A bit of lahore, a bit of Eastern India and a bit of pan India

DINNER IDEA 1 

The big Navami Spread of 2013

So the four days of Durgotsav in Calcutta is spent by most peopel hopping from one pandal to the other and dining out and meting people. While I did meet people I decided to do what fulfills me the most, preparing  dishes in the kitchen and sharing it with my guests.

Navami was a special day with two sets of guests for lucnha nd dinner. While lunch was a simple affair of masoor pulse with coconut with bhetki macher kalia (bhetki fish in a rich curry) , dinner was more grandeur in nature with Fish fries and fluffy Basmati rice , grilled chicken , Mutton lazeez handi and malpuas.

So I start off with the grilled chicken. A long time ago Seema Chanda had interviewed a composed confident chef from the streets of Lucknow about the secrets of their juicy kebabs to which he mentioned that the only secret was long hours of marination. It seems marination is the key to the success of a kebab. While in modern times most homes do not have the luxury of a charcoal grill or even a barbeque and since in India we have to do with grills which do not let the temperature to be set unless you use the convection mode, the marination is even more so important.

The Grilling and filling 

I used this marination of salt and pepper, garlic, lemon ,curd and cumin along with a pinch of garam masala and let the chicken soak up the goodness of the marination for a good 7 to 8 hours. It is even more effective when marinated and kept overnight or for 48 hours.

I grilled it for 15 minutes on one side and 12 minutes on the other. From my past experiences it is clear that 20 minutes on one side and 15 on the other renders the chicken too hard. So if you have a grill like mine with no option to set the temperature, you can either use the convection mode and bake or practice and know which timing suits your oven the best.

Along with this was a sauce made of red chilies soaked in vinegar for 2 hours which was blend with garlic and hung curd, slat , pepper and a wee bit of cumin powder. The result was truly delicious.

The Fish fry that we all fry and love

Fish Fry

Bangalir Priyo Dal (Bengal's favourite pulse) 

Mooger Dal

Bhetki Macher Kalia 

Mooger dal 

Bhetki Macher kalia

Bhetki Macher Kalia

Mutton Lazeez Handi 

Mutton Lazeez hundi

Soft syrupy malupas 

Malpua