As a couple, Mitali and I are fairly health concious.  Time permitting, we make it a point to hit the gym , though I am somewhat of a slacker in this dept. (then again , who needs a gym with a size/shape  like mine ) anyways… we have paid a bomb and joined the recently opened Addiction gym near our place in Noida. Day one saw me hitting it with gusto and then not going for the next two.

Anyways Monday I decided to push Mitali off to the gym and then practice some of my awesome culinary talents ( just kidding…..well..not really ). So I went ingredient hunting and got loads of stuff.

I prepared penne parboiled pasta and 3 types of sauces to provide the variations.  One was a Basil and thyme based braised Chicken breasts with pasta, a white sauce with mayo, cheese and boiled veggies  and the last one was a boiled grams ( chana) based pasta in a groundnut and tomato base.All three turned out great with my personal favourite being the Chana one, while Mitali favoured the white sauce.

Hey and did I tell you we had mustard and honey dressing also. and washed it down with peach juice. Heaven

My cousin Abhishek and I are really close.  We both are single kids and thus are more blood brothers than others.  Its funny how fate has always taken us every where together. I wound up doing my engineering from Bangalore and he followed suit a year after me. I worked all over the country before settling down in Noida ( at least for the time being) and voila’  my brother lands up at IMT ghaziabad for his management degree.

Well anyways, he drops down on weekends at our place and these weekends turn into food binges like never before. He eats rice and dal in quantities that would beat 5 best Andhraites eating their fill ( which is a lot ) . When Mitali start cooking I tell her to cook for 5 if Abhishek is around. If all people in the world were like him, we would finish all food reserves in a month.

We saw GI Joe- Rise of the Cobra on Saturday and had Dal Bhaat (rice), Shukto ( vegetable stew, read elsewhere) and Aalu bhate ( boiled potato with butter) . Simple but filling.

One great thing is that Shukto premade masla is now available at most speciality Bong food stores and that makes making Shukto really easy.

On Sunday I gave a call to my parents in the noon. They were preparing to have Dal, Bhaat, Kumdo diye Pui shaker chochchodi ( will write soon about this) , Begun bhaja ( brinjal fry ), Aalu Bhaja( Potato fries) and Chingdi macher malai curry (Prawn Malai Curry ) ( this dish is coming up next).

Mitali and I swore to match up and prepared a nice feast of sorts with Dal, Bhaat, Shukto, Kancha posto, Posto diye aalu begun potol bhaja, Lauki ka raita ( Bottle gourd in curd base ) and Seviyan ki kheer.

We managed to finish all and then slept the food off till 7 PM.

Ingredients: (Servings: 3-4 persons)

Rui/Katla Maacher Muro – 1 (from a 2-3 kg fish)

Aatop Chaal (Gobindo Bhog) – 2 tbsp

Potatoes – 4 medium, halved

Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped

Ginger – 1 inch, grated

Garlic – 2 cloves, grated

Turmeric – 1/2 tsp

Red Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp

Green Chillies – 3-4, slit

Bay leaf – 2 small

Green Cardamom – 3, coarsely crushed

Cinnamon – 1 inch stick, coarsely crushed

Salt – To taste

Ghee – 1 tsp

White Oil – 6 tbsp for frying

Mustard Oil – 3-4 tbsp for cooking

Preparation:

Cut muro into 3 big pieces

Wash aatop chaa (rice)l, drain and keep aside.

Make the masala paste = ginger, garlic, turmeric, chilli powder, and cumin powder

Cooking procedure:

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add aatop chaal to oil and fry tilll white (should take less than a minute)
2. Add 3 tbsp oil, heat and fry potatoes till golden brown. Keep aside.
3. Deep fry muro, should turn brown. Browning the fish gets rid of odours. Remove oil since it cannot be used for further cooking.
4. Heat freshly taken 3-4 tbsp mustard oil in a pan.
5. Add bay leaves, cardamom, and cinnamon and fry for 30 sec.
6. Add chopped onions and fry for 4-5 min till onions are soft.
7. Add masala paste (prepared above) and aatop chal. Fry till oil separates out (usually about 2-3 on medium heat). You may sprinkle water, if required, to avoid masala from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
8. Add 2 cups water, salt and bring to boil. Add fried potatoes and simmer for 10 min without cover.
9. Add muro. Simmer on low heat till potatoes and chaal are cooked.
10. Add ghee, green chillies and remove from heat.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve with white rice. A very delicious part of a Sunday lunch menu. A good item for a lunch party.

On 15th August ( happy independence day again ….) we reached a drenched and rain pelted Lucknow at 1:30 in the noon.

Moms food beckoned and we sat down to a great lunch of rice, arhar dal, shukto ( yes the self same …but with karela), moong dal and chana sprouts salad, Muri Ghanto and Rui Macher Tel Shorshe.

I had a great time having loads of food with dollops of pickle and Mangoes to polish off the meal. Cant say the same for mitali who ( she’s hates fish) stared in horror at the growing pile of fish bones by my side.

All recipes coming up.  And stay tuned for Prawn Malai curry that we had on sunday.

Before you groan and say “not another food blog”, read on ..

Hi all,

Nomoshkar,

My name is Vidyut Banerjee and like 99.9999% bengalis of India and elsewhere (pretty much anywhere in the world) I am a hardcore foodie. I like to think I am a pretty decent cook too (this runs in the genes and is verifiable :- ).

I have been married for six months now and we manage to whip up great dishes day after day. I do however remember my days in the engineering college hostel and know of the desperate situation which guys and gals get into….away from home and family, missing mom’s home cooked food and having to cope up with slurry served at the mess ( opinions may differ on this last part)

So any ways here my blog to

1. Share some great indian recipes with mouth watering photographs with you ( atleast you could drool.)

Keep in mind that the recipes might sway heavily towards Bay of Bengal.

2. Keep you updated on the Dining scene in Delhi/NCR (especially Noida).

3. Let you know of what we are cooking today and how. ( if I could do it so could you)

4. Let you know of our occasional disasters and the more-often fusion food gems.

That more or less it then …lets take our first step into this gastronomic journey.

Vidyut