Calcutta prawn cocktail

 If you are in Park Street and dining in Mocambo you have probably ordered for the shrimp cocktail. Its such a familiar appetizer here that you might mistakenly think its a true blue Calcutta concoction. All sort of strange and wonderful food was served in Calcutta when Anglo Indian cuisine developed here. Of course the Americans claim it as their own but well that's them. This recipe is from our friend Sub who is a great host , has a discerning palette but has a ridiculously low threshold for spicy food. FYI he could manage the Tabasco in his cocktail, with water and a whole lot of tissues.


Ingredients :
Prawn or shrimps:  cleaned and cooked as 200 gms
Mayonnaise : 500 gms
Worcestershire sauce : 2 table spoons
Tabasco: according to how hot you can handle it.
Tomato Sauce: 1 cup
1 head of lettuce: chopped fine
paprika : To garnish

So lets be honest shrimp cocktail is an assembly process at best and requires no cooking , that is if you don't attempt at making the mayonnaise from scratch. If you have all your ingredients at hand the process takes less than 10 minutes to serve up. Make the sauce first by adding the mayo , tomato sauce, Worcestershire and Tabasco. You are looking for a pale pink colour and a rich tarty after taste. You don't need to add salt since most of the sauces already have them. But taste is the key. mix well and add the prawns. Add the chopped lettuce and refrigerate.   Serve chilled with a celery or lettuce stalk in a martini glass. I ran out , thus the wine glass in the picture. 

lots of lau , Gourd wonders

So if it's summer in this part of the world gourd will end up in your plate at least twice a week . Some people like add shrimp in it but I prefer the vegetarian version just because it's simpler. Also I seriously don't like shrimps, stinky little  things.


Ingredients:
Gourd: 1
Ginger paste: 1 table spoon
Coriander leaves: half a bunch
Nigella seeds/ kalo jeera : 1 tea spoon
Green chilies: 5
Salt and Sugar: to taste
Cooking time : 25 mins

The only complexity in this recipe involves tackling the thick skin of the gourd. Once that's off everything else is plain sailing. The gourd is cut into very fine strips , sliced not diced and definitely not shredded. Do use a whole gourd and cut it fine, gourd tends to loose a lot of water and will shrink to half its volume when cooking. 

Start bu heating some white oil in a wok, its best to use a oil without a strong after taste so there goes mustard, olive and coconut oils. I stick to a tablespoon full of Soybean or rice-bran oil. When the oil is hot add the nigella seeds, chilies and ginger paste. If you do want to add the shrimp this is the time. Don't let this burn and add the gourd. Cover the wok and cook in very low heat. After 5 mins add salt and pinch of sugar to taste. mix well and cover for another 10 mins. The quantity of the gourd would have gone down to almost half. Add the shredded coriander , mix and cover again. Uncover in 10 mins, your gourd should be cooked by now and most of the water out. You can turn the heat up and dry out the excess water. Serve up hot or cold always with rice. 

Punjabi Chhole , the turbanated cousin of the ghooghni

Bengali's love Punjabi food so much that they wear the Punjabi with pride . Every road , every highway has eateries dedicated to the worship of Punjabi food. Don't remember when exactly but some how this typically Punjabi chickpea recipe started dominating the traditional ghooghni in parties , So here is the interloper

Ingredients:
Chickpeas: 1 cup

Onion: 3 diced
Tomato: 2
Cumin seeds: 1 tea spoon
Cumin powder: 1 tea spoon
Bay leaf : 1
Dried red chilies: 2
Turmeric Powder : 1 teas spoon
Chili powder: 1 teas spoon , or as much/ as less you can handle
Cinnamon :  1 decent stick
White oil: 1 tea spoon
Salt to taste
Tea bag: 1

Store bought chhole masala : Nope not one bit

Though it takes about 20 mins on a good day to make this Punjabi chickpeas you do need to soak the chickpeas overnight. In fact the longer you soak them the faster it cooks. However i tried soaking them for two days once but it went all foamy and frothy and we had to have takeout for dinner.  

The pressure cooker that you brought from home will be handy now. Cook the pre-soaked chickpeas with a tiny bit of salt and a tea bag and water. Do use regular tea, and not green tea, we are not trying to make the peas lose weight but just adding colour to it. This is what separates a ghugni from punjabi chhole so this is crucial. Drain the chickpeas but retain the water .

Add cinnamon,bay leaf, cumin seeds and dried chilies when the oil is hot. Followed by the diced onion.  Fry till it is golden and add turmeric , chili and cumin powder and the tomatoes. You could also substitute fresh tomatoes for canned or pureed tomatoes. Your mixture should resemble the picture above. Add the chickpeas and give it a good toss making sure the masala coats the chickpeas well . Add salt to taste. Add all the chickpea tea and bring to boil.

Now you could serve it in any consistency you want , with some gravy which is perfect to dip chapatis and while feeding a large crowd like I did in Leeds or make it by drying out the gravy. Serve with diced onion and a slice of lemon and some bread.