Baati Chokha

India is a land of diversity. “Diversity” - even the scope of the word becomes limited, when we think of the variety it has. Be it anything. The Culture, the language, the landscape, the dress, and ............... even the food that the people here so deliciously relish upon.

It is so diverse, that even a common dish which you would find at each dining table would be having a different taste if you are sitting at your neighbour’s place. Out of this gigantic dish basket, let me throw some light on the regional cuisines. I am moving towards the east on the borders of the twin state UP and Bihar. A common staple food – very healthy and filling indeed – the common “Baati Chokha” or Floor Balls stuffed with sattu baked in Cow-dung cakes.

Baati:

Ingredients:

Wheat Floor: 250 gms.

Roasted Gram Floor (Sattu): 100 gms.

Salt: As per taste

Garlic: 10 – 15 cloves (finely chopped)

Green Chilly: 2 finely chopped

Dried Mango Powder: As per taste

Green Coriander: Finely chopped for garnishing

Preparation of Stuffing:

Add the finely chopped garlic, green chillies, green coriander to the roasted gram floor. Add salt and dried mango powder as per taste. Sprinkle a few drops of water and mix it as a loosely bound stuffing.

Preparation of Baati:

Knead the wheat floor into a semi hard loaf, adding small amount of water. Divide this in 12 balls. Make each ball into a cup shape pressing at the center of the ball with your thumb. Fill 2 to 3 spoons of the sattu stuffing in this and close the ball tightly. Prepare all the twelve balls like this.

Roasting of Batti in Cow-dung cake:

Cow- dung cakes are very common fuel in this part of country. 5 to 6 cakes are sorted and arranged to form like a pyramid, with one or two pieces forming the base. It is then ignited. Once the whole pyramid is in flame leave it for a  3-4 minutes. The flames would recede and the cakes would now appear red. Turn the cakes that form the peak of the pyramid with a tong and place the Baati balls on the red hot base of the pyramid. Put the cakes that were removed on these balls again. Let it roast for a few mins.( 4-5). Once it starts appearing pink again remove the cakes from the top, and turn the ball with tongs to have all the parts roasted equally. It would appear light brown. Remove it from the fire and rub all of them with a clean cloth to remove the burnt portion of the balls and the ashes. Your Baati is ready to be served. Serve it after dipping it thoroughly in Pure Ghee with Chokha.

(Alternatively it can be roasted in a OTG)

Chokha:

Ingredients:

Brinjal : Two round brinjals

Potato :  Three (boiled and peeled)

Tomato: Three red

Green Chillies: One

Coriander leaves : finely chopped for garnishing.

Garlic Cloves: 10 – 12 cloves.

Preparation:

Roast the Brinjal and tomato on direct flame till it is fully cooked on a gas stove. (it can also be cooked on the cow dung cake fire already prepared for baati). Remove the burnt cover of the roasted vegetables. Let it cool down a little. After that crush the brinjal, tomato and potatoes together into a fine mix. Add chopped chillies and garlic cloves and salt as per taste. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and Coriander chatni.

Green Coriander chatni :

Make a fine paste of coriander leaves (50gms) with a pinch of salt, one or two pieces of green chilly and lemon juice.

Serve hot : Two peices of Baati dipped in Desi Ghee, along with Chokha and chatni.

 RELISH

Ras Pua

Lets talk about some Sweet dish today. I'll again move to Bihar for this and talk about one form of Pua which is normally made on the occasion of Holi. Pua, Ras Pua and Mal Pua are normally three variants of this. I'll talk about Ras Pua, the one that I relish, today.

Ingredients :Maida (Fine flour) : 250 gm
Milk : 100 gm.
Sugar : 250 gm.
Saunf (Aniseed) coarse: 5 gm
Coconut : 100gm (coarsely chopped)
Date : 50 gm ( coarsely chopped)
Baking Powder 

Refined Oil: For Deep Frying

Preparation of Batter:Prepare batter in a deep bowl. Take Maida ina  deep bowl add a pinch of baking powder. Add Milk slowly to the maida and keep stirring. Afer the milk is finished add water slowly and keep stirring in one direction. Till a thick free flow batter is prepared. Take care that no lumps are formed.  Add aniseed , coarsely chopped coconut and date. Mix again . The batter is ready.

Preparation of Sugar Syrup:Dissolve 250 gm of sugar in 500 ml of water by stirring. Then put it on flame and keep heating till 
the water is reduced to half and a two thread syrup is prepared. 

Frying of Pua :Pre heat the refined oil / Pure Ghee in a deep base frying pan. Pour small quantities of batter in heated oil through a serving spoon or a small bowl. See that it spreads slowly and remains intact to form a shape of round puri. (Note : if it spreads and becomes too thin, reduce the flame of the oil, or if it does not spreads at all , instead settles down, make the oil a little more heated.) Fry it till the edges are pink and crispy.

Remove it from Oil and dip in the Sugar Syrup for two minutes. Remove from the syrup . 
Spray some Rose water on it. Serve hot.

Alternate Serve:Alternatively it can be seved cold with Rabri .

Taste it and tell me if you liked or not.

Nargisi Mutton Kawab

NARGISI MUTTON KAWAB

Nargisi Mutton Kebab

Mutton Kebab is not a new dish. It’s perhaps prepared in every corner of India. But you try it out at different places and I am sure you would say all of them should have different names. That’s why I say – Our India is a land of diversity. I’ll take you for this menu to the suburbs of Bundelkhand for its unique identity.

Ingredients:

Mutton Keema (preferably raan ka keema ) : 500 gm. Finely chopped.

Onion : 250 gm., finely chopped.

Green Chilli : 5 -6 pieces, finely chopped

Ginger : 25 gm, finely chopped.

Garlic : 20 – 30 cloves, finely chopped.

Poppy Seeds (Khas khas) :100 gm, paste

Pepper Powder : as per taste

Refined Oil / Pure Ghee : for deep frying.

Salt: as per taste.

Garam masala Powder : 2 tb spoon

Preparation of Kebab balls:

Wash mutton keema spraying minimum water on it, avoiding loosening of keema. Add finely chopped onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli to it. Add Poppy seed paste. Add pinch of pepper powder, salt as per taste and garam masala powder. Kneed it to mix all well and form a strong binding. Take small potions in your palm and make small equi-size balls.

Boiling of Kebab:

Take one glass water in pressure cooker. Pre heat the same to 70-80 degree.

Put the keema balls in the warm water. Do not put balls one over other. Just put one layer of the balls. Close the pressure cooker and shallow cook the same for 10 – 15 mins. Let the pressure release and remove the balls from the water.

Frying of Kebab :

Pre – heat cooking oil in round shaped frying pan with enough of oil for shallow frying. Put the boiled kebab balls in hot oil and fry stirring minimum till it turns light brown. Remove and your Nargisi Mutton Kebab is ready to be served.

Serving :

Serve the hot Nargisi Mutton Kebab with Paratha and Coriander Chatni. Alternatively it can be served as snacks.

Relish and write, if you liked it.

Aditya Sinha

Dhuska

I had expressed my views about the Diversity that our country has in perhaps any field we talk about while writing abou the other cuisine - baati chokha. I feel like repeating the same before talking about another Regional gem of a dish - Dhuska from Jharkhand. i.e. Repeat ... India is a land of diversity. “Diversity” - even the scope of the word becomes limited, when we think of the variety it has. Be it anything. The Culture, the language, the landscape, the dress, and ............... even the food that the people here so deliciously hog upon.

Rightly said - this dish too,  we must be having it daily in different names on our dining table. But just alittle different combination that it has makes it original and directly originating from the tribal lands of Jharkhand.
It serves as a heavy snacks here.

Ingredients : 
Pre Boiled Rice  - 1 cup
Urd Dal ( Pulse) - 1 cup
Gram Pulse  - 1 cup

Green Coriander - 50 gram , corsely chopped.
Onion - 3 peices - coarsely chopped.
Green Chilli : 3 - 4 peices.
Salt - as per taste.

Mustard Oil : For frying.

Preparation of paste:

Soak the three seperately for two  to three hours in water. Remove it from water when soft and wash probably. Make a paste (seperately) in mixie with minimum of water.

Mix the three and beat it with spoon to make it light. Add salt, coarsely chopped onion, green coriander and green chilli

Cooking:
To cook, pour in small amount through serving spoon in pre-heated mustard oil . Deep fry till it is pink in colour. 

Serve hot with coriander chatni and mustard sauce or rasdar aloo ki sabji (Gravy Potato)

Relish.

Bharwa Karela

Bharwa Karela

Karela -- Oof -- Always a vegetable that's never relishes one to eat. But on the other hand , it has lots of medicinal value and should not be avoided. Kids should be developed to have a liking towards this. But how ? is always something ever puzzling.

Karela or Bitter Goud can be consumed in many forms, - Fried Karela (Karela Bhujia), Dry Sabji , Karela Pickels, Karela Chips, but the most commonly cooked form is the Bharwa karela.
Here is my method to have the same prepared.

Ingredients :

Bitter Gourd ( Karela ) : Big, Fluffy, Green - 4 to 5
Onion : Medium Size : 3-4 , Finely Chopped,
Green Mango (Keri) : 3 - 4  , Peeled & Finely sliced
Salt : As per taste
Saunf, Sarson, Jeera, - 1 tea spoon each, roasted and crushed
Turmeric Powder
Coriander Powder
Banarasi Rai : 2 pinch.
Mustard Oil for Frying

Preparation:

1. Properly Wash the Karela (Bitter Gourd) and Make a slit with a sharp knife in length on one side of it. Scoop out inside of the Karela carefully to avoid tearing of the corners. Put aside these empty Karelas in Salt Water for half an hour. Steam / Boil  thereafter for 5 mins. Remove from water and leave it aside to dry.

2. Stuffing : Put a little oil (3 tbsp) oil in a frying pan. In the hot oil put two pinch Banarsi Rai . Let it crackle. Put the chopped onion. When it turns pink add the materials removed from Karela  keep cooking. when these softens, add the powder spices - Sarson, Jeera and Saunf  add sliced green mangoes, turmeric powder, coariander powder and salt . Let it cook on slow heat till all get properly mixed. Let it cool.

3. Fill the stuffing in the empty boiled karelas. Fry them slowly in the frying pan till all the sides turn brown.
   ( If the stuffing comes out while frying , you can tie as roll by thin threads which can be removed after cooking is over. )

Enjoyn Bharwa Karela.

Aditya Sinha