Plum Tomato Chutney

Plum Tomato Chutney

Tomato chutney is a must to have delicacy during any occasions in a Bengali household in India.  It is extremely popular in Bengal as well as in other places like Andhra though the preparations is little different in different places. In Bengal, it is sweet chutney, can have different variations as per the season but a must when there are guest for lunches or even for Sunday lunch. It is all time favourite item in the Pujo Bhog for Durga Pujo, Lakshmi Pujo or Kali Pujo along with Kichudi.

Though this chutney can be cooked with different ingredients such as Apples, Dates, Aam shotto (Sweet Mango sheets), sultanas, etc etc and served as an accompaniment with rice, Nan, chapattis, fried rice or Pulao. Here is my recipe of Tomatoes cooked with plum….very easy and a quick one.

Ingredients:

2 Big juicy Tomatoes- chopped

4 Juicy Plums- seeded and chopped

2 green chillies chopped finely, if you have a kid at home than you can take the seeds out or just could put a slit length wise

4 tbsp of grated fresh root ginger

½ tsp lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Bay leaves

A pinch of salt (black salt tastes even better)

6-7 tbsp of soft brown sugar / half cup of jaggery,  depending on how sweet you want it to be. I used half cup of jaggery plus 2 tbsp of soft brown sugar. It gives a caramelised taste to it. If you do not have both of them in your pantry, don’t worry. You can use normal white sugar by all means.

1 tsp of plain vinegar (optional)

A pinch of freshly grounded black pepper

2 tsp vegetable oil.

A pinch of mustard seeds (optional). Well, it is a must at my mum’s and in laws place but I haven’t used any.

Direction:

Heat the oil in a deep bottom sauce pan.  

Add the bay leaves and grated ginger and green chillies to it and stir. Also the mustard seeds if you want them.

 After few seconds, add the chopped tomatoes and plums and give it a good mix and cover with a lid.

Take out the lid after around 4-5 minutes and stir well. By this time the tomatoes and plums will start melting and a lot of liquid will be released.

Keep on stirring on low flame.  It will help in melting the tomatoes quickly.

Sprinkle the salt and the lemon zest now, mix it. You can see the sauce sort of thing by now. This is the chutney forming.

Pour in the lemon juice and vinegar. You can add the sugar/jaggery now. Give it a good mix. Cover the lid for another 2-3 minutes.

Take out the lid, grind the black pepper on it and stir.  Switch the heat off now.

Check and adjust the seasoning. The tanginess from the lemon and vinegar and the sweet from the jaggery and sugar give a nice flavour to the chutney. And the salt really brings out the flavour.

You can store this chutney for 2-3 days in a jar.

Now the variations:

With Sweet Mango slices- It will give mango tanginess plus an amazing colour to it.

With Dates: Richer and heavy

With sultanas:  Loved by children and elders a lot.

With Apples: it is more in mass and sweet too

More towards British version

You can add strawberries, raspberries, cranberries and cherries too….not tried yet but they are surely in my list. Let me know if you try one.

Happy Cooking!!!

Patishapta...Pancakes with coconut and jaggery filling

 Makarsankranti is a festival which ends the harvest season and is also known as the posh sankranti in west Bengal. Patishapta...pancakes made with rice flour with a filling of coconut and jaggery is must in the bengali households along with "Pithe"... a sort of dumplings with coconut or sesame seeds and jaggery filling...lovely. I have seen my mother and grand mother making rice flour from scratch....soaking up rice and boiling it a little for the skins to come out easily...grinding them manually for long hours...thank god I can just cut the packet with a pair of scissors and use them straight from the packet.After much thought between Pithe and Patishapta, I finally decided to make patishapta to celebrate sankranti this year.  Well, as per my hubby it was not good as my mother in law's but were delicious in a different way. So here is my version of "Patishapta".

Ingredients:
For the filling
2 Cups of grated coconut ( I used the frozen grated coconut from a Srilankan shop
1 Cup Jaggery
1 Cup of grated Khoya  ( dried and solidified whole milk...is similar to ricotta cheese)-optional

In an open sauce pan, put the jaggery. It will start melting. Add the grated coconut and keep on mixing. Add on the grated khoya  and give it a good mix. It will be sticky and very hard to stir after some time of cooking. Put off the flame and let it cool.

For the pancakes
1 Cup of ground rice flour.
1/2 Cup of semolina
2 tbsp of plain flour
4-5 tbsp of light brown sugar
A pinch of salt
Veg oil for frying
A pinch of roasted sesame seeds
Water

Add all the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour in the water and give it a good mix so that no lumps in there. You might need to use your hand for this. The batter should be free flowing.

Take a non stick pan, pour in a little oil in it and spread across the pan. With the help of a ladle, pour in the batter on the frying pan and spread it evenly and quickly to make a round shape pancake. Make sure it is not very thick.
 Flip to the other side after few seconds or when the side is done. You can see, it will turn into light brown.

 If you wish, you can just place the filling on the uncooked side lengthwise and fold it.  I prefer to flip and fry the other side too. Re flip it after few seconds and place a spoon full of filling lengthwise in the centre and fold it from both sides. Once done, take them out and place on the kitchen paper.

This recipe needs a little time specially when you have to make the pancakes one by one but it worth making once or twice a year.

Sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on them. Serve them hot or cold. They are delicious in both ways.

To serve this, traditionally whole milk is reduced in an open sauce pan with cardamom and sugar to a very thick consistency and spread over the pancakes. You can also serve them with condensed milk or maple syrup or even simple syrup. You need to a bit careful about the sugar content though.


A little tip: Once the batter is spread on the frying pan, you can cover it for a soft crepe.

Happy Cooking!!!

Pomfret In Mustard Sauce...Shorshe Pomfret

,
 Fish is cooked on a regularly basis in all bengali households in India. It is
fast to cook, good for health, absolutely delicious, available in variety and
can be cooked in about 1000 different ways. And it needs very minimal
effort and very less ingredients. I am using Pomfret here with mustard
sauce. This dish is loved by one and all in bengali households and can be
done with almost all kinds of fish.

Ingredients:

2 Big white pomfret cleaned and make incisions on it.
Salt as per taste and some for marinate
1/2 tsp Sugar
 1-2 tsp Turmeric powder
Chilly Powder as per taste
 A pinch of Nigella seeds
2-3 Green Chillies slightly split in the middle
2 medium size tomatoes cut in 4 pieces each
Chopped Coriander leaves for garnishing
3-4 tsp of Dijon Mustard paste, smooth or grains
2-3 tbsp of Oil.
Water

Marinate the fish by applying salt and turmeric and rub them well.
Mix the mustard paste in water and add the chilly powder and turmeric to
it and make a watery solution. This will help in removing the bitterness
and will also develop the flavour. Keep it aside for about 10 minutes.
Fry the pomfret slightly till light brown in a frying pan for less than 2
minutes on each side.
In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the Nigella seeds in it. Add the whole
green chillies to it till it starts to fry. Put the fried fish in the pan and pour
into the mustard watery solution and bring it to simmer. Flip the fishes to
the other sides, Add the sugar and the tomatoes and add some water to it
depending on the consistency of the gravy. You can add less water if you
want the gravy to be very thick. Cover and let it cooked for about 10
minutes. Check and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with the  coriander
leaves and serve with rice. Just perfect.

Happy Cooking!!!