Postor Bora Recipe by Chandrani

Postor bora is a very well known Bengali recipe. It is usually served with hot steamed rice and pulses, but remember to serve it hot. It is easy to prepare and takes less time. Let's start the process -

Ingredients: 

• Poppy seeds (or posto) - 50gms
• Onion - 1 medium size (chopped)
• Green chilli - 3 pieces (according to your taste)
• Salt - according to your taste
• Mustard oil for frying

How to make the poster bara?

• First, wash the poppy seeds so that seeds can be properly ground. You can use a grinder or sil batta (grinding stone) for making this paste. Try to use a minimum quantity of water.
• If you are using grinder then first grind the poppy seeds without water. After that add onions, green chilies, and salt, grind once again until it turns into a smooth paste. 
• Take a kadhai/pan and add oil. Heat the oil on a high flame and when it becomes smoking hot, simmer the flame, add the paste in small portions by flattening them in hand. 
• Fry these on both sides until they turn dark brown. Take these out as these are ready to be served. 

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Rasgulla preparation like a pro with Chandrani

Rasgulla, one of the most popular sweets among Bengalis. It is made with "chena". The chena is mashed, made smooth and then cooked in boiling sugar syrup. Let's look at the recipe below :

• Take 1 litre milk in a pan, heat it until it boils properly and swells up (common thing with milk when u heat it).L

• Take half cup of synthetic/edible vinegar, mix it with another half cup of drinking water to make it 1 full cup.

• Now start adding this mix of water + vinegar to the boiling milk in small parts, until u see the cottage chese (chhena in Hindi) separating out.

• Drain out the water, collect the cottage cheese in a thin/muslin cloth to wash the it with ample water in order to wash off any amounts of vinegar. 

• Now knead the chhena with hands on a flat surface to remove any excess water so that it become completely dry.  

• Take a pan or container, knead the chhena with the palm of your hand until this mixture becomes completely smooth devoid of any lumps and chhena becomes silky smooth. This will take at least 15-20 min with continuous kneading.

• Now, make small rounded balls of chhena and make sure that you don't have any kind of cracks when u make these round balls.  

• Take another pan, add 2 cups of  sugar and 4 cups of water to make sugar syrup on a high flame.  

• Add cardamom, 3-4 pieces in this for a better flavor.  

• When this sugar syrup starts to boil on a high flame, add the round balls of cottage cheese and close it with a lid for 10-15 min and keep the flame on a medium one. 

• After 10-15 min, open the lid and boil on a medium-to-high flame for another 15-20 min.  

• Switch off the flame, transfer the contents to another pot. Either u can serve it hot or cold as per your choice.

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Homemade frozen Banana Chocolate ice-cream Recipe

When you are an ardent lover of ice-cream and Swiggy deliveries are not available during this unexpected and unfortunate lockdown, then you can try this homemade banana chocolate ice-cream! 

Ingredients: 

1. Banana - 4 pieces
2. Cold Milk - 1 cup
3. Cadbury - 1 packet (50gm) or more according to your taste.

Step-by-step process:

• Start with ripe bananas.

• Peel the banana and chop into small round pieces.

• Put the bananas in a freezer safe container.
• Freeze the banana pieces for 8 hours but ideally overnight.
• Transfer the frozen banana pieces into the blender and keep blending until last bits of banana smooth out.

• Add milk and Cadbury, keep blending. 

• When it will get smooth out and creamy, transfer it into a container and freeze it until solid.

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Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipe

Kadhi Pakora, a popular Punjabi dish is often made in my kitchen, but I just couldn't manage myself to take step-by-step pictures and that's why it took me so long to share this delicious recipe. You can have kadhi pakora either at lunch or dinner with rice.

INGREDIENTS to make pakora:

• 1 medium-size onion - chopped finely
• Finely chopped cabbage - 100 gms
• Besan / gram flour - 3 tablespoon
• Rice flour - 2 tablespoon
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Refined oil for frying
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt, to taste
• Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Water - for making the batter, as required 

How to make pakora:

Mixed all the ingredients and make a thick batter. Heat the oil in a kadhai. When the oil is hot, make small balls of batter and fry them 3-4 at a time. When their color turns golden brown (both sides), strain the excess oil, and keep aside.

INGREDIENTS to make Kadhi:

• Thick curd (i.e., without water) - 6 tablespoons
• Besan / gram flour - 2 tablespoons
• Onion - 1 medium size, finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium size, finely chopped
• Fenugreek seeds (methi) - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry red chilies - 3 to 4 pieces
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1/2 inch, finely chopped
• Salt, to taste
• Water - approx. 500 ml

How to make besan-curd mixture:

• In a deep bowl take besan and curd. Whisk it well and make a smooth mixture without any lumps.

• In a kadhai, heat 2 tablespoons of mustard oil. When the oil is hot, add dry red chilies, methi seeds, cumin seeds, and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add chopped ginger and fry for 1 minute.
• Then, add chopped onions and fry for 2 minutes.
• In the end, add the besan-curd mixture.

• Keep stirring continuously for 30 minutes, otherwise, there are chances for besan to stick to the bottom of Kadai. When the mixture starts to thicken, turn off the flame and transfer the mixture to a serving bowl. Add pakoras into the mixture. So try this recipe at home and do share your experiences. 

Note: You can make different types of pakora like onion pakora, dal pakora, spinach pakora, as per your choice and convenience.

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Green Mango Chatpata Recipe by Chandrani

Recipe details:

Green mango - cut into small pieces

Spices - cumin seeds, green chilies, mustard seeds, salt, sugar, and mustard oil

Add all ingredients into a grinder and mix well until made into a fine paste having a smooth consistency.

Raw mango chatpata is ready. Enjoy this with your daily meals!

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Easy Desserts: Sooji Ka Malpua by Chandrani Jana

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing good and staying safe! Welcome to Chandrani's Kitchen.

The lockdown period is going on for quite some time and we can only stay indoors during this time. Bengalis always crave for sweets, more so during such crisis times. So, today I will tell you about such a homemade sweet which can be made quickly with sooji (semolina), milk, and sugar. Let's get started, then!

Ingredients:

Sooji (semolina) - 200gm

Milk - 500ml

Sugar - 500gm

Cardamon - 4 pieces

Desi ghee - 2 tablespoons

Cashew nuts - 15-16 pieces whole, grind them with the help of a grinder.

Process:

• Take a wide pan or kadhai and switch on the gas on a medium flame.
• Add sooji, sugar, and mix for 5 minutes. 

• Add milk in small parts and mix well to make it consistent without any lumps.

• When the mixture is completely dry, switch off the flame and keep aside for 30 mins.

• While the mixture is getting cooled, let's prepare the sugar syrup. Take a deep pan and switch on the gas.
• Add sugar, water and melt the sugar on a low to medium flame. Stir continuously until sugar dissolves completely.

• Boil for 5 minutes after sugar dissolves and add the crushed cardamons.
• When the syrup turns brownish and sticky but not too thick, switch off the flame and keep it aside.

• Now, knead the cooked and cooled sooji mixture like atta/flour dough. Take a flat panned container and put 1 tablespoon of desi ghee. Now, mix the sooji dough with ghee well.

• Keep kneading until the sooji mixture turns into a semi-sticky dough like atta/flour. Divide this dough into equal shaped small balls.

• Take chakla belan (flat-bread roller) and add a few drops of oil. Now roll these balls into flat-breads like chapatis and cut into round pieces with the help of small round cutter (or a small bottle lid if you don't have a cutter).

• Take a kadhai and heat oil on a medium flame. When the oil is boiling hot, add the round flat-breads one by one and fry until these turn golden on both sides and puffy.

• Strain these puffed-up fried flat-breads and dip into the sugar syrup.

• Take these out from sugar syrup and garnish by sprinkling ground cashew nuts on top. These lip-smacking homemade sooji sweets are ready to be served and savored. 

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Ladies' Fingers (Vendakkai) Curry, the Tamil way

This is a simple gravy recipe in which ladies fingers/vendi/ঢেঁড়স is cooked in a tomato-onion, cashew nut and urad dal based gravy. This masala gravy is very much popular in the south India side. You can enjoy it for your everyday meal along with roti/ paratha and rice.

Things you'll need (Ingredients):

• Bhindi/Okra/Ladies' fingers -250 gm (washed)
• Onion: 1 large finely chopped
• Tomato -1 large finely chopped
• Garlic (peeled) - 8 to 10 pieces
• Ginger - 1/2 inch (peeled)
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
• Urad Dal - 1 tablespoon
• Fennel Seeds/Saunf - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cashew nuts - 10 to 12
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cooking oil - 5 tablespoon
• Salt, to taste

How to make this recipe (step-by-step process):

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