I COOKED THE SAME RECIPE TWICE WITHIN A MONTH!
I do that if ain't I am happy with the outcome of the first. This morning I cooked it again and wanted to present the platter as this. Coming Saturday there is something back home and I believe certain things need not be talked about too much in public. There early morning, I cooked those chapatis to do the photo feature, I am yet to have what was supposedly to be my lunch! After the cooking & photo feature, there comes arranging & editing the pictures as much as possible within my limits! Usually, we would eat chapati "garmagaram" fresh from the tawa, but unfortunately, I am unable to eat the breakfast! The man is again travelling since last night; this time on a leisure trip! You can guess where to! Around 1:10pm, I went for a walk & did the mistake of buying a peanut butter stuffed waffle, located just the opposite side of our back gate! I am approaching 52, I felt heavy on the stomach, kept walking while eating! Then I planned the roti meal sometime around 5-6 pm with tea / coffee & my dinner should be light! After few months, I had a waffle, yet I got scared! The problem is I get scared only after having a high caloric thing! This does not help!
Too strict a diet regime would lead me to depression, what to do all day? This week there was no food order to deliver! I cannot think of going for walks & not eat something! Hence, my already broad structure looks broader; it takes a lot of sweat & self control to get slimmer during the process of menopause; if one is a born obese!
I SAT WITH MY LUNCH DURING THE TEA TIME!
And I enjoy such meals, homemade! Today, I felt, a 50+ Indian should have waffle once every three months!
Two chapatis, laal shaak, dhonepata bata, kali dal that was. I can have roti-prata with anything! I remember, I was too fond of fish since childhood & some days, I would have "ruti-mach er jhol" for dinner, even "dudh-ruti"& "mach er jhol" on the side. The idea was not to give up my share of fish at any cost! There was a lot of happiness in a two roomed rented flat, there is happiness in the present day rented flat too! It is my worries, tension with regards to the safety & security of my own, & my dearest son that kills me. Even if my brother drives to somewhere for an overnight stay, I live in tension until he is back to the Barrackpore home. Our mother is way stronger mentally, the way she handled our family, her physical fitness is also exemplary! I come no where near! Even with a Cristine at home, I feel lonely, worrisome; not unhappy I believe!
WHAT IS THIS MOTOR DAL ER BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA!
I knew I would share a Bengali recipe today, no other way but. Okay, I could have shared a cake or a soup, even a sweet bun, a bhature & aloo matar combo! Tandoori Roti would have been best but I am not good at it, also I get angry at how fast a tandoori roti gets hard! Instead, I decided on this vegan, gluten-free Bengali Curry; MOTOR DAL BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA! It is not totally a family recipe, but motor dal er borer jhol / lentil fritters curry is! I learned about this particular recipe from Gargi, she is the wife of T's friend, elder daughter of my father-in-law's childhood friend; our family friend!Last month she cooked this at a get-together; she says this is the family recipe from her in-law's side! Gargi / Dola is the elder daughter-in-law of the Neogy family! I had been to both sides of her family; both her mother & mother-in-law are great cooks! For today's blogpost, I have chosen this Bengali recipe! My entire family would enjoy it! I cooked the recipe last month, was unhappy with the outcome & the photo feature! I felt something was missing! Dola's fritters were spongy! Like our mother, she was not telling all of the secret, I felt!
INGREDIENTS :
YELLOW SPLIT PEA LENTIL / MOTOR DAL : 1 SMALL TEA CUP
POTATO : 1 BIG SIZED
PAPOR / PAPADAM / LENTIL CRACKER : 2-3
BAKING SODA : 1/2 TSP
CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP
BAY LEAF : 1
DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3
GREEN CHILLI : 2
GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP
RED CHILLI POWDER : 11/2 TSP
CUMIN POWDER : 11/2 TSP
CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP
GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/4 TSP
CINNAMON POWDER : 1/2 TSP
CLOVE POWDER : 2-3 PINCH
SUGAR : 1 TSP [I USED JAGGERY POWDER]
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 5-6 TBSP [I DEEP FRIED THE LENTIL BALLS & POTATO CUBES]
A TBSP OF GHEE TO GARNISH IS REQUIRED, I SKIPPED TO KEEP IT A VEGAN DISH!
PROCEDURE :
We would heat some oil & deep fry the lentil balls at the minimal heat! The baking soda is used for fluffier fritters, I guess!
The fritters need not be fried too much as we would put them in a curry!
We would prepare a spice mixture with the ginger paste, turmeric+chilli+cumin+coriander powders+salt!
In the remaining oil, we would add the cumin seeds, bayleaf, dry red chillies! We would give a stir & add the spice paste to it! We would stir fry it 3-4 minutes at minimal heat, add the fried potatoes & stir for a minute or two!
Thereafter, we are to break each papad half & add to the curry, along with them the sugar or jaggery, cinnamon+green cardamom+cloves powders! We would give a stir!
We would transfer the curry to a bowl & enjoy it with rice or chapati! This is the variety of mango my family home grows; I get it from the Rajdhani Stores!
