A Fragrant Rice with Chicken, Saffron N Prawn-A Tale of Tantalizing Taste

Gobindobhog Rice cooked with Fresh water Prawn n Chicken with dry Red Chilies, Jalapenos, Saffron, Tomatoes- pure taste of delish

First I should tell you about this rice-Gobindobhog, a type of short grain rice from Bengal, the east of India. It smells amazing, how do I describe that smell, let me try- sweet, pleasant, fragrant, decent, subtle and full of promises. When you taste it, the depth of flavor coming from it takes you in a journey. So no wonder it is such a favorite rice to use when you are cooking something special, sweet or savory it handles both the sides extremely well. It has a sweet smooth buttery aromatic flavor, so often they are cooked with milk n sugar or jaggery to produce Payas/Rice Pudding/Chawal Kheer, sometimes they are cooked with chicken or fish or vegetables to produce fantastic pulao/pilaf, they are the base to make a fantastic “Murighonto- A savory rice dish with fish head n potatoes and whole garam masala”- it’s a never ending love story.

                          Now chances are if you live outside India, or even let’s say outside Bengal, you won’t get this rice easily, but still ask for this rice in Indian or Bangladeshi shops, it is every worth searching for. For this dish you can replace it with any short grain rice like risotto rice, Thai sticky rice, paella rice.

                                                                 I didn’t have a doubt when I combined this rice with prawns n chicken, what came out impressed me much more than what I imagined, the rice absorbs all the flavors so vividly, at the same time lifting the flavors up with its own flavor, in every bite I could taste the prawns, the tomatoes, the chicken, the garlic, the jalapenos, the saffron. It was like all the flavors were in harmony, n to top it all off it doesn’t take much time to cook, the rice takes 15 minutes to be done and all you have to do when the rice is cooking is to stir it in between.

Another layer of flavor comes from the aromatic spices that go in it, cloves, green cardamom, Indian Bay Leaf n Cinnamon sticks-as the broth simmers the spices release their flavor n blends into everything in the pan.

                     There are some recipes when you cook them it makes you a hero, people love you n the food that you cook-this is one such recipe. So next time there is a gathering of friends cook this and see them getting lost in the plate, which is actually a great sight to watch for a person who cooks with his/her heart.

                                    So now let me serve you the recipe, here we go…

For The Recipe: You will need

Govindobhog rice- 1 cup

Chicken breast-1 medium with bone, cut into 2 inch pieces, around 250 gm

Prawn- 4 big/ 6 medium, veined, washed but not peeled

Garlic – 3 medium cloves, chopped

Onion-1 medium, chopped

Tomato- 2 medium, chopped

Jalapenos- 2 tbsp

Green capsicum- 2-3 tbsp, chopped

Dry red chili- 1 medium, torn into pieces

Saffron- 2 pinch

Red chili powder- ½ tbsp

Turmeric- ¼ tsp

Cumin powder-1/4 tsp

Coriander powder-1/4 tsp

Bay leaf- 2

Clove-4

Green cardamom-1+1

Cinnamon stick- 2 inch

Soy sauce- a few drops like ½ tsp

Black pepper- 1 tbsp, freshly ground

Pink rock salt- few pinches

Salt

Sugar

Brown fried onion- to serve, 1 medium onion-sliced n fried till brown in a pan, it’s optional

Water-3 -4 cups

Vegetable oil/olive oil-5-6 tbsp

1.     Soak the rice in water for half an hour, then drain the water. In a frying pan heat the oil, when the oil is moderately hot reduce the heat to low, add the dry red chili torn into pieces, chopped garlic n stir,  don’t let the garlic brown, add cloves, cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, give them around 20 seconds , then add the chopped onion. Give them about 2 minutes on medium high heat stirring often, then add the capsicum, give it 3 minutes, then add the chicken pieces, put the flame high and sauté them for about 5 minutes, stir in between. Add a pinch of sugar, mix, then add the rice to the pan and give it a good mix. Keep the flame on medium high and stir often; we are now frying the rice grains to some extent. Give them around 4-5 minutes on medium heat, then add some salt and mix well. After that add the tomatoes, jalapenos  and 2 pinch of pink rock salt and ½ tsp of freshly ground black pepper, give it a good mix n give them about 2-3 minutes. Mix the red chili powder, turmeric, cumin n coriander powder with little water to make a paste, add this to the pan and mix well. Add a splash more water so that the spices don’t burn.

         2.     Heat the water in a bowl; we will use this hot water to add to the pan. So back to the frying pan add the saffron strands, mix, now add 1 cup of the hot water n stir so that everything is uniformly mixed. Keep the flame high at this stage, add the prawns to the pan, very soon the water will be absorbed by the rice, then add another cup of water, reduce the flame to low, add salt according to taste and few drops of soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar and mix well. The water will be just simmering in the pan, when this water is again absorbed , add half cup of more water, this whole process will take about 15 minutes, at the final stage we want the rice to be not dry but with some liquid part in it. So the amount of water will vary slightly, if the rice is soft n fluffy n the consistency of it some a bit flow-y it is there, if the rice still needs to be soft add 1/2 cup water and give it a little time.

        3.     Now when the rice is soft, put the flame off, we will add the final touches. In a mortar n pestle crush one green cardamom pod and 1 inch stick cinnamon with 1 tsp of water,  when it becomes a coarse mixture add this to the rice, add some more black pepper n mix n cover the pan for 2 minutes.

So it is ready to be served, serve generously and sprinkle some brown onions over it or forget it, it tastes so very delish! Mmmmm…Bon Appétit.

A Tempting Tart with Note Saag-A New Emotional Bite

Amaranth Leaves/Note Saag Tart with Coconut, Almonds n Parmesan

This dish existed in my head long before it came into being finally this June and it tasted better than what I imagined it to be for all the good reasons in life. I remember the moment the tart formed in my head, the inspiration was a dry-fry saag preparation by Mom, Amaranth  leaves  known as ‘Note Saag’  fried with onion n green chilies in pungent mustard oil and that tastes simply gorgeous, the combination of that saag n white rice makes up happy moments of eating at home. Now exactly at that point of time I decided to extend that love to a tart, I wanted to translate all that beautiful flavor of Note Saag into the tart. This is how she is born.

Amaranth is a whole family of perennial plants, some of the plants are used as leafy vegetables, some cultivated for cereals while some as decorating plants. So when ill be referring to ‘Note Saag’ it will specify one particular species of the plant family that we use in India for saag preparations, more specifically in the eastern part of India. The pictures will guide you to identify the one I used.

Its monsoon in India now, it rains almost once in a day for an hour roughly, the air becomes saturated with moisture n heavy until the wind blows n it feels fantastic! After a period of tremendous summer as the monsoon comes, it touches the soil n inspires, the soil soon comes up with fresh leafy greens. So right now the amaranth leaves/note saag is that fresh leafy green available in the local market, a gift of the monsoon. The note saag is prepared in many different ways across the home kitchens, some are dry-fried with minimum spices to lift up their flavor while some are combined with a paste of poppy seeds or other vegetables to prepare a medley of vegetables often known as ‘Chorchori’, while some are combined with fresh shrimps n sautéed together.

In this creation I combined the flavor of the note saag with fresh coconut, the parmesan, almonds together. The crispy outer layer of the tart crumbles as we bite into it n mingles with the soft deep flavor of the saag, the parmesan, the coconut-it almost becomes like a song.

When I first bite into the tart while it was still hot simply because I just couldn’t wait anymore, it made me emotional, in the next day I felt the same energy as I took my bite into the tart. So I had to share this recipe with you, so you can make it n feel that.

So now I think we should go to the recipe.

For The Recipe: We will need

For The Saag Preparation

Note Saag/ Amaranth leaves n tender stems- about 500 gm, washed, chopped into 1 inch pieces

Red onion- 1big or 2 medium, halved n sliced

Fresh coconut – 2 tbsp, cut into strips then chopped into little pieces

Green chilies- 2, sliced along the length but still in 1 piece/partly sliced

Mustard oil- 4-5 tbsp

Sugar- ½ tsp

Salt

Pink rock salt – a pinch

Red chili powder – a pinch

For the Short crust Pastry

Plain flour- 250 gm

Butter- 50 gm at room temp.

Olive oil/vegetable oil-3 tbsp (I used onion flavored vegetable oil)

Water-3 tbsp approximately

Salt – a pinch

For the Filling

The prepared saag

Egg yolks- 2

Thick cream- 150 ml

Parmesan cheese- 100 gm (you can use Gruyere cheese, its cool)

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh coconut – 2 tbsp, cut into strips then chopped into little pieces

Almonds- 50 gm, sliced along the length

Pre-heat oven to 160 Celsius/325 Fahrenheit

1. Begin by preparing the pastry, for that in a flat vessel mix the flour with salt, then drop the oil n the butter n with a blunt knife cut the fat into the flour until it resembles  breadcrumbs, you can use your hand too, just rub the flour with the butter n oil between your fingertips, always work with a light hand, when the fat is well distributed n resembles coarse breadcrumbs add the water one tablespoon at a time and incorporating it with the knife into the mixture, then add one more n do the same. After 3 tbsp of water the dough should leave the bowl fairly clearly and should come together, try to make it come together with your hands, if this doesn’t happen nothing to worry, add one more tablespoon of water and try to do the same, if not add some more drops of water and try. Just as the dough comes together tip it on a wooden board and press down on the dough with your hands to make the whole thing come together, this is not kneading but bringing the dough together. With you both hands press on the dough and make it come together, then shape it into a flat round, cover in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. In a frying pan heat the mustard oil on a high flame, when the oil is hot reduce the flame to medium, add a pinch of sugar, let the sugar melt n go brown then add the onion n green chili, toss them around for about 2 minutes, reduce the flame to low n give them 2 more minutes, then add the coconut pieces and stir them, give them 2 minutes, then add the washed n chopped amaranth leaves, put the flame on high n mix everything well, stir fry them for 5 minutes on high heat, they will start to get a little brown, keep stirring, then reduce the flame to minimum n give 10 minutes like this, stirring often so they don’t burn, if the pan gets very dry at the end of the time add a splash of water. After that add the sugar n chili powder, mix well, then add pink rock salt, salt n taste. If there are brown bits sticking to the pan, sprinkle little water and incorporate all of that. Take them out of a plate and let them cool.

3. Roll out the pastry thinly between two cling films n line a tart tin, prick the base with a fork and bake blind in a moderate oven which is 160 Celsius/325 Fahrenheit  for 15 minutes. It should not brown. Now in a bowl mix 2 egg yolks, the thick cream, the grated parmesan with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper until well mixed. You can reduce the amount of parmesan if you wish; instead of 100gm you can use 70 gm.

4. Take the pastry out of the oven, arrange the note saag in the pastry case until the base is well covered, then pour the cream mixture over them. Sprinkle with the chopped almonds and the coconut pieces, then back in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top slightly starts to get color, for this often at the last 3 minutes I put the top grill on. Take it out of the oven and leave it for 5 minutes then place it carefully on a glass and let the tart tin drop down.

Here you are standing in front of the warm tart with a knife in your hands and anticipation in your heart. Go on, make one slice and bite into it. It is as good slightly warm or hot or room temperature. Bon Appétit.

For Pabda

From the heart of mustard to the hands of a green chilly 

  

                                    For handling this fish you need delicacy or you will break her heart, her flesh and then her bones and you will have in hand fish gravy filled with broken hearts n bones. Even if that happens that doesn’t mean disaster for the taste will still be the same, only the texture will be different. So how come such a delicate fish be safe with hot chilies n pungent mustard, how come the flavor of the delicate fish make friends with fiery green chilies and hot yellow mustard?-the answer is unknown.

                                                                              As you are looking at the pictures of this delicate fish you may or may not have noticed something, that thing which makes it different from most fishes- that this fish doesn’t have any fish scales. With the absence of the fish scales it becomes an easy job for even a novice to handle this but then please be delicate with her, being a bull in the china shop will not help. This fish is soft n delicate in terms of  when you try to fry this fish it tends to break apart easily because of the softness of her flesh. Now scientifically this fish is known as Ompok Pabo, while in English we will know the fish as Pabo catfish or Pabda catfish.

                                                                                                                                         In terms of the flavor it has a subtle flavor which becomes fragrant when cooked and naturally it has slightly as if salty flavor, so going by that the most popular preparation of this fish in the regions of Bengal; tends to be salty in its basic taste spectrum. Some very traditional and popular preparations are ”Pabda  Macher Jhal”, which translated will mean the fish prepared in a gravy flavored with mustard paste and green chili paste , the oil being mustard oil, the other will be “Pabda Macher Jhol” which is the fish being stewed with a much lighter gravy infused with the flavors of cumin or nigella seeds or mustard seeds and tomatoes, onions, ginger or garlic of both at times and fresh coriander leaves. Now traditionally both of these fish preparations are eaten with white rice, it can be white basmati rice or the par-boiled rice “siddha” or sun dried rice “Aatap”.

                                                                                                                                                    Now for this recipe I am going parallel with the traditional recipe, the crucial part comes when frying the fish where too much handling the fish in the pan will make it go in pieces plus if the pan is not properly heated, if the oil is not hot or the fish is cold…anyone of this can lead to it. But then don’t panic at all if this happens, you will still be able to enjoy the wonderful flavors of this recipe, and if somehow the fishes are intact in one piece…yahoo…it is a good feeling. So I will tell you some stuffs that might help you…if the fish you are using are fresh which means that they are not frozen, then chances are high that your fish will not break into pieces easily, if the fish has been frozen, bring it to room temperature before it hits the pan, for both the cases dry them  before they go into the pan, as for the pan, first heat the pan without the oil until the pan is fairly heated, then add the oil and wait for the oil to be pretty hot, also before adding the fishes in the oil in the pan we can coat the fishes with a little oil, though it Is not necessary. Anyways I will tell you about the recipe now. I really hope you enjoy making and eating this fish in gravy. Bon appétit!

                                                                                                                          Oh I know I am writing after almost a month which is a delay. Did you miss me?

          For the Recipe:

6 medium size Pabda fish

1 ½ -2 tbsp mustard seed paste

1 tsp of whole mustard seed

1 small clove of garlic, crushed to a paste

1 green chili crushed into a paste

1 tsp of turmeric powder

½-1 tsp of red chili powder

1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

1½ tbsp of soy sauce

2 tbsp of chopped fresh coriander leaves

1 or 2 fresh green chilies slit length ways

½ tsp of coriander powder

½ cup of mustard oil

Salt to taste

A small pinch of sugar

1 ½ cups -water                                                       

                                     

1.       Begin by making the mustard seed paste, so in heavy mortal n pestle or in a stone grinder or in blender, crush the mustard seeds with a little water until they are all smashed and turned into a paste. Next dilute that paste with a little water and pass it through a sieve so that we get a smooth texture and also the outer husks of the seeds which are still there are filtered out. Next make a paste of the green chili and the garlic.

2.       Let’s handle the fish now, so dry the fish and then sprinkle ½ tsp of turmeric powder over them and using your hands make sure that all the fishes are lightly coated in the turmeric, give them 5 minutes. Begin by heating the pan in a medium flame, when the pan is quite hot, add the mustard oil ( add half if frying 3 fishes in the first batch), let the oil come to a smoking point then reduce the flame, now sprinkle a little oil over the fishes, coat them and then place them carefully in the hot pan. They will start to sizzle, increase the flame to medium high and give about 4-6 minutes on each side. Don’t be tempted to move the fish in the pan with your spatula…this is what will break the fishes easily, if you feel the heat is getting a bit too high, lower it. After about 5 minutes check once with a spoon, tilt the fish carefully in the pan, see if it is coming out easily and if they have browned on that side, if yes flip them over. So when both the sides are done, take them out in a plate.

3.       In the same pan and in the same oil add the whole mustard seeds, let them pop, reduce the flame now, while the flame is at low add the crushed garlic and green chili paste, mix the turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder with 1 tbsp of water and add them to the pan. Give them 2 minutes, then add half of the chopped coriander leaves, saute for a minute, then add half of the mustard paste solution, mix everything well then add the rest half of mustard paste solution, let the flame be medium now and give it about 5-7 minutes stirring them in between. After about 6-7 minutes you will see the oil is leaving the sides of the paste in the pan, increase the flame to high now, add salt and then add the Worcestershire sauce while the pan is hot, then reduce the flame and add the soy sauce. Check to see if the seasoning is right; adjust n add a little pinch of sugar.

4.       Now add 1 ½  cup of water, add the fishes with all their oil in the pan, make sure that the fishes are almost submerged in the liquid, then cover the pan and let it simmer gently for 10 minutes, flip the fishes  over in between,  after 10 minutes the gravy will thicken a bit. We are almost ready, switch off the flame and sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and 2 half-slit green chili and cover. Leave it for 5 minutes and we are ready. White rice goes just great with this recipe, so go get it.

                                    May the delicacy of the fish reach to all of us ;)