Paniphal ka Kheer (Paniphal er payesh) / Water Caltrop pudding

Well many of you must have tasted or at least have heard of "Payesh" or 'payasam' or 'kheer'. It is an South Asian dish made by boiling rice, broken wheat, tapioca, or vermicelli with milk and sugar; it is flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashew nuts, pistachios or almonds. It is typically served during a meal or as a dessert. It is also known in some regions as payasam, payasa, gil-e-firdaus and fereni. (Wikipedia).

But what I am going to show you today is not very common. So lets get down to business.


INGREDIENTS:

1. Paniphal/ water caltrop                    500gms
2. Milk                                                500 ml
3. Sugar                                              to taste
4. Cardamom                                      3-4 pods
5. Raisins                                       
6. Cashew Nuts (or any nuts you like)
7. You can add saffron for colour ,but I made it for a quick afternoon snack and tried to keep it as simple as possible.

PROCESS:

First you need to wash the paniphals and peel off their skins. Beware of the thorns and their skins can be very tough, so using a knife is a good idea.

Water Caltrop (Pani phal)

After that wash the fruits with clean water and grind them using a mixer-grinder. Give a small whirl so that some lumps are there and you don't get a paste.

Skinned Paniphals

After Grinding ; note the consistency

Boil milk and reduce it to half, then add sugar to taste and the caltrop. As the mixture bubbles up and thickens add raisins, nuts and cardamom. You will want the caltrop's flavour to be undisturbed so do not cook for more than 2-3 mins.
Let the 'paniphal er payesh' cool off and then put it in a fridge. Serve chilled.

Voila !! Paniphal ka kheer

Special Thanks to Bidisha Sinha for the recipe.

Coconut Chicken Curry

Generally the South-Indian cuisine uses coconuts .In Bengal there are hundreds of dishes that use coconut. What I tried to do here is a blend of Bengali spiciness and South-Indian sweet-tanginess and find the perfect balance. Luckily on the very first hit the experiment (read Dish) was a success. Let me share that with you.

Coconut Chicken Curry

Ingredient: 

1. Chicken  (small pieces )                         750gms.
2. coconut shredded                                   1 cup.
3. coconut milk                                           1+1/2 cup (a little dilute for reduction later)
4. Coriander leaf     (just enough to make 2-3 table spoon paste)                                  
5. Mint leaf              (2/3 rd of Coriander leaf)
6. Small potato                                         2 pcs.
7. Onions                                                   200gms.
8. Ginger                                                   30 gms.
9. Garlic                                                    40 gms. 
10. Cashew nuts (optional)                        6-7 nuts (roasted & crushed)
11. Garam Masala
12. turmeric powder
13. Oil     
14. yoghurt (dahi)                                      1to 2 table spoon (optional)     
15. Bay-leaf                                                  2 to 3
16. Dried red chilli                                     2 to 3

Process:

• For the marinate mix blend the onions,coconut,ginger ,garlic,3/4th of both coriander leaf and mint together with salt ,a bit of oil and yoghurt.
• First clean the chicken pieces and marinate it in the freezer for at-least 45 minutes.
• Heat oil in pan and fry the potatoes.
• Take the potatoes off the pan add some more oil and put in the bayleaves and dried chillies.
• When they start to crackle put on the chicken and continuously sirr so that all the spices mix with the juices coming out of the chicken.
• Meanwhile (if you are using powdered coconut milk)heat 2 cups of water and put the powder and stir it over low heat.
• Put the lid on the chicken and cook it for 3-4 minutes .
• When you can hear sizzling noise put the lid off and after few minutes of stirring pour in the coconut milk and put the potatoes in.
• Reduce the curry till the consistency feels just right.Taste for salt .

• Serve with fried rice after garnishing with the rest of mint leaves ,cilantro and freshly grated coconut.

Hope you will like this dish .Well ,my friends and family liked this very much.

Doi Potol (Pointed gourd in Yoghurt Sauce)

            Another experimental dish which turned out to be a great success.My friends as well as me were amazed that it turned out so well. This is so simple to make and yet delicious. Lets get down to business .

Doi Potol

Ingredients :

1. Potol ( pointed Gourd)                 7Pcs.
2. Yoghurt                                         100gms.
3. Onions                                           100gms.
4. Ginger                                            15gms.
5. Garlic                                             5-6 small cloves.
6. Salt
7. Turmeric powder.
8. Green Chillies (your choice)
9. Coriander leaves (cilantro)  

 Process:

• Fry  the vegetables (slit in half ) after  rubbing salt and turmeric on them till they are a a bit soft.
• To make the sauce take all the other ingredients and blend in a mixer.
• Pour the mix on the gourds keeping the flame as low as possible.
• Let it bubble and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Put the lid on and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and serve hot with rice.

Gourd Kebab (Lauki ka kebab )

 This is an exotic dish in the truest sense of the term. This is quite simple to prepare and absolutely delicious. The ingredients are quite health-friendly as well.

Lauki ka Kebab

Ingredients :  

1.     Gourd (preferably long for equal circular pieces). You can use almost any green vegetable that has a seeded soft core. eg Pointed Gourd (potol) ,snake gourd (chichinga) etc.
2.     Coconut ;grated - just enough to fill the kebabs.
3.     Garlic ; 3-4 cloves for per cup of coconut flesh. 
4.     Ginger; same as garlic (by approximate weight)
5.     Garam Masala (a blend of exotic Indian spices ...... clove, cardamom,cinnamon )
6.     Black pepper powder.
7.     Salt to taste.
8.     Any white oil for frying.
9.     Green Chillies , Tomato Ketchup , coriander leaves (cilantro) for Garnishing.  

Process:

For Filling:     

•  First break the coconut and grate out the flesh until you get enough powdery flesh for your dish.
• Remove the outer cover of the ginger and garlic.
• Boil the gourd after removing its skin . Keep in mind that we want it crunchy but at the same time soft .
• After the boiling drain the water cut it into small round pieces and carefully take out the inner white flesh with seeds.Keep the seeds if they are soft otherwise get rid of them.
• The coconut,the boiled gourd flesh ,ginger ,garlic,salt are blended together. (just enough for the ginger garlic to get mixed).
• Take a bit of oil in a pan and heat it.Put the mix in it and stir it for some time till the smell of ginger and garlic comes out.
• Mix the black pepper and garam masala thoroughly.

Gourd:

• Now take the hollow circular pieces ,fill them with the filling.
• Fry both sides with oil on a heated pan.
• Garnish with cilantro,green chilli,tomato ketchup.
• Tastes best with hot rice.