Warm, Steaming Pulao

Pulao is a simple and easy dish to make.  It is usually made when one has company or when there is a celebration, so it is not something you would make everyday.  It is something anyone can make because it takes so little time and doesn't require that much effort.  Either way it is delicious and made in a snap.

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice: 4 cup
Ghee: 1/2 cup
Cinnamon: 4 small pieces
Cardamom: 4 pieces
Cloves: 2 pieces
Ginger paste: 2 teaspoons
Salt: 1 tablespoon
Boiled water: 7 cups
Kewra water: 2 teaspoons
Green chilies: 5 (optional)
Fried onions: 3 tablespoons

Cooking process:
Rinse the rice and keep it in a colander. In a big pot heat the ghee, and lightly fry the cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves in the ghee. Mix in the ginger with 2 tablespoon of water. Pour the boiled water and salt and then close the lid.

When the water starts bubbling pour in the rice and stir.  After a few minutes pour the Kewra water and green chilies, and sprinkle the fried onions into the pot and close the lid.  In the meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees and then place the pot in the oven for 30 minutes.  Serve it warm with meat or vegetable curry.  Enjoy!

Spicy Beef Curry

Beef curry is a versatile dish because you can eat it with pulao, biryani, or just plain rice.  It has many spices in it which gives the flavor a kick.  You would normally make beef curry if you had guests over because it is not something you would eat everyday.  Most people also serve this at their weddings because it is a special occasion.  When I entertain guests I usually create this dish; most people seem to really enjoy it.  Whether you have company or just want to try something new, beef curry is a delicious food to make.

Ingredients:

Beef with bones: 5 pounds
Ground onions: 1 cup
Ground ginger: 4 tablespoons
Ground garlic: 3 tablespoons
Cardamom: 6 pieces
Cinnamon: 6 pieces
Plain yogurt: 1 cup
Ghee (melted butter): 1 cup
Sugar: 1 tablespoon
Salt: 3 teaspoons
Green chilies: 15 whole
Kewra water: 2 tablespoons
Orange food color: a pinch

Cooking procedure:

In big pot, mix all the ingredients except food color, green chilies, and Kewra water.  Cook everything else on medium heat.  Stir half an hour later.  When the meat is fully cooked and tender pour in the Kewra water and then cook it for 10 minutes.  When you see the ghee (butter) creating a layer on top mix the food color with 1 teaspoon of water and then pour it into the pot.  Then place all the green chilies in the pot and let it simmer for another half hour.  Enjoy this with rice, pulao, or biryani.

Pleasurable Pitha (home made cake)

In my country one of the most famous winter food is pitha.  It is a traditional food item. The winter morning is the best time to eat it, because the warmth of the pitha is more appetizing in the cold morning.  In Asia, rice cultivation occurs the most during November and December and they use that rice to make the pithas.  Some well known pithas are Vapa, Patisapta, Chitoi, and Teler Pitha.  It is a traditional winter breakfast in our culture, and also served in weddings too.  When I was a child they did not sell any pitha in the stores, and now we can even find it in Indian stores here!  They sell it like a hot cake. What can I say about pleasurable pitha?  It is tasty and delicious!

Ingredients:
Rice flour: 2-1/2 cup
Flour: 1/2 cup
Salt: 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Water: 1/4 cup
Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
In a big bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Mix in the water.  The flour mixture should be thick.  Cover it for the 30 minutes. Heat the oil in the pan, and pour 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture in the hot oil.  Fry it on low heat, until it turns light brown. Serve it hot and enjoy!

Mouth Watering Rasgolla

 In my culture we treat our guests with Misti (sweets) when there is something to celebrate.  We believe that a wedding is incomplete when there is no Misti.  Misti is one of our authentic and cultural traditions.  There are varieties of luscious sweets, such as rasgolla, chom chom, kalojam, rasmalai, etc.  The finest ingredients are used to make these authentic sweets.  Rasgolla is one of the most popular sweet in my country.  It originated from the eastern part of the India then spread out all over the southern part of Asia, becoming popular along the way. Pohela Baishak (Bengali New Year), one of the largest cultural celebrations in my country.  People take at least a bite of misti, because they believe that their life will be sweet as the misti throughout the whole year.

Recipes of Rasgolla:
Milk: 1 liter
Vinegar: 4 tablespoons
Sugar: 1 cup
Flour: 1 tea spoon
Sugar: 1 tea spoon
Powdered cardamom: 1/8 teaspoon
Rose water: 1 teaspoon
Water: 3 cups

Boil milk, and in a separate bowl mix the vinegar with 4 tablespoons of water.  After the boiling the milk for 5 minutes, pour the vinegar mixture in to the milk.  Remove the pot from the stove.  After 5 minutes pour the milk mixture in a colander.  Leave it outside for 3 hours. Pour sugar and 3 cups of water in a shallow pan, bring it to a boil.  Keep it to a simmer for 5 minutes.  Mash the channa (milk mixture) with your palm, and mix it with the dry ingredients.  Make 16-20 balls with the channa.  Dump all the balls in the sugar water.  Turn the heat up.  After 10 minutes put the lid on.  Keep boiling another 20-25 minutes.  Pour the rasgolla in the serving dish with the rose water, and serve the mouth watering dessert.

All about Eid

Eid-Ul-Fitr is a celebration after the end of Ramadan (30 days of fasting dawn to sunset).  It is one of the two festivals for Muslims.  Lots of dishes that are rich in flavor are prepared for sharing with friends and families.  Shemai is one of the traditional foods of Eid-Ul-Fitr.  It is prepared by using fine vermicelli (a thin type of pasta), milk, ghee(butter), and dried fruits.

Ingredients for Shemai
shemai (vermicelli): 1.25 cup
Ghee: 1/4pound
Milk: 4 cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Almonds: 1 tablespoon (thinly sliced)
Pistachios: 1 tablespoon (thinly sliced)

In a non stick fry pan pour the ghee.  In the mean while cut the shemai into 1 inch long sections.  Pour the shemai in the pan, and fry it for few minutes until it turns light brown, and then set aside. Pour the milk in a pot and bring it to a boil.  Add the fried shemai into the milk and boil it for 3 minutes, and then lower the heat.  While stirring, pour sugar little by little.  Keep it to a simmer for another 4 minutes, but keep stirring.  Then pour the shemai into the seerving dish.  Sprinkle the nuts on it, and put it in the fridge for 4 hours before serving.

Ramadan Specials

Ramadan is a 30 days of fasting period from sunrise to sunset. Fasting is the fourth pillar of Islam. It is Fard (required) to fast during this month. Fasting help us to understand the suffering of the unfortunate people, and help us to appreciate the blessings we got from Allah.  Before the sun sets, everyone gathers around the table, and when the sun sets make Du'aa (prayer).  Then we eat our meal.  The meal we eat is called Iftar. We break our fast with dates and water.  Lots of dishes are prepared during this time.  One of the Ramadan treats is Piazu. This is a dish we make for the whole 30 days of Ramadan. We make this dish before the Iftar, so we can eat it fresh and crispsy.

Recipes for Piazu
Red lentils: 1 cup
Chopped onions: 1 cup
Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Ground red pepper: 1/2 teaspoon
Green chillies (chopped): 2 small
Mint or coriander leaves: 1 teaspoon
Salt: 1 teaspoon

Soak the lentils for an hour or so.  Blend the lentils in the food prosessor with 1/4 cup of water.  Add all the ingridents to the lentil mixture.  On the stove, heat 1 cup of oil at 350 degrees.  While the oil is heating up, take about golf ball size amount and flatten it with your palm.  The shape should be circular, but flat. Then deep fry it until they turn brown and crispy.  Serve it with ketchup or hot sauce.