients was carefully done. she put a tablespoon of oil or clarified butter in the pot and spread it evenly. She carefully laid the beef ,followed  by three or four dry red peppers, a few peppercorns, some cloves,salt, and one or two half inch cinnamon sticks. Then  potatoes were layered on top making sure they covered the meat, onions went on top and tomatoes on the top layer. On each layer the oil and the yoghurt mixed with ground ginger,garlic ground cumin and ground coriander was spread as well. If she had some ingredients left, she’d repeat the layering. When everything was neatly in the pot, she put the cover on.

It was put on a charcoal stove, to give it the effect of an oven,she put hot charcoal on the cover. It took about an hour. When the lid was taken off,the aroma made us rush to the dining room. We didn’t need any bells!

About Me posted by ranu

Comilla (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Court Road, Comilla. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last time I wrote about my school. After my Dad’s passing my mother wanted to go back to Bangladesh.To us kids it was the first time we were going there to live. We were not excited.My mom had her siblings,she hadn’t seen.We did not know our aunts and uncles,we lived so far away from them,they were strangers to us. My eldest brother bought a house in Comilla for us to live.

I was sizing up everything I saw there. The potatoes were too small,the onions were probably  one tenth in size compared to what we saw in our previous city. I tried to tell Mom,we should go back to the city we came from. Mom ignored me,she knew she lived outside Bangladesh long enough.There was no way she would leave her siblings again.That virtually closed the door for us.

I realized I have to go back to school. All the schools in the town had schools where the medium of instruction was Bengali.I knew Bengali,I was able to read and write,but this is all I could do,but to handle it in Geography,Science,history,Math was a no go for me.Then I was told there was an English medium school,it only had up to the sixth grade. I was in fifth standard in my previous school,and I was far ahead than the sixth grade in the local school. My brother hired a private tutor to help me prepare for the high school exam. I did not like the arrangement.I decided I can study without help. My brother agreed and I did the exam privately.

I took admission in the local college. To be continued !