Kumror Chechki (Pumpkin stir-fry the Bengali way)

One of the more interesting things about bengali cuisine is the names our dishes have very interesting names, chechki, chachra, labra, chocchori, panch mishali , elo jhelo, puli pitha, labra and so on..  Coming from a long line of Bangal (people originally from Bangladesh) and having married a part Bangal, these things work great with out pallet.

Chechki (stirfry)

I remember as a child my Maternal grandma (didima) dishing out those lovely vegetarian delights from the kitchen.. One of are regulars and my personal favourite was lau er khoshar chechki (stir fry from made from the skin of the bottle gourd) and whenever I saw lau in the house I would be like “dimma you have to make khoshar chechki and she would happily oblige.  One of the best things about these dishes are as my dimma would say “puropuri niramish” ( completely vegetarian) which means no garlic and onion; actually not even turmeric powder (considered a part of the non-veg diet by many strict bengali brahmin families). Moreover, dimma hated spicy food, she still does and she would say “amader bangali shorir e ki oto tel mashala shojjo hoy? amader jonno ei shob halka halka theek aache…(we Bengali’s are not very good with spicy food, for us these simple and light vegetable work best) and how right she was… The other thing about them are they require simple tempering and hardly any spices. I remember Thursdays used to be a holiday for me back in school so which meant, Wednesday afternoons was spent lunching and lazying at her place and in the evening she would come up with her traditional Jolkhabar (even snack) consisting of Parathas and Kumror chechki and what a scrumptious meal that would be.. Thanks to my mom, who is  simply brilliant; the tradition of chechki , labra and so on was and still is maintained in the family…  Kumror Chechki continues to hold a very dear spot in my heart, so when the other day, P said kich shukno aar bhaja bhaja khete icche korche (feel like having something stir-fired) instantly I thought why not?  So here we ware, a recipe passed down the years, and recreated by the 4th generation; Bengali Cuisine; I rally on!!

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin/Butternut Squash or Acorn Squash- cut to bite size cubes about 500 gms
• For the tempering: Panch Phoron-1 table spoon (bengali five spices mix), Dried Red chillies- 3,4, Asafoedita -1 teaspoon, Grated Ginger-1.5 teaspoon
• turmeric powder
• Red chilli powder
• salt
• Mustard Oil
• Water-1/2 cup

Kata Kumro (chopped Pumpkin)

Whole spices for tempering

 

Spices Tempered!!

Kumro Added!!

Turmeric and red chilly powder!!

 

 

The Finale…

How to:

After chopping the pumpkin, wash and set aside. Though traditionally, it is to be julienned, if you are using pumpkin, Acorn squash or butternut, it gets a tad hard to chop them that way, but if you can why not?  Meanwhile heat a wok or a kadhai with the mustard oil and once it starts smoking, add the whole spices and the ginger for tempering,  be patient and once they start to emit the flavours and the oil separates, add the pumpkin, gently sauteing for about 5-10 mins and then add the powdered spices along with the salt. Cook on medium heat for about 15 mins adding a little water  from time to time.. Your Chechki should be ready by now serve with Paratha or luchi or even rice.

P was delighted, for him, it was a ride back to childhood as well  my mum-in-law has her version too, someday I will post that as well.. For me, though I am dead sure it was not as good as dimma’s but it was definitely nostalgia and reminiscence of lazy Wednesday Afternoons..

childhood revisited

There are somethings that never change with time and some memories that are etched in the mind forever…. I grew up in India, Calcutta to be specific and I know it sounds very cliched but honestly those were the days.. One of the best parts about growing in  Eastern India, is the rains and between the months of June and July there is torrential rain and its all green every where.. But that is not the fun part.. The fun bit is in Kaal Baishakhi, which comes around April.. The skies will with dark clouds followed by blustering of strong winds almost bordering on a storm and then a burst of rain… It is as if Nature were inviting the rains…Kaal Baishaki normally strikes in the late afternoon early evenings… As a kid I remember, whenever Kaal Baishakhi would strike, my sisters and I ( normally at our grandma’s place) would rush to play in our back yard, well the back yards in our part of the world are slightly different from those that you have in the west , It is more of a concrete area with a few plants and usually used to dry out clothes…

Then.. ( the one in the middle is me)

With the rains our grandma would pull us inside much to our reluctance…. three of us all wet but ever ready to have fun in the rain… Our grandma would say ” tthanda laagle ki hobe, jor eshe gele aar kono khela hobe na je” (i.e. what will happen if you catch cold, if you come down with fever then there is going to be no play) and we would be like no please let us play for five more minutes and that is when our grandma would come out with her bait..

You girls must be hungry after all this running around and I have just the food for you… Presto… the moment we herd the word food all of us would go in chorus “kidhe peyeche kidhe peyeche” (we are hungry we are hungry) and she would say, “jani jani, tora ektu bosh ami toder jonne peyanji aar gormo chaa niye ashcji (i.e. you girls just wait and I will get onion fritters and tea for you..) Normally, we were not allowed to drink tea, only on special occasions or if we were drenched till the toe (kaag bhije as they say in Bengali)…. What evenings they use to be….

Last evening here, in King of Prussia, it was just like Kaal Boishakhi, the skies were filled with clouds, with blustering winds and finally the rains, I was immediately transported back to my childhood. Now those days are gone… We sisters are all grown up, settled in different parts of the world, Grandma’s house no longer stands the way it use to… Though thankfully granny is still around she is too old to move about… But the memory of the peyanji, lingers on and many an evenings that we spent on the porch, watching the rain and munching on peyanji (onion fritters).. I had this sudden urge to eat them… And all that stood betwwen me and the Peyanji was frying it..

What you need:

2 onions, Thinly sliced
2 Green chillies, chopped
1 cup Besan / Gram flour +pinch or termeric +pinch of red chilly powder
Oil to fry
Salt to taste

 

How:

Finely slice the onion and chop the green chillies and in a bowl take the onions and the chillies. Then add the besan and the salt (about ½ tsp) along with the turmeric, red chilli powder.  The salt will soften the onions a little and will release some water . This will be enough to bind the mixture. If not, add just a little water so as to get the onions to stick to each other. Now then  heat enough oil for deep frying. Take about a table spoon full of the mixture in your hand and put it into the oil, I usually use my hands, I don’t go by any measurement but it should be about a table soon, Repeat for the rest of the mixture. Fry on medium heat so that the peyanjis are crisp from within.

The familiar taste of Peyanji, a Cup of hot tea, sitting by the window pane, watching the rain hit against the trees, the only thing I missed were my dear sisters and the loving arms of my grandma… Somethings never really change, a taste I shared and loved in my childhood , lingers on even to this day

Murgi Jhol (Chicken Curry Bengali Style)

I still remember as a child, I would always look forward to Sunday Lunch. In a Bengali household there are certain dishes that remain fixed for generations and in mine it was Murgi Jhol and gobindo bhog chaaler bhaat (i.e. chicken curry with very small fine grain rice) and it has been so many years, the aroma still lingers . When you are thousands of miles away from home and mom, you try very hard to recreate those childhood memories and perhaps it is one of the best ways to hold on to those lovely memories…

Last night dinner was like being back in time and when I saw the excitement in Prithwish’s eyes with regards to dinner, I was transported back to my childhood days, except, this times roles had changed, I was no longer that wide eyed, curly hair little girl all excited about murgi jhol, I was the one cooking it.. Though I am no way near to my mum when it comes to cooking, but I did a pretty decent job..

murgi jhol (chicken curry Bengali style)

Here is how you go about it.. (serves 2)

Chicken 750 gms (3lbs) on the bones, leg and thigh pieces work great

For the Marinade

1 teaspoon of ginger paste

1 teaspoon of garlic paste

A pinch of salt and a pinch of turmeric

I teaspoon of red chilly powder

A dash of lime juice

Slit the chicken pieces diagonally and then mix them with the marinade and leave it in the refiregerator for about 45 mins to an hour..

Now for the curry

I large onions ( for all my friends in the US, one large red onion would do, for my friends back in India and rest of the world, if large, then 2,onions, if small then 4 should be good) chopped

finely chopped 4-5 garlic cloves

Finely chopped almost julienne ginger, say 1.5 table spoon

finely chopped green chillies

3 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped

Spices:

Whole spices

cloves-6-7

cardamom-about 5

cinnamon -i small stick broken into pieces

black pepper corns- around 10-12

Bay leaf-4 if small or if you are using the ones from back home (far more aromatic then 2)

Coriander powder- 2 teaspoon

Turmeric- 1 teaspoon

Red Chilly powder- 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil (preferably mustard, if not then vegetable or canola)

Oh and I almost forgot, when I came here, my mum had stuffed my suitcase with this bled of spices, which till date, I have no idea what it contains but if my smelling senses are working, it is a blend of cloves, star aniseed, cardamom, cumin and dried red chilly.. The smell is fantastic and goes great with chicken, but if you do not have ready access to this, then try out MDH chicken Masala, comes pretty close but be careful not to put more than a teaspoon as it contains generous helpings of corriander..

Leave the chicken to marinade, then heat a wok/ kadhai add 3 tablespoons of mustard oil/or any oil you use fry the onions and as they start to brown all the ginger and garlic. You know what form my own experience I have seen that if you grate in the ginger and garlic the aroma is far better. Once this mixture starts to brown, just strain them from the oil and let it cool. Then blend them in a mixer and you will get a brownish paste.

Meanwhile add some more oil to the kadhai/wok where the onions were fried and when it is medium hot, temper the whole spices, make sure there are tiny slits in the cardamom and and pepper corns are semi crushed but be careful not to burn them.. once the spices start releasing the aroma, add the onion paste mixture, fry it in oil for a couple of minutes and then add the chopped tomatoes. let it cook till the tomatoes blend it completely. Then add  the corriander, turmeric and red chilly powders, oh and off course in this case that special blend of spices ( 1 teaspoon ) if not then chicken masala.. Mix them well, temper then for a minute or so and then add the  marinated chicken, salt to taste and mix them well till the spices are  all cooked.. Now the bowl where you had marinated the chicken add 1.5 cups of water and just mix them with what ever marinade is left and add it to the chicken. At this point let the chicken simmer for about 20-25 mins on low heat and then about 3-4 mins towards the end on high heat.. That should do it.. Garnish with green chilly and corriander leaves (the second one is optional and serve it with rice) Try it out, and for all my Bengali friends, you won’t be disappointed and a trip down the memory lane is guaranteed

murgi jhol and bhaat ( chicken curry and rice) what more does a Bengali need !!