She is woman, she is life.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Dol purnima
In my life I played holi (in Bengali Dol) only once, when I was just a little girl. After that I never played holi. When I was a kid I really missed holi. Every time I got angry on my father for not allowing me to play holi. As I grow up I realize that what my father did was actually good for me. My skin is very sensitive, so I’ve always have chance to get eruption in my skin due to those chemical colors. Anyway, after that very day, I used to listen to the story to my friend in school. After marriage my husband told his great stories about dol. Sometimes I poke him to tell all those stories I relish them.
He used to go to uncle’s place to play dol with his cousins. He always tells about that how they played with other children, how they do the mischief with the seniors. Their main attraction was to see the behaviors of the ‘boudis’ (married young women) after having bhang. Bhang is an essential part of dol, which has some intoxicating agent which fuddles the person. However I’ve no experience of such innocent mischief. Sometimes my father used to bring mothh (A special kind of sugar candy, especially available during dol). Our childhood was not full of different colorful candies and cake. So, those frugal candies bought enormous joy among us. As I grow up, the urge of playing dol has died down. Currently living far away from home country doesn’t bring any flavor of dol. I don’t want to lament for that, but, somehow I’m depriving my son from the essence of the festivals of our home country. Anyway, I have to accept it. May be I can’t give him the joy of dol, what I can do is, cooking dol-special dishes.
Patisapta |
Malpoa |
If you want to make patisapta or malpoa you can consult, http://www.colorandspices.com/2013/01/poush-sankrantir-pithe-puli-payes.html
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Coriander-chicken
Exam!!! Since my childhood I’m always scared of that. Even
at this age I still fear of exam. Few days ago I’d the final exam of a paper of
the course which I’m currently attending. Anyway, I declared that I couldn’t
cook on weekend, because I needed time to study. My hubby told that, he would
bring lunch from outside. After finishing my study when I came out from my room,
I found that he was sitting on chair with his laptop. I became furious to see
that. I couldn’t understand when he would go and when he would bring the lunch.
I knew I had to cook something right then. I went to kitchen grumbling on him.
The easiest thing was to cook a big bowl of chicken. I had a big bunch of
coriander leaves in my refrigerator, which on the verge of spoiling. I wanted
use the whole bunch in my cooking. So I decided to make coriander chicken. I
open the cupboard to take out the spices and the coconut powder container
dropped in my hand, and I decided to use coconut powder in the curry. And the
coriander-coconut chicken came out as a very tasty dish.
Ingredient:
One whole chicken (I used one lb leg pieces)
One big bunch of fresh coriander leaves
Two tbsp. Coconut powder
Half cup milk ( if you use fresh coconut, then you may not need to use milk)
One medium sized onion (finely chopped)
One medium sized tomato (finely chopped)
One tbsp. ginger paste
Two tsp. garam mashala powder
Pinch of turmeric powder
Two tbsp. of oil
half tsp. fenugreek seeds
salt to taste
Method:
Heat two tbsp. of oil in a heavy bottomed wok. Add fenugreek
seeds. When the seeds start to crackle add the ginger paste, fry for few
second. Add onion and tomato, stir for few minutes, and cover the wok. Let it
cook until oil separates from the mixture, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile
make a paste of coriander leave (keep the stems to get the better aroma),
coconut powder and milk. Add the chicken pieces into the onion-tomato mixture
in the wok. Add garam mashala powder. Stir, and cover it to cook for some time.
Add the coriander-coconut paste, stir, and let it cook until the chicken
becomes tender. If you need to add water, add ½ one at a time. The curry is
ready. Serve hot with rice or roti.
One big bunch of fresh coriander leaves
Two tbsp. Coconut powder
Half cup milk ( if you use fresh coconut, then you may not need to use milk)
One medium sized onion (finely chopped)
One medium sized tomato (finely chopped)
One tbsp. ginger paste
Two tsp. garam mashala powder
Pinch of turmeric powder
Two tbsp. of oil
half tsp. fenugreek seeds
salt to taste