Feast your tastebuds this festive season
After Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Dussehra, the Hindu festival calendar will be culminating with Diwali on November 5. While the entire nation celebrates the festival of lights, people in Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and Assam also celebrate Kali Puja, the second-most important festival after Durga puja. What makes Kali puja all the more fun is the fact that meats and drinks are abundant as Goddess Kali is strictly non-vegetarian and alcohol and meats actually form a part of her prasad.
Festive Malpua
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cup wheat flour, (atta)
½ cup yoghurt
2 black cardamom, powdered
1 litre milk
Water
Ghee for shallow frying
Method
Make the syrup by heating one cup of water with the sugar till the sugar dissolves and the liquid thickens. Leave aside to cool.
Mix the wheat flour, yoghurt and powdered cardamom seeds and slowly pour the milk in while stirring continuously till you get a smooth pancake-like batter. Since we shall shallow fry the malpuas it is advisable not to make the batter too thin. Leave aside to rest for 30 minutes.
Heat a tablespoon of ghee on a good non-stick frying pan. Ladle in a dollop of batter and spread it thin. A malpua needs to be fried for a bit longer than a pancake, so don’t turn it over till the edges are golden brown. Flip and fry for a minute longer. By now the edges should be dark brown and almost crisp.
Spread them on a big plate. Pour the sugar syrup evenly on top and let the malpuas rest for at least an hour for the sugar to seep in. Re-heat before serving with rabri or by itself.
Kosha Mangsho
(Pan-fried mutton with spicy, dry gravy)
In Bengali, “kosha” means to fry on low heat for a long time. This dish is typically cooked over a low flame for hours so the meat becomes soft and almost falls off the bone.
Ingredients
1 kg mutton, cubed and with bones
1 large onion, finely sliced
4 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder
1 ½ tsp coriander (dhania) powder
1 tsp cumin (jeera) powder
1 ½ tsp garam masala
A handful of chopped coriander leaves
Juice of half a lemon
Salt to taste
Mustard oil
Method
Boil the meat in salted water in a pressure cooker till soft. Reserve some of the stock and set the meat aside. In a heavy-bottomed fry pan, heat 3 tbsp of mustard oil. When it starts smoking, add the onions and fry, when they turn translucent, add the tomato puree, ginger-garlic paste. Bring the heat down to medium and fry for a minute. Add the turmeric powder with 2 tbsp of the reserved mutton stock.
Fry till the liquid evaporates and add the salt, sugar, chilli, coriander and cumin powder with another couple of tbsps of stock. When the liquid evaporates, add the mutton pieces and fry on a low heat for 20 minutes, occasionally adding a few tbsps of the stock. Add lemon juice and garam masala. Fry for another couple of minutes. Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve hot.
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